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Ubisoft have announced Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era, a fresh instalment in the exceedingly olden turn-based strategy RPG series, which began life under New World Computing in 1984. The new game will “return to the world of Enroth and the origins of the legendary saga”, inviting “both veterans and new players” to go on a quest to Jadame, “a mysterious continent in turmoil”. Expect new factions, biomes and creatures, together with such M&M standbys as castle management, army clashes, hex-based maps, and, who knows, maybe some heroes. Read more View the full article

The bosses in Crimson Desert are powerful. I mean really powerful. As the formidable Staglord grabbed me by the ankle and hurled me into a wall, the bone-crunching impact reminded me of how The Stranger’s blows catapulted Kratos through tree trunks and mountains in **** of War. This intense, deity-like physicality lends Crimson Desert’s battles a sense of genuine spectacle – these are the gladiator battles of myths. During an hour-long hands-on session at gamescom 2024, I was able to go toe-to-toe with three different bosses, each of which showcased a different side of this fantasy action RPG’s approach to battle. The first, the aforementioned Staglord, is perhaps the most simple (although that does the towering, barbarian-like warrior a disservice.) He’s a relentless attacker, charging across the battlefield like a bullet train that can suplex you at its final destination. But, despite his endless strength and capacity to throw you like a baseball, he’s only human. I force distance between us, quickly ******* explosive arrows to knock him out of his ******* pattern and open up a window to bury my blade into his back. The Staglord proves a real challenge of a ******. Crimson Desert is not even remotely a soulslike, but it’s not afraid to make you work really hard for victory. I spend much of the lengthy ****** learning the complexities of the combat system. There’s no lock-on, so I have to be mindful of where I position my character and where his sword will land. Rolling forward allows me to instantly follow up with a sweep-kick that surprises my foe, and then hitting both the light and heavy ******* buttons together unleashes a wide, particle-effects spraying strike that cleaves a chunk out of the Staglord’s health bar. All this is speedy without sacrificing weight. It feels fantastic, but it’s also easy to let things run away from you – I soon realise I need to be chowing down on health-restoring food with addiction-like frequency. Crimson Desert is not even remotely a soulslike, but it’s not afraid to make you work really hard for victory. With the Staglord defeated, I take his mighty sword and shield and move on to the next ******. The demo skips ahead in the story, meaning I sadly don’t get to experience any non-boss gameplay, and throws me into snow-coated lands. Here, my gruff protagonist is looking for children who have seemingly been sacrificed to some kind of mountain ****. Such a ‘****’ turns out to be the White *****; a sort of antlered abominable snowdeer that showcases just how different each of Crimson Desert’s bosses can be. This colossal creature moves like a bucking bronco and its galloping charges cause the mountains around us to break out in miniature avalanches that leave me temporarily frozen in place. Thankfully, after striking it so much that its white fur is stained almost completely red, I’m able to clamber onto its back in the ******’s second phase and stab away at its neck. The moment had me recalling my battles with towering monsters in Dragon’s Dogma 2 earlier this year. Each boss has three health bars, with each one eliminated increasing the intensity of the ******. But where the Staglord and White ***** scraps seemed to escalate much like many other action RPG boss battles – the ****** gets angrier and starts using more devastating attacks – my final battle, against the Queen Stoneback Crab, demonstrated Crimson Desert’s ambition to create memorable moments through very different mechanics. The Queen Stoneback Crab is colossally big. It fills the screen. And, smartly, you can't ****** it by just hacking away at its shins. Instead, the battle is a puzzle set piece that’s clearly inspired by Shadow of the Colossus. I clamber onto the Crab’s stony shell and grab onto the grass and flora that forms its ‘fur’, holding on for dear life while pulling myself up towards a trio of rock formations. Using a special punch skill I shatter each of the rocks to expose a weak point that I plunge my blade into. Each opened wound causes a geyser of water to blast out, which not only provides a visual spectacle but also throws me high into the air. From above I’m able to float down, almost Zelda paraglider-style, and plan how to tackle the next stage. Now I’m tasked with destroying the pottery-like crown at the peak of the Crab’s mountain-like shell – a task a Pearl Abyss employee explained to me is completed by swinging Spider-Man-style from a web and colliding with the pottery at full speed. Seriously. I’m not sure how I’d have figured that out on my own, but I’m pleased such a mechanic exists. It’s all delightfully bonkers. My hour-long session isn’t quite long enough to try all four bosses the demo has to offer, but a video presentation provided a quick insight into the only one I missed: the Reed ******, a weird little guy who creates copies of himself that can only be defeated by destroying totems that are built during the battle. Along with the three I fought, all four bosses make a promise that Crimson Desert features an array of creative, unique centrepiece battles. If they’re all like this, then Pearl Abyss really could have something special on its hands. I’m similarly impressed by the combat system’s fundamentals. Yes, it’s all quite fantasy RPG 101 – bows, swords, shields, parries – but it’s delightfully aggressive and properly impactful. There’s a seemingly deep combo system, too, and it’s because of that I wished the demo had a section that was a little more relaxed for me to sample. The heat of a relentless boss battle isn’t quite the space to learn and perfect button sequences, but I’ve got a good feeling you can pull off some cool stuff based on the combos I did learn. Of course, I also wish I’d seen more so I could say if Crimson Desert’s adventure chops are as strong as its boss battles. What little dialogue and story there was to introduce each boss didn’t suggest anything remotely close to, say, The Witcher 3. But, even if its writing proves lacking, a strong approach to exploration and world design could carry it far. Hopefully Pearl Abyss will showcase that soon, because so far Crimson Desert’s mix of **** of War’s weighty impact and Dragon’s Dogma’s creative spectacle has me very excited indeed. Matt Purslow is IGN's Senior Features Editor. View the full article

Fans patiently waiting for the release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle can actually access the game early, thanks to a newly revealed upgrade option. This "premium" upgrade allows select gamers to play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle up to three days early, giving them the chance to explore the latest Indy adventure as soon as possible. View the full article

The Callisto Protocol deserved more. A spiritual sequel to ***** Space, despite some repetitive set pieces and fussy **** combat, Striking Distance's debut survival horror had a great melee system, a supremely well-drawn setting, and some smart ideas. Reviews weren't bad, but commercially the game struggled, and in August 2023, Striking Distance ***** off more than 30 developers. Nevertheless, the studio has survived, and now it's making a comeback with the newly revealed Redacted, a roguelike shooter set, somewhat strangely, in Callisto's own ****** Iron Prison. Formerly trailed as Project Birdseye, this is now a fully fledged game unto itself, and it looks superlatively stylish. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

Enlarge / The player has a lot of agency in this game to choose exactly how snappy their responses will be. (credit: Suspicious Developments) [/url] Tom Francis and his Suspicious Developments team spent 6.5 years crafting the perfect finale to his defenestration trilogy, and it shows. If you liked blasting people out of windows in Gunpoint or Heat Signature—or snappy writing, endearing characters, wizards, turn-based tactical gameplay, and efficiency challenges—you are going to love Tactical Breach Wizards. The game's name is as efficient as its design, telling you a lot about its tone and distinct offerings. You play as a small team of magic wielders, each of which you can control, one at a time, in a world where magic use, mana, and all the rest have been militarized and corporatized. There are stasis hexes put on illegally parked cars and even a Traffic Warlock, who, after getting on his bad side, will try to mow you down with an entire ghost highway full of spectral drivers. [Hidden Content] Tactical Breach Wizards launch trailer. Luckily, bad guys like him can only hit you if you don't plan accordingly. Owing to the powers of your teammate Zan, you can foresee everything that will happen within a round of combat (he's a one-second clairvoyant). Move team member Jen to this square on the grid, have her chain-zap three guys, seal the door next to her, then see what that leaves Zan to do. Don't like the outcome? Rewind repeatedly until you've gotten the most out of your team's actions or maybe achieved one of the game's optional achievements. You get "Confidence" for pulling off stunts like "knock three baddies out a window with one action," but they're entirely optional because Confidence only unlocks cool outfits, not powers or gameplay. The actual perks you unlock give you delicious choices to make, deciding which way to take each character's powers to complement or offset one another. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments View the full article

The original Lost in Random is one of those real indie game delights that caught me off-guard with just how much I enjoyed it. Part of the EA Originals scheme, it tells a sinister tale set in a stunning fantasy world where everyone's fates fall to the roll of sentient magical dice. News that Lost in Random: The Eternal **** is bringing us back to see where things go next, and that it's further mixing things up with a roguelike spin, has me very eager to learn more. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

Striking Distance Studios has confirmed its roguelike Callisto Protocol spin-off, Redacted, will launch for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on October 31. Previously known as ‘Project Birdseye’, Redacted is an action roguelike game set in the same universe as the 2022 survival horror game, which Striking Distance says is being worked on by a small team, alongside its next full-scale game. “Redacted takes you deep into ****** Iron Prison, a high-tech correctional facility on Jupiter’s icy moon, Callisto,” reads a description for the game. Read More... View the full article

AMD has responded to the ongoing issue of its Zen 5, Zen 4, and even Zen 3 CPUs having lower performance in Windows when users aren't logged in with an admin account, suggesting a fix is coming soon. The AMD Ryzen Windows bug fix should see users of many recent AMD Ryzen processors getting a slight performance boost if they're still using a standard user account, rather than an admin account. The Windows 11 Ryzen performance problems are affecting some of the best gaming CPUs you can buy, with a discrepancy of as much as 8% being seen between tests run with different types of Windows user accounts. AMD has stated it's working with Microsoft to issue a fix, though, with a pre-release version of Windows 11 already including the change. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: You won't be allowed to buy the Asus Warhammer 40K GPU after all AMD Ryzen 9 9900X already has its first price cut AMD Ryzen CPU gaming performance hit by Windows bug, but there's a fix View the full article

Sage is one of the many resources you must go out of your way to find in Once Human. You’ll use it in various crafting resources when you bring it back to your base, but the real trick is finding a reliable location to farm it. You can visit multiple locations to find Sage while playing Once Human, often on the side of the road or in grassland areas in the game’s early sections. You don’t want to seek it out too much in the desert biomes, even if you’re trying to track down Wolves you want to tame. We’ll share a few of our favorite locations to find Sage in Once Human, along with a reliable trick you can use to acquire a large amount of it for little effort. View the full article

****** Myth: Wukong’s Chapter Two has a couple of doorways that may lead to some head-scratching before you can open them. You need two items to see what’s on the other side: Sternness of Stone and Keenness of Tiger. Keenness of Tiger is a bit easier to find since it’s tied to a battle in Crouching Tiger Temple. Sternness of Stone, however, is located in a different area called the Fright Cliff, which also has a few secrets tied to it. In that area, you can find six Buddha’s Eyeballs for a secret boss, or complete the Man-In-Stone questline (and these two go hand in hand). View the full article

Castlevania arrives in ***** by Daylight this month with a new Survivor and the first shapeshifting *******. If you are planning on playing the new chapter as soon as it releases, we have the exact time the update goes live so you can plan your day around the new chapter’s release. ***** by Daylight Castlevania chapter release date and time Dracula will take his revenge on the Survivors. Image via Behaviour Interactive The ***** by Daylight Castlevania chapter releases on Aug. 27. at 10am CT. The countdown below is set to that date and time so you know how much time you have left to prepare. View the full article

If you've been necromantically dreaming of a Callisto Protocol sequel, I'm afraid the monkey paw finger hasn't just curled - it's jammed itself right up your nose and scratched an *** on your hypothalamus. Developers Striking Distance and publishers Krafton have revealed [Hidden Content], a scifi roguelike dungeon crawler set in the same universe. The square brackets are part of the title, yes, and they're also calling it "punk rock" - a combination of factors that fills me with a rage so obliterating, I can barely perceive the announcement trailer, below. It's a machinegun montage of comicbook panels and sizzling melee arcs and quips like "there's a lot of wankers between you and the sweet taste of freedom". I didn't even like The Callisto Protocol that much but still, what have they done to you, boy? Where did all the horror game go? Read more View the full article

Wizards of the Coast's digital Dungeons and Dragons platform DnD Beyond is deleting the 5e versions of spells and magic items, as part of the process of updating the site to contain new, DnD 2024 content. These changes are set to begin when the Player's Handbook goes into early access on September 3. Some fans are disappointed. Since the 5.5e or 2024 rules are marketed as fully compatible with old content, many believed that everything would stay up on the platform. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Everything in DnD 2024 seems to do Force damage, and that's dull Here's how the DnD 2024 Warlock works Roll20 offers giant monster manual free with DnD 2024 pre-orders View the full article

****** Myth: Wukong has a wide variety of settings designed to make the frantic action title as accessible as possible, and if you’re looking for complete intuitiveness, Compatibility Mode might be up your street. Game Science’s new IP has visual settings affecting the HUD and on-screen information, a litany of gameplay tuners to tweak your combat experience, an the opportunity to alter your preferred graphical settings. View the full article

Obsidian Entertainment's next game, Avowed, will feature more than 10 ending screens, the developer claimed in a new interview. Media outlets were recently given the chance to try out Avowed at Gamescom 2024. View the full article

The Olympics might have just ended, but the New York Times is bringing back the games with its latest clue in the Mini Crossword, asking players to guess the word for “Olympic prize.” “Olympic prize” is a clue for a five-letter down word in the Aug. 22 version of the Mini Crossword, and if you’re worried because you haven’t watched any of the games, don’t worry—this answer is a lot more simpler than you think. View the full article

According to a Firewalk Studios developer, Concord has been in the works for nearly a decade. The hero shooter is set to officially launch tomorrow, August 23, finally bringing Concord to the finish line. View the full article

This week AMD has provided an official explanation for the discrepancies between their numbers and what reviewers were measuring. The company has outlined a few culprits that they claim likely caused the difference. Read Entire Article View the full article

The clock is ticking down fast towards the release of Dungeons and Dragons' new 2024 player's handbook on September 17, and everyone wants you to buy your copy from them. Popular, if famously scrappy, virtual tabletop Roll20 is sweetening its deal by offering third-party expansion Monster Manual Expanded as a pre-order bonus, along with one extra digital DnD freebie that changes each week until release. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Everything in DnD 2024 seems to do Force damage, and that's dull DnD Beyond is deleting all 5e spells and magic items Here's how the DnD 2024 Warlock works View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

If you're not familiar with Night of the Consumers, it's an indie horror game about working in a supermarket and having to deal with people demanding things of you every two seconds. It's ok, that's got my heart rate going too. Anyaway, it looks like the game's now locked in a full release date. While a work-in-progress version of the game has been avilable via *****.io since 2020 - it was actually part of a bundle For ******* justice And equality hosted by the platform that year - if you've visited its Steam page in recent years, you'll have found that its release is still listed as "coming soon". Well, it now seems that's set to change soon, with solo developer Germfood having tweeted "Night of the Consumers (full game) will release on October 28", and followed it up with a gag about it having taken them four years to finish the game. So, while they haven't provided any more details as of yet, it sounds like you'll be able to grab the full experience with all of the "nights" - those are levels by the looks of it - Germfood had in mind to make up its story. Read more View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

One of the first horror games I ever played was Until Dawn, Supermassive Games' ever-iconic interactive slasher movie. From then on, I was hooked on that all-or-nothing style of gameplay, desperately trying to save everyone in The Dark Pictures Anthology while simultaneously praying I wouldn't end up in pieces. When I clocked that The Casting of Frank Stone, a ***** by Daylight spinoff, was being developed under the Supermassive banner, I was immediately hyped, but new details revealed during Gamescom's second Xbox showcase have me even more excited. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The Casting of Frank Stone release date, trailers, and story DBD spinoff The Casting of Frank Stone finally has a launch date Get ready for a single-player game in the ***** by Daylight universe View the full article

Infinity Nikki, an open-world dress up role-playing game from former The Legend of Zelda director Kentaro Tominaga, has hit 12 million pre-registrations before a release date has even been announced. The game's official X/Twitter account announced the huge milestone, thanking everyone who's signed up already and encouraging more to sign up. A total of 12,206,661 players have signed up for the game so far, but developer PaperGames' next target is 20 million, followed by 25 and 30 million. "Look, some airborne friends are carrying Nikki across the vast sky with their blessings," the post said. "Thank you to all the stylists for your support and enthusiasm. There will be more surprises ahead. Let's aim for the next goal together." Reaching each milestone unlocks certain bonuses for everyone who signs up, with players so far having earned 50,000 Bling, 300 Threads of Purity, and thanks to the latest milestone, three Resonite crystals. The 20 million milestone unlocks the Far and Away 4-Star Outfit, the 25 million milestone unlocks seven more Resonite Crystals, and the 30 million milestone unlocks another 10. "Join Momo and Nikki as they embark on a new adventure collecting various pieces of clothing, solving puzzles, and uncovering secret areas in the world," the official synopsis reads. "Dress for the occasion and equip different outfits to gain access to abilities such as fishing, insect-catching, and floating." Our own preview of Infinity Nikki had positive things to say. "[We never knew dressing up could be so much fun. [Our] time with Infinity Nikki left [us] eager to try on the finished game when it eventually arrives." Infinity Nikki is planned for launch on PlayStation 5, PC, Android, and iOS. Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day. View the full article

Jafar’s antics land you on a ****** and White Island with no feasible way out in Disney Dreamlight Valley’s A Rift in Time DLC. Luckily for gamers, there’s a friend hidden nearby ready to help you escape in The Now and Then quest. Working through this quest can be tricky since you’re completely out of your element on this island and there’s a lot you need to get done. Here’s how to complete The Now and Then in Disney Dreamlight Valley. View the full article

What makes Supermassive games intense and suspenseful are the small choices you can make to save characters or track down items that can change a character’s fate. Many of these items are helpful but tedious to find, but The Casting of Frank Stone makes finding these collectibles much easier. Some of these collectibles were revealed in a feature reveal trailer posted today by developer Supermassive before the launch of The Casting of Frank Stone on Sept. 3. The trailer breaks down several vital details that have not appeared in previous Supermassive games, with the biggest one being called the Cutting Room Floor. Here, players act as the director and observe all the key scenes and various choices they can make, getting the chance to replay those scenes to produce different outcomes or track down any collectibles they might have missed during that sequence. View the full article

The future of Resident Evil, Capcom's defining survival horror series, is unclear right now. The next game could be a full RE9, the long-rumored Code Veronica remake, or maybe, as a curveball, a new version of the oft-forgotten Resident Evil Zero. Whatever's coming up, even if you're a longtime RE devout, there's a chance some of the lesser-known games have escaped your attention. Otherwise, you might be a newcomer, eager to give Resident Evil a try, but unsure where to start. Either way, the new Resident Evil Humble Bundle is pretty irresistible - 11 RE games, spanning almost the entire series, for $30. That's $295 worth of games for less than the price of one. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Grab eight Resident Evil games and save over $150 right now New Resident Evil film made by fans is out now and actually good The best Resident Evil game ever is suddenly available on PC View the full article