Everspace 2 screenshot of a ship and a whole lot of space

After going through a rather successful Early Access campaign with the original Everspace, Rockfish Games are now aiming to do the same with the newly launched sequel. Much like before, Everspace 2 is a spaceship shooter that's all about exploring the galaxy, collecting copious amounts of loot, and greeting all sorts of alien species and pirates with an assortment of high-powered weaponry.

As for what all of this looks like in actual gameplay, that you can find out through the freshly posted trailer. Have a gander:

Curse of the Dead Gods official artwork and logo

Curse of the Dead Gods is an indie roguelite that's all about exploring a variety of dungeons littered with traps, dealing with all sorts of permanent curses, and naturally, hacking and slashing your way through hordes upon hordes of enemies. That last part is perhaps the most exciting as the combat system is rather weighty and fairly varied, with plenty of chances to either excel due to skillful play or merely fall flat on your face.

If that sort of thing sounds like it's right up your alley, you might be interested to hear that Curse of the Dead Gods will soon be launching from Steam Early Access. And when I say soon, I really do mean that as it'll be landing onto PC and consoles this February 23rd alongside a major update.

Skul: The Hero Slayer official artwork and logo

After spending about a year in Early Access, the action roguelike Skul: The Hero Slayer has now finally been released in full. Version 1.0 brings with it two new chapters to explore, the entirety of the story to experience, brand new upgrades and NPCs to uncover, an extensive rebalance of skills and enemies, and naturally, a whole bunch of bug fixes.

What all of this looks like in actual gameplay, however, that you can find out through the recently posted launch trailer. Have a gander, it's a pretty stylish one:

The Binding of Isaac: Repentance official artwork and logo

[Update]: The Binding of Isaac's final and absolutely massive expansion Repentance has now been unleashed!

After already going through a few rounds of "this is totally the final expansion guys," it seems that Edmund McMillen and The Binding of Isaac team are now finally serious about it. As such, The Binding of Isaac's "FINAL FINAL FINAL mega expansion" Repentance will be launching on March 31, 2021 to not only bring the series to an end (at least for now), but to also make it one of the most insanely replayable games around.

You can expect to see 130 new items to toy around with (which brings the total number to 700), over 100 new enemies and enemy variations, and even a fully fleshed out alternate path that leads to new chapters and a unique final boss. There will also be 25 new random bosses, 2 new playable characters, 5 new challenges, over 100 new achievements, and perhaps most importantly of all, 5000 new room designs to explore!

Axiom Verge giant robot head screenshot

Regardless of how good a metroidvania game may be, there always comes a point where you've beaten it so many times that there is no mystery or challenge left. Or rather, that used to be the case. These days, thanks to the ever-growing popularity of modding, many metroidvania games have randomizers that shake up the whole experience and make each playthrough almost as mysterious as the very first one.

In this regard, Axiom Verge is no different. However, instead of leaving everything at the hands of modders, the Axiom Verge team has now decided to join forces with them and release an official randomizer game mode! It's currently only available as a beta update on Steam and the Epic Games Store, though once sufficiently tested, it'll be released for free on all platforms.

Dead Cells official artwork from the Fatal Falls DLC

[Update]: The Fatal Falls DLC has now arrived alongside two fancy new biomes to explore.

Nearly a year has gone by since The Bad Seed, Dead Cells' very first piece of DLC, but the long wait for additional content will soon be over as the second DLC is just around the corner. And I really do mean that, because the Fatal Falls DLC will be launching onto PC and consoles this January 26th!

In terms of content, Fatal Falls is once again going to be on the smaller and cheaper side of things. You can expect to see two new mid-game biomes filled with an assortment of traps and neat-looking enemies. The Undying Shores will have you scale a massive sea cliff, the Fractured Shrines will have you hop across a bunch of floating islands, while the boss focused Mausoleum will have you face off against an aging gardener that loves flowers, mushrooms and trying to chop your head off with a giant scythe!

Cyber Shadow official artwork with logo

[Update]: Cyber Shadow has now been released, and unsurprisingly, it's quite a challenging game!

If you're in the mood for some good ol' fashioned slicing and dicing through hordes of pixely enemies, you might want to keep an eye on the upcoming Cyber Shadow. To put it simply, Cyber Shadow is a Ninja Gaiden inspired retro action-platformer with plenty of challenging bosses and levels filled with all sorts of secrets and upgrades to collect.

You can get a pretty good idea of what all of this looks like in gameplay terms, as well as what kind of soundtrack you'll be jamming out to, through the recently posted trailer. Have a gander:

Darkest Dungeon official artwork and logo

[Update]: Darkest Dungeon 2 is heading into Early Access on October 26, 2021

While not exactly the most Christmassy game given that it's all about suffering, madness and death, Darkest Dungeon is still a pretty darn good game to spend the holiday season with. As such, I am more than happy to say that the Epic Games Store is currently giving it away for free!

Naturally, the giveaway won't last long, so make sure to pick up your Christmas present sooner rather than later. Once you have it unlocked on your account you'll be able to play it whenever you want and for however long you want, so a little bit of haste right now is well worth it.

Stardew Valley splitscreen co-op screenshot

[Update]: Stardew Valley's ConcernedApe is working on a charming new life sim - Haunted Chocolatier!

Last year Stardew Valley's Update 1.4 brought with it an impressive amount of new content, but all of that pales in comparison to what has just arrived with Update 1.5. The freshly released patch not only brings with it a plethora of new content and quality of life improvements, but also some features that have been continuously requested ever since Stardew Valley first launched, things like splitscreen multiplayer!

You can also expect to see a sizable new location to explore, tons of new dialogue, new characters to interact with (including one that's fully fleshed out just like the original villagers), and even a new farm designed with veterans in mind. Speaking of which, there's also a new "Advanced Game Options" button on the character creation menu that lets you customize your playthrough and really shake things up.

Monster Sanctuary official artwork and logo

[Update]: Monster Sanctuary has added New Game Plus and two extra difficulty modes.

If you're a fan of Pokemon but wish there was a greater focus on exploration and using your abilities to help you reach new and exciting places, then you might want to check out the freshly released Monster Sanctuary. It is essentially Pokemon meets Metroidvania, though with enough unique ideas and flare to make itself stand out from the crowd.

So not only will you be able to roam across the world in order to capture and train an assortment of monsters, but also specialize them through skill trees, as well as further enhance their potency with special weapons and accessories. Outside of the 3v3 battles, however, you'll also be able to use the monsters' unique abilities to help traverse the terrain, solve puzzles, and also open up new pathways.