Author: Zach Barbieri

I have spent some time wandering the few streets of 1666: Amsterdam currently available to Noa and Arron at this point in the process; more will be added. The thing is, I am still unsure where I stand on the experience. This is an early access game, after all, not a finished product by any means, but I sit between issues that could be addressed and ones I’m not sure about. I want my words here to be constructive, though, and the nicest thing I can say about the experience is that it reminded me of Vampyr, and that is…

Developer Moon Studio has announced that the 1.0 release of their title No Rest for the Wicked, currently in early access, will be delayed until March of 2027. Previously, the highly anticipated 1.0 release of the action role-playing soulslike was announced to launch sometime in October of this year for PC and PlayStation 5, with an Xbox Series and Switch 2 version to follow, though no time frame has been released for those as of yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXaMfKj-_dg In a video released by the studio, Thomas Mahler, the creative director at Moon Studios, stated, “The truth is simply that, well, we’re…

The developer behind the new tactical game Star Wars: Zero Company, Bit Reactor, has furloughed the bulk of its staff prior to the release of the game. So far, the title has received extremely strong reviews and is becoming a bestseller on Steam, though that appears to have now soured, with word coming out that most of the team behind the game is no longer there to enjoy the fruits of their labor. A report from Game File highlighted a comment by Zachariah Scott, a former Bit Reactor employee, who said the studio was “concealing the fact that the team…

Developer Naughty Dog has confirmed that Performance capture for their upcoming title, Intergalactic: The Herald Prophet, has wrapped. The studio confirmed this via a social media post; they have concluded their “cinematic shoot.” While this news doesn’t mean the game is done, it indicates the project is in or near the final stages of development. Performance capture can take years, with actors being brought in to film the game in chunks while ongoing development progresses. https://twitter.com/Naughty_Dog/status/2094462799560810866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2094462799560810866%7Ctwgr%5E10e87f98d0692abe23f34235effe251b099fcf81%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ign.com%2Farticles%2Fintergalactic-the-heretic-prophet-has-finished-shooting-its-performance-capture-confirms-naughty-dog In context, The Last of Us 2 wrapped with performance capture in April of 2019. The game was ultimately released in June of 2020,…

Sony has announced that the company will be holding not one, but two State of Play Presentations that will air later this week. This news was announced via a PlayStation Blog post in which the company revealed that these two events will be held on Thursday, September 3, beginning at 6 am PT / 9 am ET. These State of Play events will feature “updates and announcements from PlayStation Studios and our third-party partners,” as well as an “extended look at the vast world” of Final Fantasy VII Revelations, which is slated to release in 2027. https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/2094395073182228731?s=20 Immediately after this…

I enjoyed the first Sinking City title. It was pretty much on par with what Frogwares had put out before this with their Sherlock Holmes titles. Imperfect experiences with some creative storytelling and gameplay. Do what you want with this knowledge, but The Sinking City 2 doesn’t really do anything to break this mold for better or worse. What helps soften that blow is an opening title card that reminds you that this tale of love and cosmic horror was built against the backdrop of real-world horrors brought about by war. As most of the team was centered in Ukraine,…

Cassette Beasts 2002, the sequel to the well-liked monster-catching indie title from 2023, has announced that it will launch sometime in March of 2027. We got this release window in a new trailer that was released during the Xbox Showcase at Gamescom. The title is still being developed by Bytten Studio, with Raw Fury serving as the publisher. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sir8MzIhj2c The series draws heavily from Nintendo’s Pokémon series, having been released before Palworld, which is an interesting note given the legal recourse Nintendo has sought against the latter. The title follows a player character and their companions, who gain the ability…

It has been over a year since the last trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI was released, and given that Rockstar has made it pretty clear they intend to meet the latest release date of November 19th, a big drop of info was always on the horizon. Enter Netflix, forming a deal with Rockstar and Take-Two to exclusively drop a near 30-minute deep dive of content first, before it finally went live on YouTube, which it will be later today. The deep dive does not feature any developer commentary, keeping the entire showcase focused on the game and gameplay, of…

There is always promise when adapting superheroes into games. These characters live in a flashy world where buildings get destroyed regularly, and an alien invasion is always on the horizon. Typically, the hardest thing about adapting these characters is crafting them so that they pack a punch but not too much. You want the overpowered characters you grew up with to feel just as tough and unbeatable as you remember, but still killable, because what fun is it if you can’t lose from time to time? Well, all the time in my case. In this regard, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls…

Upcoming cyberpunk title No Law, from The AsNo Lawcent developer Neon Giant, got a new gameplay trailer during Opening Night Live; the game returned during the Future Games Show to get a slightly longer look with some developer commentary. Much of the content on offer remains the same, but here we get some more information concerning player choice and just how much impact you can have on the world around you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80io0Vx1w-w No Law puts players into the role of Grey Harker, a retired vet who is forced into a situation that will turn the cyberpunk city of Port Desire…