Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch Will Add More Romance for Valentine’s Day

1 month 2 weeks ago

Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch Will Add More Romance for Valentine’s Day

Larian Studios announced the next Baldur’s Gate 3 patch will offers some tweaks to the romance options. The developer specifically noticed that kissing will be better when the update arrives the week of February 11, 2024.

There will be three specific additions in the update. While one involves an additional update for people who are building relationships, the other two don’t. If someone is going through the permadeath Honor mode, they will have new Legendary Actions they can get and use. Also, while the kissing will be updated at the camp, there will also be other new actions. These will be idle animations for people you recruited who are hanging around.

While there is no full trailer showing what to expect from the next Baldur’s Gate 3 patch, Larian shared a brief clip showing how the new kissing option looks for romance options. That announcement also confirmed we’ll see bugs squashed in the update as well.

Author
Jenni Lada

Tags

Foamstars Experiencing Season Pass Bug

1 month 2 weeks ago

Foamstars Experiencing Season Pass Bug

Square Enix took to the official Foamstars social media account to alert people to a Season Pass bug. It’s currently broken, which can keep people from getting items they earned.

To take full advantage of the Season Pass, which is Starry Pop this first season, someone needs to pay $5.99. By going through it, people can earn the ice cream-themed character Melt and an array of cosmetics. However, buying the pass immediately gives someone the character. 

Square Enix didn’t note which tier of the Foamstars Season Pass is broken, but explained the team is working to fix the bug. It also offered an initial solution to potentially repair it. Essentially, it is to exit the game, then start it again. In some cases, this allows someone to get the items they earned and couldn’t before. However, someone can also go into the in-game Options menu and select the Contact option. People go select it in Other can report if they are experiencing the issue.

Foamstars launched on February 6, 2024 for PlayStation Plus subscribers as part of the Essential tier. It is playable on the PS4 and PS5. It will then appear afterward outside the service following that launch in March 2024. 

Author
Jenni Lada

Tags

Dead Cells Co-developer Evil Empire Officially Ends Its Support Of The Roguelike Platformer

1 month 2 weeks ago

Dead Cells was developed and released by Motion Twin in 2018, and in an atypical move in the world of game development, members of that team branched off to form Evil Empire, which in turn supported Dead Cells with new content for many years. Arguably its biggest and most notable expansion was the Return to Castlevania DLC, which added all kinds of Castlevania content to the game.

The developer announced this morning, however, that it is officially time to move on. You can see the developer's full statement below.

Author
Kyle Hilliard

Whitethorn announce Slime Heroes, a Soulslike starring slimes, plus Botany Manor release date

1 month 2 weeks ago

In an upsetting confirmation that February is in fact winter (and that the year doesn't just start with summer like my brain thinks it should) publisher Whitethorn Games held a 2024 Winter Showcase, where they revealed the existance of a game that answers the question "what if the slimes in Slime Rancher were in mortal peril, and had swords?". The answer is apparently "be ruddy heroes in a cute Soulslike". I think this game, too, looks very cute, although Slime Heroes doesn't have a release window yet.

You know what does have a launch date now? Botany Manor, a lovely 3D puzzle game about growing plants, which I first learned about via the Steam Next Fest demo, and with which I immediately fell in love. I am heartened to know it is coming out really quite soon - April 9th. A mere two months from now!

Read more

Author
Alice Bell

Dead Cells developer ends support, focusing on new projects

1 month 2 weeks ago

Dead Cells developer Evil Empire is no longer working on the game, bringing to a close five years of updates.

The roguelite Metroidvania has received four DLC expansions, 18 updates, and crossovers with Castlevania, Hollow Knight, and more, with Evil Empire acting as a subsidiary of developer Motion Twin to support the game long term.

In a statement from Evil Empire, it explained the team is now working in full on "secret projects" to be revealed "very soon".

Read more

Author
Ed Nightingale

Tags

FFVII Yuffie, Vincent, Cid, and Cait Sith Bring Arts Action Figures Revealed

1 month 2 weeks ago

FFVII Final Fantasy VII Bring Arts of Vincent and Yuffie

Square Enix revealed new FFVII Bring Arts action figures modeled after Yuffie Kisaragi, Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, and Cait Sith with Fat Moogle. The company also opened pre-orders for all four figures on its Japanese web store. It will gradually release the figures between October 2024 and February 2025.

Each action figure will come with an attachable weapon and multiple exchangeable hand parts. Yuffie and Cid's Bring Arts sets will also include an alternate facial expression plate. But despite the varying compositions, all four figures will be available with the same price tag of 13,200 yen (~$88).

Here are some of the sample images for the upcoming FFVII Bring Arts Yuffie, Vincent, Cid, and Cait Sith figures:

Author
Kite Stenbuck

Tags

GTA 5 closes in on 200m copies sold

1 month 2 weeks ago

GTA 5 will soon pass the astonishing milestone of having sold 200m copies.

The game currently sits on 195m copies sold to date, with more than five million copies shifted over the past three months, publisher Take-Two revealed in its latest financial results.

If its current momentum continues, GTA 5 will pass the 200m mark before the summer. That's around 100m more copies sold than Tetris, and behind only Minecraft (which has sold around 300m copies, it's believed).

Read more

Author
Tom Phillips

Tags

Kingdom Hearts Destiny Island Trio Dolls Look Cute

1 month 2 weeks ago

kingdom hearts dolls

Square Enix has opened up pre-orders for little dolls of Sora, Riku, and Kairi from the Kingdom Hearts series. All three dolls will come out on June 8, 2024.

The dolls stand at around 165 x 155 x 200 millimeters. While the pictures on the website are prototypes, which means they might not look exactly the same when they actually come out, the dolls have a very simplified design. With their big eyes and lack of a visible mouth, they actually look quite similar to a Funko Pop. All three dolls seem to use the Kingdom Hearts designs for the characters, with Kairi’s look being the most obvious that it’s from the first game.

Author
Stephanie Liu

Tags

Watch Pikachu get abducted and electrocute an entire stadium in new music video

1 month 2 weeks ago

Pikachu stars in the music video for Jax Jones' new single Never Be Lonely.

The single, which features German singer-songwriter Zoe Wees, was released today and accompanied by a music video. The video is a collaboration between Jones and The Pokémon Company International, and sees Pikachu being abducted onto a UFO-turned-stadium where Jones and Wees are performing.

Pikachu isn't that mad about being abducted though, as he happily greets the two and dances along before illuminating (or rather electrocuting) the entire stadium. Ceruledge also makes a sneaky appearance towards the beginning of the video, as a projection onto the sides of some buildings.

Read more

Author
Liv Ngan

Tags

Street Fighter 6 Ed Gameplay Trailer Shows Boxing With Psycho Power

1 month 2 weeks ago

Street Fighter 6 gameplay - Ed vs Ken

Capcom has published a new Street Fighter 6 gameplay trailer featuring Ed, who will be available in late February 2024. The video begins with a continuation of the event shown in the January 2024 teaser trailer before it goes to the main course. It shows Ed's Psycho Powered boxing style in the Ruined Lab stage.

While Ed had some kicks during his debut in Street Fighter V, the new gameplay trailer suggests that he will change his fighting style to a purer form of boxing by only using punches. However, he will still retain the Psycho Power feature where he ties and pulls his opponent.

The trailer also revealed Ed's alternate costume. The iconic hoodie that he wore in Street Fighter V's storyline served as an inspiration, but there are numerous changes made to Ed's Outfit 2. For example on the top side, the hoodie is now separated with a zipper, and Ed also wears a red tank top inside.

The gameplay trailer is available to watch via the official Street Fighter YouTube channel:

Author
Kite Stenbuck

Tags

Ubisoft boss says £70 Skull and Bones is a "quadruple-A" live-service game

1 month 2 weeks ago

Ubisoft's live-service pirate ship game Skull and Bones is a "quadruple-A" project, company boss Yves Guillemot has said.

Discussing the long-awaited project with investors last night, Guillemot justified the live service game launching with a £70 price tag as it being a fully-formed experience that was also supported by a battle pass, premium currency and an in-game store.

"You will see that Skull and Bones is a full-fledged game," Guillemot said. "It's a very big game and we feel that people will really see how vast and complete that game is. So it's a really full triple-A, quadruple-A game that will deliver in the long run."

Read more

Author
Tom Phillips

Tags

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth fans are getting creative with its in-game piano

1 month 2 weeks ago

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth players are already sharing piano covers from the game's demo, just days after its release.

The demo takes place in Nibelheim where, as Cloud, players can snoop around in Tifa's house and play her piano - fans of the original will remember this is how you unlock her ultimate limit break.

Now, in Rebirth, the piano is freely playable in a little minigame, so players have been busy creating covers of Final Fantasy tunes and pop songs.

Read more

Author
Ed Nightingale

Tags

Ori and the Blind Forest studio delays upcoming action-RPG

1 month 2 weeks ago

The next game from Ori and the Blind Forest developer Moon Studios has been delayed slightly.

No Rest for the Wicked, an isometric action-RPG with darker visuals, is a departure from the Ori games. It was revealed in December at The Game Awards, and the developer gave an early access release window on Steam of the first three months of 2024.

However, the game's early access launch has now been delayed to Q1 of the financial year 2025 (or Q2 of the calendar year 2024), as revealed in Take-Two's earning report for Q3 2024.

Read more

Author
Liv Ngan

Tags

What can grindy live service superhero games learn from One-Punch Man?

1 month 2 weeks ago

One-Punch Man is a manga, anime and nowadays, videogame series that began life as a webcomic in 2009 - a drawing exercise for budding artist "One" that found popularity and evolved into a full-bore parody of the shonen action genre. One-Punch Man himself, aka Saitama, is essentially a NEET Superman - an apathetic homebody in yellow pants and red wellies who begins his story as the most powerful superhero in existence, for reasons unexplained.

Read more

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Ubisoft backs away from VR after disappointing Assassin's Creed Nexus sales

1 month 2 weeks ago

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has said the company won't be increasing its investment into VR due to poor sales of Assassin's Creed Nexus VR.

The Meta Quest exclusive released in November 2023, and lets players step into the shoes of series protagonists Ezio, Kassandra, and Connor.

Nexus VR isn't mentioned at all in Ubisoft's Q3 earnings press release, but the game was addressed by Guillemot during its conference call (as reported by VGC).

Read more

Author
Liv Ngan

Tags

Mullet Mad Jack is extremely my kind of unbridled FPS chaos

1 month 2 weeks ago

First spotted when James and Liam (RPS in peace) covered the PC Gaming Show 2023, Mullet Mad Jack is a roguelike FPS with a Steam Next Fest demo out right now. And my goodness me, it rules. The retro anime aesthetic is cool, sure, but I particularly love its setup, which forces you to blast through corridors as fast as you possibly can. Yeah, this is extremely a bit of Edders, and it's gone straight on the wishlist.

Read more

Author
Ed Thorn

Foamstars review - fun-ish bathtime Splatoon lacking commitment to the bit

1 month 2 weeks ago

When Square Enix announced its all-new multiplayer shooter Foamstars, the internet expectedly reacted with Splatoon comparisons and endless jokes about, err, bodily fluids, on account of all the frothy foam that you'll be pumping on opponents. Funnily enough, both sentiments are only kinda true. The game's foam actually does ooze out of at least one character's body, somehow, while the rest is sourced through nuclear-type factories. Oh, and the game only sort of resembles Splatoon in both fun and unflattering ways.

Foamstar's 4v4 competitive matches have you spraying the map with coloured foam, at which point you can surf across the bits that your team has foamed for an extra speed boost (like Splatoon), although marking the map in your team's colour isn't the goal here, in any game mode.

Foaming enemies slows them down until they're so drenched, they're trapped in one giant foam ball which you can then surf into for an elimination (unlike Splatoon), unless an enemy surfs there first and bashes them out, encouraging you to get close and aggressive. My favourite part of this whole idea is that saves/eliminations can also be countered if you surf into the foam balls before they hit terrain, which sometimes leads to soapy football chaos as giant balls fly back and forth across the arena.

Read more

Author
Kaan Serin

Tags

Game of the Week: Hauntii is a ghostly game that never runs out of ideas

1 month 2 weeks ago

I love demos, so it's no surprise really that our game of the week is a Steam Next Fest demo. There are plenty I could have chosen, but the one that has stolen my heart is Hauntii.

Hauntii's first draw is its art style. It's black and white for the most part - or rather it's monochrome with various tints. And it has that stylish hand-sketched look that would be equally at home in a Mac Barnett kids' book or a New Yorker cartoon. (If Mac Barnett is new to you, BTW, do check their work out. I recommend Leo: A Ghost Story or any of his books with Jon Klassen as a great place to start.)

Before I shoot off on a major kids' book tangent, let's come back to Hauntii. And it's harmonious, really, because Hauntii is always itching to go off on a tangent. It's a game of ideas, and that's why it feels like such an ideal Steam Next Fest demo to me. Because with a demo, you're always secretly playing the same game anyway, a game called: what is this thing, how does it work?

Read more

Author
Christian Donlan

Tags

Honkai Star Rail delights with a moreish Americana nightmare in Penacony update

1 month 2 weeks ago

Exploring Penacony in Honkai: Star Rail is like having the keys to Disneyland for a midnight soirée, but all the guests are sleazy film noir extras, and Mickey Mouse has taken the night off to let an anthropomorphic clock with the ability to manipulate people's emotions fill in. It's a morally dubious constructed paradise where everybody tells you what a great time they're having while the cheery facade is crumbling around them. Why yes, this does sound like regular old Disneyland, and it's this unexpected commentary on packaged 'happiness' that surprised me the most about the game's big version 2.0 update. But it's certainly not its only impressive addition.

For those not familiar with it yet, Penacony is supposed to be the "Planet of Festivities" where people stay at The Reverie. This is a gigantic hotel with special Dreampool beds that invoke shared experiences between all guests across twelve constructed areas - the 'real' Penacony where time stops in a neverending dreamscape. The Golden Hour is the main hub area inside this connected dream, and it's where you'll be spending most of your time exploring during the beginning of Penacony's story, and it's by far the best Honkai: Star Rail has ever been at immersing you in one of its worlds.

Author
Jessica Orr

Tags

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League calendar Easter egg teases more Batman

1 month 2 weeks ago

A series of Easter eggs point to us seeing more of Batman in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, presumably as part of a forthcoming post-launch update.

In-game calendar pages posted around the game's Metropolis map have been spotted by Batman Arkham Videos, and verified by Eurogamer. Each features a circled date, with a hidden code that spells out a secret message.

Substituting the date marked on each calendar page (the eighth of January, for example) with the corresponding letter of the alphabet (H, the eighth letter) spells out the following phrase: "He Will Return".

Read more

Author
Tom Phillips

Tags

Sega blames poor financial quarter on "weak" sales of recent games

1 month 2 weeks ago

Sega has reported poor financial results for the past quarter, due to the "weak" performance of some recent releases.

While specific sales have not been noted in its latest report, games released in the last quarter include Sonic Superstars, Persona 5 Tactica, Total War: Pharaoh, and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.

However, its latest releases suggest a more positive quarter is on the horizon, despite the company lowering its forecast.

Read more

Author
Ed Nightingale

Tags

Take-Two has "no current plans" for layoffs to reduce costs

1 month 2 weeks ago

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has said the company, publisher of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, has "no current plans" to layoff staff as it continues to pursue its cost reduction program.

Details of the cost reduction program were discussed by Zelnick during Take-Two's Q3 2024 financial report, which was released yesterday.

During the earnings call with investors, Zelnick said Take-Two is "currently working on a significant cost reduction program". A similar cost reduction program was announced by Take-Two in its third quarter report for 2023, which resulted in some layoffs last year.

Read more

Author
Liv Ngan

Tags

What we've been playing

1 month 2 weeks ago

Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week: thumbs, Game Boys, and Lego GTA.

If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.

Have you ever performed stretches specifically to play a game? I suppose you can't get away from it in Wii Fit and Ring Fit, but what about in an ordinary kind of game?

Read more

Author
Robert Purchese

Tags

GTA 6 release expected after April 2025 and will be "positive" for the industry, Ubisoft says

1 month 2 weeks ago

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot believes the launch of GTA 6 will be "positive for the market" and expects it to launch after April 2025.

Take-Two itself has provided a release window of 2025, but Guillemot expects it "closer to our financial year '26 than our financial year '25".

Whenever GTA 6 releases, Guillemot said it will be good for the industry when questioned during the company's Q3 earnings call yesterday.

Read more

Author
Ed Nightingale

Tags

Palworld Developer Pocketpair Is Hiring New Staff Members

1 month 2 weeks ago

Palworld Developer Pocketpair Is Hiring New Staff Members

Developer Pocketpair is now hiring staff to continue development on Palworld. The company shared a social media post calling developers to apply to the company.

Pocketpair shared the hiring post on the Japanese X (formerly Twitter) official account for Palworld. The post is accompanied by a gif of the Depresso pal. The creature appears to be in a 3D rendition of the Pocketpair offices, using a pickaxe on a pile of rocks. Here is the English translation of the post in question:

There are many things we want to do with Palworld, however we are severly lacking in on staff!!!

We are recruiting staff to fill all positions, but we are particularly interested in planners and engineers!

No matter what engine you have experience with, if you are interested in creating a completely new game, please send your application!!

You can also check out the original post here:

Author
Daniel Bueno

Tags

Frieren Doujinshi Banned on FANZA

1 month 2 weeks ago

frieren doujinshi

FANZA has banned doujinshi creation for Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. This is due to a complaint from the copyright holders. [Thanks, Tachiyomi (Unofficial)!]

This news appears to come from a user who attempted to register their Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End doujinshi with FANZA. The whole reply from FANZA to them states that it apologizes to the circle, but the copyright holders of Frieren have requested that FANZA not host any content from that series. It has since made the work private and removed it from the site.

So, technically speaking, it’s not that people aren’t allowed to create doujinshi for Frieren. It’s more that sites like FANZA will not officially host it because of the request. It’s unclear if this request came from the author and illustrator themselves or from Shogakukan, the original manga's publisher. Reactions online have been mixed because English and Japanese users have different responses to the news.

Author
Stephanie Liu

Tags

Epic Games Store's latest freebies are Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! and Lost Castle

1 month 2 weeks ago

A fresh set of weekly freebies has now arrived on the Epic Games Store, this time in the form of acclaimed visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! and rogue-like brawling RPG Lost Castle - with Dakar Desert Racing to follow next week.

Starting with Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!, it's the enhanced and expanded version of developer Team Salvato renowned 2017 freeware visual novel of the same name (minus the 'Plus!' bit, obviously) that starts out innocently enough - with players taking on the role of a new student who can romance the anime-styled members of the titular club - before taking a metatextual turn into considerably darker territory.

If that's not your thing - and its Epic Games Store listing makes it clear Doki Doki isn't "suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed" - your other freebie option is Lost Castle. This is a "super cute, super hard action RPG with roguelike elements and randomised dungeons" from Hunter Studio, and it supports four-player co-op and PvP both locally and online.

Read more

Author
Matt Wales

Tags

Against The Storm will get two more free updates before its first DLC

1 month 2 weeks ago

Against The Storm is a peach; a fantasy citybuilder that was excellent in Early Access, a Bestest Best when it hit 1.0, and which has been tweaked and improved through post-release patches.

The patches won't stop, either. In a 2024 roadmap, its developers have outlined two further free updates still to come, as well as confirming that paid DLC is in the works.

Read more

Author
Graham Smith

Build for the future with this 1200W 80+ Platinum PSU for just $160

1 month 2 weeks ago

Last month we reported that a highly rated 1200W PSU was going cheap on Newegg, where you could pick up the Super Flower Leadex 1200W 80+ Platinum for just $160. After selling out rapidly, Newegg has restocked and is offering the same deal again, giving you a second chance to get a PSU that could well outlast every other component in your system!

To get the quoted $160 price rather than the standard $220, you'll need to use code YPCDP6233 at the checkout!

Read more

Author
Will Judd

This 12TB Seagate hard drive is just $81.99 and perfect for storing your media archives

1 month 2 weeks ago

Need to store a lot of non-critical data? Live in the US? Want to maximise value over speed? Have we got the storage device for you: a refurbished 12TB Seagate enterprise HDD. These drives typically go for around $130 new, but you can pick them up for just $82 in "refurbished - excellent" condition on Ebay US. Their specialist HDD seller promises fully tested drives with zero bad sectors and a three-year warranty, which sounds great at $6.83 per TB!

Read more

Author
Will Judd

Helldivers 2 hotfix on the way to address crashes, matchmaking errors and "mixed" Steam reviews

1 month 2 weeks ago

Helldivers 2 launched earlier today and has been sat at the top of the Steam sales charts, with a healthy 60,000+ currently in-game. Alas, the co-op shooter also has a "Mixed" user review rating on the platform, thanks in part to optimisation and matchmaking issues.

Developers Arrowhead say they're working on a hotfix to address the issues as fast as possible.

Read more

Author
Graham Smith

Assassin's Creed's feudal Japan sequel will arrive in the next 12 months

1 month 2 weeks ago

In a financial report released today, Ubisoft said they intend to release Star Wars Outlaws in 2024. That was already expected. More interesting is that Assassin's Creed Codename Red, the stab 'em up set in feudal Japan, is also due to launch in the "fiscal year 2025". That's also known as "before March 2025", for all you non-CEOs.

Read more

Author
Graham Smith

Oshi no Ko x Sanrio Merchandise Pop-up Shop Announced

1 month 2 weeks ago

Oshi no Ko x Sanrio Merchandise Pop up Shop Announced

Japanese bookstore Village Vanguard announced the opening of a new collaboration pop-up shop pairing Oshi no Ko and Sanrio characters together. The new pop-up shop will open between February 9 and 25, 2024, at the Grand Tree Musashikosugi store in Kanagawa Prefecture. [Thanks, PR Times!]

New plushies, keychains, and other goods featuring character pairings from both franchises will be available for sale for a limited time. Other non-collaboration Oshi no Ko items will be available as well. You can check out the specific character pairings here:

  • Ai x Little Twin Star
  • Aqua x Cinnamoroll
  • Ruby x Hello Kitty
  • Kana Arima x My Melody
  • Mem-Cho x Pompompurin
  • Akane Kurokawa x Kuromi

And here is the full list of Oshi no Ko x Sanrio merchandise items available alongside their prices:

Author
Daniel Bueno

Tags