I tried. I really did. Being so critically lauded, I battled with the feeling that I must be missing something. Many hours of unsatisfying combat, constant interruptions from either robotic or otherwise insufferable characters and eyerolling minigames. Turns out; it’s nostalgia and anime-brain that I’m missing, and if you don’t have those, the game is an admirably wide-scoped and gorgeous to look at chore. I get it, there’s a great game here for those predisposed to its sensibilities… but sadly that’s not me.

The Thaumaturge is a dense RPG set in alternate 1905 Warsaw with intricate settings, rich lore, and engaging side characters. Combat and sleuthing are secondary in service of its story, which I personally struggled a bit to connect with. Cool art, satisfying secrets, intriguing world and some compelling moral choices. Love the ambition and would recommend for fans of the genre.

There’s a temptation to talk about Pacific Drive with reference to genres: survival, extraction, roguelite, action, adventure, driving… But it’s doing something really cool with it’s tone and atmosphere, making it something altogether unique. Clever progression, tactile UI, great music, terrifying SFX, and a world worth exploring. Cool game.

Finally! The Elden Ring DLC trailer is here. H U M A N I T Y R E S T O R E D

According to a new report, FROMSOFT is now the sole owner of the Elden Ring IP, no longer sharing rights with Bandai Namco. This change was seemingly facilitated via investments from Sony and Tencent.

[Early Access] Without taking anything away from Pocketpair, it’s kind of wild that it took this long for someone to pull this off. For everything Palworld may lack in (narrow) originality, it makes up for in execution. It throws down the gauntlet for what a creature collector could be, and somehow blends it with modern genres and sensibilities in a way that, surprisingly… just works? Time will tell if they truly stick the landing over the course of EA, but there’s already enough here for an outrageously fun time.

Apparently Tencent is developing a mobile adaptation of Elden Ring - with a desire for gacha elements - according to sources. The company acquired licensing rights in 2022 and has initiated a small team to prototype the game, although progress has been slow. This sounds… kinda disgusting, and currently hard to believe.

Naughty Dog have released Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II, a documentary exploring the game’s creation. The film, featuring Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross, Ashley Johnson, Troy Baker and a bunch of other Naughty Dogs, spans two hours. There’s a discussion about a potential Part III toward the end. 👀

As discovered by a sleuth on Reddit, and soon thereafter seemingly confirmed by a (since removed) tshirt store listing, Hideo Kojima is partnering with A24 on a live action Death Stranding film. Details about the adaptation remain undisclosed, but Kojima has previously stated that if this were to ever happen, he would be deeply involved in production. Absolutely no idea how this would work, and not super keen on it given how much of the point of the game - moreso than most, IMO - is… you know, the player interacting with it, but we’ll see! Update: Confirmation and more info has been provided by Kojima Productions.

As previously mentioned, 2023 was rough for game devs, but there’s no denying it was a remarkable year for releases. So given all the amazing new games I played this year, it says even more about how special Baldur’s Gate 3 was - because when it came time to think about GOTY, it was not even close. BG3 is an incredibly special, once in a generation game the likes of which we likely won’t see again for some time.