Elden Ring: Nightreign has a solution to stale strategies, says director

“Attacking is the most consistent element of Elden Ring Nightreign’s gameplay,” says director Junya Ishizaki in a new PlayStation blog, explaining the choice to have players revive each other by hitting wounded mates with swords – a famously crucial tenet of the hippocratic oath. “We tested to see if it would work for resuscitation, and we discovered a wide variety of tactics depending on range, frequency, and probability, so we formally implemented it. We also found it quite amusing (laughs).”

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A choice of two Midnights

Today, 8th May, is a day of compound darkness, for it sees the release of (at least) two games with “midnight” in the title: Midnight Special from Scared Stupid Inc, and The Midnight Walk from Moonhood. A coincidence? Absolutely not. This is clearly an occult configuration of daunting power. It’s also an opportunity to briefly compare two video game aesthetics, each comparably dense, tasty and insidious.

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Despair at prospect of new PlayStation live service game lifted by mysterious mention of frogs

Sony have announced a new PlayStation studio made up of former developers of Destiny, Halo, League Of Legends, Fortnite, and Roblox, plus a few industry newcomers. Called teamLFG – where “LFG” stands for Looking For Group, not the other, naughty phrase you’re thinking of – they’re based in Bellevue, Washington, and are dedicated to “exceptional action-based gameplay, moment-to-moment game feel, and richly social virtual worlds”. Uuuuuurrrgh. Their first project is a “comedic” and “lighthearted” team-based action game set in a new science-fantasy universe.

The PlayStation blogpost announcing all this is a wearying paean to an idea of the live service game that dates back to the original Destiny in 2014. It’s written in the style of a cyborg that is trying to remember how to love. There is, however, a spark of eccentricity at the end that makes the labour of being preached to about engagement processes worthwhile: the team claim to be inspired by “frog-type games”. What is a frog-type game? A Frogger homage? A real estate sim about Finishing Rooms Over Garages? Did they just misspell “frag”? The mind froggles.

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GTA 6’s animations have improved, says original GTA programmer: “things are moving much better”

One of the programmers behind the very first Grand Theft Auto has praised Rockstar for delaying GTA 6‘s initial release to May next year, observing (not in so many words) that the developers could have rushed out an early release consisting of a city’s worth of T-posing NPCs and whitebox freeways, and people would still have paid top dollar for the game.

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Someone made a Rock Paper Shotgun game. Well, pistol anyway

Polar Star is, basically, rock paper pistol, but with a few dab-handed puzzle twists that make it instantly compelling. You’re a saloon dwelling varmint sat at a table with nothing but your six shooter and a glass of whiskey for company, and you’re accosted by a chain of ne’er-do-wells. Perhaps there’s a bounty on your head. Perhaps it’s their whiskey you’re drinking. It’s not clear, but it seems nefarious. You know what ne’er-do-wells are like.

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