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When Pinocchio dodge-rolled out of an attack and crushed a vial to heal himself, I knew what was going on. Lies of P is so Soulslike that it crosses the border of inspiration into replication. There are animations and UI elements that are probably not actually stolen from FromSoftware's Bloodborne, but they are ridiculously similar. Last year, publisher Neowiz told Kotaku that making a game that's extremely Bloodborne "definitely wasn't intentional," and that FromSoftware's games are purely inspirational to the team at Roung8 Studio. The new 12 minute gameplay video from IGN makes me skeptical of that quote. The game is a third-person action horror game where you slice lanky lads and shoot a gun from your left hand. It's Bloodborne set in the 19th century and you play as Pinocchio for some reason. It's not a bad way to find a way to make Bloodborne for PC; I just think the developers should be a little more honest about it. Here's a list of things that were "inspired" by Bloodborne in that video: The whole health, stamina, and item interfaceCombat looks weighty and deliberateLanky Victorian Belle Époque enemies with bed hairDark, dense levels filled with abandoned cartsWhen you die, text covers the screen as everything else fades to blackStatus effects build up on hitThat healing vial animation that looks very familiarItems glow on the ground, and the animation for collecting those tooLock-on effect is a white dotInventory screen is full of statsWeapons have durabilityYou can wind-up a heavy attack (not sure about visceral attacks though) Now try to tell me Lies of P is a game made by people who simply like Bloodborne. I think everyone at Round8 Studio loves Bloodborne a lot, and are doing admirable work to make more Bloodborne happen. Lies of P got a substantial trailer during Gamescom's Opening Night Live stream. In it, we saw Pinocchio totally-not-Bloodborne his way through Paris to find his creator, Geppetto. "Finally we meet, son," the monocled man says in a wizened voice. I wouldn't have disputed a short chuckle after that line if the developers wanted to go all the way with the Dark Souls inspirations, but the fact that he doesn't is a sign that this game, despite its entirely absurd premise and devotion to another popular action game, is taking itself very seriously. I respect that. Lies of P will probably beat any official Bloodborne port to PC—and might be a sick alternative—when it launches in 2023. View the full article

On Tuesday, the creator of Wii U emulator Cemu announced a major 2.0 version release, introducing Linux builds for the first time and open sourcing eight years of work. In 2017, Wii U emulator Cemu made history by pulling in thousands of dollars per month on Patreon to help fund development. Cemu's high profile Patreon, which was briefly earning $25,000 at its peak, raised questions about the ethics of emulation, particularly when money is involved, and when a project is "closed source" instead of open source, meaning their source code isn't publicly available. Closed source emulator development isn't inherently wrong, but it can be controversial—one of the key ways the emulation community protects itself from lawsuits is by keeping its source code public, so litigious companies like Nintendo can study it and confirm that none of its proprietary code is used in the reverse-engineering process. Dolphin emulator developer Pierre Bourdon broke it down for me back in 2017. "You can save a lot of time if you ‘cheat’ and look at proprietary documentation (console SDKs, leaks, etc.) while trying to understand how a console works," he said. "This is in general frowned upon in many emulation projects: it puts the whole project at the risk of a lawsuit. It's one of the things where we have no doubts about the legality: it's clearly illegal. With open source projects the development process is usually very open." Despite some worries in the community that Cemu would attract legal scrutiny thanks to its closed source code, lucrative Patreon and 4K Breath of the Wild videos, Nintendo never came knocking. And now worries that Cemu's source code could be lost if developer exzap ever disappeared are moot, too. The project in its entirety is available on Github, including Linux builds for the new 2.0 release. Cemu's move to open source marks the end of the most prominent fan-made closed source emulator in existence. It's a great day for the continued preservation of Nintendo's games long into the future, considering the company's own emulation efforts are often disappointingly bad. Exzap notes that the Linux support is "still very rough around the edges," but hopes that changes quickly as other emulator developers familiarize themselves with Cemu and begin to chip in on the project. Cemu previously only ran on Windows, but its Linux support now opens the door to easy installation on the Steam Deck, my favorite emulation system. It won't be easy to get going on the Deck until Cemu adds flatpak support for one-click installation, but that's already being discussed on the Github. Cemu's creator used the 2.0 announcement to talk a bit about the emulator's history—they've been the sole developer for much of its run, and said that in the last couple years the project has been especially draining. "Whenever I tell myself to make time for other things, I end up feeling guilty because my self-inflicted sense of responsibility drives me to always prioritize Cemu over my own interests. This year was especially intense because I single-handedly ported Cemu to Linux while also trying to deliver somewhat constant feature and bug fix updates," they wrote. "In the end, opening up development seems like the logical decision. It has always been the long-term plan anyway. With Cemu being open-source, the hope is that new contributors will pick up where I left off." Exzap will still be contributing, but hopes having more developers will help with some significant features, like pausing and restarting emulation and improving performance on older hardware. "I have been working on Cemu for almost 8 years now, watching the project grow from an experiment that seemed infeasible, to something that, at its peak, was used by more than a million people," exzap wrote on Tuesday. "Even today, when the Wii U has been mostly forgotten, we still get a quarter million downloads each month. There are still so many people enjoying Wii U games with Cemu and I will be eternally grateful that I got the chance to impact so many people's life in a positive way, even if just a tiny bit." View the full article

(Image credit: Bungie) It's been a while since Anarchy was the most dangerous kid on the Destiny 2 block, but today the exotic heavy grenade launcher has been disabled, as has its cousins The Prospector and The Colony. In fact, all non-sunset heavy grenade launchers, with a couple of exceptions, have been temporarily taken out of commission, meaning players are now unable to equip them. Due to Heavy Grenade Launchers doing more damage than intended, all non-sunset Heavy Grenade Launchers have been disabled, excluding:- Salvation's Grip- Parasite- Uncommon Rarity Heavy Grenade LaunchersAugust 24, 2022 See more The bug was introduced as part of this week's major update, and according to player testing saw some heavy grenade launchers dealing more than double damage. While Anarchy actually hasn't been a meta terror since it was nerfed in July 2021, that kind of enormous buff would have seen it become dominant as soon as the community caught on. YouTube content creator Fallout Plays explains what happened in the video below. As detailed in the patch notes for Season of Plunder, which rolled out on Tuesday, Bungie listed the following change. 'Heavy Grenade Launchers: Increased damage vs. majors and above by ~10%, excluding Parasite.' Sure enough, it's still possible to equip Parasite, which missed out on the buff because it already did quite enough damage thankyouverymuch. You can also use Salvation's Grip, because, well, it's terrible. Although that doesn't explain why The Colony, which has never been a serious boss killer (and I doubt would be even with double damage), has also been placed on the naughty step. Quite how the intended modest buff became so wildly out of whack is anyone's guess. With the King's Fall raid race due to kick off this Friday at reset, it wouldn't have made sense for Bungie to allow teams to compete with DPS weapons that are completely busted. The developer is able to disable weapons server-side without needing a full patch, specifically to deal with situations like these. As for King's Fall, I'll be trying my hand at getting a day one finish, and if you're interested in watching the struggle as it happens, Bungie has a page on how to follow along here. In terms of what power weapon to use instead, the big boss Oryx is actually more of a mechanical challenge to beat rather than a pure damage check. For the Warpriest, Golgoroth and Sisters encounters, I would expect linear fusion and sniper rifles to rule the day. And, knowing my team, late into the night too. View the full article

After a stealthy announcement earlier this month indie developer Brace Yourself Games has now revealed gameplay from its next game, Rift of the Necrodancer. Protagonist Cadence is back, clearly, but this time around the setting is the modern world and there are mysterious space-time rifts to contend with. Stop me if you've come to the same conclusion, but I blame a Necrodancer. From the look of the trailer, Rift of the Necrodancer will center on a variety of gameplay rather than the rhythmic roguelike dungeon crawling of Crypt. It's billed as an action-RPG and fighter, but clearly incorporates the same kind of rhythm game magic you'd expect from Brace Yourself Games. "The Necrodancer's back in a brand new rhythm game spinoff, featuring a whole new look, modern setting, and soundtrack!" said developer Brace Yourself Games in an announcement Tweet featuring the new trailer. That same trailer is also up on YouTube. The central game mode in Rift is... Rift Mode. It's a lane-based "rhythmic battle against streams of monsters pouring out of the Rift!" There are also minigames where you "help Cadence overcome the challenges of the modern world" like, for an example from the trailer, Yoga. I think we can all agree that Yoga is a significant challenge of the modern world. The trailer also has what looks like some boss battling on display. I don't know how it works but I do know the music it's set to is great. Can't complain about new Necrodancer music. Oh, and there's now a Rift of the Necrodancer Steam page, where its release date is TBD. The original Crypt of the Necrodancer released all the way back in 2015, but got a huge update earlier this year. Chris Thursten gave it an 87 on release in our review and I would argue that it has only gotten better since—I mean, it has mods now, and several big chunky DLC to feast upon. View the full article

I can't say that I've ever wondered what would happen if I mashed Guitar Hero up with Street Fighter, but I strongly suspect that if I did, I'd end up with something quite a bit like God of Rock, a new rhythm fighting game being developed by Modus Studios that was announced today at the Future Games Show. First things first: You are not the god of rock in God of Rock. That honor goes to a mysterious entity who, strictly for kicks, decides to resurrect the souls of the greatest musicians in history and make them do battle with one another. "Revitalized with new bodies and new powers, each musician will become a contestant in his game, battling it out with each other for musical supremacy on a global stage," developer Modus Studios said. God of Rock will feature 12 "wildly different characters," eight stages, and more than 40 original songs at launch, with training and story modes, local and ranked online multiplayer, and a track editor that will enable players to modify the game's music. Each fighter has their own unique design, mechanics, and "harmonic attacks," which includes both normal attacks that soften up opponents, along with more complex special moves and devastating super attacks. While the fists are flying, players will also have to keep to the beat, which will become more challenging as the music grows more complex and difficult as the battle progresses. It's a weird idea, but sometimes those are the best, or at least the most potentially interesting, and frankly if this means I get to watch Mozart beat Elvis' 'donkey', I'm willing to give it a shot. God of Rock is set to come out in the winter of 2022, and you can find out more (and wishlist it, if you like) on Steam. And now, let us rock. View the full article

Today's Future Games Show stream included part one of a cinematic trailer for Off the Grid, a 150-player PvP and PvE battle royale game in development by Gunzilla Games and film director Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium, Chappie), who's in charge of the worldbuilding. You can watch the video above, or here on YouTube. I mainly want to talk about one scene, which I've embedded a clip of below, but the whole video is a bit weird. It's nearly four minutes long, but by the end I couldn't tell you who it was about or why they mattered. It's mostly a fight scene in the style of those YouTube videos were people demonstrate that it's possible to do low-budget special effects. The industrial complex it takes place in looks like a Google Maps 3D satellite view that's been put through an AI upscaler. I guess that's the kind of thing Blomkamp is known for, so he's staying true to form, but it seems to me it would've been cheaper to record some actual gameplay footage of Off the Grid. We still haven't seen what it looks like, and it's supposed to release next year. None of that is as weird as the thing I really want to talk about, though: the flip. The flip happens a little over three minutes into the video. Two guys are fighting. One defeats the other, leaving him kneeling on the ground with no weapon or defenses—or so it seems! The apparent loser isn't completely out of tricks. He desperately throws sticky gadgets onto nearby concrete pillars, creating a laser beam fence between the two combatants. It's not enough. The victor uses his bionic legs to leap vertically and flip forward over the laser fence, shooting the helpless soldier while upside down at the apex of his jump. What makes the flip weird will be obvious when you watch the clip, but let's break it down anyway: He could have just shot the guy through the laser beams. Even if laser beams somehow block his shots, there are huge gaps between the beams.He could have walked around the laser fence. There's nothing on the other side of the concrete pillars.He also could have gone under the lowest laser beam, if he really wanted to. It's not that low.How come his forward momentum seems to disappear in the closeup, which shows him jumping completely vertically?The gunshots don't seem to do anything, but then the guy drops dead. Maybe they cause internal bleeding or something. Also, is it a laser gun? Sounds like one, but it ejects shells. Energy shells, maybe? I suppose the video could be in the same vein as the Battlefield 2042 announcement trailer, which was a cinematic interpretation of the goofy things players do in Battlefield games, like jumping in and out of jet cockpits mid-flight. Maybe the flip is a send-up of the silly, unnecessary behaviors players get up to in battle royale games? Could be. That's not really the sort of thing Blomkamp has said he's interested in, though. "I think the future of gaming is in more and more photorealistic environments that are more and more physically true, that allow the player to do whatever they want, in that environment," the director told Game Informer last year. According to Gunzilla, Off the Grid is a "cyberpunk-styled battle royale third person shooter that aims to evolve the genre through strong emphasis on narrative progression and player freedom." How a narrative is being worked into its 150-player PvP fights and its PvE storyline missions isn't really clear yet—again, we haven't seen the game—but it sounds serious. "Core to the experience and deep narrative structure is the unique way in which players can craft, customize, and trade their in-game items with each other," says Gunzilla. "More details to be revealed at a later stage." Off the Grid is being developed in Unreal Engine 5, and is supposed to release next year. The official FAQ has a few more details. Nothing about why the guy does a flip, though. View the full article

Sorry, Switch fans. This is one port no one was begging for: Irdeto, the company behind anti-piracy tool Denuvo, announced on Wednesday that it's bringing "Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection" to the console, pairing a very popular gaming handheld with a very unpopular bit of DRM. Denuvo's PC DRM implementation has been criticized for years now for harming game performance, which the company has always denied. In our own testing of Final Fantasy 15 back in 2018, we found no performance impact—but other games have shown players had good reason to be worried. A cracked version of Resident Evil Village ran better with Denuvo removed, and last year 4X strategy game Humankind dropped Denuvo before launch because the performance of its implementation "was not good enough." Even if Denuvo only occasionally affects performance, that possibility hangs over any PC game that uses it like an ugly specter. While the company behind Denuvo calls it an anti-piracy tool, the announcement of its new Switch DRM ignorantly lumps in completely legal emulation with piracy. Just look at how it introduces its new tool in this press release: "Even if a game is protected against piracy on its PC version, the released version on Switch can be emulated from day one and played on PC, therefore bypassing the strong protections offered on the PC version. This can happen with any of the numerous games available on Switch." The press release goes on to say it will "block unauthorized emulations on PC." Which, again, are legal—Switch emulator Yuzu even has a walkthrough on how to dump your own games from your own Switch. "Unauthorized" is not the same thing as illegal. If you rip your own Switch game, you should be able to play it on PC. Piracy exists, of course. But so do Switch and PC owners who want to play a new game at better than 720p and an unstable 30 frames per second, which the Switch's 5-year-old hardware can barely manage on many games today. It's definitely how I hope to experience the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Thanks to emulation, there have been some hilarious and extremely impressive Breath of the Wild mods on PC over the years. Given Denuvo's rocky performance history on PC, I can't imagine any Switch players being happy to see it arrive on the console just to stop them from playing Switch games on another platform. Irdeto hasn't named any publishing partners that will be using the tool at this time. In response to the announcement, Switch emulator Ryujinx tweeted "We will continue developing an emulation platform for Switch game preservation & enhancement, upon which consumers may enjoy their games both now and beyond the lifecycle of the console itself." View the full article

We've now got a look at gameplay from the new Layers of Fears, the remake, expansion, and compilation of Bloober Team's 2016 and 2019 horror games. It's simultaneously a remake of the old games, incorporating everything they and their DLC had, and a expanded remake adding new story and gameplay. Layers of Fears is rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, so it'll be a lot prettier. The trailer was shown off today at GamesCom, at the Future Games Show. Layers of Fears is set to release in early 2023. Bloober Team previously called Layers of Fears a "psychological horror chronicle" when they revealed it back in June. They promised to enhance the "psychedelic experience fans know and love." I, for one, just want to applaud them for going with the ridiculous and good but not very search friendly title Layers of Fears. The gameplay trailer shows off rich environments, with the chain-filled hallways and awful visages of the painterly protagonist's mind. It's rife with the kind of shaky, unsteady movement you expect from a horror game, pointing directly at that Bloober Team promise to enhance the psychedelic aspect. Doors catch fire as we approach them, walls shift and change. The humble painter's canvas is revealed with a dramatic musical sting. It's a great introduction to the primary themes of the horror series for new fans, and probably a real litmus test for past ones as to whether they want a remake in the first place. You can find out more at official website layersoffears.com. View the full article

The fantasy of climbing into a big stompy mech and blasting the hell out of your enemies with missiles and lasers is strong, but there's something incredibly appealing behind the idea of using a powerful mech to do a spot of peaceful farming, too. It's not just me, right? Doesn't that sound kinda great? It sure looks great in the first gameplay trailer for Lightyear Frontier, shown at the Future Games Show today, where you're making your home on a planet at the edge of the galaxy. Plant and grow alien crops from the seeds you find while exploring the peaceful planet, build yourself a cozy home away from home, and customize your farming mech with upgraded tools. In the trailer you can see how your farming mech works, as it sucks up water from a gentle creek and then sprays it into a plot where alien plants are being grown. This is high-tech farming, with your mech's laser selecting multiple growing slots in the planter before firing seeds from a gun-like tool right into the soil. Cutting down trees and busting up mineral deposits looks like it's done with some sort of grappling-drill, and you can switch from first-person to third-person perspective, which allows you to more easily admire the beautiful planet while exploring. And don't forget to take a break from space-farming to just enjoy the idyllic world you're living on. You'll be able to play alone or with up to three friends when Lightyear Frontier launches in spring of 2023. View the full article

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We haven't heard much about Teslagrad 2 since it was announced back in 2020, but we got a pretty big update at the Future Games Show today: An all-new trailer and a release target of spring 2023. "Teslagrad 2 is set to be an exploration-based Metroidvania game with magnetic physics and will use the visual style that won the hearts of the players in the original," developer Rain Games said when the sequel was announced. "Teslagrad was a fresh experience in gaming with its magnetic physics based mechanics. Now Rain Games intends to take this experience up a level within the sequel, by sparking new life into the game with additions that will set it apart from the original." The new trailer certainly looks set to follow through on that promise: A mystery, a hidden past, an ancient power, and buried secrets, all related with a visual style reminiscent of, yet greatly advanced beyond, the original. (Which, for the record, is to be expected: Teslagrad came out almost a decade ago.) It's great to finally have a look at the new game, and while a release target is not the same as a result date, at least it's something to look forward to—and not too far off, either. Teslagrad 2 is now available for wishlisting on Steam. View the full article

Command and Conquer Remastered developer Petroglyph Games is working on an all-new RTS called The Great War: Western Front that features both real-time action and turn-based decision-making across the most pivotal front of the First World War. Revealed today during the Future Games Show, The Great War: Western Front puts players in charge of either the Allied Nations or the Central Powers as they engage in a grinding, grotesque war of attrition across the muddy, blood-soaked fields of Europe. The game promises both highly-detailed depictions of real-time trench warfare and broader, turn-based strategic gameplay as Theater Commander: Allocating resources and fortifying positions across the Western Front, and determining the direction of technological research ranging from poison gas to powerful tanks. "Battles take place in a living, persistent world, with existing battlefields holding the scars of previous battles and deteriorating as players revisit them, while changing weather conditions will provide additional challenges for each unit," Petroglyph said. Original Command and Conquer composer Frank Klepacki is also returning to create the soundtrack for The Great War: Western Front. Klepacki previously worked with Petroglyph on the Command and Conquer Remastered Collection. The Great War: Western Front is being published by Frontier Foundry, the publishing label of Elite Dangerous studio Frontier Developments, and is expected to be out on Steam and the Epic Games Store sometime in 2023. View the full article

Very pretty bird flying action game The Falconeer has a follow-up on the way, also by developer Tomas Sala, but in an entirely new genre: City-building strategy. Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles will put players in the shoes of someone in charge of those incredible island fortresses that litter the Falconeer world. You'll be able to build your Bulwark by bashing together many different building options in what looks like a very dynamic, adaptive interface based on hubs and spokes that move up and down the sheer cliffsides and between parallel heights by making bridges or stairs as needed. Sala says the new game is about "love for creating and kitbashing fortresses and settlements and it aims to bring that joy back to gamers." It's also for people who played The Falconeer and wished they could be in charge of those cool ironclad steamships or flying dreadnoughts instead. "The core gameplay is squarely focused on wildly building across the rocky cliffs and crags of the world," say the developers. "Light resource management, combat, and story elements bring your creation to life, while giving a voice to its inhabitants and allowing you to expand it with exotic new build options." For my part, Bulwark kinda looks like it has the vibes of something like Townscaper while simultaneously bringing in a simple gameplay layer built around resources and defense. It'll also offer options for recruiting characters, "commanders and specialists," that give life to your town with new units and draw in their own stories. That's a strong combo! You can find Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles on Steam. It doesn't yet have a release date. View the full article

Frostpunk continues to be an influence on new city builders, as you can see above in the first trailer for Floodland. Instead of the fictional cold-pocalypse of Frostpunk, however, Floodland is set after the world has been deluged with seawater due to global climate change, a threat that is all too real. As with Frostpunk, Floodland is more than just about building a settlement after a global catastrophe, it's about creating a functioning society that won't make the same mistakes as the past. That means establishing laws, and in Floodland there's a branching series of rules you can enact in your settlements. This includes sensible policies like water conservation, food quality control, and one that seems perfectly suited to our inevitable submerged future: swimming lessons. Global climate change isn't the only realistic issue in Floodland. There are also COVID-like communicable diseases, and in the trailer you can see policies for social distancing, mask-wearing, and even settlement-wide lockdowns. (It'll be interesting to see how the virtual communities react to that, after witnessing how our real society did.) Other polices include a broad range of social issues, like same-sex marriage and labor laws, and plenty of darker options like declaring martial law and even engaging human experimentation. And naturally, you'll have to go about with more traditional city building systems, like exploring the flooded world around you to gather resources, establishing a food supply (I'm assuming fishing would be a good way to start) and researching new tech to grow your post-world city. Floodland will arrive on Steam November 22. View the full article

Soulstice is an exciting new fast-paced, dark fantasy action game that allows players to assume dual command of soul-bound sisters Briar and Lute as they face off against a range of vile and ravenous beings who have come pouring into their world from beyond the Veil. As Chimera, hybrid warriors born from the union of two souls, Briar and Lute are the only ones who can oppose the Spawn of Chaos and save the great Kingdom of Keidas. Playing as Briar and Lute, two sisters bonded together as a Chimera, players will explore a dark world brimming with hidden mysteries while mastering a diverse combat system based on the strengths of the two sisters. As a result of the ritual that bound them together, Briar fights with superhuman strength and resilience while Lute battles as a shade, controlling the battlefield with mystical powers and otherworldly abilities. Before the game launches in September, players can get a taste of the dark, mysterious world of Keidas with the new cinematic demo trailer that dropped today. See what kind of vile beings Briar and Lute are up against and discover the world they are fighting to save. After watching the trailer, be sure to download the PC demo and dive headfirst in the unique, intriguing, narrative-driven story. The demo gives players access to portions of Mission 2: “Echoes from the Past” and Mission 5: “Death from Above” as they carry out their orders from the mysterious Order of the Ashen Blade. (Image credit: Modus Games) Instructed by the Order to investigate a massive Tear in the sky above the city of Ilden, Briar and Lute find themselves shocked and horrified by the disaster that has befallen this once thriving and sacred city. Leaving the ravaged Docks behind them, the two make their way up to the top of the Ildenmere Bridge. A long-stretching architectural marvel, the Ildenmere Bridge provides direct access to High Town, while casting a shadow of pride and forgetfulness over the Docks District and Low Town far below. After successfully making their way up and over the Bridge they will square off against a formidable opponent who won’t hesitate to get straight to the “point,” so prepare for one hell of a fight. (Image credit: Modus Games) The demo is the perfect chance to get familiar with the controls and the unique, dynamic combat system to learn how the sisters work in unison to build Unity which can be tapped into to unlock their full potential as a Chimera. Player success requires clever use of primary and secondary weapons as each weapon deals bonus damage to certain enemy types and adds to the player’s overall battle results. Other things like combos of primary and secondary weapon attacks also build Unity and players will also need to pay attention to an enemy’s Poise which keeps them from being launched into the air with powerful attacks. (Image credit: Modus Games) PC demo available on Steam. Download it today and get a taste of what this stylish dark fantasy tale of sisterly love and sacrifice has to offer ahead of its full launch on September 20. View the full article

Fall of Porcupine's anthropomorphic critters, troubled small town setting and light platforming give way to the obvious inspiration of Night in the Woods. It's unsubtle, but maybe not a bad thing: Night in the Woods isn't a fluffy story, even with its fluffy protagonists. With Fall of Porcupine looking to tell a story about healthcare as work, maybe showing its inspirations so clearly is a fair shorthand: this likely isn't going to be a story about sticking plasters on grazed knees, even before you unearth whatever mysteries the town is hiding. Finley—the pigeon, it's the town that's called Porcupine—is a new doctor, and he'll have to deal with new job stress, a demanding boss, and navigating both friendly and professional relationships. The teaser trailer reveals only glimpses and stressed out characters, while Finely flits between them. The playable prologue should show off a little more: and it's now available for free on Steam. View the full article

Strike it big in the Season of Plunder (Image credit: Bungie)Destiny 2 map fragments: How to get treasure maps Destiny 2 Delicate Tomb: Grab the new season exotic Destiny 2 Strand: The second darkness subclass Destiny 2 Neptune: A new destination Cryptic Quatrains are just the kind of treasure hunt that you'd expect from Destiny 2's pirate-themed Season of Plunder. Effectively messages in a bottle, these quests require you to unravel a number of riddles in order to find the location of buried loot. Completing them will earn you some map fragments, seasonal armor, but more mysteriously, a Crude Cipher Fragment. These fragments show up in your Captain's Atlas, where a potential treasure map would, and once you collect both fragments and complete the Quatrains, you'll receive an exotic sparrow for your trouble called the Charge of Light. The only real hiccup is that you'll have to grind quite a bit to unlock all three Quatrains, since they have rank requirements. Here I'll give you the quest steps and where to find the treasure. Destiny 2 Cryptic Quatrains: How to unlock (Image credit: Bungie) In order to gain access to the first Cryptic Quatrain quest, you'll have to reach rank seven with the star map in the H.E.L.M. You can do this by completing bounties and the Ketchcrash or Expedition activities. Once you rank up, you can grab the Small Treasure Beacon, which will begin the first Cryptic Quatrain. Note: you'll have to get to rank 16 in order to collect all three and complete the individual Quatrain quests if you want that sparrow. Luckily, each quest follows a somewhat similar structure of visiting a destination, completing Lost Sectors, strikes, and then finding the dig site. Cryptic Quatrain 1 (Image credit: Bungie) Here's what you need to do for each of Cryptic Quatrain 1's individual quest steps: Head to the moonComplete K1 Revelation Lost Sector in Sorrow's HarbourFinish the Fallen S.A.B.E.R strike in the CosmodromeHead to the crane in the Eventide Ruins on Europa and dig up the treasure marked with the Fallen sigil It's quite easy to locate the treasure, as it's on the ground close to the platform hanging from the only crane in the area. The treasure will get you some seasonal armor, five map fragments, and the first Crude Cipher Fragment. Cryptic Quatrain 2 (Image credit: Bungie) Once you reach rank ten you can claim the Medium Treasure Beacon from the star map. Here are the steps for this one: Head to the Dreaming CityComplete the Bay of Drowned Wishes Lost Sector in the Divalian MistsFinish the Lake of Shadows strike in the EDZComplete an Expedition with a sword equippedHead to the triangular entrance to the Well of Flame in The Cistern on Nessus. Investigate the Fallen sigil just inside the entrance.Go to the area north of the Well of Flame where the Cabal public event happens and look for a treasure mound by the sphere This will get you a seasonal weapon, more map fragments, and the second Crude Cipher Fragment. Cryptic Quatrain 3 (Image credit: Bungie) The Large Treasure Beacon unlocks at rank 16 in the star map. Here are the quest steps: Head to the EDZComplete The Quarry Lost Sector in The Sunken IslesFinish the Exodus Crash strike on Nessus without dyingComplete Ketchcrash with an arc subclass and an arc hand cannon equippedEquip the completed Crude Cipher in the Captain's AtlasFrom left to right, slot in House of Dusk, House of Salvation, and House of LightGo to the Forgotten Shore in the Cosmodrome and head to the ship in the south part of the area by the Veles Labyrinth Lost Sector. Activate the Fallen sigil on its deck.Head to the north end of the Forgotten Shore to find the treasure mound in a cave by three pillars, just below where the Navota strike begins This will get you some weapons, the Charge of Light sparrow, and complete that seasonal triumph. This one is a bit more complex, but this walkthrough by reddi41 goes through everything you need to do if you're looking for an exact step-by-step: View the full article

We've all been there. You're just going about your day, trying to do your job as best you know how, and people keep trying to put you in charge of things. "Josh!" they might say, "You wrote that article about Mount and Blade 2 leaving Early Access so well we want to make you Eternal Supreme Leader of PC Gamer!" Abashed, cheeks reddening, you cast your gaze back down at your laptop and try to get on with your day. You're a humble man doing humble work, even if you do look incredible doing it. Such was the experience, apparently, of Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, who has revealed why he left Sega after 32 years at the company in an interview with Germany-based games site 4Players. It turns out he just really didn't want to be CEO. In his last few years at Sega, Nagoshi had reached "the top management level" at the company and gotten increasingly distant from the day-to-day work of actually developing games. Nagoshi told 4Players that he eventually had a frank chat with Sega's current owner, saying straight-out that he didn't "want to be the CEO of Sega" after so long in the development trenches. It seems Nagoshi's request didn't quite take, though, because he ended up leaving Sega and founding his own studio under NetEase. It all seems to have worked out for the best, though, it sounds like Nagoshi has been able to get back to hands-on development work while Sega has a free hand to groom a different commander-in-chief, hopefully one who actually wants the job this time. "This leads to a very friendly relationship with Sega" even after Nagoshi left the company, he told 4Players. As for the game Nagoshi is actually developing, we still don't know much about it. In the interview, he lets slip that he wants to develop something along the lines of "a Quentin Tarantino film" that features both "some silliness and some seriousness". Sounds a bit like a Yakuza game, to me. View the full article

If you were a child in the '90s, then you'll remember the horse games. Like other pet simulations, the gameplay was often minimal, but you could brush the horses and click-and-drag little bows into their manes. At least one I remember let you add sparkles, though that truly might just be the early '00s all blending together. (Remember butterfly clips?) All this to say that that the horse game is back, with newly announced Horse Tales - Emerald Valley Ranch. Described as an "equestrian open-world adventure", it looks extremely reminiscent of those games of old - but with the a key addition. You can both choose your horse's hairstyle, and actually leave the stable. There's a touch of Breath of the Wild in its art style and hilly village environments, as if someone looked at it and went "what if the horse part of this was the whole game (and also it released for PC?)" Horse Tales will allow players to restore their family's estate and make friends with nearby residents and multiple horses, each with their own unique personality, preference, and training needs. It looks exceptionally mellow, while being the next-generation throwback to the '90s horse games I could never have pictured. Horse Tales - Emerald Valley Ranch comes out on November 3rd, except in North America, where it will release on November 15th. In the meantime, you can wishlist it on Steam. View the full article

An inventive Raspberry Pi user and cat owner, Tennis Smith, has created a clever way to know when the cat is ready to come in from the cold. It's a Raspberry Pi doorbell, but for cats. That's right, a Raspberry Pi doorbell for cats. Whenever the cat is back from doing cat things, it meows at the doorbell, which sends the owner a text message (thanks, Hardware Info). The doorbell is a small box set at cat height. Inside is a small USB microphone plugged into an RJ45 adapter. Holes on the bottom of the box are there to hear the meows better. And, inevitably, a cat five cable from the RJ45 socket is run through the house into a Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is then loaded with Amazon Web Services (AWS) software and a machine learning app, Tensorflow Lite. The Tensorflow application works off a database of meows (seriously), so when it hears a cat's meow, it sends a text to your phone to let you know your cat is ready to come back inside. I'm hoping the database contains some prerecorded meows of Milo (Tennis' cat), so it can tell the difference between him and some trouble-making stray. Because if not every kitty in the neighborhood could prank the doorbell day and night. Tennis says the project should take an afternoon to finish assuming you have all the parts already, and have some working knowledge of Python, AWS, and Tensorflow Lite. Your next machine (Image credit: Future)Best gaming PC: The top pre-built machines from the pros Best gaming laptop: Perfect notebooks for mobile gaming Oh, and yes, you can make a doorbell for a dog, as well. Apparently, all you have to do is change one line in one file to "dog." Coding, it's easy. For everything you need to get going, consult the FAQ at the bottom of Tennis' cat doorbell GitHub page. I've always loved seeing what folks can do with Raspberry Pi. Whether building a cheap retro gaming console or an unnecessarily elaborate alarm system; these projects all consistently put a smile on my face. View the full article

Pentiment knows exactly what it is. The June reveal trailer for Obsidian's 16th century murder mystery declared itself "a narrative adventure most unexpected," and it's definitely not the kind of game we'd expect from a studio and director known for RPGs. But that's also exciting: director Josh Sawyer is clearly jazzed to be making a smaller-than-usual game set in post-medieval Bavaria, full of period-authentic artwork and a protagonist a bit reminiscent of monk supersleuth Brother Cadfael. Cadfael, though, always catches his killer—Pentiment doesn't plan to give you that kind of certainty. In a Q&A session ahead of this week's Gamescom, where Pentiment is playable, Josh Sawyer and art director Hannah Kennedy gave an introduction to the game and talked about what to expect from its mystery. There will be branching dialogues and events based on your choices, but you're not going to get a "good" or "bad" ending for identifying the true killer or blowing your investigation. "One of the things we talked about early on is that there are a number of suspects for these murders, and it's not very clear—you don't have DNA evidence, you don't even have anything resembling forensic science," Sawyer said. "The justice system itself is pretty odd to a modern viewer. There's a lot of ambiguity here and you're put in a position where you have to pin the murder on somebody, and it's never going to be clear if that's really the person." "You have to either use your best judgment or pick the person that you want to see go, because the punishment for murder in this time period was pretty severe. We really want you to see the consequences play out over a long period of time." In other words: Don't expect Pentiment to tell you whether you were right after you deliver a verdict, but do expect whoever you implicate to meet a grisly end. Frogware's recent young, sexy Sherlock game similarly let you get a mystery completely wrong and carry on nonetheless. Sawyer confirmed that who you accuse will have ripple effects in your town, but there's a core story focused on your character that will play out regardless. "We're trying to do the classic thing where we interleave the choice and interactivity within a very strong storyline," he said. "I thought it would be interesting to tell a story that's a very personal story that's about this guy, Andreas, and the community he lives in, within the historical context of the events happening around them." Andreas is an artist at a fictional abbey and a town called Tassing, who ends up "caught up in a series of murders and scandals." Pentiment is set over the course of 25 years, so you're not going to be investigating a single murder. Sawyer didn't specify the structure, but I'm guessing one murder (or scandal) per act, with five acts making up the whole story. A multi-act structure like that would be ideal for showing how your choices affect the abbey and town over time. A few more things I learned about Pentiment: You can choose Andreas' background, like whether he studied astronomy or the occult in university, and that affects both your skills and dialogue choicesDon't expect visible meters for how popular you are with characters you talk to, but Pentiment will give you some info. "We just try to track the things that feel like characters would pay attention to, let you know when they're paying attention to them, and when they come up in conversation again," Sawyer said.There's an in-game glossary that looks essential if you aren't up on your 15th century religious terminologyThe glossary also includes characters you meet in the game, so you can easily reference faces and namesDifferent characters' dialogue text uses different fonts, related to their social class and backgroundThere's an accessibility option to switch to simplified fonts for easier legibilityIf you want to buy a couple books that the developers themselves heavily referenced to brush up on the art of the period, check out The Nuremberg Chronicle (free on the Library of Congress website) and Durer's JourneysWatch Andrei Rublev for another inspirationPentiment comes out on Steam and PC Game Pass on November 15 View the full article

Come one, come all to the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2022! Featuring industry luminaries like Team 17, 505 Games, Ravenscourt, and others, the show will feature over 50 games and consist of interviews, scoops, world premieres, and much more besides. It kicks off today, August 24 at 11 AM PDT / 2 PM EDT / 7 PM BST / 8 PM CEST on Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, and the GamesRadar+ website. HOW TO WATCH THE FUTURE GAMES SHOW (Image credit: Future)Date: Wednesday, August 24 Time: 11 AM PDT / 2 PM EDT / 7 PM BST / 8 PM CEST Streaming on: Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, the GamesRadar+ website, and BiliBili It's the first in-person Gamescom since 2019, and the Future Games Show is set to take full advantage of having so many devs in one place. Expect a buffet of trailers and presentations from games as varied as Layers of Fears, Deliver Us Mars, and—what else?—Goat Simulator 3. If you want to gorge on AAA blockbusters or sample a selection of fine indies, or you're just way into goats, the show will have something for you. It's all being hosted by Christopher Judge—whose rich baritone you'll recognise as Kratos from God of War—and Danielle Bisutti, who voices Freya. Together, they'll guide you through the many treats and goodies that have been prepared for this year's show. Personally, I'm hoping for the "Boy!" count to reach stratospheric levels. Make sure to keep an eye on the show's Twitter to keep on top of any updates. And once you've seen the show, don't forget to check out the Future Games Show Steam page to get your hands on playable demos of some of the games showcased. View the full article

It's a good job the next generation of AMD and Nvidia graphics cards are purporting to be capable of such extreme gaming frame rates, because BenQ has just announced its own 48-inch 4K Mobiuz OLED around Gamescom, and it looks like the next generation of gaming monitors is going to demand some powerful hardware. We've already had the gorgeous Alienware 34-inch OLED gracing our desktops. In fact, our Jacob's been out racing around with Asus' new OLED lovelies. All of these panels are, of course, 4K. And if you want to chuck about some 8.3 million pixels around in the latest ray-traced game worlds, then you're going to need some serious hardware to back you up. These are the gaming monitors I've been clamouring for ever since I sat down in front of my first OLED TV. But why is OLED such a big deal? It's all about those self emissive pixels and the fact they can actually deliver true black. This makes them all about the contrast, meaning you don't have to drive your panel to retina-searing peak luminance levels just to deliver a bit of meaningful HDR. They're also quick. Damned quick. The pixel response time is many times faster on an OLED versus a traditional LCD panel, and that can still make a huge difference in your gaming experience even if the rated latency times are relatively close. Look at the latest OLED offerings from Alienware, Asus, and BenQ; they're all sporting 0.1ms response times. The new 55-inch Odyssey Ark Mini-LED screen from Samsung, meanwhile, is only rated at 1ms for its GtG rating. Theoretically you could have the OLED pixels changing colour (refreshing the display) ten times for every one time the Samsung screen does. In reality it might even be more than that because of the sometimes fudged nature of those grey-to-grey measurements manufacturers use. The colours and motion of these OLED screens are outstanding, too, adding a level of vibrancy to an image you don't get from more traditional panels. So, what's the downside? There are still the issues of burn-in for OLED panels, where static images can leave a residual, almost spectral image on the screen forever more. But the real issue is cost. OLED panels are bastard hard to manufacture, and that makes them incredibly expensive, too. (Image credit: LG) For a long while only LG manufactured OLED panels, because it was the only one prepared to make that investment. South Korean rival, Samsung, gave up pursuing the self-emissive tech years ago, and has only recently dipped its techie toes back in—the Alienware is actually using a Samsung OLED panel, for example. The price is more of an issue in the burgeoning world of the gaming monitor, where OLED displays are only a relatively modern phenomenon. In the world of TVs they've been around for a while… which might actually make things a bit messy when Asus and BenQ are trying to sell 48-inch panels (ostensibly ripped straight off a TV line) for around $2,000. LG's outstanding OLED Evo C2 series comes in the same 42- and 48-inch sizes that Asus is touting for its new Swift screens, but for a chunk less cash. It still has the same 0.1ms response time, 120Hz refresh rate, and low input lag settings specifically for gaming. What Asus can offer, however, is a DisplayPort connection and the potential to overclock to a 138Hz refresh rate. Though, honestly, this extra 18Hz isn't that big a deal for me. (Image credit: BenQ) Screen queens (Image credit: Future)Best gaming monitor: Pixel-perfect panels for your PC Best high refresh rate monitor: Screaming quick screens Best 4K monitor for gaming: When only high-res will do Best 4K TV for gaming: Big-screen 4K PC gaming But while this new OLED era is a big deal for the high-end monitor enthusiast—and we would absolutely recommend spending big on the best gaming monitor as they will likely outlast your current gaming setup—there is hope at the other end, too. We've seen lots of great deals recently on quality IPS gaming monitors, and BenQ itself has shipped us a couple of its more affordable sub-$200 Mobiuz screens. So if, like most of the rest of us, you can't in good conscience drop $1.5K on a new panel, there are still great options out there. And with new entrants into the monitor market arriving with great mid-range options, such as NZXT's Canvas 32 and now the HyperX Armada—under its new HP overlords—the future sure is looking good. View the full article

Greetings Inheritors! We will be conducting scheduled maintenance at the following times: Maintenance Start Time: UTC: Aug 25 at 08:00 am CEST: Aug 25 at 10:00 am EDT: Aug 25 at 04:00 am PDT: Aug 25 at 01:00 am Maintenance End Time: UTC: Aug 25 at 1:00 pm CEST: Aug 25 at 3:00 pm EDT: Aug 25 at 09:00 am PDT: Aug 25 at 06:00 am * Please note that the game will shut down before maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your understanding! The ArcheAge TeamView the full article

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.View the full article