Artwork and logo for Obsidian's Tyranny RPG

I've mentioned this multiple times since my initial review for Tyranny, but the campaign ended in such an anticlimactic way that it was practically guaranteed Obsidian was planning to do an expansion or sequel of some sort. After quite a long wait the expansion has now finally arrived, hopefully bringing with it enough new story content to give the ending a proper conclusion.

I haven't played it myself, but according to Obsidian you can expect to see new companion quests and storylines involving Verse, Barik, and Lantry, a whole bunch of new features and expanded content for Tyranny's solely lacking end-game, and naturally, a brand new region to explore and potentially devastate. If you're wondering what all of this might look like in game, here's the recently posted launch trailer:

Samorost 3 screenshot of a space moth

If your backlog is looking a bit empty, but you don't feel like spending a lot of money in order to fill it, I would highly recommend you check out the Humble Jumbo Bundle 9 before it goes away. The bundle features a variety of interesting games, the majority of which have great reviews on Steam, though I would say that Samorost 3 and Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide are worth the price of admission alone.

So if your interest is slightly piqued and you're now wondering what the bundle has to offer, allow me to share with you the list of games and the tier they appear in. Have a look:

Assassin's Creed Origins screenshot of our character with a Hawk

After the fairly mediocre Assassin's Creed Syndicate Ubisoft opted to take a rather lengthy hiatus from the series, all in an effort to come back with fresh new ideas and less terrifying bugs. The product of all that work, as you might imagine, is the recently announced Assassin's Creed Origins. It will bring with it a setting not often see in gaming, a somewhat realistic depiction of Ancient Egypt, as well as numerous gameplay improvements, the most important of which is the shift from 1-on-1 combat to a more tactical system that will reward stealth and positioning above all.

While the recently posted cinematic trailer won't show you any of the combat maneuvers, it will give you a pretty damn good look at the setting and the type of story Ubisoft is trying to tell. So if you're interested in Assassin's Creed, or just lovely artwork in general, I would recommend you give it a look. Here's the video:

Gwent: Thronebreaker official artwork and logo

CDPR recently announced that Gwent will soon be getting its very first major expansion. More importantly, however, they also revealed that the Thronebreaker expansion won't just be a simple influx of new cards, but rather a lengthy singleplayer campaign with a focus on storytelling! The details are still fairly vague, but if CDPR says we'll be getting some "thought-provoking" quests to embark on, I am inclined to believe them given the quality of The Witcher 3's expansions.

Similarly, not much is known about the story itself, but if you're interested in a brief teaser you can find the recently posted announcement video right below. I'll also include a short overview that came with the announcement, though I'm afraid you won't be finding out much in terms of details just yet. Anyway, have a look:

Roadhog artwork from the recent Wasted Land comic

Ever since Doomfist's launch Blizzard has been really consistent with the release of new bits and pieces of lore. In these last few months alone they've slightly tweaked Numbani and Eco Point Antarctica to better represent the current story, showed off a brand new cinematic short starring Mei, and even released a rather intriguing comic that focused entirely on the villains, characters that never really get much screen time outside of being beaten up.

Continuing on with the same theme, and no doubt inspired by the upcoming payload map Junkertown, Blizzard has just now released a short comic detailing how Roadhog and Junkrat first met. You can find the standard version by heading over here, though I would suggest you check out the animated version instead as its a lot more atmospheric. Either way, its well worth a read!

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord official artwork and logo

[Update]: The long wait is now finally over - Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord has now arrived onto Steam Early Access!

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord's release date is still completely shrouded in mystery, but given the amount of gameplay footage coming out recently it appears we're getting quite close to it. A good thing too since even in its preview builds Bannerlord seems to be pretty damn excellent!

So if you're interested in finding out what Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord plays like, or what the newly introduced Captain Mode is all about, you'll find what you seek in the latest video down below. Have a look, its rather interesting:

Hearthstone screenshot of the burned Orc from the cinematic short

Ever since the Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion released Hearthstone has been dominated by Jade Druids and Pirate Warriors, two archetypes that have been highly problematic since their inception. After the usual song and dance of claiming everything is fine the Hearthstone devs have reacted with surprising speed and announced a bunch of upcoming nerfs... though not to the cards you might expect.

Instead of slamming some of the extremely efficient pirates or the ever-present Jade Idol, Blizzard has put their sights squarely on classic card such as Fiery War Axe and Innervate. If you're interested in Blizzard's reasoning behind these changes you'll find what you seek on the official blog, but for now here are the changes themselves:

Stellaris Synthetic Dawn screenshot of the alien from the trailer

After the success of the Leviathans story pack Paradox has opted to create another one, this time around focusing on the rather enigmatic robotic factions. What this means in gameplay terms is that you will have unique mechanics and event chains that allow you to expand your AI dominion across the stars, oppressed synths can rebel against their masters and form new empires, and there is even an ancient robotic civilization hidden in the depths of space, simply waiting to be discovered!

That would be the short version, but if you're interested in all of the details you'll find what you seek in the recently posted "Feature Breakdown" video. Its only three minutes long, so if you have even a tiny bit of curiosity about the upcoming Synthetic Dawn story pack I would suggest you give it a look. Here's the video:

Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire screenshot of the Raptor mounts

Guild Wars 2's Path of Fire expansion is set to arrive later this month, bringing with it a whole bunch of new content to mess around with. We'll be able to explore the Crystal Desert and the adjoining kingdom of Elona, fight against the Human god of war Balthazar and his metallic minions, test out nine new elite specializations, and perhaps most importantly of all, ride a variety of mounts that each come with their own unique abilities and effects.

If you're wondering what exactly the mounts are all about, and what ArenaNet has planned for them, I would recommend you check out the most recent Developer Dairy detailing just that. Its about four minutes long, but its definitely worth the time as it also tells the tale of mounts that never came to fruition, mounts such as the giant Corgi! With that adorable image now stuck in your mind, here's the video:

Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor - Martyr screenshot of a Chaos Space Marine

Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor - Martyr is an action-RPG that aims to combine the grim darkness of the Warhammer 40k universe with the open-ended gameplay of the Diablo series. What this means in gameplay terms is that Inquisitor - Marty features randomizes levels, a massive focus on replayability with a whole bunch of different weapons and abilities to toy around with, and naturally, hordes upon hordes of enemies to mow down.

While the recently posted cinematic trailer won't exactly give you a good look at what the gameplay is all about, it should at least show you what sort of style Inquisitor Martyr is aiming for. But enough babble from me, here's the video: