Yakuza spin-offs Judgment and Lost Judgment have arrived on Steam! This means you can mete out justice with your fists and do some important detective work... and do some drone racing... and participate in some robot wars. It's Yakuza with a murder-mystery twist that's well worth your while even if you're not actually that big on Kiryu or Ichiban's antics. I'd even go so far as to say it might be the perfect side entrance into the Yakuza series as a whole.
I had hoped to bring you a proper review of Moonscars today, the new 2D Soulslike from indie studio Black Mermaid. But alas, both time and its ferociously difficult combat have got the better of me, so you'll have to settle for some impressions instead. This isn’t simply a case of drinking the 'git gud' kool-aid either. While I'll hold my hands up now and say that Soulslikes have always been a bit of a challenge for me, I feel like I've been making some pretty good in-roads into the genre lately, and after falling in love with Moonscars' reveal trailer earlier in the year during the Humble Games Showcase, I really, really, really> wanted to like this one. Sadly, it's become increasingly clear that Moonscars does not like me very much, and maybe even hates my guts a bit - which is ironic, considering how many organs I've chucked at its feet over the last week and a bit to appease its hungry dread moon.
The RPS squad has once again made the trek to London for EGX 2022. There was plenty to see at this year’s show and, as always, we ran some of our own booths. The first was the Steam Deck Zone filled with thirty of Valve’s handhelds full of games for anyone to pull up a chair and play. The second was a showcase of weird and wonderful controllers including an incredibly inconvenient pool table, a digital plant that would grow by controlling light, and a game where you use a keyboard as a tie.
Alongside those, the RPS gang were exploring the show floor and here you’ll find highlights of what we saw, who we chatted to, what we played, and just general show shenanigans. Enjoy!
Serial Cleaners is Draw Distance's follow-up to the singular Serial Cleaner, a stylish 2D stealth action game where you clean up crime scenes without getting caught. Where the original offers a more traditional top-down view where you're avoiding cops' attention by dodging cones of vision, Serial Cleaners sprinkles different characters and abilities into the mix, alongside a visual revamp that ups more than just the aesthetics. And it works! Making the act of evidence disposal an action-packed affair that makes it a great game to play in bursts.
A while back, I was wondering where all the Steam Deck accessories were. Valve themselves have the case covered, including a decent hard case with even the cheapest 64GB models, and it’s not difficult to pick up one of the best microSD cards for the Steam Deck. Otherwise, and especially with delays to Valve’s official dock, there’s not much out there from the usual PC hardware suppliers.
I therefore turned to the makers and sellers of Etsy, where a kind of indie Steam Deck accessory market has emerged. Soon, I’d bought (with my own money, you’re welcome ReedPop) a selection of unique, handcrafted, sometimes questionable gadgets and appendages, and promptly packed them onto a train for independent appraisal by a newly minted Steam Deck owner. Specifically, RPS vid bud Liam.
Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been caught by art made of hands, skeleton wrestling, and a squirrel horrifyingly climbing people to rob them.
Welcome to the first weekend of autumn, gang! Scarves on necks, cocoa on stoves, leaves on ground. Chat about the weather might seem trite but what other conversation topic covers matters directly impacting your life today without risking causing a disagreement, years of simmering resentment, or a brawl? "What are you having for dinner?" is another good one, I think. Perhaps you'll find this advice helpful if you're attending EGX this weekend. Oh, I know another one: what are you playing this weekend? Here's what we're clicking on!
Everyone's talking about Trombone Champ. Not since Untitled Goose Game have I heard this much excited chat about a game from pals who don't usually talk about games. This is because: 1) it's a fun silly idea; 2) it's very funny to miss a trombone note and squeal out a farty toot in the middle of Also Sprach Zarathustra. As I play Trombone Champ myself, I come to really appreciate that. It's a rare rhythm game where playing badly doesn't frustrate or berate me, because the worst-case scenario is making fart noises, and fart noises are funny.
The RPS treehouse is quiet today, with most the gang gone to that London for EGX 2022. We're running a Steam Deck Zone filled with minicomps and have a showcase of games with weird controller experiences, and I imagine they'll also be playing games, chatting, attending talks, loitering, expanding their LinkedIn networks, and other such expo activities. Kindly, they're going to check in across the day, texting us all with updates on what they're seeing, doing, and (I imagine) eating. And Ollie might join in from home with cat photos.
The RPS-beloved turn-based strategy game Solium Infernum is back from the dead. Announced earlier today on stage at EGX London 2022, Armello creators League Of Geeks will be resurrecting and reimagining the game in 2023. Originally released in 2009 by solo dev Vic Davis and his studio Cryptic Comet, Solium Infernum cast you as an Archfiend hoping to stake a claim for Satan's empty throne. With a strong emphasis on political intrigue and Machiavellian backstabbing over taking things by force, this strategy game from hell was a firm RPS favourite back in the day, spawning an eight-part diary series of the team's play-by-email multiplayer adventures. Alas, it never quite found the audience it deserved back in the early 2010s, eventually causing Davis to shut up shop completely in 2015 and pursue a career in tabletop.
League Of Geeks are here to change that, though, and after speaking with studio director and co-founder Trent Kusters (both at EGX earlier today and during a hands-off presentation of their pre-alpha demo late last week), it's clear the team have taken great care in bringing Solium Infernum up to date for modern audiences. It leans into all the same kinds of mind games as Cryptic Comet's original, and its simultaneous turn structure is still very much intact – just with lusher 3D visuals, and all-new, revamped menu screens. And it looks devilishly good.