Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Will Nightingale's crafting card menus be its downfall?

1 month 2 weeks ago

By now you'll probably have read quite a bit about our preview adventures in Inflexion Games' upcoming fantasy survival adventure Nightingale - including our slightly raucous attempts to interview CEO Aaryn Flynn while instant KO-ing tree monsters and abusing our supplies of ice bullets. But outside this guided co-op session, several members of the RPS Treehouse were playing it on their lonesome last week, too, getting to grips with Nightingale's particular flavour of sticks-and-stones crafting, cooking up meat and berry wraps to keep ourselves fed, and generally being cajoled and maybe even lightly seduced by our fae Shakespearean guide, Puck.

Author
Katharine Castle

Helldivers 2 patch fixes crashes, disconnects and matchmaking bugs as devs aim to "beef up our content plans"

1 month 2 weeks ago

Helldivers 2 might be a co-op shooter mixed with comedy genius, but its launch has been blighted by bugs and crashes. Over the past week the devs have deployed server hotfixes and matchmaking tweaks, although one server and rewards patch had to be rolled back to fix "significant" performance issues. Still, they're doing their utmost as the game becomes PlayStation's biggest PC release to date. And the latest patch brings with it a slew of crash fixes, reductions to disconnects, further tweaks to matchmaking, and preps things for future server improvements.

Read more

Author
Ed Thorn

Terra Memoria is a cheerful party-based RPG with a touch of Grandia

1 month 2 weeks ago

In the event that I walk in front of a particle accelerator, get converted into digital data and am promptly isekai-ed into a gameworld, I hope that gameworld is the opening port town from the original Grandia, released on PS1 way back in 1997 (and ported to PC in 2019). There's something about that game's isometricky vantage point and precise combination of 2D pixel characters and 3D environments. The last sentence describes many virtual worlds of the late 90s, but none have stuck in my mind like Port Parm: that hodgepodge of green and rusty roofs, the canals cutting through the cobblestones, the smoky chimneys and people filling the alleyways. Bliss. I can still hear the seagulls blowing around the screen.

Oh sorry, I rhetorically lost myself for a minute there! I'm supposed to be telling you about Terra Memoria, a new RPG featuring time travel, magic crystals and animal wizards. Here's a trailer.

Read more

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

To The Star is a survival game based on Alice In Wonderland in which you can cook your dreams

1 month 2 weeks ago

If you’d been gazing at the present glut of new survival games and bellowing for more, as though engaged in a drinking competition with some kind of cartoon Viking, then rest easy. Gord developers Covenant.dev have announced To The Star, a "whimsical" survival adventure that takes heavy inspiration from Alice In Wonderland, and features a cooking system that lets you combine monster parts with "suppressed emotions", so as to produce both consumable foodstuffs and weapons.

Read more

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Helldivers 2 review: a co-op shooter mixed with comedy genius

1 month 2 weeks ago

Helldivers 2 is a third-person co-op shooter that's centred as much around action as it is comedy. Gigantic insects and red-eyed robots threaten the sanctity of Super Earth and, frankly, this isn't on. As a Helldiver, you must team up with your compatriots and pulverise these menaces for freedom (a shoulder-mounted laser cannon) and democracy (an aerial bombardment). Seriousness is reserved for the act of extermination, which adds tactility to the familiar motions of a shooter, making for horde management that promotes efficiency and frequent lapses of judgement in equal measure. Helldivers 2 is a slapstick masterpiece.

Read more

Author
Ed Thorn

New Discworld games possible if devs "come to us with the right ideas and the resources", says Rhianna Pratchett

1 month 2 weeks ago

Eeek. Writer and narrative designer Rhianna Pratchett has kindled a little frail hope that we might one day play another brand new Discworld videogame, while responding to earlier comments from Perfect Entertainment co-founder Gregg Barnett about who exactly owns the intellectual property rights to Perfect's old Discworld adventure titles from the 90s.

Read more

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Off-grid caravan sim Outbound looks like a cute way to pretend I could live like that

1 month 2 weeks ago

I love the idea of cosy living, which is why it was that Tiny Living update that dragged me back into The Sims 4 for a few years there. The issue of course, is that in real life, if forced to live in a space the size of the interior of a camper van, I would pile things on every surface within about 12 hours. Chaos would reign. I would hate it. But I don't hate the idea of it, which is why i enjoy things like Outbound, which is a game about living in a camper van.

Read more

Author
Alice Bell

Typing dungeon crawler Cryptmaster's demo is a delight

1 month 2 weeks ago

One of the best things in games is the freeform ability to type commands for another character, then having them respond with voiced dialogue recognising your weird directions. That's one of the joys of Cryptmaster, an upcoming typing-driven dungeon crawler where one of the first things you can do in the demo is get your disembodied necromancer pal to lick a mysterious metal object to help identify it (it's a helmet). He's like if Hand Of Fate's dastardly dealer was a bit of a dingus and also your only hope of escaping the underworld. I love this guy.

Read more

Author
Alice O'Connor

Play as a sheep with a Cloud Strife Buster sword in this fast and fluid action roguelike

1 month 2 weeks ago

Steam Next Fest may be over for another few months, but dozens of demos are still alive and kicking, it seems - which is good news for me, who still has a good half dozen on my to do list, and also good news for you, as it means you still have time to check out the really quite good demo for Stand-Alone, a fast, 2D hack and slasher where you play as a robot-powered sheep packing a very large sword. Wolves have broken into your home and murdered all your friends, but you play as the one sheep who got away - or rather, a sheep that's been fused with a surprisingly powerful robot capable of producing a honking great greatsword to make their escape with. Thus begins the wolves' hot pursuit - not least because this robot also seems to be kind of sleeper agent for them - and your roguelike-shaped quest to avenge your fallen friends.

Read more

Author
Katharine Castle

Game-making tool RPG Maker XP is free on Steam right now

1 month 2 weeks ago

Hey, you know that idea for an RPG you've been kicking around your head for years now? Maybe it's time to give it a crack. Right now on Steam you can grab a free copy of RPG Maker XP, an older version of the wildly popular (and quite accessible) game-making tool. It might be fun to kick around an idea or—who knows—maybe you've even got the next To The Moon (made in RPG Maker XP, don't you know?) rattling around up there, waiting to manifest.

Read more

Author
Alice O'Connor

Helldivers 2 server and rewards patch released then rolled back to fix "significant" performance issues

1 month 2 weeks ago

Much like a lone Super Earther descending from orbit, only to Nope The Heck back to their spaceship after glimpsing the insect hordes, Arrowhead have released and swiftly pulled a Helldivers 2 patch designed to address the new shooter's server capacity and progression issues. The bugs were too much to handle, I guess! Lord, this news post practically writes itself.

Read more

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Ending Dead Cells updates is a "marketing stunt" to "leave room" for Windblown, claims former lead designer

1 month 2 weeks ago

Former Dead Cells lead designer Sébastien Benard is none too chuffed about publisher Motion Twin's decision to end development of the well-regarded roguelike Metroidvania. A few days ago, Motion Twin announced that the 35th major Dead Cells update, aptly titled The End Is Near, would be its last. Benard feels this is a betrayal of both the game's community and its current development team, Evil Empire, a spin-off studio who took the reins in 2019.

Read more

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

This 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD is just £50 at Amazon UK

1 month 2 weeks ago

SSD prices have been on the uptick recently, following a record-breaking 2023 where oversupply caused the best deals on high-capacity SSDs we've ever seen. That means that current prices aren't going to beat out last year's Black Friday deals, but there are still some decent options that carve out a better value proposition than their peers. One example is the Kingston NV2, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD going for just £50 on Amazon UK at the moment - some £14 below its UK RRP.

Read more

Author
Will Judd

Grab the Asus ROG Ally w/ Z1 Extreme processor for just £539 after a 10% Very discount

1 month 2 weeks ago

The Asus ROG Ally has dropped in price in response to the release of the Steam Deck OLED, and now a 10% off code at Very makes this handheld gaming PC even better value. You can now get the top-spec ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme chipset and 512GB of PCIe 4.0 storage for just £539 with code VTQ8C, a brilliant price that puts it in direct competition with the 512GB Steam Deck OLED.

Read more

Author
Will Judd

Part-Divinity, part-Persona RPG The Thaumaturge gets a two-week delay to find some breathing room

1 month 2 weeks ago

The Thaumaturge, the detective CRPG blending together eastern-European fantasy, alt-history Warsaw and even a bit of Pokémon (or Persona, if you prefer), has been pushed back from its planned release date next week to the start of March. With development said to be finished, creators Fool’s Theory say that it’s simply to let the game breathe a bit easier.

Read more

Author
Matt Jarvis

We all went to a magic wood with Nightingale boss Aaryn Flynn

1 month 2 weeks ago

Twas brillig, and the RPS editors did gyre and gimble in the wabe: all mimsy were the studio executives, and the guides writers outgrabe. If you’re still reading, congratulations, you’ve either got a dangerously high tolerance for bad literary jokes or you’re really eager to hear about Nightingale, the new survival sim from Inflexion, which launches into early access on 20th February. A quick recap on Nightingale, in case you missed our early access preview today: it's a strongly British-influenced "gaslamp fantasy" experience in which players travel alone or in groups between procedurally generated fairy realms using magic portals. You can build bases in each Realm, go on story quests and hunt the wildlife for crafting materials.

Last week, RPS adventurers Edders, Kiera, Jeremy, Ollie and myself had a chance to play co-op with Aaryn Flynn, Inflexion’s CEO and former general manager at BioWare, while chatting to him about the game over Discord. The resulting, not entirely planned group interview lasted two hours and consisted mostly of people yelling at each other about ice ammo and tree monsters, but we did find time for some proper Q&A. Please find below an abbreviated transcript.

Read more

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Palworld devs' next game is a base-building Dead Cells and Hollow Knight mash-up

1 month 2 weeks ago

When I first saw Never Grave: The Witch And The Curse rising up the Steam Next Fest charts at the end of last week, I thought, "Oh! That's a neat Hollow Knight-looking Metroivanida roguelike, I'll definitely give that a go." And having played its demo over the weekend, I can confirm: it's certainly an intriguing little thing that I'll be keen to keep an eye on when it launches into early access, possibly sometime next month.

The biggest surprise was that, despite its very Hollow Knight-looking visuals, it actually plays more like Dead Cells in practice. Instead of being a sentient lump of flesh able to inhabit infinite bodies, you're a magical witch's hat that can possess, discard and rematerialise your chosen sack of limbs at the touch of a button. The second thing that surprised me was that it also has quite a substantial base/village building aspect to it on the side, and the third - well, perhaps this isn't so much of a surprise given everything I've just said, because it also turns out this is the next game from Palworld developers Pocketpair. Yep, it all makes a bit more sense now.

Read more

Author
Katharine Castle

Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden review: an accomplished and emotional action adventure

1 month 2 weeks ago

"Banishers took a while to kick in," I wrote in the RPS group chat last week, "but I fought a monster made of angry witch-hunting jam last night." It was a pivotal boss fight about half way through Don't Nod's ghost hunting action-adventure RPG Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden, and typical of the over-the-top, slightly ridiculous, but entirely earnest drama of the game that joyfully pulls you along. Don't Nod - who I am starting to suspect make their magic teen angsthologies to fund their real passion for "grimdark grown-up fantasy that you sort of suspect should be a book series" - have followed up 2018's third-person action effort Vampyr with this new semi-epic.

Banishers has a lot in common with the interwar bloodsucker, including methodical investigations and stacking moral choices, but is a much more accomplished effort. Banishers combines a sweeping, tragic love story with some very decent swashbuckling, shooting possessed skeletons in the face, and being disappointed at Puritans. A perfect game, some may say. I'd elevator-pitch it to you as a sort of goth Uncharted where you find-and-replace "treasure" with "ghosts".

Read more

Author
Alice Bell

Watch this short film about breaking the limits of Red Dead Redemption 2's landscape, and feel joy

1 month 2 weeks ago

I remember reading about The Grannies a while back. They're a group of game devs based in Melbourne who formed a gang (the titular Grannies) of older people in Rockstars rootin', tootin' cowboy RPG Red Dead Redemption 2 - specifically Red Dead Online. In the pursuit of fun, The Grannies, using a glitch known to a lot of the community, broke through the invisible walls in the game's wild west and into another, wilder west - a landscape nobody was really meant to see.

Marie Foulston, a curator who specialises in installations focused on video games, made a short documentary film about them and what they saw in 2019. Now V Buckenham (who has made many things, but may be known to most as the creator of Cheap Bots Done Quick!) to present The Grannies to watch for free online, in an immersive website experience that itslef looks like a glitching out landscape.

Read more

Author
Alice Bell

After a few hours, Nightingale feels like one of the weirder Elder Scrolls RPGs

1 month 2 weeks ago

The major thing Inflexion's fantasy survival sim Nightingale gets right is that it makes procedural generation feel like sorcery. "Procgen" has become a ubiquitous concept in game design and especially survival game design, and I fear we've all lost sight of how magical it is to summon a landscape full of idiosyncratic flourishes from a hidden dataset. It's partly, in fairness, that many semi-randomised settings feel indistinct, smooshed together with little of the character you'd get from a "hand-made" environment and setting. Nightingale slices through the ennui in a couple of ways.

One is that this is a relatively storied and text-driven survival experience, with a self-summoning fairy narrator, Puck, who immediately buries you in Shakespearean turns of phrase as he weaves the history of a multiple-dimensional universe of "Fae" realms, roamed by creatures of Irish, English and Scottish myth and legend. I'm not sure Puck will be everybody's cup of tea as principal quest-giver and narrator - according to Inflexion boss Aaryn Flynn, some early players have struggled to make head or tail of his dialogue. But he helps conjure up an eldritch mood that sets Nightingale apart from most genre fantasies, including the Dragon Age titles Flynn once worked on at BioWare.

Read more

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Start a boring and stressful maintenance job in this former Arkane level designer's upcoming game

1 month 2 weeks ago

As a big fan of moody first-person games where you follow procedures to do a job, I'm quite interested in the recent announcement of Threshold. Made by a former Arkane level designer, it's about a train maintenance job at a border post atop the world's tallest mountain, where the air is so thin you need to huff top-ups from cans. Concrete information on Threshold is a bit thin at this point but I can tell you that you have a bucket and some planks, so what more do you need to know? Check out the announcement trailer, below.

Read more

Author
Alice O'Connor

Screenshot Saturday Mondays: A dashing wizard and a grasping church

1 month 2 weeks ago

Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been caught by high-speed platforming, a creative use of your own corpse, a contribution to the yellow paint discourse, and more. Check out these attractive and interesting indie games!

Read more

Author
Alice O'Connor

Helldivers 2 updates target server and reward issues as Arrowhead apologise for rocky launch

1 month 2 weeks ago

Helldivers 2 is yet another example of a predominantly co-op game being a victim of its own success. Since its launch, the servers have buckled under the weight of keen conscripts ready to exterminate some bugs. There's been frequent disconnects, matchmaking issues, and post-game rewards not showing up for some folks. But Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt has offered some comfort, saying that they've popped three hotfixes live to fix some of these issues.

Read more

Author
Ed Thorn

The Maw - 12th-17th February 2024

1 month 2 weeks ago

It's the middle of February, and the games are afoot. This week brings at least one major news event in the shape of a "business update" from Microsoft about "our vision for the future of Xbox", which is widely rumoured to be the announcement that first-party Xbox titles will come to rival consoles. Why is this of interest to us, a PC gaming site? Well, because console gaming can't help but shape the weather for PC gaming; more specifically, Microsoft's alleged multiplatform ambitions seem to reflect the plateauing of Game Pass subscription growth, which has become the cornerstone of the Xbox biz.

Read more

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Ultros review: a sweet and sour Metroidvania

1 month 2 weeks ago

Ultros is one of those games that's born to stick in the memory. Not only is it one of the most visually vibrant games of the year so far with its neon colour palette that's an instant-KO-to-my-eyeballs, but the way it twists and rewires core tenets of the Metroidvania rulebook also make it one of the boldest and most daring examples of its genre. I'll say it now: it doesn't always stick the landing. But if there's one thing Ultros does constantly throughout its 15-odd hour runtime, it's that it's always, always interesting. And for that, it has my respect - even if by the time the (first) end credits rolled, I was ready to never touch it ever again.

Read more

Author
Katharine Castle

Kojima says he decided to make Physint for Metal Gear fans after illness in 2020

1 month 2 weeks ago

A couple of weeks ago, Hideo Kojima announced that he was returning to the action espionage genre with a new game, codenamed Physint.

In the latest episode of his YouTube series, HideoTube, Kojima says that returning to the same genre as Metal Gear was inspired by players asking for it "every day on social media", and by a brush with death he experienced in 2020.

Read more

Author
Graham Smith

What are we all playing this weekend?

1 month 2 weeks ago

I am slightly kicking myself for not taking Friday off to chase what was possibly the final good snow of winter. Well, I say "good snow", it wasn't great. It quickly turned to sleet in many places and was carried by monstrous gusts in others. I likely would have ended up sodden and sullen halfway up a hill. But what if...! Ah well, what are you playing this weekend? Here's what we're clicking on!

Read more

Author
Alice O'Connor