Couchpotato's Random RPG News

Does Anyone Read This Thread for News?

  • Yes

    Votes: 53 89.8%
  • No

    Votes: 6 10.2%

  • Total voters
    59
Video game actors are worried about AI tech taking over their jobs - News.com
Self-service checkouts, lights-out manufacturing, self-driving cars, and wars raged by robotic drones – automation is coming for everyone’s jobs eventually, and our capitalist systems aren’t equipped to carry us through it.

As I type this, teams are working on machine-learning AI that can write simple news articles with perfect grammar and without rambling introductions. They can’t be self-deprecating like me – and they certainly can’t interview people – but they sure can put words in order.

No one is safe from the death march of technological advancement. Not even actors.
Octopath Traveler II Has Almost Finished Development - Gameluster
We’re excited to finally announce to everyone that Octopath Traveler II’s development is 90% complete. We are currently in the last stretch, so we ask that you wait just a little bit more. Keep an eye out for further information coming out at a later date.
A Plague Tale Requiem Game Length to Be 15-18 Hours Long "No Filler" - MP1st
Speaking in the latest issue of PLAY Magazine (issue #19), Asobo Studio’s Lead Level Designer Kevin Pinson revealed that players can expect A Plague Tale Requiem’s campaign to run somewhere between 15-18 hours long. Do note that this suggested length is based from their own playthroughs, meaning it could potentially be shorter, or longer depending on the player.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force Demo Impressions - The Outer Haven
I’m still skeptical about the game, but dang, did I have fun in this world and fighting with the DUMA system. Though, I’ll probably wait until the game goes on sale before I eventually pick it up
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Mortismal Gaming Solasta: CotM - Inner Strength DLC Details

Sharing information on the upcoming DLC for Solasta that will be adding the monk, warlock, and bard classes!
Marvel’s Midnight Suns Hero History: Magik

From a mundane childhood to the Queen of Limbo, Magik has had quite the journey! Join Comicstorian to learn how Magik grew to become such a powerful sorceress before she joins the Midnight Suns on December 2.
Aaction-Adventure/RPG "KAKU: Ancient Seal" coming to PC - Steam

KAKU: Ancient Seal is an open-world action-adventure fantasy game that lets players navigate their own path through a mysterious continent full of strange creatures, ancient ruins, and unique tribes. Play Kaku an young child, who’s tasked with going on a journey across a sprawling continent.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Should You Play Cyberpunk 2077 in 2022 - Estnn
So… it is tough to sell this game to someone who might not be enchanted by the idea of hanging out in GTA but with a retro-future aesthetic with fewer sandbox elements than you might hope for. Suppose you can deal with that to get some really stellar writing, then more power to you. It can't hurt to give the title a second chance, look at it with fewer expectations and you might even grow to like it. Personally, I stick with that Cyberpunk 2077 is an 8th gen open-world triple-A game that tries to do everything at once and can't seem to excel at even one of the things it sets out to do.
Harvey Smith nearly made a 'Heat'-inspired "immersive sim" - NME
Speaking to NME, game developer Harvey Smith shared some of the games that he nearly made over the course of his career, including a Blade Runner game and another inspired by Michael Mann’s 1996 film Heat.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Hands-On Preview: A Soulslike With Speed - IGN
I was able to play the game for about five hours but spent most of it figuring out how to defeat bosses. As such, I didn't get the opportunity to test out different phase and Divine Beast combinations, builds, and so on aside from my fire phase and Vermillion Bird build. Because your phase also determines what wizardry spells are available to you, I want to try out a bunch of different combinations once the demo is released

While Wo Long is for sure a difficult masocore title, you'll find yourself enjoying plenty of exciting, high-speed, Chinese martial arts combat as you try again and again.

The release version of the game will also contain PvP, which I can't wait for given just how good Wo Long's action is. If you're interested, why not give the demo version a try?
Project Haven September Development Report - Steam
You heard right! Project Haven's Demo is now available to download and play until the 3rd of October as part of the TactiCon event!

It's been a long time coming, but it's now possible to test out all the new features we're been working on these past months.

We'd be super grateful if you could play it and gives us feedback on what you like, what you don't like and how we could make it better!

So what's new since our last update? We're glad you asked!

We've continued with backend updates we've mentioned in the previous update, this time focused on AI and the perception system (hearing and visibility). We've also done some art and animation updates, and finally a new Skill system. Let's break it down!
Harvestella Demo Impressions a turnip with potential - RPGSite
Harvestella’s demo gave me a good taste for the game and I’m ready to take some more bites. The story itself seems relatively intriguing, and there seems to be a dash of humor as well, if a run-in with a hypocritical unicorn is anything to go by. I’m looking forward to other features that have been shown such as the mount, and other standard affairs like raising livestock and using makers. We’ve yet to see whether other genre conventions will appear, and while I certainly hope so, it may well turn out good enough without them.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Video game actors are worried about AI tech taking over their jobs - News.com
This concept is something I learned about known in economy as "the winner takes it all" : IF a company owns ALL things needed to produce somnething, especially robots for manufacturing, they can fire all human laborers and - at the same time - reduce their producing costs so much that all other competors have to close because their wares cannot be sold anymore because they have higher production costs - and therefore their wares are more expensive - than normal people are willing to buy.

If video game publishers are using AI, they can fire even more human laborers, and produce even more good looking games - which are sold better, because the look of a game is *still* after 3 decades the main selling point - and normal people prefer to buy better looking games. Story might even be irrelevant, as the rise of the Axction-RPG sub-genre shows.

So, in the end, the game publers are "winners who take it all", because they can produce everything from a to z and that with even reduced costs because of AI.


Another threat is at the far horizon : Humanity is getting forced to learn to duistinguish between fake news (produced by AI) and real news (in a small countryside village, everyone knows everyone).
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,908
Location
Old Europe
Has @Couchpotato taken a vacation? 👀

Here's some non-RPG news: dev diary #29 of Knights of Honor II: Sovereign (strategy game).


Since I'm in that genre, it also happens to be dev diary #29 of Espiocracy. The game will release "late next year, subject to change", to quote a recent answer from the developer.

 
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
10,156
Location
Good old Europe
One big hurricane while visiting my relatives in Florida and my internet was down at home, and on my phone. So I'll start updating the thread as usual.:whew:
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Enhanced Edition Available - Steam

You’ve heard that we’ve been working on a new update for Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, with some quality of life features, UI improvements, controller support and new mythic content? Can’t wait to become the Archpriest of Nocticula? Or to convince Greybor to sell his soul to you? Or maybe you just like taking a lot of screenshots, like one of our Community Managers who had to buy an additional hard drive for the screenshots of her OTP? Then welcome Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Enhanced Edition! Now it’s available for free to everyone who already owns the game, after you download the 2.0.0 update.
Code of the Savage Update #40 - Kickstarter

SO Kickstarter finally let us center images. What a time to be alive!... Anyway on to the update... I've updated the world map which was very off. The buildings on the map now represent accurate locations and sizes. This will also give you a good feel for the world size. Road locations are now accurate too. I also added a splash of colour.
Zoria: Age of Shattering Secret goal has been achieved - Kickstarter
Congratulations! The secret goal of 50% has been achieved; let us present you with the reward! Brand new class - Nightwardens. Nightwarden will be available to join your team - they will bring new skills and possibilities in combat!
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Weird West - Bounty Hunter Journey Available as Free Demo

Weird West Celebrates First Six Months With Free Bounty Hunter Journey on Steam. The untamed wilds of Weird West have witnessed many changes since its release back in March. We have been hard at work over the last six months, gradually evolving and polishing the Weird West experience based on community feedback.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf - BioWare Community Update - BioWare
Hello, everyone! And welcome back to another BioWare™ Community Update. It’s been a little while since we last spoke, but our work continues—as does the storytelling.

So far, years of effort have gone into our next game, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf™, with hundreds of people working to bring this shared vision to life. We’ve been quietly building it behind the scenes for a while now, so we wanted to give you a look at some stuff we’ve been working on! But let’s start with a little recap for those who might be new around here.
Solasta: Crown of the Magister - Dragonborn Introduction
It's been more than a year since our last proper Dev Update (which marked the end of our Early Access!), with Solasta gradually growing larger and larger with new classes, races, improvements, a higher level cap and even another campaign. And now as we're close to getting the final classes to complete the roster, we've decided to give you guys a few Dev Updates every two weeks while waiting for Inner Strength to be released! But before that... for those of you who never read our Dev Updates before, get acquainted to a tradition of ours. Cats!
Brian Fargo InXile site Update
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Top 5 NEW RPGs of October 2022

In this series, we highlight the Top 5 RPGs for the upcoming month. In this edition, we’re going to take a look at each of the titles, talk a little about each, and then explain why we think they deserve to be on the list. So join me now and find a mixture of some hidden gems and old favorites given a shiny new coat of paint.
The DioField Chronicle - Review After 100%

Talking about the recently released DioField Chronicle after a thorough review of the title!
Skulls And Bones - WHAT IS GOING ON?

In the case of Skull and Bones, seemingly everything that could have gone wrong with its development has gone wrong. The game has suffered multiple reboots, and the identity crisis that goes along with that; it has spent prolonged periods in development hell, where updates on its development have been non-existent; it has seen significant behind-the-scenes issues, from questionably work practices to the constant shuffling around of people in leadership positions; and, of course, it has been delayed more times than some might care to count.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Lies of P - 15 NEW DETAILS You Need To Know

South Korean developer and publisher Neowiz created quite a stir with the release of Lies of P’s gameplay trailer last month. Twisting a childhood fable such as Pinocchio into something murky and macabre isn’t an entirely new concept; no, children’s stories often flirt with darkness.
The Tragedy and Comeback of Cyberpunk 2077

Approximately three years ahead of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s May 2015 release, Polish game developer CD Projekt RED announced plans to develop a Triple-A project based on Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk pen-and-paper RPG. Studio Co-Founder Marcin Iwiński promised the then-unnamed game would boast all the “hallmarks” of The Witcher series, its design molded with “mature and demanding players” in mind. The development team and Pondsmith expressed their confidence in the title’s ability to set a “new standard” for futuristic role-playing games, with “high production values” serving as the most significant goal. No one could have anticipated how short the resulting product would fall from expectations.
Starfield Theme Played by Inon Zur

Multiple award-winning composer Inon Zur, Composer on Starfield, brings his distinctive sound and style to Starfield’s soundtrack. Watch Zur as he plays the “Starfield Theme” from Bethesda Games Studios’ upcoming next generation role-playing game, Starfield.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
IGN's Grounded Video Review

"Grounded is a zany, challenging, and memorable adventure that benefits from Obsidian’s instantly recognizable style, humor, and RPG bonafides, making it one of the best survival games in years. There aren’t many games that I’ve been anxious to dive back into after playing for over 100 hours, but Grounded still has me daydreaming about my next tiny expedition. Even the obnoxiously small inventory space, occasional lost treasures, and continued wonkiness and stability issues haven’t come close to throwing a wet blanket over an otherwise fantastic experience. It’s a testament then to how incredibly strong every other part of Grounded is that these issues did very little to cramp my style or my immense enjoyment."
Cyberpunk 2077: How to Unlock the Secret Ending

There are five Cyberpunk 2077 endings (technically epilogues, except for the "bad" ending) that you can get by simply playing the main story and making your choices - but there's also a secret hidden ending that offers a twist on the finale that feels like about as much of a "canon Cyberpunk 2077 ending" as we're going to get. Here's how to unlock the Cyberpunk 2077 secret ending.
Top-down RPG Airoheart is now available for PC - Steam

Airoheart is a top-down action-adventure RPG inspired by the classics. Embark on an epic journey to save the world from evil and test the strength of your heart in this emotional tale of betrayal, tragedy and redemption. 
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Assassin's Creed Red's Loot System Should be More Like Odyssey - Gamerant
After years of clamoring, Ubisoft is finally giving fans the Assassin’s Creed title they have been waiting for. Set in feudal Japan, Assassin’s Creed Red is the next open-world entry in Ubisoft’s headlining franchise. Red will have extraordinarily high expectations to live up to, and if it wants to succeed the way it should, Red will need to learn from its most recent game’s mistakes.
Armed Fantasia & Penny Blood Successful Kickstarter Campaign - Twinfinite
Wild Bunch Productions and Yukikaze just completed their successful joint Kickstarter campaign for Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood.

Fans have pledged a total of 379,328,385 yen to the two games, which equates to approximately $2.6 million.

All the stretch goals announced by the developers have been achieved, including the latest ones at $1.66 million for Armed Fantasia and $899,000 for Penny Blood.

The success of the Kickstarter campaign should not surprise, due to their pedigree.
Where Winds Meet Q&A - Wccftech
Following the strong excitement generated by the debut trailer showcased at Gamescom 2022 Opening Night Live, we reached out to the development team of Where Winds Meet with a plethora of questions. Today, we are happy to publish the comprehensive responses we got from the developers, which should fill in many gaps in areas like combat and non-combat activities, world size, story, building system, multiplayer, and more. Enjoy!
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Here's some non-RPG news: dev diary #29 of Knights of Honor II: Sovereign (strategy game).

Oh, wow, I didn't know they were working on Knights of Honor 2?
I remember the first game being kind of a mix between a Paradox grand strategy game and a Total War game, so will definitely keep my eye on this one.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,377
Location
Leuven, BE
Oh, wow, I didn't know they were working on Knights of Honor 2?
I remember the first game being kind of a mix between a Paradox grand strategy game and a Total War game, so will definitely keep my eye on this one.
There's a live stream with gameplay on Tuesday; it's usually interesting with Brad (not all people at THQ are bad). If I don't forget I'll try to have a quick peek but the timing is awkward.
We’ll talk more about political view in our DevStream on Tuesday, October 4th, @ 3:00 PM BST / 11:00 AM EST and we’ll be happy if you can join in our conversation. We are easy to find on the map – the Twitch stream will be hosted on the THQ Nordic channel: http://twitch.tv/thqnordic and we’ll be grabbing responses from this post and playing the game live to show how Political View works in real-time!
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
10,156
Location
Good old Europe
ESOTERIC EBB - Wishlist Now on Steam

Norvik's about to hold its first ever election, and somebody just blew up a tea shop. In ESOTERIC EBB you're a chaotic cleric on a divine mission. Unravel a political web of incompetency as you delve deep into this ancient city full of devils, drunk sphinxes, and all manner of fantastical fools.
New World - September 2022 Team Update

Join the New World team for our September Team Update video, where we discuss first year takeaways, the revamped starting experience, Brimstone Sands, Heartgems, the Greatsword, and the Ennead Expedition.
The core team at ZA/UM of Disco Elysium were ousted last year - RPGCodex
I, Martin Luiga, a founding member and Secretary of the ZA/UM cultural association, as well as the assembler of most of the core team, am hereby dissolving the ZA/UM cultural association (not to be confused with the ZA/UM company, on which subject I would note that neither Kurvitz, Hindpere nor Rostov are working there since the end of last year and their leaving the company was involuntary. Which would seem like bad news for the loving fans that are waiting for the Disco sequel.)

The reason for dissolving the cultural organization is that it no longer represents the ethos it was founded on. People and ideas are meant to be eternal; organizations may well be temporary. I find that the organization was successful overall and most of the mistakes that were made were contingent, determined by the sociocultural conditions we were thrown into. I still encourage people to organize, and I would say that one of the qualities that the ZA/UM cultural organization sorely lacked was pretty much any formal structure.

For a while, it was beautiful. My sincerest thanks to all that have rooted for us.
Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms Preview - Gamebanshee
In its early access version, Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms doesn't really succeed as an example of a narrative-driven action-RPG. And namedropping Baldur's Gate is merely a trick to sneak another Dark Souls under your radar.

However, judging the game on its own merits, while not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, it has a certain honest quality to it that makes you want to keep playing it despite whatever shortcomings it may have.

And seeing how these are merely the first stages of Alaloth's early access journey, there's still plenty of time for it to change for the better.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Lost Eidolons - PAX West Recap and Thank You

As you know, the team at Ocean Drive has been working hard to develop and deliver the best game possible, but we also worked many days and nights to prepare for PAX West. PAX West was our first major marketing push where we spent some budget, and there were a few reasons why we decided to be there.
Wartales - Early Access Roadmap Update
We are committed to providing polished, fully realised, high quality content with all of our updates, and unfortunately at this time, Gosenberg does not meet the standard that we strive to achieve, so we have taken the difficult decision to delay its release from the initially stated timeframe shared in our last roadmap.
Steelrising - New Game Plus Mode Available
A brand new patch has been deployed on all platforms, and with it comes changes to Steelrising. Not only the introduction of New Game Plus, arguably the star of this patch, but a balance pass that overall should see the difficulty of the game shift upwards, and some store adjustments that should reduce reliance on cheese strats. Without further ado, let’s have a closer look together!
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Free-to-play action RPG Undecember launches on October 12th - Steam

UNDECEMBER is a Hack & Slash Action RPG in which players are able to surpass the conventional limits of skills by endlessly combining variety of Skill and Link Runes. Become a Rune Hunter and experience the joy of farming and growth!
Top 5 NEW First Person RPGs That you NEED To Know About

2:23 Return to Nangrim
3:45 Ardenfall
6:15 Monomyth
8:02 Avowed
9:43 Wayward Realms
Harvestella New Images and Details - RPGSite
Square Enix has shared a new update on the life simulation RPG Harvestella. They provide a deeper look at the town of Shatolla, introduce a few new characters, unveil several more job classes, and much more.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty isn't shaping up to be a Nioh 3 - RPGSite
Perhaps not everyone that liked Team Ninja's previous outings will be down for what this one has in store for players, but when Nioh 2 already felt like such a refinement of their formula, I can't argue with the team experimenting with themselves, and perhaps getting a bit out of their comfort zone. I can't wait to see what else Wo Long has up its sleeves when it releases early next year.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Designing the Settlements in the World of 'Horizon Forbidden West'

In this 2022 Art Direction Summit session, Guerrilla’s Roland Ijzermans takes viewers on an in-depth journey from the initial ideation to detailed production design of the various environments featured in the game. Sharing a unique insight into the design process used to develop the characteristic look of the factions and its inhabitants of Horizon.
The best mods for Cyberpunk 2077 - PCGamer
Whether you're a first time player or a veteran, you'll be interested to know there are lots of great mods to download and install, featuring everything from flying cars to improved motorcycles, and even mods inspired by the anime series that you can bring to life in your own game. Below, you'll find our picks for the best mods for Cyberpunk 2077.
Dead Island 2 consulted diversity council for “representative” LA - TheLoadOut
Art director Adam Olsson tells The Loadout that while the game features stereotypes like bodybuilder zombies that patrol Hell-A’s Muscle Beach, the decisions on how to parody Los Angeles for Dead Island 2 have been taken with care in consultation with the company’s diversity council.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,178
Location
Spudlandia
Back
Top Bottom