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When I was smacking my head against the desk as another batch of citizens died in Banished, I could not have guessed that the survival city builder would prove to be such a resilient and fruitful subgenre, but now it's inescapable. What a wonderful time to love misery and slogging away in the cold. Vikings knew a thing or two about that, and you'll be able to put their survival skills (and yours) to the test in Land of the Vikings. Iceberg Interactive and developer Laps Games are showing off the new city builder at Gamescom and have released an announcement trailer to whet your appetite for longships, longhouses and long beards. You don't need to be in Cologne to check it out, mind. The Steam demo is up now, letting you start your own Viking village. As you might be used to if you've dabbled with survival city builders, you'll have to start by harvesting the basic essentials, hunting game, fishing, chopping down trees, to eventually grow a sustainable village and, beyond that, a thriving city. The demo map is a handsome place, plonking the start of a village—a few houses and a carpentry workshop—down in a picturesque bay surrounded by reassuring, snow-capped mountains. I almost felt bad when my citizens started chopping down trees, despoiling the beautiful spot. But they need all the resources they can get their hands on. (Image credit: Iceberg Interactive) poopoo weather, naturally, will be a constant threat, with storms, freezing temperatures and earthquakes trying to destroy your settlement. And then there are more mundane but equally troublesome crises to worry about, like running out of food and firewood. You can get a hand from your neighbours, however, by trading with them, sending villagers off in a longship to make new friends and maybe some gold. Or you can be a bit more direct, raiding villages for fame and fortune. Your villagers are individuals with their own luck, strength, speed and intellect stats, as well as traits that enhance them. One my villagers, Ljot Adilssdottir, was a quarrelsome beefcake of a women and mother of four who loved to argue and work out. It looks like there are still kinks to be worked out, however, because as well as being strong and muscular, she was also apparently "unusually scrawny". Some people are just so indecisive. The survival city builder space is pretty crowded at the moment, and Land of the Vikings isn't even the only Viking-themed city builder around—there's also Frozenheim and the bluntly-named Viking City Builder. That's good news for us, though, as we've got plenty of choice when it comes to picking our next survival destination. View the full article

A recent developer diary details how an upcoming Crusader Kings 3 update will change the AI, resulting in more stable realms, and—most importantly for the most pernickety of map painters—less border gore. For those unfamiliar, "border gore" is the term among Paradox players for when a country's boundaries, instead of being neatly blobbed together (and ideally belonging to their lawful ruler), are fractional and odd. France, but the shape of a giraffe, with a number of its counties belonging to Wales, with an odd little exclave far up North in Norway? That's border gore. (Image credit: Paradox) The update, focusing on diplomatic and economic behaviour, will lead AI to prioritise their realm's stability, instead of hoarding gold and leaving their counties fractured to be picked off. With four new economic archetypes, AI rulers will be biased differently towards whether to invest in domain buildings, their armies, or their war chest. Interestingly though, the AI will also for the first time accept tyranny—the negative opinion a ruler takes for acting unlawfully towards their citizens. Even a Just and Generous ruler will now accept a little tyranny to revoke their vassals' titles to consolidate their own domain. Less rational rulers may risk even more. It looks to be an interesting update for both war-oriented players and roleplay-oriented players. Increased realm stability from your enemies should be a boon for players who have complained that it's too easy to min-max your way into becoming a super empire—and who want to murder their way into inheriting a non-giraffe shaped France. I'm personally intrigued by the kinds of stories of revenge and allyship and generations-long grudges that will be brought about when land disputes involve thoroughly built castles, and or when a well-liked neighbour I was befriending vassalizes a shattered realm before I can. As a substantial overhaul, the AI update will be part of the upcoming 1.7 update, which doesn't yet have a date attached. Perhaps we'll find out more at PDXCON in September, but for now you can read the full details on the Paradox Forum. View the full article

Greetings Inheritors, The game has been updated. [Content Updates] Added Specialty Preservation Bag Collector (Rotten Specialty Merchant) to the Community Center across all regions. Moved the respawn spot near Great Prairie of the West's Corrupted Zone to somewhere that does not obstruct the way of the guardians. The Mirage Sky Race event has started. Please check the link below for the details about the update. [Content Update][archeage.playkakaogames.com][New Products][archeage.playkakaogames.com][New Event][archeage.playkakaogames.com] Thank you.View the full article

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

The Genshin Impact Dendroculus is the Sumeru version of the collectibles you use to level the Statues of the Seven across Teyvat. Now that version 3.0 is here, we can finally head to Sumeru, the land of the Dendro Archon. This lush forested region has plenty to explore, but you should also be on the lookout for these green orbs. Like Electroculus in Inazuma, or Geoculus and Anemoculus in Liyue and Mondstadt, respectively, these Dendro orbs can be gathered and used to upgrade their region's statues—in this case, Sumeru—and to claim rewards, increasing your stamina and getting you shrine keys. So if you need a helping hand, here's how to find every Dendroculus in Genshin Impact. Genshin Impact Dendroculus: How to find these green orbs Dendroculi are found all over the new region of Sumeru. Like the orbs from the other areas, you'll have to look high and low to find every last one. Some are easy to spot, hovering at the top of a tree or building or next to another landmark, while others are harder to find and might be hidden in a cave beneath you or floating high in the air. Once you've found a few Dendroculi, you should take them to one of the Statues of the Seven in Sumeru. You'll find the first statue just as you enter the new region for the first time, east of Gandharva Ville. Once at a statue, offer each of the Dendroculus you've collected to level up the statues—this applies to every statue in the Sumeru, so it doesn't matter which one—and you'll be rewarded with Dendro Sigils and Shrines of the Depths keys to gain access to additional treasures. Image 1 of 2 Dendroculus locations in Sumeru. (Image credit: Teyvat Interactive Map / miHoYo)Image 2 of 2 These green orbs are found throughout Sumeru. (Image credit: miHoYo) Genshin Impact Dendroculus locations There are a lot of Dendroculi to collect—over 100, in fact—but luckily you can find the location of every one of them on the Teyvat Interactive Map. The screenshot above should help get you started. Just remember that if you think you're in the right location but still can't see it, look around for possible puzzles or hidden caves the green orb might be hiding in. View the full article

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Failbetter Games recently announced that their gothic horror dating sim, Mask of the Rose, was going to be delayed from its original spooky autumn release date to next April. In a candid blog post, Failbetter lays out the reasons for choosing to delay the game, saying that there were signs the schedule was too tight: team workers were stressed, and reluctant to take time off. "In this situation, there are three things we could do in principle. We could ask our team to put in significant overtime to meet the current schedule, but it’s important to us to provide a good workplace where everyone has time for personal and family life," the post reads. "We could cut features and parts of the story, releasing a game that didn’t fully meet our intentions and ambitions. Our sense, though, is that our players and backers would rather get the game later in its best state, rather than sooner in a worse form. So that leaves us with the third option, moving back the schedule." Mask of the Rose joins a number of other games delaying until the first half of next year, indie and large-scale alike. Bethesda neatly delayed two major upcoming releases in Starfield and Redfall at the same time, and adventure platformer Planet of Lana that Natalie Clayton described as like a less existentially terrifying Limbo announced its own delay only the day before Failbetter. Fraser spoke to creative director Emily Short about Mask of the Rose's approach to being a murder mystery-slash-dating sim in not-quite-Victorian-London (if you're still with me), and the demo is still available on Steam, for anyone curious in the meantime. Fallen London, the setting's originator, has also been up and running for over ten years—so no fear of a delay there. View the full article

It's been a moment but Meta has finally removed the mandatory Facebook login for the Quest 2 VR headset. To login to your Meta Quest 2, you now need to set up a Meta account. And yes, that does sound like they've replaced one mandatory login with another, but this Meta account doesn't require you to connect any social media account in order to use it. In fact, you don't need to own any social media accounts whatsoever, as you can set up a Meta account with only an email address. If you have an account set-up on your Meta Quest already, formerly known as an Oculus account, you may have received an email already notifying you of the change. This includes a link to update your account. Mine wasn't actually working, but this Meta blog page works just as well. Otherwise, if you're starting a new account for the first time, you should now see the new login process pop up first thing when you sync your device with the Oculus app. In the app, you should be able to choose to use either Instagram, Facebook, or an email address to create your new Meta account. If you don't see these options, it may be that Meta is updating the login process gradually around the world, so you might be a little too early. It's worth noting that in order to avoid having to do a full factory reset on an existing headset you will need to make sure that it's running the latest software. That means booting it up while connected to a power source and a Wi-Fi network. If you set everything up before updating your goggles there's a good chance you'll lose anything currently installed on there. Meta's shift away from mandatory Facebook accounts has been a long time coming, having initially been announced way back in October last year. The decision was met with positivity, however, as Meta's insistence on a Facebook account has been criticised by many since its arrival with the Quest 2. Though the shift to Meta accounts does come a little too late for any bargain hunters. Meta only recently increased the price for all of its Quest 2 models by $100, meaning the headset isn't as wildly cheap as it once was. It's still a good buy, however, as you're looking to spend a whole lot more for something like a Valve Index. More so now that the mandatory login has been removed. I know at least a handful of people that refused to buy a Quest while it was still in place, but I wonder if the ship has sailed for that lot now, anyways. View the full article

Map fragments are one of the most important currencies in the new Season of Plunder, since they can be used to create treasure maps that will lead you to seasonal loot, or other plunder of your choosing. But unlike treasure coordinates, which come from doing basically every major activity in the game, you have to do something specific to get these. In this Destiny 2 map fragments guide, I'll explain how to get the currency so you can create treasure maps, but also how to get new map types that will change what you get during your expeditions. Just like the lures from the Season of the Hunt, this time it's all about slotting in different map types to change what you get from the expedition. If you're late to Bungie's big showcase, you may also be curious about the new destination of Neptune, the new Strand subclass, or the news that they are adding preset loadouts and in-game LFG when the expansion arrives. Destiny 2 map fragments: Where to find them You get map fragments in the Season of Plunder by completing the Ketchcrash activity. This unlocks after you've helped the Drifter retrieve his stolen goods and have talked to the Spider in the Eliksni Quarter of the last city, accessible through H.E.L.M. All you have to do is finish the six-person activity, also through H.E.L.M, and beat the last boss to get the fragments. A regular Ketchcrash seems to drop around ten map fragments. Image 1 of 2 You can slot a variety of maps into the Captain's Atlas (Image credit: Bungie)Image 2 of 2 Ketchcrash rewards you with 10 map fragments for completion (Image credit: Bungie) Things are a little buggy right now, and some people are reporting that they aren't receiving map fragments, whereas for others, like me, they are receiving map fragments but they don't appear as a reward when the activity finishes. A new season launch is always a little buggy for Destiny 2, so hopefully Bungie will fix the issue before long. How to get more treasure map types Once you get map fragments and treasure coordinates, you can use them to slot a treasure map into your Captain's Atlas, which is available via your quest screen. This will allow you to claim an additional reward chest at the end of the Expedition activity. You only start with one treasure map, but you can unlock more as crew upgrades at the star map in H.E.L.M. (Image credit: Bungie) Each upgrade does require Repute, though. Like Bound Presence from last season, you can only get this currency through a couple of the seasonal challenges each week which appear at the top of the list, so be sure to complete those if you want the maximum choice of available rewards for your Expeditions. No matter which treasure map you slot, you'll still get Plundered Umbral Energy, which can be used to focus engrams for seasonal weapons and armor. That's all there is to it! View the full article

It's time to shore up your Plex account, people, as the best media streaming service has announced it's been hit with a large scale data breach. An email went out this morning to affected users explaining that on August 23 a "third-party was able to access a limited subset of data that includes emails, usernames, and encrypted passwords." Although the potentially stolen passwords would all have been obscured, the company is still saying that, "out of an abundance of caution" it is making sure all Plex accounts have their passwords reset and are recommending upgrading to two-factor authentication if that's not already in place. As I was writing this the actual Plex website went down, with the support page stating that it was investigating a problem on its side. There's no indication that this was part of the data breach, and could potentially be down to a whole swathe of users suddenly trying to login and alter their password details. Hopefully, anyway. There are certainly a whole bunch of users on Twitter decrying a perceived lack of preparedness for a large proportion of its users crashing the site by all going there the moment they're told to change their login details. Plex has noted that no credit card or other payment information would have been accessed in this breach, as those aren't stored on the company's own servers, which means the hackers will have only gotten away with some encrypted passwords, emails, and usernames. Still, now the site is back online it would certainly be worth getting your account details changed as soon as possible to prevent any potential further breaches on your side. The company has provided a simple how to reset your password guide that is still accessible even if the site is down, as is the request password reset page. Though it does still seem to be struggling actually getting those emails out given the current status of the site infrastructure. On the plus side, once you are logged back in you can immediately stream this absolute classic gratis. https://t.co/3xYXo9PsAl (Availability: US) https://t.co/AiXyamHGHsAugust 23, 2022 See more Plex also recommends that when you alter your existing password you check the box which reads: "Sign out connected devices after password change." This will be a royal pain in the butt when you forget all about this in a couple months' time and try and boot into some old device, only to have to try and remember what your new password might be this time around. But it will add another little layer of security because any automatically logged in device will require a fresh login next time you turn it on. View the full article

Scars Above, an upcoming Sci-Fi action adventure from Serbian studio Mad Head Games was announced at Gamescom's Opening Night Live. There are parts of the trailer that remind me of Control — not least the ominous inverted pyramids, which is in-universe referred to as the Metahedron, according to its Steam page. It looks to lean far more into the alien than the eldritch, however, as you play as astronaut and scientist Kate Ward, stranded from her crew in a strange, hostile environment. With the trailer showing Kate both trapping and gunning down gruesome, fleshy aliens, it's curious that the listing emphasises that she's not a soldier, but a scientist, but it also promises multiple environments to explore, analyse and learn from. It looks extremely genre without a hint of irony, which I can appreciate. Sometimes, you're just a scientist who has crash landed on a mysterious planet because of, uh oh, problems, and now you're in the thick of both mysteries and alien hostilities. Scars Above is one of 12 games signed to Prime Matter last year — many of which are equally Sci-Fi, but include among them Mount and Blade II: Bannerlords, which finally has its full release date. For now, Scars Above doesn't have a release date, with its reveal trailer promising only that it's "coming Soon". For more details, keep an eye on its Steam page. View the full article

If you're itching to get to Sumeru in Genshin Impact, you're in luck. Now that version 3.0 is here, we can finally venture to the home of the Dendro Archon, a forested region with plenty to explore. There are a couple of new characters to unlock, as both Tighnari and Collei are available during the first phase. There are some prerequisites for unlocking this new Dendro region, but I'll go over what you need to know below. So without further ado, here's how to get to Sumeru in Genshin Impact 3.0. Genshin Impact Sumeru quest: How to unlock it If you've been keeping up with the Archon quests in Genshin Impact, you shouldn't have any trouble getting to Sumeru as there's a good chance you've met all the requirements. If you're having trouble picking up the quest that sends you to the new region, make sure you meet the requirements listed below: Raise your Adventure Level (AR) to 35 or higher.Complete the Archon Quest "Requiem of the Echoing Depths". If you meet both criteria, you should find the new Archon Quest, "Through Mists of Smoke and Forests Dark" in your log. It's time to head to Sumeru. (Image credit: miHoYo) How to get to Sumeru in Genshin Impact The first step of the quest tells you to "go to the land of the Dendro Archon", so you'll need to head to The Chasm over to the west of Liyue. Your best bet is to use the Statue of the Seven located there, then hop off the side of the cliff and glide a little to the south. You'll find an opening in the side of the cliff near ground level—there's a Teleport Waypoint right outside. Head through the tunnel towards the quest marker, and you'll soon arrive in a lush forested area. Congratulations, you've made it to Sumeru! View the full article

TaleWorlds has led an early charge into Gamescom with an announcement that Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord—first announced when the world was young and dinosaurs roamed the Earth—will finally leave Early Access on October 25. The announcement of the release date was even accompanied by a new trailer, showcasing the white-knuckle tension of medieval sieges, battles, and opening a small business. If you've played any Bannerlord while it's been in Early Access, it doesn't look much different, but it will be strange to live in a world where Mount & Blade 2 is actually out, rather than in some liminal space between announcement and full release. The game was one of my most-anticipated releases for nearly all of the last decade, from its announcement in 2012 until it finally got an Early Access release in March 2020. I don't know what I'll do with myself now that it's a fully-realised thing. Well, kind of fully-realised. The announcement that the game is leaving Early Access does contain the statement that this isn't "the end of the road" for the game, which will continue "receiving updates in the months to come". Presumably, those updates will be fewer in number and smaller in scope than the kind it received during Early Access, or maybe words just don't mean anything anymore. The meat of the announcement is that the game will also hit consoles at the same time it leaves Early Access, but we're not enormously concerned about that round these parts. Still, the announcement does say the devs have found "synergies" that they weren't expecting between the console and PC versions of the game. They're probably talking about development shortcuts, but who knows? Maybe crossplay is in our future. It's not the biggest announcement to come out of Gamescom so far, but it is the end of a long and winding saga that began an actual, literal decade ago. We rather liked Bannerlord in its ramshackle, Early Access form here at PCG, and as someone who poured way too much of his life into Mount & Blade: Warband I'm excited for the sequel to achieve its final-ish form. View the full article

If you need the answer to today's Wordle then you've come to the right place. And if you'd just like a little help with the August 24 (431) Wordle instead I've got some great news for you, because you're in the right place for that too. Whatever tips, tricks, or hints you need with today's puzzle, you'll find them all below. It's hump day, the special day that's too far from the weekend to feel excited about an upcoming break and too far from Monday to ignite any positive "I'm really going to do my best this week" vibes. It's on days like this I appreciate Wordle's relaxed approach to a daily challenge—it'll get done whenever I'm ready, and take as long as I want it to. Wordle hint Today's Wordle: A hint for Wednesday, August 24 Today's word is often a demanding one; someone desperate to receive an unhealthy amount of attention or affection. The term can also refer to extremely poor people, or those lacking basic essentials such as food and medicine too. There's one vowel used twice today. Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day If there's one thing better than playing Wordle, it's playing Wordle well, which is why I'm going to share a few quick tips to help set you on the path to success: A good opener contains a balanced mix of unique vowels and consonants. A tactical second guess helps to narrow down the pool of letters quickly.The solution may contain repeat letters. There's no time pressure beyond making sure it's done by midnight. So there's no reason to not treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you're coming up blank. Wordle answer (Image credit: Josh Wardle) What is the Wordle 431 answer? Allow me to make things easy for you. The answer to the August 24 (431) Wordle is NEEDY. Previous answers Wordle archive: Which words have been used The more past Wordle answers you can cram into your memory banks, the better your chances of guessing today's Wordle answer without accidentally picking a solution that's already been used. Past Wordle answers can also give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle solving fresh. Here are some recent Wordle solutions: August 23: WOVENAugust 22: MERITAugust 21: WASTEAugust 20: TREATAugust 19: SHRUGAugust 18: TWANGAugust 17: TWICEAugust 16: GRUELAugust 15: POKERAugust 14: KHAKI Learn more about Wordle Every day Wordle presents you with six rows of five boxes, and it's up to you to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them. You'll want to start with a strong word like ALERT—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters. Hit Enter and the boxes will show you which letters you've got right or wrong. If a box turns ️, it means that letter isn't in the secret word at all. means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. means you've got the right letter in the right spot. You'll want your second go to compliment the first, using another "good" word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn't present in today's answer. After that it's just a case of using what you've learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there's an E). Don't forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS). If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you'd like to find out which words have already been used you'll find those below. Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn't long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it's only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes. View the full article

Hearthstone's auto-battler mode Battlegrounds remains popular, even among players who don't bother with regular Hearthstone. On August 30 Blizzard will launch Season 2 of Battlegrounds, which will add quest mechanics and two new heroes, but it's also going to bring some things players are less excited about: premium currency and a premium rewards track to go with it. Real-money purchases in the Hearthstone shop will be phased out in favor of a virtual currency called Runestones, though as Blizzard's FAQ notes, "Some products, like Pre-Purchase Bundles, the Hearthstone Tavern Pass, and Packs (purchasing more than one at a time) will be able to be purchased with money or Runestones." Typically, premium currencies are sold in amounts that don't correspond directly to the cost of items in the shop, meaning customers have to buy more than they want. Blizzard says some Runestone bundles will be sold in "quantities that correspond to our major products (like the Battlegrounds Season Pass)", though that leaves the question of what count as minor products unanswered. Chadd Nervig, Hearthstone features lead, tried to reassure players on Twitter by explaining the actual prices in the shop wouldn't be changing, and said, "We've chosen Runestone bundle sizes to exactly match the top selling products, and minimize wasted Runestones." He also explained that having a premium currency makes it easier to "offer smaller products for sale, like individual BG skins or emotes", presumably because of how the cut Apple and other storeowners take on each purchase works out. What players seem most upset about is that the Battlegrounds season pass will give buyers access to a premium tier of its reward track. While everything else on that track is cosmetic, the first reward is two additional hero slots, which will not be obtainable any other way. (Previously it was something you could buy with in-game gold earned through play.) Players who don't fork out for the season pass will be stuck choosing from two random heroes, while those who pay will get to choose from four. "We're committed to maintaining hero and gameplay balance so that the choice from four heroes is more about optionality than power", Blizzard says, to which players reply with a hollow laugh. Battlegrounds' heroes are considered wildly unbalanced, with Ysera and Heistbaron Togwaggle sitting way up high in the current meta. As streamer Old Guardian breaks down, with two heroes to choose from you'll get access to a better-than-average pick 62% of the time, while with four heroes to choose from your odds go up to 86%. Streamer and Hearthstone beta tester Zeddy delivered a nine-minute rant declaring the change to be predatory. "I fricking knew this was going to happen," he says, "because it's Blizzard. That when they introduce a new monetization system it's going to be greedy, it's going to be predatory, and they're gonna try and be underhanded about it." He says that before this Battlegrounds was "the most free-to-play-friendly mode they've ever done", and that by selling extra hero slots Blizzard will "make it the only true pay-to-win mode in Hearthstone." Given the backlash to Diablo Immortal's microtransactions, you might have expected Blizzard to be a bit cautious about the way it rolls out changes to the monetization of Hearthstone and Battlegrounds, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Instead, it's jumped right into the premium currency quagmire and the community isn't happy about it. Though at least the memes are pretty good. View the full article

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Based on the Gamescom announcement trailer, Where Winds Meet looks like an Assassin's Creed-sized undertaking, so it's a little surprising that I've never heard of its developer, Everstone Studio. The game is a real thing, though: It's backed by NetEase, the second largest game publisher in China. It looks cool, too, and I almost didn't notice it during Gamescom Opening Night Live. Although the trailer starts with a poem by Southern Tang ruler Li Yu, and I am fond of Chinese poetry (not joking), it's all a bit sleepy, so I tuned out. At around 1.22, though, the trailer switches to gameplay, and we see a character strolling through a city. (To reiterate a take I probably last published in 2010: Down with cinematic trailers, up with gameplay trailers!) The footage looks a bit jaggy and artifacted, but ignoring that, it's a subtly impressive scene, with around three dozen locals going about their business in a small area. And then there's horseback riding, mountain climbing, frigid wind walking-against, wuxia-style floating, and the most essential videogame activity, blowing up barrels. The combat looks like the dash-in, combo, roll-out-of-the-way stuff you'd expect. "The player can counter enemy blows, use Tai Chi to reflect their attacks, or use acrobatics to slip through their guard and strike them from all angles," says NetEase. "The player also has access to a number of martial arts skills and ranged weapons, allowing them to break free from one fighting style and use a mixture of abilities to defeat their enemies, creating their own approach to combat." There's apparently quite a bit more to Where Winds Meet than combat, though. The open world RPG takes place in "the final days of the Ten Kingdoms era of Chinese history," says NetEase. Li Yu was a better poet than ruler, and was captured by the Song dynasty that would go on to conquer the other kingdoms, so the trailer's opening lyrics are relevant to the period. That choice perhaps reflects the studio's desire to build something genuinely representative of history, despite the fantasy beasts. According to the press release, you can wander away from the main storyline and become a merchant or doctor, and according to IGN, there's an online element, so you can heal other players, as well as NPCs. A studio representative also told the website that a player could become an "orator who uses the power of words to convince NPCs to follow their advice," as well as a bodyguard or ferryman. There's also a construction system with "over 600 authentic components that allow the player to build structures in the world and make it their own," according to the press release. (Image credit: Everstone Games) It's not clear how engaging these side jobs will be—little breaks from the main quest, fixations for novelty roleplayers, or something players will genuinely want to spend a lot of time doing—but it sure sounds like a lot of game to try to pull off. The building system was a surprise to me. And there's another little surprise here: Where Winds Meet is a PC-only game. It really is a trip to the past, eh? There's no release date set for Where Winds Meet, but a beta test is planned for this year. Regarding the mystery studio, Everstone, NetEase says it's using "international game production techniques" to "reconstruct the distant past with cutting-edge technologies and bountiful detail." I've asked NetEase where it's based. View the full article

I was reminded during Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live show today that CrossfireX, the sequel to massively popular Counter-Strike clone Crossfire, came out this year. It released free-to-play in February with a complete singleplayer campaign developed by Remedy Entertainment, a full suite of multiplayer modes, and a battle pass. You might have forgotten about CrossfireX because it was panned by critics at launch, but it quickly left my head because it only ever came out on Xbox. A competitive FPS with origins on the PC, exclusive to one console. What's up with that? I can't remember the last time someone tried to release a competitive shooter without a PC version. Halo 5, maybe? If this were Sony trying to bring back Killzone I'd understand, but this is Xbox we're talking about: The PC-friendly platform. The publisher that, for the past four years, has released every single one of its exclusive games simultaneously on console and PC. CrossfireX is the first game to break that streak, and is maybe the worst possible candidate to do so. Microsoft CrossfireX's developer, Smilegate, is leaving a lot of players on the table by console-gating an FPS that would probably be way more fun with a mouse and keyboard. I suspect that some of the most damning criticisms CrossfireX received at launch, like unresponsive controls and imbalanced guns, could have been mitigated by a PC version with more customizability and input options. I get why Sony is letting its big fancy adventure games be console-exclusive for a few years before making the jump to PC, but why CrossfireX? It's not some graphical powerhouse and it's definitely not selling consoles for Microsoft. My best guess is that, in a handshake attempt to make Crossfire more popular in North America and Xbox more popular in China, Smilegate and Microsoft decided a long time ago that CrossfireX would only ever come to Xbox. That's a shame—CrossfireX is simple, but its shooting looks slick and I'd like to give it a shot. (Just not with a controller. Oh god no.) CrossfireX's console situation is a bummer, but dwelling on it has been a nice excuse to relive memories from when console-exclusive FPSes were more common. I loved Halo 3. I walked the mean streets of Killzone 2 and Resistance 3 in my PS3 days. For a few months in 2012, I was probably one of the greatest CS:GO PS3 players who ever lived. That's right, Valve commissioned Xbox 360 and PS3 ports for CS:GO when it launched in 2012, both of which were immediately abandoned. They did the same thing with Team Fortress 2 in 2007, which still had a small but active community as of 2019. The truth is, "exclusivity" is now a dirty word for multiplayer games. We are firmly in the era of crossplay, where all games are expected to be playable on every platform and with every platform. This was a bad way to release CrossfireX, and it's unclear if it'll ever be remedied. The console wars are over, and the PC won. Somebody should probably tell CrossfireX. View the full article

Some PC games are so unfair that they stick with you. Whether it's a brutal boss in a singleplayer game or a PvP game that requires an immense amount of skill, some games demand a lot. Even if you don't end up overcoming the odds, the hardest PC games drill their way into your brain and stay there. The PC Gamer staff already clenched their fists and wrote about the hardest games they've played. Elden Ring's infamous boss almost made us lose our minds and Ghosts 'n Goblins, while full of amazing music, was a nightmare to play. Now it's your turn to pick the hardest games you've played. In the survey below, we want to hear about the hardest games you've played and why they gave you such a hard time. We ask that you give us the name of the game, one or two sentences about why you chose it, and your name so we can quote you in a future article. If you don't have an answer for one of the prompts, feel free to skip it, and please keep your responses civil. Here is the survey form for you to fill out. View the full article

Rest easy, videogame trailer-lovers: this year's Gamescom announcements from Opening Night Live 2022 are here to keep you fed. The week formerly known as E3 has come and gone and The Game Awards show isn't until December, but we can't go too long without Geoff Keighley introducing a world premiere, so let there be Gamescom. The games festival is back on as an in-person event in Cologne, Germany, this year and we'll be sharing our hands-on impressions of games in attendance throughout the week. While you wait for that, here are the announcements that were fired off on opening night. We've grouped some of the biggest games and announcements here at the top if you just want the highlights. Down below, you'll find everything else that turned up for Opening Night Live, small trailers and incremental announcements and all. Here are all the Gamescom announcements for 2022. Biggest Opening Night Live announcements The Callisto Protocol What's new: New gameplay showcase with a mutating enemy type that will regrow body parts as you fight if you don't kill them quick enough. Release date: December 2, 2022. Sonic Frontiers What's new: A new gameplay trailer that leads with some classic-looking Sonic 'evels in its open world. Release date: November 8, 2022. Hogwarts Legacy What's new: A story trailer focused on a Slytherin student and preorder date announcement for August 25. Release date: February 10, 2023. Gotham Knights What's new: A villain lineup that includes Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, and Clayface. Release date: October 21, 2022. (Four days earlier than expected!) Dune Awakening What is it: An open-world survival MMO in the Dune universe. What's new: A reveal trailer. Beta signups are open. Dead Island 2 What's new: An actual gameplay trailer, developer interview, and release date. Release date: February 3, 2023. Everything else announced at Gamescom (Image credit: Embark Studios) Everywhere What is it: A metaverse-sounding game coming in 2023. What's new: Initial reveal with a debut teaser trailer. PlayStation Dualsense Edge What is it: Sony's version of an Elite controller with customizable parts. What's new: First announcement and trailer. The Lords of the Fallen What is it: The new name for Lords of the Fallen 2, sequel to a not very good soulslike. What's new: The name, and a cinematic trailer. Moving Out 2 What is it: Sequel to the co-op party game. What's new: A gameplay trailer and 2023 launch window. New Tales from the Borderlands What is it: A Telltale-style followup to the game everyone loved, but by Gearbox. What's new: A new story trailer and October 21, 2022, launch date. Dying Light 2: Bloody Ties What is it: DLC for Dying Light 2. What's new: Reveal trailer featuring the Carnage Hall arena. Tortuga: A Pirate's Tale What is it: A turn-based strategy pirating game. What's new: Reveal trailer. Marauders What is it: A multiplayer FPS set in the alternate 1990's. What's new: A new trailer and early access launch in October 2022. Destiny 2: Lightfall What is it: The next Destiny expansion. What's new: A reveal trailer and February 28, 2023 launch date. Under the Waves What is it: An underwater narrative adventure published by Quantic Dream. What's new: First reveal trailer and 2023 release window. Goat Simulator 3 What is it: The deliberately misnumbered sequel to Goat Simulator. What's new: A new gameplay trailer with the slapstick physics you'd expect. Return to Monkey Island What is it: A sequel to the classic adventure game. What's new: September 19, 2022 release date and a pre-order horse armor joke (but it is real). Moonbreaker What is it: A turn-based sci-fi strategy game with paintable digital miniatures in the Unknown Worlds setting, collaborating with author Brandon Sanderson. What's new: New gameplay trailer and Early Access date of September 29, 2022. Friends vs Friends What is it: A competitive card game and FPS published by Devolver Digital. What's new: A gameplay trailer. Lies of P What is it: Bloodborne, but it's about Pinocchio. What's new: New gameplay trailer, also coming to Xbox Game Pass at launch. Stranded: Alien Dawn What is it: A strategy survival sim on another planet. What's new: A gameplay trailer and Early Access coming in October 2022. Atlas Fallen What is it: A "semi open world" co-op or solo action RPG that looks a bit like Monster Hunter. What's new: A gameplay trailer and 2023 launch window. Homeworld 3 What is it: An outer space RTS. What's new: A new gameplay trailer, now coming in the first half of 2023. Genshin Impact 3.0 What is it: A story trailer for the 3.0 launch. What's new: Nothing, really. But it does launch today. Honkai Star Rail What is it: The turn-based strategy RPG by Genshin Impact's developers. What's new: A new trailer showing off that space train. High on Life What is it: An FPS from Rick & Morty's Justin Roiland What's new: A first gameplay trailer, and December 13 launch, and it will probably never shut up. Hardspace Shipbreaker What is it: A spaceship deconstruction game. What's new: September 20 console launch on PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S. The Expanse: Telltale Series What is it: A narrative game based on the TV show by the new Telltale studio. What's new: New trailer and summer 2023 launch window. Killer Klowns From Outer Space What is it: A competitive multiplayer horror game based on the '80s movie. What's new: A new trailer and Early Access coming in 2023. Scars Above What is it: A third-person shooter on an alien planet. What's new: A reveal trailer with a bit of gameplay. Wyrdsong What is it: An RPG from a new studio Something Wicked Games including former Bethesda and BioWare developers. What's new: A teaser trailer that tells us well, mostly nothing, honestly. Age of Empires 4 What is it: The already launched strategy game. What's new: New free civilizations the Malians and Ottomans, and October 25 anniversary update. Where Winds Meet What is it: An open-world action RPG with martial arts. What's new: A quite pretty reveal trailer. Hideo Kojima's podcast Brain Structure What is it: A "deep dive into his brain" related to the game development creative process, apparently also including sections from Geoff Keighley. What's new: It's launching on Spotify on September 8 and will have an english translation. Park Beyond What is it: A park-building sim with big ol' roller coasters. What's new: New trailer and a 2023 launch window. MINI Aceman Electric concept car What is it: A BMW electric car with "gaming features" and a Pokemon partnership. What's new: Cars for gamers, apparently. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide What is it: A Warhammer 40K co-op action shooter. What's new: A character creation and gameplay trailer, though the November 30 launch date was known. Blacktail What is it: An action adventure and archery game about the origins of Slavic myth Baba Yaga. What's new: New trailer and December 15, 2022 launch date. Phantom Hellcat What is it: A third-person hack 'n slash combo-chaining action game. What's new: First reveal trailer. CrossfireX What is it: The Babylon update for the Xbox-exclusive FPS. What's new: New trailer and August 23 launch date. Dorfromantik What is it: The strategy puzzler about building towns. What's new: A new trailer announcing a Nintendo Switch launch on September 29. The Outlast Trials What is it: Outlast, but with up to four players online. What's new: A new trailer and closed beta announcement from October 28 - November 1. The Finals What is it: A destruction-heavy FPS from former Battlefield devs. What's new: A new trailer and playtests on Steam starting soon. View the full article

1980s horror films have had something of a resurgence in videogames over the past few years. From Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger in Dead by Daylight to Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th: The Game to Ash Williams in Evil Dead: The Game, we can't seem to get enough of combining the multiplayer horror formula with memorable 1980s slasher flicks. Now another nightmare from the '80s is throwing its multicolored fright wig into the ring. Cult horror comedy classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space is becoming a 3v7 asymmetrical horror game from Randy Greenback, executive director of Friday the 13th: The Game, and developer Teravision Games. In KKFOS:TG, a team of three Klown players will hunt seven human citizens as they gather weapons and gear to try to repel the goofy invasion. If you're not familiar with the film, the Klowns were aliens (looking an awful lot like disturbing rubber clown puppets) who came to Earth in a circus-tent shaped spaceship and invaded the small town of Crescent Cove, killing dumb teens and skeptical adults and drinking their blood with silly straws. It was a notoriously low-budget film created by the Chiodo Brothers, three special-effects artists, and while it never spawned a sequel it remains a beloved C-list classic and even got a restored special edition Blu-Ray release in 2018. I'm really interested to see the Klowns' various powers translated in the game. In the film, they could do all sorts of weird stuff, like cocooning people inside giant wads of cotton candy with their ray guns, casting dinosaur-shaped shadow puppets onto walls that then came to life and ate people, using the dead body of the sheriff like a puppet, burying a cop in a barrage of acidic cream pies, and occasionally just going old-school and punching a biker so hard his head flew off and landed in a garbage can. Their only weakness seemed to be their round red noses, which was the spot you had to shoot them to kill them. Here are the official features of Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game. SEND IN THE KLOWNS: Take on a role of the iconic Killer Klowns – cooperate in a team of three players, utilize outlandish abilities, hunt humans with zany weapons, and plan your own alien invasion to harvest the citizens of Crescent Cove.PROTECT HUMANITY: Fight back as a team of seven brave citizens of Crescent Cove – pick your class, explore the city for valuable loot and weapons, avoid getting captured by Klowns, and try to survive – or sabotage – the alien invasion.WELCOME TO THE TOWN: Crescent Cove is a sprawling arena for unique 3v7 fights between Klowns and humans – boasting various locations, randomly generated map layout and a multitude of tactical opportunities for both teams.EVOLVING THE HORROR: Unique approach to hide-and-seek gameplay, customization & respawn systems, PvPvE, dynamic objectives leading to multiple match results – Killer Klowns evolves the online horror formula in new ways. Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game is planned for PC on Steam in early 2023. And if you missed it the first time around, please enjoy the trailer for the film itself below. View the full article

FYI: Alan Wake 2 is a sequel to an earlier game, called Alan Wake. ALAN WAKE II IS A SEQUEL TO OUR EARLIER GAME CALLED ALAN WAKE. @remedygames @alanwakeAugust 23, 2022 See more View the full article

In December, the new Telltale—a studio built from some of the pieces left behind when the developer went bankrupt—announced that it's making an adventure series based on The Expanse, the six-season sci-fi show (based on novels) that was recently concluded by Amazon Studios. I thought it was smart to make Camina Drummer the main character (who would rather play as pouty-boy James Holden?) and now that we have a peek at The Expanse: A Telltale Series via the Gamescom trailer embedded above, I'm mildly excited to play it. In the trailer, game director Stephan Frost says he's "super excited" for the zero-G bits of the game. I was glad to hear that, because I've always loved a good zero-G section myself—it's the best part of the first Dead Space—and you really couldn't make a game based on The Expanse without some floating. The show (and I presume the novels, which I haven't read) is all about imagining the weird problems involved with interplanetary travel and space life, such as how human bones might develop differently in low gravity, how ships might be designed to use acceleration as gravity, and how people would survive the G-forces caused by extreme space maneuvering. The latter problem is solved with magic liquid, so it's not all science-ey, but I enjoy the bits where The Expanse doesn't cheat too much. It looks like Telltale sees the same appeal in the source material, and there may be some pretty big wrecks to explore—not something Telltale is known for, and perhaps an indication that we're not completely getting more of the same here. I also like that it looks pretty gross. You're not going to scavenge from wrecked spaceships without seeing some floating bodies, and indeed, there are floating bodies. Floating heads, too. For some reason, I have a kid-friendly image of Telltale in my mind—maybe because I associated it with a cartoon dog—but that's not what Telltale was. The series that earned it mainstream fame, The Walking Dead, was also pretty gruesome. There's a lot of activity around Telltale and its past right now. Another Telltale game, Tales from the Borderlands, is getting a sequel called New Tales from the Borderlands, but that's being developed by Gearbox (with some devs from the first game). Meanwhile, a studio formed by ex-Telltale devs, called Adhoc, is working on a sequel to Telltale's The Wolf Among Us with support from the new Telltale. I'm glad the plate of intellectual property spaghetti formed by Telltale's closure seems to be working out, at least for now. The Expanse: A Telltale Series is scheduled to release in Summer 2023 (or the first episode, at least, if they're released over time). View the full article

One of the most tragic death scenes in Final Fantasy 14 is now a little more heart-wrenching thanks to a stealth change in patch 6.2 Buried Memories. For the spoiler averse: The change adds in an additional line of dialogue to explain why neither our hero or their allies can save the injured character. Square Enix didn't include it in the lengthy patch notes, but the dungeon where the cutscene plays got updated to support NPC parties for solo runs, which could explain why the change was made. FF14 players who have finished the main story of the Heavensward expansion (which is available to play with the game's free trial) will immediately recognize the pivotal scene that changed. Fan favorite character Haurchefant spends most of the expansion helping your character settle into Ishgard and, after the city's leader reveals his true evil intentions, he makes a heroic leap to save you from a spear of light, ending in his death. Ever since the expansion's 2015 release date, fans have mourned Haurchefant and, if that wasn't enough, future expansions kept reminding us through flashbacks and references. It's a loss that FF14 doesn't want anyone to forget. Some were frustrated that there wasn't a way to heal his wounds, especially if they played one of the game's support classes—something FF14 occasionally acknowledges in cutscenes with unique dialogue options. The altered scene doesn't go that far, but it does have Alphinaud, one of your longtime healer companions, comment (fully voiced too) on how the "wound is too deep" and that it "refuses to mend." No...they added more voiced lines to THAT scene with Alphinaud explaining why we can't just use heal and Aymeric's reaction oh noooo it's even sadder #FFXIVspoilers pic.twitter.com/uB8BS8ou2dAugust 23, 2022 See more In response to the news, FF14 players have been reminded of how heartbreaking the scene is and how much they miss their Ishgardian friend. Twitter user Gelgumi explained why this addition lines up with how healing in the game's fiction works: "Heal spells can only heal wounds that will naturally heal." And others in a Reddit thread about the new scene think the change helps clarify this early in the game's four-expansion-long storyline. Not me watching it at the dinner table and having to explaine to mum why I am crying https://t.co/nN3UgDJQJTAugust 23, 2022 See more cries in white mage I can’t believe they did this to me all over again https://t.co/CbzVMnaNNAAugust 23, 2022 See more The new 6.2 patch includes some other slight cutscene changes and new dialogue for old dungeons along with a pseudo farming sim. It's not that common for Square Enix to go back and change things like this, other than when it makes playing the game's early questlines a little less tedious. There's no quality of life here though; in fact, it's the opposite. View the full article

I've had my eye on Embark Studios, a new studio led by ex-EA boss Patrick Söderlund and ex-DICE developers, since it announced co-op robo shooter Arc Raiders at last year's Game Awards. Two weeks ago, Embark announced that it has delayed Arc Raiders because it wants to release the other game it's working on first. That game is The Finals, a free-to-play, destruction-heavy FPS announced today at the Gamescom Opening Night Live show. Watch the brief teaser above. The Finals is, by the sound of it, a competitive shooter themed around a game show. It's not the most original setup for a shooter in 2022, but what does sound original is the game's focus on reshaping its maps to fit your needs. Embark describes it as a game where "if you think something will work, it probably will." Matches take place in "virtual arenas based on iconic real-world locations that contestants can alter, exploit, and even destroy in chaotic PvP matches." It's hard to tell exactly what degree of destruction we're talking about based on a few seconds of rapidly-cut gameplay, but if all that rubble is accurate, we may be freely blowing holes into walls like Rainbow Six Siege. Beyond the promise of crumbling buildings, we don't know anything about the kind of shooter The Finals will be. It sounds like it'll probably be team-based, but will it be yet another battle royale? Maybe it'll be on a smaller scale with several 3-4 person squads, or maybe The Finals will join the burgeoning extraction shooter genre. Embark will have more to say and gameplay to show from The Finals in September, which is also when the first closed playtest is happening. You can sign up for that right now on the game's Steam page. The page currently lists the game as "coming soon," but considering Arc Raiders got pushed to 2023 to give this shooter more room, The Finals may be out for real by the end of the year. View the full article