Lara Croft has an all-new arsenal of wild and violent weapons to take out her foes in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Yearly Archives: 2018
Boyfriend Dungeon – Meet the ‘Bae Blades’ Trailer
Kitfox Games released a new trailer for their upcoming Romance/RPG, Boyfriend Dungeon, that features some brand new weapons the player will be able to date. One of these is the non-binary “Sawyer the Glaive”, whom can be romanced! In addition, there’s also Pocket the cat. Pocket’s not interested in romantic love, but there’s nothing wrong with fulfillment in a close friendship. Pocket is represented by Brass Knuckles and is another fantastic weapon you can find down in the dungeon. Their Kickstarter has also begun, where you can help bring this beautiful game to life! The Kickstarter can be found here and has a variety of tiers of rewards for helping out.
Graveyard Keeper – Launch Trailer
Graveyard Keeper is officially alive. . . such as it were! It’s on Steam, Mac, and Xbox One, and your goal is to take care of a historically inaccurate medieval cemetery.
Sky Noon: Pinnacle Update Now Available
The first content update for “knockout” shooter Sky Noon is officially live today – Pinnacle! This update features the all-new ice map, ‘Pinnacle’, which introduces challenging ice physics into the game. Duels have also come to the game, adding the intense, thrilling 1 vs. 1 western duel to the game across three specially designed maps. Discord Rich Presence and new gameplay options including friendly fire and gravity sliders add new levels of insane fun for this Smash-style first-person shooter.
- New Pinnacle Ice Map: Located at the top of Floating Frontier, don’t be fooled by the cool-looking Pinnacle Map where slippery ice physics will make it easier to knock opponents – and yourself – off the edge!
- Duels: Got a score to settle with a hateful hombre? Or maybe a friendly face-off with a friendly kemosabe? Jump into Duels, a special one-on-one gunfight, and select from three maps tailored for the mode to see who is the quickest and who falls the furthest.
- Discord Rich Presence: Gamers can now share their current status from SkyNoon on Discord and can soon organize matches.
- Additional Gameplay Options: Friendly fire, gravity, and time shift on hit are some of the new play options available to further enhance the Sky Noon hilarity.
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise Digital Pre-Orders Now Available
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise launches on October 2nd, 2018, and digital pre-orders have officially begun. This post-apocalyptic world is riddled with crime, villainy, assassins, and violence. Even the most seasoned traveler can have a hard go of it, but digitally pre-ordering Fist of the North Star is a good way to begin the journey. We also have the combat trailer to get you ready for the basics of the Hokuto Shinken style, so you can leap in to explode people’s faces with the best of ’em!
- Destiny Talisman Pack: A set of six Destiny Talismans featuring the Five Chariot Guardians of Nanto: Juza, Fudo, Shuren, Huey, and Rihaku, as well as Raoh’s loyal horse, Kokuoh. When equipped, each of these talismans hold various useful abilities that will aid Kenshiro’s dangerous journey!
- Theme + Avatar Set: Show your love for the series with this stylish Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise theme and character avatars!
Pendula Swing Launches First Two Episodes on Steam Today
The roaring twenties await thanks to Valiant Game Studio! Pendula Swing is a fantasy version of the ’20s, filled with elves, goblins, dwarves, and orcs that all co-mingle with humans. This, of course, leads to a disparity between wealth and poverty, prejudice, racism and other stereotypes. The first two episodes of this 3D story-driven adventure are now live on Steam, “Tired and Retired” and “The Old Hero’s New Journey”. These lay out the story of the protagonist, give the background for current events, and the first episode is free! The second is 4.99, with five episodes planned over the course of the next year. The Season Pass is also available for 30% off (normally 24.99, now 17.50) until August 31st. Each of these episodes should take about forty to sixty minutes to complete.
The game is Rendered in the beautiful art deco style made popular in the 1920s. In the first episode, Brialynne Donu Tenum, a once-famous dwarven hero is forced to interrupt her retirement once she discovers an important artifact is stolen. In episode 2, she sets foot into Duberdon for the first time in 400 years and no longer recognizes the world she once called home. Strange music, completely new and flamboyant fashion, fast-moving steel horses as well as goblins and orcs roaming the streets in broad daylight.
“What has already been quite a journey for us begins today for players, and we are so excited to unveil Pendula Swing on Steam,” said Anna Jenelius, CEO and Creative Director of Valiant Game Studio. “We set out to make a game that discusses some of the sensitive social issues that face society, in such a way that players are faced with sometimes difficult choices to progress through the game’s deep storyline.”
Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT: Insomnia (FFXV) Map – Available October 2018
In October 2018, Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT opens wide the world of Eos with the “Insomnia” Map! Get a sneak peek of the upcoming battlefield!
What is Shenmue? – Part 3
The Shenmue Saga begins again on August 21st, and to get people up to speed, SEGA has teamed up with the English voice of Ryo Hazuki, Corey Marshall, to deep-dive into the Shenmue I & II lore ahead of time. Ryo Hazuki is a Jiu-Jitsu master-in-training, spending his spare time busting up the bad guys or sparring with his friends. In Shenmue I & II, you’ll use and unlock real Jiu-Jitsu moves that you can level up throughout and transfer between both games – which will come in useful as the enemies become tougher throughout the saga. From hard-hitting fights, to playing full-versions of classic arcade games, Shenmue I & II will also introduce players to the very first Quick Time Events, which Shenmue introduced to the gaming world at large.
Daemonical – Launch Trailer
Fearem’s asymmetrical horror title, Daemonical is officially live today on Steam for 14.99. It offers a different gameplay option compared to other titles in its genre, as nobody will know who the demon is until the transformation actually occurs. Gameplay is different depending on which side of the battle you are on though and needs to be played out within a specific amount of time. he winning criteria for both – Humans – find 4 ritual parts and bring them back, or run and hide until the morning. Demon – killing 4 remaining humans before morning presents double gameplay value. It’s a do-or-die scenario, where action and inaction can be beneficial or a detriment, depending on what’s going on around you.
- Huge open landscape
- Dense and realistic randomly generated vegetation
- Big number of procedurally generated houses & interest points on the map
- Procedurally generated collectible and ritual part locations
- Each match the map is different
- Realistic time of day
- Real-time weather and amazing atmospheric environment sounds
- Beautiful settings, atmosphere, landscape, environment
- Freedom of choice – make your own horror
- Proximity voice chat – can be used for role-playing
- Realistic characters, character customization
- Party system
- Unity 3d engine
Vampire the Masquerade – 5th Edition Thoughts in Brief
by Jason Parker (Ragachak)
Roleplaying is such a wonderful gift, such a treat for the mind. But there’s more than video game Roleplaying (strange, I know)! A month or so back I received a preview copy of one of my all-time favorite tabletop RPGs, Vampire: the Masquerade: 5th Edition. The group that I play with has used older books, opting to forgo the revision of the White Wolf games (Vampire: the Requiem). There were too many changes not only to the game mechanics but the story that we as a group agreed that we did not agree with. Since I have not had a chance, unfortunately, to sit down and have a few play sessions, I want to focus less on the mechanics and more on the story and the clans. Whereas games like Dungeons and Dragons focus more on the high fantasy style of game, the beauty of Vampire: the Masquerade, is that it’s typically set right in the modern world, the Modern Nights, if you will. This is certainly not a requirement, but the main story for VTM is in the current era.
Never before has this been more relevant, however. One of the things that make it so fascinating is that we are present, in this real life, surrounded by monsters. Monsters in politics, in our homes, in our schools. Rapists, bigots, hate-mongers, racists. Violent criminals, and people using our taxes for their own personal gain. Colluding with powers both foreign and domestic, crooked cops, unfaithful significant others. So many monsters already exist in our world, why delve into a modern fantasy for more supernatural monsters? For me personally, roleplaying is an escape from a world that is unfair, from a childhood that was less than kind. For someone that has dealt with their share of monsters, in a modern fantasy, I can feel significantly less helpless. Your Vampire, in Vampire the Masquerade, whether you want them to be or not, is a monster. You don’t have to be a monster, but if a normal person were to come upon you, you probably are one. I mean, you drink blood, and are undead.
Our own world is crumbling around us it seems, sometimes. Being able to play and interact in a similar world and actually have an impact on it, is what appeals to me in Vampire: the Masquerade. It seems like the Final Nights are upon us, and the apocalypse, known as Gehenna is already coming. It is whispered the most ancient of them, the Antediluvians are waking up, and the Sabbat (the more violent, anti-Masquerade faction, who reject humanity and revel in their monstrous nature). The Sabbat are leaving behind the West and heading to the Middle East, to fight what they believe to be The Gehenna War. Whether it is true or not, remains to be seen, but that is what is being whispered. There seems to be even more of the Thin-Blood than ever before (14th or 15th generation vampires, who do not experience the curse of Caine the way other Kindred might). The typical Vampire is a 13th generation or lower, and the further you get away from The Third Mortal (Caine), the thinner the blood gets, and the less powerful they are. They even seem to have their own type of Thaumaturgy (Blood Magic) in these Final Nights, Thin-Blood Alchemy. Unlike the ritual Blood Magic, this gives them a taste for the Disciplines (powers) of other Kindred, and possibly more. There seems to be way more content for the Thin-Blood characters now, compared to previous editions.
This is a major change and an interesting one, for players that might want a more gritty, dark roleplaying experience, without wild, insane powers of the lower generation vampires. The Thin-Bloods do not age like Vampires and straddle the line between the day and night lives. Should they diabelerize a vampire of the 13th generation (or lower, potentially), they will join the clan they stole a life from, and become a member of the 13th generation. It’s been said that the Camarilla has dangled this in front of the Thin-Blooded caitiff (since basically all Thin-Bloods are clanless; I have not come across any 14th generation Ventrue, for example) to get them to do their bidding without resorting to more permanent or violent means. Should that Thin-Blood wish, they can track down their sire and slay them (or try to) to reject the “curse” and go back to being a mortal being again. Now, this is a fascinating update to the Vampire: the Masquerade gameplay. Sure, there are still lots of D10 (10-sided dice) to roll, and many of the checks and requirements of these seem to be a little on the high side (lots of minimum 6s), this version I was reading was the Alpha test.
There are little changes here and there, such as clan weaknesses. One I noticed right away (since I have played quite a few Tremere in my day), that Tremere is no longer one step closer to a Blood Bond than most. When a Vampire is Blood Bound, a powerful, mystic bond is in place. Accepting the Vitae/Blood from another Vampire is seen as an acknowledgment of their superiority or mastery over you. In the earlier editions, Tremere underwent an initiation/ritual where they consumed the blood of the seven elders of their clan. This put them just a little closer to being Blood Bound to someone above them. The Tremere are no longer defined by the Blood Bond. In fact, they can no longer Blood Bond other Kindred, though they themselves can still be Bound to others. They can bind mortal sand ghouls, but in order to do so, the blood must be consumed more times than normal. Not all weaknesses/banes were changed though. The Ventrue remain the same. They were my first choice to read through since the Blue Bloods was my first clan. I am disappointed the clan sections no longer contain what one clan thinks of another (stereotyping them) because they were interesting reads.
Final Nights (Thoughts): This is a huge step in the right direction after Vampire: the Requiem. There are still some holdovers from that setting that I don’t agree with (the Potence Discipline’s working is a fine example of that), but the same dark story is here, only moving forward, slowly. That’s the way it should be though. It’s been said time and again that Vampire: the Masquerade caters to people who want to kill, towards racists, skinheads, bigots, and other less desirable types of people. But that’s utter nonsense. Those kinds of people are already going to do what they want. Sure, there’s death in VTM. A lot of it, honestly. But it’s how you deal with these deaths, what they mean, and the story wrapped around it that matters. Just because you’re playing a Monster, doesn’t mean you’re going to become a Monster, or that you should be one away from the game. That’s been the accusation leveled at D&D for decades though, thanks to a few people who cannot distinguish fiction from reality. VTM 5th Edition is a gorgeous, dark story and for those craving something different, or a return to the Nights, definitely should.
