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[Update]: December 6th has now rolled around, and with it Aiko's Choice has finally been unleashed!
The original Shadow Tactics was a remarkably fun mixture of Commandos-style stealth and strategy, which is why I'm pleased to say that it's soon getting its very first expansion! Shadow Tactics - Aiko's Choice will be launching for Windows and Linux on December 6, 2021, and best of all, it'll be an entirely standalone addition!
In terms of content, Aiko's Choice will feature three lengthy missions set in brand new environments, three shorter 'interlude' missions, a highly specialized team of characters that each plays an important part, and as is tradition, a whole bunch of different ways to approach each obstacle.
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I have to hand it to Riot, between the recently launched Ruined King game and animated Arcane show they've done a tremendous job of expanding the League of Legends universe. Best of all, Riot doesn't seem to be slowing down even a tiny bit as they've already announced the next big Riot Forge project - Song of Nunu.
As you might expect from the name alone, Song of Nunu will have you play as the young Nunu and his best friend, the giant and rather excitable yeti named Willump. The two of them will have to brave the treacherous Freljord in search of Nunu's lost mother, all the while discovering many long-lost myths and secrets of the region.
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[Update]: The remaster has now arrived, and I'm happy to say it's looking quite good!
After a remarkably solid remaster of the original Sam & Max Save the World, Skunkape Games are now just about ready to give the second season the same treatment. So if you're in the mood for absurd and often slapstick humor, mark December 8th on your calendar as that's when Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space - Remastered will be landing onto PC, Xbox and Switch.
Much like before, the remastered version will bring with it support for modern resolutions, dynamic lighting and improved lip sync, as well as greatly improved visuals and character models. You can also expect to see higher quality audio, a couple of extra locations and music tracks, as well as the ability to shift between three different control styles.
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[Update #2]: ArenaNet have now detailed how the End of Dragons expansion Legendaries will work.
[Update]: The fourth beta event has now arrived, and unsurprisingly, the Siege Turtle is pretty darn cool!
Throughout the past three beta events ArenaNet has given players a chance to test out all nine of the upcoming elite specializations from the End of Dragons expansion. While some, like the gunblade-wielding Bladesworn, ended up being an instant hit with the community, specializations like the Untamed and Harbinger garnered a far colder response due to their numerous issues.
Thankfully, this doesn't look like it'll be a problem for very long as ArenaNet has just announced an assortment of balance and design changes aimed at addressing player feedback. Literally every single specialization has undergone numerous improvements and will most certainly play far smoother than their first incarnation.
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[Update #2]: Continuing with the Slaanesh theme, Creative Assembly has now released a second Slaanesh vs Nurgle battle that goes quite a bit differently!
[Update]: It's finally time for excess! Creative Assembly has now released a close-up look at the Daemons of Slaanesh.
Over the past week Creative Assembly has gone into detail about the daemons of Nurgle, showcasing everything from their campaign mechanics to their army roster. Now, however, it is finally time to see what Nurgle's corpulent crew look like in combat!
Without further ado, allow me to share with you the recently posted preview highlighting a battle between Nurgle's Ku'gath Plaguefather and the daemons of Slaanesh who are (suspiciously) not being led by N'Kari. Have a gander, it's a pretty fun (and disgusting) one:
PC version of Monster Hunter Rise will launch with seemingly all of the Switch's post-launch content
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[Update]: My review of Monster Hunter Rise (PC) has now been released, and I'm very happy to say that it's a great port for a compelling yet somewhat unambitious Monster Hunter game.
While the PC version of Monster Hunter: World ended up being amazing, it was still quite obvious that the team was rather inexperienced when it came to PC development. Nowhere was this more apparent than with the post-launch updates, and this includes the Iceborne expansion, given that they usually took many months to make the transition from consoles to PC.
With all of that in mind, I'm extremely happy to say that the same will not be happening with the upcoming Monster Hunter Rise! Once it arrives onto PC this January 12, 2022 Monster Hunter Rise will bring with it all of the post-launch content from the Switch version up to Patch 3.6.1, while the two versions will achieve complete synchronization by the end of February 2022.
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In an announcement that I must admit comes as quite a surprise, Epic Games has now acquired Harmonix - the studio behind musical games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Given their expertise, I'm sure it'll come as a massive surprise to hear that Harmonix will be tasked with developing music-focused gameplay experiences for Fortnite and the whole Metaverse Epic is currently in the process of building.
“Music is already bringing millions of people together in Fortnite, from our emotes to global concerts and events,” explained Alain Tascan, Vice President of Game Development at Epic Games. “Together with the Harmonix team we will transform how players experience music, going from passive listeners to active participants.”
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[Update #2]: The Steam Awards 2021 winners have now been revealed, and I'm happy to say the Steam community has voted for a quality batch of games!
[Update]: Steam's Winter Sale is landing on December 22nd alongside the Steam Awards voting process.
I hope your will is strong, because Steam's massive Autumn sale has now arrived! While there are once again no fun gimmicks to mess around with, the good news is that Autumn sale has brought with it a truly immense number of games at equally immense discounts.
If you're not exactly sure which games to go for, however, allow me to share with you some of the ones I've enjoyed over the past few years. Here they are, in no particular order:
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[Update]: I hope you're ready for a party, because the Season 6 update has now arrived!
If you're looking for an excuse to dive back into Fall Guys, you'll be pleased to hear that the Season 6 update is now nearly upon us. Fall Guys Season 6: Party Spectacular will bring with it a variety of colorful obstacles to tackle, everything from water balloon cannons to vacuum tubes, as well as an assortment of over-the-top costumes so you can look your best while you fall off the map.
You can get a pretty good idea of what all of this looks like in action through two of the recently posted trailers. The first is the cinematic one setting up the whole theme, while the second one is all about showing off the new traps and toys in action. Have a gander:
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[Update]: The base version of The Sims 4 is now entirely free-to-play on both PC and consoles.
In an effort to make the Sims world a more interesting place, The Sims 4 will be adding Neighborhood Stories as a part of the upcoming November 30th update. To put it quite simply, the goal behind Neighborhood Stories is to breathe life into non-active Sims by giving them the ability to change, attempt new things, have a baby, and so forth.
The initial implementation of Neighborhood Stories will be quite simple, though the team is already looking to expand the idea by taking pointers from The Sims 3's well-received Story Progression system. For now, however, neighboring Sims will independently consider changing their current career, having a baby with their partner, as well as hanging out with other Sims and perhaps even forming deeper friendships.