Yes, you can now pet the dog in lovely action-RPG CrossCode. There are also now dogs to> pet, as of today’s massive Version 1.1 update for the game. Developers Radical Fish have made good on their post-launch plans, and gone above and beyond with this one. The showcase feature this update is the Rhombus Square Arena, the new end-game place to be for combat fiends. There’s three cups to compete in, each with multiple scored battles plus a non-stop endurance mode, all scaling up to top level. Skilled players can earn fancy new gear there, decorative items and adorable pets.

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Hope your Christmas shopping is already done, because Steam’s Winter Sale is liable to drain what remains of your holiday funds. No awful minigames like in summer – this sale’s twist is a virtual advent calendar here, where you can click a door each day for a handful of Steam wallpapers, chat emoticons and holiday-themed fluff. Beyond that, users can cast their vote on the The Steam Awards nominees and get a fistful of trading cards for your effort. The sale ends on January 3rd, and I’ve got some personal stocking stuffers picked out below.

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Satirical website Hard Drive once ran a story which poked fun at the long, drawn-out nature of most RPGs. In a hard-hitting investigative report, one player was commended for finally getting to the good shit at the 117-hour mark of a fictional title, while his roommate scoffed at him for only making it mid-way through the game. Like most RPGs, CrossCode is an immense and time-intensive experience. Learning all the facets of its world from the combat system to trading with merchants does take a substantial amount of time, but it also makes every minute of this long stretch of time matter. This is done by framing its story as a game-within-a-game , lightly knocking on the fourth wall rather than blustering through it, showing familiarity with the genre, while subverting it at the same time. (more…)

I reckon that CrossCode is quietly one of the more exciting things lurking around in Steam’s early access section right now. It’s a fast-paced action RPG in the vein of Terranigma or Secret Of Mana, set in a pseudo-virtual world that reminds me of Phantasy Star Online. Initially demoed and crowdfunded back in February 2015, with plans to launch at the start of 2016. Obviously that didn’t work out, but judging by CrossCode’s massive strides made during its time in early access, it was worth the wait. The developers have announced It’s releasing on September 20th.

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CrossCode [official site] is a Japanese-inspired action RPG about hurling great big balls of energy to kill enemies in a fictional MMORPG. CrossCode deftly blends a lot of different retro-ish inspirations and looks great doing it. Our resident Lord of the Dance, Marsh Davies, thought so when he waltzed through its world, noting that the game-within-a-game narrative was a “surprisingly multilayered fiction, which, despite the chirpy caricatures, feels like it might go bleakly Ghost in the Shell at any moment.” And now that story is just a wee bit bigger with a new update this week.

… [visit site to read more]

Each week Marsh Davies jacks into the virtual battleground that is Early Access so that his spandex-clad avatar may wrestle with the digital monstrosities therein. This week he s uploaded himself into CrossCode, a top down 16-bit-styled singleplayer ARPG set within a distant future MMO, where the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds have blurred.>

It is a strange vision of the future in which the world s number one entertainment involves me slapping a hedgehog to death with my balls. These balls are sadly just glowing projectiles, of course, aimed in 360 degrees and fired continuously if desired, ricocheting off walls to hit enemies and switches out of the line-of-sight – but the game does insist on referring to them as your balls in a way which is either deadpan mischief or minor mistranslation from the developers native German. It is but one of many mysteries in the intriguing world of CrossCode – and a rather natty combat system to boot.

… [visit site to read more]

Each week Marsh Davies jacks into the virtual battleground that is Early Access so that his spandex-clad avatar may wrestle with the digital monstrosities therein. This week he s uploaded himself into CrossCode, a top down 16-bit-styled singleplayer ARPG set within a distant future MMO, where the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds have blurred.>

It is a strange vision of the future in which the world s number one entertainment involves me slapping a hedgehog to death with my balls. These balls are sadly just glowing projectiles, of course, aimed in 360 degrees and fired continuously if desired, ricocheting off walls to hit enemies and switches out of the line-of-sight – but the game does insist on referring to them as your balls in a way which is either deadpan mischief or minor mistranslation from the developers native German. It is but one of many mysteries in the intriguing world of CrossCode – and a rather natty combat system to boot.

… [visit site to read more]