Rock, Paper, Shotgun

"Top-down Zelda meets Bloodborne": action RPG Withering Realms is out now in early access, should you fancy riding the shoulders of a horrible doll

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:39:33 +0000

Withering Rooms was an unexpectedly devious and absorbing slice of dollhouse action-RPG horror. As such, I've been looking forward to Withering Realms, the standalone sort-of-sequel, which launches in early access today.

The new game takes place in the 1920s, following the 'premature' end of World War 1 thanks to an occult catastrophe. You play a ghost child, clinging to the shoulders of a living marionette. The marionette is a real fright, its body a coatful of springs and hinges, its face a one-eyed rictus: it reminds me of certain scenes from Phil Tippett's stop motion masterpiece Mad God and also, of Curly from Mouthwashing. You wouldn't accept if that thing offered you a piggyback. But it is pretty handy in a fight.

Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault review – a pleasant bout of number go up that’s most remarkable for how much of an improvement it is

Jay Castello — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0000

The Moonlighter games cast you as Will, a dungeoneer-merchant hybrid, delving into randomly shifting combat arenas by night and selling the treasures you unearth there by day. In the dungeons, you fight various monsters and beasties and are then offered upgrades to your combat build or a handful of relics you must fit in your bag. In the shop, you figure out how to get the best price for these items. And then you spend that money on upgrades that help you to dungeon delve better and start all over again.

All this time, you will be thinking about multipliers.

Playing Mass Effect-inspired RPG Exodus was an uncomfortably familiar space trip, despite some brilliant zero-G fights

James Archer — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:02:08 +0000

Full disclosure: I did not get to play Exodus with the grumpy mecha octopus sniper. "Where’s the octopus sniper?", I whispered, confusion melting into sadness as the two other members of my space station infiltration team stepped forward under the support of their dull, seen-it-all-before vertebrae. No, it’s fine. It’s fine.

I’d like to say that the demo’s shooting and roleplaying moments made up for the lack of squidmates. In some places, particularly when venturing back out into the vacuum, it actually did. But if Exodus really is going to occupy the Guns & Conversation space that Mass Effect is currently leaving vacant, I’d hope it’s holding much more in reserve, as the corridor battles and bland heroes I saw probably aren’t going to cut it.

Former PlayStation indie boss Shuhei Yoshida and the founder of TIGSource are throwing a Game Poem jam that "challenges traditional boundaries between art forms"

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:00:00 +0000

What are you doing across Monday 7th to Tuesday 8th September? If your answer isn't "weaving sick rhymes for PlayStation's former indie gaming boss Shuhei Yoshida and original TIGsource founder Jordan Magnuson", then begone, for we are no longer friends.

Lego Skylines' devs want your city's problems to be visible without digging into a stats screen, which means finding a "family friendly" version of showing homelessness

Julian Benson — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000

As pretty as Cities: Skylines is, getting a read on your city's problems can take some digging. While traffic jams are immediately visible, prompting you to start reorganising the layout of your streets and bypasses, other issues only make themselves known when you switch on overlays or bring up a stats screen. Changing that is one developer Iceflake Studios aims for colourful plastic brick-based spinoff Lego Skylines.

"If there's an issue, it should be visible in the world," game director Lasse Liljedahl tells me. "Everything that you need to worry about or manage is something you should see while zooming in and zooming out and not digging deep in statistics or information screens. That's the goal."

I’m an ethical muncher in The Blood of Dawnwalker, which means I’ve forced poor Coen to slurp up nine million rats

Mark Warren — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Coen, the half-man and half-vampire protagonist of The Blood of Dawnwalker, doesn’t like chomping down on rats.

I know this because he’s told me multiple times, after I’ve made him slurpily drain a rodent like it’s a furry Frube (other brands of tubed yoghurt are available). Sometimes he shudders a bit and makes noises of disgust. Other times he straight up says things like "This is not a nice thing to do". I know it’s not, farmboy whose family needs saving, but what’s the alternative?

Blood of Dawnwalker's first patch offers relief from buggy tutorials and tight-lipped NPCs, but Rebel Wolves are still working on fixes for the stuttering and shader crash problems

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:09:17 +0000

Witcher-flavoured vampire RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker has received its first post-launch patch, with developers Rebel Wolves dipping their fangs into a modest neckful of problems with blocked quest progression and general controller behaviour on PC. They've also taught a blacksmith a new recipe. Alas, the devs are still working on fixes for those problems with stuttering, PlayStation button-mapping, and shader compilation we covered last night. Still, at least your brother Lunka will no longer get hopelessly lost while walking you through the tutorial.

Miami-Dade police outraged by proposals to turn parts of Miami into GTA 6, saying that Rockstar's game embodies what they "work every single day to prevent"

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 08:55:01 +0000

The mayor of Miami-Dade, Florida has been pitching Rockstar Games about transforming parts of the county into recreations of areas from Grand Theft Auto 6, in the face of complaints from law enforcement and members of the judiciary. GTA 6 is itself inspired by Miami, so yes, this is one of those "simulation colonising reality" situations. The proposed publicity event would include "an immersive arrival experience" at Miami International Airport. with signs for Vice City and planes coated in GTA 6 livery, together with branded Metromover skytrains and specially designed manhole covers.

It's a predictable bid to snaffle a few of those GTA marketing dollars, while driving up the regional circulation of affluent Vice City nuts. Also predictable: a few people, and specifically the cops, find the idea of their neighbourhood being mocked up to resemble a Grand Theft Auto game problematic. Miami-Dade sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz and commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez have already spoken out against the potential deal, observing in a joint statement that "we should be promoting the Miami-Dade we have worked so hard to build, not a fictional version of our community defined by crime and violence.”

Constantly reshape the world beneath your feet in the reality-bending "puzzle-first" Uncanyon, the next game from the devs behind the trippy Maquette

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 21:50:42 +0000

A problem that games have, I find, is that it's quite hard for them to inspire a sense of wonder. The kind of thing that old movies, before CGI, that would make you think, "how did they do that?" But games are all CGI, spiritually anyway, so it's a bit harder for the craft itself to truly wow in terms of not being able to comprehend how something works. However! I felt that today when I saw the reveal trailer for Uncanyon, a puzzle game from the devs behind Maquette set in the seam between unparallel realities where the very shape of the world is constantly in flux.

Mousey city-builder Whiskerwood gets a bit wetter today with a hefty nautical update that lets your rodent kingdom venture out on the open seas

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 20:39:06 +0000

You like putting a bunch of mice on a boat, don't you? Of course you do, it's always enjoyable seeing semi-anthropomorphic mice do human things! Now that we're on the same page, this is a good time to let you know that the new update for Whiskerwood, a city-builder where the cities are filled with mice ruled by nasty, greedy cats, has received a new update today where the friendly rodents can venture out to sail the seven seas.

While us lot in the West might like Dragon's Dogma 2's friction, Japan doesn't quite agree, and its producers say balancing that has been a real challenge

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:03:31 +0000

Both the original and Dragon's Dogma 2 are not games for everyone. Not in the Dark Souls, uber challenging sort of way necessarily, just in that they do not hold your hand, right down to not even having a lock-on feature in combat. There's a long list of other aspects that provide friction, interesting friction, that make the games so beloved. At least, they're beloved in the West, because folks over in the RPG's home country of Japan have a different perspective, a difference its devs find difficult to balance.

Experiencing some day one Blood of Dawnwalker issues? Its devs know, and have some temporary solutions to help get you bloodsucking

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 17:05:46 +0000

It's The Blood of Dawnwalker release day! The debut game of Rebel Wolves and the first new game from director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz since The Witcher 3. A day of what should be celebrations for many, I'm sure, instead a day of "oh, huh, this isn't running so well on PC, is it?" This is fairly common for big releases these days, but the devs do come with some temporary suggestions for the variety of issues they're aware of.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is best when it's silly, and despite some gloomy open world slogging, sometimes even remembers it

James Archer — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 17:00:23 +0000

The opening minutes of Onimusha: Way of the Sword are glorious, in the sense that they’re utterly shambolic. Wandering ronin Musashi wakes up under a bridge, belts a wrong-footingly British "WOT?!" at some starving urchins eyeing up his rice ball, then proceeds to be chased around a muddy village by what feels like two thousand martial arts students, only occasionally stopping to boot a wooden plank into their faces or scoop up an imperilled dog. It’s goofy and brash and genuinely funny, in a way that immediately looks to elevate it among the field of po-faced fantasy slashers as effectively as any well-honed parry mechanic.

Why in the following hours, then, does Way of the Sword make only occasional attempts to match this intro’s energy?

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's release date puts an end to the remake trilogy in sight, and then pushes that end a bit further away with Sephiroth and Vincent DLC

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 16:28:39 +0000

I'm pretty sure that by this point, Square Enix have shown up to every major gaming showcase this summer with something Final Fantasy 7 Revelation related (even if that German Geoff Night one was mostly a waste of everyone's time). However! The latest trailer offered the one thing that I know is on everyone's mind: will Cloud drive a motorbike again. Oh, and a release date.

The first big Crimson Desert DLC arrives in October, seems to be set in a crimson desert beyond Crimson Desert's existing crimson desert

Mark Warren — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Crimson Desert's first proper expansion, not be confused with any of the ten million things Pearl Abyss have added to their vast expanse of stuff to do via free updates, is set to release next month. It's called Charting the Unknown, is out on October 15th, and looks to be set into a new realm filled with more game mechanics you've seen elsewhere shoved together to fill a vast open world.

Deck & Conn is a cat-and-mouse MicroProse homage to a 55-year-old Star Trek game that might not be chunky enough for today's simulation sickos

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 15:05:15 +0000

Space! The final frontier. These are the voyages of the USS Rock Paper Enterprise. Or they will be, once I've worked through my launch checklist. OK, says here I start by activating the APU. There's no "APU" on the bridge display, but I'm guessing they mean "auxiliary power unit". Done! Now I have to wait a few turns, then switch on the actual reactor, and spend another couple of turns waiting for it to fill the battery. Now I just activate my helm and sensors, and boom, we're away. Where was I? Ah yes... its five-year mission, to explore strange new worlds! To seek out new life and new civilizations! To boldly go where some very old Star Trek games have gone before!

"I'm a massive fan of Aliens, but it is a very different beast": Why Creative Assembly are still ignoring every movie but the original in Alien Isolation 2, despite heading planetside

Julian Benson — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:28:55 +0000

Creative Assembly have themselves a particular constraint when making Alien: Isolation 2. The sequel to their 2014 horror title would only reference their first game and the original 1979 Ridley Scott Alien film. It ignores all the other films that came after.

That includes James Cameron's Aliens, the immediate sequel to Scott's film, which, like Alien: Isolation 2, moves the action from a space station to an isolated planetside colony.

Planet Coaster and Jurassic World devs Frontier have teamed up with Disney to make what is probably a Disneyland tycoon game

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 12:45:53 +0000

Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution creators Frontier Developments have signed a deal with Disney to make a game based on one of Disney's many entertainment worlds. Some immediate possibilities occur. You know what Frontier have a lot of? Theme park and resort management games. You know what Disney also have a lot of? Theme parks and resorts. If the fruit of their union isn't Disneyland Park Creator or some variation thereof, I'll eat Mickey Mouse's big yellow buttons.

The mishap-strewn warfare of Worms: Galactic Tactics gives hope it’s not just a comedy XCOM

James Archer — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 12:00:11 +0000

Gawd, everyone’s doing an XCOM these days. Star Wars is doing an XCOM. Rainbow Six is doing an XCOM. Warhammer 40K has done, like, four XCOMs. Those squeaky wiggletubes of Worms are at it too, with Worms: Galactic Tactics, a turn-based grid battler coming sometime in 2027.

It’s a busy genre, then, though there might well be room for this one too. I played a few rounds with developers Absolutely Games at Gamescom last month and it shows real, shrewd promise, despite slaying some of the wider series’ sacred bombsheep.

The Witcher Remake is currently on the back burner because progress on it depends on The Witcher 4's development, CD Projekt Red confirm

Mark Warren — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:54:07 +0000

CD Projekt Red and Fool's Theory might have used Gamescom to make clear that they've got a Witcher thing in the pipeline for this year and the next two, but they've also had to put one of their previously cat-eyed projects on hold for the time being. The remake of the first Witcher game is on the back burner right now, since the next stage of work on it requires more progress to be made on The Witcher 4.

"A game for everyone is a game for no one": Don't expect an easy ride in Carcass Clad, the co-op tank horror game from the makers of Mouthwashing

Ashley Schofield — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:15:00 +0000

On my final day of Gamescom, strolling (running) around the indie area to make sure I don't miss anything good, I stumble upon Wrong Organ’s upcoming Carcass Clad. Set in a wartorn Soviet city, empty of people but littered with tanks wearing coats of Frankensteined cattle corpses (light stuff!), Carcass Clad is a three-player co-op experience that shares the stressful responsibility of piloting a tank and taking down enemy units between those unlucky three.

If you read the name Wrong Organ and thought, ‘Wait, the Mouthwashing team? They're making a multiplayer co-op game?’, I can't fault your surprise. Edwin did interview them about it back in June, but I walked up to the booth knowing the devs themselves and little more, so I was experiencing all of Carcass Clad and its heavy departure from their previous work for the first time.

There's already a The Blood of Dawnwalker mod which triples the length of its main quest timer, ensuring saving your family from vampires isn't stressful

Mark Warren — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 09:43:09 +0000

Why the rush, The Blood of Dawnwalker? Your protagonist Coen's family have only been kidnapped by a vampiric dictator who's slowly draining them of blood. Let the kid take his sweet time in finding a way to deliver them from the castle dungeon. After all, he's got a tonne of bandits he could be killing and other fun little adventures he could be stumbling across as he explores Vale Sangora. The good news for folks who don't like even the vague idea that they need to get a move on in their hero duties is that Dawnwalker's taken less than a day to get a mod which substantially lengthens its 30-day family saving timer.

You can't pet the talking rat wall in Ontos, the new space horror game from Soma's creators, but surely it can run Doom

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 16:30:30 +0000

When Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Soma developers Frictional announced Ontos, their philosophical horror game set in a mad science hotel on the moon, the internet's jimmies were rustled by the presence of an AI server made out of rats. I have several questions for Frictional regarding that talking rat wall, based on my peerless track record of arts and technology journalism.

Rockstar unveil the "next evolution" of modded GTA 5 roleplaying, while staying totally mum on when PC pretenders might be able to migrate to their next game

Mark Warren — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Yep. I know. GTA 6 is still on the list of storied crime games without a PC release date. GTA 5, though, is out on PC and has long been the place folks who love Rockstar's crime sandboxes so much they want to pretend they live in them go for a spot of GTA roleplaying. Rockstar appear to be sticking to Guh Tuh Ah Vuh for that sort of thing in the near future too, since they're currently trumpeting a new version of the modded roleplay servers run by Nopixel Studios.

"I just want to go back inside": How Creative Assembly use weather to make you crave claustrophobic interiors in Alien Isolation 2

Julian Benson — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 14:24:55 +0000

As I stand on the lee side of the wrecked haz lab, all I can hear is the rain pelt its metal roof and the feral wind howl about me. Planet LV-921 may have a breathable atmosphere, but it's not a safe planet. And that's before the xenomorph enters the scene and starts hunting the colonists living in Weyland-Yutani's Kurasaki mining station.

Alien: Isolation 2, the long-awaited sequel to Creative Assembly's 2014 horror game, moves the action out from the original's claustrophobic Sevastopol Station, but the developers have worked out ways to make the wide open spaces of LV-921 feel just as tense and trapping.

"The internet we once loved is gone": SteamDB founders announce the community-run database has been acquired by Nexus Mods' owners

Mark Warren — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:47:49 +0000

The owners of Nexus Mods have acquired community-run backend database SteamDB from its founders, the two sides in the deal have announced. The folks behind the former, who've held its keys for 13 years, said their decision to step back is rooted in burnout and a desire to find a suitable team to keep SteamDB running. Meanwhile, Nexus Mods' owners, a company called Chosen, have pointed to wanting to keep track of game updates from a modding perspective as one of the factors that's drawn them to make this deal.

In Dungeon Settlers, you build a colony on top of a teeming RPG labyrinth in a trim take on Rimworld

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:46:19 +0000

The first time I lost my whole party in Dungeon Settlers, it was to a swarm of rats. I think we can all agree that getting killed by rats in anything remotely fantasy RPG-ish is an enormous faux pas. It's like spelling your own name wrong on your CV. It's like accidentally wearing your underpants on top of your trousers. It's like failing to become Thane of Whiterun.

In my defence, I was playing the game on Hard difficulty, and the rodents of Dungeon Settlers have a zoologically improbable habit of keeping company with stone golems. Ever tried to crack a stone golem with a wooden sword? I have found it inconvenient. In any case, while my party wipe was embarrassing, it was also excellently macabre in the fine traditions of Dwarf Fortress.

Baldur's Gate 3's Mizora becomes a fully-fledged companion thanks to a new mod, just in case you fancy adding a calculating cambion to your crew

Mark Warren — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:37:25 +0000

Not content with just adding to the questlines and interactivity of Baldur's Gate 3's established gang of companions or working on their own for custom campaigns, modders have even started turning other characters from the game into recruitable buddies. The latest to get this treatment is Mizora, bane of regular party member Wyll's life and with a new mod, friendly force by your side in the RPG's third act.

"You can’t just throw new people at that problem": Bethesda devs doubt future Elder Scrolls and Fallout games will have the same "quality level", after losing seasoned staff to Xbox cuts

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:34:47 +0000

Unionised Bethesda Games Studios staff embroiled in Microsoft's latest round of mass layoffs have expressed further doubts about the company's ability to create games at the "quality level" of the very bestest Elder Scrolls and Fallout projects, as they continue to haggle with Microsoft over severance terms.

Aiming to supercharge The Blood of Dawnwalker's early mods, Nexus Mods release their own "streamlined" open-source Unreal modding tools

Mark Warren — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:02:28 +0000

The Blood of Dawnwalker, Rebel Wolves' vampire RPG with more than a touch of Witcher 3 running through its veins, is about to claw-slide down a wall into release street. Depending on where in the world you live, it'll either arrive late on September 2nd or first thing on September 3rd. Ahead of that, in a bid to accelerate modders' early attempts to put their own spin on the game, Nexus Mods have released some of their own open-source tools designed to cut some of the faff out of Unreal Engine modding.

The adult game crackdown is "ridiculous for our art form", say Hellraiser devs, but they think they'll survive thanks to that Clive Barker association

Julian Benson — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 08:15:00 +0000

Last year, Australian anti-porn group Collective Shout pressured payment processors, such as Mastercard, Paypal, Visa, and Paysafe Limited to withdraw their services from Steam and Itch.io if the stores didn't remove adult games from their shelves. The campaign was successful and many games were impacted. The campaign's had a chilling effect, leaving developers making games including any sexual content in a kind of limbo as to whether digital storefronts will host their work. Some are ushered through without issue, while others are banned with little recourse.

Just last week, we saw how Valve blocked Molleindustria's Future? No Thanks! due to its scenes of minor nudity. Then, only after public lobbying, did they manage to get Valve to reconsider and rescind their ban.

So, after playing a half hour demo of Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival, a demo set almost entirely inside a fetish club, and one featuring male nudity, female nudity, and some pretty sexually explicit content, I asked the developers if they were worried about a Steam ban or if it had led to any changes to the game.

"It's just such a huge galaxy to fill": Don't expect any Total War: Warhammer 40,000 sequels, but do expect lots of updates that builds upon its sandbox

Oisin Kuhnke — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 21:54:40 +0000

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 feels like one of those games where you think to yourself, "wait, how doesn't this exist already?" There have been previous Total War: Warhammer games, three of them in fact, but all set in the original, fantasy setting, not the far flung futuristic sci-fi one. We still don't know when Creative Assembly's Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is coming out, though they have shared one thing that will be different compared to the previous Warhammer games: they have no plans for any sequels.

Drive a train around an ash-covered world collecting ingredients for the last ever s'more as an anthropomorphic bird in the surreal and comically ominous Cinderline

Oisin Kuhnke — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 20:45:20 +0000

There is perhaps no genre I love more in this world than "game where you run around as a little guy," for the subgenres within that are almost endless. A new entry is soon to find itself within that genre, and it's called Cinderline, a game where you play as an anthropomorphic, silent bird who wants to make the last ever s'more, gathering the various pieces required to do so by travelling from town to town in a tiny train.

Cyberpunk 2077 launched when it did because its devs wanted it "out the door" says CD Projekt Red CEO, but I wonder if he forgot about that reported mandatory crunch

Oisin Kuhnke — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 19:05:09 +0000

Look, I know I don't need to tell you how much of a mess Cyberpunk 2077's launch was. There were tons of bugs, it didn't play smoothly, and your saves could even get corrupted fairly easily, so it wasn't an ideal experience at the time. The game has had something of a redemption arc in the almost six years since launch (one that CD Projekt Red thinks still needs to be finished), but despite whispers of investors pushing to get the game out the door at the time, joint CEO Michał Nowakowski says that wasn't the case.

Life is Strange developer Don't Nod look primed for layoffs, as the studio announces a "transformation initiative"

Oisin Kuhnke — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 17:04:29 +0000

It is unfortunately that time of day again (because this truly does seem to be a daily occurrence at this point). Back in June, things weren't looking so hot for Life is Strange studio Don't Nod, as it appeared that they'd be out of cash come this November. Now, it looks like the studio is preparing for layoffs.

Double Fine are all in on making Brutal Legend 2, if you're willing to give them $100 million in their game jam Kickstarter, anyway

Oisin Kuhnke — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 16:31:35 +0000

Under Microsoft's ownership, it was probably a safe bet that Double Fine would never get to make a Brutal Legend 2, even in this IP-obsessed world we find ourselves in. However! Microsoft don't own Double Fine anymore, and so the once again indie developer can more or less do what they want. Which they're already doing, in fact, as they're currently hosting a game jam Kickstarter that includes a stretch goal that'll see them making Brutal Legend 2. If you give them $100 million.

The Witcher 3: Songs of Past looked alright in its behind-closed-doors preview, though I'm more enticed by the remaster’s combat upgrades

James Archer — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 16:06:09 +0000

Well, I say behind-closed-doors. It turns out that if I wanted to watch a prerecorded saunter through a chunk of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt’s Songs of the Past expansion, I could have just tuned into the Gamescom livestream, rather than travelling to Germany before parking myself in an almost pitch-black miniature theatre for 45 minutes. Now my by-touch handwritten notes are completely illegible, and I don’t even get to feel smug about attending a super secret preview.

Still, the preview – which like Songs of the Past itself, was a joint operation between CD Projekt Red and co-devs Fool’s Theory – didn’t show off the expansion alone. It also focused repeatedly on the combat, movement, UI and role-playing reworks being introduced in the base game’s Remastered upgrade, which is coming months ahead of Songs of the Past on September 29th. And, usual hands-off disclaimers applying, looks like it could be the more appealing package for lapsed Witchers – especially as it’s free to owners of the original.

Nvidia DLSS 5 releases this week with NBA 2K27, so the AI yassification filter's busy beautifying basketballers early doors

Mark Warren — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 15:31:21 +0000

After being prematurely dug out of game files by modders late last week, Nvidia's DLSS 5 neural rendering tech is making its official debut in a matter of days. Yes, it's the filter which was criticised on reveal earlier this year for giving a bunch of game characters weird genAI makeovers. Unsurprisingly, given where those modders pulled the aformentioned files from, the tech's arriving with NBA 2K27.

All the RPS Supporter rewards for August 2026: fatty felines, GTA 6 pondering, and a heap of barely washed radishes

James Archer — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:40:06 +0000

You there. Have you completed the RPS Supporters survey? You don’t even need to be a Supporter. In fact, it’s better for certain questions if you aren’t. Either way, this is your chance to play a part in making sure our subscription rewards are as rewarding as rewards can be, which some might say is a reward in itself.

Star Wars: Zero Company devs left without pay, report claims, with "most" staff furloughed prior to launch

Mark Warren — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:44:31 +0000

Prior to releasing Star Wars Zero Company last week, developers Bit Reactor reportedly furloughed "most" of the team who made it, seemingly leaving said staff in limbo.

Skyblivion "will not be shadow dropping after over a decade of hard work", say modders still planning a regular release date reveal despite delays

Mark Warren — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:33:24 +0000

Skyblivion won't be following the lead of Bethesda's Oblivion Remastered with a sudden shadow drop of its own, the folks behind the massive Oblivion remake mod have confirmed. Instead, they've plans to reveal a new release date for the mod, which was previously being aimed to arrive late last year, when they're ready.

The Blood of Dawnwalker review - worthy to sip blood at the top RPGs' table

Mark Warren — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:19:26 +0000

The moment I knew The Blood of Dawnwalker had it came when, not far in, one of the local peat diggers fell into a big hole. Tasked with finding him by his brother at the start of what seemed a fairly mundane early fetch quest, I rolled my eyes a bit as I slid in to try and locate the poor sod. He was, predictably, cowering in a corner of the cave complex. Right, now to get out of here and claim a lifetime supply of partially decayed vegetation.

Wait, what was that noise? I’ll not spoil the rest of the quest, but suffice it to say that it provided the first taste of Rebel Wolves’ vampire RPG offering the same sort of memorable adventure as the series many of its devs cut their teeth on - CD Projekt’s Witcher and Cyberpunk games.

This week in PC games: Bank Holiday Mawnday Edition

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 07:30:45 +0000

Fleeing the intolerable glare of another weekday morning, you take the spiral stair that runs around the elven bulk of the Treehouse, and after hours of climbing, reach the Primrose Door. The light within the Tree is soft as syrup, spilling across a realm of marble, gold, and glass. Here the Sages of Rock Paper Shotgun belabour the decades debating the mysteries of creation, such as whether "Nvidia" should be written in all capitals. But what's this? The arching velvet sanctum lies empty.

The Sunday Papers

James Archer — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Sundays are for resting, so I hear, though by the time you read this I’ll have got up at 5:30am to drive my parents-in-law to Gatwick Airport. As such, I’m probably not the best authority on resting, or, indeed, Sundays. Nonetheless, I have gathered some quality game-related articles to help you fill yours.

Usual June mixes Hades-esque action, crystal crabs and ghosts to make for a game that'll do well in your Halloween rotation

Oisin Kuhnke — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 21:54:13 +0000

I've been hungry for an action adventure game recently. In this modern era of live service and infinite roguelikes and deckbuilders (seriously, I know they're popular genres, maybe try a different highly replayable genre), the humble action adventure game has fallen by the wayside a tad. So I've been quite curious about Usual June, a quite classic one of those that might end up being a Halloween regular (quick disclaimer: Cara Ellison, who many moons ago did some writing for RPS, is a writer on this one).

The Long Dark sequel Blackfrost hasn't been cancelled, but developer Hinterland are shifting a bit more focus onto the original's survival mode

Oisin Kuhnke — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 20:59:26 +0000

Things are shifting around a bit over at The Long Dark developer Hinterland Studio. Earlier this year, The Long Dark's story mode wrapped up with the release of Wintermute's fifth and final episode. After that, you may have fairly assumed that focus would have been mostly placed on the sequel that was announced in 2024, Blackfrost. But according to Hinterland, while Blackfrost is still in the works, the main focus will actually be put on The Long Dark's survival mode for a while.

Mortal Shell 2 gets its first major update, adding in extra beacons, useful new items, and making riposte damage scaling actually work

Oisin Kuhnke — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 19:46:26 +0000

We're a little over one week on from the launch of Mortal Shell 2, a game that Jeremy liked quite a lot. But the work of a developer is never done these days, what with the advent of the internet and patches 'n' all. A balance patch arrived on launch day, but the Soulslike has now received its first full update, bringing a whole lot with it.

Star Citizen spinoff Squadron 42 has been delayed yet again, citing everyone going gaga for GTA 6, even if it isn't coming to PC yet

Oisin Kuhnke — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 17:31:19 +0000

There is a big part of me that doesn't really believe any aspect of Star Citizen is real. It's never really a game I've given all that much of my attention to, the thing gives off pyramid scheme energy in a way I can't quite explain. Probably something to do with the numerous promises developer Cloud Imperium Games have made over the years that haven't always come to fruition in the way they said, or when they said, they would. And here's yet another example of that: Squadron 42, the story-based single-player spinoff of Star Citizen, has been delayed in 2027, all because of a pesky game called GTA 6.

"That is a lot of work": Persona 4 Revival producer says there's no plans for a Yosuke romance option, even if the team did think about it

Oisin Kuhnke — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 16:11:35 +0000

While it's never been confirmed, some cut voice lines from the original release of Persona 4 indicated that once upon a time, the protagonist's right-hand party member Yosuke was romanceable. Instead what we ended up getting was a mostly quite homophobic character who never really moves past that mentality, though the upcoming Personal 4 Revival will apparently be changing Yosuke a bit. Though one thing it won't be doing, apparently, is adding that romance back in, even if the devs did consider it.

What are we all playing this weekend?

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Saturdays are for actually remembering that it's a Bank Holiday weekend, rather than forgetting and coming in on Monday and getting viciously annoyed with Julian and Mark for seeming to ignore your Gchat messages. (They do that anyway, regardless of whether it's a day off.)

Leaked footage of EA's long-silent Iron Man game comes blasting onto the helicarrier, showing off WIP combat, characters and customisation

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 17:08:07 +0000

I am TONY STARK... and my brassy crimson pantaloons may have sprung a few leaks. A work-in-progress trailer for Marvel's Iron Man, an air-capable action game in development at EA Motive, has appeared online. You can find it on Resetera, though I imagine the video will be taken down soon.

The timestamp "Aug26" indicates that it's a recent creation. The video itself uses unfinished assets, but the direction and editing suggest that it could be an early version of an official trailer. Or it could be for an internal presentation of some kind. There are some obviously goofy elements, like crediting Hulk as the "world director". HULK SMASH PROJECT SPRINT.

"Hopefully a meteor will strike the earth soon": Game devs talk genAI witchhunts and the importance of honing your visual literacy

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 15:49:03 +0000

The era of generative AI has kindled an era of generative AI witchhunts. It's routine right now for videogame developers to fend off accusations of using the technology, even when they are full-throated in their disapproval of ChatGPT, Claude and their ilk. Recent examples include Sandustry, the 2D factory builder from Hooded Horse with strangely haunting physics, and the just-announced Humankind 2, whose creators Amplitude have rushed to assure players that their announcement trailer is genuine live action film.

The conversation reflects a shifting idea of what AI-generated imagery 'looks like' - shifting because, strictly speaking, AI-generated imagery has no fixed style or quality. It's derived from whatever data the model is 'fed'. The confusion is exacerbated by the fact that the technology is changing, with new or updated buzzwordy tools being added to the pile. Established hallmarks of generated imagery go out of date fast. Meanwhile, generative AI's richest advocates often muddy the waters, conflating tools and framing their capabilities in ludicrously open-ended, investor-baiting terms. Still, some responsibility falls on regular users who've become accustomed to chucking around claims of "AI slop".

I found solace from Silent Hill: Townfall's stealthy horror in the soothing Britishness of its abandoned homes

James Archer — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:00:00 +0000

I suppose, in a way, I asked for this. Crouched and cowering behind a garden fence, inches away from the thrashing, cleaver-faced miscreation who’d quite comfortably win in a fight against my splintering plank of rotten wood, I can almost hear Silent Hill: Townfall whisper mocking in my ear: not too much combat now, eh?

Solve a mountain mystery via the medium of creepy cards in Hillthorn, which has an excellent demo

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:42:20 +0000

Attention, dusty creeps who want to play poker with the Wickerman! I found one, a videogame you might enjoy. That game is Hillthorn, a spooky investigative cardgame from Fool Moon and Finnegan Motors - the latter also known for beaming corpo thriller Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination.

Hillthorn is the story of a detective hired to investigate a disappearance at a secluded mountain community. One of the first things you do, after hassling a worryingly stained forest ranger for directions, is cross a line of salt on the trail. Seems like something a person familiar with the occult would avoid doing, but you are a Private Eye, armed with logic and cynicism. Besides, all of this is presented via the medium of cards. Who's afraid of cards? What are they going to do, give you a paper cut? Ouch! Oh, maybe don't bleed on the salt.

"I'm desperately looking for anybody who knows anybody at Valve": open world satire Future? No Thanks! is still locked in Steam horny jail

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 11:23:35 +0000

Update 28/8: Valve appear to have taken action, changing the game's rating - the storepage can now be accessed in the UK. "It looks like Steam re-reviewed Future? No Thanks! and removed the 'frequent nudity or adult content' reverting the Germany geo-ban and the age verification by credit card in the UK," Paolo Perdicini writes on Bluesky. "It officially has only 'some nudity or adult content' as every good game should."

Nvidia DLSS 5's AI yassification filter reportedly escapes containment ahead of release, thanks to modders digging files out of NBA 2K27

Mark Warren — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:37:43 +0000

Nvidia's DLSS 5 neural rendering tech, AKA the AI filter which was widely criticised upon reveal earlier this year for creepily yassifying a bunch of game characters' faces, is reportedly up and running prior to its planned release later this year. The folks to thank or blame for this are modders, who've found the files needed to get the tech's neural rendering working in Control.

When Crusader Kings 3: By God Alone comes out, I'm going to turn the Roman Catholic Church into a polyamorous love nest

Julian Benson — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 08:14:44 +0000

Being a pope is a stressful job. That's true today, but imagine heading up the Roman Catholic Church in the 11th century. Back then, the leader of the Catholic Church didn't have access to a bubble car or a social media team. The good news is, when Crusader Kings 3's next expansion, By God Alone, launches at the end of September, I know how to help my pope relax after a long day: polyamory.

Say goodbye to stealing any car you like with a single button in GTA 6, and hello to whatever the hell the WAINK scanner is

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 22:02:56 +0000

It's finally here! The preview for that extended look at a crime sim currently without a PC release date! GTA 6, or in the immortal words of Jack Nance, "Grand Theft Auto" [6]. After a long drought of anything actual concrete, we've now been flooded with details, like how it's up to you as to whether protagonists Lucia and Jason stay together or not. But as it turns out, there's some changes coming to the series' namesake: stealing cars.

Your biggest choice in GTA 6 is whether Lucia and Jason stay a couple, but half-arsing it won't stop them doing crimes together

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 20:29:42 +0000

Well, would you look at that, GTA 6 is a real video game! I'm sure by the time you're reading this you've either watched the Netflix preview, watched someone else watch the Netflix preview, or it's late enough that the full thing is available for the non-Netflix having proletariat. So, how about a few extra details, like a tease about how protagonist Lucia and Jason's relationship works mechanically courtesy of Rockstar co-head Rob Nelson?

Well, that extended look at a crime sim currently without a PC release date was heavier on gabagool than I expected

Mark Warren — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 20:24:18 +0000

I've watched it. The extended look at the game humanity's breath is currently held for. The one that doesn't have a PC release date right now, making it hard to know how to feel about covering it extensively if, say, your job revolves around writing about PC games. For today, I've left those concerns at the door. I've taken in all the extended look had to offer. Honestly, I think I can finally see what all the fuss is about.

Take to the skies in a Porco Rosso-esque seaplane and search for your missing uncle while you help rebuild an archipelago in Lou's Lagoon, out today

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:06:21 +0000

The issue I have is, if you put a charming and slightly rotund biplane (or similar such vehicle) in a game, I'm just simply going to have to take a look at it at minimum. At minimum! Porco Rosso is my favourite of Hayao Miyazaki's outings, after all, in no small part thanks to ever iconic "I'd rather be a pig than a fascist" line from the titular porky pilot. What I'm saying is, obviously I'm curious about Lou's Lagoon, a crafty little exploration game that comes complete with a seaplane you can customise to your heart's delight, which is out today.

GTA 6? No thanks, I'll be playing Volvy's Adventure: Reslimed, an action platformer from Devolver that's releasing day and date with Rockstar's behemoth

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:10:09 +0000

We all know when GTA 6 is releasing because there are zero games releasing in November apart from it. Or, that would be true, if Devolver Digital weren't the miscreants they love to be. They've been saying for a while now that they'll be releasing a game come hell or highwater, day and date with GTA 6, and that's exactly what they're doing with Volvy's Adventure: Reslimed, a real game but fictitious remaster of an unreleased action platformer based on the publisher's fake/very real mascot.

Dwarf Fortress is getting the mother of all magic updates, extending to "the fundamental cosmological makeup of the universe"

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:20:59 +0000

Infamously simulation-heavy colony builder Dwarf Fortress is getting a Myth and Magic update that, at the possible risk of being maybe a touch hyperbolic, threatens to make all other fantasy game spellcraft look like a sleepy bout of Got Your Nose. It's summarised by Bay12 co-founder Tarn Adams as a set of procedural systems "that go beyond combining spell effects... straight to the fundamental cosmological makeup of the universe", allowing for "magical situations that you cannot get any other way."

Oh lord, Konami want yearly Silent Hill games alongside vaguely described "experiences," just don't let that be another movie

Oisin Kuhnke — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:07:20 +0000

After an entire decade without a proper new Silent Hill game, in the past three years we've had two completely new games (one of which was pretty damn good if you ask me), one remake, whatever Ascension was meant to be, and the laughably bad new film. A mixed bunch, to be sure, but food is food, and Silent Hill lovers have been starving for more. We're a month away from the next game in the horror series releasing, Silent Hill: Townfall, and according to the franchise's producer, you can expect new games pretty often.

Exodus will likely win the Mass Effect spiritual successor war, thanks partly to its Cool Octopus, but I think it has a boring hero problem

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 12:29:27 +0000

With The Expanse: Osiris Reborn proving lacklustre in the hands, I'd say Archetype's time-dilating space RPG Exodus is currently closest to the much-coveted status of unofficial Mass Effect 5. The developers have dropped a release date - 7th April 2027 – alongside a new trailer which digs into the backstory of a super-intelligent octopus sniper, Salt, who fights in a mech.

"We're not doing something that everyone [would] do": After Cost of Hope, Stalker 2 devs are working on multiplayer which won't be "session-based" like Counter Strike

Mark Warren — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 11:24:54 +0000

What's that coming through the hiss and crackle of static? It's a transmission from the Gamescom zone, where a trio of RPS survivalists are fighting to stay alive amid all manner of hazards. You don't want to know the things they've told us about the loos. One of them, James, has ended up hunkered down in the same room as Stalker 2 devs GSC Game World and had the chance to ask them what's in store for the game now its 2.0 update and Cost of Hope expansion are out. The answer is a "different" second DLC and a free multiplayer mode the studio insist won't just recycle mechanics seen elsewhere.

Road Kings is sometimes American Truck Simulator in a disaster movie, but delivering crates of ellipticals is fun too

Julian Benson — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0000

When I sat down to play Road Kings in April, the event organisers were very clear: when you're done driving around in the sandbox, let us know and we will load up the disaster movie scene. After fifty minutes of my hour with Saber's spin on American Truck Simulator, I'd completely forgotten about the second mission. I was merrily absorbed in hauling truckloads of exercise bikes between the cities of South Georgia and Northern Florida.

Saber are definitely playing catch up with SCS Software. The latter's American Truck Simulator released over a decade ago and it now features nearly half of North America. Naturally, Road Kings will ship with a much smaller map and roster of vehicles. Though Saber hope to pull ahead by injecting a little drama.

The Witcher 3 Remastered includes work from a top modder, as CD Projekt Red follow the path they walked with the RPG's next-gen update

Mark Warren — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:29:37 +0000

As revealed earlier this week alongside a look at next year's Songs of the Past expansion, The Witcher 3 is getting a free remastered update next month. As with 2022's next-gen update, some of its tweaks and additions are the work of modders, with the creator of The Witcher 3's HD Reworked Project having revealed that they got the call to collaborate with CD Projekt Red again.

GTA 6 life simulation elements confirmed: thank god, we can turn the offensively hot Jason and Lucia into exhausted slobs like the rest of us

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:51:45 +0000

If you think the protagonists of Grand Theft Auto 6 look dull as piping hot ditchwater then rejoice, friend, for the game will let you transform these gung-ho sex magnets into weary and despairing zombies, tottering along the shore of Leonida with eyes like sandy latrines and skin like forgotten cheese.

New D&D RPG Warlock is an open world spell-collecting game with a touch of Far Cry, and that's just fine by me, actually

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 16:02:28 +0000

This week we got our first proper look at Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, Wizard of the Coast's new RPG-tinted action game. In theory, it's the story of a grizzled weapon master who is searching a lawless pocket dimension for somebody precious to her, but I disapprove massively of this objective, because it sounds like it's going to get in the way of unearthing weird spells and making a glorious mess.

Created by a team of former Far Cry, Watch Dogs and Splinter Cell devs, Warlock gives you an open world full of charms, cantrips and conjurations to gather and fool around with. I'm really hoping it's as open-ended as they're making it sound. Here's a video, followed by some commentary from creators Invoke.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy review – a competent action game spinoff that loses what made its predecessors unique

Julian Benson — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 16:00:00 +0000

For a series about light and dark, it's appropriate that Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is a spinoff that's trying to escape the main entries' shadow. Developer Asobo Studio have dropped much that is familiar to explore exactly what a Plague Tale story can be.

Resonance doesn't feature series protagonists Amicia and Hugo. It is set 16 years before the events of the last game, long before the siblings flee across wartorn medieval France, hunted by the soldiers of the Inquisition. In Resonance, you play Sophia and see how she became the woman who saves Amicia in A Plague Tale: Requiem. You learn how, as a child, she was kidnapped by the Inquisition and injected with a poison that gave her visions of a strange island. How her father, the leader of a group of smugglers, found the island and died there searching for treasure and a cure to Sophia's dreams. And how Faro, her father's successor, continues visiting the island, seeking to unearth its secrets.

Resonance's early chapters see a now teenage Sophia growing frustrated with Faro. The smuggler leader never takes her with him to the island, despite – and because of – the mounting casualties in the expeditions. Guiltridden, Sophia stops sharing her visions. Those chapters also teach you Resonance's focus: combat.

I'm still not convinced The Witcher 3 Songs of the Past is worth pasting over the perfect ending that was Blood and Wine

Mark Warren — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:24:31 +0000

Since the persistent rumours of a cheeky extra DLC for The Witcher 3 turned into confirmation from CD Projekt Red that such a thing is on the way prior to The Witcher 4, there's been a nagging voice in the back of my mind. On one hand, Songs of the Past is more of an RPG I love, the kind of unexpected gift it seems foolish to have reservations about getting a decade and change on from release. On the other, The Witcher 3 in its current form has long felt like as close to the ideal complete package as you can get.

Going into last night's opening salvo of Gamescom, I was expecting that the DLC's full reveal might dispel my concerns, getting me fully on board with the idea that, yes, Geralt does need one last ride before Ciri takes over going forwards. Instead, I'm still in two minds.

Rockstar finally break silence on "heartbreaking" GTA 6 leak, say it's "unfortunate that the intended game experience may now be impacted by some spoilers"

Mark Warren — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:21:00 +0000

Rockstar Games have put out a statement publicly acknowledging the ongoing GTA 6 leaks for the first time. Though they and parent company Take-Two have already gotten the ball rolling on hunting down the leaker, the studio had stayed silent in terms of public-facing comms up until now.

D&D, LEGO, and mounting ennui: Our biggest games from Gamescom 2026

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 11:23:51 +0000

This week, RPS took the downright heroic step of declining to live report on the latest Geoff Keighley trailer bonanza at Gamescom 2026's Opening Night Live. Under the wise guidance of editor-in-chief Julian "Walks Away From Omelas" Benson – and with the honourable exception of Oisin "Looking At Omelas Through A Telescope" Kuhnke, who was on regular evening freelance newswriting duty - we experimented with viewing the showcase as you ordinary humans do, partly because we've recently found that the returns aren't worth the effort of staying at our desks. Some of us may have even streamed the showcase in bed! Like wild beasts!

I'm not a fan of Heroes of Might & Magic 3, but I can recognise that Ubisoft have done a faithful job of recreating the much-loved turn-based strategy RPG

Julian Benson — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Heroes of Might & Magic is having a moment. Not only are publishers Hooded Horse and Ubisoft backing the development of Unfrozen's Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era, the first new game in the series in more than a decade, but Ubisoft have revealed they're completely remaking the series' best-regarded entry: Heroes of Might & Magic 3.

While there are many quality of life improvements in the remake, Ubisoft aims to keep its spirit as close to the original as possible. There is a new three-mission prelude to get you into the story and teach you the game's systems but, after that, you're into the thick of the original campaign and its two expansions – Armageddon's Blade and The Shadow of Death. This also means you'll have all nine factions to play with.

I've played the remake for a few hours already and I'll get into my thoughts on that in a moment. But, the most telling thing about the remake is that it supports all the custom maps and campaigns players have made for the past 25 years. Ubisoft showed how you can import any original map file into Might & Magic 3 Remake's map creator and it will build a modern-looking level from the old data. It's a wonderful way to support the Heroes of Might & Magic 3 players who are still playing decades on from its release.

Metro 2039's return to the underground plays like the sneaky FPS you'd expect, but there are still good reasons to leave the beaten track

James Archer — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 07:01:26 +0000

Since I’m apparently now RPS’ Radioactive Eastern Europe correspondent, I recently spent a couple of hours in Metro 2039, the gloom ‘n’ grit FPS sequel that Ukrainian developers 4A Games have explicitly styled as a return to the series’ roots. From what I’ve played, it is in fact as much of a hybrid as the mutated shrimp-insects that lurk in its Moscow sewers, reviving the claustrophobic tunnel dwelling of Metros 2033 and Last Light while keeping a few favoured twists from the more freely-roamable Metro Exodus.

CD Projekt Red sweeten the Witcher 3 Songs of the Past honeypot with a free base game remaster, and, oh yeah, both original expansions too

Oisin Kuhnke — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 21:54:02 +0000

Hey kid, you want a free remaster? It's totally not a scam! No, really. While everyone knew The Witcher 3's sort of surprise new expansion Songs of the Past would be getting a look-in at Geoff: German Edition, CD Projekt Red had another surprise up their sleeve in the form of a full-on remaster of The Witcher 3, which is coming as a free update next month.

Imbricate human history all over again and throw climate change into the mix in Humankind 2, which arrives 2027

Oisin Kuhnke — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 20:00:19 +0000

The idea behind Humankind is a funny one, in that it pulls from real-world history to essentially let you craft historical fanfiction. I suppose that's true of many strategy games, but this one's all about mixing and matching different cultures throughout history. And now, it's asking you to do so all over again, as a sequel in the works. Zero points for guessing what it's called, because it's very plainly titled Humankind 2.

Having taken over Cities: Skylines 2's resurrection, Iceflake Studios are also making a bricky city builder called Lego Skylines

Mark Warren — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 19:35:01 +0000

You probably don't need me to recap the difficult life Cities: Skylines 2 has had since hitting the streets in 2023. Plagued by performance issues and prompting questions over whether its additions made it a worthy sequel right out of the gate, thus followed years of tweaks aiming to undo the damage. Eventually, original developers Colossal Order handed over the game and series' reins to Iceflake Studios, with Paradox Interactive staying on as publishers.

The latter two have now revealed the next game in the Skylines series - a brick-built city builder dubbed Lego Skylines. It's not a bad name, but surely they could have gone with Lego Cities.

Crusader Kings devs Paradox officially reveal Afterworld, a Fallout-flavoured grand strategy game in which you can overrun America with a cannibal cult

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 19:21:21 +0000

Following leaks earlier in the week, Crusader Kings 3 and Hearts of Iron IV creators Paradox Interactive have officially announced Afterworld, a post-apocalyptic grand strategy game about wasteland tribes jostling for dominance of a procedurally generated North America. It's Paradox Development Studio's "first non-historical setting in a decade", in the words of game director Dan Lind.

Rainbow Six Tactics transforms the demolition-driven Siege into a turn-based game while keeping the destructible environments, operators, and reconnaissance drones

Julian Benson — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 18:15:17 +0000

Ubisoft have done the sensible thing and turned Rainbow Six into a turn-based tactical game. Nabbing the special ability-laden operators of Rainbow Six Siege and dropping them into the XCOM: Chimera Squad framework. The Mario + Rabbids developer have found a spin off that looks to be a natural fit for the series.

Cosmic horror and sea bird waddling sim Penguin Colony gave me a genAI fright in its release date trailer, but thankfully there's no actual cause for concern

Oisin Kuhnke — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 17:25:39 +0000

You might be surprised to hear this given the very indie vibe about it, but Penguin Colony features RTX. It's actually AAA too, and includes DLSS as well. Perhaps most shockingly of all, there's genAI in Penguin Colony. It's true! It's all true! You can see it in the game's latest trailer for yourself. Look, right there, RTX: Real Terror eXploration. And there's GENeral Antarctic Isolation, Does Lovecraft Still Scare, and Ancient Abomination Awakens to boot! Is your brief heart attack over now? Yes, this is all a tongue in cheek ploy to get you to recognise that the next game from the devs behind Umurangi Generation has a release date.

Roblox put a stop to games that include rewards for endless, TikTok-style scrolling, if you're under the age of 16 anyway

Oisin Kuhnke — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:15:06 +0000

It continues to both amaze and concern me that a whole other internet ecosystem appears to exist within the realm of Roblox. Recently, a game by the name of Steal an Egg has blown up on the UGC platform, which is more or less what it says on the tin: you need to steal an egg. This is Roblox we're talking about, however, so Steal an Egg comes with a big ole asterisk that comes in the form of a treadmill you can train on whereby you can doomscroll through TikTok videos.

Nvidia DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction, out now, ups shadow quality and more accurately illuminates trash bags

Mark Warren — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Today, August 25th, Nvidia have released Ray Reconstruction for DLSS 4.5, with the aim of more swankily rendering ray-traced/path-traced shadows and lighting than was possible with previous Ray Reconstruction versions.

Nvidia tech behind PUBG's genAI team mates will let folks chat to creature-collecting RPG Aniimo's not-Pokemon next year

Mark Warren — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Alongside releasing Ray Reconstruction for DLSS 4.5, Nvidia have announced that their ACE tech best known for powering PUBG: Battlegrounds' generative AI team mates will be coming to another game early next year. Said game is Aniimo, a creature-catching open-world RPG from Chinese devs Pawprint Studio, which looks to be following the legally distict Pokemon-like formula established by the likes of Palworld. With help from the Nvidia tech, it'll also let players chat with their creatures.

31 years later, beautiful SNES RPG Terranigma is finally coming to PC, and I must lay the ghost of my console warrior childhood to rest

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 10:37:23 +0000

Clear River Games Development and Limited Run are working on a PC re-release of Terranigma, Quintet's Super Nintendo Entertainment System action-RPG from 1995. I never played Terranigma, for I was raised according to the Holy Maxim that Sega do what Nintendon't. I would sooner have flushed my own blast processor down the toilet before I permitted any associates of Mario under my roof.

RPS guides writer Jeremy did play Terranigma, however, and says it's one of his favourite games ever. For the sake of collegiality, I guess I'll suppress my emaciated console war impulses and take a look. Gosh, this is a pretty trailer.

Discord have yet to receive a GTA 6 leak subpoena from Take-Two, says marketing director, but they will "evaluate the validity and scope" if they do

Mark Warren — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 10:03:28 +0000

Last week, Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two were filed subpoenas asking for info from Microsoft and Discord to help uncover the identity of the hacker or hackers behind the ongoing GTA 6 leaks. With clips of the game continuing to hit the net and the potential threat of story spoilers starting to drop soon, it was an understandable request for the company to have made, even if questions could be raised about the amount of data it might give them access to.

One of the two companies subpoenaed, Discord, have now said that as of last night they've yet to be served with any subpoena from Take-Two, and that if/when they are, they'll not comply without first considering the ramifications of doing so.

How to Fish is Steam's latest cursed co-op sensation, now updated with private lobbies, eight player support, and anti-griefer measures

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 17:04:45 +0000

Steam's latest head-scratching hangout game (don't call it friendslop, you will rekindle Discourse) is How to Fish, a macabre novelty in which hideous worm people boat out to small cursed islands, reel in angry sealife, and blast the creatures into submission with golden sniper rifles, spending the proceeds on weapons and gadgets. I could be misinterpreting, but I don't think the idea is sincerely to teach you How to Fish.

Red Dead Redemption 2: Nuevo Paraiso, the latest Mexico expansion mod for Rockstar's western, releases next month

Mark Warren — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 17:03:30 +0000

Pretty much since the day Red Dead Redemption 2 was released and they saw its map included Red Dead 1 states New Austin and West Elizabeth, but didn't extend south of the border, modders have been looking to add in their own re-creations of Mexico. There have been a few attempts already, but the latest looks the most detailed yet and is due out in September.

The Witcher 4 is targeting release in 2028, CD Projekt Red confirm, while teasing that extra Witcher 3 DLC Songs of the Past has a "dark story" in store

Mark Warren — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 16:21:02 +0000

Not content with stealing everyone's attention at Gamescom by unveiling a cheeky extra expansion for a decade-old RPG, CD Projekt Red have decided spend their Monday afternoon locking in the year that The Witcher 4 will be coming out. It's set to emerge from a lake full of drowners in 2028.

"We ended up kind of cornered there": Mortal Shell 2 devs say they didn't intend to "lock everybody out" by disabling achievements for Slayer Seal "easy mode" users

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:57:22 +0000

Formidable fantasy soulslike Mortal Shell 2 has been getting it in the shins from certain players over the decision to 'lock them out' of Steam achievements, when they equip the notorious Slayer Seal.

Trailers have characterised the Slayer Seal as an in-game 'easy mode'. As Jeremy summarises in our own Mortal Shell 2 review, it gives "you a pulverising punch and your ranged weapons the ability to deal Break damage", which goes a fair way in an action-RPG this vicious. Not being able to earn achievements with the Seal equipped (or even after you unequip it) has sparked a few Reddit threads protesting that people are being punished for declining to punish themselves… while other people (hello!) wonder why anybody cares this much about Steam achievements at all.

Paradox's next grand strategy game is a post-apocalyptic wasteland tribe-battler called Afterworld, according to leaks ahead of Gamescom

Mark Warren — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:31:09 +0000

Update 25/08: Paradox have officially announced Afterworld with a story trailer - read more about it here.

Our original story continues below.

What is happening across the Paradox Universe? So the publishers behind strategy stalwarts like Crusader Kings 3 and Europa Universalis 4 asked in a post to the socials the other day, which promised all will be revealed on August 25th at Gamescom. Unfortunately for those best laid plans, the name of the game in question looks to have leaked via Paradox's forum of all places. Assuming the leaks prove accurate, it's a post-apocalyptic survival strategiser called Afterworld.

This week in PC games: Gamescom and GTA 6 fight for our attention, but don't forget Folk Emerging, MGS4 and the horror game about balancing a cake

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:10:49 +0000

Hello all! I regret to report that the Maw is in a really good mood this week. Its scales have an almost flirtatious lustre, flashing in and out of visibility as I gaze from my eyrie above north London. Its crimson coral coils and fins of mounded verdigris can be seen reflected in the distant moneytemples of Canary Wharf. Its fractal teeth and hair form expressionist whorls and divots among the haggard late summer clouds.

The Maw is merry because this week is Gamescom week - a time of much videogame news and thus, a time of feasting for extradimensional gods with a hankering for headlines. It also happens to be the week in which Rockstar and Netflix will stream a GTA 6 documentary (27th August), giving rise to many, many articles in the vein of "50 individually rendered breakfast cereal shapes you missed from the all-new Vice City". As if all that wasn't enough, there are a load of uncommonly chunky new PC releases to contend with. Here's my latest list.

Haul a star through a labyrinth in Today's Star Is, a challenging free game from the Love Eternal devs with a new level coming every day

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 10:04:30 +0000

It's the start of a new week, and you've got a bad case of the Mondays. Ah, but why do I antagonise you so with these twee and crushingly normative white collar office job cliches? You aren't necessarily working a 9-5, and every day is hard, isn't it? You've got a lot on your mind. You've got a lot on your plate. It seems there's no end to the woe. Rest easy, my friend – no vexation you are feeling can possibly be as vexatious as the Space Invader area in Today's Star Is.

Massive Morrowind mod Tamriel Rebuilt's Poison Song expansion is out now, complete with new quests to join Great House Indoril and the Ordinators

Mark Warren — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:25:59 +0000

Tamriel Rebuilt, the Morrowind modding project gradually adding the province's mainland to The Elder Scrolls 3's Vvardenfell-centric map, has gotten a fresh expansion over the weekend. Dubbed Poison Song, it's the long-teased update which lets you join House Indoril, the great Dunmer house the Neravarine's namesake Indoril Nevevar belonged to belonged. It'll also let you join the Temple Ordinators, Morrowind's golden-masked lawkeepers, and explore a new region full of "lush gardens and bountiful fields".

The Sunday Papers

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Sometimes, Sundays are only for rounding up videogame criticism and journalism. I try to cast a wider net when my turn comes to deliver the Papers, because I figure you've probably been reading about videogames all week, and would appreciate e.g. an essay on the mating habits of snails or the top 7 most elaborate UFO conspiracies, but this Sunday, there are no snails or UFOs within easy dredge. So instead, please accept a boatload of finest mitherings on Duke Nukem, oracular visual novels, sociable space sims, and 'search action' games.

Raise up a mech pilot and make sure she doesn't get Evangelion-level depressed in the sci-fi visual novel Valkyrie Iteration: Mecha Pilot Raising Pocket Simulator

Oisin Kuhnke — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 21:52:12 +0000

Raising sims aren't a genre I've partaken in, partially because so many of them are geared towards a sort of father, daughter vibe that doesn't quite fit me. Raising a mech pilot, however, seems like something a bit more my speed, so you won't be surprised to hear of my interest in Valkyrie Iteration: Mecha Pilot Raising Pocket Simulator, a visual novel with a name that seems to do what it says in the tin.

Chromatic aberration is made manifest in NECHROMIA, a high contrast survival horror set in a castle made of something else's memories

Oisin Kuhnke — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 20:34:41 +0000

Look, I love a PS1 horror throwback as much as the next whatever Gonzo is, but they don't all have to look like Silent Hill or Resident Evil, do they? There have been some aesthetic divergences in the renewed interest in the pseudo-genre, like with 2024's excellent and queer as hell Sorry We're Closed, but I'm hungry for more. Hence my interest in NEHCROMIA, a high-contrast survival horror set in a castle made of memories that aren't yours (a seizure warning is in order for the trailer below).

Tulpa the Unseen Lover is a psychological visual novel about a depressed manga artist manifesting a cute, ominous anime girl made by former Spider-Verse animators

Oisin Kuhnke — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 19:03:25 +0000

It's very rare that I'm not thinking about the works of Satoshi Kon (pop on Tokyo Godfathers this Christmas, you won't regret it), but the one that I always come back to is Opus. It's a manga the director made in the mid '90s that he ultimately never finished before his death, following a manga artist who gets sucked into his own creation and forced to deal with the consequences of his writing. Tulpa the Unseen Lover, a psychological visual novel made by former Spider-Verse animators, is sort of like that, only in this case it's about a manga creator bringing an anime girl to life in his mind.

Gorgeous and hazy pixel art horror farming sim Neverway has been pushed to 2027, but you can at least have a gander at some of the NPCs you can smooch

Oisin Kuhnke — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 17:16:48 +0000

Sorry folks, some bad news: Neverway, the horror life sim and RPG combo from one of the artists behind Celeste and the composer of Fez, has been delayed into 2027. While it never had an exact release date anyway, developer Coldblood Inc. shared word of the delay in a Steam blog post earlier this week.