Pearl Abyss on Crimson Desert Review Build
"I don't think critics had a fair chance to explore and experience them while in the review period."
"I don't think critics had a fair chance to explore and experience them while in the review period."
With Phantom Blade Zero due on October 29, producer Liang Qiwei said in an interview at a closed-door preview in Beijing that a skilled run takes about 25 to 30 hours. He described the game as a three-layer pyramid, with a traditional ARPG base of maps, side quests and objectives, a middle layer borrowing some Souls-like vertical level design, and the combat shown in trailers on top. He said combat rewards aggression, with roughly 70 percent of a boss's qi depletion coming from combos and only about 30 percent from defensive parries, and that a mainline-only run yields about 50 to 60 percent of resources.
A WonderCores episode breaks down the story and metaphors of Silent Hill: Townfall in a 10,000-word text. Half a month after release, the game's Steam reviews remain mixed, and the episode examines what its cryptic narrative tells and what details the studio hid. It also asks whether the game has truly damaged the Silent Hill name.
At the 2026 Redland event on Xiaohongshu, CD PROJEKT RED senior level designer and The Witcher 4 level design lead Miles Tost and Fool's Theory CEO Jakub Rokosz spoke with a Chinese narrative designer for an interview. They discussed making a new expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past, building its new region Letten on Polish countryside traditions, and designing difficult choices that push players to question their own judgment.
The Immortal Legacy, a first-person soulslike from the creators of Ghostrunner, launches on October 13 and holds a Metacritic average of 77. IGN and Game Informer gave it 7, GameSpot and GamesRadar+ gave 6, Gamekult gave the lowest score at 5, and Destructoid gave the highest at 9, while Eurogamer did not score it. Several outlets cited limited enemy variety, few bosses, reused late-game levels and assets, and crashes during review, with the developers reportedly addressing many of these in a day-one patch.
Naavik analysis argues that forcing "innovative match-3 levels" into the core level funnel creates cognitive friction and filters out mass-market casual players. Attempts like Dream Games' Royal Kingdom, Good Job Games' Match Villains and Queen Digital Entertainment's Pet Panic failed to scale, with Pet Panic shutting down 21 months after soft launch. Royal Match instead dominates the top-grossing puzzle charts by simplifying goals and lowering cognitive effort.
Mood Publishing is crowdfunding Satisfactory: The Board Game on Gamefound, adapting Coffee Stain Studios' factory sim for up to four players who mine, refine, and upgrade factories to earn the most FICSIT points before the space elevator is finished. The tabletop version uses a competitive race-for-points format rather than the PC game's co-op focus, though the final release will also include co-op and solo modes.
A new roguelike on Steam with a 90% positive rating is being called a faithful return to the PSP era. The article points to Patapon as an example of the inventive first-party games Sony once published for the PlayStation Portable. That kind of one-of-a-kind idea is hard to find from a major publisher in 2026.
At IGN Fall Fan Fest 2026, Angela Sant'Albano and Nick Apostolides, the actors behind Grace Ashcroft and Leon S. Kennedy in Resident Evil Requiem, discussed creating their characters and the fan reaction since launch. Apostolides cited Leon's garbage dump scene with Grace as defining the character, while Sant'Albano pointed to the deaths of Grace's mother and Emily as key to understanding Grace's guilt and courage. Both said fans constantly ask about Leon's wedding ring, with Apostolides usually replying that he's married to the fans.
Indie developer Miss Self Destruct revealed a new trailer for Hell Is Other People during the inaugural Cozy After Dark Showcase. The Steam psychological horror game about social anxiety has players collect social skills instead of items and manage shifting emotions like Guilt and paranoia.
The author attended the final closed-door pre-release playtest of Phantom Blade Zero in Beijing, spending about six hours with the complete first chapter and two bosses from later chapters. He also spoke with producer Liang Qiwei and found that the sub-weapon system gives the 3D action game a clear Metroidvania feel, such as using the Giant Axe to break village chains or the Chain Scythe to grapple to high anchors. The game is currently listed with 55 weapons, 30 main and 25 sub.
Needle Shadow Tailor Dream is a management sim built around sewing, having players measure, pick fabric, draft patterns and run a tailor shop much like real garment work. It drew 200,000 wishlists before launch and now has over 10,000 reviews with a 98% positive rate. The author found the pace slow, with money for fabric as the only pressure, forgiving sewing checks and a photo mode for sharing finished dresses.
The Sekiro anime Sekiro: No Defeat opened in Japan to poor reception, scoring just 2.2/5 on eiga.com, while the Resident Evil film Resident Evil: Night of the Outbreak earned 95% critic and 91% audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes and the franchise's best North American opening. The Sekiro adaptation retells the game's story from the protagonist's view but cuts major plotlines and sidelines bosses, whereas the Resident Evil film follows a new ordinary medical delivery worker during the night the virus breaks out in Raccoon City.
Bo Caisheng, the composer behind Shadow Blade Zero, discussed the game's music in an interview at a closed-door playtest. The soundtrack features a clear main theme, classic melodies from the Rain Blood and Shadow Blade series, and newly rearranged tracks. Bo said hard cuts in the music basically won't happen, as he designs transitions himself based on gameplay footage.
Square Enix is remaking the SNES game Romancing SaGa 3 as Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United, set for 2027. Known for its non-linear storytelling, multiple protagonists, and unusual minigames, the game was shown in a 30-minute preview at New York Comic Con. It follows the company's recent '90s revivals like the 2022 HD-2D remake of Live A Live and this year's Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined.
After several weeks testing 30 PC controllers, the Flydigi Vader 5 Pro stands out for its clicky mechanical buttons, long battery life, and Hall Effect thumbsticks with adjustable tension. Testing covered games including Grand Theft Auto 5, EA FC 26, Marathon, Celeste, and Forza Horizon 5, with picks also split into budget, budget wireless, high-end, symmetrical-stick, and large-hand categories.
Burn With Me is a hand-drawn card game where artist Eva Manuilovich's own right hand appears on the right side of each match, dealing cards and giving a thumbs-up when you beat the target score. Players take on the role of occult university students placing five creature cards around a pentagram to fill a vial with spiritual energy, using adjacency modifiers and the ability to incinerate a card to draw a random new one. Steam reviews suggest it lasts around 6-8 hours, and unlike Balatro, it has a story.
Digital Foundry's technical analysis of Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on Switch 2 finds the port arrives in "surprisingly good shape," with visuals that even surpass Xbox Series S in some areas and DLSS outputting 1080p docked and 720p handheld. However, none of the game's three graphics modes offers a frame rate experience DF can recommend, citing poor frame pacing at 30fps, VRR issues undocked, and worse input latency in the frame-generation mode. DF still credits Capcom for squeezing such a demanding open-world RPG onto Switch 2 hardware.
A roundup of Valor Mortis reviews shows a Metacritic average of 76 and an OpenCritic average of 81. Outlet scores range from 9 at TheGamer, Destructoid and GamingTrend down to 5 at Gamekult, with IGN and Game Informer at 7 and Gamespot and Gamesradar at 6.
Digital Foundry published a review of Dragon's Dogma 2 on Switch 2, framing it in the headline as the first impossible port of the new generation. The full review is available on the Digital Foundry website.
Indigo, a "full game replacement" romhack for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, already has a couple of public demos and is playable on PC via static recompilation. Set 15 years after Majora's Mask, it stars an older, bearded Link who is asked by the fairy Tael to find his missing sister Tatl. The project promises new items, enemies, bosses, maps, and story, while an official Ocarina of Time remake is due out in November.
After weeks of testing 13 gaming earbuds, the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds stand out for their comfortable fit, balanced audio, and large library of built-in equalizers that adapt sound to specific games. Players who need an open-ear design or strong noise canceling for commuting should pick a different set of gaming earbuds.
Valor Mortis drew mixed reviews ahead of its day-one Xbox Game Pass launch on October 13, holding a Metacritic score of 77 overall, 77 on PC and 83 on PS5, with no Xbox Series reviews yet. Destructoid, TheGamer and Gamer Social Club gave it 9/10, Eurogamer and Push Square 8/10, IGN and Game Informer 7/10, and GameSpot and GamesRadar+ 6/10. The game is developed by Ghostrunner studio One More Level and is a first-person soulslike set in an alternate 19th century Napoleonic Europe.
Kotaku reviewed Valor Mortis, a first-person Soulslike from developer One More Level, launching October 13 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The review praises its unsettling atmosphere and creature designs but finds its combat, platforming, and other mechanics stretched thin. The author estimates 12 to 15 hours to reach the credits.
Pearl Abyss goes easy on us critics for our Crimson Desert reviews https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/pearl-abyss-goes-easy-on-us-critics-for-our-crimson-desert-reviews-they-had-to-play-the-build-that-is-not-the-exact-same-version-of-the-launched-game/
Fourteen years after release, The House in Fata Morgana remains one of gaming's scariest ghost stories and is still worth playing. The article places it alongside classics by M.R. James and Shirley Jackson, ranking it among the top tier of ghost literature.
IGN reviews Valor Mortis, the first-person soulslike from developer One More Level, calling its mix of swordplay, spells, and firearms in an alternate Napoleonic era a genuinely original idea. You play as William, an undead soldier with three melee weapons, three guns, and three hand powers, each with its own upgrade tree, plus a skill tree and Amber mods that change how the character works. The review notes few and underwhelming boss fights, unpolished platforming, and technical problems including hard crashes and missing environment pieces, though the 20-hour campaign still offers plenty worth playing.
Eurogamer has published its review of Valor Mortis, the new game from Ghostrunner studio One More Level. The review describes it as a Napoleonic alternate-history Soulslike that fuses fluid sword- and gunplay with parkour, and calls it a delight.
Push Square reviewed Valor Mortis, calling the first-person Soulslike from One More Level a standout for its Napoleonic alternate history and strong level design, with satisfying combat and weapon upgrade trees. The reviewer finished most side quests in about 18 hours and expects the Platinum around the 22-hour mark. The review also notes flat visuals and unremarkable music, indistinct boss fights, and a frustrating final stretch with low health and inconsistent checkpoints.
Rock Paper Shotgun's James Archer reviewed Valor Mortis, calling One More Level's Napoleonic first-person Soulslike a game that strikes out on its own in perspective and combat design. The review says its parry timings are well judged and the first-person view makes one-on-one fights more personal, though it notes falls off cliffs while backstepping, a narrow weapon and talent selection, and repeated minibosses in later stages. The game runs under 20 hours and includes grappling hook and wallrunning parkour, with platforming falls costing neither catalysts nor a trip back to the nearest lantern.
Eurogamer reviewed Valor Mortis, One More Level's alternate-history Napoleonic Soulslike starring Grande Armée soldier William Dowsett. The review calls its first-person swordplay solid and notes the gradual addition of pistols, shotguns, rifles, parkour and grapple swings across a roughly 20-hour run that is more forgiving than genre peers. It faults the later stages for repeated enemy types, similar environments and a predictable story.
GameSpot's review says Valor Mortis is a first-person soulslike with snappy combat that rewards parries and patience, but it is held back by a weak story and a sluggishly paced opening. You play as William Dowsett, a member of Napoleon's army who returns from the dead to find former allies twisted by corruption.
GameSpot's review finds that Valor Mortis is much more than a first-person soulslike, often to its own detriment. The game's attempt to do too much beyond the soulslike formula ends up hurting the experience.
Game Informer reviewed Valor Mortis, a first-person Soulslike from developer One More Level, with the author finishing it in about 25 hours and dying more than 100 times. Set in Napoleonic France, it follows William, who is reawakened by Napoleon speaking in his mind and wields left-hand powers like fire and stasis alongside swords and guns. The review calls the first half unfairly balanced with frequent one-hit kills, while the second half settles into a rhythm that encourages another attempt, with parrying, blocking, and dashing at the core of combat.
Valor Mortis is a first-person Soulslike action RPG from One More Level, the studio behind the Ghostrunner games, set in an alternate version of the Napoleonic Wars. Players take on the role of William Dowsett, a resurrected British soldier in Napoleon's Grande Armée. The game is described as brutal, frightening, and strangely chill.
The Valor Mortis review roundup shows an 80 average and 81% recommended across 43 reviews on OpenCritic. The first-person Soulslike from Ghostrunner developer One More Level is set in an alternate Napoleonic-era Europe, and critics broadly praise its sword-and-gun combat, parkour and level design while faulting repetitive enemy variety, forgettable bosses and technical issues. It launched on PC on September 24, 2026 at $40 and is available Day One on Xbox Game Pass.
"Review: Valor Mortis (PS5) - Imperial Ambitions, Largely Realised https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps5/valor-mortis"
Gameloft's Bluey's Happy Snaps is out on Switch 2, tasking players with photographing specific objects and creatures across the Heeler house, beach, park and more, collecting at least 15 stickers to unlock each new area. The game runs at 60fps with three special photo minigames per location, and every menu option features voiceovers from Bandit and Chilli's voice actors. Touchscreen support is included but doesn't work properly, though analogue stick controls function well.
ConcernedApe (Eric Barone) said Haunted Chocolatier is more of an action RPG than Stardew Valley, with its main focus on adventuring, finding equipment and getting more powerful, plus monsters and boss fights. It is set in a more "metaphysical" locale and is aimed at Stardew Valley players who go into the mines. The game still has no release date, as does the Stardew Valley 1.7 update.
'The algorithm continues to properly prioritise Mister Biddy Blas' https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/the-algorithm-continues-to-properly-prioritise-mister-biddy-blas-star-wars-galactic-racer-has-created-the-perfect-creature/