After 2.7 Billion rounds fired, in 4.8 million matches and over 236 million kills, Day of Infamy is looking for new recruits with its upcoming Steam Free Weekend! New World Interactive invites players to come celebrate with their team with a free weekend of Day of Infamy. It lasts from Thursday, April 26th at 1 pm EDT and ends on April 30th. This is accompanied by a Steam sale that lasts all weekend for 5.99 (70% off) and Players can also enjoy a triple XP boost to reward long-time players, as well as get new players off to a quick start. The developers will also be kicking off the Free Weekend by hosting a livestream on Twitch.tv/NewWorld on Thursday, April 26 at Noon EDT, to help celebrate with a live Q&A, game giveaways and an opportunity to play with some members of the team.
Yearly Archives: 2018
Remaster of ‘Bullet Witch’ Blasts onto PC Today
Marvelous Europe, in partnership with XSEED Games has re-released the Xbox 360 Cult Classic Bullet Witch and will be available on Steam at 10 am PDT today, along with a 10% launch week discount from its regular price of 14.99. The PC release of Bullet Witch comes complete with updated visuals and graphical options including uncapped framerate to support modern PCs and includes all DLC costumes and bonus missions for free.
KEY FEATURES:
This Is My Broomstick – Alicia’s gunrod can transform on the fly into four different weapons, each of which can be enchanted for extra punch and special perks. Mow down enemies to charge her magic meter then can call down thunderbolts, tornadoes and even meteors to blast the rest of them to kingdom come. Few gaming heroines have ever wielded as much raw power as Alicia at her peak.
The Path Of Destruction – Nothing is safe from Alicia’s wrath, least of all the environment around her. Her magic can tear the roofs off of buildings, ignite an entire gas station, or level towers. If any enemies survive, use her telekinesis on the rubble to throw it at them and crush them flat.
Alicia Is Not Alone – Alicia’s strength and bravery will inspire the battle-hardened resistance fighters around her, and soon enough they’ll fight by her side. Use her magic to keep them alive and they just might return the favor.
DRAGON BALL FighterZ – Zamasu Character Trailer
True Justice can only be attained when all of humanity is wiped out. Zamasu is the next DLC character announced for Dragon Ball FighterZ!
Diablo Creator’s New Game Enters Steam Early Access
Graybeard Games announced today that the passion project developed entirely by Diablo creator David Brevik is available for purchase in the Steam Early Access program. It is available for 19.99, and the official release date is “Soon”. Brevik also plans on doing an Ask Me Anything in the near future, at this link. There are also two scheduled streams from Brevik:
- Yesterday, April 24: 11:00 a.m. PDT until 1:00 p.m. PDT
- Today, April 25: 9:00 p.m. PDT until he feels like stopping
“At the Game Developers Conference last month, I talked to a lot of indie developers who recommended doing Early Access through Steam – they basically said I’d be crazy not to do it,” says Brevik, whose last major launch was Marvel Heroes in 2013 when he led Gazillion Entertainment.
Laser League Announces Console Release Date
The high-speed sport of the future from Roll7 and 505Games, Laser League, is officially leaving Early Access on Steam. It’s also coming to PS4 and Xbox One! May 10th, 2018 is the official date for all three platforms. Evade laser patterns, pick from six unique classes, and score by defeating the other team (or trick them into plunging into your teams lasers)! Laser League will launch on Steam with an additional seven maps, two stadiums, and two new power-ups included in the price of purchase, along with six unique new modifiers, providing a new way to play each class. There is also the NewMotion Brand DLC, which includes new player models, eight kits, and exclusive laser patterns, emojis, and character portraits for 1.99. The added content and DLC will come on console later in May.
“Early Access has allowed us to get feedback from players and focus on the priorities,” said Simon Bennett, studio director, Roll7. “We have worked on bringing new players to the community and delivering new and exciting content. Leaving Early Access is the culmination of a development process that started many years ago and it allows us to get Laser League into the hands of more players, across multiple platforms, so we can answer the call to grow our community.”
Several promotions will run to celebrate the launch of Laser League, including:
- Sony: Beginning today, PS+ members who pre-order the game will receive a PS4 theme and 20% off
- Microsoft: Laser League will be available to Gamepass Members free from launch
- Steam: 40% discount for launch week (May 10-16)
Ragachak’s Top 5 Worst RPG Mini-Games (Part 1)
by Jason Parker (Ragachak)
Ah yes, Mini-Games. There are some fine examples of them done well – Most of the Final Fantasy Card Games, GWENT from Witcher 3 (which became its own game), Fishing in Legend of Zelda games, Lockpicking in various Bethesda games. There are some fantastic ones that give you a bit of a break from the game, sometimes earn enjoyable rewards, and add a little something special to the game they are in. But there are some that are … well, let’s say they are less than good. The first RPG mini-game that I can think of, was actually hidden. Final Fantasy 1’s sliding puzzle, and while it wasn’t “bad”, I hate sliding puzzles, and the reward for doing it did not feel all that special at the time. The GBA/etc versions had much better rewards like Megalixirs, but those didn’t even exist yet in the NES days, so I can’t really be mad about that.
However, there is way, way more than five to list here, so it’s going to be several different lists as I come to them. Some of these honorable mentions might appear again in future lists. A fine example is the entire time in Atlantica in Kingdom Hearts 2. Now, The Little Mermaid was an excellent Disney film. So why was the entire area such garbage in Kingdom Hearts 2? It’s a sub-par, third-rate Dance Dance Revolution event and so much was lost in this. It was a waste of time, instead of something worth doing. I guess they ran out of time? Only explanation I can think of. Jumping Rope in Final Fantasy IX! Final Fantasy IX was a tribute in its own way, to the original Final Fantasy. I didn’t want to populate this list with all FF games (but I quite easily could). Jump. Rope. Can. Go. To. Hell. It is the worst thing I could possibly conceive and the worst mini-game of that entire year I can wager safely. The only redeeming feature it has is that I don’t think you needed to do it for anything in the main game. So for now, it gets a pass. These are in no particular order. Maybe after I’ve done a few lists, I’ll order them. These are all garbage in their own special way:
Blitzball – Final Fantasy X: You know what I want in my epic single-play RPGs? A sportsball experience. That’s what I want. Now, I’m glad it exists, because it fleshes out Jecht and Tidus as being more than just bland nobodies that got thrust into something that did not concern them. The game mostly works on auto-pilot, but “works” is a bit excessive. It won’t give you a game over if you lose, but it is key to unlocking Wakka’s maximum potential. In order to get his ultimate limit break/weapon, you have to play and play and play, and there’s no way to tell that I’m aware of, how many matches it will take to get them. Then there’s the whole “having to recruit good players” because the Besaid Aurochs do in fact, suck. Well, they’re solid when tons of work has been invested into them. To hell with Blitzball.
Speechcraft – The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Oblivion tried to add a realistic dialogue system, which would be abandoned in Skyrim (which was probably for the best). This mini-game had a variety of options (Joke, Boast, Admire, et cetera) to cycle through, and the NPCs would give a type of response. The key would be to watch their facial expressions and learn about the NPC, and act accordingly. That would be great, if it worked, and weren’t by its own nature tedious, time-consuming, and dreadful. I can’t think of a more frustrating, confusing part of Oblivion. Required to learn the likes and dislikes of an NPC to make talking to them easier? Yeah, that’s a hard pass, especially when there are ways around it (Persuade, Theft, et cetera).
Hunting – Breath of Fire 2: Oh, hunting. Breath of Fire 2 had a fishing mini-game (which required bait and was honestly not too bad. Plus it hid a powerful merchant underwater) and then there was hunting. Hunting was a solid way to get food, but you only have a few characters that can actually hunt. You have Bow, who shoots the slowest stone in the history of the universe, Kat, who has to be up close to them (and they always run away as soon as you get close), and Bleu/Deis. She … just makes charcoal. She kills everything on the screen and blackens it into charcoal. Charcoal has its uses, but the hunting mini-game feels absolutely useless.
Winnie the Pooh – Kingdom Hearts 1: 100-Acre Wood in Kingdom Hearts doesn’t even have fighting in it. Which I suppose makes sense, it’s Winnie the Pooh! You can’t really do anything here, until you get the damaged book, and find the missing pages for it. They’re in very frustrating places (Monstro, Agrabah, Atlantica, etc), and completing it unlocks … a world full of mini-games. A world just for mini-games. So, this is what Hell is like, huh. Colton mentioned that they were fixed in KH2 to be less insane, but on Proud Mode in KH1, that they were total bullshit. Plucking carrots before Tigger could bounce across them, keep bees away from Pooh so he can get some Hunny, pushing Winnie the Pooh on a swing . . . What’s the point here?! I get having some time away from the main story, but this is just silly. It fits Winnie the Pooh, sure. But I more or less skipped as much of this as possible.
FF7 – FF7: Yes, every single mini-game in Final Fantasy 7. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. They were either 1. Not adequately explained or 2. Marred by terrible, unresponsive controls. Worst case, both at the same time. Snowboarding, the Submarine Chase, Slap-Fighting, Dodging the Slap, Fort Condor, Dolphin Jump, Squats. These are all annoying, but there’s one that stands above the rest. Chocobo Breeding. Even if you have the pre-requisite grade/ranked Chocobos, the right colors, from the right areas, you still aren’t guaranteed a Blue, Black, Green or Gold Chocobo. I’ve never successfully bred a Gold Chocobo, and I’ve been playing since I was in High School, when the game first came out. I’ve acquired one, thanks to beating the WEAPONs, but never, not even in my dreams, did I breed a Gold Chocobo. I can’t think of a single mini-game in FF7 that was worth doing. And there were so many of them.
What about you? What deserves to be on this list? What’s the worst to you?
BATTLETECH – Release Trailer
BATTLETECH is alive again on PC and Mac. Suit up, Mercenary, 3025 is a hectic time, trapped in a cycle of war. Noble houses do battle with BattleMechs. But it’s time to get paid.
White Wolf Partners with Modiphus Ent. for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition
Vampire: The Masquerade from White Wolf is a Tabletop RPG that changed roleplaying forever. With a game focused on politics, immortal beings and combat. Vampire: The Masquerade is returning with a fifth edition. It features a streamlined and modern rules design, beautiful new art, and brand new story experience for returning and new players alike. Powered by the innovative Hunger cycle, the game also includes rules for creating system supported character coteries, Loresheets to directly involve players with their favorite parts of the setting, and Memoriam, a new way to bring the character’s detailed backgrounds and expand on them in-session.
V5 is a return to Vampire’s original vision, moving boldly into the 21st century. While the rules have been redesigned, this new edition honors the deep story of the original, advancing the metaplot from where it left off and detailing exactly what has happened in the world of the Kindred up until tonight. The terror of the Second Inquisition, the conspiracies behind the Gehenna War, and the rekindling of the War of Ages: these are the building blocks of the modern V5 chronicle.
V5 is the foundation of our efforts to make Vampire: The Masquerade and the World of Darkness a global phenomena, and one of the biggest entertainment IPs in the world,” says White Wolf CEO Tobias Sjögren. “We are incredibly proud of what the amazing team we have working on V5 have achieved and we are really looking forward to working with Modiphius in getting this product into the hands of old, as well as new Vampire fans.”
The launch will feature three main full-color hardback books: The V5 corebook, the Anarch and Camarilla sourcebooks, as well as an official V5 dice set, V5 storyteller screen and V5 notebook. All three will be available in a high-quality slipcase along with a special edition of the corebook. It can be pre-ordered at this link.
City Building and Survival Collide in Frostpunk, Out Now
The first of its kind, Frostpunk is a society survival game. You are the ruler of the last city on Earth, and it’s up to you to manage the people and the infrastructure of the city itself. Your decisions will ensure prosperity and survival, or damn them to failure and death. Who will you become when pushed to the breaking point? Will you break under the pressure, or save the citizens of your city?
“From This War of Mine to Frostpunk, we’ve evolved our game’s content to robustly explore player’s morality deeper and more in-depth than ever before. We’ve been searching this fascinating gray-area, where nothing is purely good or evil. You, as a player, need to make decisions based on your moral compass and ability to foresee the consequences of your choices. From deciding the fate of individuals to deciding the destiny of an entire society – that was the creative process of Frostpunk. That’s how I’ve watched this game develop into a story about the price of power; about the responsibility of being a leader. That was a challenging project, but I’m delighted to see its premiere today and I’d like to express my big thanks and respect for the team at 11 bit studios for making this game as it is,” says Grzegorz Miechowski, CEO at 11 bit studios. “I hope it’s just the beginning of a long journey. We already have a ton of ideas and plans to add new scenarios to the game and vastly expand the universe,” he adds.
Dark Souls Remastered Gameplay Trailer
Bandai Namco announced today that fans who own Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition on Steam will receive a 50% loyalty discount towards the purchase of Dark Souls: Remastered on PC. Additionally, on May 8th, 2018, the STeam version of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition will be delisted and replaced with the Remastered version when it releases on May 25th. Players who own Prepare to Die Edition will still be able to play and re-download it once it’s delisted.






