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Assassin's Creed Shadows Reveals How Yasuke Performs a 'Leap of Faith'

A newly shared Assassin's Creed Shadows clip shows how the game makes a witty change to the iconic "Leap of Faith" when performed by protagonist Yasuke. Although Assassin's Creed Shadows isn't the first in the series to feature dual protagonists, it takes the concept much further with distinctive playstyles for Naoe and Yasuke, with the former being more stealth-focused and the latter offering more combative and action-oriented gameplay.

Atsuko Tanaka, Bayonetta’s Japanese voice actor, has passed away

Od: Amaan
Atsuko Tanaka, 61, died on August 20th, 2024, after succumbing to an undisclosed illness. Best known for providing the Japanese voices of Bayonetta, Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft, and Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, Tanaka worked on countless video games, movies, and anime throughout her career- bringing characters to life with honor and passion.… Read More »Atsuko Tanaka, Bayonetta’s Japanese voice actor, has passed away

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TimeMelters Review

A Witch In Time

HIGH Fast action. Intense enemy design. Impressive visuals.

LOW Puzzles can be offputtingly difficult in single-player.

WTF There are challenge modes to make things harder???


Teagan wasn’t expecting to start her morning tied to a stake and being burnt as a witch. She certainly wasn’t expecting to be rescued by the spirit of a deceased witch and forced to run for her life without time to mourn her fallen brother, Edwin. 

Finding out that she is descended from a line of witches tasked with maintaining the flow of time and preventing the fall of mankind was almost too much to bear.  Now she must master her newfound powers, attempt to save Edwin by going back in time, and also defeat hordes of enemies under the thrall of the mysterious Dark Puppeteer. 

TimeMelters is a game that nearly defies genre classification. 

It’s partially an action title where players control Teagan from a third-person perspective as she navigates through a fantasy equivalent of the Scottish Highlands while battling foes with an array of magic bolts and life-draining powers. 

However, it’s also something of a strategy/tower defense hybrid.  Teagan gains the ability to go into spirit form, allowing her to fly above the map for a quasi-bird’s eye view to activate summoning and infusing powers while time slows to a crawl. 

Alas, the Dark Puppeteer’s forces are legion, and Teagan, while powerful, is a glass cannon. It takes only one enemy slipping through her defenses to kill her.  This is where TimeMelters debuts its game design coup-de-grace in the form of a third aspect — a time rewinding feature that grants the ability to reverse the flow of time and create copied echoes of herself. These echoes will repeat Teagan’s previous actions exactly, up until the moment that echo would have been killed. 

For instance, the player can move Teagan past a group of enemies the previous version of her has already have killed (tenses are hard when it comes to time travel!) allowing her to concentrate on other foes or achieve other objectives the first echo wasn’t able to. It’s even possible to further alter the timeline by using an echo to distract an enemy that the player can now ambush or lead in yet another direction towards a trap.  It’s astonishing to watch in action. 

I know how this sounds, but read it all again — it makes sense, even if it makes one’s head hurt — but the brilliance of this design cannot be understated.  Using time manipulations and copies of Teagan to defy the odds and solve puzzles that would otherwise be impossible made me feel like a genius. However, therein lies the rub.  I am not super-great at three-dimensional, multi-linear thinking, so this was a real challenge. 

Thankfully, handy markers display the numbers of enemies in a group and the route they are currently taking, which then help the player plan the best use of the limited mana and small number of clones Teagan has at her disposal. For instance, she can kill enemies closing in on her position to gain mana, then switch to spirit mode to scour the map for groups she can ambush so she doesn’t have to deal with them later.  While this all takes a little bit of getting used to, it becomes second nature far more quickly than I would have believed when I first started playing. 

…Then I discovered the co-op campaign. 

With a friend joining in via the Playstation Network, two people can take control of Teagan and her brother, traversing the many levels in TimeMelters‘ campaign, though with slight adjustments in the storyline, dialogue and mission structure. 

For instance, Edwin starts one mission at the opposite end of the map from Teagan, providing cover for an NPC who needs to be protected as he slowly meanders towards the mission goal — a task which Teagan had to coordinate on her own alone in the singleplayer version. 

Players share a mana pool and the rewind feature but they otherwise act independently, so planning and coordination are a must. However, this is offset by bringing double the firepower, which makes battles and puzzles much more manageable than in the single-player campaign.

Despite the fact that I was being pushed to creatively think and temporally strategize in ways that games have rarely asked me to, TimeMelters is a must play — especially for players who have someone to share the cognitive load with. 

Even at its most frustrating, the brilliance on display here is addictive. It would be goofy to say TimeMelters is the best action/strategy/time clone hybrid involving witches I’ve played all year, so let me broaden it a bit and say that it’s one of the best games I’ve played this year, bar none.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10


Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Autoexec Games.  It is currently available on PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 12 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. Three hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Blood and Violence. This game features witches using magical forces to kill both human and non-human enemies.  The protagonist absorbs the souls/spirits of dead opponents to power further magical attacks.  The game features heavy occult themes and not-for-kids moments like burning suspected witches at the stake as well as necromancy used as a secondary attack for the protagonist.  There is blood, but not excessive amounts, and most players have seen far worse in other games.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. All story-based dialogue during cutscenes is fully subtitled. The majority of in-game dialog is fully subtitled, with occasional declarations by the main character(s) being voice-only.  These additional declarations do not cause the player to miss anything plot specific, but they do add flavor to the moment. I’d say the game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

We Got Our First Look at the Survivor Online Game Dune: Awakening

Dune Awakening is a survival online MMO that sets players within the Dune world where Spice is power, and we get to see what players can do to fight for that power with the first actual gameplay footage of the game in action during 2024' Gamescom’s Opening Night Live event, as the video is roughly 5-minutes long.

More gameplay footage of Dune: Awakening during Gamescom Week

Fortunately enough, this is just a taste from developer Funcom as they plan to show 30 minutes of additional gameplay throughout Gamescom week. Those at the show floor will be able to witness new gameplay of the game when you visit the developer’s booth, but for those online, the game will be showcased further through various content creators this week.

“Revealing gameplay for the first time is always a big moment, especially in a game where the interplay between all these systems can create completely unexpected moments, but the team has done an incredible job and we can’t wait to see how the community reacts.” says Joel Bylos, Creative Director of the game at Funcom.

Working closely with both the Herbert Estate and Legendary, Funcom’s Dune: Awakening introduces an alternate history in which Paul Atreides was never born, giving players the opportunity to put the future of Arrakis in their own hands.

Third Dune: Awakening Direct Dated

Funcom is set to show more of the game beyond Gamescom 2024 as they announced a third Dune: Awakening Direct, an online show focused solely on showing more of the game with new gameplay footage and more details about specific features.

A beta for the game is coming but no concrete date has been revealed, but if you’re interested in being part of the beta, you can register through the game’s official website for a chance at getting in.

Dune: Awakening is a long way to go as it’s currently set to release in early 2025 on PC, with the PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S versions to be released at a later date.


Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Launches This December, Also Coming to PS5 in 2025

During the start of Gamescom 2024, Bethesda and MachineGames revealed that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will launch on December 9, 2024, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and on Xbox Game Pass. It was also revealed that it will be time-exclusive as it will eventually come to PlayStation 5 in Spring 2025.

This is an interesting revelation considering that Xbox started the year by making four games come to multiple platforms — Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded. With a big ticket item like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, it gives the impression that any title from Bethesda and anything under the Xbox umbrella could be available on PlayStation and other platforms. Doom: The Dark Ages, is also coming to PlayStation 5.

We were able to see a hands-off preview of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and learned new details about MachineGames’ next title and Indy’s next adventure.


In Less Than 24 Hours, Black Myth: Wukong Becomes the Most Played Single-player Game Ever on Steam

In less than 24 hours, Black Myth: Wukong, the new action RPG from Chinese developer Game Science, has hit the Steam charts and quickly rose to becoming the most-played single-player game of all time on the platform. As of this writing, Steamdb shows that the game was able to amass a concurrent player count of over 2.2 million players on the Steam platform alone, beating records made by single-player titles such as Cyberpunk and Elden Ring.

Black Myth: Wukong was released on August 20 on PC and the PS5. This is all done on day one.

At this rate, Wukong might even reach the number 1 spot, making it the most-played game on Steam overall. But to reach the top, they will have to surpass the current king which is PUBG: Battlegrounds with an impressive 3.2 million all-time concurrent peak, roughly a million shy as of this writing. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point.

Everything is going well for developer Game Science as Black Myth: Wukong’s reception from critics is most positive as it has a Metacritic score of 82 for the PC version of the game. As for Steam user reviews, it currently sits at ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ with over 7k user reviews.

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Genshin Impact's Next Major Expansion Adds New Nation, Goes Live on August 28

HoYoverse announced that their free-to-play open world gacha game Genshin Impact is getting a major update at the end of the month. Version 5.0 will add the sixth nation of Teyvat which will come with various content and new areas to explore.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect from the 5.0 update, which is titled ‘Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn’.

  • New Nation: Natlan, the Nation of War, and Nation of Pyro, reveals the first three of six tribes

  • Open to early and mid-game players: Map unlock criteria – complete all Mondstadt Archon Quests and reach AR 19; Archon Quest unlock criteria – complete all of Liyue's Archon Quests and reach AR 28.

  • Transform into Natlan's Saurians: Tepetlisaurus (burrow underground, climb cliffs), Koholasaurus (swim), Yumkasaurus (reach great heights)

  • Tribes: Children of Echoes, Scions of the Canopy, People of the Springs

  • Characters: Kinich (5-star, Dendro, Claymore), Mualani (5-star, Hydro, Catalyst), Kachina (4-star, Geo, Polearm)

  • Banner: 1st – Mualani, Kachina, Kaedehara Kazuha; 2nd – Kinich, Raiden Shogun

  • Bonus to celebrate the anniversary

The new nation is called Natlan, and HoYoverse provided a good description of the new region.

The road to Natlan will open with an unlocked Teleport Waypoint that is accessible to players, even beginners and intermediates, who have completed the Prologue of the Archon Quest in Mondstadt.

Known as the Nation of Pyro, Natlan is located west of the Sumeru desert. The people of this nation are divided into six main tribes. The dragons of Natlan, more commonly called Saurians, are the result of a long evolution and have evolved to coexist with humans, and they have even become their faithful companions. With Version 5.0, players will be able to explore three of the six tribes, as well as encounter three types of Saurians who live together with the locals.

Mastering the abilities of the different Saurians can prove decisive in exploring the towering cliffs and flowing springs, and players can transform into a Saurian by indwelling them. The Tepetlisaurus are Saurians good at tunneling undergrounds and climbing cliffs, and they are the companions of choice for the Children of Echoes who call the canyons their home. The Yumkasaurus can pull themselves in the chosen direction and reach great heights with ease. They have taken up residence among the Scions of the Canopy, a tribe living suspended from the walls of steep cliffs. As for the Koholasaurus, they can move quickly on water and liquid Phlogiston, which explains why they are commonly seen with the People of the Springs near the sea.

Natlan, also known as the Nation of War, honors her warriors at the Stadium of the Sacred Flame, where the Champion of each tribe is chosen through a tournament. This is where the main story unfolds, as the player, accompanied by local warriors Kachina, Kinich, and Mualani, travel to the Stadium. To begin Natlan's Archon Quest, players need to reach Adventure Rank 28 and above, and have completed all of Liyue's Archon Quests.

New Characters

Those looking forward to the new characters will get to play around with Mualani and Kachina the moment Version 5.0 is in the first phase along with the Kaedehara Kazuha rerun. The new 5-star Kinich will debut during the second half and come with the Raiden Shogun. The stories for Natlan’s new characters will be available through the Tribal Chronicles, the new three-act quest chain.

Genshin Impact 4th Anniversary Celebration

The game’s 4th anniversary is just around the corner and HoYoverse is bringing back the special daily login event as players can earn up to ten Intertwined Fate, 1,600 Primogems waiting in their in-game mail, two exclusive gadgets — the Firstborn Firesprite and the Kabom Box, and more.

Furthermore, players can also invite a 5-star character from the Standard Wish lineup to their team for free. More updates on the Character Event Wish, Weapon Event Wish will be announced at a later date.

Genshin Impact’s Version 5.0 goes live on August 28, 2024.


Sega and Two Point Studios Announce Two Point Museum

Sega and Two Point Studio announced Two Point Museum, the third iteration of the studio’s strategy management simulator.

From the announcement trailer alone, you can tell the signature quirky humor and character design remains as Two Point Museum will deliver a similar experience found in Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus, only this time with a museum flavor.

Sega provided a bit of information about the game as beyond creatively making your museum cater to specific visitors, Two Point Museum will feature exhibitions to retrieve rare artifacts to fuel your museum.

Exploring for Exhibits

Send your team of specialists on daring adventures to locate and retrieve rare artifacts across a range of exhibit types to varied levels of quality. As your team embark on more expeditions, you’ll begin unlocking locations hiding exciting new exhibits in many themes and styles, ranging from prehistoric to… well, let’s keep it a surprise!

Display these finds in your museum, keeping them well protected from the elements, vandals, thieves, and mischievous children. Keeping frozen cavemen on ice, security cameras alert and artifacts well-guarded to ensure your museum runs well.

Creative Curation

Unleash your creativity as you design your museum from top to bottom. With deeper customisation options, there are more ways than ever before to maximise your guest’s happiness, from tweaking the decorations to arranging the perfect gift-shop display.

Once you have set the perfect ambiance, organise guided tours led by engaging experts to give your guests the perfect day out. You can even highlight exhibits with the highest buzz - those that are show-stopping, informative, and aesthetically pleasing are sure to attract the most donations!

Guest-ertainment

Guests know best! Catering to the needs of your guests is key to keeping your museu moving and donations flowing. The different types of visitors who will tour your museum with their own interests, but they do have some things in common... they expect the place to be clean, have plenty of refreshments, ample toilets, and a gift shop filled with goodies.

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Two Point Museum has no release date but the game will be available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox X|S.


The Casting of Frank Stone Preview: Supermassive Games Doing What They Do Best

I had the chance to play a preview build of The Casting of Frank Stone, an interactive horror game developed by Supermassive Games. Set within the Dead by Daylight universe, the demo took around 45 minutes and left me with the impression that Behaviour Interactive has given Supermassive the freedom to do what they do best. The game echoes their previous work, both in gameplay and in how choices and events shape the overall story.

The demo begins with you playing as Sam Green, a police officer investigating a child's disappearance, which leads him to a steel mill in the dead of night.

Nods to Dead by Daylight

This brief introduction effectively sets the stage, featuring a few nods to the Dead by Daylight universe with plenty of Easter eggs for dedicated fans. However, The Casting of Frank Stone is primarily played like any other Supermassive Games title, where you make choices that influence key events and outcomes, with quick-time events adding further nuance, from subtle shifts to severe consequences.

The demo offered a glimpse of the various possible outcomes. Dialogue choices are limited to two options, a similar approach to titles like The Quarry as multiple A or B choices lead to a web of possibilities.

Choices and Outcomes

In terms of gameplay mechanics, Supermassive stays within their comfort zone. You explore areas in a third-person perspective and control multiple characters throughout the story. In the demo, you only play as Sam, exploring the mill, examining key objects, climbing fences, and squeezing through tight spaces to progress. Quick-time events are present, and the first one caught me by surprise. The game has integrated Dead by Daylight’s Skill Check system, where you must press a button to spot the dial to land on the right spot of in the dial. I wasn’t expecting this Dead by Daylight-inspired twist, and I failed to press the button at the right time, resulting in Sam injuring himself and losing his flashlight.

This injury didn’t affect much, as it only slightly altered how one scene played out. On a second playthrough, I discovered that if Sam hadn’t been injured and still had his flashlight, he could have used it to try and blind the threat, a slight change that didn’t completely change the outcome, though it does hint at the potential for varied experiences in the full game, making the player second guess whether their success or failed attempts are either major or minor changes.

The demo also showcased various quick-time events, none too complex, which is expected as the fun in these games lies in shaping the story.

Overall, the demo gives just a glimpse of how the game will play out. It’s another story-driven game with the classic Supermassive touch, which is a win in my book. I’ve always appreciated their approach to horror storytelling, even when it veers into typical clichés or B-movie territory. Some of their games are so bad they’re good, delivering humor and entertainment. As for The Casting of Frank Stone, it’s hard to tell if it will evoke the same feelings with less than an hour of content to sample, but knowing that Supermassive is doing what they do best is a promising sign.

Based on my experience with other Supermassive Games titles, I expect The Casting of Frank Stone will follow a similar pattern — offering a mix of major and minor consequences that shape the narrative, encouraging multiple playthroughs for different outcomes.

At most, this preview suggests that Supermassive isn’t attempting anything new or groundbreaking with this title. The difference here is the game’s setting within another developer’s established world.

The Connection to Dead by Daylight

The real question is whether The Casting of Frank Stone will add meaningful context to the Dead by Daylight universe. Behaviour Interactive has been steadily expanding the lore with each update, giving us more insight into the Entity, the Survivors, and the Killers. Will this game provide new lore for Dead by Daylight enthusiasts, or is it simply a spin-off filled with Easter eggs for dedicated players? It’s hard to tell if this game is more for Dead by Daylight fans or Supermassive Games fans, but hopefully, it strikes a balance between the two.

It’s also worth noting that The Casting of Frank Stone will feature a couch co-op mode for 1-4 players, where each participant controls the actions and decisions of one character. This feature adds an extra layer of unpredictability and replayability to the experience and is how I prefer to play games like it as I’ve done this even way back in 2010’s Heavy Rain, my first introduction to games like these.

The Casting of Frank Stone is set to launch on September 3, 2024 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.


Revival: PUBG Publisher Acquires Tango Gameworks Studio and Hi-Fi Rush IP Rights

Publisher Krafton, best known for publishing games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and the survival horror The Callisto Protocol,, has acquired the Japanese studio Tango Gameworks as well as the intellectual property rights to their latest title Hi-Fi Rush from Microsoft Gaming.

You can read the announcement from the publisher here, but simply put, Krafton is investing in the Japanese market by giving the studio a second life further to pursue the famed rhythm action game Hi-Fi Rush.

As part of this strategic agreement, KRAFTON intends to collaborate with Xbox and ZeniMax to ensure a smooth transition and maintain continuity at Tango Gameworks, allowing the talented team to continue developing the Hi-Fi RUSH IP and explore future projects. KRAFTON intends to support the Tango Gameworks team to continue its commitment to innovation and delivering fresh and exciting experiences for fans. There will be no impact on the existing game catalog of The Evil Within, The Evil Within 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and the original Hi-Fi RUSH game.

This move comes months after Microsoft made the decision to shutter four studios multiple studios within the Bethesda company and one of them was Tango Gameworks.

The studio was founded in 2010 and was formed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and the was responsible for projects such as The Evil Within series, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Hi-Fi Rush, which was shadow-dropped on PC and Xbox consoles when it was revealed in 2023.

Xbox acquired the studio in 2021 as part of the massive $7.5 billion purchase of Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax.

The Krafton acquisition is the company’s attempt at “expanding its global footprint and enhancing its portfolio with innovative and high-quality content.

What does this mean?

Tango Gameworks will be given the support to keep the studio running and will likely work on more Hi-Fi Rush projects. It will take a while before we hear anything concrete from the Tango, nor do we have a full picture of what this deal entails and how much freedom Krafton will provide the studio.

For those that haven’t played Hi-Fi Rush, I highly recommend the title as it was the biggest surprise in 2023, a charming action game with a unique mix of action and rhythm gameplay that was easily my 2023 game of the year, giving it an easy 5/5 when I reviewed it last year.

Before Microsoft’s announcement to close Tango Gameworks, Xbox released Xbox titles like Hi-Fi Rush on multiple platforms to expand the game’s player reach. Those also no longer Xbox exclusives are Sea of Thieves, Pentiment, and Grounded.

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Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Hits Over 500,000 Players, According to Capcom

Capcom revealed that their fresh new IP Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess has reached over 500,000 players since it was released on July 19, 2024, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass on day one.

New Mazo Talismans

To celebrate Kunitsu reaching this milestone, Capcom will be updating the game with three new Mazo Talismans: Jubilee, Dancing Crane, and Amaterasu

As a token of our gratitude to all players, we are giving away three Mazo Talismans which can be equipped on the main character Sou: Jubilee, Dancing Crane, and Amaterasu, which is a collaboration with "Okami". This gift is open to all players, including those who have already played Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess as well as those who will purchase the game in the future.

These new Mazo Talismans are more for fun and cosmetics as it doesn’t actually affect gameplay beyond wasting a Talisman slot that are usually used to give player advantage in a stage.

Here’s what these new Mazo Talismans do if a player equips it:

  • Jubilee – the villagers near the player start dancing in turn.

  • Dancing Crane – normal attacks are replaced by dancing and fireworks are shot off during the dancing technique.

  •  Amaterasu – flowers bloom at Soh’s feet as he moves.

The update also comes with a few bug fixes to improve the game even further.

Together with the new milestone and game update, Capcom released a developer series with the first video giving insight on the game’s setting.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is one of those unique and satisfying titles released from Capcom in years. The art direction and musical score does this game justice as it elevates a satisfying action tower defense gameplay loop with so much enemy and strategy variety that when I finished the game I easily spent over 20 hours.

For those interested in giving this game whirl, you can do so for free as there’s a playable demo now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC that gives you a great idea of the game.


Capcom Is Slowly Rolling out New Details of Monster Hunter Wilds’ Weapons

Capcom is slowly rolling out new details for their upcoming action RPG Monster Hunter Wilds by dropping quick videos describing the game’s new combat mechanics as well as featuring the new features of each weapon type available in the game.

This serves as a countdown of sorts as Capcom will be showing Monster Hunter Wilds in a big way at Gamescom 2024 as this will be the first time the game will be playable to the public, so it only makes sense to release small snippits of how each weapon will work in Wilds as many will get their hands on them from August 21 to August 25 in Colongne, Germany.

Here’s a quick rundown of what was released so far.

Focus Mode

Basic Weapon Mechanics

Greatsword Feature

Heavy Bowgun Feature

Insect Glaive Feature

Gunlance Feature

Hunting Horn Feature

Long Sword Feature

Charge Blade Feature

Hammer Feature

Light Bowgun Feature

Sword & Shield Feature

We’ll update this as more videos are released from Capcom.

Monster Hunter Wilds is the next mainline entry in the famous Monster Hunter franchise and will launch sometime in 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

Capcom’s lineup isn’t focused on Monster Hunter Wilds at Gamescom as they will also setup demo stations for Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, and Street Fighter 6 to showcase DLC character Terry Bogard for the first time.


Civilization VII Release Date and Gameplay Revealed

Civilization VII gameplay trailer reveals release date in February 2025

2K and Firaxis have revealed more information about Sid Meier's Civilization VII at gamescom 2024. After first publishing a teaser trailer at Summer Game Fest 2024, the companies revealed the release date and gameplay details for the new game at the European gaming event.

A new trailer for Civilization VII appeared first during the gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live stream. It showed a quick montage of in-engine footage, including buildings from various civilizations and units from different ages. The main highlight of this trailer was the release date announcement.

The new game will be available on February 11, 2025. While prior entries used to appear first on PCs with consoles like Nintendo Switch getting them later on, this trailer's ending segment hints that Civilization VII will be available simultaneously on not only PCs but also the PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox platforms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK_JrrP9m2U

Soon after that, Firaxis held an official gameplay showcase stream dedicated to the game on the series' official YouTube channel. The new game will have civilizations tied to each of the three different eras, and the leader character the player chooses is no longer tied to their original civilization.

For example, while Hatshepsut is originally related to Egypt, the player can choose to have her lead the Aksum civilization instead in the Antiquity Age. As the game progresses in age, the player will have to choose a different civilization for Hatshepsut to lead, such as Songhai or Mongolia in the Exploration Age, and Buganda in the Modern Age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc3_EO6Bj2M

2K has also updated the game's Steam page with additional bonus editions that provide both in-game content at launch and post-launch DLC that 2K will release in the future. People who have pre-purchased any edition of the game—including the standard version before release—can get the native American civilization Shawnee and Tecumseh as a playable leader.

Sid Meier's Civilization VII will be available for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One on February 11, 2025.

The post Civilization VII Release Date and Gameplay Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

See the FFXIV ‘Give It All’ Arcadion Raid Song Lyrics, Music Video

See the FFXIV ‘Give It All’ Arcadian Raid Song Lyrics, Music Video

Square Enix released a Chrissy Costanza music video for the FFXIV “Give It All” Arcadion Raid song, as well as shared the official English lyrics for the track. The song debuted alongside the 7.01 Dawntrail Raid AAC Light-heavyweight Tier.

In FFXIV, you hear the song “Give It All” during AAC Light-heavyweight M4. The Orchestrion Roll for the track is also a basic rarity reward from a Treasure Coffer from the fight. The idea is that Wicked Thunder is “performing” the track. In reality, it is a The Primals song with Costanza providing the vocals. Previously, the company shared the track following its release. However, now the additional video and lyrics are also available.

Here are the full, official “Give It All” FFXIV Arcadion Raid song lyrics:

Tonight our city bleeds red, blue, and green 
As I walk in the dark unseen 

Yet like the grey the sky is draped in 
The colors in my heart have faded 

Gone 
They're gone 
They're gone 
All gone 

A girl looks to the stars and dares to dream 
On the world she'd make her mark, it seemed 

This phantom in my mirror starin' back 
I realize that girl is 

Gone 
She's gone 
She's gone 
I'm gone 

Climbed every mountain, made it to the top 
I had it all, or so I thought 
Traded tomorrow for a lie 
And found the price too high 

The clock is ticking counting down to naught 
I'm outta time but it won't stop 
I'll bet my life before it's lost 
That final line I'll cross 

There ain't no going back 
No going back 
No going back 
No 

What light's left here inside 
I'll suffocate 
If that's what it takes, oh 

And those who look to cast me aside 
or turn their backs and leave me to die 

You can try, can try, come try, 
But I will survive 

No going back 
No going back 
Won't ever 
(no) Never again, no 

Ain't no going back 
No going back 
No coming back from the edge 

Look in my eyes, yeah I know you understand 
(somebody help, my misery's taking me) 
I've made up my mind, now there ain't no going back 
(somebody help, I'm losing what's left of me) 
I've made up my mind, now my heart's demanding 
I'm ready to fight til there's one left standing 
Tonight, lightning'll strike, thunder will fall 
(and) You're gonna give it all 

To me 
To me 
To me 
To me, I gotta believe 
You'll set 
Me free

Tonight my circle finally comes complete 
One last step from the dark, I breathe 

The music's swellin', crowd is chantin' 
And for this moment fear's an after-thought
It's gone
It's gone 
All gone 

I look out to the crowd and there I see 
A thousand little girls--all me 

I've turned the tables, yeah I'm fightin' back 
I'll bring the lightnin', now it's 

On 
It's on 
It's on 
You're gone 

Climbed every mountain, made it to the top 
I had it all, or so I thought 
Traded tomorrow for a lie 
And found the price too high 

The clock is ticking counting down to naught 
I'm outta time but it won't stop 
I'll bet my life before it's lost 
That final line I'll cross 

There ain't no going back 
No going back 
No going back 
No 

What light's left here inside 
I'll suffocate 
If that's what it takes, oh 

And those who look to cast me aside 
or turn their backs and leave me to die 

You can try, can try, come try, 
But I will survive 

No going back 
No going back 
Won't ever 
(no) Never again, no 

Ain't no going back 
No going back 
No coming back from the edge, no more 

Next, here’s the “Give It All” music video from YouTube, which features gameplay footage from FFXIV, Solution Nine, and the Arcadion Raid. Note there are spoilers for all the AAC Light-heavyweight Tier fights in the video below, and not just the Wicked Thunder one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSU-swmCxVM

Both standard and Savage versions of the AAC Light-heavyweight Tier Arcadion fight are available in the game. The more difficult version of the Raid debuted at the end of July 2024 in patch 7.05.

Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Arcadian Raid series are part of the Dawntrail patches.

The post See the FFXIV ‘Give It All’ Arcadion Raid Song Lyrics, Music Video appeared first on Siliconera.

Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom Trailer Teases Feixiao and UBW

star rail gamescom

During GamesCom 2024, HoYoVerse released a new trailer for Honkai: Star Rail, teasing new character Feixiao and the upcoming Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration. More details on both will appear closer to the release date.

You can watch the Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huTDtxqzKgE

It’s also available in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

The trailer starts with Guinaifen describing Feixiao’s exploits on the battlefield, though she can’t really remember everything. Feixiao actually appears to defeat a borisin about to attack, but she’s just asking for directions. Then, the trailer temporarily shifts to an anime style to show Pom-Pom, Caelus, March, and Dan Heng on the Astral Express. They hear a kind of explosion noise and though you can’t see who appeared on the train, it’s most likely to be EMIYA between his voice and the line he says.

The Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration event will come out some time in Summer 2025. At this point in time, we don’t know if the crossover will only be skins, or if we will actually get a playable character like how Aloy appeared in Genshin Impact. As for Feixiao, she will be a 5-star Wind Hunt character. Before her debut though, we have her subordinate Jiaoqiu coming out in the second phase of Version 2.4. He’ll be a 5-star Fire Nihility who specializes in a unique DoT.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. Feixiao will appear as a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail Versioin 2.5.

The post Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom Trailer Teases Feixiao and UBW appeared first on Siliconera.

Hands on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – Henry and Hans go to the big city

Od: Stefan L

Seven years is a long time to wait after a cliffhanger ending, but as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 ably proves, it takes a good long time to make a game, these days. Warhorse Studios found great success with the first game, selling millions of copies to allow them to grow both in their ambitions and as a studio. Picking up right where the last game ended, the adventure that awaits Sir Hans and Henry is bigger, more deadly, and will take you from the countryside and into the big city.

Spending several hours with the game, we got to experience the opening region and the events that kick this new narrative arc into gear, before jumping ahead to the big city and some of the politicking and possibilities that this region provides. There’s a pretty stark contrast between the two, most notably in terms of the environment that you’re exploring, but also in terms of pacing.

Dubbed ‘Bohemian Paradise’, the opening area is full of lush greenery and small villages surrounding the hilltop Trosky Castle, but we had only a glimpse of this amidst the narrative upheaval that greets Henry and his lord Sir Hans. They have been entrusted with delivering a message of peace to Lord Bergow, though as they get close, they’re greeted with suspicion and hostility from guards on patrol. There’s bandits in the area and they’re immediately suspicious of you, not least because of the respective allegiances in the war between King Wenceslas and the upstart King Sigismund.

That initial interaction starts to define who your version of Henry is. This is a fresh start from the first game, and Warhorse Studios describe it as a new arc – KCD was Henry becoming a man, while KCD 2 will be him becoming a warrior, but still seeking revenge for the murder of his parents, like he’s starring in a Shenmue game. Seeking to back Sir Hans up and express the honourable nature of our mission, I put my foot in it while trying to navigate the conversation with the guard’s captain, until Sir Hans steps back in and resolves the issue – of course, I doubt you can really start a fight at this point, but it lets you emphasise whether Henry will be a smooth-talking envoy or a strong, battling soldier that will fight to resolve issues, rather than talk too much.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 ambush

You never make it to the castle, though, those aforementioned bandits ambushing your group and sending Sir Hans and Henry fleeing through the woods with just a pair of britches to hide their modesty. Thankfully the old lady who eventually takes them in, all battered, bruised and bleeding, doesn’t mind their lack of clothing, but once you actually reach Trosky, reality bites hard at Sir Hans, the brattier side to his summery character driving a wedge between the two. Also, you’ve got to go and find your dog, who went missing after the ambush.

It’s a compelling opening hour or so, giving a rather linear introduction to this game, providing you with some fighting practice, a bit of stealth, and revisiting a few of the key plot points via flashbacks, so you can enjoy this and understand Henry’s origins without having played the first game. However, it’s not a true representation of the more than 80 hours that will follow. That will be much more open and free for you to explore as you see fit, with gameplay and quest design that builds upon the style of the original. It’s when we leap ahead to explore Kuttenberg (now known as Kutná Hora in Czech) that we get to see this side of the game play out.

One of the most important cities within Bohemia at the time, Kuttenberg’s reputation was largely built on the silver mines that gave it so much wealth. This was a major economic centre because of it, with a minting press clanging away to produce currency, and people drawn to the area because of this.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Kuttenberg

Kuttenberg has been recreated in fantastic detail here, with Warhorse getting a lot of support from the city to help them build something authentic to the period. Leaning upon historical references and records, they’re able to peel back the centuries and restore buildings and structures back to what they would have been like – a walking tour through the city lets us see the comparison between the modern and preserved streets and structures, and how they look in the game, as well as educated guesses like an astronomical clock that they know was there, but have modelled after the world famous clock in Prague. While you might have a mental image of a world filled with muddy browns, Kuttenberg’s wealth was shown through colour, artistic construction and finery.

And naturally, with a large population centre, politics come to the fore and create conflict. Menhardt the master swordsman – a Fechter – has come from Frankfurt with a license from the king to found a brotherhood and spread his artistry in combat. But as he arrives in Kuttenberg, he finds another brotherhood from Prague has established itself, and the city council siding with them. All Menhardt wants – you’ll gather from his mixed English and German dialogue (in that Hollywood way that people never actually speak in when using foreign languages) – is the opportunity to fight and prove that he should be allowed to establish a brotherhood, but as they refuse to fight him, he hatches a plan with Henry to steal the Kuttenberg Sword from the local brotherhood and place it at the town hall to open them up to challenges.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 nighttime stealth

There’s bound to be a bunch of ways to pull this off, but by far the easiest and most obvious is to sneak into the brotherhood’s house at night and steal the sword – people have routines through a 24-hour cycle, so you can skip forward to get to the point in time that you need. Nighttime is dictated by rules like needing to walk with a lamp or torch, so that you are above suspicion of being a thief, but you’ll encounter locked doors that need careful (and most importantly quiet) picking with a tricky, but enjoyable minigame, that can alert the people inside. Thankfully, if you are caught, then there’s still a way to trigger the duel and competition, just with the odds in the tournament being stacked against Menhardt and his brotherhood that you can join up to.

There’s been some significant improvements to the combat in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, though it’s building on the same foundations as the original game. You still have the five-pointed star reticule when fighting an opponent, giving you the ability to attack and block from either side, from above, jab down the middle or attack from below – these upward swings are now combined instead of being separate directions. I found it a little easier to grasp the basics in this game than with the first, learning a bit better how to parry and open an opponent’s guard, or to string together a flurry of blows. Don’t get cocky, though, because this is still a tricky style of combat to master.

Is there that much of a difference between Menhardt’s German school of combat and the Prague brotherhood? I couldn’t really say, but with their success and growth over the past seven years, Warhorse has grown the animation team from basically a single person, to having someone dedicated to each weapon and combat style. There should be greater distinction and nuance between them, letting your specialise.

But maybe you don’t want to be up close and personal? Fighting from afar will be perfectly viable, and maybe even preferred when the pitched battles can be much larger and more grand than before. You’ll see full-blown castle assaults, man the ramparts with a crossbow in hand, as opposed to a bow and arrow, and KCD2 will feature the earliest of firearms, including boom sticks that are basically a tube on a stick that you shove gunpowder and a bullet down, before making it go… well… boom!

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 alchemy

There’s plenty more aspects to the game, all building upon the original, such as the public perception of Henry which shifts depending on your actions – so if you’re a thief, you’ll be branded as such and treated as one – or the in-depth alchemy system that has you physically mixing healing remedies. Oh, and of course there’s a fun game to sink your time into, though in this case it’s a historically accurate game of dice. It’s actually surprisingly addictive – well, I had to keep playing if I wanted my dog to have a sausage for dinner! – as you roll a bunch of dice and try to find pairs and runs with which you can score points and then keep rolling, but you importantly need to know when to quit, otherwise you’ll end up with no points for a round.

Put it all together and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is shaping up to be a real showcase for how much Warhorse Studios has grown, evolving their take on the historical setting and their approach to role playing games in general.

Our hands on time with Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 came thanks to a press trip to Kutná Hora, the modern day Kuttenberg, with travel and accommodation provided by Warhorse and Plaion.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle brings action, puzzles, exploration and disguises

Od: Stefan L

There’s a fair bit of trepidation for what Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will actually be like as a game, in particular with the first person view switching to third person at times, and the blend of combat, puzzling, exploration and other gameplay ideas. It’s ironic that, with Tomb Raider and Uncharted having been compared countless times back to the classic Indiana Jones films, now an Indiana Jones game cannot escape their shadow.

MachineGames are charting their own course, though, taking inspiration from their own history, going back to the founding group’s history at Starbreeze Studios and the similar perspective shifting of Chronicles of Riddick. When viewed in that light, and seeing more and more slices of gameplay, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle starts to make more sense.

Of course, there’s one area that MachineGames doesn’t really have much say in. At Gamescom 2024, the studio has finally confirmed that yes, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming to PlayStation 5 after all, despite Microsoft’s best efforts to dodge the leaks and rumours. It’s still coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC first – it’s out in December there, as opposed to Spring 2025 for PS5 owners – but it’s another capitulation in the console rivalry.

Gamescom is also where we visitors can watch a gameplay theatre presentation, which we were privy to (with some exclusive extras) before hand.

Indy might have a roguish tendency to pull a fast one with a pistol, but he’s always been a brawler more than a shooter, and that’s what he seems to be here, mixing together punches, whip strikes and occasional pistol shots. You’ll be able to make use of the environment, whether that’s using a knockout combo to finish a bruising enemy, shoving them down a level in a dig site, or grabbing a rolling pin from a nearby table to clonk them on the head.

All of this will take place in first person, keeping you rooted within the character, but there’s then shifts to third person when climbing or swinging across gaps on Indy’s whip.

I can’t help but wonder if the game might be better to stay in first person the entire time. We’ve had games like Mirror’s Edge which have integrated fast and fluid parkour with a first-person view, and I’m not entirely sold on the value that switching to the third person for a few seconds offers. Especially when stealth, which might benefit from shifting to the third person to give better spatial awareness, and sliding down a slope don’t make the switch. I hope it comes together for the full game.

Indy’s adventure will challenge him with more than just platforming and fighting. Taking place in 1937, between Raiders and The Last Crusade, we have peak Indiana Jones and a fresh Nazi threat to undermine. The story will see Indy piecing together some kind of fanciful archaeological shenanigans surrounding a great circle of temples and historical sites that rings the globe, landing himself in a race against Emmerich Voss. Along the way, he’ll team up with investigative reporter Gina Lombardi, who has her own reasons for trotting across the globe.

And globe-trotting is what they’ll do, with the journey taking them to the Vatican in Rome, the Sukhothai temples, Egyptian pyramids, the Himalayas and more – all created with reference material from the period, when places like the Sukhothai temples were still completely overgrown. All manner of ancient traps and puzzles await within these, and there’s some fun nods back to iconic moments in the film, such as Indy lifting a big statue from a plinth and initially being pleased that nothing bad happens… until sand starts pouring into the floor, forcing a struggle to get to a hatch high up in the wall. Alternatively, it could be Gina that triggers the bad things to happen.

Some of the puzzling will be immediately familiar from action adventures, such as directing beams of light with mirrors, and whipping at weakened stone in the environment to let loose a stream of water, but other puzzles have more of a point & click adventure feel – pour a bottle of wine into an offering plate before a statue and see a number revealed in red, giving you the answer for levers in another room.

Sometimes the puzzles will rely on using a camera to take photos of points of interest to reveal a clue or the next step, and those photos will fill out a journal, creating a record of your journey so far, collating information and thoughts on the adventure, and more. It’s a neat nod back to The Last Crusade, and can be seen as a naturalistic hints system.

Throughout all of this you’ll earn Adventure Points, which feed into the Adventure Books that you can find and unlock abilities with. These can include things like ‘True Grit’, which gives Indy another chance after losing a fight, just so long as you can crawl across the floor and pick up his hat.

Stealth and subterfuge will also play a significant part. On the one hand, sneaking allows you to choose when and how to start a fight, luring enemies away with distractions and then taking them out quickly and/or quietly to even up the odds. Other areas might need you to blend in, donning various disguises like you’re Agent 47 and then trying not to stand out and get noticed when walking through closed-off areas.

These disguises will generally be determined by the flow of the story – dress up as a clergyman to get behind the scenes at the Vatican, for example – but this isn’t a purely linear adventure. There will also be broader environments and places for you to explore and side quests that can take you off the beaten path a little. You will be able to journey back and forth to revisit previous places, potentially put disguises back on if you need them, and discover more Adventure Books and Points.

While MachineGames aren’t putting a figure on the length of this game, they are confidently stating that it’s longer than any game they’ve done before.

Indiana Jones is coming to PS5, but only after Xbox and PC December release

Od: Stefan L

Well, there we go. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming to PlayStation 5.

After months and months of only talking about the game in terms of Xbox Series X|S and PC, MachineGames had Geoff Keighley do the dirty work and confirm that the Indy adventure will also come to PlayStation 5, as part of Microsoft’s broadening push for cross-platform gaming.

However, there will still be a period of exclusivity. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle comes to Xbox Series X|S and PC on 9th  December 2025 – and on Xbox Game Pass Utlimate of course, while you can play three days early by pre-ordering the Premium Edition, Premium Edition Upgrade, or Collector’s Edition. The PlayStation 5 port will traipse along a few months later in Spring 2025.

Here’s a new trailer with Troy Baker exploring the world in which he will take on the role of Indiana Jones:

This will only further the rumours that Microsoft will bring practically everything to PlayStation 5 in the fullness of time – rumours earlier this year already suggested that Indiana Jones was on the way over, alongside Starfield, and potentially even Halo.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a mixed first and third person action adventure set between Raiders of the Lost Arc and The Last Crusade in 1937, and includes characters from the original film returning including Doctor Marcus Brody, originally played by Denholm Elliott. Doctor Jones is working late at Marshall College but is woken up late to find a rather imposing thief stealing a sacred relic. He then heads to Vatican to figure out why that one particular relic was stolen. From there the story will take players to Sukhothai, the Pyramids, the Himalayas and beyond.

The iconic whip naturally makes an appearance and can be used for attacking enemies to stun them, pull their legs and more, as a distraction in stealth, or for swinging around the environments, and there will be plenty of puzzles for Indy to solve. While it’s mainly a first person game, it will swap to third person when certain actions are performed, such as climbing, and for cutscenes.

C-Smash VRS: New Dimension Preview – No VR? No problem!

Od: Stefan L

C-Smash VRS was easily one of the best games from the PlayStation VR 2’s launch window. Taking the cult classic arcade and Dreamcast game Cosmic Smash, it shifted the perspective, giving us a minimalist blend of Breakout and real-life Squash for a compelling VR sports game.

But shouldn’t everyone be allowed to smash cosmically? Not just the relative few with fancy hats? Enter C-Smash VRS: New Dimension, a fresh launch and free update coming at the end of September that will bring back flat-screen play and arcade delights alongside all the VR goodness of before.

 

New Dimension feeds a lot more of the original Cosmic Smash back into C-Smash VRS, specifically with the shift back to a third-person camera – there’s both a dynamic tracking cam and a pulled-back fixed camera – and seeing your avatar race back and forth as you position yourself to slap the ball back down the arena.

Going hands-on back-to-back with a classic arcade cabinet, there’s a very familiar feel between them, with the way that your avatar is animated in running, jumping and hitting, the ease and accessibility of timing shots, and more. However, New Dimension has added a few extra flourishes and moves on top of that. Whether they’re new moves or old, it’s pretty cool to see your character pulling off wall jumps, seeing the spinning flourish of a power shot, or a last ditch dive to reach a ball that’s heading outside of your hitting sweet spot.

C-Smash VRS New Dimension breakdance shot

Every mode from C-Smash VRS is available to play in New Dimension, whether it’s the Journey mode through strings of action puzzle stages, the endless Infinity mode, co-op or head-to-head multiplayer. Through all of the multiplayer modes, one of the key factors to New Dimension is that this bridges the divide between VR and flat-screen play.

This isn’t quite the first time that this has been done in VR gaming, since we have cross-play in digital board games like Demeo, or more significantly with racing games like Gran Turismo 7 and flight games. However, C-Smash VRS: New Dimension is possibly the first time that we’re dealing with two completely different styles of motion and control.

GT7 or Star Wars Squadrons might give VR players a greater awareness of their surroundings, but you’re still fundamentally fixed in the cockpit and have the limits of your vehicle. New Dimension has VR players with a first-person view and full motion tracking of your arms going up against the abstracted arcade action of the flat-screen game.

C-Smash VRS New Dimension PS5 vs. PSVR2

It’s a really fascinating problem, but one that RapidEyeMovers and Wolf & Wood are very close to getting just right. We went through the gamut of head-to-head multiplayer options, myself playing on TV in London against Wolf & Wood’s Ryan Bousfield up in Newcastle, and had some good fun and close matches, despite the completely different controls.

A few things stood out the more that I played, though. Depending on your preferences, C-Smash VRS is perhaps a bit too lenient with allowing you to press the hit button well before the ball gets back to you. You do want to try to position yourself and time the button press to get the best power and control, but there’s a lot of give here and your avatar can almost always make that diving hit to dribble the ball back down the court.

At the same time, there’s more advanced moves that have much, much less margin for error. A jump shot is very easy to end up with whiffing at clean air, and cool as it looks, so can a wall jump shot. When playing against another person who’s actively aiming for the edges of your reach, these are pretty important to master, and hopefully the final product can bring these two extremes a bit closer together.

C-Smash VRS New Dimension jump shot

VR versus TV play works wonderfully well and feels like it should be well balanced. A VR player will need to have better natural hand-eye coordination than a TV player, especially when trying to pinpoint a shot at a small target, but that physical control gives a higher ceiling for play.

Coming out on 26th September, C-Smash VRS: New Dimension is set to be all things to fans of hitting balls with rackets. This is probably the game that fans of the original would have hoped for, a modern successor with a bunch more modes, block types and power ups, but with familiar gameplay and feel. And you can always still pop a VR headset on as well, now hopefully with more people to play with online.

PS5 and PS4 Releases: Every Game Release Date for Week Beginning August 19, 2024

New PS5 PS4 Games August 19 2024

The list of new PS5 and PS4 games for the week beginning August 19, 2024, has gotten shorter this week but does include a couple of bigger AAA releases. The catch is that only PS5 owners get to enjoy them. The highlight of the week will be action RPG Black Myth: Wukong, although there’s also multiplayer shooter Concord

All PS5 and PS4 August 19 to 25, 2024 game release dates

Here are all of the PS5 and PS4 games currently set to be released throughout the week of August 19 to 25, 2024.

PS5 Games

  • Tribe: Primitive Builder (August 19)
  • Black Myth: Wukong (August 20)
  • Dustborn (August 20)
  • Predecessor (August 20)
  • Cyber Mission (August 21)
  • Mangavania 2 (August 21)
  • Naive Boy Super Lash (August 21)
  • Wheel Riders (August 21)
  • Long Yard Run (August 22)
  • Rise Eterna War (August 22)
  • Tales from Toyotoki: Arrival of the Witch (August 22)
  • TIEBREAK: Official game of the ATP and WTA (August 22)
  • Concord (August 23)
  • The Jumping Donut (August 23)
  • Learn to Play Vol. 5 – Break the Blocks (August 23)
  • Magnus Trilogy (August 23)
  • Operation: Polygon Storm (August 23)
  • Pixicharm – Dinoluship (August 23)
  • Supermarket Simulator Pro (August 23)

PS4 Games

  • Dustborn (August 20)
  • Predecessor (August 20)
  • Cyber Mission (August 21)
  • Mangavania 2 (August 21)
  • Naive Boy Super Lash (August 21)
  • Wheel Riders (August 21)
  • Long Yard Run (August 22)
  • Rise Eterna War (August 22)
  • TIEBREAK: Official game of the ATP and WTA (August 22)
  • Aery – Ancient Empires (August 23)
  • The Jumping Donut (August 23)
  • Learn to Play Vol. 5 – Break the Blocks (August 23)
  • Operation: Polygon Storm (August 23)
  • Pixicharm – Dinoluship (August 23)
  • Supermarket Simulator Pro (August 23)
  • A Bibelot: Prototo (August 24)

A total of 19 games are coming to PS5 this week, while PS4 players get a slightly shorter list of 16 titles. Black Myth: Wukong, the action RPG based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, is making its console debut exclusively on PS5. The game is supposed to come to Xbox Series X|S later but has been delayed due to optimization issues.

Meanwhile, PS5 exclusive multiplayer shooter Concord makes its debut at the end of the week, although early access begins tomorrow, August 20. The game is available to preload right now.

Finally, PSVR 2 players miss out this week as there are no new games due to be released this week.

The post PS5 and PS4 Releases: Every Game Release Date for Week Beginning August 19, 2024 appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

The MOP Up: Spellfarers lets you dabble in moon magic

The recently launched magic life sim Spellfarers Update 0.511 arrived with “lots of fixes, including to cooking, a new stove for Ilo’s kitchen, minor transmutations, and more. Witches can now properly specialize in moon magic by casting the magic specialization spell.” And this is just the beginning of the rest of the news! Read on for a […]

Civilization VII Release Date and Gameplay Revealed

Civilization VII gameplay trailer reveals release date in February 2025

2K and Firaxis have revealed more information about Sid Meier's Civilization VII at gamescom 2024. After first publishing a teaser trailer at Summer Game Fest 2024, the companies revealed the release date and gameplay details for the new game at the European gaming event.

A new trailer for Civilization VII appeared first during the gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live stream. It showed a quick montage of in-engine footage, including buildings from various civilizations and units from different ages. The main highlight of this trailer was the release date announcement.

The new game will be available on February 11, 2025. While prior entries used to appear first on PCs with consoles like Nintendo Switch getting them later on, this trailer's ending segment hints that Civilization VII will be available simultaneously on not only PCs but also the PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox platforms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK_JrrP9m2U

Soon after that, Firaxis held an official gameplay showcase stream dedicated to the game on the series' official YouTube channel. The new game will have civilizations tied to each of the three different eras, and the leader character the player chooses is no longer tied to their original civilization.

For example, while Hatshepsut is originally related to Egypt, the player can choose to have her lead the Aksum civilization instead in the Antiquity Age. As the game progresses in age, the player will have to choose a different civilization for Hatshepsut to lead, such as Songhai or Mongolia in the Exploration Age, and Buganda in the Modern Age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc3_EO6Bj2M

2K has also updated the game's Steam page with additional bonus editions that provide both in-game content at launch and post-launch DLC that 2K will release in the future. People who have pre-purchased any edition of the game—including the standard version before release—can get the native American civilization Shawnee and Tecumseh as a playable leader.

Sid Meier's Civilization VII will be available for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One on February 11, 2025.

The post Civilization VII Release Date and Gameplay Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

See the FFXIV ‘Give It All’ Arcadion Raid Song Lyrics, Music Video

See the FFXIV ‘Give It All’ Arcadian Raid Song Lyrics, Music Video

Square Enix released a Chrissy Costanza music video for the FFXIV “Give It All” Arcadion Raid song, as well as shared the official English lyrics for the track. The song debuted alongside the 7.01 Dawntrail Raid AAC Light-heavyweight Tier.

In FFXIV, you hear the song “Give It All” during AAC Light-heavyweight M4. The Orchestrion Roll for the track is also a basic rarity reward from a Treasure Coffer from the fight. The idea is that Wicked Thunder is “performing” the track. In reality, it is a The Primals song with Costanza providing the vocals. Previously, the company shared the track following its release. However, now the additional video and lyrics are also available.

Here are the full, official “Give It All” FFXIV Arcadion Raid song lyrics:

Tonight our city bleeds red, blue, and green 
As I walk in the dark unseen 

Yet like the grey the sky is draped in 
The colors in my heart have faded 

Gone 
They're gone 
They're gone 
All gone 

A girl looks to the stars and dares to dream 
On the world she'd make her mark, it seemed 

This phantom in my mirror starin' back 
I realize that girl is 

Gone 
She's gone 
She's gone 
I'm gone 

Climbed every mountain, made it to the top 
I had it all, or so I thought 
Traded tomorrow for a lie 
And found the price too high 

The clock is ticking counting down to naught 
I'm outta time but it won't stop 
I'll bet my life before it's lost 
That final line I'll cross 

There ain't no going back 
No going back 
No going back 
No 

What light's left here inside 
I'll suffocate 
If that's what it takes, oh 

And those who look to cast me aside 
or turn their backs and leave me to die 

You can try, can try, come try, 
But I will survive 

No going back 
No going back 
Won't ever 
(no) Never again, no 

Ain't no going back 
No going back 
No coming back from the edge 

Look in my eyes, yeah I know you understand 
(somebody help, my misery's taking me) 
I've made up my mind, now there ain't no going back 
(somebody help, I'm losing what's left of me) 
I've made up my mind, now my heart's demanding 
I'm ready to fight til there's one left standing 
Tonight, lightning'll strike, thunder will fall 
(and) You're gonna give it all 

To me 
To me 
To me 
To me, I gotta believe 
You'll set 
Me free

Tonight my circle finally comes complete 
One last step from the dark, I breathe 

The music's swellin', crowd is chantin' 
And for this moment fear's an after-thought
It's gone
It's gone 
All gone 

I look out to the crowd and there I see 
A thousand little girls--all me 

I've turned the tables, yeah I'm fightin' back 
I'll bring the lightnin', now it's 

On 
It's on 
It's on 
You're gone 

Climbed every mountain, made it to the top 
I had it all, or so I thought 
Traded tomorrow for a lie 
And found the price too high 

The clock is ticking counting down to naught 
I'm outta time but it won't stop 
I'll bet my life before it's lost 
That final line I'll cross 

There ain't no going back 
No going back 
No going back 
No 

What light's left here inside 
I'll suffocate 
If that's what it takes, oh 

And those who look to cast me aside 
or turn their backs and leave me to die 

You can try, can try, come try, 
But I will survive 

No going back 
No going back 
Won't ever 
(no) Never again, no 

Ain't no going back 
No going back 
No coming back from the edge, no more 

Next, here’s the “Give It All” music video from YouTube, which features gameplay footage from FFXIV, Solution Nine, and the Arcadion Raid. Note there are spoilers for all the AAC Light-heavyweight Tier fights in the video below, and not just the Wicked Thunder one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSU-swmCxVM

Both standard and Savage versions of the AAC Light-heavyweight Tier Arcadion fight are available in the game. The more difficult version of the Raid debuted at the end of July 2024 in patch 7.05.

Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Arcadian Raid series are part of the Dawntrail patches.

The post See the FFXIV ‘Give It All’ Arcadion Raid Song Lyrics, Music Video appeared first on Siliconera.

Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom Trailer Teases Feixiao and UBW

star rail gamescom

During GamesCom 2024, HoYoVerse released a new trailer for Honkai: Star Rail, teasing new character Feixiao and the upcoming Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration. More details on both will appear closer to the release date.

You can watch the Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huTDtxqzKgE

It’s also available in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

The trailer starts with Guinaifen describing Feixiao’s exploits on the battlefield, though she can’t really remember everything. Feixiao actually appears to defeat a borisin about to attack, but she’s just asking for directions. Then, the trailer temporarily shifts to an anime style to show Pom-Pom, Caelus, March, and Dan Heng on the Astral Express. They hear a kind of explosion noise and though you can’t see who appeared on the train, it’s most likely to be EMIYA between his voice and the line he says.

The Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration event will come out some time in Summer 2025. At this point in time, we don’t know if the crossover will only be skins, or if we will actually get a playable character like how Aloy appeared in Genshin Impact. As for Feixiao, she will be a 5-star Wind Hunt character. Before her debut though, we have her subordinate Jiaoqiu coming out in the second phase of Version 2.4. He’ll be a 5-star Fire Nihility who specializes in a unique DoT.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. Feixiao will appear as a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail Versioin 2.5.

The post Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom Trailer Teases Feixiao and UBW appeared first on Siliconera.

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