Category: Video Games

SteamWorld Heist 2 revealed, bringing a ragtag crew of seafaring robots to PC this August

I briefly posted about this in The Maw, but was unsure at that point if SteamWorld Heist 2 was coming to PC day and date with the launch on Switch. That date is August 8th, by the way, and the answer is: yes it is! Though it was revealed at Nintendo’s Indie World Showcase earlier this afternoon, strategy action-adventure-with-robots sequel SteamWorld Heist 2 isn’t a timed platform exclusive, so that’s fun!

SteamWorld Heist 2 is, if you hadn’t guessed, a sequel to SteamWorld Heist, which came to PC in 2016. The first was a side-on tactics game where you, leading a team of robots, shot teams of other (bad) robots in turn-based skill-heavy tactical battles. While that all took place in space, the sequel has achieved splashdown, and you’ll be chuntering about the seas with a new lead character (Captain Leeway) and a new bunch of crewmates. It’s a robot pirate game, in other words.

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Nintendo Indie World Showcase April 2024: Everything Announced

Nintendo is hosting its first Indie World Showcase of 2024. As the name implies, this digital event focused entirely on indie games that were headed to Nintendo’s hybrid gaming system, the Nintendo Switch. IGN has you covered with everything announced during the first Indie World Showcase of 2024, which you can read below.

Steamworld Heist 2 Officially Announced, Out August 8

Thunderful announced today that Steamworld Heist II is in development and will be released on August 8th, 2024.

The new gameplay trailer revealed at the showcase showed that SteamWorld Heist II would keep the same turn-based ricochet strategy gameplay while being set in a lush tropical environment called Carribea.

Thunderful spoke with IGN before the announcement, and producer Peter Magnusson explained that this upcoming release is a “milestone of size and scope” for the Steamworld franchise. Story and crew customization will be given greater emphasis than in previous releases.

Little Kitty, Big City Let’s You Explore a Quirky Neighborhood as a Cat

If you are looking for another game in which you play as a cute little cat, Little Kitty, Big City is just the game for you. Players explore a colorful yet quirky neighborhood as they venture across the setting on their way home, while also helping other animals they encounter and tripping humans if they wish to cause chaos.

Little Kitty, Big City is out on May 9 for Nintendo Switch.

Atari Announced Yars Rising at Indie World Showcase

Yars Rising is a new side-scrolling run and gun platformer from Atari. The gameplay looks similiar to games like Metroid and Mega Man based on first glances. With some stealth components as we see snippets of the protagonist Yar evading robotic enemies.

Yars Rising arrives later this year.

Refined Self is a Timed-Exclusive Arriving This Summer

Refind Self: The Personality Test Game is an exploration-based adventure game with heavy themes of self-discovery. Players control an android created by a now-deceased doctor. Throughout their adventure, players will learn more about the characters they control based on their choices and decisions, providing ample replayability to see how the story unfolds.

Refined Self: The Personality Test Game arrives this summer as a timed exclusive for the Nintendo Switch.

Sticky Business Is Headed to Nintendo Switch Today

Released last year on PC, this cozy, vibrant game has players running a small business where you create and sell stickers. Players can pack orders and hear customers share testimonials about their experience purchasing products of yours.

Sticky Business and all the DLC released for it will arrive on Nintendo Switch today as a timed console exclusive.

Antonblast Gets November 12 Releaese Date

Announced at the 2023 Guerrilla Collective Showcase last summer, Antonblast is headed to PC and Nintendo Switch this November. Antonblast is a chaotic action platformer where players will bhave ample opportunities to destroy enemies and worlds.

Valley Peaks Is Getting a Switch Port

Valley Peaks is a adventure game where players climb moutains. Each moutain is a unique puzzle that requires a different stratedgy to solve to get to the top. Valley Peaks was announced over a year ago first as a PC exclusive, but today’s Indie Showcase confirmed that Nintendo’s hybrid console will also be a platform option.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes Gets May Release Date

An action-adenture puzzle game published by Annapurna Interactive, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is set somewhere in Europe where players control a young woman that has become entangled with increasingly dangerous illusions. Its nonlinear mystery will have players are challenegd with new riddles to solve that inch them closer to solving the mystery.

Developing…

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Watch: Nintendo Indie World Showcase April 2024 – Live!

Don’t say it…

Here we go everybody, it’s time for another Indie World showcase!

Yes, after February’s Partner Direct, Nintendo is back with another look at the games heading to Switch in 2024, this time focussing on the indie scene. The showcase kicks off at 7am PT / 10am ET / 3pm BST / 4pm CEST / Thursday 12am AET and promises to bring us 20 minutes of news and announcements.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Synth Riders goes ‘80s with new music pack, out April 23

I don’t know about you, but I think the 1980s are awesome! Big hair, big shoulder pads, and huge hits. So we put together a mixtape: Synth Riders 80s Mixtape – Side A… and it’s coming to the PlayStation VR2 on April 23.

We picked five favorites from the 80s, then created dancy beat maps inspired by the era. So, whether you came up in Gen X, or just learned about this stuff from YouTube videos and Stranger Things, we’ve got some new Synth Riders add-on tracks for you to take on.

80s Mixtape – Side A features:

  • a-ha – Take on Me
  • Starship – We Built This City
  • Devo – Whip It 
  • Phil Collins – Sussudio
  • INXS – New Sensation

and….

  • Free 1980s-inspired Endless Cafe Stage for all Synth Riders owners

The only thing that screams, “Totally 80s” more than the music is the looks of the era. I was talking with Esteban Meneses, 3D Artist on Synth Riders, about what it’s like recapturing a party from 40 years ago:

“It’s like trying to capture a melody that everyone remembers a bit differently. Some might remember the neon glow of arcade games, others the revolutionary sound of synth-pop, or the emergence of digital culture. Our challenge is making sure it feels authentic whether you lived through the ’80s or experienced it secondhand.”

That’s why the team took inspiration from the ’50s café vibes with the fun of ’80s bowling alleys, then sprinkled in some retro-futuristic flair. Kind of like how in Back to the Future II people looked back at the 1980s (from 2015!).

Of course, it wouldn’t be the ‘80s without lots of pink, light blue, and chrome shine. “We wrapped these colors around the stage for that classic ’80s pop. It’s all about mixing these unique elements – colors, luxury, and design – into the game’s world to spark that retro feel.”

Alright, enough talk. It’s time to slip on some bangles (or your controllers) and get ready to relive five totally awesome 80s tracks on Synth Riders 80s Mixtape – Side A!

The new Add-Ons will be available for download as a pack ($7.99) or as individual tracks ($1.99/song) on April 23..

P.S. As you gathered from the name of the pack, this is just side “A.” We’re working on assembling another Mixtape, but we’d love to hear from you. What are YOUR favorite things that came out of the 1980s?

Fallout Fans Are Convinced a Brotherhood of Steel Airship Confirms One of Two Canon Endings From Fallout 4

While the showrunners behind the Fallout TV show have insisted none of the endings of previous games are considered canon, at least in terms of a jumping off point for the show itself, eagle-eyed fans reckon the Brotherhood of Steel airship seen in the series suggests one of two endings from Fallout 4 is now canon.

Warning: spoilers for the Fallout TV show and Fallout 4 follow.

Let’s start with the basic timeline: the Fallout TV show is set in 2296, nine years after the events of Fallout 4. In the first episode of the Fallout TV show, we see an enormous Brotherhood of Steel airship. Some believe this to be the Prydwen from Fallout 4. According to Fallout lore expert TKs-Mantis, if this is true, that rules out two of the four main endings in Fallout 4 as being canon (Railroad and Institute). TKs-Mantis suggests it may in fact confirm the Brotherhood of Steel ending is canon, given other endings involve destroying the Prydwen. But it could equally confirm the Minutemen ending as canon, given there is a path to that ending that sees the Prydwen survive.

So why do fans think the Fallout TV show airship is the Prydwen? There’s an element of ‘zoom and enhance’ to this, but it looks like the name is scrawled on the side of the ship. At least, that’s what some are seeing.

If this airship is in fact the Prydwen, that would contradict information revealed by Vanity Fair in a first look at the show published in November. In that article, a caption tagged to a shot of the airship claims it’s called the ‘Caswennan’. Here’s the text: “Brotherhood of Steel recruits gaze upon the Vertibirds hovering around an airship called the Caswennan, marveling at the rare pieces of high-functioning hardware.”

The Fallout TV show’s place within and implications for the wider lore is a key talking point for fans, given it’s confirmed canon and moves the Fallout story on by being set after all the games. Some are wondering about how the on-screen fate of Shady Sands fits in with the timeline, too. But overall, the Fallout TV show is a big success, and it seems likely we’ll see a second season.

IGN has plenty of Fallout TV show coverage to keep you going, including a report on Fallout’s Vault-Tec phone number, which may point to an Easter egg, how fans are debating Lucy’s XP level, and more. IGN has also rounded up 111 details in the Fallout show that have been pulled straight from the games, leading to a season finale that sets up a new adventure in a beloved setting.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The Witcher 3’s powerful new modding tools now in testing on Steam

If you can’t wait to start rummaging in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s guts with its powerful new modding tools, you can now shoot for early access by signing up for a playtest on Steam. The new REDkit suite is based on the actual tools that CD Projekt RED themselves sued to create one of the best RPGs, and will let folks make a much wider range of mods. We’ll be able to make new quests, new characters, even whole new worlds.

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The First Review For Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Is In

SaGa Emerald and new Demon Slayer tag along too.

We are rapidly closing in on the release date of Rabbit & Bear Studios’ Suikoden spiritual successor, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. Set to land on Switch on 23rd April, this upcoming RPG dazzled us when we went hands-on with it last month and we have been excited to see more ever since.

As that all-important release date closes in, we can start to get an idea of what the full game has in store as the first critical review from Famitsu is now in. In short, it’s looking rather good.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Hasbro Talking to ‘Lots’ of Partners About the Future of Baldur’s Gate After Larian Walked Away From Dungeons & Dragons

With Larian leaving Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons behind to work on a brand new game, the future of the series and the characters the developer brought to life is up in the air. But for Hasbro, owner of Dungeons & Dragons operator Wizards of the Coast, the hope is fans won’t have to wait as long for the next Baldur’s Gate game as they did for Baldur’s Gate 3.

Baldur’s Gate 3 launched 23 years after Baldur’s Gate 2, which was developed by BioWare and published by Interplay Entertainment. It proved a smash hit, selling millions of copies and winning a number of game of the year awards. Now, it seems inevitable that Hasbro will continue the franchise, given the incredible success of Baldur’s Gate 3. And speaking to PC Gamer, Eugene Evans, senior vice president of Digital Strategy and Licensing for Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, confirmed the company is talking to various potential partners to discuss the future of Baldur’s Gate.

“We’re now talking to lots of partners and being approached by a lot of partners who are embracing the challenge of, what does the future of the Baldur’s Gate franchise look like?” Evans said.

Unfortunately there’s no timeframe for the release of even announcement of the next Baldur’s Gate game, and Evans made it clear Hasbro is in no rush to make a decision. But, Evans said, the gap shouldn’t be as long as what’s gone before.

“So we certainly hope that it’s not another 25 years, as it was from Baldur’s Gate 2 to 3, before we answer that,” Evans said. “But we’re going to take our time and find the right partner, the right approach, and the right product that could represent the future of Baldur’s Gate. We take that very, very seriously, as we do with all of our decisions around our portfolio. We don’t rush into decisions as to who to partner with on products or what products we should be considering.”

“We’re going to take our time and find the right partner, the right approach, and the right product that could represent the future of Baldur’s Gate.

Another lingering question surrounds the fate of Baldur’s Gate 3’s much-loved characters, including the likes of Astarion, Karlach, Gale, Wyll, Lae’zel, and Shadowheart. Speaking to IGN last week, actor Neil Newbon said he isn’t necessarily done with Astarion, nor the universe that the character inhabits.

Based on Evans’ comments, it seems Hasbro is keen to make more of the Baldur’s Gate 3 characters, too. “… they are now essentially part of D&D canon,” Evans confirmed. “I think it’s too early to express specifics and I think that there’s a much bigger question about how we approach Baldur’s Gate in the future. But I would like to think that all of those characters, for the sake of the fans, could potentially appear in future products.”

Larian said in March 2024 it was done with Dungeons & Dragons despite the resounding success of Baldur’s Gate 3’s launch just months earlier. Wizards of the Coast was sure to announce more Dungeons & Dragons games after the role playing game arrived to immense critical praise though.

These include a cooperative multiplayer game from Payday 3 developer Starbreeze, a virtual reality game from Demeo creator Resolution Games, and a survival RPG life sim from Disney Dreamlight Valley developer Gameloft Montreal.

On the live action front, Paramount hasn’t officially announced a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves but star Chris Pine says he’s “pretty confident” it will happen. Paramount has also ordered an eight episode run of a live action TV series, creating more space for a potential appearance of Astarion or other Baldur’s Gate 3 characters.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

FACEMINER is the dystopian surveillance work-from-home side hustle you’ve always wanted

FACEMINER is a clicker/puzzle game where you work from your CRT monitor to analyse packets of facial surveillance data for a mysterious company. It describes itself as a ‘hardcore thriller clicker set in 1999’. As a connoisseur of unusual word combinations – as well as a believer in the satirical power of clicker games since playing Universal Paperclips – I immediately set about downloading the free Steam demo.

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