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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:
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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:
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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:
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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:
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Mirage: Arcane Warfare is the spiritual successor to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, though with the highly armored and constantly screaming knights replaced with magic-wielding madmen. It released on Steam a little while ago to some fairly mixed reviews, after which it slowly but surely started losing most of its active playerbase. Not exactly ideal for a multiplayer focused game.
Thankfully, it does appear that the developers are not giving up on Mirage just yet. In an effort to boost the dwindling population they have announced that Mirage will be completely free to grab later today, though only for 24 hours, after which the price will drop to $10 permanently. The offer will become available on September 6th at 10am PT, after which all you will need to do is simply click the "Play Game" button - you don't even need to install it right away in order to 'lock in' your copy.
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During the recent gamescom 2017 convention Blizzard finally unveiled the first of many cinematic shorts planned for the relatively near future. Unlike the previous cinematics that focused primarily on action, the recent Rise and Shine short was more about exploring Mei as a character and giving everyone a good look at what exactly keeps her going despite the odds being stacked against her.
If you're wondering how exactly that story was created, and why the Overwatch developers felt it was even worthy of attention, you'll find the answers you seek in the latest "The Making of" developer diary. Have a look, its well worth the six minutes:
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[Update]: CD Projekt Red has announced that The Witcher 4 is currently being made in Unreal Engine 5!
If you asked me what I thought about The Witcher when it first launched I would've probably answered with a series of expletives. It might sound like an overreaction now, but on its release date it was a completely buggy and nigh unplayable mess. I remember picking it up on a whim, struggling for over an hour to get it to actually run, and then getting stuck on a set of stairs the moment I started playing... not exactly the best first impression.
However, despite critics and users alike panning The Witcher, CDPR did not stop patching and adding content to it. If I remember correctly it took them over a year to finally get it into a polished state, after which I finally caved in and gave it a second try, only to realize that its actually pretty damn good!
The combat was still a bit on the boring side, but the storytelling was expertly done, the characters all likable and interesting, and the whole "mature" angle used for more than a constant barrage of swear words. As such, I really have to give credit to CDPR here. Instead of backing down and quietly working on a new game, they chose to slowly but surely address just about every flaw, all of it purely because they wanted to make a quality game people would love to dive into.
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In an announcement that I must admit came as a complete surprise, Square Enix revealed that they are working on a Secret of Mana remake. However, unlike the 2D art style of the original SNES game, the new Secret of Mana will be going for a 3D look. Whether that's going to affect gameplay in any way, I'm afraid I don't know, but its certainly an interesting and somewhat strange choice on Square Enix's part.
While the announcement trailer does not feature much in-game footage, it should be enough to give you at least a general idea of what kind of style the new Secret of Mana is going for. Have a look, the gameplay clips are near the very end:
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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:
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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: