Some backgrounds faced rendering issues in the Environment Log, while softlocks could occur in “certain circumstances” in the final Providence Trial, Judgment. Those have also been fixed, along with issues suffered by HAN-D’s VENT Drone. The Commando also shouldn’t turn around while sliding or “store” that state if he grabs a rope mid-slide. Red Whip also got a nice buff, activating its speed boost while the player climbs.

Check out the full patch notes below for more details. Risk of Rain Returns is available for Nintendo Switch and PC, serving as a remaster to the 2013 side-scrolling rogue-lite. You can read our review, where we awarded it a 9 out of 10 for its gameplay, quality of life improvements, proper online co-op tools and excellent soundtrack.

Patch Notes 1.0.5

• Fixed a crash relating to text rendering in certain languages. Thank you for your patience with this one, it was surprisingly difficult to identify what was causing this issue! A big thanks to GameMaker developers YoYo Games for helping us track this one down!
• Fixed a crash with Huntress’s alternate Secondary that could occur online.
• Fixed a rendering issue with certain backgrounds in the Environment Log as of the previous patch.
• Fixed softlocks which could occur in certain circumstances in Judgement.
• Fixed a crash when Acrid’s bubble touched the head of a friendly Bramble.
• Fixed Acrid’s alternate Utility skill becoming unavailable for the rest of the stage if the projectile was launched into a pit.
• Fixed HAN-D’s VENT Drone not interacting properly with aiming.
• Fixed HAN-D’s VENT Drone sometimes failing to fire.
• Fixed Commando turning around while sliding.
• Fixed Commando “storing” the slide state if grabbing a rope while sliding.
• Fixed poor interaction of both of Pilot’s primary skills with aiming.
• Pilot’s Secondary skill now interacts with Brilliant Behemoth in a more expected way.
• Pilot no longer incurs slowdown from backing up while shooting while his parachute is active.
• Drifter’s default Special skill no longer gets stuck when attack speed is really high.
• Drifter’s alternate Utility skill now pushes cubes spawned by the alternate Secondary.
• Drifter’s Primary skill no longer pulls the player forward if standing on a cube.
• Drifter’s cubes now interact with geysers.
• Loader and Drifter can now turn while executing their Primary skill combos.
• Enforcer’s alternate Primary skill now consistently knocks enemies back in the direction it was fired.
• Bandit’s Ancient Scepter boosted alternate Special skill now fires for 2×500% damage like its default counterpart.
• Fixed skills affected by Ancient Scepter not resetting their cooldowns between stages.
• Fixed Substandard Duplicator incorrectly displaying an icon when collecting Food items, even though it didn’t actually clone them.
• Fixed the interact input being able to activate multiple things in a single press.
• Fixed Pilot’s Parachute physics change applying at the start of the next stage if the player died while it was active.
• Fixed the Toxin effect applying while the player was dead.
• Fixed certain item particle effects applying while the player is dead.
• Fixed Ceremonial Dagger projectiles not dealing damage if the actor that spawned them was destroyed before they dealt damage, most noticeable with the Engineer’s laser turret.
• Red Whip’s effect may now kick in while the player is climbing.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Created by the same team that brought us the Ace Attorney series, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is all about uncovering the mystery of your own death as a ghostly version of yourself. Phantom. The gameplay revolves around exploring the curious case in complete depth and then reaching a conclusion – which really makes you feel like a detective making important decisions. It’s all accompanied by some smart writing that never fails to keep you guessing, which makes it such an endearing experience.

Fatal Frame / Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse released in 2008 to some great critical and commercial reception, and Koei Tecmo has been trying to bring the series back into the limelight with HD remasters for these game. The remaster of Mask of the Lunar Eclipse released earlier this year, and it does a really good job of souping up the visuals and smoothing out certain jagged edges to make the experience a lot more palatable for modern audiences. Of course, it isn’t perfect by any means – but it’s a great horror game nevertheless.

Cocoon

Cocoon is a wonderful puzzle game that’s entirely built around the concept of worlds existing within worlds, and players can combine and manipulate these worlds through the use of certain orbs to solve puzzles and proceed with the story. Cocoon comes from the lead designer for INSIDE and Limbo, so you can be confident that it’s a solid game with a minimalist control scheme and an emotional story that will stay with you long after the credits roll.

Hi-Fi Rush

Tango Gameworks delivered an excellent rhythmic adventure with Hi-Fi Rush, which has quickly gone on to become one of the biggest surprise hits of this year. Hi-Fi Rush features a world where everything taps to a beat, and you must time your actions and attacks to that beat to be able to dish out damage to your opponents. It’s a wonderfully imaginative game that’s executed with great attention to detail, and should be experienced by more fans.

Season: A Letter to the Future

Season: A Letter to the Future is a game that talks about the nature of change. As the protagonist, your job is to capture the sights and sounds and take them to the next Season – a time when everyone will be unaware of what happened in the last Season. It’s a simple and laid back game with a strong focus on exploration and engaging in conversations, but the many themes that it manages to effectively convey through its story is what makes it so beautiful.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a Soulslike with a complex web of action and progression mechanics that beautifully flow into one another, and what we get is a game that’s surprisingly fun and approachable despite the many mechanics and systems at play. There are a few erratic difficulty spikes here and there, but Wo Long is a largely fun experience where you must overcome brutal but fair challenges ranging from petty enemies to large bosses with multiple health bars and much more.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is FromSoftware’s attempt at modernizing its long-running mech adventure series, and it’s fair to say that the team has largely succeeded in its objective of providing a modern experience for audiences. Armored Core 6 features a fast and frenetic combat lop that’s just a joy to engage with, and the bevy of customization options makes it all so much more compelling.

Deliver Us Mars

Deliver Us Mars is a spiritual successor to Deliver Us The Moon, and the many merits of the 2018 release shine brightly in Deliver Us Mars as well. The story revolves around a space crew embarking on Mars in the hopes of retrieving some stolen spaceships from a mysterious race of aliens called the Outward. It’s all written and performed well, and while the gameplay doesn’t have too many action elements – it does a good job of keeping you engaged through the compelling plot and a wide variety of gameplay options like exploration, puzzle solving, and much more.

Fort Solis

Developer Fallen Leaf’s latest Fort Solis also sends players to explore the furthest depths of the planet Mars, as our protagonist Jack Leary embarks on a search mission for his missing crew. Fort Solis boasts a star cast with the likes of Roger Clark (the voice behind Arthur Morgan) and Troy Baker (the voice behind Joel from The Last of Us) coming to play important characters in this well-written story. Between this and a strong visual presentation powered by Unreal Engine 5, Fort Solis is a solid game that should be experienced by a lot more people.

Jusant

Jusant comes from the guys at Dontnod, the studio best known for its work on the Life is Strange series. Jusant is all about reaching the top of a tall tower while overcoming the many obstacles that lie in your way. It beautifully combines mechanical challenge with immersive storytelling to create something that’s just hard to put down – once you get the hang of it.

Risk of Rain Returns

The original Risk of Rain was an excellent roguelike that featured some amazing combat and compelling progression mechanics, and Risk of Rain Returns is a remaster that knows how to package that experience in a way that feels worthwhile for veterans and newcomers alike. In addition to the base content, Risk of Rain also features enhanced multiplayer options and new build types to experiment with on your repeat playthroughs.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe

Originally released in 2011 for the Nintendo Wii, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land now has a Deluxe Edition that comes with updated graphics and smoothed-out gameplay designed for the Nintendo Switch. Much like every other Kirby game, Return to Dream Land is a simple yet fun adventure where you make your way through a wide variety of levels while consuming your enemies to get their powers and become even stronger.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider

JoyMasher’s Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider feels like a glorious throwback to 16-bit games, thanks to some incredible art direction and smooth-flowing gameplay that remains interesting for the entire duration of the experience. Of course, there are some elements and mechanics in place to make the gameplay feel more palatable for modern audiences which makes it feel like you are reliving the glory days of SNES complete with rose-tinted glasses.

Horizon Call of the Mountain

Horizon: Call of the Mountain was one of the first games to be released for PSVR2, and it’s an excellent adaptation of the full-fat Horizon experience in VR format. Sure, the open-world aspect has been swapped out for a more linear game where you make your way through carefully curated combat challenges and platforming runs – but it all works surprisingly well within the context of the game. And then of course, getting to experience the post-post-apocalyptic world of Horizon from up close is also a really distinct kind of joy in and of itself.

Planet of Lana

Planet of Lana puts players in the teeny tiny shoes of Lana as she kickstarts a grand adventure through fantastical realms inhabited by all sorts of robotic and humanoid creatures. Created by developer Wishfully, Planet of Lana takes players on a joyous ride through a wonderfully well-realized world and tells a heartwarming story that hits just the right notes at every moment. Add to that some amazing visuals and cinematic gameplay, and Planet of Lana becomes a thrill ride like no other.

The developer has heard feedback and confirmed independent horizontal aim options for a future patch. It’s not “full 360” aiming, so you won’t have free reign. For those using a mouse, it will see the cursor position as the horizontal aim direction, while those on controllers and keyboards can set the direction independent of movement.

Both features are optional, so you can opt-out and keep playing the current game if you’d like. The goal is to provide “a much smoother experience to players who prefer mouse input, without giving that option an advantage over keyboard/controller players.” Since it’s a new feature and other patches are being developed side-by-side, there’s no estimate on its release, so stay tuned for updates.

Risk of Rain Returns is available on Nintendo Switch and PC. Check out our review here.

Crashes that occur when “unusual” gamepad-type devices are connected or at points when closing the game are also fixed. A save backup system separate from Steam Cloud is also available, while skill descriptions should now display correctly regardless of aspect ratio. Check out the full patch notes below.

A future patch will fix other issues, including a loud sound when restarting in specific scenarios or Providence Trials and challenges related to Bandit, Sniper and Han-D not unlocking if the client is in an online game. The team is also taking feedback regarding balance and will address issues in “future patches.”

Risk of Rain Returns is available for Nintendo Switch and PC. Check out our review here.

Patch Notes Version 1.0.2

• Fixed Cremator being allowed to spawn in certain locations which it was intended to be blacklisted from.
• Made HAN-D trial description correctly say 200 pts instead of 125 required.
• Changes the following stage variants to fix abnormalities: Ancientvalley 2, Desolate Forest 3 & 5, Hivecluster 1 & 3, Riskofrain 2, Temple of the Elders 1
• Fixed a crash when an unusual gamepad type device is connected.
• Fixed an obscure crash that can occur when viewing the command menu.
• Updated some files related to input extension which should better blacklist certain devices that behave poorly when detected as controllers.
• Fixed a crash that could occur at certain points if the game was closed.
• The game now appropriately responds to cutscene videos failing to load entirely. the intro will be skipped and ending will just be a black screen with text.
• Fixed a scenario in which the large healing chest could drop no item.
• Adjusted Highway Robbery trial to refer to Flashbang correctly.
• Fixed a frame-perfect crash when an Evolved Lemurian took flight and died at the same time.
• Introduced a save backup system independent of Steam Cloud.
• Fixed a possible crash with Miner’s alt primary.
• Fixed skill descriptions being displayed incorrectly depending on your aspect ratio.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when making a server.

Known Issues (to be fixed in a future patch)

• Bandit, a Sniper challenge, and a HAN-D challenge currently do not unlock if you’re a client in an online game.
• Permanent invincibility bug when losing a temporary Dios Friend.
• Certain users are experiencing a very loud sound when restarting the game in some scenarios / Providence Trials.
• If the game was set to fullscreen on a display that was disconnected, it may be unable to launch.
• Sniper’s secondary skill not interacting properly with Backup Magazine.
• Overloading enemies’ electricity has more range than intended.

Available for Nintendo Switch and PC, the remaster sports new Survivors like the Pilot and Drifter, rebalanced items, HD pixel art, and overhauled multiplayer. Trapped on Petrichor V, the story sees the player fighting through hordes of creatures to escape. Each of the 15 Survivors has unique abilities, but you also pick up different items for added damage, defense or hilarity.

While there’s plenty of new content available, those who want to experience the original’s gameplay mechanics with HD visuals can opt for Classic mode. You can also partake in the Providence Trials, which are challenges that unlock alternate skills and skins for Survivors. Check out our review for Risk of Rain Returns, where we award it a 9 out of 10 and stay tuned for updates.

Do you love Risk of Rain 2 but never really played the original? If you enjoyed the original, are you looking for a remaster with new content or just better visuals and some neat bells and whistles? It’s all a matter of perspective, even if it’s just $14.99.

"Kill enemies, collect Gold and use that to buy items which confer different advantages, whether it’s increased attack speed, a chance to evade attacks, reduced damage or something crazier, like creating ghosts from slain enemies."

Personally, Risk of Rain Returns more than adheres to the series’ addictive gameplay loop. Stuck on Petrichor V after your ship is destroyed, you play as one of 15 Survivors who must fight through hordes of enemies across multiple biomes to escape. Each Survivor has unique abilities, with several from the original and some new ones added to spice things up. I went with the Huntress, a capable option for hit-and-run tactics.

However, upon descending and exiting the escape pod, the differences between the first and second games were quickly apparent. The Huntress’s shots don’t automatically home in on enemies – in fact, almost every Survivor’s primary fire will fire only left or right. Hitting targets in the air by freely aiming isn’t a thing, and there is more of a platforming element involved when navigating stages, which makes fall damage just as precarious, if not more so (since you can’t see where you’re falling). It’s a big shift after spending dozens of hours in the 3D sequel, but it didn’t take long to acclimate.

For instance, while you’re subject to the placement of platforms and differing heights in the environment, so are your enemies. Some can’t clamber or climb up ropes and are thus prime targets for free damage or easier to escape from, which also applies to some bosses. However, there are flying enemies, teleporting enemies like Imps, and others that can burrow underground and appear directly below you. So, while exploiting your enemies’ traversal skills is important, constantly staying on the move, especially in biomes filled with hazardous lava or great heights, is also necessary.

Otherwise, the main gameplay loop still applies. Kill enemies, collect Gold and use that to buy items which confer different advantages, whether it’s increased attack speed, a chance to evade attacks, reduced damage or something crazier, like creating ghosts from slain enemies. However, the longer you spend in a run, the more difficult it becomes. Enemies start spawning in larger numbers before Elites join the fray, and soon, you’re dealing with a Colossus or a Magma Worm while everything seemingly won’t die. The difficulty also increases when passing through a teleporter, so either way, you’re on the clock.

"All that would mean nothing if the enemies, environments and bosses weren’t worth much, and thankfully, that’s not the case."

You could explore a stage, farming Gold and purchasing whatever items are available to better your chances of survival. But you could also find very few viable items, and get lost trying to find the teleporter, causing the difficulty to shoot up while you’re woefully unequipped to deal with it all. It could be as simple as not having enough movement speed as an Enforcer or not enough survivability or speed as a Sniper to get some distance for that charged shot. Either way, death is common, and at times, inevitable. Even if you do survive, Gold converts into XP. Leveling up increases your HP, but higher levels require much more, so you must look for items to get stronger.

Of course, there will also be occasions when you get the run. The items fall into place, whether leeching health off enemies by dealing damage, increased movement speed, explosions on kills, or creating a shadow clone to double your DPS. Chasing that rush is one of the main reasons for replaying the game.

All that would mean nothing if the enemies, environments and bosses weren’t worth much, and thankfully, that’s not the case. Each biome, whether it’s the Magma Barracks and their pools of lava or the Hive Cluster and its surfaces that impede movement, feels unique. There’s also a healthy variety of foes, with some, like the Spitter, which spits acid at a distance, seeming unreasonable before you notice their tells and how to dodge them. The enemies are challenging but never feel unfair.

As time passes, things quickly descend into a cluster, and without firepower, maneuverability or defenses, you’ll fall regardless. The bosses are what you would expect from the original and its sequel – the Colossus still wanders around, trying to thunderclap you while summoning smaller Rock Golems, the Wandering Vagrant still floats around and fires homing projectiles, etc. They’re just as deadly as ever if you’re not careful.

"It highlights another appealing aspect of Risk of Rain’s gameplay loop – improvising, adapting and overcoming with the tools available."

It’s a testament to the gameplay loop and level design that many different kinds of Survivors are possible. The Commando is your bog-standard attacker who can dodge-roll with invincibility frames, fire at attackers on both sides with a Skill and pierce through multiple enemies with a heavy shot. However, the Loader is about punching enemies into smithereens, using temporary invincibility when things get too crazy, and grappling. Some characters thrive off certain items, like the Mechanic, whose turrets inherit his items and can thus heal themselves with Bustling Fungus.

There are several choices for how you want to build a Survivor, whether utilizing the classic Multishop Terminal or locating a Legendary Chest. You can discover stations for combining drones, obtain multiple temporary items for a period, activate terminals to unleash equipment without having to equip it, sacrifice health for potential items – the list goes on.

However, RNG is the ultimate deciding factor. If you want to build a Huntress specializing in increased critical strike chance every time you fail a shrine pull and can’t find the Snake Eyes item or the shrines (since it resets in every map), you’re out of luck. However, it highlights another appealing aspect of Risk of Rain’s gameplay loop – improvising, adapting and overcoming with the tools available. Of course, you can also choose alternate skills for Survivors, changing their playstyles in unique ways.

Along with opting for a lower difficulty, you could dial things down further in the Rules tab, reducing damage taken and increasing damage dealt. So if you want to explore stages more thoroughly – especially since several Survivors require doing so to unlock them – or mess around on Monsoon with Artifacts without worrying about instant death, it’s a great option. Conversely, increase the damage taken and reduce the damage dealt to make things even tougher.

"Even when not compared side by side with the original, Risk of Rain Returns’ HD sprites are great, with extensive animations and over-the-top effects."

The Rules also allow for switching between the Modern and Classic rulesets. If you want an experience that’s like the original, where teleporter events don’t complete until all enemies are dead or only items, enemies and stages from the first game appear, choose Classic. It’s also possible to mix and match rulesets if you, say, want the original teleporter event while also experiencing all the new content that the remaster has to offer.

There are also Providence Trials – mini-game-like challenges that unlock new Skills and Skins. There are over 40, and they can range from using the Huntress’s Blink Arrow to clear a stage to exploring an ancient castle as the Gunslinger with a whip and dynamite. They vary in challenge and can get frustrating (see the Enforcer’s Trial to unlock his Shield Charge). Nevertheless, they’re a worthwhile diversion from the main game and arguably a better way to unlock Skills and skins than when Risk of Rain 2 initially launched.

While I couldn’t try online co-op, the options are a big step up from the original game, which requires you to manually enter a player’s name, IP and port number. You can create lobbies with rule voting, forced item sharing, custom tags and even per-player Intensity settings. Searching for lobbies is also easy, with a proper browser and options to sort based on free slots, ping and player count, and filters for difficulty, rule voting, etc. How the netcode pans out remains to be seen, but kudos to the developer for providing options to make and search for lobbies.

It’s also worth noting the visuals. Even when not compared side by side with the original, Risk of Rain Returns’ HD sprites are great, with extensive animations and over-the-top effects. It doesn’t drastically overhaul the original’s art style but adds more detail, enhancing its personality. The music is also as incredible as ever, keeping the desolate tone while still offering a powerful vibe.

"Risk of Rain Returns is more than a simple remaster of a classic roguelike. It retains everything that makes the original so good – the frustration, the excitement and the danger – while adding more content."

With so much added to the original game, the accessibility options could have been better. The lack of text scaling options is especially noteworthy since the text can get very small and hard to read.

Risk of Rain Returns is more than a simple remaster of a classic roguelike. It retains everything that makes the original so good – the frustration, the excitement and the danger – while adding more content. It also expands the experience in several ways, whether it’s the alternate abilities, the Providence Trials or proper online multiplayer.

While everyone’s enjoyment of this particular type of roguelike will vary, Risk of Rain Returns is an incredible game and a well-rounded package that will have you running it back to an unhealthy degree.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Quantum Error

Early access for TeamKill Media’s upcoming horror title begins on October 31st for pre-orders on PS5. However, Quantum Error is available worldwide for everyone on November 3rd, with the story set in the Monad Quantum Research Facility.

Following an unknown attack, firefighter Capt. Jacob Thomas is sent in to rescue any survivors. Things quickly dive into cosmic horror territory, and it’s all players can do to survive. Developed on Unreal Engine 5 and utilizing the DualSense’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback for immersion, Quantum Error could be a dark horse in a year of standout horror titles.

RoboCop: Rogue City

Terminator Resistance developer Teyon is adapting the other robotic action icon into shooter form with RoboCop: Rogue City. It takes place between the second and third films and sees RoboCop tackling the gangs of futuristic Detroit. There’s also Project Afterlife, a mysterious plan that could involve the ever-shady OCP.

Along with the classic Auto 9, players wield 20 different weapons, uphold the law, help citizens, and complete various missions for XP to unlock powerful upgrades. You can even investigate and gather evidence when you’re not punching perps in the gob. RoboCop: Rogue City launches on November 2nd for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

EA Sports WRC

The WRC series is back, albeit under the EA Sports moniker and developed by Codemasters, who are no strangers to rally racing games. While it offers WRC, WRC2 and Junior WRC cars and teams from the 2023 season, you can also control about 68 classic vehicles.

There are over 200 stages to play through, spread across 17 locations, including Portugal, Kenya, Japan and Monte Carlo, with new features like Builder Mode for designing a car, Moments Mode (which focuses on racing through recent events), Career, and cross-platform multiplayer. It even has Clubs with leaderboards. EA Sports WRC launches for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 on November 3rd.

The Invincible

Some sci-fi stories are full of hope and the anticipation of exploring beyond the reaches of human understanding. Based on Stanisław Lem’s sci-fi novel, Starward Industries’ The Invincible embodies the latter but reinforces one inescapable fact – not everywhere is meant for us. As astrobiologist Yasna, players venture to Regis 3 on the spaceship Invincible.

It’s not long before she’s caught up in searching for her crewmates with the help of astrogator Novik, slowly uncovering their fate and learning about the overwhelming threat on the planet. With gorgeous visuals and branching decisions, The Invincible promises a slow-burn thriller experience when it launches on November 6th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Broken Roads

If you’ve been aching for a Disco Elysium-style computer role-playing game, Drop Bear Byte’s Broken Roads may be worth checking out. Releasing on November 14th for Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch, it’s set in post-apocalyptic Western Australia, specifically the Wheatbelt region, as players explore the Outback and make alliances to survive. All decisions fall under four quadrants in the Moral Compass, which can provide different traits to cater to future choices. With multiple outcomes, extensive lore and turn-based combat, it’s an intriguing take on the genre which we’re keen to try.

Football Manager 2024

Would it be a November without a Football Manager title (not counting titles released before 2014)? Football Manager 2024 is out on November 6th with four versions – PC, Console (for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and also PC), Mobile and Touch for Nintendo Switch. Along with upgraded ball physics and lighting, new features like the Inverted Full Back role, a Match Preparation tab in Training, new Youth System Rankings and more are included.

This is in addition to quality-of-life improvements for the Fantasy Draft and pre-match briefing feedback panel, offering out players on loan, and more. Perhaps the best part is the ability to import your career from last year’s game and continue playing.

Flashback 2

As one of the more unorthodox side-scrolling action platformers of the early 90s, Flashback is finally getting a sequel, helmed by creator Paul Cuisset. It sees Galactic Bureau of Investigation agent Conrad B. Hart searching for his friend Ian while dealing with the Morph Invasion. With vibrant 2.5D visuals that capture the original’s cyberpunk vision, new locations, new mechanics and the same pulse-pounding action, Flashback 2 looks like a modern blast from the past. It’s out on November 16th for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/S.

Super Mario RPG

For many, their first introduction to turn-based role-playing games happened not with Final Fantasy but with Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. On November 17th, it finally returns as a remake for Nintendo Switch, featuring gorgeous overhauled visuals and orchestral arrangements for the soundtrack (with the original tracks still available).

There are also several new features and mechanics, from the new Easy Mode and fighting souped-up versions of existing bosses to the new Triple Move, a super move where all three party members attack. Even if you never played the original, Super Mario RPG is an experience that can’t be missed.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

From a legendary dragon to a Joryu, an agent of the Daidoji, Kazuma Kiryu returns in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. Taking place after the events of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, it sees Kiryu partaking in various missions in Osaka and Yokohama, interacting with new characters like Akame and dealing with new threats like Homare Nishitani III, the patriarch of the Kijin Clan.

In addition to serious story missions, Kiryu also indulges in combat with the Yakuza and Agent Styles and engages in various side activities like Karaoke, Pocket Circuit, the Coliseum, and even playing classic Sega games like Fighting Vipers 2, Daytona USA 2, Galaxy Force and Flicky. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name launches on November 9th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC.

Risk of Rain Returns

While Hopoo Games eventually wants to explore other ideas outside the Risk for Rain franchise, it’s back for one last hurrah with Risk of Rain Returns. As a remaster of the first game, the side-scrolling rogue-lite shooter sports sharper visuals and 15 Survivors (two new to the roster) with unique play styles feeding into the sheer chaos possible with item pick-ups and power-ups.

Upon exploring Petrichor V, things increase in difficulty, but you can also add Artifacts for even more mayhem, like Imp Invasions every ten minutes. The best part is that along with couch co-op, the improved online multiplayer makes it much easier to team up with others. Risk of Rain Returns launches on November 8th for PC and Nintendo Switch.

The developer also revealed some new details for the title, like the Pilot joining the roster of playable Survivors. He utilizes Clusterfire, which fires a burst shot that can pierce through enemies on the third hit, and Rapid Deployment, a Utility skill that sees him launching into the air and raining down fire with his arsenal.

There’s also Target Acquired, a Secondary skill which auto-targets enemies diagonally below if you’re airborne and airborne enemies if you’re on the ground. His Special Ability, Airstrike, also damages enemies several times and launches them, priming them for Target Acquired. In addition to all this, the Pilot also has three unlockable alternate abilities.

Stay tuned for more on Risk of Rain Returns en route to release, and check out various details on Survivors, Artifacts and more here.

Drifter is a brawler whose main melee combo, Blunt Force, creates Scrap. You can also use Suffocate, a melee attack that stuns and deals 200 percent damage while immediately converting enemies below 20 percent into Scrap. With enough Scrap, Cleanup becomes available, allowing you to fire Scrap like a shotgun.

Finally, there’s Salvage. When the Scrap meter is three-fourths full, Drifter creates four temporary items for allies. It’s a great way to lend support but works solo since you can take them yourself. However, the key word is “temporary” – the items will expire, so keep making Scrap and Salvaging to make more.

Drifter has alternate abilities, with more details coming later. Risk of Rain Returns is releasing on Nintendo Switch and PC, but a date has yet to be announced.

In a recent Steam post, the developer explained that “Gearbox has been the trusted publisher of Risk of Rain 2 for many years now, they have a love for Risk of Rain that matches our own and is the best fit for taking the franchise into the future.” While Hopoo is working on Risk of Rain Returns, Gearbox will “both develop and publish potential future titles in the series.”

There may be some concern among hardcore fans about whether the latter can do justice to the franchise. However, Hopoo revealed that Gearbox co-developed the Survivors of the Void expansion. It created the Aphelian Sanctuary and Siphoned Forest, along with the Void Jailers, all received very well.

In conclusion, the developer said, “We are ready to move on to new challenges and welcome the exciting and fresh ideas Gearbox will bring to Risk of Rain. Completing the console versions of Survivors of the Void remains a top priority for Gearbox, and we can’t wait to see what the future brings for Risk of Rain with them at the helm! We know the IP is in excellent hands.”

As for Risk of Rain Returns, it releases in 2023 for Nintendo Switch and PC. Check out the first details and screenshots here.