Two years after the original, The Last of Us Part II Remastered has now landed onto PC
- By Ash
- in News
Two years have gone by since The Last of Us Part I first arrived onto PC, and while it has been quite a excruciating wait, I'm happy to say that The Last of Us Part II Remastered has now finally landed as well in order to get the PC squad up to speed on the whole story. In terms of features the PC version brings with it HDR and ultrawide support, a variety of graphic options to mess around with, as well as the now-standard support for upscaling technology like NVIDIA DLSS 3, AMD FSR 3.1, and AMD FSR 4.0.
While not particularly relevant for us on PC given that this is the only version available, the Remastered upgrade brings with it a roguelike survival mode with a bunch of different characters, an in-game tour of three early-development levels that ended up getting cut and, a personal favorite, hours of developer commentary sprinkled throughout the game for those of us that like to peek behind the curtains!
In order to clean up the balance mess left after Patch 7.38, Dota 2 has now launched Patch 7.38c
- By Ash
- in News
Despite the humble name, Dota 2's Patch 7.38 is one of the most ambitious updates the team has ever done. As you would expect, with great changes come great balance problems! So much so that even Valve, a developer that is notoriously slow and cautious, has now released three hotfixes in a relatively short amount of time in order to iron out all of the kinks.
The newest of the bunch, Patch 7.38c, brings with it a couple of changes to the Dire side of the map, as well as a plethora of rebalances for the freshly reworked neutral items. The all-powerful Mana Draught has been nerfed yet again, though I imagine it's still going to be the best item for any spellcaster, while the somewhat mediocre Pollywog Charm and Ripper's Lash have received a small yet still very relevant buff.
MTG Arena's Dragonstorm set will be bringing us back to the plane of Tarkir on April 8th
- By Ash
- in News
It took an entire decade for us to get here, but Magic: The Gathering will finally be returning to the plane of Tarkir this April 8th on MTG Arena, with the tabletop release following shortly after on April 11th. As you would expect from a set called Tarkir: Dragonstorm, there will be a massive amount of flying lizards to mess around with, as well as a plethora of cards representing each of the five tri-color clans. The main goal behind the set, according to Wizards of the Coast, was to create a nice middle ground between Khans of Tarkir and Dragons of Tarkir which, so far, they seem to have done rather admirably.
You can check out the full list of cards, as well as their various alternate arts, over at the official card gallery. Before you get too excited about some of the inclusions, it's important to note that the Ultimatums and Fetchlands are a part of the Special Guests bonus sheet and are therefore not legal in Standard. Don't be too disappointed if you open any, however, as not only do they come with cool artwork, but most of the bonus cards have some sort of place in older formats.
You Should Try: Dark Souls - One of the finest games ever made, and a personal favorite
- By Ash
- in You Should Try
"You Should Try" is a series of articles where I'll showcase you a game I really enjoy while explaining what exactly makes it fun. This can be any game, new or old, indie or AAA, the only requirement is that it has to be something I've found myself greatly enjoying and in need of sharing with the world.
Today I think you should try Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition - a combat orientated RPG that is so good it practically ended up creating a genre of its own. It features an expansive and interconnected world, plenty of viable playstyles and weapon choices, a difficulty curve that will always keep you on your toes, and just the right amount of frustration to make each victory feel all the sweeter!
The Stone of Madness is a highly stylized stealth/tactics game from the Blasphemous team
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
I have to give it to The Game Kitchen, they are not an easy studio to predict! They went from making point & click adventures to grim yet stylish Metroidvanias, and now they're working on what looks like a Commandos inspired real-time, stealth focused tactics game!
Set in an 18th-century Spanish monastery, The Stone of Madness will put you in control of five prisoners, each with their own unique skills and resources. However, unlike games like Commandos where you play with a team of hardened veterans, your characters in The Stone of Madness aren't exactly the most... stable bunch. So not only will you have to navigate obstacles and deal with all sorts of enemies with them, but you'll also have to manage their phobias and their dwindling mental health.
Slay the Princess is a horror-adventure starring a definitely-not-an-eldritch-monstrosity princess, and it's quite good!
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
If you're in the mood for something a little bit unusual, you might want to check out the somewhat recently released Slay the Princess. To put it quite simply, it's a narrative-driven horror game where all you have to do is slay the princess in order to save the world. Naturally, things don't stay that simple for very long as the story quickly spirals into a myriad of different directions, time loops and other bizarre scenarios, all of which will slowly lead you to the truth behind it all.
Since trying to explain all of this through words alone is a bit of a futile endeavor, allow me to instead share with you the freshly posted launch trailer. Have a gander, it should hopefully clarify a couple of things... hopefully:
Chants of Sennaar is a clever and colorful language-based puzzle game
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
If you're a fan of puzzles games and you're in the mood for something a little bit out of the ordinary, you might want to check out the remarkably charming Chants of Sennaar. Inspired by the Tower of Babel myth, Chants of Sennaar puts you in the shoes of a traveler attempting to decipher ancient languages in an effort to restore the connections between the now-divided peoples of the tower.
In order to do that you'll need to collect, catalogue and expand upon a variety of phrases, solve all sorts of tricky puzzles, and once you find yourself in some of the more hostile areas, even do a little bit of sneaking around to get to the bottom of things! What all of this looks like in action, as well as what it sounds like, that you can check out through the launch trailer below. Have a peek:
