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Created in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Gold Box series of PC games represents a whole bunch of classic Dungeons & Dragons based RPGs. So if you're in the mood for some heavy nostalgia, or simply curious about the early days of D&D RPGs, you'll be happy to hear that the Gold Box games have now landed onto Steam.
However, instead of everything being a part of a single collection, the Gold Box games have been separated by series and are now a part of eight separate 'collections'. Since trying to track them all down is a bit of a nightmare, allow me to give you a hand by listing all of the bundles and what they contain:
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[Update #2]: Diablo 4 will be launching on June 6th, 2023 with five classes: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue and Sorceress.
[Update]: Diablo 4's August 2022 update has detailed the post-launch plans, seasons and in-game shop.
While Diablo 4's release date is still nowhere to be seen, Blizzard has at least been pretty diligent with keeping the community in the loop with detailed developer updates discussing various aspects of Diablo 4's design. Last time they talked about gameplay focused things like itemization, character progression and visual effects for abilities, while this time around it's all about the visuals and the design behind the environments and dungeons.
The most interesting bit of new information is that Diablo 4 will have over 150 randomized dungeons to explore. So in order to ensure these dungeons don't become repetitive and boring, the team has created tile-sets and decoration in such a way that they can be used in multiple locations, as well as mixed and matched to create entirely new environments without the need for new assets.
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[Update]: More good news! Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is bringing in a crossover level inspired by Journey.
In an announcement that I don't think I could've predicted even in a thousand years, the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night team has now revealed that they are adding a brand new character. The really surprising part is that instead of going with a reworked boss or an NPC from the game itself, the new character will be Aurora from Ubisoft's Child of Light!
Aurora will come armed with the Sword of Matildis and the Light Ray skill, and will also be accompanied by her loyal companion Igniculus. He will act independently of the player and will focus on both slowing down enemies and healing Aurora whenever necessary. Furthermore, as you journey throughout the game you will be able to unlock additional powers by defeating bosses and absorbing Shards, much like some of the other characters.
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[Update]: Apex Legends' Season 13 is adding Bangalore's brother and sprucing up the Storm Point map.
As a part of a little experiment, Apex Legends Season 12 - Defiance added Control as a highly enjoyable yet limited-time game mode. Well, I'm pleased to say that the experiment seems to have gone over well as the action packed 9v9 mode will be returning with today's (March 29, 2022) Warriors update, though once again as a limited-time event.
More importantly, Control won't be coming back empty handed, but rather alongside a new map to explore. The Caustic Treatment area from Kings Canyon will be getting chopped up and fitted with all sorts of new toys like ziplines, skydive launches and hover tanks in order to make it an interesting playground for Control.
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As a part of the recent storyline Fortnite temporarily removed everyone's ability to build things in the default battle royale mode. While that restriction has now gone away, I'm happy to say that the overwhelmingly positive feedback on the "no build" mode was heard loud and clear!
So with the appropriately titled Zero Build update, Fortnite has now officially added a permanent new game mode without any sort of building in it! Best of all, the Zero Build mode is available across all of the main playlists: Solo, Duos, Trios and Squads!
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[Update]: Postal 4: No Regerts has now been unleashed from Early Access, and unsurprisingly it's a bit of a technical mess.
If you're in the mood for some complete and utter nonsense, you'll be pleased to hear that the long-awaited Postal 4 will be launching from Early Access this April 20th, 2022. The full version will bring it a fancy new grappling hook, improved errands and more side content, better cut scenes and character models, as well as the usual assortment of bug fixes and improvements.
As a little treat, Running With Scissors has also gone through the effort of recording three different voices for the main character, the Postal Dude! So depending on your preference you'll be able to listen to Rick Hunter (the original), Corey Cruise (the voice of the disastrous Postal 3) or just stick with the default Jon St. John (voice of Duke Nukem).
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[Update]: One Piece Odyssey has now been unleashed, and judging by the Steam reviews, it seems to be quite solid!
After a whole bunch of games focused on fast-paced action, it looks like Bandai Namco and ILCA will be taking the freshly announced One Piece Odyssey in a bit of a different direction. Instead of some sort of fighting game or hack & slash, One Piece Odyssey will be an expansive turn-based RPG. Can't say I could've predicted that one!
Not only that, but One Piece Odyssey will also be getting an original storyline by the series' author Eiichiro Oda, along with an assortment of unique new characters and monsters to complement the usual bunch. A good thing too, because this way One Piece Odyssey should hopefully be approachable to even those that have no idea what the series is all about.
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[Update #2]: Hogwarts Legacy has now arrived, and I'm happy to say that it's looking quite good so far!
[Update]: Hogwarts Legacy devs have now detailed the PC system requirements and their expected performance.
The upcoming Hogwarts Legacy will be an immersive open-world RPG set within Hogwarts in the 1800s. As you might expect, most of your time there will be spent learning magic through a variety of wildly dangerous classes, exploring a whole bunch of familiar and new locations, and as is tradition, battling the forces of evil for the very fate of the world!
Rather than babble on, allow me to share with you the recently posted and extremely lengthy gameplay preview. It'll give you a pretty good idea of just what Hogwarts Legacy is about, what it's trying to achieve, as well as whether it's even your type of game or not. Have a gander:
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While Supermassive Games have continued making new narrative-focused horror games after Until Dawn, none of them have ever managed to reach the same sort of heights, either due to a lack of budget or the intentionally smaller scope. However, with the freshly announced The Quarry, it looks like Supermassive Games are going back to the old formula!
As such, you can expect The Quarry to bring with it a suspenseful story about nine camp counselors being pushed from one horrific situation to another. Depending on your choices they will either end up as one of the heroes saving the day, or simply yet another in a long line of victims. Whatever the case may be, the story will continue on, which should give The Quarry a fair bit of replay value.
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[Update #2]: Overwatch 2 will be reworking classic maps to make them function with only one tank per team.
[Update]: Overwatch's Anniversary Remix event will be landing on April 5th, 2022 with stylish recolors of popular skins to help get everyone excited for the beta.
One of the best things that came out of Apex Legends has been the whole ping system. It's a simple, elegant and extremely useful way of communicating in even the most hectic of situations, so I'm very pleased to say that Blizzard will be adapting it for Overwatch 2 and its upcoming beta!
When it comes to friendly communication, the Overwatch 2 ping system will work pretty much exactly how you would expect. If you select the "Group Up" or "I need healing" options, the ping will activate on top of your hero and make it easy for your friends to help you out. On the other hand, if you select the "Attack" function it'll plop down a ping right where you were pointing with your crosshair.