Arriving after the success of Moonlighter and The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story, Cataclismo marks the studio’s first foray into strategy games. While much of the marketing and buzz surrounding the upcoming early access release (available on July 22) has focused on its LEGO-like building mechanics and the relentless onslaught of deformed monstrosities players have to survive night after night, it turns out more is happening under the surface.

After spending a few hours with the game, prioritizing its campaign over the skirmish offerings and the endless mode that everyone would’ve asked for had it not been there, I’ve been surprised by how much it owes to RTS classics once you look past its main blocky attraction, and I mean that as a compliment.

Without getting into spoilers at this stage, the world of Cataclismo feels like a mix of Against the Storm and Demon’s Souls, with an added touch of Attack on Titan and Dead Space for good measure. Before the current post-apocalyptic state of its fantasy world, a bunch of mysterious objects the humans called ‘Perlas’ descended from the heavens and everything seemed good. A bit later, however, the Mist showed up and engulfed all that mankind had built and turned anyone it caught into deformed monsters. Now, only the cities that are above the Mist – or can push back against it and the horrors it creates – stand tall.

You’d expect Cataclismo to play things relatively safe and focus on the basic resource management we’ve come to expect from similar indie games and on siege defenses that are literally built with LEGO, but it goes the extra mile to create its own voice and make a stronger impression. At least during its early levels, it manages to present the flurry of systems and interlinked mechanics with ease. That said, only a few of them come across as truly novel.

Cataclismo appears to be one of those indie games that excels at reusing and refreshing old parts that have never been put together before, or at least not exactly like this. When coupled with the striking art style and easy-to-understand flow of the levels, it starts to shine. You’ll be tinkering a lot with your base builds, defined by the planning done in a preparation and gathering phase, to survive past the early scenarios though. This is no walk in the park by any means. I personally went with the default Medium difficulty, but even in this early access build, Cataclismo invites players of all skill levels and experience with RTS games into its cursed world.

After a few tutorials about movement, combat, and exploration that won’t be news to anyone who’s been playing RTS in the past, things quickly shift to base defense and improving the location’s weakest spots as best as you can with the resources you have. On a basic level, you’re just picking up different blocks and putting them together to create sturdy walls, bridges, stairs, and even items that boost the performance of the warriors you’ll have to train as well as the main character, who’s a playable hero of sorts.

Resource-gathering is automatic, but much like the blocks used to build up defenses, gatherers can be optimized to collect more rocks and wood (among other things) and faster. This might not seem very important early on, but you’ll soon appreciate every new drop that comes into your main building. I was expecting Cataclismo to be more limited in its scope, yet the town management aspect eventually becomes as important as building the right walls and traps plus equipping them with defender units. As things get even more complicated, it’ll be interested to see whether the complete loop becomes a chore or things remain frenetic and interesting.

Watching the carnage unfold is equally satisfying regardless of the outcome, as entire structures can crumble if the foundations are trashed and the game never becomes visually cluttered, and while the enemies that attack the bases early on seem pretty basic, we do know things get more savage the further we move into the wilderness. Soon, the ability to save entire builds (and Steam Workshop support is there) with a couple of clicks for easy redeployment becomes as crucial to the experience as the protagonist’s in-universe save-scumming capabilities (yes, really).

Hooded Horse, a publisher who’s been making waves in recent times with titles such as Against the Storm and Manor Lords, could have another winner in its hands with Digital Sun’s latest, yet I’m remaining cautious, as much of Cataclismo’s appeal in the long run will depend on how much each map shakes things up and what new building blocks are added to my collection. For now, I’m going to go add another layer of rock cubes to my exterior walls.

Cataclismo is launching in early access on July 22 via GOG and Steam.

A Purrfect, Stylish Gorifest

If Devil May Cry and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater ever adopted a pet together, it would be Gori: Cuddly Carnage. In this flashy hack ‘n’ slash/skateboard hybrid produced by Angry Demon Studio, you get to play as the fluffy cat Gori, a pet wanted throughout the whole galaxy fighting his way against the evil corporation Cool Toyz alongside his two loyal companions, the cutting-edge hoverboard F.R.A.N.K and the AI cartridge CHIP, who follow our brave cat hero on his journey in search their owner: the Professor who created all of them.

Once the terrifying Adorable Army rebels against humanity and eliminates (almost) all humans in the process, the previously rejected synthetic pet Gori becomes their new target due to his loyalty to them. And despite sending their best and strongest unicorn soldiers to the task, they weren’t expecting to face such an agile, deadly and cute creature on their very first day.

Once Gori shows his claws (and his equally deadly hoverboard which just so happens to be equipped with sharp-edged rotating blades), they’ll know why he bears such a name, as the last thing they’ll see will be their own body pieces flying across the room.

Gori pulls from various inspirations at once and it gives them enough room to show themselves. While it’s your traditional hack ‘n’ slash, gameplay is done entirely by riding your hoverboard, accompanied by a charming platform-like level design that really shows some heart. The comic book style it sports brings the extra charm, making it incredibly visually appealing to whoever looks at it. If Sonic Riders wasn’t a racing game, it would probably play similarly to this. Just with a bit less dismembering and blood.

Gori only attacks his foes personally during his finishers, while F.R.A.N.K and his blades will do the job most of the time. And thanks to this, you’re always hitting the sickest airborne skateboard moves whenever you’re styling on your enemies, which range from cutesy unicorns to not-so-cutesy toys always ready to be ripped apart in the bloodiest way possible. The game’s not named “Cuddly Carnage” for nothing.

The game leans a lot of the “cute game goes bloody” genre as one of its main selling points, alongside its NSFW dialogue that feels like it came straight out of a South Park episode. If you’re not a fan of those, you might be icked out immediately. But there’s more to see than just this, such as the appealing futuristic visuals (because everything has to be a bit Cyberpunk these days), surprisingly great customization and a very easy-to-access Photo Mode to record your best moments while tearing your enemies apart. Oh, we also got a cute cat!

From Cat Owner to Cat Owner

Much like Stray, this is another title for cat lovers. You have a key entirely dedicated to meow. And you can just spam it. It’s almost impossible to stop! There’s also a lot of customization for Gori, and it wasn’t hard to turn him into one of my real-life cats. And nothing can convince me that making a violent but cute cat hack ‘n’ slash wasn’t a cat lover’s idea. If you never got a really bad scratch after innocently giving your hand to your cat to play with, can you even call yourself a cat owner? Cats were born for this type of game, and the developers here get it.

Gori is the only character who goes completely mute throughout the game (aside from meows, of course), and his companions will do most of the yapping, especially F.R.A.N.K. He’s the soul of the party with his constantly spicy remarks and his foul-mounted dialogue. Ironically, he’s the only one to be censored whenever he drops an F-bomb or anything similar. You can pay an almost insignificant amount of money to remove his profanity filter, but it’s honestly much funnier to keep it on.

CHIP, on the other hand, is a depressive, always gloomy AI that does prove his usefulness at all times despite his mood. These two rarely failed to give me at least a quick smirk whenever they started discussing the current mission. Vibes are high at all times, and you meet numerous troupes, parodies and references you discover as you explore the galaxy and its ridiculousness. We got annoying cute mascots, written onomatopoeias and even an It-like jack-in-the-box toy as one of the bosses. Can’t wait for a Freddy Fazbear look-a-like.

As previously mentioned, levels are ingeniously designed around the hoverboard, and they are one of the strongest points of the game. You’re always surfing at high speed through the levels and it doesn’t get repetitive, despite doing the same loops over and over. Exploring these futuristic planets while doing air flips with a talking hoverboard just hits differently. Especially when you’re a cat. A very cool cat with its own theme song. And cool cats don’t look at explosions.

Combat can be a bit weird to get at first, but becomes a lot more engaging once you get the hang of it. New upgrades such as the grenade launcher help immensely with that. However, some enemies can spoil the fun out of you with their obnoxious attacks and higher-than-expected resistances before they’re staggered. Juggling enemies on the air is still amazingly fun regardless, true to the game’s inspirations. They go even harder with features like the Witch Time-like buff you get by perfectly dodging an attack or the combo ranking score going from D to P (Paw-some!).

Out of the bosses I’ve faced on the first three levels, they were either a hit or miss. They all creatively use the environment during the battle but get really annoying if you’re not able to 1-cycle them. One of them, in particular, involved completing a small jumping puzzle before you could trap it in electricity to expose it to your attacks. Missing a jump and having to redo a whole platforming section was mildly infuriating, especially when the boss didn’t bring anything interesting to the table either.

Let Him Sharpen His Claws For a While

There were other letdowns, such as occasional performance issues despite being way above the recommended setting and the never-ending feeling that certain levels were just dragging on for too long. All of them range from 30 to 40 minutes on average, but some of them could do with a few less without compromising anything important. There was only a single collectible type too, and maybe there was space for some more.

But I know that some of these issues can (and probably will) be fixed by the actual release, as I was only playing a preview build after all. And it’s not like the game is completely ruined by it, as I still had a hell of a time slashing my way through fluffy creatures that curse like a sailor and become more twisted as I go forward. You’ll get a lot of giggles from time to time, but it feels just like the perfect palate cleanser if you’re tired from a long day or another more exhausting game.

Despite my gripes on the mentioned points, I still enjoyed meeting Gori and it’s something to keep an eye on during this year. The full game will be available for all modern platforms (including PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) on August 29th, 2024, so give it a shot if you enjoy living the fantasy of a cat single-handedly bringing down an entire corporation in the nastiest way possible. Would love to see it happening in real life.

Gori: Cuddly Carnage will be available on August 29th, 2024 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Lasting around 40 minutes, the Dark and Deep demo is split into several small sections, each defined by a ‘gimmick’ of sorts, that introduces the key mechanics and ideas that will permeate and glue together the entire experience. Woods, the lead (and largely solo) developer on the project, initially conceived Dark and Deep as a smaller experiment that injected art from renowned artists into game art and assets. According to Woods, he was deeply inspired by the visual storytelling of A24 movies like The Lighthouse and Midsommar. The French legend Gustave Doré (1832–1883) is credited as the influence behind much of the game’s art and textures.

Such an approach to building Dark and Deep’s most surreal environments makes certain elements of the game come to life give the entire thing a striking, dreamlike touch that feels unique. Going into the demo, I was expecting a far more constrained and familiar experience. Instead, I got something that felt like a layered fever dream.

At first glance, and without reading about what Woods is going for, Fatal Frame could be brought up as an influence, and the veteran horror series may very well be part of the mix, as the main character, Samuel Judge, uses frames and windows as weapons and to gaze into secrets. But these frames isn’t as prominent and game-defining—at least not yet—as the cameras in the Koei Tecmo-published games.

Instead, Dark and Deep comes across as more of a riff on games like Alan Wake (due to all the meta elements and the unreliable narration) and brainier, puzzle-oriented takes on horror. At least during the game’s earlier sections, combat isn’t really a thing, though an opportunity to defend yourself from ‘shadows’ arises at some point during the breezy demo. While I’m sure things will get a lot worse for the protagonist as the story progresses and more secrets are uncovered, the focus of the game doesn’t appear to be focused on heart-pounding chase sequences or tense combat encounters. It’s more of a slow-paced, exploratory stroll through some deeply cursed environments.

On the matter of level design, I was seriously impressed by the variety packed inside the 40-minute demo. The preview is bookended by two vehicular sequences that are really well put together (given the game’s art style and slightly retro vibes), and the bulk of it takes players through a number of underground scenarios that feel distinct and easy-to-read when it comes to the objectives that must be achieved. More often than not, plenty of cool little horror games, especially first-person ones, feel confusing instead of briefly disorienting. Dark and Deep avoids all that with clear art and smart use of assets.

Alongside the smart use of visual tricks and constant stream of specific situations, the demo does a good job of presenting a story with a hook, though it’s hard to predict its direction, and I doubt that will change before the full game’s credits roll. It truly feels like one of those ‘don’t believe anything you see or do’ kind of horror games, with the main character’s own psychology and muddled memories quickly becoming the most dangerous element of the script.

During the game, a conspiracy theory podcast voiced by Eric Albaugh pops up time and again, subtly adding to both the world and the task at hand. This is a highlight, largely because it’s so well-made. Do you love the unsettling but often funny Night Springs programs found in the Alan Wake games? There’s a lot of that energy in the segments used in the demo, even though the medium (within the medium) is entirely different. Together with the heavier-in-plot sequences, it’s not hard to start piecing together events that kind of make sense and a mental image of a protagonist who might not be who he thinks he is. That said, it’s far too early to tell where Woods could ultimately be taking this loopy horror tale.

Though it doesn’t have a specific release date yet, Dark and Deep is set to launch in August 2024 on Steam and Xbox consoles. This same demo will be available starting June 10 for an entire week on Steam.

The Dark and Deep demo is available from June 10 to June 17 on Steam. Dark and Deep will officially release in August 2024.

A Cult Classic, Improved

Shadows of the Damned is an action game created by Suda51 (No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil), with a score from Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill). For those of you who are uninitiated with the plot of the title, check out the synopsis from its Steam page:

“A hot-blooded, hellishly twisted, feverishly filthy, love and hate filled road trip
Join the crass Garcia Hotspur and his boney buddy, Johnson, as they traverse the depths of the Underworld to steal back Garcia’s kidnapped lover, Paula, from the clutches of Fleming, the Lord of the Underworld. Let the soul of rock ‘n’ roll run loose in the heart of the twisted hellscape that is the Underworld.”

I tried out the demo of Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered for a good 15 minutes. Though my time with the title was short, I got a good sense of how the game feels. Fortunately, I can say the screen tearing from the original PS3/Xbox 360 release is no more. Also, I believe the frame rate was running at 60 fps instead of 30 this time around, leading to a smoother experience. The gameplay was still brutally hard, and I embarrassingly got stuck on a fight midway through. Controls did take some getting used to, as you can switch weapons and have an alternate fire mode that you use to light dark areas and stun enemies, but players will surely acclimate to them in time.

Picking the Brain of an Industry Legend

After getting my butt kicked, I sat down with Suda51 and asked him a series of questions. Please note: a translator was on hand to relay my inquiries to Suda51, and his responses to them.

What made you decide to revisit Shadows of the Damned?

Actually, we’ve been wanting to do a remastered version of Shadows of the Damned for a long time. We talked to EA about it a long time ago and they said, “Yeah, that would be cool. But it will have to be Origin-based. It can’t be multiplatform.” So I held off. That was a long time ago. I talked to EA about it again, and they ultimately helped out and were being cooperative. And I was able to get it on non-Origin platforms, on all different consoles, so I decided to go with it. Yeah, it’s something that’s kind of been in the back of my mind for a long time and now finally become possible.

EA reportedly shot down some of your ideas for Shadows of the Damned when it was in the concept stage. Were you able to implement any of them into this version?

There wasn’t really anything from that stage we could put in this one. It’s basically a straight up remaster of the original which is what we wanted to do for a long time, for various platforms. There are a couple of new things that were added, though. Not like you know, scoring-wise, but for example, New Game Plus, which is something that we wanted to add the first time around, but just weren’t able to. And also there’s a handful of new skins for Garcia, as well. Especially in New Game Plus. Otherwise, it’s a straight-up remaster of the original.

Are you interested in making a sequel to Shadows of the Damned?

That’s actually something that’s been getting asked a lot recently. Honestly, if Hella Remastered sells really well, then that’s definitely something to look into. Everybody, buy as many copies as you can!

Can you speak to why you and James Gunn weren’t approached to do the Lollipop Chainsaw remaster?

Honestly, we have nothing to do with it whatsoever. There’s nothing me personally or Grasshopper can say about it. It’s not our game, we don’t own the rights. What are you gonna do?

How has the collaboration with Swery been with Hotel Barcelona? Are you able to gel and bounce ideas off of each other?

Hotel Barcelona is something me and Swery have been discussing for a long time now. There’s been lots of times where Swery’s like, “What do you think of this idea or this idea?” Or he asks me to provide a little bit of my own ideas, as well. But basically right now I’m focusing most of my attention on the new title I’m working on. I haven’t been as involved in Hotel Barcelona as Swery, he’s doing most of the heavy lifting.

Can you tell us anything about Grasshopper’s Manufacture’s next game?

(Laughs). It’s an action game. It’s not an RPG. It’s also not a visual novel.

I’ll take what I can get! This is a personal thing that I would like to see. With some of your back catalog re-releasing on modern consoles, is there any chance Killer7 can come back. I know it came out on Steam.

Killer7, that was published by Capcom. It’s definitely something I’ve thought about. At this point, the only deal between me and Capcom was to release it on Steam. That’s not to say it won’t ever come out somewhere else at all. Never say never. It certainly would be an interesting endeavor. That would be cool.

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered will release later in 2024 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S | X, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.

What is The Rogue: Prince of Persia?

The Rogue: Prince of Persia is a collaborative effort between Evil Empire — the team behind Dead Cells and many of its DLC additions — and Ubisoft to bring the Prince of Persia franchise to a new genre. While initially skeptical of how well the gameplay of PoP would translate into a Roguelite, I left this hands-on preview thoroughly impressed.

After a brief introduction by the Ubisoft team to The Rogue: Prince of Persia, I was given 30 minutes to experiment with the game. I wasn’t sure what to originally expect, especially since the last Prince of Persia title I played was the self-titled reboot from 2008, but I was eager to see what the team had put together.

Although our session was done through remote play, the controls and combat were both what I wanted — smooth, snappy, and precise. With a primary attack scheme consisting of three buttons, I had complete control over the Prince’s main attack, a secondary attack, as well as a powerful kick that could be used to knock enemies away from my location or plummet to their doom off of a ledge.

In addition to the standard attacks I was able to pull off, a variety of moves that could be used on a vertical plane were also available to me. While my preferred weapon in this session was a standard sword, other weapons can be purchased during a run alongside plenty of buffs and other unique items, much akin to Dead Cells. The melding of genres is surprisingly on point, with familiar items being revamped to fit the Prince of Persia theme and still feeling unique.

It wouldn’t be a proper Prince of Persia game without the iconic Wall-Run, a feature that is implemented perfectly here. While combat may be one of the many ways that I could have met my demise, tricky platforming sections are peppered throughout the tightly woven stages to provide an ample challenge to even the most dedicated of Roguelike fans.

Story details, while sparse at the time of the preview, gave me my first look into the eyes of the new Prince, the reason for his ability to come back to life to try again after his failures, and what he is hoping to protect have me intrigued but not entirely sold just yet. That being said, this was a fairly brief time to play and learn about this upcoming title — things are bound to change before the full release.

A Change Of Formula Goes Surprisingly Well

The sights and sounds of The Rogue: Prince of Persia had to have been one of my favorite parts of the hands-on preview. Beautifully rendered backgrounds played hand in hand with the fluid animations of the characters themselves, but the star of the show here had to be the soundtrack. I’m already drooling in anticipation for it to be on Spotify or somewhere I can stream it, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since my preview time.

The Prince of Persia franchise has always had some of the best music in gaming, but The Rogue: Prince of Persia takes things to a whole new level, in my personal opinion. While it may not be everybody’s cup of tea, the electrifying soundtrack made exploration just as exhilarating as the combat. Each area that I was able to visit — a main hub and two different levels of my choosing — provided a taste of the tunes in store, and they were delectable, to say the least.

Voice acting, at least in the build that I was allowed to play, was mostly non-existent outside of the occasional mumble and grumble from NPC characters. You’ll also hear the standard clash of swords and the agonizing pangs of death from those who have just been defeated — no matter if it was an enemy or the Prince, himself.

We can’t leave without discussing the graphics, which emulate a hand-drawn style in a 3D plane. At first, I have to admit — I wasn’t sold on the changeover from the more realistic tones of the series past, but as I played more and more, I began to love the general look and feel. Yes, it’s slightly ironic coming from someone who also played and loved the 2008 reboot, but the more simplistic look and feel is quite clean in motion.

Animations are fluid and string together well, even in some of the more fast-paced sections of The Rogue. Switching from a wall run to a grab to a climb to combat is fast, smooth, and responsive — all that I could have asked for in a game such as this. I still have questions as to why The Prince is purple, but I’m hoping we get more context on that in the future.

Colors are vibrant and pop off the screen, no matter where I could find myself exploring. Both teams have done a stellar job of bringing this world to life with an art style, unlike anything I had personally seen before. Much like Dead Cells, it’s a game that gets more visually impressive the more that you play it.

When Can You Get Your Hands on The Rogue: Prince of Persia?

Even while playing, I couldn’t shake the thought of stopping. I wanted to keep going, perfecting every run and making sure that I could deliver the Prince to his destination as safely as possible. The tight combat, stellar soundtrack, and general vibe of the game had me itching for more — and I’m happy to say that it won’t be long until I can play again.

The Rogue: Prince of Persia will enter Early Access on May 14, 2024. It will be available on Steam, as well as Ubisoft Connect with more platforms likely coming down the pipeline in the future. Evil Empire and Ubisoft are releasing the game in Early Access while continuing to build upon what is there while taking Community Feedback into account to make the game the best it can be. This may sound familiar to those who have played Dead Cells previously, as Evil Empire molded it into one of the best Rougelikes available.

At the end of my session, I was immediately ready to jump back in — but my remote connection was ended before I got the opportunity to do so. Needless to say, I’ve already marked the Early Access date on my calendar, and if my boss sees a sick-day notification come through, it’s totally not so I can play this all day.

The Rogue: Prince of Persia releases in Early Access on May 14, 2024, for PC.

Make the Experience Your Own

The opening of the demonstration started with the player character appearing in a prison, speaking to a mysterious individual. It immediately moved into character customization. There was a good variety of races, skin tones, and other aesthetics from which to choose. I particularly enjoyed seeing a vitiligo option, which is good for representation. You are then given multiple dialog choices for three aspects of your past: your mentor, your homeworld, and your caste. Mentor determines your starting abilities, homeworld affects how characters view you, and caste has an impact on your dialog choices. The Pain Box makes an appearance after you finalize your choices, but the footage moved ahead so as not to spoil any story beats. A shame, as I was looking forward to a tense scene.

The setting shifted to the desert planet Arrakis, and it was there we were given a good look at the title’s gameplay. Unreal 5 is utilized to create beautiful environments and visuals. A tutorial area allows gamers to get familiar with the game’s mechanics, starting with inventory crafting, which appeared not too convoluted to understand, and a free-climbing system. One of the main selling points of Dune: Awakening is that it’s closer to the book series than the films, so you’ll see more plant life and denizens on Arrakis; it isn’t a barren world.

Introduction to the World

As the footage skipped ahead again, players are taught an important lesson about Arrakis: don’t stand on the open sand too long, or the sandworms will get you. It was also emphasized that the worms cannot be killed: you either avoid them by getting to rocky sanctuary or get eaten up alive. But it isn’t just sandworms you have to worry about, as the player character can get sunstroke from being out in the desert too long. Moving into shadow will assuage the damage the sun does to your water levels, though you will need to drink water to replenish your bar. Interestingly, you can inject too much water, as well, so it makes for an interesting dynamic to navigate. If it is balanced well in the finished product, it will make for a good strategy instead of being an annoying attribute to constantly monitor. Players can salvage materials using a cutter device: the more focused they are on cutting objects, the rarer materials they will receive.

We also got a look at how a single-player Trooper character approached attacking an NPC base. You can craft pistols out of gathered materials, and weapons in the Dune universe fire a bit slower due to everything being spring-loaded. Combat seemed a bit basic, but we were viewing a beta build, so I’ll cut it some slack. Another build using a Mentat character was a bit more interesting, as you could use an ability called Battle Calculations to see through walls, and call on a Hunter Seeker drone to dispatch foes for you. The Hunter Seeker had some disadvantages, too, as it couldn’t track enemies that weren’t moving, which will make for strategic PvP battles.

Player Bases are a key part of Dune: Awakening. Gamers can siphon blood from downed enemies and bring it back to base, purifying it into water. Of course, if you are desperate to top up your water levels, you can drink blood from baddies right away, but it debuffs your health meter. Players can also build bases with their friends, with one person acting as an architect and the other actually building the architecture with materials. You can copy any base in the game and use the schematics to replicate it elsewhere within the world. Vehicles can also be crafted at bases.

World Events and Closing Impressions

As the presentation drew to a close, we were given a glimpse at the game’s World Events. The example we saw was a spaceship being downed on the planet. Players have to strategize, whether in PvE or PvP, how they will collect resources from the ship and weigh whether to ambush other enemies or players, or just take the goods and run. World Events will also differ depending on the time of day.

Other aspects of Dune: Awakening were discussed during the presentation’s Q and A. Spice will be a versatile resource in the game, acting as a currency, ability point, or even an addiction that you must feed. A political system will be a main component of the finished product. There will be no couch co-op, as players must join a server to access multiplayer. Fast travel will not be an option because the developers want gamers to have fun riding vehicles across Arrakis. PvP can be opted out of if one so desires. And after launch, the ability to ride sandworms will be added.

All in all, Dune: Awakening certainly sounds like an ambitious MMO. Every aspect of it appears impressive, and there is certainly a lot of content for gamers to enjoy. Since it is a game-as-a-service title, though, its longevity will depend on how big and engaged its player base is with the amount of content the developers provide. In addition, it is difficult to gauge how fun the game is to play, since the public still has not gotten a chance to try it out for themselves (only a closed beta is available for people to experience). Hopefully, all the hype will be worth it as we await an official release date.

Quite a Mashup

Renaine is a game about overcoming failure. You control the Phoenix Knight, Aine, who must defeat the evil Dragon to avenge her fallen friend, Ren. Luckily, she is cursed with the ability to respawn endlessly, so limited lives are not something to fuss over. Aine can jump, slash with her sword, and dodge roll, which are all the abilities you need to beat the game. You can utilize more advanced tactics during the adventure as you learn new skills. Additionally, the title is something of a roguelite, as the level layout changes every time you die.

Of course, I did not experience such changes, as I did not die during the demo. Renaine‘s developer, Squidly, was by my side the entire time, offering advice. He described the game as a mix between Super Mario World, 3rd Strike, and Thousand-Year Door. Quite a mix, but you can see it in the title’s platforming, combos, and RPG elements. Players can hop on foes like Mario to dispatch them, but they have the option to swing Aine’s sword in a basic four-hit combo (there will be advanced combos in the full experience). Enemies drop coins, which can be used to purchase side weapons like a fireball, axe, or bomb from a talking octopus (the axe’s arc is quite wide, and takes a lot of getting used to). There are many NPCs you can talk to, as well, one of whom I managed to offend by lying, saying I shared an affliction with them (they had an upside down face). I promise to be a better person in the full game.

As I continued my playthrough, I was happy to see how much depth Renaine offered me. Not only could I employ my sword and sub weapon, but I could buy a little pet named Chompy who helped me destroy baddies. You can even transform into things like tiny mushrooms to access hidden areas. What I was most impressed by, though, was the boss fight against The Kraken. Not only did I love the wrestling lingo employed during the fight, but the boss phases were quite fun to figure out. I had to trick The Kraken into destroying blocks that revealed spikes underneath, and gode him into launching an attack on me while I dodged out of the way and he hit the trap. Then The Kraken switched to a tower machine that shot balls of energy I could deflect, eventually revealing a target I could swipe to cause damage. A great challenge.

Putting my Thoughts Together

For me, Renaine checks off a lot of boxes in the “things I love about video games” category. It has a colorful cast of characters who are witty. The pixel art is vibrant and colorful. Jazz permeates the soundtrack. And the gameplay loop is fun and satisfying, perfect for newbies and more advanced players. Gamers who are interested in checking it out can wishlist and play a demo on Steam. It will launch sometime in the future on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Just Relax and Have Fun

When I started the demo as the main character Corgster, I was told there were really no objectives, and to just explore and have fun. The only bit of guidance I got from developer Dan Scalise was to check out a small mountain in front of me and find a statue if I wanted to power up with Corgi Butt Power and gain the ability to climb the terrain. I did so because a bunch of cats were telling me my legs were too stubby to climb anything, and I had to prove them wrong.

Once I ascended some hills, noticing the stamina wheel that was very reminiscent of Breath of the Wild, the world became my oyster. I was free to utilize the dedicated poop button, and was bemused to find out I could eat said excrement. A denizen of the island shouted “CORGI!” and ran away in terror as I chased them. There were bones to collect and other statues to uncover, one of which gave me a cape and allowed me to glide in the air. Overall, I only had five minutes to test out A Corgi’s Short Hike, but it was enough to tell me that this is mainly a game of relaxation.

Inspiration and Motivation

I was lucky enough to get a chance to talk to Dan before and after my meeting. As I suspected, the game’s aesthetic is inspired by A Short Hike, while its gameplay pays homage to the Spyro the Dragon series and Banjo-Kazooie. There is no death, violence, or game overs in the title. Corgster is a Pembroke Welsh corgi, but you can unlock a Tri-color and Blue Merle variant, among others. While you can scale the mountain and reach the top as a main objective, the main message of the experience is to have fun and teach islanders to enjoy the little things in life. Only two people are involved with the game, Dan and artist Johnson Do, and anyone who buys the game will have 10% of their purchase donated to animal shelters.

A Corgi’s Cozy Hike could be many players’ dream game. It has things to collect and secret paths to discover for those completionists out there, but it is also just a meditative adventure with a sandbox in which you can get lost. If you are intrigued by my description, you can wishlist the title on Steam and even try out a demo. The full release is shooting for a Q3 2024 launch window, and may hit consoles after that date if it does well enough on PC. I’m hoping it does, because this seems tailor-made for the Nintendo Switch.

Getting My Bearings in a Nostalgic Setting

Full disclosure: I am a console gamer and have not used a mouse and keyboard since the early ’90s when I played Doom on my cousin’s computer. As such, it was difficult to get adjusted to my Phantom Fury playthrough, but that is due to my rustiness. What I did notice, however, is that the path forward at the start of the demo wasn’t clear. 3D Realms’ Social Media manager, Eric Lesperance, was on hand to offer tips about where to go. I knew I had to go to the bar in front of me, reach the second floor, grab a key, and then head out the back door on the ground floor.

However, even with that knowledge, it was difficult to open the back door with the key. It appeared that you had to be looking at the door in a specific way to get the prompt to open it. Even after that, I had issues opening up the passage to the mine section with a set of explosives. Again, I had the equipment necessary to do the task, but the controls were a bit finicky. Luckily, it was smooth sailing for the rest of the demo. In addition, Eric said he would let the higher-ups know about the issues and hopefully fix them for launch.

Gameplay-wise, Phantom Fury was pretty solid. The main character, Shelly, moved with great speed, devoid of any clunkiness. Weapons were a blast to use, too, seeing as how each sidearm had a secondary function. Bowling Bombs could be thrown to explode on impact or could be turned into timed grenades. Shelly’s main weapon, Loverboy, had the best alternative fire. Players can lock on to multiple targets and then unload simultaneous headshots. Echoes of Perfect Dark, for sure, but it’s a welcome homage.

However, the enemy AI didn’t light my world on fire. Within the mine area and outside in the desert landscape, most baddies seemed to stick to a predetermined script, picking up barrels and throwing them at Shelly. Bigger foes stuck to one or two attacks and were easily flanked, even with my rusty mouse skills. Before my time was up, I was braving a stealth section where I had to dodge sniper fire. It was at this point the speedy movement slowed to a crawl as I looked for cover. Not a bad thing to include, but Phantom Fury‘s main strength is in how fun it is to dispatch adversaries with various weapons. Hopefully, stealth isn’t a big inclusion in the main game.

Related: Shadow of the Depth Is a Diablo-Style Roguelite That Looks Amazing [Preview]

Phantom Fury Burning Questions, Answered

Eric, being the great Social Media manager he is, stuck around to answer some important questions. No, Shelly and Duke Nukem don’t have a collaboration video game in the works because Gearbox owns the Duke Nukem IP, not 3D Realms. The graphics are heavily inspired by Half-Life 2 and look great, and the series will probably pay homage to a later era if another title in the franchise gets made. DLC for Phantom Fury could get made like it was for Ion Fury, but 3D Realms wants to see how well it will sell first. Over 20 unique weapons, all with secondary firing modes, will be included in the main campaign. There will also be unlockable skills and upgrades for your suit and powerful bionic arm.

Phantom Fury will launch on April 23 for Steam. Gamers can wishlist it here. It will be released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S | X at a later date.

Shadow of the Depth is an upcoming roguelite that evokes those games but puts them into a beautiful art style, gives you five different characters to try out and master, and then sets you loose against a mix of horrifying monsters and bosses. It looks like customization will be key here, too, with over 140 passive abilities to discover and combine and plenty of skills and combos to master.

The combo system might be one of the biggest appeals here, too, because while many ARPGs just sort of devolve into clicking things and waiting for cooldowns, Shadow of the Depth lets you time your button presses to pull off different strings of attacks. Think of something more akin to Devil May Cry in that respect, and we think that sounds absolutely amazing.

Related: Against the Storm Highlights (and Breaks) the Limitations of Modern Roguelites

If you like the sound of all of this, then you’ll be glad to know that the release date is April 23, 2024, which means it’s less than a month away. If, however, you lack patience, and trust us, we get it, then you’ll be even more glad to know that there’s actually one whole demo you can download on Steam right now, and better yet, that demo is free. Most demos are free, and we’d never suggest you play a demo that wasn’t free, but the point is that you can go out there right now and download the game and check it out.

Why take our word for how excited you should be about this when you can just go play it anyway? But also you should trust us because we have your best interests in mind.

Shadow of the Depth releases on PC on April 23.

I played a pre-alpha demo of Deathbound and left the experience in awe of its party-swapping mechanic. Characters in the game were known as Essences, and you could jump between four teammates at a time to build off of combo strings and abilities unique to those fighters. 

In one second, I’m firing off lightning bolts as a spellcaster, then tapping a button to slam into battle as a hammer-wielding warrior. Afterward, I’m a rogue with a crossbow, trying to create some distance before leaping forward as a nimble spearwoman.

While not a requirement, it’s beneficial to specialize in one or two things in Soulslikes, whether spells or greatswords, but Deathbound instead promotes variety at the snap of the finger.

Deathbound also has this playful, rhythmic rotation that complicates and makes combat engrossing enough to bring home its most unique aspect. As you attack enemies and nail perfect dodges, you build a Sync meter to combo-swap into another Essence. 

It takes a bit of skill to time these inputs because Sync attacks are animation-locked, but it’s the only way to switch characters quickly and keep the momentum going. Otherwise, you’re stuck awkwardly shifting Essences through a slow animation and become vulnerable to enemy strikes. This becomes all the more crucial since each Essence has their own health pools, stamina, and movesets for different encounter scenarios, but it only takes one death to get a game over.

Related: Deathbound Gameplay Trailer Highlights Creative Soulslike Combat

It all felt like a balancing act of knowing who to lead with and when to switch things up as you’re up against multiple enemies. Deathbound feeds the fantasy of dipping into various playstyles whenever you like, but ultimately, how it demanded me to be tactical and understand the nuances of each character convinced me this setup has a lot of promise.

The idea gels with the game’s leveling tree and belief feature shared between Essences. In each system, characters are bound together for better or worse, and this plays into which Essences work well together and even the benefits/negatives of your overall team. For instance, one character might believe in something totally different from another (or they probably just don’t like each other), and this influences what positive or negative stats the team receives. 

Those with conflicting backgrounds had the highest boons, like increased critical damage, but the trade-off is the whole team takes more damage. Healthy relationships among the group don’t have these harmful effects. However, being a daredevil and having a team of people who absolutely hate each other might be worth it based on how you build the Essences. 

The leveling tree is teeming with upgrades, but some of the best are only accessible by investing in one character over another. Unfortunately, the pre-alpha version of Deathbound doesn’t offer anything besides stat increases. Still, I got the gist that the leveling process will subtly impact a player’s decision of who they’ll bring into battles, which synergizes with the game’s theme of party management and choice.

Related: Deathbound Trailer Reveals Techno-Medieval Soulslike for 2024

All of this is fantastic, but in execution, Deathbound still has a ways to go. After the demo, I’m most concerned about the environments and enemies. At several points across the demo’s dilapidated setting, combat felt terrible due to the small rooms and bending pathways you’d fight through. 

Some enemies would practically walk through the damage I was dealing and not stagger, so at times, I got pinned to a wall. Unstaggerable foes are totally fine, and I’d welcome them in any Soulslike game, but they become annoying when the battle arena isn’t great to fight within.

The demo had all the typical kinks you’d expect: enemies bugging out on walls, stiff character animations, and rough combat balancing, but overall, its focal idea shined through.

Developer Trialforge Studio has already successfully implemented what makes Deathbound unique well, and if the studio can further optimize the feel of the experience and fix its technical bumps, this may just be a sleeper hitter.

Deathbound will be available on Steam.

If you never heard of Endfield until now, it’s easy to understand why. In all the buzz of genre forerunners Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail, developer Hypergryph has been pouring time into Endfield in the background. It’s the spin-off graduation from its tower defense RPG mobile game Arknights, one that steps into the ring with other real-time 3D games.

But even though Endfield is a departure from its mobile predecessor, most of the roots of Arknights – from tactical gameplay to lore – add crucial substance to the upcoming game.

Your team of Operators in Endfield, the anime-styled characters used in battle, still have a role system and telegraphed damage abilities like in Arknights but have far more nuance inside a 3D world. With one character, I could use an arc-sweeping ability to hit multiple enemies and swap over to another with a straight projectile attack to combo foes into the air. 

As you sprint down tight cargo bays and badlands with mountainous paths, the tactical nature of how and when you use these skills offers powerful creative choices based on the environment. Operators also represent different elements and can randomly spawn orb-like drops on the battlefield after using skills, which a character of an opposing element can attack with their skill to spark explosions, pulses of electricity, and more to damage and debilitate enemies. 

Related: Is Zenless Zone Zero a Gacha Game?

These qualities culminate in a combat system where team-building/real-time planning takes precedence. While this is nothing totally new for gacha games, Endfield doubling down on emulating the tactical top-down experience from Arknights into 3D made for a fascinating blend with a lot of upward potential unlike anything else on the market.

It’s not all roses, though. Animations are stiff, enemies didn’t stay alive long enough to take advantage of elemental orbs, and most characters only had one ability and an ultimate. The foundation of combat is certainly compelling, but I found it lacking in breath when it came to characters and engaging with its elemental system. To be fair, I only played an early version of the final product, but I’m hopeful the developer grinds out the combat further.

On the flip side, the entire AIC system during the technical test outshined everything else, and frankly, I got very obsessive with it through most of playtime. The Endfield AIC is essentially the RIIC base constructing feature where you can build and manage facilities in Arknights, but the former is a much more complicated beast.

You’ll spend hours growing your home base, adding devices that can break down plants or wood and stuff them into a crafting machine to spit out set-based equipment gear for Operators. 

Things get more complex as you unlock a tree dedicated to the base building. Here, you can use resources to unlock newer facilities or devices like an electrical assembly line to transfer materials into machines automatically while exploring. You can even plant AIC devices out in the game world, like zip lines to navigate vertical areas faster or electricity towers to connect power from your base to a juiceless monitor to enter restricted zones.

Related: All Characters in Honkai: Star Rail Ranked (Tier List)

The base building is so shockingly rich and fun to mess with. Anyone unfamiliar with strategy sim games might feel overwhelmed; however, the system’s thoughtful tutorials will help click everything into place. It becomes this near-addicting activity with progression milestones that fights for your attention just as much as exploring to find secrets does in Endfield, convincing you that investing more into it will benefit you in the long run.

Paired with the AIC system, exploration felt just as fantastic. Overcoming environmental obstacles and revealing new paths always felt earned because you spent the time hunting for materials and making the proper technology to move forward. As standard for gachas, Endfield also has the usual flair of collectibles and treasure chests across maps, but they don’t feel tossed in to keep you busy and instead help you do more with AIC or earn rare goodies.

There’s so much to Endfield, and most of it actually works, even in an early build. That said, what does cause concern will be the narrative and characters.

Endfield has this great setup of your character serving a unique role in the world, but the pacing of everything feels dull and quickly falls into the background as you get acquainted with gameplay systems. Characters are just as dry (even though I liked their designs) with bare personalities, and the voice acting doesn’t help with their appeal. 

These are kinks gacha fans will scrutinize Endfield for, but I believe the AIC, exploration, and combat will make up for any downsides. The game’s design feels intentional, knows what it wants players to experience, and has a strong hook. If the final product manages to knock out concerns from testers, Endfield might be joining the table with other popular gacha games very soon.

Arknights: Endfield will be available on PC, iOS, and PlayStation.