Former Fortnite and Blizzard developers have formed new studio Lightforge Games to make a multiplayer RPG that applies the collaborative world-building and storytelling of original tabletop Dungeons & Dragons to the polished video game presentation of its successors in the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Romance sim masquerading as fantasy RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 is putting vaseline on its lips, wiggling a little bit of tongue out and practising in the mirror for its next big update. That’s right, just in time for Valentine’s Day (or maybe just after), Larian are dropping the “Improved Smooches” patch.
When playing any character-driven videogame I sometimes experience a sensation akin to my eyes unfocussing, and remember that I’m not, strictly speaking, controlling a body in a world, but interacting with a simulation that includes representations of a body and a world. The character is just an interfacial node in a vast tangle of visible and invisible elements; by moving the character, I cause objects, surfaces, creatures to load or unload, spring into motion or change colour and a million things besides.
Some games foreground these interdependencies by fictionalising the simulation as a giant organism or ecosystem, a more intriguing kind of “living, breathing” environment which is aware of your presence within it. Amongst these games is Ultros, a side-scrolling, psychedelic metroidvania – or as developers Hadoque might prefer, “gardenvania” – which launches next week.
Dead Cells is… dead?
After five years of post-launch support, Motion Twin and Evil Empire have today announced that there will be no new Dead Cells content added to the game after the release of Update 35.
The announcement was made via a post on the game’s Steam page and on the Evil Empire Twitter account, with both teams thanking players for their support and promising that there are exciting things on the way in the future.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Promenade is coming to Xbox Series S|X and Xbox One on February 23. And we at Red Art Games are so excited that we wanted to give everybody the opportunity to try out the game before it comes out. That’s why we put together a playable demo that give players a taste of what we believe makes Promenade so good. That demo is available right now! But before we get into the demo’s content, let us tell you a bit more about Promenade.
In Promenade, you play as Nemo, a kid who finds himself dropped into a world that is as mysterious as it is colorful. Luckily for him, he won’t have to make his way through this magical place alone. When things look like they couldn’t get any worse for him, a cute, and very skilled, octopus swoops in to save the day. Joined by his new cephalopod sidekick, Nemo is tasked with the mission to repair the Great Elevator whose cogs have been scattered all around the world by a scary character. Why did that mean looking guy break everything you ask? You will have to play Promenade to find out!
What we can tell you is that to put the all important elevator back in working condition, the brave duo will have to go on a life-changing trip across a mysterious world full of challenges, puzzle, races and funny looking creatures. In order to collect the 180 cogs needed to fully repair the elevator, Nemo and the octopus will have to face many challenges. But it will be worth it in the end.
Promenade is a charming 2D Collectathon full of gameplay ideas and memorable scenes. Its story, told through environmental storytelling, is one of growth. Throughout his journey, Nemo will learn to overcome his fears and self doubt. Promenade’s creators were inspired by numerous and varied pieces of work such as “Alice in Wonderland” , “Little Nemo” – after which the protagonist too his name – “Adventure Time” , “Peter Pan” , “Gravity Falls” and “Over the Garden Wall” . And even though it is a 2D game, Promenade has also been inspired by 3D gaming classics such as Banjo-Kazooie and Spyro the Dragon. The game’s creators worked tirelessly to reinvent as a 2D title a genre that is closely associated with 3D games.
In the Promenade demo, players get the opportunity to try out four different gameplay sequences, as many times as they like. We carefully selected those sections of the game as we believe that they show what Promenade has to offer without spoiling the latter levels. The first sequence, called ”Cavern of Awakening” starts off with the opening cutscene and leads into the tutorial level. When they reach the end of the level, players have a good grasp of the game’s controls.
The second sequence, “Sandy Stroll”, is Promenade’s first full level. On this sunny level, players will get to pick ups some of the game’s very first cogs. Some are easy to spot, others are well hidden… Sandy Stroll gives players an idea of the various types of situations they will find themselves in during Nemo’s journey.
The third sequence, titled “Slinghops”, is a trial-type level. The trials are skills-based levels and tend to be the most difficult levels of Promenade. Once they’ve managed to get to the end of trial levels, players can do it all over again. But this time, with a time limit…
The fourth and final sequence, “Masked Demon’s Lair”, leads to a boss fight. In order to complete their cogs collection, and gain access to some very special mini-games, Nemo and his companion will have to face a collection of bosses. Each boss fight is different and the heroic duo will have to use their skills and reflexes to defeat them.
While Promenade’s creators developed it with speedrunners and fans of challenging games in mind, more casual players will also be able their time with Nemo and his octopus friend. It is possible, and absolutely fine, to focus on less difficult cogs to get to Promenade’s ending. That being said, players who manage to collect all 180 cogs will get to see something truly special…
Promenade invites players to find out on their own what makes each part of the world and object unique. In Holy Cap’s debut title, trying things can lead to surprising results. But as we said previously, don’t let its pastel graphics and funny looking characters fool you. Promenade has been carefully crafted with experienced players and completionists in mind. Achievement hunters who want to get the 1,000 GS on Promenade will have their hands full for a while. We can promise you that!
Ported to Xbox consoles by Red Art Studios, Promenade is coming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One on February 23. Its playable demo is available now.
Red Art Games
Travel the world with your poulp using a dynamic moveset to find all the cogs!
Interact with colorful characters and solve puzzles!
Explore dungeons and face the bosses that dwell there!
Use different objects and their properties to your advantage!
Collect the lost cogs, repair the Great Elevator and unlock new levels in this collectathon directly inspired by 3D platformers!
The post Promenade Showcases its Gameplay in a Brand New Demo appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Last week, we asked to see the coolest characters from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s extremely cool highlights:
wingsforsmiles shares Johnny Silverhand sitting back with one leg up in Cyberpunk 2077
BitarHector shares Aloy smiling in the morning sunlight in Horizon Forbidden West
Taser9001 shares Tifa rushing forward with a sparking attack in Final Fantasy VII Remake
sorathluna shares Sam side-eyeing the camera wearing futuristic sunglasses in Death Stranding
juniaxe shares Ada taking deathly aim in the rain in Resident Evil 4
FrameCaptureVP shares Jin looking out from a broken kitsune mask in this black and white portrait from Ghost of Tsushima
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Romantic
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on February 14, 2024
Next week, we’re feeling the love. Share romantic moments or characters from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
Take your protein pill and put your headphones on for the free demo of Asterism, an “interactive music album” exploring a solar system one song at a time. Each visit to a planet lasts as long as the song, whisking us through scenes reflecting the lyrics and mood, rendered with a mix of 3D computer art and a range of handmade physical mediums. I was delighted from the first twang. And impressively, it’s mostly the work of one developer, Claire Morwood. Do have a look!
For me the disappointment of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League isn’t just about its quality. It’s about what it’s not as much as what it is. There’s very little of what made developer Rocksteady’s games so great in the past – near-unparalleled superhero power trips that sit alongside Insomniac’s critically acclaimed Spider-Man series. It’s also the latest in a frustratingly long line of beloved single-player-championing studios delving into unwelcoming loot-infested live-service waters. It’s been a perilous leap for many to make, with success limited to very few not called Bungie, and I hope we’re now at the end of this detrimental trend that’s plagued so many.
In recent years, BioWare abandoned the comfort of its trademark deep RPG writing in favour of Anthem’s cold, hollow, RNG-fuelled exosuits. It was the first real notable example of this happening; a studio ripping apart from its roots to chase high-risk trends popularised by the likes of Destiny. “Anthem was the ultimate expression of that,” BioWare veteran James Ohlen told Rock Paper Shotgun. “It got away from everything. It’s kind of like the anti-BioWare game.”
There have since been others chasing these online looter shooter trends that have rapidly gone out of fashion with each passing year. Arkane brought none of its best-in-class level design to the empty, vampiric streets of Redfall. Crystal Dynamics promised much in its Marvel’s Avengers campaign, but lost its way completely regarding its live-service offerings. And most recently, Rocksteady traded in their expertly designed Gotham for a shallow Metropolis.
Suicide Squad’s main problem isn’t in its art direction, character design, or storytelling (although mileage may vary on that last one). These are all things we’ve come to expect and enjoy from Rocksteady, masters of their craft when it comes to creating superhero open worlds. But while it has largely delivered on that trio of creative disciplines, the studio’s other notable strengths – best-in-class campaign design, genre-leading combat systems, and engaging open worlds – are the areas in which Suicide Squad has stumbled. And that faltering is rooted in the pivot to creating a long-term content delivery machine – AKA a live-service shooter.
In the nine years it has taken the London-based studio to finish work on Kill the Justice League, numerous examples of exactly the same kind of pivot project failing have come and gone, yet no change of direction has seemingly been plotted. That’s likely because of the weight of the AAA machine; like a heavy cruise liner, it can be difficult to change the course of all those resources and staff when the journey begins. But the result of that is a wholly incongruous mess of a looter shooter where bland gunplay makes neither canonical sense nor an engaging gameplay loop.
Gear progression and how it intertwines with talent trees and class abilities is a delicate balance that is by no means easy to achieve. The Borderlands series has historically done it very well, and while the Pandora gunfests do have significant stories told throughout, you always get the feeling that developer Gearbox’s focus is on making the most outrageous and fun arsenal to play with possible. But Borderlands games are, of course, not live-service. Tackling that added demand of a long, long life of ever-expanding content adds a whole new weight on top of all that to balance.
A more pertinent example, then, might be Diablo, which has achieved this as successfully as anyone over the years thanks to Blizzard, a studio whose very DNA is built around online multiplayer experiences. For almost 30 years the developer has refined a game loop completely centered on chasing that next piece of loot. That desire to want to come back repeatedly and grind for the next piece of gear is key to the success of loot-based games, and is what I look for over all else in the genre. Strike gold with that, and even games that possess just a slither of Rocksteady’s storytelling chops, such as 2021’s Outriders, can keep me engaged enough to keep playing thanks to fun weapons and abilities.
One note combat is a common thread between all of these recent failed experiments. Redfall’s selection of identikit weapons didn’t offer anywhere near the sort of malleable approaches that Dishonored’s blades and powers brought to encounters. Although Marvel’s Avengers’ heroes did each have a set of abilities intrinsically linked to their character, the rote defend and capture the objective scenarios you were placed in offered limited thrills. And Anthem’s mission design was near non-existent as you jetted around its open world searching for any semblance of BioWare’s famous quest writing.
Rocksteady created one of the most influential combat systems in the form of Batman Arkham’s counter-based melee flow, and to step away from this and create a gun-based looter shooter was a bold move. Sadly, it just didn’t pay off. Each gun feels fundamentally very similar to the next and last, with interesting perks and alternate fires kept at a real premium. The least you’d expect from a looter shooter is to have interesting loot to shoot with, but the focus on that in Suicide Squad just isn’t quite there. I’m all for developers trying something new in an attempt to avoid things becoming stale, but successful new beginnings are rooted in a recognition of historic strengths. I wish Rocksteady had used its previous top-tier melee combat, dense open world, and thrilling storytelling experience as a base, rather than shifting to what is an almost entirely different development format.
This challenge is something, to its credit, that Sony has managed well with PlayStation Studios. Time is given to each creative team to make the project they want to make, with story-driven single-player games remaining a dominant focus. Naughty Dog has become the standard bearer for this philosophy in the years that Rocksteady has spent making Kill the Justice League. But that isn’t to say they didn’t attempt to branch out to multiplayer in that time, either, with Sony recently cancelling a stuttering The Last of Us online project. We’ll never know how this would’ve turned out, but if recent history has told us anything, it’s that halting development before it rumbles on for years might have been the right move by PlayStation. Something confirmed by Naughty Dog itself in the statement announcing the cancellation:
“To release and support The Last of Us Online we’d have to put all our studio resources behind supporting post launch content for years to come, severely impacting development on future single-player games. So, we had two paths in front of us: become a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage.”
That’s not to say that risks can’t and shouldn’t be taken, though, if approached in a sensible and measured manner. Interesting results can come from developers stepping out of their comfort zone and trying something new; dipping their toes into the water before diving headfirst. In regards to PlayStation, Sucker Punch’s Legends expansion to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima was a well-constructed online co-op offering rooted in its fundamentally exciting sword combat. The experience was scaled appropriately for an experimental DLC, offering a small but rewarding pool of gear for progressing through missions, which culminated in a challenging multi-part raid full of memorable art direction. The key, though, was that this focus was narrow, adding a handful of hours of multiplayer fun onto an already solid single-player base.
I still want to see more Sucker Punch single-player stories, but this smaller-scoped experiment has at least given me confidence that they could make the looter-shooter live-service jump where others have fallen. Maybe it would have been wise for Rocksteady to test out some of Suicide Squad’s online components in an Arkham Knight expansion before fully implementing those ideas nine years later.
Unfortunately, it’s still unclear to see how far those who leaped have fallen. It can’t be a coincidence, though, that these studios all find themselves reverting back to what made them such respected names in the single-player space. BioWare is hoping to recapture that story-driven RPG magic with new Dragon Age and Mass Effect games in development. Arkane has light at the end of the tunnel with Marvel’s Blade being helmed by their Lyon studio, a stealth combat game that hopes are high for. Crystal Dynamics finds itself under the parasitic control of Embracer Group, who has seemingly done nothing but cancel projects and lay off staff since making their huge financial gamble – I hope the Tomb Raider studio manages to survive and thrive again.
I sympathise with all of these developers, none of whom set out to make games that would go on to be considered dead on arrival. Instead, eyes need to be turned towards those making the decisions, whether those be studio heads, publishers, or other executives, on what type of games these studios should make. The list of previously mentioned failures to launch should be the wake-up call needed to stop mismanaging talent and siphoning their passion into projects that benefit neither their developer’s skillsets nor the player’s ultimate enjoyment.
It’s a lesson that Warner Bros. seemingly never learned with Kill the Justice League – although hopefully one they’ve now learned, considering Suicide Squad’s questionable success (as of writing, it’s not even in Steam’s top 100 played games) comes not long after the news that WB’s own Hogwarts Legacy, a single-player open-world story-driven game, happened to be 2023’s biggest-selling game. It’s too soon to say what’s next for Rocksteady, which still has the first steps of its live-service roadmap to make when Joker arrives as a playable character next month. Suicide Squad could buck the trend, becoming a huge success that grows strong as the months and years go on. Warner Bros. will certainly be hoping so. I have my doubts, though. I just hope it does well enough that a studio home to so much single-player talent is allowed to spread its (bat)wings again.
Simon Cardy really does hope this signals the end of the trend. Follow him on Twitter at @CardySimon.
In an upsetting confirmation that February is in fact winter (and that the year doesn’t just start with summer like my brain thinks it should) publisher Whitethorn Games held a 2024 Winter Showcase, where they revealed the existance of a game that answers the question “what if the slimes in Slime Rancher were in mortal peril, and had swords?”. The answer is apparently “be ruddy heroes in a cute Soulslike”. I think this game, too, looks very cute, although Slime Heroes doesn’t have a release window yet.
You know what does have a launch date now? Botany Manor, a lovely 3D puzzle game about growing plants, which I first learned about via the Steam Next Fest demo, and with which I immediately fell in love. I am heartened to know it is coming out really quite soon – April 9th. A mere two months from now!
VR fans hoping for Ubisoft to invest more in the space will be disappointed to hear that the company is not planning to increase investment in VR games following disappointing sales of its most recent VR endeavor Assasin’s Creed Nexus VR.
During a financial Q&A to discuss Ubisoft’s third-quarter sales for the 2024 fiscal year, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot responded to a question from a caller who asked what the company plans for VR development due to the recent hardware releases, most notably Apple Vision Pro. Guillemot revealed that Ubisoft does not want to invest too much in the VR market due to Nexus VR’s sales.
“We have been a bit disappointed by what we were able to achieve on VR with Assassin’s Creed,” Guillemot explained during the Q&A session. “It did ok, and it continues to sell, but we thought it would sell more, so we are not increasing our investments on VR at the moment because it needs to take off.”
Guillemot also noted that Ubisoft was “very impressed” with Apple’s new spatial computer that launched last week, however the company is not going to expand more on VR development, saying that it will continue to “look at but not invest too much in, until it grows enough.”
Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR was released last November exclusively on the Meta Quest headsets. In our review, we said: “Assassin’s Creed Nexus is an impressively complete Ubisoft game, even if not all those parts stick the landing in VR.”
However, it is not Ubisoft’s only attempt to dive into the market as the French-based publisher has produced several games for virtual reality headsets. In 2017, Tom Clancy’s developer, Red Storm Entertainment, released Star Trek: Bridge Crew for PSVR, PC VR headsets, and the Meta Quest. Additionally, Ubisoft released Space Junkies in 2019 and Transference in 2018, the latter of which supports VR and non-VR formats. Ubisoft has also developed virtual reality experiences, like Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity and Escape The Lost Pyramid.
Unfortunately, Ubisoft’s confirmation of not further investing in VR is not entirely surprising. During an earnings call in July 2022, the company announced it had canceled a VR game based on Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell franchise. Like Nexus VR, it also would have been exclusive to the Meta Quest headsets.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
