Crusader Kings 2's Monks & Mystics DLC will be arriving early next month
- By Ash
- in News
Even though its five-years-old at this point Paradox is still pumping new content into Crusader Kings 2. The most recent The Reaper's Due DLC brought with it the black plague and a variety of other physical maladies, while the upcoming Monks & Mystics DLC will focus more on the spiritual side of things, as well as secret societies.
If that sounds like something you might be interested in, here's the relatively recent teaser trailer. It doesn't feature any gameplay, but it does a damn good job of setting the mood for the whole expansion. Anyway, have a look:
Snake Pass is an upcoming retro collectathon and platformer starring an adorable snake of all things
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
After being extinct for well over a decade it appears that collectathon-platformers are now making their resurgence. The Banjo-Kazooie inspired Yooka-Laylee is set to arrive this April 11th, and apparently it will be having some competition as the equally cutesy Snake Pass is set to arrive on March 28th in North America, and March 29th in Europe.
As for the gameplay itself, expect to see a whole bunch of shiny collectibles and physics-based puzzles designed to make you "think like a snake". In other words, instead of jumping all over the place you'll be able to coil around bamboo, slide alongside walls, extend your body in order to reach distant places, and pretty much everything else you might imagine a snake doing. And if you ever encounter locations that are simply too far to reach, Doodle the friendly Hummingbird will gladly give you a bit of a lift.
If you're wondering what this sort of madness looks like in action, here's one of the most recent gameplay trailers. I would recommend turning on the sound if at all possible as the music is pretty damn awesome. Anyway, here's the video:
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA will be coming to PC and PS4 in fall 2017
- By Ash
- in News
Besides being incredibly strange to actually write down, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is an upcoming action RPG and the long-awaited eight installment of the Ys series. It has been available for quite a while now for the PlayStation Vita in Japan, but soon it will be available in the west as well. The exact date isn't currently known, but what I can tell you is that the English version will arrive for the PC, PS4, and Vita in Fall 2017.
And if you're wondering what the latest Ys game might look like in action, you'll find the full trailer down below. Unfortunately there is no English version just yet, so you'll have to settle for watching the gameplay and cinematics without any actual context. Here's the video:
The Open Beta for Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Wildlands has now begun
- By Ash
- in News
Ghost Recon Wildlands is Ubisoft's upcoming open world tactical shooter where you'll get to join an elite special operations unit in order to take down a rather nasty, and rather well funded drug cartel. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, you'll be glad to hear that the Open Beta has now begun, and will remain active until February 27th.
The Open Beta features 2 out of 21 provinces from the full game: Itacua - a mountainous region with long sight lines and a relatively small cartel presence, and Montuyoc - an inhospitable location that's host to the cartel's elite training centers and filled to the brim with bad guys to take down. As with the full version you can try and accomplish all of your goals through stealth or pure gunplay, singleplayer or co-op, or any mixture of those.
Shadowverse will be getting a second singleplayer story chapter next week
- By Ash
- in News
If you found yourself enjoying the Shadowverse singleplayer campaign, as cheesy and ridiculous as it was, you'll be glad to hear that the first follow-up chapter will be arriving next week. Chapter 2 will not feature all of the in-game characters as the focus this time around is set squarely on Arisa, Erika, and Luna, so hopefully this means the writing will be greatly improved when compared to the original. As for the storyline, its currently being kept secret, but its safe to assume were going to find out what lies beyond the Infinity Gate.
The update will also bring with it a new difficulty setting for practice games, nerfs to Goblin Mage and Piercing Rune, as well as other minor improvements. While the first part might sound completely inconsequential given that not many people care about AI games, it is actually significant for new players as it will bring with it new achievements, and consequently new rewards as well!
Hitman has recently been ported over to Linux
- By Ash
- in News
While it might be lagging an entire year behind the PC release, the Linux version of Hitman has now finally arrived. Much like the majority of Linux ports these days it has not been made by the developers themselves, but rather by Feral Interactive whom you might know from their work on Total War: Warhammer, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, etc.
As for the Mac version, I'm afraid I couldn't find any concrete information. However, Feral Interactive has previously stated that they are waiting for an all-important Metal update in order to start working on Mac versions for their other games, so chances are the same applies to Hitman as well.
Blizzard has announced all of the upcoming changes to the Hearthstone Arena
- By Ash
- in News
After being incredibly hesitant to touch Arena over the past three years, Blizzard has finally decided to jump in and stir things up. Once the next update arrives you can expect to see more high-rarity cards in your draft, a lot more spells, as well as less old and boring neutral cards. And before you start worrying about Mage dominance, I should also mention that both Flamestrike and Abyssal Enforcer are going to be showing up 50% less!
While those changes are all straight up great, there is one that has me slightly worried: "Arena will change from Wild format to Standard". In my eyes Arena has always been a game mode where you're supposed to achieve something amazing with a complete mishmash of cards. You simply cannot rely on synergies or overpowered combos, you have to create your own fortune. With the transition to Standard and Blizzard's recent focus on wide themes over unique cards, all of this might just go away in favor of a watered down Ranked experience. Thankfully, Ben Brode himself has already confirmed that this is simply an experiment, so if it doesn't work out we can expect to see Arena go back into the Wild once more.