This game has an interesting premise: The Moon's orbit with Earth started to decay about a century ago. Now, the tides are so high, the remnants of humanity are stranded on a mountain peak. The Moon is going to collide with the planet in a few more decades, and there's nothing that anyone can do to stop it.

The gameplay is this:

• Various hostile ghosts are attached to the planet. The player character's job is to help these ghosts pass on with his music. This is done through a QTE system where you press the right button at the right time.
• You get to upgrade the village near the starting area with various materials you find.
• There are a few environmental puzzles around to solve, where you move things around with music.
• Most of the game is based around exploration, and the explorable area changes with time of day.

There are also some control issues that may frustrate you. Maybe 20% of the time, the game thinks you're holding a button longer than you actually are, or it ignored a button you pressed. It's very noticeable, but it can be worked around.

If you play this, take note that I got stuck after the forest area when I interacted with an object up on a cliff I revealed with the Sense ability. I advise keeping to the main mission to avoid any softlock issues.

In early 2025, when Bluepoint again pitched the idea of Bloodborne remake, the studio was told that the numbers made sense but FromSoftware didn’t want it to happen, according to people familiar with the process.

Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida shared a theory last year that this might be the case, saying in an interview with Kinda Funny Games that he thought FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki was interested in remaking the classic game but too busy to do it himself and “doesn’t want anyone else to touch it.” He added that he thought PlayStation would respect Miyazaki’s wishes despite owning the franchise.

So the latest in a growing amount of PSP articles I've written is up, this time with the lead dev from 'Barcode Studia' about their latest game. This is a small team whose passion is bringing Grand Theft Auto 'mods' (I use that term loosely because the work is SO amazing) to the Liberty City Stories engine.

Their latest work is Seen in Liberty City, which brings Grand Theft Auto III to PSP and PPSSPP (the fact a game is being brought to the original PSP hardware so long after release makes me so happy!)

My interview with 1826 covers everything from how their group came together, their games, what was involved in the huge effort of bringing GTA III to the PSP, legal issues that might arise and so on. I'm so happy I got to chat to them about this one, and I hope you enjoy the article!

https://gardinerbryant.com/rewriting-liberty-city-an-interview-with-barcode-studia-on-rebuilding-gta-iii-for-psp/

Amazing launch for the franchise.

The next “let’s take a random thing and roguelite it” is here, and it’s called Dice A Million, a roll ‘em up that has you trying to roll 1,000,000 with a set of dice. As the numbers grow you will be unlocking more dice with crazy unique effects and modifiers, and getting some cool powerup rings for your hand. Speaking of the hands, there are 10 to choose from which indicate your player class. Also, the developer wants you to really notice their “cutting edge next-gen graphics”, which were all drawn on Microsoft Paint.

Who am I?

I am a former game journalist, current game developer who wants to put a spotlight on indie games and the people who make them. I run a newsletter called Indie Dispatch which is sent out Japanese Friday evenings with 5 games I’ve found that I think you should check out for the weekend. We also have some developer interviews coming up too!

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/pokemon/p/1824017/spoilers-pokemon-winds-and-waves-new-starters

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Image description: The new Pokemon starters on a bright beach with palm trees behind them. From left to right. Browt, a light yellowish green chick with angry lime green eyebrows and beak. Kind of seems like an Angry Birds character. Pombon, a happy orange floofy Pomeranian dog-type creature. And Gecqua, a blue Littlest Pet Shop kind of style leopard gecko type creature. They have a light blue raindrop between their eyes.

Today's game is Alan Wake 2's Lake House DLC. I finished it up today, and holy shit it was good. I'd say it was as good as the main game for me. It took the core of the game and did some neat things with it that really upped all the aspects in different ways i feel.

For example, these guys. I fucking loved and hated dealing with them. Typically i don't like invincible enemies, but these guys being thrown into the game where i feel like you're expected to kill most of the enemies was amazing. I was almost a little disappointed when i got the black rock gun.

Another aspect i like is that we're seeing the aftermath of Alan's work. We only really see Alan effect the story first hand at the end. Until then we're just following his trail and playing Catch up. In a way it's fitting for the story of Estevez.

Speaking of Estevez. I want more of her. The DLC took her from a "pretty cool character" too "I need more". I wouldn't mind her getting her own game. It's certainly something i could see Remedy doing too.

Another aspect of this i liked was all the themes going on, i brushed a lot on them last time so i'll mainly cover one here, but i like how it's kind of a warning against trying to control and define art. Art is this free and almost mysterious force we can't really define. Try as we might with experiments or definitions, art just can't work like that. To attempt to control that on a level would only lead to catastrophic events.

Another aspect i liked was the whole "The Marmonts were monsters begin with" idea. Really cool and human angle i liked. I especially liked the boss fight too. Mainly the cutscene before though. I don't think we've ever seen Taken on Taken violence. In a way it's almost scarier because it doesn't feel natural to the rules the story has setup. In a way that itself is fitting too the unnatural story the Marmonts created through their tampering with forces they shouldn't have.

Once i finished the DLC that's when i decided to do the screenshots. I thought it would be best with all ideas fresh in my head, plus after telling Rudolph Lane goodbye i needed a moment. In a way it really highlights how the story is the "monster". No one escapes, not even the characters from the first game. And in a way, it's not the dark presence doing it this time, it's the story itself doing it.

cross-posted from: https://retrolemmy.com/post/34229712

His full story is forthcoming, but I don't know how that squares with incoming PC ports for Death Stranding 2 and the sequel to Kena. Maybe because they're only Sony published? Exclusivity of a handful of games that I may or may not be interested in still isn't going to make me want a PS5, personally.

absolutely incredible year for backyard fans. never thought id see the day it came back

Did you like Phasmaphobia but thought “maaan this would be cooler if it was in space, and it was kinda like Alien”? Enter Species: Unknown, a 1-4 player co-op survival horror where you enter a derelict ship, investigate the carnage, discover what alien murdered everything, and then try to get out alive.

This one is getting some praise and some momentum, just hitting 250K players. I’m definitely going to grab this when pay day rolls around with some friends - it looks great!

Normally I’d be excited about a new rock based music game. But something seems really off to me ? I can’t put my finger on it. No bands announced. No customization. Just a guitar shown but it’s full band ? Anyone have serious reservations ?

Today’s game is Animal Crossing New Horizons. I’ve been busy today so I just laid in bed and played this. First thing of note is fuck this guy. Like, I can’t get him out of my camp. He’s been there like a week and I don’t know why. He won’t leave. I don’t know if there’s something I’m missing or what. Anyways. Fuck him (not really though).

My bridge I started is coming alone okay ish. It’s almost 200,000 bells so I’m finding it hard to actually pay for it. Usually I’ll pop in, fish a little, harvest fruit, and then drop them in the sales box and pop off. It makes me around 10,000 Bells daily so it’s a nice steady pace. I do wish it was faster though.

I’ve also got a carrot cake I’ve been keeping on my floor. It’s been there like a week but I don’t think I’ve shared it. So this is like the formal “Floor Carrot Cake” announcement. I guess it’s part of the decoration now.

I ended the day just by chilling on the beach. Honestly I think the design is what this game nails perfectly. It’s got the perfect beach noises and feel. Same with snow. It’s got that sparkle and crunch snow has that I feel like a lot of games don’t. Anyways. I kind of just closed my eyes for a bit until I had to put it away to charge. The sounds were nice.

As former Xbox CEO Phil Spencer prepares to exit, we caught up with incoming CEO Asha Sharma and newly promoted CCO Matt Booty to learn about what the future holds for Microsoft's gaming operation.

This is an indie game that surprised me, called "SISTER LACE".

The premise is this: There's a rich kid school called Eva Academy. The students each get assigned a waifubot, called a Sister, who will help them with their student duties. At some point, the Sisters decide that Skynet was right all along, and start attacking every human in sight.

The levels are a bit jank, but the dev left various NPCs around to talk to for lore. The dev also builds the tension of the robots going crazy before it actually happens, which I enjoyed. I advise going in blind so you can feel the tension yourself.

The dev claims to have made the animations himself, and they're actually pretty good.

The actual hide and seek gameplay feels bland, but I'm hopeful the dev will improve it later.

I recorded a playthrough of the demo if you want to see what it's like.