Patch #5 for Baldur's Game 3 has been released:

Patch #5 Now Live!

Version Number: 4.1.1.4061076

Hello everyone,

Patch 5 is now live for Baldur’s Gate 3! Today’s patch is our most feature-filled update yet, and we’ve prepared a special Community Update to really do it justice. For a deep dive into Patch 5, head here.

This update brings brand new epilogues, new game modes and much more - including improved inventory access. No more recruiting and dismissing party members to get ahold of that clown corpse they’ve been holding on to for you. Thanks, Karlach!

Patch 5 is also so beefy, it has once again been defeated by the Steam character limit. Head to the following link to witness the notes in their magnificent splendour. We recommend reading over them with a nice mug of something warm, next to a roaring fire.

Please note that with new patches, some installed mods may become temporarily incompatible. If you experience any issues after installing Patch 5, please check if the issue persists with all mods uninstalled. If it persists, please reach out to our support team with your report.

Without further ado, here are your Patch 5 highlights. Thank you for all your feedback, and thank you for playing Baldur’s Gate 3.

HIGHLIGHTS

Main Highlights

• Epilogue: An entirely new section at the end of the game after the defeat of the  that aims to provide a well-deserved sense of closure with your allies.
• Two new play modes: Honour Mode and Custom Mode.
• Many performance improvements, particularly in Act III.
• Added dynamic resolution for PS5.
• Players playing on machines with low VRAM/RAM should see improved performance.
• The game is now available in Korean!
• While at camp, you can now access and manage the inventories of companions who aren't in your active party.
• Added a brand new fight in Ramazith’s Tower 
• Orin’s outfit now drops as loot and is wearable by anyone. We also gave it a suitably disgusting description and name.

[...]

The Turn Based Lovers present their favourite roguelikes of 2023:

Top 25 Best Turn-Based Roguelite Games to Play in 2023

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Spoiler Warning:

Cyberpunk Director Breaks Down Phantom Liberty Endings

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Couchpotato spotted the Dev Diary Recap #2 for Bloodlines 2:

Dev Diary Recap #2 - Phyre & Narrative

Good evening Kindred,

This week, we have another recap diary where The Chinese Room Community Manager Josh Matthews meets Ian Thomas, Sarah Longthorne and Arone Le Bray. In this recap, Sarah recaps parts of her dev diary, and is joined by Ian Thomas and Arone Le Bray to go into more depth on the main character, as well as answering a few fan questions relating to the main character and the dev diary on Narrative Atmosphere and Themes.

[...]

Tim Cain compiled Arcanum as a native Windows 10 application:

Arcanum As A Windows 10 App

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The sci-fi RPG Honkai: Star Rail won the Google Play’s Best of 2023 award - Best Game:

Google Play’s best apps and games of 2023

We’re announcing the winners of Google Play’s Best of 2023 awards, highlighting this year's most outstanding apps, games and books across various categories.

[...]

Best Game: Honkai: Star Rail

This sci-fi extravaganza takes the title of our best game of the year thanks to its excellent depth of content, stunning visuals and thoughtful design. By sprinkling lore and character backstories throughout the game, Honkai: Star Rail delivers lasting entertainment for role-playing game enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

[...]

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The Adventure-RPG Noctuary has been released:

Noctuary | Gameplay Trailer

Noctuary is a dual-protagonist Visual Novel. Players can play the role of the duo, Fancia Dream and Alina Nightsong who have dreams of "becoming Arborangers who protect and serve everyone." Travel through the fairy-tale-like world as the duo, experience their lively daily adventures, and gradually encounter the life story of a mysterious girl who came down from the sky.

Meanwhile, don't forget to fight against the everpresent monsters - "Darkritters!" These dangerous enemies threaten the life of Illuminators constantly. Sharpen your fighting skills, defeat ferocious monsters and ensure peace in your community!

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RPGamer has reviewed Star Ocean: The Second Story R:

Star Ocean: The Second Story R Review

Star Ocean: The Second Story was one of my favourite games growing up. I must have played it more than ten times, I could recite parts of it line for line, and it’s a game that gave me some of my dearest friends whom I still speak to today. Not every RPG stands the test of time, but Star Ocean: The Second Story is often one many RPGamers cite as being both a favourite game and an influential release. When Star Ocean: The Second Story R was announced, I remember laying in my bed with my broken arm, screaming how I wanted the game injected into my veins at that moment. Gemdrops has created a worthy remake that is not only more accessible than the previous iterations but has made what is arguably the most definitive edition of the game to date.

[...]

As soon as Star Ocean: The Second Story R released, I was glued to my recliner and I didn’t want to stop playing. Not only is this a favourite gem from my childhood, but this edition is definitely the definitive one. Everything Gemdrops has produced in Star Ocean: Second Story R shows a lot of love and respect towards the original game while making it much more accessible and fresh to newcomers. While I will always cherish my memories of the cheesiness that is PSX edition, the joy I felt replaying a favourite game was strong throughout. Star Ocean: The Second Story R is the best Star Ocean game hands down, and every RPGamer owes themself a chance to enjoy this amazing remake. You won’t be disappointed.

Score: 4.5/5

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Gematsu reports that the strategy RPG The Legend of Legacy will be released on March 22, 2024 in the west:

Gameplay Trailer

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Mortismal Gaming reports some new details about Dragon's Dogma 2:

Dragon's Dogma 2: Release Date & New Details

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11 Bit Studios published the prologue of The Thaumaturge:

The Thaumaturge | Prologue Long Gameplay No Commentary

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The Steam page for Dragon's Dogma 2 has listed a release date of 21st of March 2024.

Dragon’s Dogma is a single player, narrative driven action-RPG that challenges the players to choose their own experience – from the appearance of their Arisen, their vocation, their party, how to approach different situations and more. On your journey, you’ll be joined by pawns, mysterious otherworldly beings, in an adventure so unique you will feel as if accompanied by other players while on your own adventure. All of these elements are elevated further by the latest in graphics, artificial intelligence (AI) and physics technology to create a truly immersive fantasy world in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam.

Learn more about character building in Zoria: Age of Shattering:

Stats - how to build your hero?

Commanders!

In Zoria: Age of Shattering, a classic tactical RPG, you can develop the character as you like. However, maintaining a balance and distributing stat points when leveling up according to the character's class will make the game more enjoyable.

If you'd like to play a warrior-type character in Zoria, it'd be best to invest your points in Strength (if you're planning to be in the first line or carry a shield) or Agility. Agility better suits more nimble heroes or those attacking from a distance).

Casters, on the other hand, will benefit the most from Agility and, of course, Intellect, which will influence their Mana pool and Crit Chance. High Intellect means your character can cast more spells, and they will hit your enemies harder!

Stamina will increase your character's health. It'll be extremely important, no matter what type of hero you'll be playing as, especially at the beginning of the game! Zoria can be challenging, so there's no point in making it harder, right?

Follow us on Twitter and join our Discord if you haven't already. Let's stay in touch!

Until next time,
Tiny Trinket Games

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Eurogamer reports how Bethesda's customer support is responding to negative Starfield reviews:

Bethesda responding to negative Starfield reviews on Steam

A Sa-turn of events.

Bethesda's customer support team has been responding to negative Starfield reviews on Steam.

Starfield had a strong start, becoming the "biggest Bethesda game launch" of all time. Those numbers rose over the first few days of release, with Starfield's concurrent player count previously beating Skyrim's concurrent player record on Steam.

But despite these initial player numbers, Starfield currently sits with a 'Mixed' review status on Steam. At the time of writing, 69 percent of the game's 80,365 reviews on the platform are positive. The rest are, obviously, less generous.

Perhaps in a bid to turn these negative Starfield takes into a positive for the game, members of Bethesda's customer support team have started responding to certain reviewers on Steam.

As spotted by social media account JuiceHead, the team has taken the slightly unusual step of explaining to the people leaving these negative reviews that the game is good, actually. It has then asked them to consider the amount of effort that went on behind the scenes to make a game of such scale.

In response to one user that called Starfield's story "generic" and the gameplay "boring", one member of Bethesda's customer support staff replied with a post highlighting everything players can experience in the game.

"You can fly, you can shoot, you can mine, you can loot!" it wrote. "Starfield is an RPG with hundreds of hours of quests to complete and characters to meet. Most quests will also vary on your character's skills and decisions, massively changing the outcome of your playthrough."

It then suggested the reviewer gives the game another chance, but this time tries different characters with different backgrounds.

"You will feel like you are playing a totally different game," it said. "Put points in different skills from a character you've previously created, and you are now faced with completely different decisions to make and difficulties to encounter."

[...]

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Mortismal Gaming presents his 2023 Game Awards:

My Personal 2023 Game Awards

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:20 Indie
02:20 Action
03:23 TRPG
04:21 My Son's Pick
05:38 Soulslike
06:45 DLC
07:30 Least Favorite
08:34 GotY
09:39 Wrap Up

Matt interviewed Dr. Wade Langer aka Prof Noctis:

MC514: Prof Noctis

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Fextralife recommends some RPGs of the current Steam sale:

Steam Autumn Sale 2023: RPGs, Soulslikes, and More! Must Buy Games Steam Autumn Sale 2023

Timestamps
0:00 - Steam Autumn Sale 2023
0:54 - Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen
1:46 - Divinity Original Sin 2
2:28 - Mass Effect Legendary Edition
3:14 - Monster Hunter World & Monster Hunter Rise
4:06 - Assassin’s Creed Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla
5:13 - Lies of P
6:27 - Starfield
7:33 - Remnant 2
8:44 - Lords of the Fallen
9:57 - Hogwarts Legacy

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The isometric RPG Circle of Swords has been announced:

Circle of Swords

Circle of Swords is an isometric, party-based fantasy CRPG with a focus on dungeon crawling.

Try it right now with the Free Demo!

• Tactical Combat: Inspired by the time-tested systems of classic RPGs, I've created a wide variety of spells, status effects, combat abilities, and enemy types that come together to provide an exciting range of combat scenarios.
• Non-Combat Options: It's not all hack and slash; Adventures are designed to provide a good amount of non-combat approaches as well. Your characters can complement their fighting skills with persuasion, stealth, lockpicking, mind-reading, tracking, athletics, a wide selection of knowledge skills, and much more.
• Deep Character System: The sheer number of character classes (over 100!) provides an infinite range of build possibilities. With experience your adventurers will unlock additional class slots, allowing near-endless character progression.
• Buy Once, Free Updates Forever: A onetime purchase entitles you to the whole game and all future updates. This game is a passion project for me and I intend to continue development indefinitely. Also, I don't believe in microtransactions, even for cosmetics.

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Gamingbolt interviewed senior writer Magda Zych about Cyberpunk 2077:

The Big Interview – CDPR on Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty’s Development, Update 2.0, Cyberpunk’s Future, and More

With Cyberpunk 2077 having completed its redemption arc, CDPR senior writer Magda Zych speaks with GamingBolt about the game's journey and what the future might hold for the property.

With the one-two punch of the radical improvements of Update 2.0 and the incredible Phantom Liberty, Cyberpunk 2077 has well and truly completed its redemption arc, but though CD Projekt RED is now ready to move on from the open world RPG to the many other new projects it has in development, there’s still plenty left to unpack with Cyberpunk 2077 itself. Recently, we had the chance to shoot across some of our most burning questions about the game in the wake of Phantom Liberty’s successful launch to CD Projekt RED’s senior writer, Magda Zych, who spoke with us about the expansion’s development, the process of overhauling the base game, what the future holds for Cyberpunk, and more. You can read our full interview below.

Cyberpunk 2077 has had an eventful journey from launch to now, nearly three years later, and it’s fair to say that things have turned around significantly for the game. Can you talk to us about what that journey has been like, and what your biggest takeaways have been from these last three years?

For me, this whole journey was divided into certain distinct stages, and it started even before the base game’s release. When I looked at the finished dialogue graphs and saw how extensive they were compared to the graphs in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I had a feeling that this was an enormous undertaking —  this stage contained some anxiety and great expectations. Right after the launch, there was a period of shock and denial. Then began a period of reconciliation and trying to understand what happened, a period of discussions on how we can fix everything — and then probably the longest period of releasing updates and, in a sense, healing. We, as scriptwriters, started working on the Phantom Liberty expansion as the first team; the first brainstorms took place way before the release of Cyberpunk 2077, so we didn’t have that much time to think about the aftermath of the release, but even we could see a clear change that came with it, for example in how we expressed concerns within the whole team instead of the “do it and see how it goes” approach.

After Update 1.6, many would have thought that with the vast majority of the game’s technical issues having been addressed, there wouldn’t be any further major changes to the base experience. At what point was it decided to introduce the many system and gameplay overhauls that Update 2.0 brings?

It’s not the case that there was some decision after Patch 1.6 to introduce the changes that came with Update 2.0. Some of what was there was already planned earlier, but many of the changes came from player feedback and from how we saw gamers interact with the game, what we thought could improve their experience more, etc. We were working on these improvements and changes alongside the Edgerunners Update, aka Patch 1.6.

[...]

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Creative director Matt Cox and senior producer Kayla Belmore share their lessons learned in developing and shipping Tiny Tina's Wonderland:

Making Chaotic Great, 'Tiny Tina's Wonderlands': Finding Precedent in Unprecedented Times @ GDC

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The action RPG Arisen Force: Vonimir has been announced for 2024:

Arisen Force: Vonimir

Arisen Force: Vonimir is an A-RPG game featuring exquisite high-definition pixels, it combines the engaging RPG adventure storyline with the Stylish Actional combat experience. We create a magnificent Middle-Earth world, for players exploration and adventure, recruit teammates, collect and develop business, challenge enemies, reveal the secrets of the world, guide the future, forge your own legends:

Features

• A magnificent fantasy world for players to explore, develop and other interesting experiences.
• Exquisite HD pixel style and ingenuity hand-painted, experience picturesque play art style.
• From remote villages to magnificent castles, from desolate deserts to silver ice sheets, enjoy the vast and distinctive landscapes.
• In a chaotic world, interact with all forces and write your own epic chapter.
• Smooth action strategy combat with rich skill modules,and it can instantly switch teammate anytime,
  challenging the World BOSS , the ultimate path will always be left to the Warriors.
• More than eight kinds of unique weapon modules,it will continue to be enriched with the follow-up development.
• A free kit system of weapons and skills,it's Ok to be a mage wielding a giant sword, or a hunter who tanks the enemy, interesting and powerful.
• Rescue and recruit teammates, build them with unique equipment and skills for your exclusive forces.
• In addition to adventure, there are taverns, forging, trade and other activities as travel seasoning.
• On the basis of the world outlook, we add some linked characters makes the game journey more interesting and full of surprises.

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Couchpotato spotted a story trailer for the card battler HeistGeist:

HeistGeist - Story Trailer

Couchpotato spotted the strategy RPG Demiurges:

Demiurges Trailer

Demiurges is a strategic roguelike game. Your task will be to keep the world from extinction. To achieve this, you will have to create a deck of cards that will define your strategy, and then direct the actions of your heroes to defeat your enemies.

Map
The player can move around the map with all of his heroes. While exploring, they can find new items, resources, objects with unique abilities, and enemies who will be valuable sources of experience. As you defeat the guard, a new area of ​​the map unlocks with new challenges. After the player captures the game, the entire map changes to the next level.

Cards
One of the most important things to success is creating the right deck. You can create it before each skirmish from previously unlocked cards. Cards are dropped from packs you can buy with gems earned during the game. To use a card, you need resources that you can produce or obtain on the map. Be careful, some cards require sacrifices to be used.

Fight
When you meet an opponent on your way, you can attack him. The battles take place in a turn-based system on a board divided into hexes. Units move depending on the initiative they have. Units have different passive and active abilities, so you must think about each move to make the best use of their skills.

Town
Each faction has its own town. With cards, you can expand them to support your plans. You can build new buildings, recruit units, create special constructions and produce resources.

Demiurge
You start each game with one Demiurge, but you can recruit more by map events or using cards. Demiurges are powerful units that can cast spells and use powerful artifacts. By defeating new enemies and gaining experience, the demiurge is able to learn new abilities and become even more powerful. In addition, he gathers an army that supports him in the fight against opponents.

NeocoreGames announced an expansion for their Tactical RPG King Arthur: Knights Tale, called Legion IX, where you play the game from the perspective of the Ninth Legion (Undead). The expansion is scheduled for early 2024:

King Arthur: Legion IX | Cinematic Reveal Trailer

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Fextralife summarizes last week's RPG news:

NieR Still Alive, FF7 Ever Crisis Coming to PC Soon, Diablo 4 Free Trial and 40% off - Top RPG News

Timestamp
0:00 - Top RPG News of the Week
0:04 - Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis Coming Soon
1:19 - NieR Will Continue
2:23 - Throne and Liberty Striking Trailer MMORPG
3:28 - Zoria Age of Shattering Tactical RPG
4:44 - Hogwarts Legacy Surges to No.1 on UK
6:18 - Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition
7:26 - Last Epoch November Dev Update
8:30 - Diablo 4 Free Trial and 40% Off on Steam
9:25 - Guild Wars 2 Expanded Weapon Options

Learn more about cooking in Stoneshard:

Devlog: Cooking

Hello everyone!

Today the topic is Cooking, a mechanic that will play a significant role in both your adventures and the Caravan System.

Important note: the effects, prices, and availability of most existing foods will be rebalanced in Rags to Riches. The numbers you see on the screenshots are also subject to change.

Cooking can be split in two parts: Basic Actions and the cooking of dishes.

Basic Actions include Roasting and Meat Salting. Roasting is basically the Cooking of the current version of the game. In Rags to Riches it’ll be performed through a separate menu with an option to roast multiple ingredients at once rather than going through them one by one.

Salting requires any type of meat and a few handfuls of Salt. Once preserved, meat loses some of its nutritional value but can be stored indefinitely, which is quite convenient during prolonged expeditions or when you want to preserve the spoils of your hunt for later.

The preparation of actual dishes is more complex. First of all, you’ll need a recipe. Some basic recipes will be available to all characters from the beginning. The rest will have to be found, bought, or earned through high Reputation in settlements. For instance, reaching Respect in Osbrook will make it possible to purchase the secret of preparing Osbrook Bread Bowl Stew, in Mannshire - Mannshire Fair Salad, in Brynn - Harpy Omelette à la Brynn. For now, we’ve created 37 different recipes, but their total number might grow by the time Rags to Riches is out.

[...]

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Mortismal Gaming checked out the action RPG Seven: The Days Long Gone from 2017:

Seven: The Days Long Gone - First Impressions

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The open-world RPG Exoplanet: First Contact is still in Early Access - learn more about the planet K'tharsis: 

PLANET K’THARSIS

The story about how K’Tharsis was discovered and who inhabits the planet now.

Hello folks!

We continue to tell you more about the world of the game and now we’d like to pay more attention to the planet K’Tharsis. In the previous post dedicated to the setting we deepened a bit into the history of the planet, and this time we want to share how exactly it was discovered and why it has such a motley population.

A bit of history

K’Tharsis would remain a wild planet forever but for captain Brennigan who had to make an emergency landing on an unfriendly looking planet. A precious mineral called antigravium brought fabulous riches to the captain, but he hardly managed to use them. Very soon the poor guy was found tortured to death in his new villa. And the news about antigravium Klondike spread across the galaxy with the speed of light.

K’Tharsis became the most desired aim of adventurers of all kinds including criminals and outcasts. Right after them the planet was invaded by corporations, and the biggest of them was called Terraform. To get antigravium these people never hesitated to resort to violence, having no mercy both for people and for kvargo — native population of the planet.

Kvargo was a great race that once degraded after the cataclysm. They were quite controversial about people who came to their planet. Some part of them believed that if they possessed human technologies, they could restore the greatness of the past. Others suspected that people from the stars would bring only suffering, so they had to go back home.

Nobody knows how far this confrontation could go. But suddenly the war in the galaxy makes most of the corporations go home — the planet becomes cut off from civilized worlds. Besides, the antigravium has almost come to an end, so most corporations leave the planet without any remorse.

[...]

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Tim Cain is talking about the end of Troika:

Late-Stage Troika

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GVMERS is looking back at the cancelled MMORPG Fable Legends:

The $75M Game That Killed Its Studio - The Tragedy of Fable Legends

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Couchpotato spotted a trailer for the action RPG Enotria: The Last Song:

Enotria: The Last Song - Official Technical Showcase Trailer

Like every week the RPG Crawler sums up the computer and tabletop RPG news:

RPG News Roundup (11-25-2023)

Gameinformer talked with chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto about the combat styles in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name:

How RGG Made Like A Dragon Gaiden's New Secret Agent Combat

Earlier this month, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio released its second – and not to mention best – game of 2023, the hilariously longly titled Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. One of the most notable features is how RGG rethought its classic brawler combat. Protagonist Kazuma Kiryu now has two fighting stances, Yakuza and Agent, the latter of which comes with a host of new secret-agent tools, such as an exploding cigarette, a Spider-Man-like cable he can use to whip enemies around, and so on. 

We recently had a chat with RGG series chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto – who we spoke with last year about the future of the studio – to learn how Gaiden's new combat together, maintaining the series' identity despite how much has changed over the years, and why RGG doesn't look to other games for inspiration.

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity.

GAME INFORMER: Can you walk me through the early conversations about expanding Kiryu's fighting styles with the Agent stance?

Hiroyuki Sakamoto: We had discussed two points: what gadgets to use and whether they could be put together in such a way that they could be considered "a style."

First of all, this time, Kiryu is in the position of an agent, so we decided from the early stages of development that we wanted to include something different from the yakuza styles of the past. Since our main focus has been on full-contact fighting battles, we decided to include a battle style that had never been seen before. We were aiming for something tricky and strategic, not just button-mashing combos.

At first, the story was developed independently of each other, with the story being the story and the battles being the battles. As development progressed to a certain extent, we began to link the gadget settings to the special skills of the Daidoji faction. Therefore, the enemy agents of the Daidoji faction also began to use their own gadgets, thus tying the storyline and the battles together.

[...]

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The tactical RPG BEAST got a first major update:

Early Access - Major Update #1

New languages, missions, enemies, weapons, companions, camps, and so much more.

Hello everyone,

We've been hard at work readying up things for today.
This is our biggest update so far and it brings a wealth of changes to improve your time in BEAST and give you lots of new content and variety now with more supported languages! It has been very important to us that we take our time with aspects that may alter the core gameplay. We have added new missions, enemies, weapons, companions, camps, and so much more.

We've also worked on a ton of fixes and improvements largely based on your fantastic feedback received on Discord and forums. If you haven't played in a while, please pick it up again and try things and let us know what you think. As always with indie titles, we're eternally grateful for your support in caring and sharing BEAST to your friends. If you haven't given us a review yet, we would love for you to do so as we read all of them! Lastly if you believe in our work, feel free to nominate us for the Steam Awards and help spread the word about the game. It would mean so much!

[...]

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The historical RPG Tales of Three Kingdoms: The Mortal World has been announced for 2024:

Tales of Three Kingdoms: The Mortal World

Tales of Three Kingdoms: The Mortal World is a 2.5D role-playing game developed by Softstar Entertainment Inc.

The game story is set in the Three Kingdoms period. The game’s protagonist is Dou Fu, who has always tried to live a low-key life in this chaotic period. But one day, Dou Fu begins to get involved in different events after meeting the “Princess” from the Han Dynasty. During the game, players will face various challenges and situations. The choices players make will lead them to different endings…

The game’s main combat feature is Combo. Players are able to link characters’ different types of skills together in a single move to defeat enemies. In addition, Collecting Generals is also an important mechanic of the game. Players can recruit various heroes from Three Kingdoms to form the best team.

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