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Hello Games is pushing the boundaries on the idea of an open-world game. During The Game Awards, we were shown a reel of all of the installments to No Man’s Sky, highlighting the achievements of the game and its decade of achievements. But, we weren’t just strolling down memory lane, from the creators of No Man’s Sky, we’re seeing a new game on the horizon. Light No Fire is pushing the envelope on what we know to be open-world. All set on the same planet, there’s no mountain you can’t climb and no ocean you can’t dive into. No terrain is off limits and you’re not going it alone. You’ll be able to explore with friends and strangers alike in a multi-mass online experience. As the trailer boasts: “A multiplayer Earth. A procedural Earth. A fantasy Earth. An unexplored Earth.” While the trailer didn’t give us much information about the details of the coming game, we were treated to stunning visuals and what looked to be an extremely lush playing experience. Getting personal for a moment, I’m a huge fan of the open-world aspect and while I liked the idea of No Man’s Sky, I didn’t feel it was executed in a way that would hook me. However, Light No Fire has… well, lit a fire in my interest for Hello Game’s newest creation. I expect to be fully lost without any hope of finding my way back within the first hour. To quote the late, great Douglas Adams, “You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is”. But if you have friends to get lost with, then I suppose it won’t matter the destination. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any information on when the game will be dropping. If you want to keep tabs on this development, you can follow Hello Games over on X or visit their website and be the first to know when new information comes out.

The Den of Wolves website didn’t help my brain either. During The Game Awards, we were treated to a weird trailer that showed off a heist-man getting tortured for info from a CEO-type guy. Then, after seeing some fast-paced shooting and infiltration, the scene shifted to show that the guy getting tortured was in the CEO guy’s head. The trailer certainly made me go “Huh?” but at the same time, what little concept info we have on Den of Wolves looks cool. Billed as a co-op heist FPS from the creator of Payday: The Heist and Payday 2, it is set in a techno-thriller future. The goal is to execute corporate espionage, sabotage, and assassinations. After the last Payday release, I could certainly dig my teeth into a meaty heist experience. I’m down for it! The actual press release info seems to shed more light on what we can expect. Den of Wolves will take place in Midway City. You and your futuristic, mind-bending criminal posse will work within the city’s cutthroat black market. As your team takes care of the dirty work for your clients, you will blur the lines of reality while doing what is needed to make the cash flow. The gameplay will be shifting between stealth and infiltration to explosive and bloody shootouts on the fly. You’ll find yourself against augmented trans-human mercs and robotic mechanoids that will stop at nothing to keep you from your quarry. Fortunately, it also sounds like you’ll have all sorts of nifty hi-tech gadgets, weaponry, and an elite-trained team on your side to even the odds and fatten your wallets. If you want to dig around on the site itself and see what sort of secrets and goodies, feel free to take a look! There isn’t any specific launch info for Den of Wolves, but you shouldn’t expect anything until at least 2025.

We’re still doing everything in our power to make Dungeon Fighter Online a big deal. Nexon and Neople fully unveiled a new action RPG game set in the Dungeon Fighter Online world during the 2023 Game Awards. The First Berserker: Khazan is a hardcore action RPG similar in appearance to a “Soulslike,” featuring intense boss battles and myriad options for equipment and abilities. The story follows the ritual Khazan, a powerful hero who saved the Pelos Empire from the Berserk Dragon Hizmar. Khazan, who has somehow conquered death, also somehow got himself accused of treason. Now he’s out on the ultimate defamation case, spilling as much blood as is necessary to clear his name. In the trailer, there’s certainly a lot to take in. We see what appears to be Khazan being carted around after significant torture, before escaping and doing lots of violence and murder. There’s a subtle anime style to the art but with more realistic texturing and colors during combat. Multiple fighting styles seem to be on display, from dual-wielding different types of weapons to unarmed techniques. It’s hard to tell what the defensive play is like, as we see both dodging and sustained guarding. Without any UI elements to go off of, it’s unclear how much players can get away with holding block, or whether or not there’s any punitive factor. Regardless, it looks like the game is trying to strike a balance between speed and weight, so the Soulslike fanbase likely has plenty of questions. There’s no release date yet for The First Berserker: Khazan but you can check out the Steam page for more information ahead of its eventual launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Dungeon Fighter Online has been around in South Korea since 2005, a hybrid of side-scrolling beat ‘em up, character action, and MMORPG. A short-lived North American release came about in 2010 but shut down in 2013 until being relaunched as a “global” version in 2015. The game continues to this day, with more effort to expand DNF into a multimedia franchise. A fighting game developed by Arc System Works, DNF Duel, was released in 2022. Multiple anime and manga adaptations also exist.

Bethesda Softworks and Arkane Lyon are bringing us a game to sink our teeth into! What could be better news for Blade’s 50th anniversary than the announcement of a new Blade game? Set in the heart of Paris, we’re taken through a third-person adventure with an original story. In a quarantined section of Paris, a supernatural emergency has broken out. Vampires have emerged and begun terrorizing the city at night, forcing citizens to seek shelters in their homes to wait for the safety of sunrise. To announce the game, Geoff Keighley was joined by Dinga Bakaba, Arkane’s studio director. He had this to say about being involved with the game: “As a kid of mixed origins, I felt a special connection to Blade – a hero with a dual heritage himself. The opportunity to put our spin on this character is a dream of mine and a challenge that our team embraces with a passion. We couldn’t be happier to put players in Blade’s boots, as he becomes the champion of my hometown of Paris, one stake at a time.” Likewise, another creator at Arkane Lyon had some words to say, though he wasn’t at the Game Awards: “From his trench coat to his iconic sunglasses, Blade is a slick, stylish, and driven character,” said Sebastien Mitton, Co-Creative and Art Director, Arkane Lyon. “This project is the perfect opportunity to push Arkane’s art style into an even more modern and bold territory. The essence of our work lives at the junction of impactful ideas and innovative know-how.” The trailer didn’t offer much in the way of letting us know how the game would play out, but with the same studio that brought us Deathloop, it seems like we have a game worth keeping an eye on. If you want to keep up to date on news that may come out, then you can follow Arcane Lyon or Marvel Games on X.

A Metroidvania About Processing Grief? Sign Me Up. If you’ve ever lost anyone close to you forever, you will know that in the most profound moments of grief, you’d give anything to bring them back. In Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, you play as Zau, a young shaman who bargains with the God of Death to get his Baba back from the void. This story is shaped by actor Abubakar Salin’s own experience with grief and processing the loss of his father. His introduction to The Game Awards trailer got me a little emotional. Zau will learn to wield powers from the Sun and the Moon to fight lost spirits and become a Nganda, a spiritual healer. The gameplay shows off lightning back movement and skills in a sidescrolling Metroidvania-style adventure. EA describes the game as "a heartfelt single-player action-adventure platformer about the love between a father and son and the transformative power of loss." This one could be an absolute sleeper hit indie that is only being published by EA. However, our info seems to offer some odd preorder bonuses that hint at possible microtransactions. Pre-order Offer*: Embark on your journey with special perks if you pre-order today! - Start with a 10% discount - Wrap yourself in Kalunga’s Blessing visual effect variant - Kickstart your adventure with 2 shaman points to unlock up to 2 skills in-game - Discover more of our world with the “Soulshifters” digital companion comic Let’s hope this is just some nifty pre-order bonuses and not a sign of things to come because I’m all about this game concept! The art seems fantastic, and the nature of the story is something I’d love to see tackled in this way. Because Zau is doing something we can only dream about, it’ll be interesting to see how a love letter to those we’ve lost and how we learn to come to terms with it all is fleshed out in a beautiful-looking game. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU rages against the dying of the light on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch on April 23, 2024.

Isla Nublar takes us back to where it all started in an untold story During the Game Awards, we were treated to an announcement about a cult classic! Jurassic Park Survival takes us through a first-person narrative adventure with Dr. Maya Joshi, an InGen scientist. She’s a doctor who was left behind on Isla Nublar during the original events in the movie from 1993. Unable to evacuate with everyone else, we’re taken through a single-player action adventure that tells a never-before-told story. You’ll be able to experience John Hammond's vision and the danger of dinosaurs who have their own, distinct and adaptive behaviors. Jurassic Park Survival brings us something new in the games so far. It’s a fresh perspective and yet still set in a familiar time. Taking place the day after the movie ends means that we get to see how things continue to devolve even after the film stops rolling. If you want to survive, you’ll have to outsmart and escape the iconic dinosaurs using stealth and distraction techniques. Staying alive while you explore the park is sure to be a challenge, but you’ll get to immerse yourself in iconic locations such as the towering park gates and the Visitor Center. The game will be coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S, but there’s no word on when we can expect the game to drop. With the 30th anniversary of the movie being this year, it seems the perfect time for this announcement to drop! Personally, I’ve always wanted the freedom to explore Isla Nublar and I’m pretty excited to see how we’re going to get off the island after everyone else has already left. It seems like it’s going to be a challenging, but fun experience for lovers of the franchise. If you want to follow to be kept in the loop, then you can follow the developers, Saber Interactive, over on X or the official X for the game.

Visions of Mana looks so awesome and nostalgic. A must-buy on day one! I thought I was growing cold and jaded to video game announcements. After all, everything has become so procedural. Then, out of the blue, at The Game Awards, we were treated to a teaser trailer for Visions of Mana. That is a big deal that immediately got me incredibly excited and hyped up. This is an essential announcement because there hasn’t been a mainline Mana game in over 15 years. There have been a handful of remakes within this period; some have been pretty good, but nothing has captured the fantastic gameplay elements that made games like Secret of Mana or Sword of Mana great. From the trailer, it looks like Square Enix brought everything veterans loved but will now mix it with beautiful next-generation graphics. Visions of Mana is coming to PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC and PC via STEAM® in 2024. The trailer showcased combat that looked incredibly old-school Mana but also seemed to take full advantage of the entire 3D space. Land, sea, and air weren’t safe for your enemies, and the boss in the trailer was captivating. While there isn’t all that much outside of the teaser trailer at this moment, we do have some words from the Mana series producer: “I am delighted to finally be able to reveal Visions of Mana, the first mainline installment to Mana series in over fifteen years. The development team have been working hard to ensure that Visions of Mana remains faithful to the series that players know and love while also offering fans and newcomers a fresh new experience with an all-new story, characters, and gameplay mechanics. We cannot wait to share more details about the game with you soon.” I’m so ready and excited for this one. We’ll be updating as soon as more info is made available. Visions of Mana will be on PS4/PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in 2024

OD is promised to be a new challenge and groundbreaking It’s not a Game Awards show if Geoff Keighley doesn’t mention Hideo Kojima at least once. Excitingly, the stars aligned for this year’s show and Kojima was able to present his newest game in person this year. Everything Hideo Kojima touches is gold and OD is sure to be no different, especially when he’s collaborating with Jordan Peele. But, it’s not just Jordan. Kojima hinted that there were several collaborators that he couldn’t reveal just yet. In Kojima’s words, “It is a game, don’t get me wrong, but it’s at the same time a movie and at the same time a new form of media”. In Jordan’s words, “It’s utterly terrifying”. Using Xbox’s cloud gaming technology, they’re hoping to create a unique, immersive, and totally new style of gameplay. OD is meant to explore the concept of testing your fear threshold and with that in mind, it makes the trailer make a little more sense. Mostly what we saw were close-ups of character models in different expressions of fear and not much else. We’ll see star power such as Sophia Lillis (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), Hunter Schaffer (Euphoria), and Udo Kier (Flesh for Frankenstein) play lead roles in the upcoming project. Kojima and Peele seem to be a match made in heaven that we hadn’t known that we needed. When asked about each other, they extolled great admiration and respect for each other. Peele when talking about Kojima: “He's been an inspiration to me, and the opportunity to collaborate with him is truly incredible. In my films, I’m always trying to maximize the immersion, put the audience into the main character’s shoes. Hideo is the master of this and he does it on a whole ‘nother level. What he’s cooking up here is completely immersive, utterly terrifying, and I am absolutely honored to be collaborating with the GOAT. Let’s go.” Kojima when talking about Peele: “Well, Jordan is one of those genius - and I’ve been a big fan of him. And when I met him, I felt like we were friends from the past. We get on very well. We like things that we both like and we’re really happy and we wanted to collaborate something.” It’s clear that we’ve got something amazing to look forward to and if you want to follow them for more updates, you can visit Hideo’s site or X.

The strongest in the heavens tournament has returned For several years now, Bandai Namco has been trying new things with Dragon Ball games. From Kakarot to Dragon Ball FighterZ, it’s been a while since we saw the word “Budokai” on a video game box. Technically that’s still not happening (the games are just called “Sparking!” in Japan), but with Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, Budokai is back! The return of the Budokai Tenkaichi series was already announced earlier this year. But with the introduction of Sparking Zero, the game has now been fully revealed. The trailer shown at the 2023 Game Awards shows off the look of the game, which is the fourth in a series of arena fighters set in massive environments. The trailer shows off what Sparking Zero looks like, but it also shows what is clearly in-engine combat footage and several early roster confirmations. Obviously, the trailer starts off with Goku and Vegeta, both transforming into their infamous Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (or simply Blue) forms. We also see Frieza, the Dragon Ball Super version of Broly, Bardock, Piccolo, Androids 17 and 18, Cell, Mr. Satan, Krillin, Tien, two versions of Trunks, Majin Buu, Jiren, and even Bergamo. Since the last time a Budokai Tenkaichi game launched, a lot has happened in the world of Dragon Ball, making plenty of room for several debuts. No release date for Dragon Ball Sparking Zero was provided in the trailer, but a “wishlist now” call to action rounded things out. It also appears the game will be launching for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the PC. The last time a Budokai Tenkaichi game came out was for the PlayStation 2 and Wii in 2007. A PSP game with the branding dropped in 2010 but was more of a spinoff. The biggest draw of the series is its over-the-top, cinematic techniques and huge arenas to fly around in. Sparking Zero’s early marketing materials note that the environments will take damage over time, a nod to the destructive nature of battles in the Dragon Ball series.

You Know The Scary Movie Rules By Now! Announced officially at The Game Awards, The Casting Of Frank Stone is a cinematic horror game that features the writing of Supermassive Games and the creepiness of the Dead By Daylight universe. The only info available states the following: “The storytelling prowess of Supermassive Games meets the Dead by Daylight universe in a haunting horror game that won’t soon be forgotten. The shadow of Frank Stone looms over Cedar Hills, a town forever altered by his violent past. As a group of young friends are about to discover, Stone’s blood-soaked legacy cuts deep, leaving scars across families, generations, and the very fabric of reality itself. In the depths of an Oregon steel mill, the gruesome crimes of a sadistic killer spawn horrors beyond comprehension. Delve into the mystery of Cedar Hills alongside an original cast of characters bound together on a twisted journey where nothing is quite as it seems. Every decision you make shapes the story and impacts the fate of the characters within it. Brimming with emotional gut punches and high-stakes horror, discover how a simple decision can become a truly heart-wrenching dilemma. For those who find comfort in the unknown, and glee in the grotesque, Supermassive Games’ cinematic storytelling brings new levels of emotion, immersion, and intensity to this darkly rich universe. Experience a never-before-seen look at the wider world of Dead by Daylight, Behaviour Interactive’s acclaimed multiplayer horror game. Filled with spine-chilling twists, this dark original tale is certain to haunt you long after it’s over.” This looks like one of those games where you will be playing as a group of teens who are investigating this mystery. Based on the trailer, this is going to most certainly lead to a trail of dead bodies and tortured co-eds. I may not know a ton about Dead By Daylight, but I do know that the concept of the game is that both survivors and killers are plucked from reality and trapped in a never-ending life-and-death struggle. If we were to assume, this is likely the crimes and murders that Frank Stone commits

Putting in a formidable bid to win the Game Awards, SEGA comes out swinging. SEGA hits the Game Awards hard, bringing us the promise of five games from our favorite franchises. Hitting us with nostalgic titles like Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Crazy Taxi puts SEGA on the map for making their mark on the awards. Not only are we getting these five nostalgic titles, but we were simply promised “more”, meaning that we’ll hear far more about classic releases on the horizon. While we wait for more information on the ‘more’, let’s take a better look at the five announced starting with Jet Set Radio! It was originally released in 2000, meaning this game is about to get a massive upgrade in how it plays. The only other game in the franchise to come out was for Game Boy Advance back in 2003, meaning we’re seeing two decades between the latest installment. Shonbi originally came out as a video arcade game making it the oldest game of the five and has 11 installments since the original. Even though this will be the 12th game in the franchise, it’s still the first in over a decade. Golden Axe is another older beat’em from the arcade cabinet days. It doesn’t have quite as many games in its arsenal as Shinobi, but it clearly has a cult following that will be happy to see its return. The last game to come out for the franchise was back in 2008. Joining the ranks of beat’em ups, Streets of Rage debuted in 1991 and has four games in the series. Interestingly, Streets of Rage 4 only came out in 2020, making it the franchise that has been freshest lately. Lastly, Crazy Taxi came on the scene in 1999 as an arcade game but was later released on Dreamcast in 2000. Like the others, it has several installments to its name with the latest being in a mobile game in 2017. The best place to follow SEGA for more news would be their X. If you missed it, Sega also brought some news for Angry Birds fans last month as well. So, they're on a hot streak.

Someone Broke Earth, and Now The Traveller Has to Fix It It’s an age-old story. The Earth is dying, and now, a small group of space-faring saviors must save mankind from extinction. If initial info from the premiere at The Game Awards is to be believed, Exodus may offer something different than the standard cut-and-paste Action-Adventure RPG faire. The official information states that as one of The Travellers, you must skirt on the edge of lightspeed to find ways to counteract humanity's deadliest foe, The Celestials. What may separate this from other games is that your choices are billed as affecting you and those around you. As time passes differently for you, you will reshape the world and change the future based on your actions. Your Traveller will use genetic traits and special weaponry to fight against your foes. The Celestials may be your primary enemy, but it appears there will be other threats for you, both alien and human. Combat showcased some stealth and gunplay but also seemed to hint and superpowers that allowed The Traveller to manipulate elements around him. This looks like if Mass Effect and Destiny had a baby. After feeling slightly disappointed by both franchises lately, I’m excited to see Exodus in action. This one could fill the void that any decent Mass Effect has left, and with the star-studded voice of Matthew McConaughey in tow, Exodus may be the one to look out for. Also, let’s be real: with the Traveller, Destiny, and time-warping mechanical enemies, the irony isn’t lost on us that parallels can be drawn to a major title that isn’t Mass Effect. Exodus is blasting off on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. There isn’t a set release date at this time.