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Perhaps it’s just a testament to the archetypal strength of the image, honestly. I don’t mean to reduce it to a trope, and while I’m positive I’ve seen it multiple times before, there’s no denying this fallen giant king looks especially gorgeous in Bylina. I’ll move on from his large majesty for a moment though, because it isn’t the only thing this one looks to have going for it. It’s a single player action RPG, to start with - a genre I’m always interested in watching evolve in ways not tied to its usual form as a good-boy-points-vomiting loot casino. It’s also based on Slavic folklore, something that’s not too uncommon but strikes a wonderful mix between blackly funny whimsy and intense dread when done right. Also, I’ll take more discordant folk music any time. Trailer below. Read more View the full article

A spiritual successor to Studio ZA/UM’s RPG Disco Elysium is currently in development at the newly-formed Longdue. It's set in a world “conceived by the leads” of the canceled sequel. A representative of Longdue told us that "the studio isn't ready to talk about specific names at the moment beyond the people mentioned in the press release, but they are looking forward to sharing more about the game and the studio in the future". They did, however, confirm that Disco Elysium's lead writer and designer Robert Kurvitz and art director Aleksander Rostov are not involved. Read more View the full article

On Disco Elysium’s five-year anniversary, two separate studios each made up of people who used to work at developer ZA/UM have announced they're both making a spiritual successor of their own. Disco Elysium is a 2019 narrative role-playing game developed and published by controversial studio ZA/UM. Gameplay revolves around navigating dialogue trees rather than combat, with each of the 24 skills representing a different aspect of the amnesiac detective protagonist's abilities and thoughts. The player is free to support or suppress his ideologies as they work through the story. Disco Elysium is considered by some among the greatest video games ever made. It went on to enjoy enormous success, winning numerous game of the year awards and selling millions of copies. A TV series adaptation deal followed, as did the release of an expanded version of the game featuring full voice acting and new content subtitled The Final Cut. A follow-up seemed all but guaranteed, but after high-profile staff exits and subsequent messy legal tussles brought ZA/UM to its knees, what might have turned out to be a Disco Elysium sequel was canceled. Now, two new London-based studios have emerged from the chaos: Dark Math Games and Longdue Games. Each has drawn a line back to both Disco Elysium and ZA/UM in the announcement of not just their existence, but their upcoming games. Let’s start with Dark Math Games. Founded in 2023, Dark Math describes itself as a “breakaway group” from the original development team of Disco Elysium. It is a group of 20 people, about half of whom “contributed” to “bringing the critically acclaimed hit Disco Elysium and Disco Elysium - The Final Cut to life.” Dark Math’s game is called **** NIGHTSHIFT and, like Disco Elysium, is described as a ‘true detective RPG.’ Here’s the official blurb: Set 2086, you play a Patrol Op, Dinorah Katz, who is stranded at a luxury Ski resort in Antarctica. This original science-fiction setting lands you in a resort that shouldn’t exist with people that you shouldn’t know with the endless polar night covering a multitude of sins. **** NIGHTSHIFT will deliver a deep single-player role-playing experience with many tools and layers of gameplay. A unique companion dynamic adds more fun and offers different paths to solve cases. The innovative and powerful role-playing system respects your time and trusts your intelligence with seismic choices. It’s up to you to decide how your story unfolds — and how it ends. Based on its announcement trailer and screenshots, **** NIGHTSHIFT looks remarkably similar to Disco Elysium, even down to the isometric perspective and dialogue text that moves up the right-hand side of the screen as the player makes choices and hears voice actors bring a narrator and the protagonist’s internal monologue to life. One of the four Dark Math founders is art director Timo Albert, who was a motion graphic designer at ZA/UM from 2018 to October 2022. Albert commented: “Additionally to innovating the traditional RPG mechanics, we’ll bring something fresh to the table. You will see. And of course, a few less words. And a few more bullets, perhaps. In total: lot more fun.” According to filings on Companies House, Dark Math's active directors include Heiti Kender, with his brother, Kaur Kender, listed as a resigned director. Kaur Kender was an early investor in ZA/UM and executive producer of Disco Elysium. In March 2023, a bitter legal dispute between Kender and ZA/UM over ownership of the coveted Disco Elysium IP was resolved, with a court ordering Kender to repay ZA/UM CEO Ilmar Kompus for legal fees. Now, let’s move on to Longdue Games. It said it’s making a “new psychological RPG... set in a game world conceived by the leads of the now canceled Disco Elysium sequel.” Others working on this untitled Disco Elysium spiritual successor worked at the likes of Bungie, Rockstar, and Yes, Your Graces developer Brave At Night. Longdue, backed by tech investor Riaz Moola, said it has a “focus on creating psychologically deep, narrative-first experiences” and wants to become “a meaningful and consistent voice in the isometric cRPG space.” “With the fifth anniversary of Disco Elysium on the horizon, Longdue is proud to announce its formation as a new independent studio that has raised seed investment to create an RPG that will continue Disco Elysium’s award-winning legacy and represent a bold new artistic endeavor that aims to trailblaze in the narrative-first cRPG space,” Longdue said in its note to press. Longdue didn’t name its game (all we have for now is a solitary piece of concept art, below), but it did say it features what it calls a “psychogeographic" RPG mechanic “where every decision reshapes both the world and the characters that inhabit it.” “In this experience,” Longdue explained, “the lines between the mind and the environment blur, colliding and transforming with each choice, leading players through an ever-evolving narrative landscape.” Here’s the official blurb on Longdue’s game: Longdue’s debut RPG explores the delicate interplay between the conscious and subconscious, the seen and unseen. Set in a world where choices ripple between the character’s psyche and environment, players will navigate a constantly shifting landscape, shaped by both internal and external forces. Longdue mentioned just one of its developers in its press release: narrative director Grant Roberts. Roberts said: “At Longdue, we're inspired by decades of classic RPGs, from Ultima and Wizardry, through Fallout and Planescape, to the justifiably adored Disco Elysium. "We're excited to continue that legacy with another narrative-first, psychological RPG, where the interplay between inner worlds and external landscapes is the beating heart of the experience. We're building a world-class team for a world-class game that will tell a world-class story, and we can't wait to show you more.” Londue isn’t announcing anyone else working at the company right now, “but is looking forward to talking more about the studio and the game in the future,” a representative told IGN. It’s worth noting that neither Robert Kurvitz, the lead writer and designer of Disco Elysium and founding member of ZA/UM, nor Aleksander Rostov, who was art director on Disco Elysium, are involved with either studio. Both were fired from ZA/UM in 2022 amid allegations of mismanagement and misconduct. Kurvitz and Rostov are reportedly making a new game of their own at a studio called Red Info, which is backed by ******** internet company NetEase. As for ZA/UM, it reportedly canceled a standalone expansion for Disco Elysium back in February, leaving several staff members at risk of losing their jobs. While an official Disco Elysium 2 seems as unlikely now as it did when ZA/UM first fell apart, it is clear that there are many who are keen to keep the dream alive. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Our friends down under will finally be able to buy an officially supported Steam Deck, as it heads to Australia officially in November. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Choosing the right Archetype for the task in Metaphor ReFantazio can be the difference between an easy encounter and a hard-fought battle, and collecting as many as you can helps ensure you have a nice, well-rounded toolset. If that wasn’t enough, Metaphor ReFantazio‘s comprehensive Skill Inheritance system is more than enough reason to collect and master as many Archetypes as possible to access their skills. This brought out the **** scientist in me during my runs and I got all Archetypes to max level on my first run. View the full article

Fortnite players around the globe are eagerly awaiting the Fortnitemares update, but those logging in on Oct. 11 have encountered some bad news: The event is nowhere to be seen. The Fortnitemares event in 2024 is bringing some huge collaborations into the game, including Saw, Disney villains, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre all getting skins, while the island itself is getting a spooky makeover. View the full article

Nearly five years since the game launched, Disco Elysium has something of a rotten legacy. One of the most acclaimed games of the modern era, the ground-breaking RPG was adored by critics and consumers alike at launch, lauded for its deep RPG systems, its exemplary writing, and for how completely and utterly well-conceived its bleak, ********** world was. I also really, really liked the music. Read more View the full article

Disco Elysium 2 is *****, long live Disco Elysium spiritual successors. Newly-revealed studio Longdue has announced that it is working on a Disco-inspired RPG, with a "dozen strong" staff that includes some former members of Studio ZA/UM... Read more.View the full article

Understanding an ******’s weakness is key if you want to storm through the trickiest boss battles in Metaphor ReFantazio. This game has a rich combat system that Persona fans will immediately feel comfortable with, and almost every boss has a key weakness you can exploit. If you’re in the Nord Mines area and you’ve decided to ****** the sleeping dragon, it’ll be your first major battle in the game. Here’s a breakdown of ***** Dragon Mauna’s weaknesses in Metaphor ReFantazio, along with tips on how to build your party for success. View the full article

In Metaphor ReFantazio, you get to make a fair number of choices and personal decisions as a player. One of the earliest decisions you have to make is whether to ******* the sleeping dragon in Nord Mines or to leave it be. Here’s a breakdown of whether you should ****** the Nord Mines dragon, looking at the benefits of fighting ***** Dragon Mauna compared to sneaking past it. View the full article

More is one of the first followers you encounter in Metaphor ReFantazio, and the mysterious author has many tasks for you to complete in your journey. These small quests grant you some Imagination and Archetype EXP items, and they’re the only way to advance your bond with him. More’s bond (or Social Link, to borrow from the Persona lexicon) levels up as you complete these tasks, almost like Margaret in Persona 4 Golden or the twins Caroline and Justine in Persona 5 Royal. Each task gets you to the next rank in Metaphor ReFantazio, so you must complete them all to max out your bond with him. View the full article

The Gunner Archetype is one of the earliest Archetypes you can unlock in Metaphor ReFantazio—and potentially one of the first to vex you. You may hear about the Gunner before establishing the matching bond, but the good news is it’s hard to miss it. If you didn’t browse the shelves in Akadeimia, you may first hear about this Archetype by talking to More after clearing his first request. The author tells you to “form a bond with someone more mechanically minded.” And though no one may come to mind at first, you’ll know this NPC as soon as he crosses your path. Here’s when and how to unlock the Gunner Archetype in Metaphor ReFantazio. View the full article

Grius appears early in Metaphor ReFantazio, and you can teach your co-conspirator how to use the power of Archetypes to further your mission. At first, he can pick from three options, each with advantages and downsides. After the protagonist and Strohl awaken to their new power, you can choose one of three different Archetypes for Grius: the Warrior, Seeker, and Mage. I chose based on the theme, but each choice in Metaphor ReFantazio has merit. View the full article

If you want to sail through the trickiest boss battles in Metaphor ReFantazio, you need to understand the Affinity system well. Affinities play a huge part in the game’s combat, impacting how you build your party to deal with threats and enemies. Here, we’ll look at every Affinity in the game—including why they’re important and when you’re likely to see them come up during your first playthrough. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

This lengthy trailer highlights every facet of the first new Mario & Luigi title in nearly a decade. View the full article

Coffee Stain Studios may be known to some as the studio behind the Goat Simulator games and Satisfactory, but they're also quite the powerhouse publisher as well. One look at Coffee Stain Publishing's portfolio shows a lineup of smash hits such as Huntdown, Deep Rock Galactic, and Valheim, so when they announce the latest new IP to join their crew, it feels like a big event. Of course, it sort of helps that the game was announced at a big event as well, that being Coffee Stain's own new livestream showcase, The Spill, which had reveals and updates from other developers as well. But that said, the true stars here are Box Dragon, with this new game - As We Descend - being their debut project, whose announcement trailer you can check out below. View the full article

It doesn't really matter why the enemies are there, just that they are. They show up, ***** a few bullets to make life difficult, and then drift along their merry way unless taken out first. They don't like you, you don't like them, and that's just fine for everyone. Granted, there's way more of them than there will ever be of you, but that's what power-ups are for. An arena shooter doesn't need any reason beyond "we got guns!", and while Rising Heat will have a plot (or at least a scenario) the demo that dropped today doesn't hint at it. There's a whole lot of enemies to ***** through and that's more than enough. View the full article

Redwall fans desperate to embrace the franchise's lighter themes and live life as an adorable forest animal need to check out this new game from former Bethesda, Naughty Dog, and Bioware developers. The success of titles like The Sims 4 and Stardew Valley has breathed new energy into the life-sim genre to such an extent that the Farming RPG market has become somewhat oversaturated in recent years. Developers looking to break into the market need a unique ***** or gimmick to land players, and it certainly seems like Hawthorn has something special going for it. View the full article

Diablo 4's first major expansion, Vessel of Hatred, launched on October 7 to mixed reception, largely due to server issues on launch day. For the most part, critics and fans have largely praised it for its new class and interesting worldbuilding. However, its introduction saw a huge shift in the best class in the game, as players have flocked to the new OP option. View the full article

There are few endings to a game as iconic as Silent Hill 2, but Silent Hill 2 Remake introduces two new endings you can unlock as you play. Like the other six that return from the original, you must find specific items throughout your journey to reach these conclusions. While no ending is canon to this haunting story, each provides a different look at the possible finale of James' tale. View the full article

An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include: Updated vsh_outburst to fix a problem with sounds not playing correctly Added missing strings for the new Strange Filters View the full article

A Destiny 2 ***** has revealed that the game will get content based on Street Fighter. Destiny 2 tasks players with taking on the role of Guardians who need to recover their powers and defend The Last City. But despite its sci-fi setting, that hasn't stopped Bungie's game from getting a diverse number of crossovers. View the full article

WWE 2K24 could be adding more of Bray Wyatt and his cohorts to the game soon. While WWE 2K24 already includes a couple of versions of Bray Wyatt, it seems fan support has shown that there's more demand for the Superstar. His unfortunate and untimely demise has left many missing the polarizing character and his gimmicks. So, this could be the reason there's a huge focus on the Superstar and his history. View the full article

The Steam Deck Client Beta has been updated with the following changes: Game Recording (Desktop Mode) Fixed issue where the overlay would be unresponsive in games which have Game Recording disabled Steam Input Fixed a case where Steam Deck personalization settings would get reset on device restart Mode Shifts now support Track Pad Touch on DualSense/Edge, DualShock, SteamController and SteamDeck SIAPI DualSense Glyphs are now Monochrome to match controller and BigPicture UI Remote Play Fixed ****** screen when streaming HEVC from Steam Deck Discovery ****** Improve the animation when scrolling through the discovery ******View the full article

The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes: Game Recording Fixed issue where the overlay would be unresponsive in games which have Game Recording disabled Steam Input Fixed a case where Steam Deck personalization settings would get reset on device restart Mode Shifts now support Track Pad Touch on DualSense/Edge, DualShock, SteamController and SteamDeck SIAPI DualSense Glyphs are now Monochrome to match controller and BigPicture UI Remote Play Fixed ****** screen when streaming HEVC from Steam Deck Discovery ****** Improve the animation when scrolling through the discovery ******View the full article