From its weapons to its bosses, stages to systems, January’s IGN First has been all about Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. So far, all of our footage has been from earlier stages of the game – but how does developer Team Ninja shake things up later in the game? What kind of weapons and Wizardry Spells can be learned and obtained? How can you evolve your character build? Do the stages become more difficult?
To answer such questions, let’s take a look at a playthrough by one of Team Ninja’s developers of mid-game stage Hulaoguan Pass.
Hulaoguan Pass is a site of many historical battles, in this case the clash between dissidents led by Yuan Shao and Dong Zhuo, who had occupied China’s ancient capital Luoyang. Team Ninja has implemented this in Wo Long as a huge battle site with siege weapons that can be utilized by the player. Hulaoguan Pass is much wider than earlier stages and can be tackled in multiple ways. Break the front line and fight hordes of fierce enemies to reach General Hua Xiong, or make a detour and find your way in through the castle’s walls.
Both routes ultimately lead to an epic boss fight with mighty warlord Lu Bu. Will this high-spec player find their way to Lu Bu, and if so, will they be able to defeat the powerful Three Kingdoms warlord? Be sure to check it out.
For those of us who didn’t have a link cable or a Game Boy Advance, the GameCube era sometimes felt like you were getting locked out of content that all the richer kids on the playground would boast about. There was the Tingle Tuner in Wind Waker, new content and secrets in games from Harry Potter to Crash Bandicoot, and an entire new town in Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life.
Back on the GameCube, A Wonderful Life had a path near the farm that went up a hill, but it didn’t go anywhere. Trying to go up the path would lead to a cutscene where the Harvest Sprites would halt you, saying that you could find out “what’s going on” by linking up with Friends of Mineral Town on the Game Boy Advance, which required the link cable, a GBA, and a copy of the game.
We want to share some great news with you. Starting from last Friday, January 13, you can play UnderDungeonon your Xbox consoles. We’re all ultra excited and happy about the release, so if you still haven’t heard of this title (how is this even possible?!), I’m here to save the day and tell you few words about what is interesting in this piece of indie, retro code, who are its creators and how it all started. Also a good question is why we chose Friday the 13th for the release date… Well, read on! And by the way, nice to meet you, I’m Chris.
Simple Doesn’t Mean Simplistic
But what is this UnderDungeon anway, you ask? It’s a nifty, peculiar dungeon crawler and classic role-playing game in which the protagonist is Kimuto, a cute sword-wielding kitten, on the quest to face the harsh world of work in his first day of the new job. Sounds intriguing? Alright, how about the fact that it is a full retro experience with sharp 1-bit visuals and catchy music and sound effects? Not convinced yet? Okay, what if I told you that there’s tons of humor here, interesting chcaracters you can interact and chat with and gameplay twists taken from other genres (like… arcade and rythmic levels or even 3D sections)? What do you think now, huh?!
I know what you thinking. What is that, the praise song of the game that looks like it was taken from GameBoy era? (That was rough) But let me tell you that UnderDungeon is a great example of a game that doesn’t seem to be anything special at first glance but it shines and glows when you give it a shot.
Besides, today, when dozens of new titles being released pretty much every day, it’s easy to skip something that may be really interesting and playable, especially if from the beginning it’s aimed at a specific audience. So that was the case here. Underdungeon at first seemed to us like a ‘just another retro miniature’ but then it captivated us that much so with pleasure, we decided to help its creators with the release.
Retro Souls Last Forever
The game is created by Josyan, solo indie developer who previously worked on games such as Zeroptian Invasion and Tamiku. He was also involved in working on the Alex Kidd in MW remake. He decided to team up with José Ramón “Bibiki” García, composer and sound designer, so that together they could create a project that is a great tribute to the retro classics (like The Legend of Zelda or Dragon Quest). Old gameplay formula meets modern and polished execution here, both in gameplay and audio and visuals so it’s a very good opportunity to enter old-school gaming pit.
While writing this article, I took the chance of asking Josyan himself for a brief comment on the game’s concept. Here’s what he told me:
“It’s actually a small experiment, when I started it was more like a blank sheet where I could put mechanics, jokes and moments that I liked. I also feel that it is a very personal project since it embodied many of my own ideas and messages. I’m inspired by all the classic grades dungeon crawlers, but the game has so many different mechanics and mini-games that I’d be lying if there wasn’t a lifetime of good gaming moments in there. I hope all those who enjoy searching for secrets beyond what the eyes can perceive will like the game and also the classic players of course!”.
Thus, your task will be to traverse dungeons and clear them of vicious monsters, fight big bosses, collect items or solve various puzzles. But this is only a small part of what has been prepared for you, as you can deduce from the text above. And here’s the hidden beauty of UnderDungeon, because under the guise of simple, little game, there are many surprises.
See You Underground!
UnderDungeonis available now on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, so you can go on an adventure today. Power up your console, grab the sword and let it all begin! And as for this Friday the 13th… Kept you on your toes, huh? Well, I don’t want to spoil anyhing so… You have to discover it by yourself in the game, but we’d love to hear your thoughts on the game so don’t hesitate to share them with us.
This fantasy world let’s you fight in a variety of ways. Magical bubbles, a boomerang cannon or a classic longsword can go a long way in this foreign land. Every one of your weapons can be further upgraded to unlock their hidden potential.
Interesting world
Enjoy stylized 2D graphics, and mini games. Every character you meet has something interesting to say…maybe except for the ducks. Other then that, pay close attention to all of them.
Hidden secrets
Throughout the map, you’ll find secret areas with some very strange fellows. What could they be up to? There is only one way to find out.
Project Q was revealed in April 2022 after several leaks. At the time, it was described as a “team battle arena” game with “a variety of PvP modes” that was in “early development.”
Let’s talk about comeback stories. The Mighty Ducks. Robert Downey Jr. Rocky. Nintendo in 2017. Yep, after the launch of the Wii U, many may have thought that the Big N was out for the count (well, not completely, but certainly left licking its proverbial wounds), but did this come to pass? You bet your chunky GamePad it didn’t.
Instead of wallowing in self-pity, Nintendo knuckled down and used the Wii U’s failure as a learning experience, addressing each imperfection and fashioning a little device with a clear, easy-to-understand, and appealing proposition for players who had found its predecessor’s asymmetric gameplay confusing or underwhelming. It was called the ‘Switch’, you might have heard of it.
Hey everyone! This is Ian from Drinkbox Studios on the first-year anniversary of Nobody Saves the World. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed already, and we’ve been blown away by the response to the game. To celebrate the occasion, we’ve released a free update – the Impossible Dungeon!
As you might expect, the update adds an infinitely-replayable dungeon called the Impossible Dungeon. What you might not expect is that it is part of a carnival run by the crass, moon-headed Jimmy Luna Jr. Inside the Impossible Dungeon tent lies an endless barrage of challenges that will push your skills and customizations to the limit.
The further you make it into the Impossible Dungeon the more difficult it becomes and the more carnival tickets you earn. Tickets are spent crafting pieces of a giant statue to commemorate your favourite forms. Go in solo or bring a friend with you to rack up tickets and build the ultimate statue!
There are other prizes to earn in the Infinite Dungeon, like the new Dino form. The Dino is a fun powerhouse that makes it easy to pick up and smash baddies, and its Evolution ability gives you an extra damage boost when you vary your attacks. Like all new forms, this adds even more moves to the game that can be mixed and matched to make the perfect build.
Finally, as of today, the game is exiting Microsoft Game Pass. On behalf of everyone at Drinkbox, I want to extend a HUGE thank-you to all who downloaded and played the game. Nobody Saves the World is currently on sale for 40% off, so it’s a great time to grab it if you aren’t ready for the fun to end.
One last time, thank you for playing Nobody Saves the World! We hope you have a blast with the Impossible Dungeon!
Transform from a featureless nobody into a SLUG, a GHOST, a DRAGON, and MORE in this new take on Action RPGs from the creators of Guacamelee!
Complete quests to discover and swap between 15+ varied and distinct Forms. Mix and match abilities in unexpected ways to unlock and complete even MORE challenging quests. Explore a vast overworld – on your own or with a friend online – while clearing shape-shifting dungeons in an effort to stop The Calamity and SAVE THE WORLD!
Ken and Roberta Williams need little introduction among adventure game fans. The duo, who founded legendary developer Sierra On-Line in the earliest days of gaming, has been responsible for some of the genre’s most innovative, daring, and memorable titles. The two have been away from game development for quite some time, but they haven’t been out of the spotlight–in recent years, the pair has been honored with a Gaming Icon Award from The Game Awards, and Roberta received a Pioneer Award at the 2019 Game Developers Conference.
Now, the accomplished tag team is returning to the world of adventure games after 25 years with a new development team, Cygnus Entertainment. The team’s first outing is a full remake of a true classic: Colossal Cave. Originally a pioneering text adventure game released back in 1976 and called Colossal Cave Adventure, Colossal Cave transforms the lime-green-on-black text of the original into a visually captivating graphic adventure. The original game was a huge influence on many of the designers of the era, including Ken and Roberta, who are funding this ambitious remake. We sat down with the power duo to discuss their return to the world of game development and what players can expect from their return to game development.
This interview has been edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.
PlayStation.Blog: Roberta, can you tell us about your experiences with the original text-based Colossal Cave Adventure back in 1976 or 1977?
Roberta: I had never played a computer game ever. I think Colossal Cave may be the first or, if not, then very very close to the first computer game ever. And it certainly was the first adventure game — I mean, it basically invented the concept of an adventure game. So I played it, and I loved it, and I wanted to play more, but there weren’t really any more games quite like it at the time. So I was inspired to sit down and design my own game, which ultimately became Mystery House.
PSB: How did the original Colossal Cave Adventure influence the games you made, Roberta?
Roberta: Colossal Cave invented most of the things that many of us who do game design [rely on], especially in the adventure game genre. It developed the idea of mapping a world. Mazes, getting lost, going down a passage one way, coming in somewhere, but then getting confused.… plus levels, puzzles, and inventory objects, and creatures you can meet that might kill you. Colossal Cave put in all these elements that had never been done before, and that sort of formed the basis for adventure gaming. And maybe computer gaming. I took some of those elements for Mystery House, and I added more of a storytelling element to it. That was my process for making my first game.
With Mystery House, I had no idea where to start. I mean, I had no idea. “Why knows?” But I thought, I’ve always liked Clue, the board game. And I liked murder mysteries and detective stories and Agatha Christie books. So I thought it would be fun to do a whodunnit, that would be fun to do. But how do I turn it into a game? And I thought, well, I’m going to think about how I would play the game Clue. I put it together, write the game, and made it more story-like.
The thing I loved about [the original] Colossal Cave was the exploratory nature of it. I wanted to know where it went and how far I could get into this cave. I discovered that I loved exploring, and a cave is a perfect place to explore. So when I first started designing [Mystery House], I thought “I need to make it exploratory,” but I added the mystery story elements. I wanted to keep that sense of exploration in my games.
PSB: What made you decide to return to game development?
Roberta: So we were literally 25 years out of the business…. And we made the decision to do this with the pandemic and the lockdowns. We talked about it at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. We were nicely retired here in Palm Desert, California, and sitting out in our cantina one morning having our coffee, looking out over the Coachella Valley… We were thinking about how bored we were and what we wanted to be doing.
Ken wanted to do a project and get back into programming. I suggested Colossal Cave, and I don’t know why — It just came out of my mouth. Kind of like when I first played the original game, and I didn’t know why but I just had to sit down and write a game…I had never done that. It was weird.
Wouldn’t you know, later that day, Ken told me he got done talking to Don Woods (one of the original Colossal Cave developers). I said, “what? How did you do that!?” And Ken says, “Well, I have my ways. I guess we’re doing it.” But that started us on this. And it’s been about a year and a half since.
And we started out with the idea that it would be kind of simple. We knew we wanted it to be in 3D. He had secretly been studying Unity and try to get his…. programming chops. And he hired an artist, and the two of them started working on it. I came in a little bit later… at first I said, “I don’t mind helping out. But I don’t want to get really involved.” I looked over their shoulder and gave them some advice from time to time.
Before I knew it, the word got out, apparently. [laughs] People wanted to interview me about Colossal Cave and King’s Quest and all that. You know, “what are you doing, are you back?!” And at first, I was like, “Well, I wasn’t really planning on that… [laughs]. But I don’t know, maybe I am?”
Before I knew it, I was kind of pulled into a couple of meetings with Unity, and all of a sudden it’s about me being back. And I’m not trying to be egotistical or anything. It was weird, it was like everybody expected it. And I said, “well, it looks to me like I’m not going to get out of this.” And if I was going to be a part of this, then I needed to be very serious about it.
And once I made that decision that I was going to be a part of designing Colossal Cave, that I couldn’t get out of it, here we are. Since then, I’ve jumped in with both feet, arms, head, hair, everything else… but it changed the game completely. I said to Ken, “you wanted me in, I’m in.” It’s a big project, and I’m proud of it.
PSB: What can longtime adventure game players expect from Colossal Cave?
Roberta: It is different [from our old games]. It’s not King’s Quest. First of all, it’s a first-person experience. There’s no character that you guide around. I thought about creating a player avatar creator, but I decided that I wanted to keep Colossal Cave as true to itself as it could be. Not to try to put myself into it and make it my game. It’s Will Crowther and Don Woods’ game…I am trying to bring it to modern players so that it’s fun and immersive, in the world that Will Crowther and Patricia Crowther and Don Woods had in their minds. I wanted it to come across as what I imagined it to be when I played it.
Secondly, Colossal Cave is much more pure exploring [compared to the narrative focus on my older games]. I kind of confined people to a certain extent in my older works…. You’d be in an area until you got to the next part of the story, which sends you off into the next exploratory region with new goals and other things you must do.
But in Colossal Cave, you can go wherever you want. That doesn’t mean you won’t encounter obstacles. You can figure out how to get around them, but you can also turn around and go elsewhere. You’ll find treasures, but you might not be sure what to do with them — but then someone can steal your treasure! And that starts a strategy for dealing with the thief and the treasure. There are mazes; they’re fun, quite complex, and very interesting. And there are dwarves! They’re nasty little creatures.
PSB: How has game development changed over the past 40 years?
Ken: Well, it’s gotten better and worse. There’s a lot more competition, that’s the first thing you notice. But there are the tools, too. All those years ago, we had to write our own text editor, graphics editor, animation editor, invent how to do sound and how to get color graphics. Now for this project, we can immediately be effective because the Unity engine is free, with wonderful training materials. You can go on Unity’s site and buy assets affordably. You can go to Adobe’s site and you can choose from thousands of animations.
It allows you to focus on the art and the game design. A lot of the low-level stuff is lifted off your shoulders.
PSB: Was it challenging to develop during the pandemic?
Ken: We couldn’t have done it without the emergence of working at home. We needed to assemble a team quickly when Roberta came on the project, whereas I was treating it like a hobby project to kill time during COVID. Once Roberta got involved, she said, “this has got to be Sierra quality. I need artists and programmers.” It kept growing.And suddenly, I had to assemble a team of 30 good people quickly….being able to assemble a team and not care where they live. It’s better than working in an office, in some ways.
Colossal Cave comes to PS5 starting today, with versions for PS VR2 and PS4 also under development.
Sony has officially confirmed the launch window lineup for PlayStation VR2 through March 2023, and it includes 13 new titles that haven’t been announced for the platform before, including Tetris Effect: Connected and Rez Infinite.
As detailed on PlayStation.Blog, PlayStation VR2 will launch on February 22, 2023, and more than 30 games will be available on the platform before March comes to an end, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Alongside big hitters like Horizon Call of the Mountain, Resident Evil Village, No Man’s Sky, and Gran Turismo 7, PS VR2 owners will also be able to look forward to these 13 newly announced titles, which include Before Your Eyes, Kayak VR: Mirage, Pavlov VR, Puzzling Places, Song in the Smoke: Rekindled, Synth Riders: Remastered Edition, Thumper, NFL Pro Era, What the Bat?, Rez Infinite, Tetris Effect: Connected, Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition, and The Last Clockwinder.
The full list of games in PlayStation VR2’s launch window lineup are as follows;
After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
Altair Breaker (Thirdverse)
Before Your Eyes (Skybound Interactive, launch window)
Cities VR (Fast Travel Games)
Cosmonious High (Owlchemy)
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition (Survios, launch window)
The Dark Pictures: Switchback (Supermassive, launch window)
Kazunori Yamauchi, the president off Polyphony Digital, shared a few words in the blogpost about the upcoming free VR update for owners of Gran Turismo 7 and teases a bit as to what fans can expect.
“We’re thrilled that Gran Turismo 7 will be a PS VR2 launch title! Through a free upgrade, for those who have already purchased Gran Turismo 7, players will experience all cars and tracks in VR like never before,” Yamauchi said. “GT7 in VR takes full advantage of PS VR2’s next gen features. With eye tracking and foveated rendering, players will experience stunning visual fidelity while racing in any of the 450+ cars. While 2-player splitscreen races are not supported in VR, all other races, including online races, will be available. From the Nürburgring to Tsukuba, tracks can be experienced exactly as they are in real life.”
Sony noted that this final launch software lineup is “subject to change without notice.” Furthermore, IGN is confirming with certain developers whose games are not on this list but stated intention to launch alongside PS VR2 like Among Us 2, and will update this as we hear back.
Age Of Wonders 4 arrives on Steam on May 2nd, devs Triumph Studios have revealed. The 4X game was announced during a livestream today hosted by publishers Paradox Interactive. It’ll be the first Age Of Wonders in nine years that hasn’t veered into sci-fi territory, and introduces a new custom faction system. You can watch a short teaser video for Age Of Wonders 4 below.
A few days ahead of visiting EA Motive for our Dead Space-focused IGN First, I played the original game for the first time since 2008. I only intended to play the first hour or so, but seven hours later I found myself still battling through the rusted corpse of the USG Ishimura. I always knew Dead Space was a modern classic, but I was surprised just how well it stood up all these years later. And so I headed to meet the developers with a slightly cynical mindset: what was the point of remaking something that remains so brilliant?
After playing the same seven hours of the remake, I think I may have been convinced. In many ways Dead Space is a purist’s remake; I’d estimate that around 85% of what I experienced was identical to the original game, just with vastly superior visuals. But it’s the other 15% that has me quietly wondering… could this remake genuinely be better than its progenitor?
Many of these changes are gameplay improvements, several of which are drawn directly from Dead Space 2. The zero gravity sequences now allow you to move freely in all directions, rather than hop from surface to surface. This obviously allows for a better sense of freedom, but segments redesigned around this ability are notably more interesting than their original counterpart. The centrifuge generator puzzle in chapter three is now a genuine spectacle, while the ADS cannon repair job has been completely changed to be a dangerous space walk that amps up the tension.
The 2011 sequel’s influence can be found in your weapons, too, which can now be fitted with a variety of special upgrades that alter their function. The Plasma Cutter, for instance, can be modded with an extended magazine and the ability to set foes alight for damage-over-time. The Ripper, meanwhile, can fire blades that ricochet around the room, allowing for trick shots.
I found the new secondary abilities to be much more useful than those in the original game.
Such modifications are found hidden around the ship, and so they act as encouragement to explore every room and store cupboard. But thanks to a new Security Clearance system, you’re initially locked out of many side locations you discover. As the story progresses you’re granted increasing levels of clearance, and so you can then backtrack through the now-seamless spaceship to open doors that were once forbidden. This interconnected design and backtracking turns the Ishimura into something closer to the Talos-1 station from Prey; a huge structure that feels like a genuine place rather than a series of video game levels. It’s an admirable direction, but I’ve yet to see exactly how well it’s used across the full campaign. My hope is that Motive has smartly weaved backtracking into the main missions and the newly-added side quests to allow for organic revisits of prior areas, rather than making backtracking a segregated chore.
Regardless of if you’re backtracking or making forward progress, Dead Space is full of horrifying necromorphs that threaten to rip you limb from limb. Much has already been made of the new ‘peeling system’ that rips the skin, fat, and muscle layers away from enemies with each new wound, but there’s more to this grotesque idea than just visceral visuals. Much like how protagonist Isaac Clarke has a health bar built directly into his suit, the necromorphs’ own bodies are now a visual representation of their health. This is never more obvious than when using the Force Gun, a weapon that has been completely overhauled for the remake. What was once simply a push-back weapon now rips the flesh off of enemies with a thunderous blast. The stripped down necromorphs can then be finished off with a more conventional weapon; their exposed bones ready to be snapped with just a round or two.
Talking of weapons, each one of Isaac’s lethally repurposed tools has been redesigned to encourage a new level of strategy. Dismemberment is still the main aim of every skirmish, but the flamethrower’s new alternate fire creates a wall of searing flame that can cordon off areas and manage crowds, while the Pulse Rifle’s new proximity mine works as both a trap and a makeshift grenade launcher. These are small changes, but I found the new secondary abilities to be much more useful than those in the original game, and they soon became a regular part of my combat routine.
My favourite change I’ve seen so far, though, are the Circuit Breakers. These occasional puzzles require you to reroute power to different machines, typically to open up locked doors. Each breaker box has a limited number of fuses and so powering up a door is done at the expense of powering down something else. In an early example this involved turning off an elevator I no longer needed, but in chapter three I was confronted with a much more intriguing sacrifice: to power up a refuel station I had to divert energy away from either the engineering deck’s lights or life support systems. It was a choice: should I stumble onwards in pitch-darkness and risk being ambushed by unseen threats, or navigate well-lit corridors while my air supply rapidly ran dry? It’s a smart way to combine challenge with player choice, and I hope this example is the first of many fiendish scenarios rather than a one-off occurrence.
There’s the sense that elements of Dead Space 2 are being retrofitted into the original.
Graphics aside, the most notable change right from minute one is the alterations to the script and storytelling. Once-silent protagonist Isaac can now speak, and while I do think this is largely unnecessary, he thankfully hasn’t been turned into an overly-chatty Sony character. Rather than quipping at everything, Isaac’s ability to respond anchors him into the horrifying situation in a realistic manner. Gunner Wright, the voice actor who brought Isaac to life in the sequels, reprises the role, and so once again there’s the sense that elements of Dead Space 2 are being retrofitted into the original.
Isaac’s new scripting is pretty good, but the best changes have been made to Kendra Daniels. Once an incredibly thorny character, she’s been transformed into a much more empathetic, friendly colleague for Isaac. For anyone who knows the final direction of Dead Space’s story, I think Daniels’ revised personality will work much better with her character arc (provided, of course, the story’s main plot beats remain intact.)
Talking of the story’s pathway, the church of Unitology – a religious sect and major player in the Dead Space universe – is introduced much earlier in this remake and in a far more organic manner. These characters know the church’s reputation and casually discuss it, even before they are aware that it will change their lives forever. It’s an approach I really appreciate, and I think the eventual plot reveals will be much more meaningful because of it.
Motive has made many smart changes to Dead Space, but it never shakes things up to the point of being unrecognisable. The result, at least across the first several chapters, is something that feels similar in philosophy to a director’s cut (albeit a director’s cut that’s completely re-filmed on brand new sets). This experience appears largely the same as the 2008 original, but honed and polished to a beautiful, gory finish. As such, this remake will likely work best for brand new players or the most dedicated Dead Space fans. As someone who loves the original game, I found what I played an absolute thrill. But for less invested fans the value is of a more questionable quantity, since even with the changes this is an incredibly similar experience. As such I don’t think Dead Space will be as essential and transformative as the Resident Evil 2 remake was. As the best possible way to play this landmark survival horror, though? I have near enough no doubt that Dead Space will succeed in that mission.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.
Project Q was 
Age Of Wonders 4 arrives on Steam on May 2nd, devs Triumph Studios have revealed. The 4X game was announced during a livestream today hosted by publishers Paradox Interactive. It’ll be the first Age Of Wonders in nine years that hasn’t veered into sci-fi territory, and introduces a new custom faction system. You can watch a short teaser video for Age Of Wonders 4 below.