Geralt and Ciri from the Witcher playing Gwent

Gwent has recently underwent a massive rework of its core mechanics. The power level of Bronze cards rose up, Round 3 finishers were slightly nerfed, and most importantly of all, Gold cards have lost their immunity which means they can now be damaged and locked like any other card. As you might expect, changes this massive quickly brought with them numerous overpowered decks, the most annoying of which belonged to the Scoia'tael.

So if you're tired of Control ST players constantly slamming your board with earthquakes, or Mulligan ST players starting the round of with 40 points, you'll be glad to hear that the most recent patch has brought in some much needed nerfs. The list is fairly small, so here are all of the balance changes:

Warhammer: End Times Vermintide screenshot of the Witch Hunter

Ever since its release Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide has continuously been updated with new content, items and DLC, so much of it in fact that the base game has essentially been doubled at this point. However, if even all of that was not enough to sate your thirst for Skaven blood, you'll be glad to hear that the developer Fatshark has now not only announced a sequel, but also shrunk the name to a much more manageable Warhammer: Vermintide 2!

The details are currently in short supply, by which I mean there are basically none available, though the developers did release a rather puzzling little teaser trailer. You'll find it right below, but don't expect to find much in terms of revelations unless you're an expert in Skaven lore and can identify creatures based solely on their roars. Here's the video, along with the brief description that arrived with it:

Destiny 2 screenshot from the live action trailer

To say that live action trailers and video games have a bit of a complicated history would be one hell of an understatement. They are often planned and filmed by third-party companies that only have the vaguest of clues what the game in question is all about, which usually results in cringeworthy monstrosity that somehow manages to make the game look worse! If you need a concrete example, just go and check out the original Guild Wars 2 launch trailer. Its quite... special, but unfortunately not in a good way!

With that in mind, I hope you can now appreciate me saying that Destiny 2's live action trailer is not only the correct kind of cheesy, but also surprisingly enjoyable! So if you have two minutes to spare, and you're interested in seeing what a live action version of a "psycho rhino" might look like, you'll find the trailer right below. Have a look: 

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen screenshot of the Hunter enemy

XCOM 2's War of the Chosen expansion set out to greatly improve upon the original, while also adding a bunch of new storylines to explore, factions to befriend, and enemies to miss despite having a 99% chance to hit. I haven't had the time to play it myself due to the dozens of games releasing this week alone, but from all of the reviews I've read so far I am very happy to say it has managed to achieve exactly what it set out to do!

If you would like a good look at what exactly War of the Chosen has to offer, you'll find one of the most recent developer streams down below. Its a bit of a lengthy video, but you only really need to watch for 10 minutes to get a clear picture of what sort of gameplay War of the Chosen is aiming for. Have a gander:

Malekith the Witch King from Total War: Warhammer 2

Total War: Warhammer 2 will be arriving in the near future, bringing with it four new factions to toy around with, as well as a massive new region to explore. Perhaps most importantly of all, shortly after launch Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Warhammer 2's campaign maps will be combined into one absolutely gigantic world!

Due to all of these additions I expected the system requirements for Total War: Warhammer 2 to be sky high, but I am very glad to say that not only are they reasonable, but they are pretty much exactly the same as the original's! If you're wondering what that means exactly, here's the list of system requirements and recommended settings:

Final Fantasy XV PC screenshot of a busy town

The PC version of Final Fantasy XV was announced during the recent gamescom convention, with the developers claiming its going to be far more than a simple PC port. While we obviously can't tell what the final version will play like, the list of features is quite impressive! Final Fantasy XV will come to PC with not only all of the DLC and a first-person mode, but also with support for 4K resolutions and HDR 10, as well as graphical options that can be configured to support resolutions up to a rather ridiculous 8K!

So if you're currently wondering what Final Fantasy XV might look like when all of its graphical settings are maxed out, wonder no more as the recent gameplay trailer showcases just that. Have a look, and do make sure to play the video on the highest quality settings, for obvious reasons:

Rise of the Tomb Raider official artwork without logo

The Humble Monthly Bundle is a $12 subscription service that instantly gives you access to one game, and then a whole bunch more once the next month rolls over. Last month the featured game was Killing Floor 2, while this time around you're looking at the fairly solid Rise of the Tomb Raider.

If you've enjoyed the modern Tomb Raider reboot, but you haven't played the sequel, then I feel I can comfortably recommend you grab it for $12. Its pretty much the exact same game, though with most of the annoying elements removed in favor of smoother gameplay. Rise of the Tomb Raider is not a game that will remain in the history books as a timeless classic, but what it does offer is a dozen or so hours of highly enjoyable exploration, and for the price I would say that's more than acceptable.

Absolver screenshot showing two characters in a fight

[Update]: The Absolver team is now working on Sifu, a singleplayer martial arts roguelike with a bit of a mystical twist!

For reasons utterly unknown to me a rather large amount of games opted to set their release dates for earlier this week, essentially ensuring some of them will get overlooked. If you think I'm exaggerating, let me just say that Destiny 2's Open Beta, the PC version of Sonic Mania, XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, Absolver, and a variety of big updates including the one for Overwatch, all arrived on the same day! This would make some sense if the rest of the week was filled with tons of AAA releases, but as you're probably aware that hasn't exactly been the case.

Strange release dates aside, it is the combat-focused RPG Absolver that I would like to bring to your attention. It is by no means a perfect game and it does struggle with some technical issues, but the concept alone is well worth at least a look, even if you aren't going to touch it until it goes on a deep discount. But rather than babble on, allow me to show you what it looks and plays like via the recently posted launch trailer:

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider screenshot of Billie Lurk looking awesome

In Dishonored: Death of the Outsider we will be taking on the role of the rather intriguing Billie Lurk in order to plan out and execute the most ambitious assassination the world has ever seen: getting rid of the Outsider! As you might imagine, trying to take down a nearly godlike being is not going to be an easy task by any stretch.

To make any of this even remotely possible Death of the Outsider will be giving us access to a variety of new abilities and weapons, which just so happens to be the exactly what the most recent gameplay video is all about. However, even if you don't really care about the new abilities I would still highly recommend you give the video a look as the presenter is insanely good, to the point that I think he can do all of this in his sleep! So if you have 10 minutes to spare you'll find the video right below:

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam screenshot of a gunfight in the middle of a field

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is a 64-player brawl between the US forces and the Vietnamese, with each side having access to their own unique abilities, weapons, and tactical advantages such as napalm strikes and artillery barrages. The entirety of Rising Storm 2 is focused around relatively realistic and authentic combat, so expect to see low kill times, plenty of squad-based strategies, and a whole bunch of enemies that don't exactly want to leave the cover of their tunnels.

Despite being a member of the most popular genre around, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is not a game that's going to appeal to everyone, and this unfortunately includes me as I simply could not get into it. On the positive side, there is currently a free weekend available on Steam, so if you ever wanted to give tactical FPS games a try you now have a chance to do just that. The free weekend will last for another 2 days (from the time of writing), so you should have plenty of time to see just about everything Rising Storm 2 has to offer.