I'll keep an eye out for this! Though they missed a trick not building a game mechanic on traditionally giant...accesories, often attributed to Tanukis in folklore.

@GirlVersusGame Baldur's Gate 3 is a lot simpler than Wrath of the Righteous, and you can switch up your build completely at any point.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is quite peculiar in that you're expected to constantly change up your stats, which is free. But it's overall a bit more dense and challenging, you can play an undead lizard though!

@Athrum I know nothing about 40K so I think it'll take me a while to get going - honestly the only reasons I've not started it yet is I know it'll be HUGE, and no weird alien party members from what I've read, it's all humans? Are they interesting though?

@GirlVersusGame I used to really hate most cRPG's, I did enjoy Baldur's Gate 2 but that was the exception.

Wrath of the Righteous really won me over too, I also played a fox lady! You'll love Divinity: Original Sin 2 when you get to it, especially if you've played and enjoyed BG3. It's a slow start, but a great sense of adventure.

I still need to play Rogue Trader, but this looks great too! 2027 is the first year in ages I've been genuinely excited for a number of games due out

Reminds me of Mass Effect - for some reason the male voice actors just sounds a bit corny and flat, like the actor is doing their best tough guy impression at a dinner party. I'll likely play the cap as a woman.

However it's Owlcat, so regardless I'm excited to see this - they make really superbly deep RPG's, and this world will be great. This, Fable and Exodus will make it 2027 an incredible year for RPG's.

Governments becoming entangled in buying rights and assets from corporations would be very Deus Ex. Every year is another step towards it these days.

That said, the model works fantastically for Australia and S. Korea, I've never understood why more countries don't follow suit.

I'll definitely play this sometime, Clive Barker is one of my all time favourite authors. The Hellbound Heart is incredibly unsettling, Hellraiser 1 was a bit more fun but still excellent, and I love the second is just an 80s fantasy but through a horror scope.

This game sounds like it manages to sit between all three perfectly.

@thechetearly totally unrelated to GTA 6, but excellent taste in music! That's a great album by The Chariot, only heard it recently.

As for GTA 6, it looks fun. I'm sure it will be. But I'm not feeling a real great hype. No doubt when it floods everywhere I look it will though, and I'll buy it soon after anyway.

I just want a return of San Andreas territory system really.

Everyone's looking at this the wrong way - if you can put away £4.00 a month you'll have saved up enough to pay for the game by the time they reveal the first pre-rendered opening cinematic, and the first remaster by the time the game release date is confirmed.

@GirlVersusGame I was thinking my initial answer wasn't very helpful (although it is the best way to learn).

A few general tips for Monster Train & deckbuilders in general that might help:

• you don't always need to select a new card, only add a new card if you can see a use for it. Smaller, more focused decks are generally better.
• choose a strategy in the first couple levels, then build on it. If it doesn't work out, you know for next time, but trying to do everything in a run will leave you with nothing.
• These games you'll lose more than you win at first, but in Monster Train you'll gain new cards that will give you an edge, even a loss will unlock things!
• There's no shame in avoiding the hard fights. Generally I'd choose the optional difficulty sliders for the first two bosses (eg. 150 gold but enemies start on every floor), but after that only if I know I can beat it.
• for Monster Train 1 - stick with 'Hellhorn' to start, they're the simplest and will let you learn the ropes. 'Awoken' are a great next step, that will give you more strategy but you can still win by hitting hard and tanking hits.
• And lastly, enjoy experimenting - don't worry about win-streaks, just try weird and wonderful strategies as they present themselves.

@GirlVersusGame I know what you mean, especially when you try a new faction. Honestly I just played it a lot, and picked up things as I went (and lost) - basically brute-forced it.

I'm sure there would be online tutorials out there, unfortunately the in-game one isn't very good! But it really is worth it, the first time you land on a ridiculous strategy that has you power through it's really rewarding and fun.

I must have put close to 800 hours into both games, and I'm still finding something new to try each run.

Monster Train 2 is fantastic and massive, one of the best roguelite deckbuilders - but I already own it, alas. Dead Island 2 looke fun though

@FuzzieGinge88 I agree, either AI or they're just lying.

It's beyond tasteless to take real tragic footage and use it for a fictional story.

But I'm also not surprised, I wouldn't expect Activision and Call of Duty to be anything more than a heartless Corporate machine using what they can to sell the most products.

I see the director chose his angles for their artistic merit. I'd forgotten about this though, as long as it's less fan-servicey in the Final Cut this could be great!

The real coin machines down Brighton Pier are what taught me from a young age that I must never gamble. I lost so much pocket money to those 2p machines before I stepped away and put it into Pokémon cards and JRPG's instead.

Now, finally, it's all come full circle.

@trev666 this 100%.

Final Fantasy and numerous other JRPG's were spread across multiple discs in the 90s, the Dark Souls Trilogy came in 3 discs in one package on PS4.

It's perfectly possible, it's just as you said, they don't want to lose the money they did on GTAV to the secondhand market.

I had to cancel Netflix as it's cost was getting out of hand for something I wasn't watching often, but I'll renew it later in the year or early next mainly for this.

I'm glad they did something different - Season 1 was superb, but I do like a good slow burn character-driven stiry in sci-fi.

@GirlVersusGame I've not watched the Crystal Maze since the 90s, but I LOVED it! The Fallout tv series is fantastic too, one of the best game adaptations I've seen.

But I find the idea of making a game show of the vaults a bit ironically tone-deaf, especially if it's Amazon behind it. They absolutely would be a Vault-tech supporter.

I do wish corporations would stop looking at dystopian fiction and thinking "hmm...okay, but how can we monetise this?"

There's a Change.org petition linked on that Reddit post at 15K, I don't think it'll have a huge impact unless it really rockets - but I'd be surprised if EA didnt sell the IP or find some way to make easy money if they can get a good deal out of it.

It's too established a name to just shut away in a closet. My guess is they're closing Bioware, they'll let a furore kick up, then sell it to the highest bidder at peak hype.

Looks like they just moved Jun to pre-divorce.

Hopefully woman Jun looks a bit more interesting. Still disappointed there won't be character creation, but besides that the game looks fantastic, really excited to see more about it.

I'm still intrigued by it, mostly with what they'll do. I can't see it not being tacky and soulless on the screen, but if they can pull off a sort of Farscape vibe I'd be down - bring it all full circle. Just don't skimp on the aliens, don't give us a show 95% boring old humans.

Sounds hopeful they've fixed what the previous pro patch broke, and mod support is fantastic!

I'm already replaying BG3, Witcher 3, Red Dead 2, I won't have time for any new games for the year!

This game still haunts me. The remake is incredible too. There's just nothing like the games Ueada conceives, just breathtaking and emotional in a really mature, personal way that's pure magic. It can also be a frustrating ***** platformer that makes killing the giant gits more rewarding than I'd like it to be. But maybe parts of the point.

I'm genuinely quite shocked by this - I know their last few games weren't their strongest, but they're a name that sells. A new Mass Effect game would sell big numbers. I wonder what that means for a Mass Effect TV show.

I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them launched a new studio and returned to small scale RPG's.

All these juggernaughts throwing themselves months ahead to avoid clashing with GTA VI, and the Shrek 2 remaster is here swaggering in like the month belongs to it. Fantastic. I will not be buying it though, because, much like onions, I have no money.

I need my FF's/JRPG's with strong stories and/or characters, so I think I'll pass this time.

I hope it does well and we get an original 2.5D FF harking back to the classics though! A JRPG with the sort of rich, flawed characters of FF9 is lacking a bit these days.

Amazing! Hopefully I'll be able to actually play the game again with my current build on base PS5. Fingers crossed they fix sniper zoom and scanning, and possibly shadow bleeding, after they were fumbled with the Pro patch.

It's an incredible game, but mostly I just wish they'd fix it once and for all and leave it alone.

Sounds like it'll be entirely soulless, at the expense of paid professional humans so a company could be cheap and lazy. The art style even looks like AI.

I rant and rave about AI plenty here, but it's because it's just sad at the end of the day. It gives me the same cold, empty feeling that memories of Bubsy 3D give me (only about half the rage though).

Also misread that one, I think we're primed as a species for bad news, so misreading in the negative sense is instinctual - which is rather sad.

But excited to see how this comes out, this one seems a little gimmicky to me - but I'd love a proper old school 2.5D FF, with the sorts of rich worlds and complex characters they built in their heyday. FF 16 was great, a return to form, but didn't quite have the magic of old.

@Milero91 also agreed! as long as AI isn't impacting creative output, and it's not replacing swathes of people that have spent years studying, I'm sure AI can find a place in gaming.

I had a discussion with someone on a seperate article who worked in the sector and raised interesting points, such as AI helping with creating bulk assets (like grass) in games. Which I'm sure would be a relief. It just needs to always work in service to people (until it develops sentience, then we give them the real living wage immediately).

@Milero91 that's fair! I have friends that are also established in the sector and not particularly anti-AI, but have had the opposite experience. No doubt model, usage and maybe sub-sector affects the results though?

And agreed, it will continue to improve and be utilised. But I do think it's important to push back in places, not so much to stop it dead (except maybe the more egregious gen-AI), but to ensure it's controlled, regulated and the people are protected.

I think AI could be amazing in removing monotony, helping in certain academic fields, medical and other research. Just firmly in the supportive role. Or let it take over and give us all a Universal Income, wouldn't complain about more time to play games.

Gross. In all respects.

Generative AI is theft. AI coding is full of flaws and needs a human to review, and in most cases conpletely re-write what it spits out. And we've got a clearly nonsense statement from a CEO adopting Trump's mode of communication.

People saying "AI is inevitable" aren't seeing that things aren't going well for AI, that it's a bubble over-inflated, dangerous, imcreasingky unpopular and often incompetent. It 100% is replacing people, and we're seeing real harm to creatives particularly.

It can support people, it can be used in ethical ways and ultimately, it could take the busy-work out of a socialist society in a positive respect. But we're nowhere near there as a society, and this won't help.

Absolutely understand why people love Souks-like games, so no criticism on he game but unfortunately rules this one out for me.

I love the historical set up for this, I'm desperate for a Napoleonic-set game as it's such a rich point in history, I'll just have to wait a bit longer for a non-soulslike take.

I just don't have the time or patience for them these days.

Well, a film's a team effort, I'll hold off judgement until we hear more - but it's not a strong start.

I wonder if the story will be based on the game, or just the game world. Hopefully the latter.

@ShogunRok thank you for confirming, play inf the rest of the base game will catch me up on it all anyway. Pretty excited for it after the review!

This sounds fantastic! I've not played it for over a year or two, and will have to relearn everything, but this sounds a great excuse to jump back in.

@ShogunRok, thank you for the review! You mentioned you can start it earlier, but is the difficulty such, or in terms of story, that you're better off starting this after the main game?

I messed around for 60-100 hours but didn't do much of the main story.

@get2sammyb thanks Sammy! Doesn't sound too bad, definitely interested in the game after this review

@get2sammyb Great review, it sounds fantastic! Just a couple questions:

How repetitive are the interactions with different racers between playthroughs/runs, are you going to see the same dialogue multiple times between getting your ass beat?
And does interacting with them have any gameplay impacts?

Otherwise I'm very tempted, really been missing a good arcade racer.

@Dogbreath Disney have been bizarre with the Star Wars franchise. On the one hand we got the pretty dire modern trilogy, on the other we've had Andor and The Mandalorian, arguably two of the best bits of Star Wars media made.

@Almost_Ghostly I'm on headphones to begin with, it's like some kind of memory bleed maybe? It only happens after I've been playing for about an hour.

@Intr1n5ic hit this too and random Reddit post saved the day - you just need to meditate and it'll return to normal.

One could argue it's intentional, don't rest enough and the world fades around you, but I think it's just one of a few small but mildly annoying glitches introduced.

I've had people vanish in Velen, targeting is a bit unreliable, and Geralt loves to do awkward hops instead of vaulting things now, but generally the game does feel weightier and better.

Just funny to have a modern day experience of waiting for weekly patches to fix a game that should have launched fine. With a patch for a 15 year old game that's one modernisation I'd have been happy without

I reckon this would be a good dollop of mindless fun, remember playing these a time with friends as we listened to music and chatted.

Is this the one with a great, weird chess or tower mode?

@Yahooligan sorry I misremembered, that source is right - it was 'blur' I was thinking of, seperate to motion blur.

But the bloom seems fine on base PS5. I've noticed framerate stuttering on base PS5, and graphics aren't a huge jump up (bit underwhelming unless you go ray tracing at 30fps) but otherwise graphics seem decent.

Maybe bloom is more an issue on PC?

@Yahooligan you'll be glad to hear we do have that option! I turned off Bloom and Motion blue and it (ironically) helped with performance.

I should have listened to my own advice and been cautious - base PS5 is rather rough. Far from unplayable, but frame rate is a bit hit & miss, and I've noticed a good few instances of button presses not registering.

I'm sure they'll patch this patch though.

@VenomUK I've put many hundreds of hours into the game before, equipment degradation really doesn't add much to the game once you're out of the very start.

At first it can be quite tense, avoiding hitting enemies blocking when out exploring for a while - but you quickly upgrade gear and get enough items to repair them. It then becomes a pointless irritation, I'd turn it off.

Keep the inventory weight on though, it means you're often back & forth to cities to sell your wares, which I quite like.

@ShogunRok thank you for the review, I'm 100 hours & 19% through my current playthrough, must have been a considerable effort to review (3 times)!

How radical are the skill tree changes? Will I recognise the upgrades, or are they all reworked?

@DennisReynolds I've moaned so much about it I regret doing so again, but the Pro update they released for Cyberpunk completely broke sniper aiming, scan speed and really messed with shadows making them way too dark and bleeding into each other on base PS5. And they've never even acknowledged it.

I'm just concerned the same could happen here - though I think there'll be more attention given with the DLC due for release. They're a great developer, just one I'm wary around.

@nessisonett this is my concern - a patch that size, changing that much, in a game that big, is likely to have some knock-on glitches.

If they're minor, or ironed out with further updates, great. But if they break the game you're screwed.

I'm 100 hours into my current playthrough (so about 3% complete), and would love to check out the update, but I'm not sure if I should wait a few days for initial thoughts first.

That is an absurd amount of money for absolute tat and no game to boot.

They've really become the sort of corporation they've spent decades lampooning.

I think anyone could have predicted a crash. Both consoles feel like they've been guided by a suit running around an office with their hair on fire, shouting one-word nonsense everyone's scrambled to try and enact.

Spending billions on snapping up as many studios as possible, live service after live service when only one or two ever pay off and cost huge amounts in development and maintenance.

Hopefully both Sony and Microsoft will chill out a bit now it's all collapsing, and get back to keeping things classic. If Xbox offers physical discs post 2028, nails some top exclusives, and doesn't scupper itself by releasing a weaker consol that pulls the stronger version down, they might win over some disgruntled PlayStation fans.