Retro-inspired RTS Tempest Rising debuts 20 minutes of multiplayer battling

Last August, THQ Nordic and Slipgate Ironworks – the devs behind Ghostrunner and Graven – announced their new retro-inspired real-time strategy game Tempest Rising. It’s an alternate history story about three factions who duke it out over a rare mineral, the titular Tempest, and we had previously seen two of them in a campaign walkthrough. The third faction is only available in the game’s multiplayer modes, which the team have released footage of today. Catch the 20-minute 1v1 match below:

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How one of the greatest visual novels got an English translation because of its fans

You might not know what Muv-Luv is. I hadn’t even heard of it till a few years ago. Which is strange, since Muv-Luv is considered by many to be one of the most greatest visual novels of all time. What begins as a light-hearted slice-of-life high school romantic comedy eventually pulls the rug out from under the player, and transforms into a war epic featuring mechs and aliens with a much darker tone. In Muv-Luv’s original Japanese release, this twist was hidden and only briefly hinted at in the marketing.

Today both Muv-Luv games are easily available on Steam, marketed specifically with this twist, and where they sit fully-translated and with Overwhelmingly Positive reviews. iOS and Android ports are apparently in development, and other Muv-Luv spin-offs continue to get translated. But the first time anyone experienced a complete English language version of Muv-Luv was in July 2010, when a fan translation group called Amaterasu released a patch localising the first game.

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Pill Baby successfully fuses surreal drama with monster kicking

There are so many ways to cut this cake. I could call it a weird game, and bang on about those for a bit. I could call it a 2D beat ’em up with your classic heavy/light attacks (actually punch/kick, but whatever), which is important to mention. It’s also tempting to namedrop the things it reminded me of, like Hotline Miami, Beraltors, and a tiny hint of The Cat Lady, but that could get you picturing just about anything, and is unfairly reductive to a game that has the right to stand on its own.

Pill Baby is, obviously, all those things. It’s far better and more coherent than any of those descriptions would make it sound.

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Mr. Sun’s Hatbox is a slapstick roguelike with a heavy dose of Metal Gear Solid 5

Have you ever been waiting for a delivery, only to have it never arrive? Ever wondered where it went? How does the courier even begin to track a lost item? Mr. Sun’s Hatbox answers all of those questions (very seriously) in a genre-blending comedy. When I say genre-blending, I mean this is a platforming roguelike with extensive base-building, shooting, whacking, stealthing, and a heavy dose of Metal Gear Solid 5. Seriously. It launches on April 20th.

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You can grab Battlestar Galactica Deadlock for free this weekend

The long-running sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica received a turn-based strategy spin-off a couple years ago. Focusing on the epic space battles alone, Battlestar Galactica Deadlock was generally well-reviewed at its launch in 2017, and it’s become increasingly popular in the years since, thanks to hefty post-launch support and a lack of other BSG-related things going on. Luckily, Battlestar Galactica Deadlock is now free to keep on Steam until 6pm BST/ 10am PT/ 1pm ET on April 9th.

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Dying Light: Enhanced Edition is currently free to keep from Epic

Dying Light 2 came out last year, but the polished zombie-parkour sequel didn’t make its predecessor obsolete. If what you’re after is a more freeform, organic open world in which to survive, then the first Dying Light is arguably the better choice. Good news: its currently free-to-keep from the Epic Games Store alongside its excellent expansion.

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Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is now on Steam at its new cheaper price

Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, the strange, chaos-obsessed hack-and-slash Final Fantasy prequel, is now available on Steam. Developed by Nioh and Wo Long creators Team Ninja in partnership with Square Enix, it has been exclusive to Epic’s games store, the Epic Games Store, since March last year. It’s also now cheaper than it used to be.

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