Kotaku Saturday, October 5, 2024 10:00 AM  It's the start of a new month, which means there's a host of hot, new games coming your way. It can get overwhelming, scanning through the various game marketplaces to decide what you should spend your hard-earned money on, so we've gathered 34 games coming out this month that we're stoked for. We've also spotted some… |
Kotaku Saturday, October 5, 2024 9:05 AM  Welcome to the weekend, puzzlers! There's plenty of great stuff to do on this first Saturday of October that doesn't involve consuming pumpkin spice anything. (Because, really, it's kind of played out, and it doesn't taste that good.) You could go see Joker: Folie à Deux, but apparently that's also kind of played out,… |
Kotaku Saturday, October 5, 2024 9:00 AM  It's the first week of October and the chill is setting in, but, don't worry, our takes are still hot. This week, gathered our favorite games from Tokyo Game Show for you to peruse, suggested some characters that should get added in futureAstro Bot DLC, fell in love with Shogun Showdown (after hating it at first),… |
Kotaku Saturday, October 5, 2024 8:15 AM  There are some interesting points of comparison when considering the rise of Alex Pereira. For one, his stardom is apparent to the millions who've built it, rather than something fans need to be convinced of, unlike the supposed popularity of the Sphere-headlining Sean O'Malley. Moreover, he's maintained a… |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 12:15 PM  According to a new Ubisoft listing, the Assassin's Creed Mirage Steam launch is imminent. Mirage was released last year exclusively via Ubisoft Connect and the Epic Games Store on PC, but now a brand new listing indicates that an October 2024 Steam release is coming. Assassin's Creed Valhalla was the last game in the series to come to Steam, two whole years after launch. Now, as Ubisoft gears up for day one Steam launches again, Mirage is also making the leap of faith. Continue reading The Assassin's Creed Mirage Steam launch is suddenly imminent MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Assassin's Creed Mirage review, Assassin's Creed Mirage weapons, Assassin's Creed Mirage skills |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 11:33 AM  I've recently been replaying Sniper Elite 5, and it's reminded me how much I enjoy building virtual weapons. Ghost Recon Future Soldier also nailed it over a decade ago, as you select barrels, triggers, stocks, and scopes that change your firearm's stats - and nothing quite beats it. It's one thing to add attachments, but physically building what you'll use in the field piece-by-piece, and surviving by the skin of your teeth because of it, is quite the payoff. While it might not have the violence, Gunsmith Simulator is finally out in Steam 1.0, and it's filled with plenty of weapons to accessorize. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best FPS games, Best simulation games, Best single-player games |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 11:20 AM  October 5, 2024: We've added two new Monopoly Go dice links for free dice rolls. How can I get Monopoly Go free dice links? The household favorite board game has been reimagined as a free-to-play app on smartphones, allowing everyone to experience the thrills of Monopoly on practically any device. Everything that makes the board game special is here in Monopoly Go, so you'll be collecting properties and building hotels as you go around the board, and there are a variety of multiplayer minigames to get through along the way. You're going to need to get your hands on Monopoly dice rolls, but they are difficult to come by no matter how far you are into the board game. There are ways to earn additional dice rolls, including logging into the game every day to collect daily bonuses, progressing further in the game, and inviting friends to try Monopoly Go. While you can also spend real money to unlock more dice rolls, you may want to give our list of Monopoly Go dice links a try instead, especially if you're waiting for the next Monopoly Go Golden Blitz event. Take a look at all the currently active Monopoly Go free dice links for today. Continue reading Free Monopoly Go dice links October 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games, Monopoly Go events, Monopoly Go dice |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 10:26 AM  After you've spent years creating a metropolitan paradise in Cities Skylines and a global utopia in Civilization, it can feel like there's nothing left to do. Every trade route and district policy is as well organized as possible, so what's your next challenge? Pompeii: The Legacy wants to fill that hole with alt-history Roman city building, and while the launch is a ways off, we keep learning more about the strategy sim. This time we hear about the logistics of construction and production, with plenty of new details to get incredibly over-excited about. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best strategy games, Best city building games, Best simulation games |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 10:02 AM  Take the city building and automation aspects of Satisfactory and Factorio, then combine them with the open-world exploration and boss battles of survival games like Valheim and Once Human, and wrap it all in a delightfully cozy package, and you have Omega Crafter. Launching into Steam Early Access in March 2024, the open-world sandbox game blends survival crafting and city building with a cast of programmable Gummi companions, and it just got even beefier with the launch of a new samurai-themed update. Continue reading Sandbox game Omega Crafter adds new biome in expansive free update MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best sandbox games, Best crafting games, Best co-op games |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 7:47 AM  The Victorian inspired gaslamp fantasy world of Nightingale holds a lot of promise, and with the launch of its dramatic Realms Rebuilt update in September developer Inflexion Games is beginning to truly deliver on that. The hefty overhaul featuring a more prominent story and progression systems, along with expanded built limits, has seen the embattled survival game's recent Steam reviews climb from 'mixed' to 'mostly positive.' A few weeks on from its arrival, Inflexion CEO Aaryn Flynn and art director Neil Thompson sit down to discuss the reception to Realms Rebuilt, and to talk about what's next. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best survival games on PC, Best crafting games on PC, Best fantasy games on PC |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 7:39 AM  Throne and Liberty might be Steam's latest free hit, but that doesn't mean it's gone off without a hitch. Amazon and NCSoft's MMORPG is pulling in plenty of players, and the sheer volume has created quite a few issues. Between bottlenecked worlds, overloaded servers, and a spate of bugs created by both problems, it's not exactly been ideal. That said, Amazon has already outlined what it's fixed, alongside what the high-priority adjustments are now that T&L is out of early access. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MMORPGs, Throne and Liberty codes, Throne and Liberty weapons |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 6:46 AM  Blizzard has made some last-minute adjustments to its latest Diablo 4 patch notes ahead of the Vessel of Hatred launch. The new Diablo 4 DLC is set to arrive in just a few days, and many players are likely already deep in the process of considering which class and build they want to play first when the expansion lands. If you're pondering, be sure to take note of these adjustments, as they target tempering bonuses that were causing abilities to hit twice, which may affect the potential potency of associated skills. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best RPGs, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review, Diablo 4 classes |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 6:12 AM  Valve wants your help with Deadlock's ongoing matchmaking woes. The invite-only MOBA is still in early development, so the Half-Life and Portal maker is asking you to provide details about sub-par matches for it to investigate. Since Deadlock's existence went public the number of players has skyrocketed, so now Valve has a massive pool of data to pull from for its matchmaking rating (MMR) systems. Player feedback already indicates that there's a lot of stomping going on across the board, so there's a lot of balancing work still to be done. Continue reading Valve wants your help to improve Deadlock's matchmaking woes MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Deadlock release date , Deadlock crosshair, Deadlock characters |
PCGamesN Saturday, October 5, 2024 6:33 AM  What's the Throne and Liberty server status? Launching a new MMO is always a challenge, and Throne and Liberty has had to overcome its fair share of them server side. Fortunately, developer NCSoft and publisher Amazon Games have been quick to act, making great strides in improving the player experience. If you can't currently log into the game, there's a good chance Throne and Liberty maintenance is currently underway. Typically, this process takes several hours, meaning you'll just have to find another great MMO game to play until Throne and Liberty is back online. The T&L team usually announces maintenance ahead of time, so we'll be sure to keep this guide updated with the latest developments. Continue reading Throne and Liberty server status and maintenance times MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MMORPGs, Throne and Liberty codes, Throne and Liberty weapons |
Siliconera Saturday, October 5, 2024 12:00 PM
In folklore and fairy tales, we often hear about hear about witches living in woods. They're away from society for various regions. In the manga Aria of the Beech Forest, this is also the case, but this coming of age manga instead explores the hows and whys of the life of a young witch and what her future holds as she suddenly gets a chance to encounter the wider world.
Editor's Note: There will be some spoilers for the first volume of the Aria of the Beech Forest manga below.
Aria of the Beech Forest starts simply enough. A young woman named Aria is living alone in a cottage in Ireland. There's a massive snowstorm raging outside. She's trying to keep herself occupied and warm. She seems movement and, upon investigating, discovers it is a talking white wolf. The girl? She's a witch. Which is why she lives alone. Gwyn? Well, it seems like there's a reason this wolf can talk, though his story isn't being revealed just yet.
Upon talking with the wolf for a while, they come to an agreement. During the harsh winter, Gwyn will stay with her. She doesn't question the mystery behind why he's able to speak or how there were human footprints alongside him that disappeared. He doesn't pry too much into her life or lecture, beyond learning that her recently deceased grandmother said it was safer for witches to remain isolated.
However, it's because of this interruption and series of events that things get interesting for Aria. She so enjoys his company and not being alone that a new deal is struck by the end of the season. He'll stay as a permanent resident. It's an impetus for change, on her part. A positive one? Perhaps! I'm optimistic about it, especially since there's such an uplifting tone to this good-natured witch manga.
While Aria is regularly visited by her grandmother's son, who is also a merchant who sells the herbs and medicines she makes, she's been entirely alone. She's unaware of the outside world. In fact, it isn't until a few chapters in and her first encounter with two ordinary humans that we realize this isn't some period piece in a fantasy world. Aria is living during modern times in an isolated Irish cottage. (Her uncle Theodore even uses an Instagram-like clone network.)
Which means that the enjoyment and coziness of Aria and the Beech Forest comes from seeing how this young witch lives in the manga, and how she grows as an individual by discovering how much more there is in the outside world. While her grandmother encouraged living in an isolated fashion, everything we're starting to see in this first volume suggests that maybe that isn't the best and right choice for Aria. The interactions between characters and asides when we see their perspectives or thoughts makes it seem like everyone is curious about her future and hoping for the best for her. And maybe, just maybe, the best involves opening up more.
Aria of the Beech Forest seems like it is shaping up to be a pleasant, coming of age manga about a young witch who is going to get to open herself up to people and experiences in the wider world. Yes, there are hints about mysteries that will be revealed. However, it seems like it's poised to become a happy and cozy sort of story, with any reveals instead potentially being positive ones. Or, at the very least, learning experiences.
Volume 1 of Aria of the Beech Forest is available now via Yen Press, and volume 2 of the manga will debut on November 19, 2024.
The post Aria of the Beech Forest Manga Follows a Sweet Witch appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Saturday, October 5, 2024 9:00 AM
I appreciate when a Metroidvania game tries to refine and polish its mechanics, or when it mixes things up with a familiar formula. Crypt Custodian is one of those Metroidvania style titles that shines in its simplicity. While the game felt closer to an isometric platforming title, the blend of genres mixes nicely in this game. Add a cute premise and an adorable cat hero to boot, and you have me on board.
Pluto is a good boy, the best one to ever be. Unfortunately, time has come for Pluto to depart to the land of the dead. After meeting Kendra, the guardian of the land of the dead, Pluto is declared to be perhaps not the best boy ever. Sentenced to clean the afterlife forever, Pluto now has to make new friends in order to break into the afterlife's Palace that the good ghosts inhabit, where a mirror into the land of the living allows them to visit them and guard over their loved ones, in order to make things right for himself and every other stranded ghost left outside.
While thinking about adorable animals and pets meeting their end is not my priority, Crypt Custodian handles this well, and the premise is simple and treated with levity. As Pluto meets new characters and animals, players will also find polaroid photos of their lives and how these animals met their end. The little stories contained in the polaroids offered context into these characters in life, and collecting all the photos paid off in the end.
Exploring the world of Crypt Custodian is really fun. Pluto starts as a fast and somewhat agile character to control, and as you progress through the game and get upgrades and new tools to navigate the world, he becomes even more agile and control gets more precise. During combat, his main tools are a very fast melee attack and a reliable dodge, as well as some special moves that Pluto can activate after filling the special meter. These are really useful and I found myself using them very often, as the meter filled very quickly. Enemies usually take few hits to take down, but so does Pluto. Because of that, fighting depends on smart positioning and knowing what each enemy is capable of in order to take them out strategically. Some encounters can be challenging, especially in some challenge rooms and with some of the curses you can acquire in order to get resources. However, I never found the challenge level frustrating, and it was always enjoyable to do all the side content and completely exploring each area.
There's a nice variety of mobs to dispose of, with each area having completely unique types of enemies. They all boil down to different flavors of melee or ranged damage, but the way each one attacks, the timings, or even their reaction to being damaged or defeated is different. This made every new area exciting to explore and get used to both platforming and fighting.
Combat is not the only thing you'll be doing, as exploring is a major part of the experience. The isometric perspective is refreshing for a Metroidvania style game, and platforming in Crypt Custodian is very precise. The game offers very useful indicators for when you will land after a jump and the minimalist visual style makes it so that there's never confusion on where enemy hits will appear. My eyesight can get tired easily or I can struggle to read the screen if too much is happening. But since Crypt Custodian keeps things clean and readable this wasn't a problem, and I found no frustration in the game's controls and readability.
Each area has a unique art style and color palette, with my favorite ones being the house basement, the abandoned theme part, and the blue area with the astral shifting enemies, both in terms of gameplay and aesthetics. The latter in particular has a fantastic gimmick where dashing will shift enemies to different dimensions, making some available to interact with and others impossible until you shift again. Crypt Custodian has some really neat ideas going on. The minimalist style doesn't allow for a ton of expression in its art, but I still found it appealing in its own way. The afterlife felt mysterious and inscrutable, and the simplicity of the style conveyed that nicely.
It's in the character and enemy sprites where the more expressive art style appears with Pluto and his friends being incredibly cute and funny. Pluto is always a joy to watch, from its funny expression to the way it moves. In fact, losing the early dodge for a more reliable one made me a bit sad, as seeing him tumble around was very funny and I loved it. Enemies all have a similar style, being usually different variations of bug-like designs. Their designs are generally very readable and a glance helps you guess what they might be able to do. However, it's boss designs where the game gets even whackier and avant garde. Early game bosses look quite normal, but late game there are some really funky looking dudes and spooky creepy crawlies, with the Moon Man looking straight out of a nightmare one could have had as a child.
I really appreciate Crypt Custodian for knowing its strengths and exploring them throughout the roughly 10 hours it took me to complete the game. The mix of Metroidvania and isometric platforming elements mix really nicely in a title where precision and readability are king. You won't find a nail-biting challenge in this game, but some extra post-game boss rush modes can prove really demanding and give you that edge. And while the subject matter can be a bit much if you're sensitive the same way I am to pet an animal death, Crypt Custodian made me look back fondly and remember my childhood pet and every animal I've ever loved.
Crypt Custodian is readily available for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.
The post Review: Crypt Custodian Gets That Simple Is Best appeared first on Siliconera. |
TGN – Tabletop Gaming News Saturday, October 5, 2024 11:14 AM Joymundo – Travel the World, a new geography board game, is preparing for its upcoming launch on Kickstarter. The game combines elements of learning and competition, allowing players to travel the world while gaining knowledge about different countries and cultures. In Joymundo, players aim to be the first to complete a journey around the globe.... |