[Update: The develope??r has let me know, and the Steam page has ??been updated to clarify that the 2D art created by generative AI is currently intended as a placeholder and will be replaced over time by human-made art. The Steam statement is now:

"Hawthorn will not ship with AI-generated content. However, 2D AI imagery, after being significantly edited by humans, is used for placeholder 2D art and iconography in the pre-alpha development vers??ion of the game. This placeholder art may be seen in various pre-release demos. However, AI-based art will be replaced before Hawthorn is available for purchase."

Our original story follows.]

Do you have room in your heart for another sandbox crafting game? Maybe consider Hawthorn, which is being showcased as the first game by Near Studios, a group founded mostly by ex??-Bethesda devs, including Bruce Nesmith, the lead de?signer of Skyrim.

I mean, personally, I’ve played enough survival crafting games to last me a lifetime, but Hawthorn strikes me as something special. It’s a whimsical take on the genre featuring woodland creatures. In it, you work with either co-op partners or NPCs to build a village. A significant portion of the trailer is dedicated to setting up a feast, and as anyone who dove into the Redwall series will ?tell ?you: feasts are important to woodland creatures.

Otherwise, there are also more exciting activities, such as flying across the countryside, exploration, and wh?ile it wasn’t shown in the trailer, combat will also be involved. Specifically, the press release says you can take the peaceful route or just devote yourself to violence. I’m not sure I could do that to mice and owls, ?but maybe some of them are extremely punchable jerks. It’s possible. There’s also an emphasis on weather, and while heavy rain is the only challenging one shown in the trailer, it’s promised that all four seasons will be represented, with snow being mentioned.

More importantly, though, you ca??n play as an otter. I only bring this up because my husband absolutely loves otters, and this will be a great way to convince him to play something with me. Personally, I’m more of a bunny person, and rabbits are not shown in the trailer. However, with the right peer pressure, anything is possible.

If there’s one downer in the announcement,?? it’s that the store page states, �D AI imagery, after being significantly edited by humans, has been used as the basis for some 2D art and iconography in t?he game.�As a writer who loves the craft, my immediate reaction is intense revulsion. But to be fair, its use is stated up front (that’s a rule on Steam, but it’s up to the dev to choose to follow it), and it’s alongside obviously human-made art. I just hate to see it in any circumstance.

No release window or platforms (aside from PC) have been announced for Hawthorn.

The post You can play as an otter in sandbox crafting game Hawthorn from ex-Bethesda d??evs (Update) appeared first on Destructoid.

Of all the open-world, survival, crafting games that feature zombies that are out there, 7 Days to Die is definitely one of them. Actually, it's one of the more fun examples of the genre, and after more tha?n a decade, the developer has finally launched version 1.0.

An announcement over on Steam positively beams with joy over the game finally coming out of Early Access. The new version is available for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5, and comes with a host of changes, though it's still the same ol' 7 Days to Die.

To give a quick overview of what the 1.0 update includes, well, you'll be treated to a new HD character creation system, allowing for a "personalized and engaging gaming experience." There's also some new armor, new animal models, and a new challenge system that takes over the beginner tutorial we all know so well. There's even been improvements to the random world generation, and some new points of interest added. Oh hell, you really need to check out the official patch notes to see exactly what's changed. The video above a?lso does a good ??job of breaking it down.

7 Days to Die discounts available

Developer The Fun Pimp??s (what a name) has also said that, because of the update, the price has now increased to $44.99 for those who are purchasing the game from scratch. However, if you had a digital copy on Xbox One or PS4 �and you can prove it �you can get 25% off for the Xbox Series and PlayStation? 5 versions, respectively.

I had a quick go at checking version 1.0 out earlier (I already had the game, so the update was free for me because I'm fancy like that). Honestly, one of the things I was concerned about was having all that "jank" removed. You know, the goofy bits of animation and weirdly diamond-shaped bits of dirt when you dig into the ground. I felt for sure 7 Days to Die would become this magnificently polished AAA experience and lose that j?anky appeal.

However, that isn't the case, and I couldn't be happier. Of course, the new version has plenty of improvements and has been tweaked to make it a much more rounded game. I've been getting a kick out it for many years and although I hadn't boote?d it up f??or quite some time until today, it was nice to get back to hitting zombies in the head with a club and then eating a can of soup like it's a solid object. Good times!

The post After almost ??????????????????????????12 years, 7 Days to Die 1.0 is finally out appeared first on Destructoid.

Gaddy Games first brought the survival crafting action of Dig or Die to Steam Early Access back in March 2015, followed by the full launch in July 2018. Now, nearly a decade after its initial Early Access debut, publisher Blitworks Games revealed that Dig or Die is digging?? (a??nd dying) on over to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

You can see more of what awaits in Dig or Die in the new Console Edition trailer below.

Dig or Die is another cautionary tale that warns of the risks inherent to crashing your spaceship on a hostile planet. While you attempt to rebuild your ship and escape, you'll need to find a way to survive through craft?ing and, particularly after the sun sets, fending off hordes of vicious creatures.

There's a lot of playing around with physics to be had here. Beyond just building structures, Dig or Die tasks you with making sure you actually do so thoughtfully. Build w?ithout care or consideration and your structures run the risk of collapsing, pushing your escape back even further. There are also water cycles—including threats of rain, underwater rivers, and other aquatic obstacles—that play into the integrity of? your base and your basic survival. 

Down in the underground

Outside of the main areas, Dig or Die is full of procedurally-generated locales, so the layouts of everything from the surface to the depths of caves can change each time you play. There are also custom game modes t?hat let you start out under a massive ocean or in a world made up of flying islands. Or simply skip all the exploration and play the stripped-down Base Defense mode for concentrated building and defending. 

You can dig and/or die when Dig or Die hits consoles on June 5, 2024.

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Deep Field Games' indie "survival crafting experience" Abiotic Factor has been doing a bit of alright lately. It came out a couple of weeks ago, and is currently showing as "Overwhelmingly Positive" on Steam. It might not be setting the Top Sellers a?light (it??'s currently at number 56), but it's been selling pretty well, make no mistake.

In a recent post on X, the team behind Abiotic Factor were excited to announce that the game had sold more than 250,000 copies since launching on May 2. To go along with this, there's also a message posted to the Steam page that gives thanks for this 11-day achievement.

It's alwa??ys a positive moment when an indie outfit gets to see the fruits of their labor reach ?lofty heights. It's a tough ol' world out there in Video Game Land, so it's encouraging to see these bursts of non-AAA titles have their moment in the spotlight, even if it's sometimes short-lived.

Half-Life meets Rust

For those who haven't played it yet, Abiotic Factor is essentially a survival sim with crafting elements. It tasks 1-6 players with working together "against the universe's biggest?? threats." The story reads thus:

As a GATE employee you extend the bounds of human knowledge, and seek to explain the unexplainable - including anomalies and paranormal entities: from gravity-distorting artifacts to supernatural creatures with an unbridled instinct for violence. Safety, security, and secrecy are ??of the utmost importance�usually.

Thematically and almost visually, it takes a lot of cues from Half-Life, Valve's maiden release from back in the day that went on to become one of the most influential first-person shooters in gaming history. Who wouldn't want a piece o?f ??that action?

Developer Deep Field Games also released the "First Week" update a few days ago. There's also a roadmap showing what's being planned, which includes a Crush Dep??th up?date coming this summer, as well as a Halloween patch. Marvelous.

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A flawed gem returns

While Q-Games is best known for the PixelJunk series, the studio's otherworldly resource-gathering, town-rebuilding, kaiju-stopping game The Tomorrow Children left a mark. Assuming, of course, that you were around to catch lightning i?n a bottle back in 2016.

With an online shared-world foundation, this peculiar social action-adventure ??game let players roll into town to pitch in with exploration, hauling, building, and a lot of odd jobs �manual labor was kind of the whole point in this Soviet-themed "alternate future."

Every task felt slow, methodical, and deliberate. But all the tedium ultimately paid off when folks worked together long enough to accomplish bigger goals. The Tomorrow Children was an entirely communal game, leading to memorable player experi?ences (and some chaotic trolling). It was a niche game, but a neat one, and it was sad yet somewhat understandable when Sony shut down the servers. The game needed time to flourish.

Now it's back on PS4 this week thanks to passionate developers at Q-Games, who got the IP rights back from a surprisin??gly cooperative Sony Interactive Entertainment.

The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition (PS4)
Developer: Q-Games
Publisher: Q-Games
Released: September 6, 2022
MSRP: $39.99

I've been wanting to revisit The Tomorrow Children since Death Stranding. I only dabbled in this once-lost game, but I love the idea? of teamwork-oriented shared-goal gaming.

Unlike the earlier online-only free-to-play version, The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition is a $40 game with no "grind lessening" real-money purchases to keep it afloat. And instead of a dedicated-server setup, every player starts with their own peer-to-peer town, including the ability to cooperate online with strangers or play offline with AI helpers.

This is an important distinction to make �some of the game's original bewildering nature has been smoothed out, and at least at launch, the co-op vibe isn't exactly the same. Folks will be initially focused on raising their own town, before hopping around to help out others. While it? was interesting (and sometimes frustrating) to have fully shared towns in 2016, in this 2022 incarnation, it's nice to have a bit more ownership; you can rest easy knowing that your personal town won't burn t??o the ground when you log off.

Your first impression of The Tomorrow Children will feel more tutorialized in Phoneix Edition,?? in a good way, and once you've got the basics, it'll be possible for other players to hitch a ride into your? town. You can bounce around, too �it's a quick loading screen away.

Slow-burn satisfaction

You might be wondering what it is you really do in The Tomorrow Children. Humanity is gone (for reasons that are better felt than described), and to bring back some semblance of the former world, you'll traverse the white quicksand-like Void all around you. As a specialized Projection Clone, you'll dig out giant scu??lpture-like "islands," find hidden matryoshka dolls, and restore them into proper citizens back at base. All the while, you'll stock up on metal, food, wood, coal, and crystals needed to craft structures and maintain your growing town.

While it's a simple concept, The Tomorrow Children can be a tricky game to sum up right.

In many ways, it isn't "fun" in a traditional sense. Progress is slow �especially alone �and many of the pickaxe-wielding mining mechanics are familiar by now.?? But at the same time, I can't stop coming back for more.? As of this review, I've clocked 22 hours.

For some people, even the most exciting "high points" will be too boring. And if that's the case, no matter how much progress you make, or how many fancy new (limited-use) gadgets you acquire to speed up the mundane grind, you aren't likely to change your mind. The intentionally limited inventory space will always be a problem, and the drawn-out bus rides from t??own out to the islands will never be fast enough. Busywork *is the game.*

For me though, these quieter gameplay moments give meaning and weight to this admittedly low-key experience. The Tomorrow Children can be contemplative or a total zone-out game, depending on how?? you look at it. I fall somewhere in the middle??.

There are gameplay tweaks and refinements

The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition is essentially the same game as before, brought back to life with key changes to keep it around for posterity. The nitty-gritty tweaks will stand out to the hardcore community, but they aren't h?ugely different from afar.

One of the biggest is that now, island exploration is more methodical �there isn't solid ground, so you'll slowly sink into the Void by default. That means you need to make good use of the platform-constructing jackhammer and be extra careful not to tumble off, or use crystals to?? harden the surface. I liked the stakes. One wrong move is enough, so I couldn't sleepwalk. On the ??flip side, death isn't too punishing �it's mostly a time-waster.

??In my experience, the new peer-to-peer multiplayer works great. ?You can share your town code with friends, or easily pull up a public list of towns and hop around.

As before, you'll communicate with emotes at most, but much of the time, players kind of just intuitively do their own thing and then come together to help each other out. (See: Journey.) If the primary player was out fetching resources and dolls on an island, I'd stay back to defend against invad??ing Izverg, repair bombed-out buildings as needed, and deposit busloads of goods into their specified storage area. Some people seem to hate the sliding-block puzzle mini-game for crafting, but I don't mind it, so I'll do that, too.

Even with the smallest of contributions, every step of the way, you'll earn "Toil" that funnels into 1) gear purchases and 2) skill upgrades. There's also a chance to pick up Freeman Dollars for cooler, longer-lasting items on the Black Market. Again, The Tomorrow Children is extremely slow-going, and Phoenix Edition doesn't change that. I was hoping the pricier stuff would be toned down even more than it is compared to the free-to-play days.

As a solo player, it's tough to be as well-rounded as I'd like. Necessities like a pickaxe, shovel, jackhammer, and shotgun add up, to say nothing of high-impact extras like a missile launcher or the limited-time VoidKa ability bo?osts. In a group, you can specialize and make the most of your coupons �you can synergize. But alone, I had to play?? it safe.

AI bots lighten the load

With AI in the mix (whether you're playing The Tomorrow Children offline or in an empty-enough? online session), some of the basic tasks w??ill be easier. AI and real players phase in and out as they go about their business. Sometimes, I couldn't easily tell them apart.

But when it comes down to it, the AI will never do anything too bold �more than anything, the bots like to scoop up scraps (in town and on islands??) and they'll hop in a turret to take potshots at flying rays or stomping Godzilla-esque Bankrotz. They'll also repair buildings if you're away, but they aren't exactly in a hurry to do so.

Still, this is a big improvement that helps with pacing. You don't have to babysit every facet of the town upkeep, which is grea?t when you're in the ??groove on an island excursion that's a long bus ride away. You can let certain tasks pile up for a while, worry-free.

For me, the ga??me's tunneling and platform-building exploration is the main draw, whether I'm playing alone or collaborating with others. Q-Games says there are more than 40 islands �I saw too many to recall, including a massive imposing red face, outstretched arms, a cake, colorful floating bubbles, a retro TV set, and a toy robot. These mountainous art installations can also be expanded if you trigger a transparent "monolith"; that said, some require multiple players to activate it. If you find every hidden doll, or wait long enough, an island will sink back into the Void. I liked this rising background tension.

There are new tools like a grappling hook, but I ended up wasting too many shots by not quite nailing down the firing distance, and my currency was better spent elsewhere. Similarly, I wish the jetpack was within easier reach �some islands are so oppressively vertical that I just had to wait for them to vanish and? try my luck with a different area.

To what end?

The first major goal is to restore 50 residents, at which point your town is complete �but you aren't "kicke??d out" for good as it initially seems. You'll be able to return and keep reaching new heights. I'm now trying ?to hit a population of 100 as well as upgrade my newly-built Town Hall with loads and loads of metal. What comes next, I'm not sure.

It feels like this Phoenix Edition re-release was less about sweeping improvements and "trying again," and far more about just getting The Tomorrow Children back in players' hands in a future-proof way. So while I wish that Q-Games could've modernized or expanded certain elements (especially combat, w?hich is often very one-note), I get the scope.

I'm glad to get another genuine crack at this subversive social crafting adventure game as someone who was there in 2016 but has ha?zy memories at best. It's not as impactful in 2022, if I'm being honest, but there's also nothing quite like this vibe. I knew I was in for something special as soon as the amped-up music started blaring on my home screen. The visuals still hold up surprisingly well for the most part, and playing on PS5, I didn't run into any notable performance issues �just a couple of pre-launch-day crashes at worst.

Offline support and AI bots are enou??gh to make certain fans happy, and while the price is too steep and the patient gameplay loop is too niche to recommend to a wide audience, I still want to nudge as many people as possible. I didn't expect to spend more than 20 hours toiling away with this strange game, yet here I am, with no signs of stopping.

Time flies when you're silently helpin?g stra??ngers perform tedious tasks. It's weirdly zen.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm here for all of these sinister simulation games

In a new horror-themed management sim from Unfold Games, you'll play as a vampire fresh out of hibernation with a dusty estate to renovate and deck out. One of my favorite parts of games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the early stages �the clean-up process before you settle into your daily business-as-usual routine. And from our first playfully animated look at Bloody Hell Hotel, there's much to do.

The announcement trailer debuted on IGN today, and it moves fast.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT2u84ZEUl4

The vampire protagonist practically wields force powers in the footage, which I kind of love. How the minute-to-minute experience of Bloody Hell Hotel holds up remains to be seen, but as a foot-in-the-door pitch,? I'm intrigued. It's such a specific concept.

Above ground, you'll need to clean up and fu?rnish the hotel, then serve guests (while meeting your own blood-sucking needs). The game also has a farming component �including an undead cow and zombi??e chickens �and there's blacksmithing.

Below? the estate "lies a crypt and a system of caves. By foraging, farming, crafting, and fighting your way through the monster-infested dungeons, you'll find the resources you need to restore greatness to your mansion and turn it into? a thriving hotel business."

As for the management side of Bloody Hell Hotel, Unfold says that "once your hotel grows in size, you will be able to hire employees, your fellow vampires. You might need a cook??, a housekeeper, a p??orter, a receptionist... Whatever task you want to delegate, you can find someone to do it for you. All it takes is good cash flow and a bit of blood to entice them."

[caption id="attachment_339908" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{I love kicking in first-person games.}[/caption]

Mystery meat

The developers also note that "when it comes to meat, nobody has to know where it comes from" �so go ahead and make the most o??f your victims after sucking t?heir blood to regenerate your vampiric powers. Using a first-person perspective was a good call.

Unfold's last game was DARQ, a horror pu?zzle-adventure game with a similar aesthet??ic.

Bloody Hell Hotel is coming to Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store. While the team is focusing on the PC version, "console releases will be announced s?eparately, but soon."

From the sound of it, this won't release as an Early Access game. I?'ll be keeping tabs on it.

The post Bloody Hell Hotel is one wild-looking vampire manageme??nt game appeared first on Destructoid.

Looks like it will be worth the wait

In an industry where constant reinvention is the name of the game, Inflexion Games' "shared world survival crafting game" Nightingale seems like it will bring a fresh experience to players... when it's eventually out. While the studio initially estimated that the game would be out by the end of 2022, Inflexion has just announced that Nightingale wi?ll now?? be releasing in early access sometime in the "first half of 2023."

In the announcement tweet fr??????????????????????????om the studio, they also promised to give "more game and development updates from the team" soon.

The letter from Inflexion stated two main reasons for Nightingale's delay, one of which is the usual all??owance of extra time for the developers to polish and tighten up the gameplay, the world, etc.

The second reason is that the studio is upgrading the game's engine to Unreal Engine 5, which was originally going to happen later, but "after reviewing the potential UE5 has to offer, [they] decided on upgrading now rather than waiting until after release." It sounds like that was the ri??ght move, and will make things smoother once the game is shipped.

//twitt?er.com??/PlayNightingale/status/1557743737203486721

Of course, game delays? are prett??y common these days, which has been in large part because of the pandemic, and also just because it's more acceptable now to try and mitigate any crunch the team might have to go through. That's why I try not to let game delays bum me out anymore �it usually means a healthier work-life for the developers, plus I have a big enough backlog of games to get through as it is.

Considering Inflexion was founded by former BioWare boss Aaryn Flynn, I think we should have a lot to look forward to when the gam??e finally ??hits the market.

Like I said, the gameplay sounds pretty unique, and the Victorian visuals pull my eye more than most games I've seen this year. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Nightingale, whenever its release may be.

The post S??urvival crafting fantasy game Nightingale de??layed to 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

You gotta know when to hold 'em...

Inflexion Games has released a brand new trailer for its atmospheric fantasy crafting adventure Nightingale to the Summer Game Fest showcase.

As an intrepid explorer, or "Realmwalker", players will be tasked with scavenging the land, fending off wildlife and predators while gathering the ingredients necessary to craft magical decks of cards. These cards offer the power to create mysterious, dimension-crossing portals. If you thought this world and its den?izens were dangerous enough, just wait until you see what's waiting for you on the other side...

Nightingale will launch later in 2022 on PC via Ste??am and Epic Games ??Store.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=jno59gI3Wv4

The post Nightingale blends survival and card-crafting in a?? fantasy gaslit world appeared first on Destructoid.

Slimes keep on slippin', slippin', slippin'

While it's walking on well-worn ground in the mining/crafting-adventure space, Core Keeper is a wonderful way to spend some time. Okay, honestly, a lot of time.

I recently saw it climb up the Steam charts, with the latest figure topping 500K copies sold. That caught my eye. But more than raw popularity, I was intrigued by the idea of a game with a bit of Terraria, Stardew Valley, and Valheim in its DNA. Those are three beloved titans, and Core Keeper definitely isn't on that level, but the comparison kind of fits, albeit with an Early Access c??aveat to contend with. It's not finished �but it's really polished.

Core Keeper (PC)
Developer: Pugstorm
Publisher: Fireshine Games
Released: March 8, 2022 (Steam Early Access)
MSRP: $12.99

Even if we've seen these ideas before in other games, this is still the kind of meandering sandbox that I can enjoy?? losing myself in. You'll have goals in mind, sure �maybe you want to find a certain ore to craft a certain he??lmet with a certain perk before facing a boss �but it can be just as easy to pick a direction, any direction, and start tunneling.

It's pitch dark, so you'll need to plop down some torches, keep an eye out for glimmering deposits to crack open, and consul?t your slowly materializing?? map from time to time.

Early on, I adored this simplicity, even as a solo player. It was ideal for a two-screen PC setup with YouTube or Netflix playing on the side. Toward the end �and admittedly, in Early Access, there isn't really an "en?d" �I started to feel tapped ou??t. My character's level-ups were too few and far between, the enemies and biomes became overly familiar, and the trips back out to the edge of the world took too long even with a minecart.

But you know, I enjoyed those first 12 hours. I don't regret playing Core Keeper obsessively.

Like other unfinished or content-strained adventures, the early- to mid-game portions a??re the highlight. It's best when you don't fully know what you might find in far-out caverns and the XP-based progression system still has that satisfying pace to keep you glued.

Core Keeper awards experience points whenever you do a relevant action (which I love), so running around will eventually increase your movement speed, an?d slashing slimes and creepy crawlers will help bolster your melee might. There are skill trees to invest points in, and that goes for categories like smithing, crafting, gardening, and fishing, too.

You'll star??t by creating a cha??racter with one of several class specialties, though things will even out the more you play, so the choice doesn't carry as much weight as it initially seems to. For instance, I was a Gardener, which gave me a copper hoe and a watering can right off the bat. If I had known better, I probably would've preferred a wearable light source to complement my hand-held torch, but it is what it is. It all worked out.

A short intro sequence vaguely (but enticingly) introduces your ancient underground surroundings, and it's immediately clear that you'll need to grow some crops to fend off your appetite, build a base to craft battle-ready gear, and search for three boss creatures. The world has a semi-randomized layout, which lends itself well to Core Keeper's tunnel-carving ways. Somehow, punching out holes in the wall is my favorite part. Even though I should be over this gameplay loop by now, it's oddly satisfying here. ??And it's relaxing.

For me, it all works as well as it does because of the nice audio-visual feedback with each swing, and the moody lighting. Again, Core Keeper is really dark when it wants to be, which is most of the time.?? But you'll also come across clearings �like a glowing flower-lit river, or a massive chewed-out tunnel that co?nveniently forms a perfect circle around the game's starting area �and the lighting-fueled atmosphere hits that much harder.

Snaking my way from one clearing to the next was super fun, even if the actual controls (I mainly played on a gamepad) are so simple. If you're the type of player who revels in simplicity, this could be your crafting game. It doesn't get too bogged down with resources or recipes, and the farming/food situation is easy to handle. You also don't have to worry about nagging in-game days or schedules. And the??re are no NPCs to fret over yet (just a couple of merchants). The main draw is exploration �that's the strongest aspect so far.

The melee (and ranged) combat system is fast and hard-hitting, and it gets the job done; I don't really have any complaints. It's more enjoyable than swatting down bats and mummies in Stardew Valley, for sure. And the bosses, which you'll? need to physically find (or locate using a scanner), are an adequate challenge. If you die �and you probably will, unless you play super cautiously and are buffed up with cooked meals �then it's just a matter of running back to grab your items off of your headstone. Depending on the circumstances, though, these treks can be long and arduous. So it pays to come prepared.

The main issue right now in the?? Early Access build, and this goes for combat, base building, farming, and a few other facets, is that there isn't enough variety to sustain a complete-feeling experience. It's a great value at $13, but don't let ??it overstay, either. Just because you can automate rare scarlet ore mining with a drill, conveyor belt, and a robot arm, that doesn't mean you strictly "need to." It can feel like progress for progress' sake.

Most of what's included feels pretty good �we just need Pugstorm to iterate a bit, balance here and there, and mainly focus on fleshing out the world more. I ended up clearing the three main bosses and then spending a lot of time tracking down the fourth. If you're in that position, honestly, don't push yourself too far. It started to become a ??slog. There are boss re-summoning mechanics (for grinding), but the endgame isn't here yet.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIYcsYVxzPg

While I have exclusively played Core Keeper alone, one of its biggest selling points is co-op. There can be up to eight players in the online multiplayer mix, which I'd probably save for a later date. I don't necessarily think it's time to go all-in on Core Keeper yet. But ?if you've got a base-building group who's down to divide and conquer, tr??y it out. Just know that the fun will peter out, and it's best not to try and exhaust every crumb of content before 1.0.

I'm not convinced Core Keeper can match the quality and scope of its b??est-in-class inspirations, but it's already worth a look in Early Access, and if the rest of the pieces fall into place leading up to the full launch, it'll be fondly remembered. I'm stoked.

_{[This scoreless review is based on an Early Access build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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The Dream Police live inside of my head

I started into the long-running Atelier series with Atelier Ryza and its sequel. They never quite satisfied, but it isn’t as though I disliked them. They were long, wordy adventures that badly needed about half their dialogue trimmed, but they have their charm. Especially if you enjoy PS2-era JRPGs like Dark Cloud.

I wasn’t certain I’d even attempt Atelier Sophie 2: (checks note on palm) The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream. For starters, I never played its precursor, 2015's Atelier Sophie: (checks palm) The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book. However, it’s a series I really want to like, so I cav???ed and decided to check it out anyway.

Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream (PC, Nintendo Switch [Reviewed], PS4)
Developer: KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Publisher: KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Released: February 24, 2022
MSRP: $59.99

To answer a question that some of you will have: no, I don’t think you need to have played the first Atelier Sophie to understand what is going on in t??his one. There’s a recap available in the main menu that will?? give you the basics of what happened, but aside from Sophie and Plachta, none of the previous party members appear. References are sometimes dropped, but they always seemed to be for flavor rather than substance. Sophie’s friendship with Plachta isn’t even explored that heavily in favor of new characters, including the past-self of Plachta who Sophie treats as essentially a new person.

The story of Atelier Sophie 2 involves the duo being sucked into a strange portal and winding up in (checks palm) Erde Wiege, which ?is a strange world where people’s dreams come true. Sort of. The rules of Erde Wiege are kind of all over the place. Time moves differently than in the real world, but it kind of doesn’t. Different people from different eras intermingle, including Plachta and her younger self. Occasionally, they even discuss meeting up i??n the real world once their dreams are over, but how would that work when they're probably from different time periods? Oh well.

The world really isn’t that different from the ones in the Ryza games. For being dreamlike it’s entirely not surrea??l. It??’s more of a dream world for narrative reasons than aesthetical ones.

[embed]//youtu.be/RCFXl8isYF0[/embed]

While the core gameplay remains unchanged, a lot has been tweaked for Atelier Sophie 2. You still pick up ingredients for alchemy and harass the wildlife, the combat has been changed (or changed back) to a more customary JRPG turn-based battle system. In terms of alchemy, the synthesis system has been expanded from the bubble system to one where you have to slot elements onto a grid and try to maximize the traits picked up by what you’re creating. However, unlike the Atelier Ryza games, you can’t synthesize your way to new recipes. Instead, they’re unlocked by completing tasks? in? the world.

Those are the things that have changed the most, but they’re rather impactful changes. The world make-up is the same and many of the enemies are unchanged. Ryza’s thick thighs have been changed out for Sophies impossibly fluffy coat, but in terms of characters, I’d be hard-pressed to describe how they’re different. Ryza was often stated to be a bumpkin, but it rarely played out in the games. They’re both talented but lazy individuals with strong willpower and affection for their friends. Other than that�/p>

Honestly, Atelier Sophie 2 di?d manage to win me over. The alchemy is better paced and takes longer to learn how to do it effectively. It really feels like I bumbled through the first half of the game until aspects of the deep crafting system started clicking into place. There’s a lot to internalize, and while there’s a tutorial for just about everything, it can take some time before you’re making quality merchandise.

While some of the characters are just as annoying as the ones in the Ryza series (why is Alette even here?), there were at least a couple that stood out to me. Ramizel is a younger version of Sophie’s late grandmother, which causes a unique brand of awkwardness as the two try to maintain friendship while also knowing that they’re tied to each other’s fate. While the story of Atelier Sophie 2 plays out similar to the Ryza series, hitting many of the same b??eats, it manages ??to stick better to its themes.

At the same time, it’s still poorly told. Characters go on and on about established facts, and the foreshadowing is about as heavy-handed as a gold statue. At one point, it was so blatant, that it was difficult to watch as the characters went about, unable ??to do the basic arithmetic that would put two and two together.

The character chatter a lot to the point where it’s tempting to turn off the dialogue. Almost every time you pick something up in the environment, someone has to tell you how great it is or how heavy it is to carry. In combat, the same lines get constantly repeated?? and I really just wish Alette would shut up.

It also didn’t know when to end. It felt like a large portion of the 55 hours I put into the game was spent inching towards the ending. Everything ground to a halt for the finale as I was left seeking a single ingredient. I had seen it before, but Atelier Sophie 2 wouldn’t give me a hint on where, so I’m guessing it was randomly from? a chest. As it turns out, the only other place it’s dropped is by a?n optional boss that requires you to pick up an optional (and also somewhat random) quest to even find. Oh, the agony.

But it didn’t necessarily ruin my fun, it just reminded me of the downside to trying to play a game on a deadline (which I missed). Otherwise, I always enjoyed picking up Atelier Sophie 2, especially in the mornings, as it’s a bright and laid-back game to start the day with. It’s well-paced and it’s very rewarding to learn the smaller facets. I spent more time plumbing the world for ingredients and rewards than I did with the Ryza games, and that means one thing: it really nai?led the recipe?.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Atelie??r Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream appeared first on Destructoid.

But that isn't a bad thing if you like the grind

Oh no. Here I go again! After sinking entirely too many hours into Graveyard Keeper, a simulation game about burying the dead (and also harvesting their "dark organs"), I thought I was out. I did everything in the base game and expansions, to the point where I deleted it all, never to look back again, but now there's a new story-based DLC. Graveyard Keeper: Better Save Soul is coming first to PC �via Steam and GOG �on October 27.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mlSI_IFf9o

Just like Stranger Sins and Game of Crone before it, Better Save Soul will cost $9.99.

At its heart, Graveyard Keeper is a crafting-adventure game, which is partially why it's been able to have so much DLC �there's always room to give players more "stuff" to semi-mindlessly craft while they chip away at NPC-befriending questlines. That sounds harsh, but I don't mean it to be. Even if it could be more engaging, ??the format is pretty compelling, and by the time my mind started to drift, I was already too hooked to stop.

Anyway, the new activity for Better Save Soul is related to "saving souls" for the Ancient Contract. One of the screenshots shows a Soul Extractor and there's a freaky contraption hooked up to a new NPC, Euric. According to TinyBuild, players will help Euric "fulfill his cherished dream and remove th??e shar?ds of sins from his soul. In return, he is ready to share a book, which contains knowledge for remote craft control of workbenches."

The trailer shows a glimpse of the Keeper upgrading his home with paintings and alternate wall colors, something that wasn't possible before Better Save Soul.

There's also a tidbit about unlocking "global control" of the automated Zombie Workstations, which would be a nice quality-of-life feature. Even ??better: the ability to manage workbenches "directly from the map with the remote craft control."

Graveyard Keeper: Better Save Soul is expected to take between 6-12 hours, which sounds about right based on the scope of the other DLCs. You won't need to start a fresh save file to play it, and it'll be available on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch at a later date.

I'm down to play this once i??????????????????????????t's on consoles, but I'd be more excited about a sequel.

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I've spent an unreasonable amount of time unwinding with this game, and I don't regret it

I did it. It's finally done. I've passed the "everything that counts" progression threshold in Graveyard Keeper, and I even caught 200 fish for a silly trophy. Now I can confidently, satisfyingly delete the game from my PS4 and never look back �unle??ss they rope me in with another story-based ??expansion, which I could absolutely be convinced to play.

Graveyard Keeper turned three years old this month, and? coinci??dentally, I've been playing an unholy amount of it lately. This is a crafting game through and through, one that's full of boring-yet-relaxing busywork every conceivable step of the way. You, uh... you in?

It is a no-joke *grind*. If you're okay with that �if you can stick with a ??multi-month game that's meant to be chipped away at, not brute-forced �there's a lot to lik?e about it.

There's also a lot to dislike, depending on your tastes, your willingness to always play with a wiki by your side, and your tolerance fo??r, let's be real, b??latant padding.

Graveyard Keeper has and will continue to be likened to Stardew Valley, but it's such a different experience, even if there is clear conceptual and mechanical overlap. This is more of an RPG in terms of conv?oluted technology trees and XP to ??painstakingly earn.

Sure, there's a farm, and fishing, and a bit of sword-swinging combat in a cordoned-off dungeon, but you aren't out to whoo any of the locals with th?eir favorite gifts each week, and the story is more expansive, and far more out-there. Also, you carve up corpses, supply a snack stand for witch-?burning audiences, and run a sketchy for-profit church.

There is a surprisingly twisted (and quirky!) story to slooowly uncover that truly goes places you wouldn't expect, doubly so with the lore-expanding Stranger Sins and Game of Crone DLC that fill in some gaps that maybe shouldn't have been ther?e in the first place.

The main story path revolves around six characters, all of which have their own day of the week. Instead of following an intuitive seasonal calendar, you �a present-day dude who's stranded in a mystical medieval-village fever dream �will rely on a six-day cycle.

Your in-game clock is based on the seven deadly sins, and it uses astrological symbols, with each one corresponding to a special roaming NPC who will appear on that day and that day only. For new players, the weekly schedule is the first of many, many encounters with the aforementioned wiki, as much of Graveyard Keeper is left up to you to figure out.

You're also going to wonder what's up with the "blue points" and how to re?liably earn more of them to flesh out your tech trees, among a hundred other granular searches.

The lack of clear in-game answers for basic gameplay elements, mixed with the morbid subject matter and dark humor in the dialogue, leads to ??this semi-offputting yet strangely compelling vibe. Again, all is not what it seems in this world with a talking skull and donkey, regular witch burnings, and burgers made of sliced-off cadaver flesh.

There are payoffs, and answers. The laughably tangled-up spiderweb of NPC quests that almost all need to be completed near-simultaneously will get resolved. Eventually.

Before I got accustomed to Graveyard Keeper's ways after clocking in day after day to prep resources to craft this, which leads to that, which lets me do the other thing, only to forget what I was doing in the first place, I found the purgatory-esque village mildly unsettling. I got the nagging sense that, aside from all the obviously bleak shit around me that the protagonist can't help but go along with, som?ething was... off. Not in a bad way, though.

Do you generally feel "comfortable" inhabiting the doomed world of Majora's Mask? I sure don't! But onc?e y??ou're sufficiently acclimated, both games can be cozy in their own right.

It's a long journey though, so strap in. Graveyard Keeper is entirely willing to toss you an interesting story beat or character moment ??here and there, only to let you toil away for potentially hours before you can see the next step. All the while, intentional or not, you'll contemplate �you'll d??well on a lot of things, in and outside of the game, actually.

If you make it to the end, well, first, you'll probably be annoyed by the anticlimactic finale, to say nothing of the fakeout with the carrot-on-a-stick Town �but ultimately, the ?experience will stick with you. The highs outweigh the lows, at least they did for me.

If you're on the fence, or you've dipped your toes in the game but fell short of finishing it, I would give the DLC packs a real look. They might as well be mandatory. I say that having originally played Graveyard Keeper on Nintendo Switc??h, where I beat it and moved on with mixed feelings, and again on PS4, this time with the all-inclusive Ultimate Edition.

Breaking Dead will let you put those extra corpses to work, literally. You can ??create and assign automated zombies to gather energy-zapping resources like marble and wood, or plug away at the crops on your vineyard and farm? while you're busy elsewhere, or �best of all �ferry resources from the far-off northern quarry back to your homestead. I got so sick of dealing with that dreadful hike in the mid-to-endgame grind on Switch, so I cherished my set-and-forget zombie setup once I figured out all the logistical planning.

Stranger Sins is a major questline about building and running a tavern, which slots nicely into the rest of the game once you've got a good supply chain going for beer and wine. More than that, though, this DLC adds an interesting (and much-needed) extra texture to the eccentric but kinda incomplete story and underutilized characters of Graveyard Keeper, with lots and lots of unlockable "prequel" cutscenes. It is another resource-juggling fetch-quest *grind*, as all things are, but it gave me a new o??utlook on the big picture.

Game of Crone has rubbed some players the wrong way with unlockable perks tied to certai??n endings, and potentially buggy elements (though I didn't have any issues). Overall, I liked it once I got into it. After getting tangled up in a vampire-hunt mystery, you'll be able to build a full-on refugee camp, which ends up being a pretty great dopamine release. This storyline isn't as compelling, but I appreciate the settlement as another thing to keep tabs on every so often in between my usual chores. By the time you're ready for it resources-wise, the camp will help break up some of the main-quest monotony.

Pardon the references. The names are tacky.

These expansions don't fix or address everything in the original game (fishing is still underwhelming), and it's a little awkward to know when to engage with them �not too early, but not too late, I guess. You have to be willing to start the tavern and refugee camp knowing full well that you'll need to walk away at a certain point and circle back (unless you've got an endgame save ready to go, which will also lead to ?some less-than-ideal pacing). All told, though, the expansions are worth it. They help more than they hurt.

I wouldn't recommend Graveyard Keeper to everyone, not a chance. But for those of us who can put u?p with the minor annoyances, the sometimes wacky and arbitrary padding, and other causes for confusion and unnecessary friction, it's honestly one-of-a-kind.

As long of a grind as it was to just finish Graveyard Keeper's critical path, to say nothing of the probably two dozen extra hours I spent mopping up the si??de content and other miscellaneous fluff, I really would be down for another DLC �or a sequel one day.

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