New Mortal Kombat 1 “Keepers of Time” Trailer Reveals Geras as Latest Main Roster Character

Warner Bros. Games today announced Geras as the latest playable fighter joining the main roster for Mortal Kombat 1, the next installment in the acclaimed videogame franchise developed by award-winning NetherRealm Studios.
 
Featured in a new trailer revealing a first look at gameplay and story elements, Geras is an eternal being that has been reconstructed by Fire God Liu Kang, retaining the memories of the innumerable timelines he has watched pass and fade. His unpredictable fighting style reflects his ability to manipulate the flow of time by freezing, rewinding, and replaying it to his advantage, in service of protecting Liu Kang’s vision.



Mortal Kombat 1 is the latest installment in the acclaimed Mortal Kombat videogame franchise developed by award-winning NetherRealm Studios and introduces a reborn Mortal Kombat Universe set in a new story with iconic heroes and villains reimagined as they’ve never been seen before. The game features a wide-ranging cast of legendary fighters with all-new backstories, including Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Kung Lao, Kitana, Mileena, Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage, Kenshi, Smoke, Rain, Li Mei, Tanya, Baraka, Geras, and more, along with a separate roster of Kameo Fighters who can assist during matches.
 
Mortal Kombat 1 is scheduled to launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store) on 19 September, 2023. Playable fighters Quan Chi, Ermac, and Takeda, along with guest fighters Peacemaker, Omni-Man, and Homelander will be featured in the post-launch downloadable content (DLC) Kombat Pack, which is available now for pre-order as part of the Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition and Kollector’s Edition.

All Mortal Kombat 1 pre-orders will receive Shang Tsung as an in-game playable character, and those who pre-order the game for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S will also receive access to the Mortal Kombat 1 Pre-Order Beta, which will run from 18-21 August. For more information, visit the Mortal Kombat 1 Pre-Order Beta FAQ.
 
To learn more about Mortal Kombat 1, please visit MortalKombat.com or join the community conversation on Instagram (@MortalKombat), TikTok (@MortalKombat), Twitter (@MortalKombat), Twitch (NetherRealm), YouTube (Mortal Kombat), Facebook (MortalKombat), Discord (MortalKombat), or Reddit (MortalKombat).
 

Warner Bros logo WB GAMES LOGO, WB SHIELD: ™ & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
(s23) 

 

Article by: Susan N.

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Charade Maniacs - Nintendo Switch Review

Charade Maniacs by developer Idea Factory and publisher Idea Factory International—Nintendo Switch review written by Natasha with a copy provided by publisher. Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://keymailer.co. #keymailer #CharadeManicas

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

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Ever thought to yourself: “I wish I could be a part of a reality TV show.”?

Be careful what you wish for, because you might end up in an alternate world where you'll be forced to play drama skits in order to survive. Your only escape is to act. Refuse and you might find yourself a forgotten memory in the real world. You and your 9 other gorgeous male cast members will have to work together to be granted your wish of freedom.

Wait? You're telling me I'm stuck in a world full of sexy men and my only way out is to fling myself at them...?

I don't see the problem here?

~

An Alternate Script

Summer break is around the corner and our young school girl, Hiyori Sena, can't wait to throw away the books and put on that bathing suit to start her vacation. However, a different kind of vacation is waiting for our heroine. She, as well as as 9 other individuals, are transported to a different world, called Arcadia.

Kidnapped and confused everyone finds themselves in this vast and beautiful place. As they work to find a way out, they are greeted by a Masked Man, who explains that they have all been chosen to participate in a live Drama. If they choose to play along they will be rewarded with a wish. However, if they choose to ignore their scripted rolls they might find themselves disappearing from reality.

Will everyone get along or will Hiyori find herself trapped in this fake world forever?

A Roulette of Male Partners

Charade Maniacs has NO shortage of LI's (Love Interests). I haven't seen this many yummy--- I mean eligible bachelors since my days playing Hakuoki. With 9 choices to choose from you'll have your work cut out for you in order to see just how interesting each and every lover is.

Kyoya Akase

• Follow the Leader

• Honest to a Fault

• My Hero

A student from a different school, he isn't shy to guide everyone in the right direction. He'll go out of his way to lend you a hand and try to make you smile or laugh when your feeling down.

Tomose Banjo

• Childhood Friend

• Over Protective

• Drama King

Your best friend since kindergarten, you'll always feel safe with him around. As blunt and straight forward as he is, he will show you a much softer side when the two of you are alone. He dreams to become a great actor one day.

Mamoru Chigasaki

• Soft and Squishy

• Best Cuddler

• Lover of Plants

This gorgeous dude is the closest thing to the princely type you'll get. His kindness and softly spoken words are just the right things to chase those anxious thoughts away.

Mei Dazai

• Free Spirited

• Lover of Cats

• Night Owl

Tends to keep his distance from others at first, but once you open his heart you'll find someone who is keen on keeping you safe from anyone who causes you trouble.

Keito Ebana

• Tsundere

• Hates Girls

• Master Chef

Our mean boy of the group, he barely gives anyone breathing room to talk. If you work hard to break down that ice cold wall around his heart you'll be surprised how charming he turns out to be.

Ryoichi Futami

• College Guy

• Good with his Hands

• Sneaky Snuggler

One of the oldest guys in the group who has a bad habit of teasing others. Giving off big brother vibes you might find yourself relaxing around him, but don't drop your guard too low or else you'll be his next target to bully.

Souta Gyobu

• Kissy Face

• King of Table Top Gaming

• IDGAF Attitude

Seen as the most laid back of the bunch, this senior sempai has an act to play-first-and-study-later. For someone who loves to joke around and flirt hard with you, he seems to fumble over his words when you flirt back.

Takumi Haiji

• Shorty

• Space Cadet

• Lover of Ice Cream

A boy who doesn't have much to say and seems to look up to you as his big sister. If you're looking for someone who has bedroom eyes and is a great listener then maybe this baby blue boy is for you.

Mizuki Iochi

• Pretty Boy?

• Cocktail Enthusiast

• Just keep the Ponytail

A fancy individual who loves to play the guessing game with their gender. Don't let that innocent voice fool you, because they can quickly turn up the heat when you least expect it.

A Punishment Game

You're probably wondering “Why not just refuse to participate?” in this kidnapping situation. Well, you certainly could, but you will be expected to take a punishment and they aren't very forgiving. Failing to cooperate and play along with The Mask Man, will get you a personal trait (like your voice, eyesight, hearing or emotions) taken away from you. After the 3^rd refusal you'll be wiped from existence. Not only in the pretend world, but the real world as well. So think carefully about the consequences before you disobey your role.

Wish Upon a Trade

While being forced to do random skits for a mad man, you will be judged and graded upon your performance at the end of each scene. Collect enough points and you can use them to grant personal wishes. Even your freedom.

Freedom isn't cheap, though. Everyone will have to work hard in order to accumulate a gross amount of points. Each person is given their own points to collect, but you could pool them together, but you risk having to use them on only 1 person's freedom.

The points could also get you some sweet things like specific food, personal rooms (Ex: Bath house, Game room, etc.), really just about anything. In a space where almost anything is possible you're open to make the craziest wish... within reason.

A Futuristic Setting

The vibe I get from Charade Maniacs is high-tech. Everything is advanced in the way of living from how people take showers to the absolute creation of an artificial world. Even the act of being thrown into a drama scene, with your name and clothes changing in a blink of an eye. With this kind of technology humanity would be set.

I've never been one to enjoy Sci-fi settings myself, but if it's something that appeals to your preferred genre, then you're in the right ball park.

There's no Place like Home

To conclude, Charade Maniacs was an interesting concept. The only gripe I personally had was the pacing and the large roster of bachelors. But, isn't more better? Possibly. However, I found most of the LI's to be a little bland. Sure they have pretty faces, but sometimes that's all they've got going for them. Maybe I just got saddled with a game that had dudes that just didn't fall into my preferred standards. That doesn't mean that it won't be a great game for someone else. If you're looking for a title that gives you a crazy trip to a make-believe world where you're forced to be romantic in staged scenes with multiple hot strangers and a Mysterious Man breathing down your neck, then this Sci-fi adventure is perfect for you. I'm giving my personal rating of 6.5 out of 10, for all the pretty faces out there.

Score: 6.5 / 10

 

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Open your eyes to The Master's Pupil

The puzzle-adventure game set in the eye of Claude Monet is now available on Steam and Switch.

July 28 2023 - After 7 years in the works, solo developer Pat Naoum is eager to announce that his puzzle adventure game The Master's Pupil has finally arrived onto the Steam marketplace and Nintendo Switch Store, $14.99USD or similar.

Set in the eye of 19th century impressionist Claude Monet, The Master's Pupil takes players on a journey over his iris towards the pupil! As they progress through the game, they will get to know more about the events that shaped Claude Monet's life - like the loss of his wife Camille - and help the master complete some of his most popular paintings.

In tune with Monet's own story of struggle, loss, and grief, The Master's Pupil is also sure to test the player's mind and spatial coordination. Throughout the experience, players will face over 80 increasingly harder puzzles involving colour, physics, and space - culminating in a battle that will decide the fate of the artist himself!

Superbly handcrafted, The Master's Pupil puts the art front and center with its artisanal level of quality. Hand-painted scenarios, accompanied by a rich and dynamic soundscape, mix together in a biographical experience that uses gameplay, art, and sound - rather than words - to evoke key moments in Monet's life. The game was widely praised for its innovative approach when it was awarded funding by Screen Australia and promises to be a genuinely unique interactive experience.
 
Over the last month, Naoum’s Instagram and TikTok posts have reached a cumulative 15 million views. Excitement and intrigue has been pouring in as followers hit 70 thousand on each platform.

Pat Naoum, the sole developer of the game said “It has been seven years since I first started working on The Master's Pupil, so much has changed through my life, but working on this game has stayed the same. So it feels surreal to be finally letting it free into the world.”

About The Master's Pupil

The Master's Pupil is a hand-painted puzzle game set inside Claude Monet’s eyeball. As they travel through the artist's eye, players will get to know more about the impressionist's life, rediscover some of his most famous paintings and fight to help him complete his greatest masterpieces.

Developed by solo-dev Pat Naoum, The Master's Pupil has already seen recognition when it was awarded funding by Screen Australia. Featuring over 80 puzzles involving physics, color mixing, and timing and a completely word-less soundscape, the game promises to be a genuinely unique interactive experience.

•     Hand Painted and expertly crafted - almost every part of this game has been painstakingly made using a real paintbrush in real life before being imported to the world. The results are unique visuals reminiscent of Monet’s work and imbued with the personality of the developer. 


•     Biographical Adventure - you will experience the life of Claude Monet in a way that has never been done before. Navigate intricate 3D locations, learn more about the painter’s life, and dive through a rich soundscape produced by indie composer Steven W Schouten.


•     Calm and Relaxed - An artist doesn’t rush but takes their time when completing their work. The Master’s Pupil gives you time to consider each puzzle, with tests that will challenge your brain but not your reflexes.

About Pat Naoum

Pat Naoum grew up and lives in Sydney, Australia. After completing a BA in Visual Art, and the Australian Film Television and Radio School, Pat eventually found game development. With a seed of a game set inside a human eye, but having no real coding experience, Pat’s only choice was to begin ploughing through C# and Unity manuals.
 
After seven years making his first indie game, The Master’s Pupil is out now.
 
Pat Naoum Games and The Master’s Pupil is also now the recipient of the Screen Australia Games: Expansion Pack grant funding.


Article by: Susan N.

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astragon Entertainment takes over publishing for Mi'pu'mi Games epic tactics tale Howl

Düsseldorf, July 27, 2023 – Düsseldorf-based video game developer and publisher astragon Entertainment and Viennese developer studio Mi'pu'mi Games today announced a partnership. This involves astragon Entertainment taking over the publishing for the turn-based adventure Howl, a tactical-narrative folktale in which players have to rid the lands of a plague, the eponymous "Howl". Howl is scheduled for release in 2023 for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. A demo version is already available for PC on Steam.

"We are very pleased to be able to work with the extremely talented team from Mi'pu'mi Games. With Howl, they present a fairy-tale adventure that stands out above all with unique visuals and tells an exciting story. The title will further diversify our extensive publishing portfolio," says Julia Pfiffer, Co-CEO of astragon Entertainment.  

"With astragon Entertainment we have found a strong publishing partner. Howl will benefit from astragon's many years of experience in the areas of producing, marketing, distribution and publishing, and we are very much looking forward to working with them," says Martin Filipp, COO and Managing Director of Mi'pu'mi Games.

About Howl:

Howl is a turn-based, tactical as a deaf prophetess to survive in a world afflicted by an acoustic plague that turns people into wolves. Every step must be well planned ahead to outmaneuver the adversaries. 

Howl's graphics are created using "Living Ink", a fluid, dynamic watercolor art style that illustrates the story as you play. Players make their way through a dark fantasy world, fighting to rid the land of the plague and find their lost brother.

Key Features:

    Tactics: Players must always stay one step ahead of the enemy's actions in order to succeed in the turn-based battles. One wrong decision can put the heroine in dangerous situations and there is a lot at stake.

    Unique visual style: Through "living ink" the beautiful fairy tale world becomes alive as you play.

    Unlockable skills: New skills can be unlocked and improved to stay on par with the opponent.

    Challenging: 60 levels in four chapters are waiting to be freed from evil.

Howl is scheduled for release in 2023 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC.

PlayStation Family Mark”, “PlayStation”, “PlayStation®5”, “PS5 logo”, and “PS5” are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, the Xbox Sphere mark, the Series X logo, Series S logo, Series X|S logo, and Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X|S are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Nintendo Switch is a trademark of Nintendo. All rights reserved. All other names, trademarks and logos are property of their respective owners.

About astragon Entertainment GmbH  

Founded in 1998, astragon Entertainment GmbH, a subsidiary of Team17 Group PLC, is a leading German games developer, publisher and distributor of sophisticated ‘working’ simulation games, focusing on non-violent cooperative gameplay with very detailed, technical, and realistic environments. Since 2023, Independent Arts Software has been a subsidiary of astragon Entertainment. The German developer studio has been producing commercial game software of various genres for over 30 years.

astragon’s internationally well-known IPs include Construction Simulator, Bus Simulator, Police Simulator: Patrol Officers and Firefighting Simulator. The distribution of high-quality licensed and distribution products such as Farming Simulator and SnowRunner complete its attractive product range. astragon games are available world-wide on many different platforms such as consoles, smartphones, tablets, and PC. Visit www.astragon.com for more information.

About Mi’pu’mi Games GmbH

Mi’pu’mi Games, established in 2009, is an independent developer, a truly multiplatform & multi-project studio, located in Vienna, the heart of Europe. The studio is built around a team of industry veterans, supported by an ambitious team of young talents, who are experts in their fields covering all aspects of game production. In the last decade, Mi'pu'mi had the privilege to support global AAA productions as well as franchises from clients like Io-Interactive, Remedy Entertainment, Ubisoft, MachineGames & Red Bull. With this international experience, the studio released its own acclaimed original IP The Lion’s Song, an episodic adventure game set in the early 20th-century Austria. To find out more about Mipumi go to www.mipumi.com.

Article by: Susan N.

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ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON Extended Gameplay Preview Trailer And Story Trailer

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. and FromSoftware, Inc. (ELDEN RING™, DARK SOULS™) reveal a new extended gameplay walkthrough trailer for ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™.  Narrated by the developers, the video is the deepest look yet at the game’s intense action, sprawling levels and challenging battle sequences.

As the video showcases, success in ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON will come from tinkering with highly customizable mech builds, a signature feature of the series, and learning the right strategies and techniques such as staggering enemies with the right weapons, combining ranged and melee attacks, and taking every advantage in battle.

Watch the new gameplay preview trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcDjyestr4Y 

 

 

ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON, the latest high-octane action game by FromSoftware, Inc. and Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., promises fast-paced mech action with intense omni-directional battles, in-depth customization, and thrilling boss fights. The game releases on August 25 for PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam®, and is available now for preorder. For more information, please visit armoredcore6.com  

For the latest information, be sure to follow the game’s social channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The game will be part of PlayStation® Free Upgrades and Xbox Smart Delivery. The game will be presented with both English and Japanese VO, with text localizations in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Neutral Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Korean. Find out more about the game on the official website.

IRVINE, Calif. – July 20, 2023 – The new story trailer for ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™ shows players the exciting and dangerous world awaiting them. As the full CGI story trailer shows, the realities of turning a profit on Rubicon 3 are fraught with peril, especially when Handler Walter is involved. Watch as Walter’s Hounds execute their mission with ruthless tenacity, and get a glimpse of the events that will lead up to the beginning of ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON. So, pilot C4-621, are you ready to get to work on Rubcion? Find out what awaits in the new story trailer here: https://youtu.be/Vs2piSWfofQ

About Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc., part of the Bandai Namco Group, is a leading global publisher and developer of interactive entertainment for major video game consoles, PC, online, and mobile platforms. The company is known for creating many of the industry’s beloved classic franchises such as PAC-MAN®, GALAGA®, TEKKEN®, SOULCALIBUR®, and ACE COMBAT®, and publishing the critically acclaimed DARK SOULS™ series and the blockbuster title ELDEN RING™. Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. is also the premier publisher in the Western hemisphere for anime-based video games including GUNDAM™, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN™, DRAGON BALL™, and ONE PIECE®. Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. is headquartered in Irvine, California. More information about the company and its products can be found at http://www.bandainamcoent.com.

 

Article by: Susan N.


©Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. / ©1997-2023 FromSoftware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Definitive Edition Review

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Definitive Edition by developers Dotemu and Capybara Games and publishers Dotemu and Gamera Games—Sony PlayStation 4 review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Definitive Edition a rerelease of a surprisingly deep match-three style puzzle game that released over a decade ago. This hybrid RPG / puzzle title is every bit as engrossing now as it was then, even if this release doesn’t really do a whole lot to improve upon the original.

I actually reviewed this title back in 2012 when I played it on PlayStation 3, and honestly my opinion of the game was quite high then, and it remains the same today. Now, I haven’t actually touched this game in over a decade. I played it all of the way through, getting all of the trophies back when it first released. I was hooked. However, having taken a decade off from it, I found there were things I still remembered, like how stacking three in a row vertically causes an attack, the basic storyline and types of heroes that make up the game. There were absolutely things I had forgotten too, like how the special units worked and the best way to build defenses (three horizontally).

Now, I love the match / puzzle genre and adding RPG elements just makes it that much more addicting for me - I am still playing Marvel Puzzle Quest nearly a decade after I started, and enjoyed Puzzle Quest both when I first played it on PSP and later on the Switch. For those reasons, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Definitive Edition is really my jam, despite the somewhat generic archetypes and storyline. The game starts simply enough, talking about an artefact of great power and some notable families coming together when an ambush strikes and splits them up, forcing the younger bucks in the families to step up and try to stop the villainy at play. None of it is particularly new, but it sets the table and is all framed up nicely enough with pleasant graphics and music – if somewhat redundant sound effects. The visuals have a nice hand-drawn style to them, though I know it’s a somewhat debated topic in the community as some people feel the original game’s art direction was better. I like both and don’t see it as dramatically different (but better than what was on DS before, which was more pixelated).

The meat and potatoes here is in the actual gameplay. Match-three doesn’t sound like much initially, but there’s a significant amount of depth in how the game itself plays. Your forces occupy one half of the screen, your opponent is on the other. There are regular units that can be matched three in a row horizontally, which creates a wall at the front of your army. Vertical columns of three creates an attack that launches towards your opponent’s side of the screen. Attacks might hit walls and fizzle out, or strike less resilient units who haven’t formed walls / attacks yet – or they might pass all of the way through and strike the opposing general, chipping away at their hit points.

This as the core foundation of gameplay receives a lot of wrinkles that make it even more engrossing. There are special units like dragons and spellcasters that can do massive amounts of damage, but are expensive to purchase and often require more matches and longer waits before their attacks fire. You can drop four green archers behind a green dragon and unleash a very powerful two column attack… but doing this could take five or six rounds to complete. In that time, your opponent might go with a weaker but faster couple of units who kill your dragon if it’s not properly protected. On top of that there are spells, equipment items and levels that can be acquired that raise character stats and attempt to tilt the balance in your favor.

There is a lot of creativity (and challenge) baked into other aspects of the game. What I described is the typical fight. But there’s often stages where you win by completing a specific objective, such as hitting the two soldiers moving back and forth with a massive saw as they attempt to cut a tree down. You need to hit them to win, not the empty space behind them to weaken a general. Boss fights are challenging – sometimes even frustrating. They have massive attacks and often move around on the screen, forcing you to change your presumptions and often forcing you to pivot from your usual tactics.

This single player campaign is pretty meaty to begin with, but there are several cool multiplayer options available for those who want to try their hand at taking on another sentient player with an even playing field. This is nice as the original game’s online modes have been disabled for some time now. Admittedly, some of these are more fun than others in my mind (I am not a fan of the 2 vs 2 mode). Another nicety (as the ‘Definitive Edition’ denotes), all of the earlier DLC is included here as well.

The RPG elements in Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Definitive Edition are not incredibly deep, but there are enough progression elements to keep things interesting, even if the story itself doesn’t do a whole lot of the heavy lifting on that front. The deep, strategic puzzle gameplay is the real star of the show, and despite some rough moments where the difficulty spiked suddenly, I greatly enjoyed experiencing this title all over again.

Score: 8 / 10

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Samsung Galaxy Store Exclusives Honor Bruce Lee’s Legacy with BYTE CITY!

Samsung Galaxy Store customers can look for a 30% off discount on all IAP items from July 25 to Aug 31.

BYTE CITY is honoring martial arts legend Bruce Lee’s upcoming 50th tribute and bringing the first Bruce Lee mobile metaverse experience exclusively to Samsung Galaxy Store.
 
This is the first-ever appearance of Bruce Lee in a metaverse, offering fans a unique way to engage with the legend. This partnership is particularly significant as July 20th, 2023, marks the 50th anniversary of Bruce Lee's passing.

“We are excited to bring this meaningful and engaging moment to Samsung Galaxy users“, says Roy Liu, Co-founder of BYTE CITY. “In this event, you will be immersed with some exclusive clips of Master Bruce Lee’s early life. But also you can write best wishes to Bruce Lee on a virtual lantern and send them to the sky, the messages will then be stored on distributed ledgers forever - this is how we plan to immortalize the culture icon among all of us.”

“We are excited to collaborate with BYTE CITY to bring more fun and engaging metaverse experiences to Samsung Galaxy users”,

--says Jong Woo, VP and Head of Game Services Group at Samsung. Samsung Galaxy exclusive in-game avatar Galaxy Nova is also available to all Samsung smartphone owners through BYTE CITY.

During this event, Galaxy Store users will have the opportunity to purchase exclusive in-app purchase packs for $9.99 which contain:

•     Special Bruce Lee Virtual Avatar
•     Upgrade Chips
•     Virtual Currency

In addition, Galaxy users who check back every day for the first seven days of the promotion will get a special gift worth $50.

This special event will run from July 20th - August 13th, 2023.

For more information please follow BYTE CITY’s twitter and discord.

Download BYTE CITY from the Samsung Galaxy Store here.

Article by: Susan N.

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Valkyrie Jam 2023 - 10 Days of Game Development

Boden, Sweden July 21. Valkyrie Jam is a ten-day game jam for women and non-binary game developers and a fourth run for the 2023 edition is in full swing at the ancient Peetgården in Sävast.

Started by Jenny Nordenborg in 2018, it has grown with each iteration and features international talent with star developers from all sorts of well-known games, both big AAA and smaller Indie titles.

By bringing talented developers together in this safe and supportive event, we're helping to reignite their passion for making games in an industry that suffers from a high rate of minority burnout. This burnout is often the result of a career full of struggles to be heard, not having your skills trusted, and rarely having your achievements recognized.

Lack of diversified leadership also means that diverse developers entering the industry lack mentors, and that projects and studios lack diverse voices at critical moments. That's why preventing minority burnout is integral to preserving and investing in the diverse future of game development. That's why #ValkyrieJam exists - to help renew the energy and drive within our already diverse talent industries.

- We are Valkyries, and we will continue to make great games!
www.valkyriejam.com

About Boden Game Camp

Boden Game Camp is a hub and a completely unique ecosystem for the game industry in Boden. Currently there are over 300 students here attending various game developing educations in the state-of-the-art facilities.

Boden Game Camp is an integrated part of Boden Business Park. Students from all over the world attend with excellent prospects for a career in the digital industry of the future. Boden Game Camp also home to Norrland's first game incubator. This initiative has resulted in a growing number of gaming companies establishing themselves at Boden Business Park.
 
https://bodengamecamp.com/

Article by: Susan N.

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Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening Review

Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening by developer Koei Tecmo and publisher Koei Tecmo Games—Sony PlayStation 4 review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes.

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Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is the latest entry in the Koei Tecmo family of historical simulations. This title is a repackaging of the release on PC from last summer, and while the premise will provide little new to fans of the series, this is a deeply engrossing war strategy that I found very difficult to put down.

So, a bit about me to explain why I am pretty much the target audience for these titles. I’ve been hooked on these games since I first played the original Nobunaga's Ambition on the NES back in the late 80’s. This series has been around for a long time now, and I’ve played the majority of the releases that have landed here in North America. The series has seen numerous changes over the years, adding customization, shifting from turn-based combat to a more RTS style and plenty more. Often times this series is mentally handcuffed to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games that Koei Tecmo has been releasing for decades as well (which I last played in 2021 and it had an expansion pack - I reviewed it in 2021 here).

This means I’m by no means a new user to the series, and can find my way around pretty well. I am familiar with the major players, much of the history and despite the tweaks and changes that come with each iteration, I am very comfortable with the series as a whole. The game attempts to hold your hand when you start playing, but these are dense games as a rule and Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is no exception. The first hour or two is largely spent going through menus, with gobs of text thrown your way. After the first half dozen or so, an impatient gamer might start mashing the button to move forward without fully digesting the content, but I would very strongly advise against doing so. Sure, you can learn quite a bit about the nuances of the title through ‘doing’, but there will be a lot of trial and error, with numerous errors if you do so.

At its heart, you are tasked with unifying Japan through economic, diplomatic and war-like means. Much of this is done through micromanagement, though some of that heavy lifting that used to be so time-consuming in older versions of the game is offloaded onto your subordinates. It helps that there are a lot of options available at the start of the game, from various difficulty settings like AI aggression, resource availability and how historically accurate you want things to be (like female generals or shaking up where generals start). There’s also a ton of jumping-in points. You can start at the beginning, but you can also find numerous spots in the timeline that revolve around big events and serve as alternate entry points.

Once you move past the growing pains of numerous settings and introductory segments, Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening really starts to move along nicely. It helps that while the game was released on PC first, Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening handles really well with a controller. That is not always the case (you can look to my recent Strategic Mind review for an example of where an unintuitive interface and control scheme can be major hurdles). This is a very menu-heavy game, but once I got used to navigating them, issuing commands became a very smooth process.

One of the most interesting aspects of Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is the wide cast of characters. The leaders take center stage (the game is named for one, after all), but the numerous subordinates can become leaders. They have a loyalty stat that can cause them to switch sides or stand with a leader through trying times. Obviously more talented individuals will draw greater interest – and help turn the tides. They can gather greater resources, help an area develop more quickly, sway others during negotiations and of course during the all-important wars, these generals often make more of a difference in the results than just the sheer number of ‘regular’ troops assigned to them. Therefore, gaining and retaining talented generals is paramount. A nice feature found in Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is the ability to create your own subordinate characters that can be encountered while playing as well, and it’s a deep customization process.

From a presentation standpoint, Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is excellent. I appreciate that the series has English voice acting for its many engaging cutscenes that occur. Even though I prefer having English voice acting, some past releases had both English and Japanese, but the Japanese voice pack is curiously missing and might be off-putting for some people. The maps look quite attractive from a high view and also when you drill down into villages or battles up close and personal. It’s a smooth framerate, though I could grumble a bit about how it’s been designed for PS4 and not PS5 and as a result lacks some of the horsepower to push a higher resolution. It can be a smidge challenging to make out visual details during combat, but it gets the job done well enough. On the audio side, the aforementioned voice acting is generally pretty solid and I thoroughly enjoyed the music.

One of the aspects of Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening that could be divisive is how the subordinates handle so much of the little stuff. I could see veterans of the series preferring the heavy micromanagement that came with Sphere of Influence. It was a longer, deeper but also slower process. I for one appreciate the attempt to try and add some automation in there to simplify life. Is it better? I don’t know – personally I can see both sides of the debate, but appreciate the quality of life improvements that the game provides – including this aspect.

Admittedly, I am the target audience for Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening, which could be a niche title for many. I love the setting and appreciate how well the team has adapted what was a PC release for the PS4. The controls feel good and the menus while numerous, are certainly manageable. There is still plenty of deep strategy to be found here, but streamlined gameplay means you will spend more time seeing the results of your decisions and less time tinkering with each and every little detail behind the scenes. The overall presentation is good, though the lacking Japanese voice talent and somewhat muddled combat visuals do take a bit of the shine off. Overall I highly recommend Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening for strategy fans, as it is a great example of how to do strategy gaming on a console.

Score: 8.5 / 10

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Legend of Edda: Pegasus is Officially Launched!

The classic MMORPG Legend of Edda, now published by IndigoWare under the title Legend of Edda: Pegasus, is out of Early Access on Steam and officially launched!

Here’s what to expect from launch:

Existing Accounts

All the accounts created during the Alpha and Beta test phases still exist, but we have removed all the characters and contents for a fair fresh start for everyone.

Level Cap

We are setting the maximum level to 25. This will be gradually increased in the course of the next months. The intention is to make war more fun and enforce the building of our community.

Locked Dungeons

With our new level cap, most of the dungeons will not be available as of now. They will be added again to the game along with the level cap increases.

Roadmap 2023-2024

We will soon publish our full roadmap for the game disclosing the level cap increases, the opening of dungeons, as well as the new and exclusive-content (some of them will be hidden, because we love surprises).

Item Mall Pre-Launch Purchases

All the items purchased during Alpha and Beta tests will become available on the player's Item Basket upon launch. Except for the Bunny Costume (that is an event item).

Item Mall Changes

•     All permanent items will now become 30 days-lasting items (this is an effort to keep the game sustainable without moving away from the non-P2W concept).
•     Upgrade Protection Gloves are now a limited product. You can only purchase it once a week per account. An effort to make the game more fair.
•     Same with Platinum Coin Pack (10). You can only purchase it once a month per account.
•     Enchant Crystal price was reduced by half.

More information on the website: https://bit.ly/LegendOfEdda_Pegasus

New players are encouraged to create an account on the website and download the game on Steam.

About Legend of Edda: Pegasus

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlaVNYwZXfA

Free PC MMORPG in English and Portuguese inspired by classics! Play with your friends in a universe inspired by Greek mythology!

Choose a side in the war between gods and Titans. Explore a magical world and face challenges. Evolve your class and battle monsters and other players.

Utilize systems like pets and refinement. Finally, participate in the Sacred War against opposing players.

About IndigoWare

IndigoWare is a small indie game/software studio located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The company develops small innovative PC games with web technologies, using classics as references, and brings back classic MMORPGs.

Website: www.indigoware.net

Article by: Susan N.

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Strategic Mind: Fight for Dominance Review

Strategic Mind: Fight for Dominance by developer StarniGames and publisher Klabater—Microsoft Xbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

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Strategic Mind: Fight for Dominance takes a pair of releases previously available on different platforms and puts them together on the Xbox. The Strategic Mind games are not to be taken lightly, and are dense tactics titles that may not be the most welcoming title to the strategy genre, but for those who are willing to put the time in to learn the controls and appreciate the depth of strategy here, will likely come away feeling rewarded for the time they put in.

To start, Strategic Mind: Fight for Dominance is a combination of the two games Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg and Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism. Essentially what you do in Dominance is pick which of the two campaigns you want to play. Both titles are history-driven World War 2 settings, but as you could likely discern from the name, puts you in charge of either German or Russian forces. I’ve played some of the other Strategic Mind games on PC, and this campaign is much more focused on the ground units than Strategic Mind: The Pacific, which was centered on naval combat.

In general, I’d say that the Strategic Mind: Fight for Dominance stories are basically adequate, but far from riveting. There’s important historical figures like Stalin and Hitler that help set the tone for the objectives, but the visuals and voice acting during the cutscenes are pretty rough. Character models are stiff and the mouths aren’t even close to being synced with the speaking parts. While many of the scenarios make an attempt at historical accuracy while setting the table for your skirmishes, there’s obviously some liberties taken with stages as well, as you are basically leading one side to victories that they did not always achieve.

From a presentational standpoint, things get a bit better once you’re in the game itself – but not much. This is a hexagon-style turn-based strategy. For fans of the genre, a lot of games come to mind that fit this description, and honestly… most of those other ones probably look as good if not better. The biggest issue is that in order to avoid the sort of ‘sameness’ from one hex to the next, you have to be pretty well zoomed in, but that makes deploying units – especially across larger maps – rather cumbersome. There’s a pretty nice zoom-in effect that often takes place when units are moving or engaging in combat, but it’s nothing special.

There’s not much in the way of a tutorial here, though the initial campaigns are meant to sort of walk you through the basics. The first time to choose a unit, you get a pretty detailed audio description of how it’s best used, which is nice enough. You start to get a feel for managing fuel and ammo, understanding how you can provide cover for your ground forces using aircraft and large artillery guns and more. Each scenario presents primary objectives and secondary ones. Most of the achievements are tied to secondary ones, so for achievement hunters you will find yourself moving at a slightly slower pace to the end-game of each scenario as your primary objective might be to take a string of cities in a specific order, but the secondary asks you to assist with rebels in some side-city you wouldn’t otherwise have ventured towards or to use your new tanks a few times to make sure they’ve been properly ‘tested’ on the battlefield.

The other complaint that needs to be brought up is in the interface and control scheme. These titles were initially designed for PC, and the port to console feels rough around the edges. Cursor movement and selection even in the first map when trying to apply custom settings had me accidentally starting the campaign twice before I figured out how they wanted me to interact with those sliders on the right-hand side (spoiler alert: not with any of the face buttons on the controller). Even then, moving around the screen and choosing units while playing is just easier if you go to the bottom and click on each unit as shown there, so it jumps you to where they are on the map, as opposed to trying to find the units on the map due to the aforementioned rather muddy textures to everything. There were times my cursor wanted to jump to the upper right of the screen for what seemed like no apparent reason. All of these things make it a bit of a slog to really get into Strategic Mind: Fight for Dominance, and could likely scare newcomers off from really playing it.

Which would be a shame, as the actual tactical depth here is really quite good. For starters, credit to the developers for having some customizable difficulty settings. I played some of these titles on PC previously, so I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into, but these options can really help players get the feel for the combat. You have multiple types of units – naval, airborne, anti-aircraft, carriers, recon and more. Some have very specific purposes both on offense and defense, while others such as tanks might offer a bit more of a well-rounded set of uses on the battlefield.  

There’s all sorts of layers to how the strategy unfolds here. For example, the longer a unit remains in place, the more of an entrenchment bonus it receives. There are some scenarios where this is hugely helpful as you try to fend off attacks. You start to get a feel for how to protect your ground units by using long-range cannons and airborne units – but you need to be mindful of things like their fuel. Those planes can only control the airspace for so long before they need to head back to refuel, so you need to learn to operate them in waves. Recon units are immensely helpful to avoid ambushes. Those aforementioned planes won’t be of much help if you accidentally fly them right into antiaircraft guns.

The progression elements of the units you use is pretty strong as well. They can gain experience. You can provide them with equipment upgrades (which can have a tremendous impact on combat depending on how you tailor them) and by and large new types of units are historically accurate. This means that as you progress through the timeline, you’ll gain access to new types of units that are period appropriate.

Strategic Mind: Fight for Dominance is an above average pair of strategy titles bundled together into one package. The presentation across the board fails to impress, and the UI suffers from this series having been designed for a mouse and keyboard, not a controller. There’s a lot of hurdles to get past with the control scheme, rough cutscenes and little to no handholding when you start to play. However, if you work past those issues, you’ll find a pair of lengthy campaigns with a high attention to detail and some truly interesting strategy gameplay. 

Score: 6.5 / 10

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‘GINSHA’ Offers A Unique 2D Pixelart Action Adventure-Platformer On PC via STEAM & The Nintendo Switch

Bergdietikon (AG) Switzerland, July 17th 2023: Indie game developer Adrian Zingg publishing as PolarityFlow is proud to announce August 24th 2023 as the official release date for GINSHA, a truly unique atmospheric 2D Sci-Fi Action Adventure Platformer with special Gravity Shield and Dash mechanics coming to PC via STEAM in addition to the Nintendo® Switch. GINSHA combines a versatile Platformer Core with RPG, Souls and Crafting Elements to an Anomaly among Metroidvania games.


GINSHA challenges you to explore huge, interconnected planets full of secrets, loot, obstacles, different types of enemies and epic boss battles! You can level up, equip, and customize your Clone, craft companion drones, and enjoy ever evolving possibilities as you proceed to save your species. You can choose from a wide variety of weapon types and combine skills, dash, and gravity shield abilities to master the fast-paced combat system. Defend yourself against the overwhelming enemy forces and fight on ground, in the air, underwater and in space in hundreds of challenging environments. Your split-second decisions will affect your surroundings and karma for new possibilities and endings; make new friends or foes among your way, find epic gear, and unlock new shortcuts.

GINSHA offers 6 distinctive planets to explore, and you must discover your own path to save your species. Your clone is equipped with a scanner that allows you to scan everything you'll find on your journey. Collected data will be stored in an in-game wiki and can be used to unlock upgrades, create advanced gear and to build & simulate your own Worlds once you've gained access to the betaverse. You can choose to play good or evil in the unique Alien Couple Story and dive into an epic journey, driven by rewarded Exploration. Or you can opt to play as two Alien lifeforms “Gin” and “Gon” and unveil the mystery of our dying planet in a far future.

KEY FEATURES

• Fully customizable versatile Platformer Core
• Unique Directional Gravity Shield Mechanics
• Huge Open World full of Secrets and Easter eggs
• Fast Paced Combat with Free Aim or Aim Assist
• RPG Mechanics, Quests and Inventory System
• Be good or evil - Dialogue & Karma System
• Companion Drones, Crafting & Survival Elements
• A wide variety of Weapon Types, tools, items and gadgets
• Unique Alien Couple vs Symbiont Story
• Scan & Rebuild Mechanics with InGame Wiki
• Driven by Rewarded Exploration and infinite Replayability

An XBOX® version of the game is currently in the works and will be released soon!

Developer Website https://www.polarityflow.com
Game Website https://www.ginsha.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/zetapps
Twitter https://twitter.com/PolarityFlowDev
Discord https://discord.com/invite/sgtkP4Mzsj
Instagram https://instagram.com/polarityflowdev
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@polarityflow
YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/PolarityFlowStudio

 

Article by: Susan N.

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Antstream Arcade Review

Antstream Arcade by developer and publisher AntstreamLtd—Microsoft Xbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

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Antstream Arcade touts a pretty hefty package. Play over 1,300 classic video games via a streaming service. Being a subscription service, it is easy to see why it draws an analogy of being the Netflix of video games. By and large? It works pretty well, especially for an old school gamer such as myself.

The sales pitch is an interesting one. The Antstream Arcade service isn’t the games itself – it’s a window to access the huge collection of classic titles. This allows them to be worked within dynamic ways. The library can and will change, there are missions and leaderboards that allow people to compete against one another. The missions / challenges are a neat idea, as it takes the core game and has you attempting to get the best score you can with one life or in a particular time frame or some other predetermined constraint.

The library is massive (you can check it out here), pulling from a wide variety of sources like the Amiga, Atari, NES, arcades and so on. Some of this feels a bit like checking boxes. Yes, there are PlayStation games, but there’s only a handful. There are SNES titles, but you’re not getting first party Mario games either. That being said,  there are lots of really great games in here, especially for someone like me who grew up on these titles. I’m a sucker for arcade brawlers like Double Dragon, Final Fight and Ninja Gaiden. There is also a pretty wide range of genres here. I had initially figured that the library would mostly consist of shoot-‘em-ups and brawlers, but there’s plenty of 1-on-1 fighters, platformers and even RPG titles baked in here. Now, it is worth calling out that there is some title duplication, where you might see something that was on both NES and Sega Master System, or across a few of the older computer platforms.

I’m pretty impressed with how well the service streams. You need more than 4mbs, which is not a high bar to clear. That makes this pretty accessible to most people (I was playing this at my cabin, which often maxes out in the high 20’s in mbs) with reasonably solid performance. I’m sure this plays into their strategy of focusing on older games that have small file sizes – I wouldn’t count on seeing a lot of disc-based PS2 games in the near future because of this.

Even with this pretty rough internet I have at the cabin (I like to refer to it as internet delivered via tin cans and string), Antstream Arcade performed really well. There was some odd pixilation that happened at times, but it worked well. I didn’t run into any notable issues with the gameplay itself, and even when I was playing at my house with a 1+gbs connection, there was the occasional odd visual artifact in larger / newer titles (Mortal Kombat or Pit Fighter come to mind), but it was never a major deal to me.

While the content here is pretty stellar, the interface is a bit more of a mixed bag. On the downside, searching for games can be sort of rough. It relies heavily on text searching. Games are tagged with genres such as platforming or fighting. However, with so many games, it can be tough to find a specific game unless you know what title you are searching for. On the one hand, it was fun randomly stumbling onto cool games that had been tucked away in the back of my head for decades now, but there were times trying to figure out what I was going to play next was a bit of a challenge. For some reason beat-‘em-ups just didn’t work for me when I selected the ‘more’ option to the right, like the default search terms actually didn’t line up with their own tagging.

Another plus of the interface is the ability to save games, which was obviously lacking in many of those old Atari or arcade titles. An interface shortcoming is I didn’t see any way to remap buttons. They are assigned on a per-game basis, and the majority of the time they made a lot of sense. However, there are just some genres like 1-on-1 fighting games where I have been using my own personal button remapping for years now, and not having the ability to do so sort of felt like fighting with a hand tied behind my back.

There’s a few different flavors of access. You can install the game itself and get access to some of the titles without paying anything, but that’s really missing the beauty of what is offered here. That means you can do a one year subscription for $29.99 or a lifetime at $79.99. I have a lot of these titles on my actual NES or Atari that I still have, or they’re available in other compilation titles like the Capcom ones or these old school games might just not be your thing – so mileage may vary. That being said? This hit a huge sweet spot with me. Elevator Action tournament? Cool – that was a favorite arcade cabinet of mine as a little kid, and I didn’t have to hem and haw at the corner store and decide between playing it or picking up five atomic fireballs to snack on.

Lastly, Antstream Arcade has a rather unique take on competitive play. I mentioned missions before, and tournaments. High scores are documented and when someone beats your progress you get notified automagically by the system. It all tries to build a sense of competitive community, and for those who don’t particularly like playing with / against other people, this asynchronous method is likely ideal. That being said, some of these games were at their best (especially brawlers) when you were partnered with a person, and there’s no active multiplayer options. Given the streaming nature of the software, that makes sense as I suspect there would be some significant technical hurdles to overcome there, but it’s still worth calling out for someone who might have been looking forward to some co-op arcade Double Dragon.

Antstream Arcade is going to appeal to a pretty niche group – but I’ll fully admit that I’m a member of that target audience. It’s great to pick up some classic game I used to enjoy, virtually toss in a handful of quarters and spend the next half an hour blasting or punching away at something. This software absolutely scratches an itch that I frequently have. I dig the broad collection of titles, the way they try to virtualize a community and that it’s a living service with new tournaments, games and updates being continuously rolled out. All of those positives aside, there is room for improvement. I’d love some button mapping, multiplayer and stronger discovery options to help me get the most out of the framework itself and the games provided within. All things considered, Antstream Arcade is a lot of fun, even with some as of yet untapped potential.

Score: 7 / 10

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