MTG Arena's October 13th update will ban The Meathook Massacre from the Standard format
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: I have some excellent news to share! The Brother's War expansion will be massively increasing the amount of Rare and Mythic cards given to players!
[Update]: MTG Arena's big artifact focused expansion The Brother's War is launching on November 15th.
Given the prevalence of black decks throughout the Standard metagame ever since Sheoldred, the Apocalypse popped up with the Dominaria United set, it was only a matter of time before the color got smacked by the banhammer. What might come as quite as surprise, however, is that Wizards of the Coast has decided to only hit a single card - The Meathook Massacre!
"As is often the case, the Standard card pool rotation with the release of Dominaria United caused quite a shakeup, with cards from the new set finding their places into decks, and many of last year's cards shifting context within the new metagame," explains the brief update. "As the format has settled into place, the color black has proven powerful and prolific, and makes up the foundation of many of the top decks."
CD Projekt Red's future plans include a new Witcher trilogy, a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, and a brand new IP
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #3]: CD Projekt Red will be drastically slowing down development on Gwent: The Witcher Card Game in 2023 and beyond.
[Update #2]: The Witcher 3's next gen update is coming to PC and consoles on December 14, 2022 alongside a free DLC based on the Netflix TV show.
[Update]: Project Canis Majoris has been revealed as a modern remake of the original Witcher game!
While CD Projekt Red most likely has their hands full with the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty, that hasn't stopped them from sketching out a rather ambitious roadmap of future releases. Before we begin, it's important to mention that all of these games are still under heavy development and so not only is there barely any information about them, but they also likely won't be launching for quite a few years.
That said, there are three different Witcher projects currently in development. First and foremost, CD Projekt Red themselves will be working on a brand new Witcher trilogy. Accompanying them will be Project Sirius - a The Molasses Flood (Drake Hollow and The Flame in the Flood) developed game focused on "telling an unforgettable story for existing Witcher fans and new audiences." That's not all, however, as Project Canis Majoris will also be joining the group as a third-party, story-driven open world RPG set within the expansive Witcher world.
No Man’s Sky's Update 4.0 is all about fine-tuning your gameplay experience and level of challenge
- By Ash
- in News
Unlike some of the previous patches that were based around new gameplay mechanics or overhauls, No Man's Sky's freshly released Update 4.0 - Waypoint has decided to instead focus on what was already present. In other words, a good chunk of the Waypoint update has been dedicated to creating a vast array of options for you to tweak in order to fine-tune your gameplay experience.
This means you can mess around with everything from combat balance and your ability to sprint to the amount of natural resources found on planets and even the consequences for dying. And if you don't feel like tweaking things yourself, there are also new difficulty modes to choose from that can help you either explore the galaxy at a nice and casual pace or test your mettle at every step with an assortment of new challenges.
Dead Cells has added a Boss Rush mode with souped-up enemies and a bunch of fancy rewards
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: Dead Cells' first 2023 expansion will be a rather ambitious crossover with Castlevania.
[Update]: Dead Cells' second big indie crossover update has added Terraria, Slay the Spire and Risk of Rain themed items, among others.
Instead of adding a brand new biome or a whole assortment of weapons to toy around with, Dead Cells' latest Boss Rush update has gone for a more focused approach. As such, it brings with it a couple of new items to experiment with, as well as a Boss Rush mode that lets you fight against both basic and enhanced versions of bosses, the latter of which come with things like "extra limbs, healing powers, or buddies to help them kill you!"
You can access the Boss Rosh through a basement door in the Prisoner's Quarters, the same place you can find the Training Room and the Tailor. Once you're inside you will find four additional doors to choose from, each one essentially representing a difficulty setting. The first two will have you fight against three basic and enhanced bosses respectively, while the second pair will up the ante and have you fight five one after another.
Steam is slightly reshuffling their sales, while the Autumn Sale 2022 will be starting on November 22nd
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #3]: Steam's massive Winter Sale has now arrived along with the chance to vote for the Steam Awards 2022!
[Update #2]: Steam's Autumn Sale 2022 has now arrived alongside the annual Steam Awards nominations.
[Update]: Steam's Scream Fest 2022, one of the smaller sales, has now arrived with a whole bunch of horror game discounts and free demos.
While the holiday season is definitely a good time to launch some sales, Steam went a bit overboard with the whole thing by essentially having three massive sales release one after another: the Autumn sale in November, the Winter sale in December, and the Lunar New Year sale in January. Given how barren the rest of the year was, this needed to be changed.
As such, Valve has now decided to remove the Lunar New Year sale and replace it with the Spring sale as one of the four major seasonal events. However, while the Lunar New Year sale may no longer be directly supported by Valve, it's highly likely this period will bring with it a whole bunch of discounts regardless.
Choo-Choo Charles, a survival horror game starring a demonic train, is launching this December 9th
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Choo-Choo Charles has now arrived, and as you would expect it's really short, a bit janky, yet also quite fascinating.
Despite the name making it sound like one of those Thomas the Tank Engine Skyrim mods, Choo-Choo Charles is a surprisingly serious survival-horror game about trying to escape, outmaneuver and eventually destroy a demonic train. In order to do so you'll have to frequently leave the safety of your cabin to search for resources and bizarre artifacts, carefully drive your train and plan your routes in order to avoid the evil glare of Charles, take further risks to help the locals in exchange for new weaponry, and slowly but surely upgrade your own train to the point where you can attempt to challenge the forces of darkness directly.
If this kind of insanity sounds like it's right up your alley, you'll be happy to hear that you won't have to wait all that long in order to dive in. According to the latest developer update, Choo-Choo Charles will be launching onto PC via Steam on December 9th, 2022!
Total War: Warhammer 3's Update 2.2 will beef up the AI and reduce the number of settlement battles
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Total War: Warhammer 3 has made the Immortal Empires combined campaign map free for all owners!
[Update]: I'm pleased to say that everything has gone according to plan and so Update 2.2 has now been unleashed!
As a part of Update 2.0 in August Total War: Warhammer 3 added an absurd amount of new content, improvements and balance changes to play around with. This includes things like the unified Immortal Empires campaign map, a brand new DLC featuring four powerful Chaos champions, the long-awaited arrival of blood & gore effects, a full rework of the Warriors of Chaos faction, a ton of tweaks to a whole bunch of older factions and legendary lords, and the list goes on for a while.
Unsurprisingly, given the sheer scope of the changes, some of the new additions have launched alongside quite a few problems. For example, the AI is currently far too passive and weak to truly challenge the players, even on the hardest difficulty settings. So in order to fix this and similarly annoying problems, Creative Assembly is currently aiming to release Update 2.2 on October 18th!