Paradox Interactive's streak of game delays continues with the news its Chinese-Room-developed Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is now targeting a release in the "first half of 2025", rather than its previously announced "late 2024" window.

In a post on its website, Paradox called the delay a "proactive decision" derived from its commitment earlier this year to deliver "high-quality games" to its players. "Though [Bloodlines 2] is in a good enough place that we could have maintained our planned release window," it wrote, "Paradox and The Chinese Room collaboratively decided to prioritise polish."

Paradox says the delay will "create a quality assurance buffer, giving more time between testing and launch, ensuring we release the game when it's ready." More specifically, The Chinese Room will use the time to expand Bloodlines 2's story, providing twice as many endings as its predecessor, and to "adjust certain areas" such as Fabien - the voice in its protagonist's head.

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A flurry of Pokémon news has confirmed a launch date for the long-awaited Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, and a look ahead at what's next for Pokémon Go.

Pokémon TCG Pocket, a digital version of the phenomenally-popular trading card game, will go live via the iPhone App Store and Google Play for Android worldwide on 30th October.

As previously announced, you can open two packs of Pokémon cards for free per day - just enough to get you hooked - and it's interesting to see the pack-opening mechanic front and centre in the game's trailer below.

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Fans were jubilant when Persona 3 received a remake earlier this year, but this turned to disappointment when it became clear its Episode Aigis epilogue DLC was not included. Multiple versions of Persona 3 have been released since the game's initial PS2 launch in 2006 - namely Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable, each with unique additions. The release of this year's Persona 3 Reload was an opportunity to provide the definitive version of the game, but without Episode Aigis fans were upset it would remain incomplete.

That's why Atlus relented and has now additionally remade Episode Aigis: The Answer with all the trappings of Reload - though no doubt the fact it's the fastest-selling Atlus game ever was also persuasive. Finally, fans will get the complete story experience they've craved (though still without the alternative female protagonist from P3P). But after going hands-on with the DLC, I'm still left with a lingering question: what exactly was the main game missing?

I played Persona 3 for the first time this year and really enjoyed its twisted teen drama, even if the series as a whole is starting to feel formulaic. Yet after receiving the true ending, the story felt complete and I wasn't left with unanswered questions. So what kind of answer can The Answer provide?

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Tactical Breach Wizards is a tactics game for people that don’t like tactics games. Magically, it’s also a tactics game for people who love them like nothing else. It’s permissive and demanding; playful and tense. Its globe-spanning plot covers conspiracies, PMCs, and brutal theocratic dictatorships. It also features a traffic-summoning warlock named Steve wearing a hi-vis robe. It’s finding that one absolutely, perfectly ridiculous XCOM turn, every turn…and at the same time knowing it’s absolutely, perfectly fine if you don’t. In short: it’s one of the most enjoyable tactics games I’ve ever played, and the only tactics game with a pyromancer so rubbish he relies on making his enemies pass out from heatstroke.

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There you are, rambling through the woods of Interactive Entertainment with an empty pack and a spring in your step. Here I am, lying in wait behind a tree. Wham! Bam! You reel back in consternation as I bounce into the path and clobber you with a sack containing no less than eight venerable RPGs, from Baldur's Gate to Warhammer 40,000: Rogue's Trader - well over a thousand hours worth of dungeons, dragons, dicerolls, dwarven shopkeepers and many other things I refuse to spend time alliterating, all of which will (currently) set you back just £32.07.

Were you planning to spend this weekend playing some cute two-hour artgame sideshow, without any levelling at all? Shut up, you DOLT. You will play what the nice journalist tells you to play! Best lay in extra caffeine tablets, because it's going to take you till Monday just to get through the character creators alone.

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The next advance in video game graphics technology is not ray-tracing or tray-racing or any variation thereof - it's janky stop motion and rubbish plastic dolls, and it actually began about 30 years ago, when I watched the Adam and Joe show for the first time. If you never watched the Adam and Joe show, they used to do home movie recreations of famous films like Titanic and Saving Private Ryan using stuffed animals and action figures. I found these "Toymovies" hysterical as a kid - I suspect they are less so now. Probably, they are full of jokes we might tentatively class as "of their time". The point is, Reptilian Rising is sort of Toymovie: The Game.

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Tactical Breach Wizards is a tactics game for people that don’t like tactics games. Magically, it’s also a tactics game for people who love them like nothing else. It’s permissive and demanding; playful and tense. Its globe-spanning plot covers conspiracies, PMCs, and brutal theocratic dictatorships. It also features a traffic-summoning warlock named Steve wearing a hi-vis robe. It’s finding that one absolutely, perfectly ridiculous XCOM turn, every turn…and at the same time knowing it’s absolutely, perfectly fine if you don’t. In short: it’s one of the most enjoyable tactics games I’ve ever played, and the only tactics game with a pyromancer so rubbish he relies on making his enemies pass out from heatstroke.

Read more

There you are, rambling through the woods of Interactive Entertainment with an empty pack and a spring in your step. Here I am, lying in wait behind a tree. Wham! Bam! You reel back in consternation as I bounce into the path and clobber you with a sack containing no less than eight venerable RPGs, from Baldur's Gate to Warhammer 40,000: Rogue's Trader - well over a thousand hours worth of dungeons, dragons, dicerolls, dwarven shopkeepers and many other things I refuse to spend time alliterating, all of which will (currently) set you back just £32.07.

Were you planning to spend this weekend playing some cute two-hour artgame sideshow, without any levelling at all? Shut up, you DOLT. You will play what the nice journalist tells you to play! Best lay in extra caffeine tablets, because it's going to take you till Monday just to get through the character creators alone.

Read more

The next advance in video game graphics technology is not ray-tracing or tray-racing or any variation thereof - it's janky stop motion and rubbish plastic dolls, and it actually began about 30 years ago, when I watched the Adam and Joe show for the first time. If you never watched the Adam and Joe show, they used to do home movie recreations of famous films like Titanic and Saving Private Ryan using stuffed animals and action figures. I found these "Toymovies" hysterical as a kid - I suspect they are less so now. Probably, they are full of jokes we might tentatively class as "of their time". The point is, Reptilian Rising is sort of Toymovie: The Game.

Read more

I was partial to a scrappy little strategy game even before idiot billionaires doomed the planet, and the UK to brain-steaming heat just when you thought we'd escape it this year. Khaligrad is plenty scrappy. Its edges are rough and you have to figure it out yourself, but it's more intuitive than it appears, and easy to operate once you discern some basics. It's scrappy too in that it's, well. It's Stalingrad. Not really: its world is so fictional it's their 15th century. But the invaders are explicitly fascists and the defenders communists embroiled in a long and brutal semi-guerrilla city war with World War 2 technology. Thankfully, it's stripped of any actual fashy or genocidal play-acting beyond each side doing "hail the empire/union" bits as a sign off.

I think that's why, despite its brutal and difficult setting, it's this year's entry in the long tradition of Low-Intensity Strategy Games For When Hot Why Hot Please Stop You Cannot See My Begging Tears For They Evaporate.

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I was partial to a scrappy little strategy game even before idiot billionaires doomed the planet, and the UK to brain-steaming heat just when you thought we'd escape it this year. Khaligrad is plenty scrappy. Its edges are rough and you have to figure it out yourself, but it's more intuitive than it appears, and easy to operate once you discern some basics. It's scrappy too in that it's, well. It's Stalingrad. Not really: its world is so fictional it's their 15th century. But the invaders are explicitly fascists and the defenders communists embroiled in a long and brutal semi-guerrilla city war with World War 2 technology. Thankfully, it's stripped of any actual fashy or genocidal play-acting beyond each side doing "hail the empire/union" bits as a sign off.

I think that's why, despite its brutal and difficult setting, it's this year's entry in the long tradition of Low-Intensity Strategy Games For When Hot Why Hot Please Stop You Cannot See My Begging Tears For They Evaporate.

Read more

Larian began a continuation of its work on the beloved Baldur's Gate 3 last year as it was "the obvious thing" to do - before ultimately deciding to change course.

Speaking to PC Gamer on the anniversary of Baldur's Gate 3's full release, Larian boss Swen Vincke said the initial decision to continue working on the Dungeons & Dragons-based franchise saw his team focus on an obvious follow-up - an idea that sounds like it was initially pitched as an expansion, before being considered as the basis for a potential Baldur's Gate 4.

"It's something that you all would have liked, I think," Vincke said. "I'm sure, actually. And we actually went pretty fast, because the production machine was still warm. You could already play stuff."

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Activision and Microsoft have reportedly approved the creation of a new "smaller" team within Blizzard Entertainment - mostly comprised of employees from Activision's mobile-focused King division - to develop new "AA" games based on existing Blizzard properties.

That's according to Windows Central's Jez Corden, whose sources say the new initiative reflects an eagerness at Microsoft to "explore and experiment" with smaller teams within the larger organisation, in response to the "monstrously ballooning costs" of AAA game development.

Corden notes Microsoft has seen success with the likes of Sea of Thieves and Grounded, both built by comparatively small teams - and, of course, 2023's Hi-Fi Rush, created by a small team within Tango Gameworks, was heralded as a "break out hit" by Microsoft after its release.

Read more

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 we push through to get to better times in a game, which we hope are coming; we change our perception of a game after talking to the people who made it; and we find the familiar in a game that also manages to feel completely new.

What have you been playing?

Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We've Been Playing archive.

Read more

June's big Civilization 7 announcement was pretty light - by which I mean completely devoid of - detail. But that's about to change, with developer Firaxis having now revealed it'll be showcasing first gameplay of its latest 4X strategy title later this month.

First, viewers will get a taste of Civ 7 during this year's Gamescom Opening Night Live, which - in case your diary isn't up-to-date - is airing from 7pm BST/11am PT on 20th August.

But! Firaxis will then be airing a far more substantial chunk of gameplay once Opening Night Live comes to an end. Specifically, Civ fans can expect to see "more than" 20 minutes of gameplay - and hear Civ 7's development team share "exclusive insights" on its "innovative new features" - from 9.30pm BST/1.30pm PT on 20th August.

Read more

Cor, it feels good to be ricocheting hats off chrome skulls again, let me tell you. It's been almost ten years since the original SteamWorld Heist showed us how XCOM could work in a 2D play space, and Thunderful's sequel has only doubled down on what made this particular bag of bolts such a joyful offshoot in the turn-based strategy genre. Case in point: the hats that you could whizz off the head of your enemies and claim for your own (for no other reason than sheer cheekiness) are back in full force, with 101 of them ready to be pilfered in your search for tasty loot. Its new cast of characters are also daft and brilliant in equal measure, and I'm not ashamed to admit that one of my first recruitment decisions was based purely on the pun work. Why yes, Dame Judy Wrench, I will have you on my crew with your Harsh Language special attack that can shame an enemy for three damage. Why is that even a question?

SteamWorld Heist 2 isn't just more of the same, though - even if that is a large part of its overall appeal. Apart from the shift in setting from space to a more explorable and connected ocean planet, there's a new class system that lets you pinch skills learned in other jobs you've undertaken. Of course, Heist 2 isn't the first game to land on this particular idea, and its execution is perhaps only partially successful in practice (more on that in a sec). But given this sequel is easily double the size of the original, it does need some form of progression support like this to help prevent its missions from buckling under the weight of its lengthy environmental crisis story. In truth, that reach for something bigger and better is arguably SteamWorld Heist 2's undoing in many ways, but what's here is still eminently enjoyable - and you're certainly not left hungry.

Let's start with the good stuff. Aside from its copious array of optional headwear to parade and pilfer, the heists themselves are as sharp and thrilling as ever. In your bid to find out what's causing this world's freshwater shortage (salt water doesn't play nice with a Steambot's metal work, after all), you'll be raiding all manner of moored ships, rigs and naval facilities to find the source of the problem. Unsurprisingly, there are several hiccups, detours and other obstacles you'll need to deal with along the way, taking you from the balmy, tropical shallows to deep, icy northern trenches and more - which you'll pootle around in your trusty submarine in real-time, travelling from one mission to the next on the high seas.

Read more

Pokémon Go's upcoming addition of Dynamax mechanics has been something of an open secret - and now we're able to see how some elements will look in-game for the first time.

Fans of Pokémon Go have peered inside the popular mobile game's files to find visual elements of the upcoming Dynamax system, which also offer clues as to how Dynamax Pokémon will be obtained.

For the first time since Pokémon Go's launch all the way back in 2016, new locations look set to appear on the game's overworld map - currently labelled as "stations". These gym-like structures look like they'll host raids for Dynamax Pokémon.

Read more

Wildermyth, the acclaimed procedural storytelling RPG from developer Worldwalker Games, is - after three years revelling in its many accolades garnered while exclusive to PC - coming to Switch, PlayStaton, and Xbox on 22nd October this year.

At first glance, Wildermyth is pretty familiar stuff, taking players on a fantasy flavoured adventure of party based levelling and tactical turn-based combat. Those bits are all perfectly good, but the real cleverness starts with its procedurally generated story, where campaigns are cunningly, convincingly assembled from beautifully illustrated, wonderfully written narrative fragments and choose-your-own-adventure-style scraps.

And that all builds out from your highly customisable party of characters, who each get distinctly defined traits, personalities, histories, and abilities. And each of them can forge alliances, develop rivalries, fall out, fall in love, die and be reborn is a constantly swirling maelstrom of variables that keep things fresh. And that's without factoring in some of other clever stuff, like the way your journey - passing in days, months, and years - unfolds across a dynamic world map that evolves, not always positively, depending on your actions.

Read more

As reported by Gematsu yesterday, SEGA have filed a trademark in Japan for the term “Yakuza Wars”. This happened on July 26th, and while Gematsu speculate this might be related to the next game in the Yakuza: Like A Dragon series, I have other plans. For the imaginary game. That I have nothing to do with.

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Flippin’ heck, what a journey it’s been for Baldur's Gate 3, eh? It seems just yesterday I was getting very jealous at Matthew Castle (RPS in peace) for getting to preview the sequel to my beloved Shadows Of Amn. Fast forward several turns, Larian’s RPG banger is officially one year old since release, and there’s now a much higher chance that strangers at pubs will understand why my failed romance with Jaheira as a youth was such a deeply heartbreaking experience. Baldur’s Gate 3 itself looks to be done and dusted following the upcoming patch, but Larian now seem to be gearing up for their next charm offensive with a new “community focused” YouTube channel, as well as further teasing their two games currently in development.

Read more

As reported by Gematsu yesterday, SEGA have filed a trademark in Japan for the term “Yakuza Wars”. This happened on July 26th, and while Gematsu speculate this might be related to the next game in the Yakuza: Like A Dragon series, I have other plans. For the imaginary game. That I have nothing to do with.

Read more

Flippin’ heck, what a journey it’s been for Baldur's Gate 3, eh? It seems just yesterday I was getting very jealous at Matthew Castle (RPS in peace) for getting to preview the sequel to my beloved Shadows Of Amn. Fast forward several turns, Larian’s RPG banger is officially one year old since release, and there’s now a much higher chance that strangers at pubs will understand why my failed romance with Jaheira as a youth was such a deeply heartbreaking experience. Baldur’s Gate 3 itself looks to be done and dusted following the upcoming patch, but Larian now seem to be gearing up for their next charm offensive with a new “community focused” YouTube channel, as well as further teasing their two games currently in development.

Read more

Activision and Microsoft have reportedly approved the creation of a new "smaller" team within Blizzard Entertainment - mostly comprised of employees from Activision's mobile-focused King division - to develop new "AA" games based on existing Blizzard properties.

That's according to Windows Central's Jez Corden, whose sources say the new initiative reflects an eagerness at Microsoft to "explore and experiment" with smaller teams within the larger organisation, in response to the "monstrously ballooning costs" of AAA game development.

Corden notes Microsoft has seen success with the likes of Sea of Thieves and Grounded, both built by comparatively small teams - and, of course, 2023's Hi-Fi Rush, created by a small team within Tango Gameworks, was heralded as a "break out hit" by Microsoft after its release.

Read more

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 we push through to get to better times in a game, which we hope are coming; we change our perception of a game after talking to the people who made it; and we find the familiar in a game that also manages to feel completely new.

What have you been playing?

Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We've Been Playing archive.

Read more

June's big Civilization 7 announcement was pretty light - by which I mean completely devoid of - detail. But that's about to change, with developer Firaxis having now revealed it'll be showcasing first gameplay of its latest 4X strategy title later this month.

First, viewers will get a taste of Civ 7 during this year's Gamescom Opening Night Live, which - in case your diary isn't up-to-date - is airing from 7pm BST/11am PT on 20th August.

But! Firaxis will then be airing a far more substantial chunk of gameplay once Opening Night Live comes to an end. Specifically, Civ fans can expect to see "more than" 20 minutes of gameplay - and hear Civ 7's development team share "exclusive insights" on its "innovative new features" - from 9.30pm BST/1.30pm PT on 20th August.

Read more

Cor, it feels good to be ricocheting hats off chrome skulls again, let me tell you. It's been almost ten years since the original SteamWorld Heist showed us how XCOM could work in a 2D play space, and Thunderful's sequel has only doubled down on what made this particular bag of bolts such a joyful offshoot in the turn-based strategy genre. Case in point: the hats that you could whizz off the head of your enemies and claim for your own (for no other reason than sheer cheekiness) are back in full force, with 101 of them ready to be pilfered in your search for tasty loot. Its new cast of characters are also daft and brilliant in equal measure, and I'm not ashamed to admit that one of my first recruitment decisions was based purely on the pun work. Why yes, Dame Judy Wrench, I will have you on my crew with your Harsh Language special attack that can shame an enemy for three damage. Why is that even a question?

SteamWorld Heist 2 isn't just more of the same, though - even if that is a large part of its overall appeal. Apart from the shift in setting from space to a more explorable and connected ocean planet, there's a new class system that lets you pinch skills learned in other jobs you've undertaken. Of course, Heist 2 isn't the first game to land on this particular idea, and its execution is perhaps only partially successful in practice (more on that in a sec). But given this sequel is easily double the size of the original, it does need some form of progression support like this to help prevent its missions from buckling under the weight of its lengthy environmental crisis story. In truth, that reach for something bigger and better is arguably SteamWorld Heist 2's undoing in many ways, but what's here is still eminently enjoyable - and you're certainly not left hungry.

Let's start with the good stuff. Aside from its copious array of optional headwear to parade and pilfer, the heists themselves are as sharp and thrilling as ever. In your bid to find out what's causing this world's freshwater shortage (salt water doesn't play nice with a Steambot's metal work, after all), you'll be raiding all manner of moored ships, rigs and naval facilities to find the source of the problem. Unsurprisingly, there are several hiccups, detours and other obstacles you'll need to deal with along the way, taking you from the balmy, tropical shallows to deep, icy northern trenches and more - which you'll pootle around in your trusty submarine in real-time, travelling from one mission to the next on the high seas.

Read more

Pokémon Go's upcoming addition of Dynamax mechanics has been something of an open secret - and now we're able to see how some elements will look in-game for the first time.

Fans of Pokémon Go have peered inside the popular mobile game's files to find visual elements of the upcoming Dynamax system, which also offer clues as to how Dynamax Pokémon will be obtained.

For the first time since Pokémon Go's launch all the way back in 2016, new locations look set to appear on the game's overworld map - currently labelled as "stations". These gym-like structures look like they'll host raids for Dynamax Pokémon.

Read more

Wildermyth, the acclaimed procedural storytelling RPG from developer Worldwalker Games, is - after three years revelling in its many accolades garnered while exclusive to PC - coming to Switch, PlayStaton, and Xbox on 22nd October this year.

At first glance, Wildermyth is pretty familiar stuff, taking players on a fantasy flavoured adventure of party based levelling and tactical turn-based combat. Those bits are all perfectly good, but the real cleverness starts with its procedurally generated story, where campaigns are cunningly, convincingly assembled from beautifully illustrated, wonderfully written narrative fragments and choose-your-own-adventure-style scraps.

And that all builds out from your highly customisable party of characters, who each get distinctly defined traits, personalities, histories, and abilities. And each of them can forge alliances, develop rivalries, fall out, fall in love, die and be reborn is a constantly swirling maelstrom of variables that keep things fresh. And that's without factoring in some of other clever stuff, like the way your journey - passing in days, months, and years - unfolds across a dynamic world map that evolves, not always positively, depending on your actions.

Read more

Baldur's Gate 3’s latest patch was due to launch in closed beta yesterday, but Larian have decided to give it a bit more time in the oven due to bugs. Namely, a bug that caused passive rolls - like those that detect traps - to stop working.

Happily, if you hadn’t already registered to take part in the beta, you now have more time to sign up. Scroll down a bit on the RPG’s Steam page and click the ‘Request Access’ button.

Read more

Baldur's Gate 3’s latest patch was due to launch in closed beta yesterday, but Larian have decided to give it a bit more time in the oven due to bugs. Namely, a bug that caused passive rolls - like those that detect traps - to stop working.

Happily, if you hadn’t already registered to take part in the beta, you now have more time to sign up. Scroll down a bit on the RPG’s Steam page and click the ‘Request Access’ button.

Read more

That game where all you do is click a banana is now one of Steam's most popular releases ever. In fact, it is so popular, it has today bopped both Hogwarts Legacy and Baldur's Gate 3 down a place on Steam's most played games chart.

Banana - as the game is aptly called - is now sitting proudly in ninth place on Steam's most played games charts in terms of all-time player peak.

At the time of writing, that peak is 884,469 banana clickers, according to SteamDB.

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Fantasian, the RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, is heading to Switch this winter.

The game has been an Apple Arcade exclusive since it launched in 2021.

Now it's heading to Switch with the name Fantasian Neo Dimension, as revealed during today's Nintendo Direct.

Read more

Baldur's Gate 3 will receive official mod support in a forthcoming patch, which Larian CEO Swen Vincke said will be a handover moment to players.

Speaking at BAFTA's An Evening with Baldur's Gate 3 after the game received multiple wins at this year's awards, Vincke discussed development of the game and Larian's long term support.

"One of the big things for us, and the one that we're really working towards now, is the ability for players to mod [Baldur's Gate 3] themselves, because then they will be able to make their own things," said Vincke. "And I think that will be the point where we're going to say 'ok, now it's yours fully'."

Read more

A former developer at Total War studio Creative Assembly has written a lengthy personal account of his time at the studio, in which he details development troubles on strategy game Total War: Rome 2 and Total War: Attila, and alleges that these issues were exacerbated by an inflexible and counterproductive leadership structure and “chronic mismanagement,” sometimes resulting in what he calls a “toxic work environment.”

Read more

Chaos and comedy. Death and rebirth. Luck and, uh, running out of luck. A good roguelike doesn't treat the player like other games do. Roguelikes won't guide you helpfully along a path, or let you cinematically snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They're more likely to dangle you deep between the jaws of defeat and fumble the rope until you go sliding down defeat's hungry gullet. This is their beauty, and it's a part of why we keep coming back for another go. Next time everything will go right. Next time you'll find the right pair of poison-proof loafers, the perfect co-pilot for your spaceship, a stash of stronger, better ropes. Next time.

Here's our list of the 19 best roguelikes on PC you can play in 2024.

Read more

Like many I’m sure, I have extremely fond memories of the original Fallout games, 2 especially. I bought my first laptop for uni, barely suitable for much except typing long literature essays in which I’d complete assignments using my favorite university trick of writing “ah, but to answer this question, we must first explore (whatever I actually wanted to write an essay about.)” Faltering, bricky turnip that it was, I still had some of my favourite gaming memories on that thing, mainly around aging RPGs: Baldur’s Gate 2, Planescape: Torment, and the old Fallouts.

Read more

Revealed at yesterday's Nintendo Direct stream - but absolutely coming to PC because there's a Steam page for it - The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy seems like a mash-up of visual novel and Fire Emblem-y RPG battles on grids. And it's by the folks behind Danganronpa and Zero Escape, which means there will be lots of consequences and decisions that lead to copious amounts of despair, no matter how you finish the game apparently. If there's one thing that really gets me going, it's a game devoid of happiness and cheer.

Read more

There is very little in this world that would get between me and playing an RPG made by Final Fantasy dad Hironobu Sakaguchi, double for one with a soundtrack composed by Nobuo Uematsu. Unless, of course, that game was exclusive to Apple Arcade, which Fantasian has been since its 2021 release. I will not speak poorly of Apple, for I already have several other cults out for my blood. Instead, I’ll simply celebrate the fact that, as per Tuesday’s Nintendo DIrect, the game that Sakaguchi developed “thinking it could be [his] final game before retiring” is coming to PC later this year, in ‘Neo Dimension’ form. Have a trailer.

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Baldur's Gate 3’s upcoming mod support update, which will introduce official modding tools to the sprawling Dungeons & Dragons RPG later this year, will effectively serve as Larian’s swan song for their work on the game.

Read more

League Of Geeks are going "into hibernation". The Australian developers behind fantasy strategy games such as the animal-themed Armello and hellish remake Solium Infernum said that their remaining staff are going to take an extended break, and they're not sure "when (or if)" they will revive the studio.

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A remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics, the grid-based strategy spin-off from the RPG series that easily ranks as one of the best Final Fantasy games ever made, is reportedly in the works - giving hope of its first official PC release.

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Back in February, Graham wrote about potential redundancies at Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM following the cancellation of a standalone expansion to that game, codenamed X7. Now, PC Gamer’s Ted Litchfield has spoken to 12 current and former employees about the circumstances surrounding the cancellation, notably the details of the layoffs, the expansion, and the “humiliation campaign” suffered by writer Argo Tuulik as apparent retaliation for his participation in last year’s extensive People Make Games documentary. You can, and should, read PC Gamer’s report here.

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Excuse me, sorry, pardon me, can I just, thank you, ah, sorry, thanks... Phew, made it. Steam Next Fest is pretty crowded, eh? As if the unholy swarm of trailers and game announcements from Summer Game Fest was not enough, this week the fearful megalords at Valve decided to drop their regular cavalcade of coming-soons onto their megastore. The beautiful (and terrifying) thing about Next Fest, of course, is the overwhelming number of demos that come out during the event. A small herd of video games are standing on my toes as we speak. But that's okay, we are expert curators. Here's a handy list of our nine favourite demos of the lot.

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A former developer at Total War studio Creative Assembly has written a lengthy personal account of his time at the studio, in which he details development troubles on strategy game Total War: Rome 2 and Total War: Attila, and alleges that these issues were exacerbated by an inflexible and counterproductive leadership structure and “chronic mismanagement,” sometimes resulting in what he calls a “toxic work environment.”

Read more

Chaos and comedy. Death and rebirth. Luck and, uh, running out of luck. A good roguelike doesn't treat the player like other games do. Roguelikes won't guide you helpfully along a path, or let you cinematically snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They're more likely to dangle you deep between the jaws of defeat and fumble the rope until you go sliding down defeat's hungry gullet. This is their beauty, and it's a part of why we keep coming back for another go. Next time everything will go right. Next time you'll find the right pair of poison-proof loafers, the perfect co-pilot for your spaceship, a stash of stronger, better ropes. Next time.

Here's our list of the 19 best roguelikes on PC you can play in 2024.

Read more

Like many I’m sure, I have extremely fond memories of the original Fallout games, 2 especially. I bought my first laptop for uni, barely suitable for much except typing long literature essays in which I’d complete assignments using my favorite university trick of writing “ah, but to answer this question, we must first explore (whatever I actually wanted to write an essay about.)” Faltering, bricky turnip that it was, I still had some of my favourite gaming memories on that thing, mainly around aging RPGs: Baldur’s Gate 2, Planescape: Torment, and the old Fallouts.

Read more

Revealed at yesterday's Nintendo Direct stream - but absolutely coming to PC because there's a Steam page for it - The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy seems like a mash-up of visual novel and Fire Emblem-y RPG battles on grids. And it's by the folks behind Danganronpa and Zero Escape, which means there will be lots of consequences and decisions that lead to copious amounts of despair, no matter how you finish the game apparently. If there's one thing that really gets me going, it's a game devoid of happiness and cheer.

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There is very little in this world that would get between me and playing an RPG made by Final Fantasy dad Hironobu Sakaguchi, double for one with a soundtrack composed by Nobuo Uematsu. Unless, of course, that game was exclusive to Apple Arcade, which Fantasian has been since its 2021 release. I will not speak poorly of Apple, for I already have several other cults out for my blood. Instead, I’ll simply celebrate the fact that, as per Tuesday’s Nintendo DIrect, the game that Sakaguchi developed “thinking it could be [his] final game before retiring” is coming to PC later this year, in ‘Neo Dimension’ form. Have a trailer.

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Baldur's Gate 3’s upcoming mod support update, which will introduce official modding tools to the sprawling Dungeons & Dragons RPG later this year, will effectively serve as Larian’s swan song for their work on the game.

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League Of Geeks are going "into hibernation". The Australian developers behind fantasy strategy games such as the animal-themed Armello and hellish remake Solium Infernum said that their remaining staff are going to take an extended break, and they're not sure "when (or if)" they will revive the studio.

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