SINTOPIA FIRST GAMEPLAY TRAILER AND DEMO REVEAL

Team17 Digital and Savoie based Piraknights Games, have shared a wickedly good Sintopia gameplay trailer, showing players what will be expected of them as they deal with waves of Hell-bound sentient Humus condemned for their sinful or just too damn silly actions in the Overworld.

But what better way to get to grips with the red and quite burny bureaucracy tape of Hell management than to sample your future eternal job up close with the first Sintopia demo, available as part of the City Builder & Colony Sim Fest event on Steam that’s happening right now. The demo, which is in pre-alpha stages, features all content currently created by the developers, so there’s plenty to see and do in both the Overworld and Hell.  

Sintopia is a mix of builder and God game, with an asymmetrical loop. On the OVERWORLD, watch a silly civilization of chickpea people make their mark on the world and unfortunately for them, damn themselves by committing a host of sins. Punish the dead souls, keep your receipts for expenses and generate profit to help you build and sustain your Hellish empire. 

Key Features:  

Be A Big Bad Boss 

Being the administrator of Hell comes with many perks. Some of these include the ability to wield administrative magic to influence the world above you. 

Hell Your Way  

Mold the caves of Hell to your own deepest and darkest desires. Yes there will be paperwork but one of the Imployees you hire will take care of it. You need more time to live out your hellish architect fantasies.   

Seven Deadly Sins  

Make sure your souls go through an effective “re-education” to avoid a buildup of their Sins across many lives… no one wants to face the demonic invasion that will inevitably result from having too much corruption in the world. 

Wishlist Sintopia today on Steam and to stay up to date with Piraknights and Sintopia news you can follow the developers on  X. 

Monster Hunter Wilds™ Title Update 1 Makes a Splash with New Challenges and More on April 4!

Scrubs in Bubbles
Last seen in Monster Hunter Rise™, Mizutsune slips into the Forbidden Lands on April 4. Starting at Hunter Rank 21, players can unlock the mission to hunt Mizutsune by speaking with Kanya in the Scarlet Forest, but hunters should prepare for the leviathan’s graceful attacks and immobilizing bubbles or risk ending up in the wash. At Hunter Rank 41 and above Tempered Mizutsune will also begin appearing in the environment overview. Arch-tempered Rey Dau will also debut in an Event Quest for players above Hunter Rank 50, offering an increased challenge beyond that of Tempered monster hunts, plus a new Rey Dau Gamma armor-set to forge as a reward. The Hunter Rank 50 mark will also unlock a mission to once again hunt Zoh Shia, after which the fearsome monster will appear during the Wyvern’s Wakening in the Ruins of Wyveria for additional hunts and the ability to gather Zoh Shia parts for high-rank hunter and Palico equipment.
 
Arena Quests, Challenge Quests, and Free Challenge Quests will also appear starting with Title Update 1. Challenge Quests and the newly introduced Free Challenge Quests will only appear as limited-time Event Quests. Arena Quests and Challenge Quests can be completed by up to two players using pre-determined equipment. Meanwhile, Free Challenge Quests have no equipment restrictions and can include hunting parties of up to four players. All of these quest types can be completed solo, cooperatively in cross-platform online multiplayer, or using Support Hunters. Replay for faster clear times and earn a spot on the Expedition Record Board for special pendants as rewards. New Event Quests will continue to appear on the Quest Board and will include opportunities earn special armor, quickly raise your Hunter Rank, collect cooking ingredients, and more.
 
Gathering Forces and New Hunting Choices
Title Update 1 introduces the Grand Hub to Monster Hunter Wilds – a massive gathering space for hunters to engage in new ways, such as competing in the new Barrell Bowling minigame to earn useful items and pendants. Hunters can also gather in the Grand Hub to observe the village of Suja’s traditions, including the Diva’s occasional vocal offerings sung at night. Talking to Tetsuzan in Suja after reaching Hunter Rank 16 unlocks the Grand Hub, at which point the Squad Information Counter will relocate from the Windward Plains so hunters can conveniently manage their Squads in the communal area. The entrance to the Grand Hub will also host the Expedition Record Board, where the newly added Arena Quests’ fastest global clear times will be displayed alongside Arena Quest limited bounties.
 
Each season, a unique celebration will be held in the Grand Hub. These will begin with the Festival of Accord: Blossomdance, which runs from April 23 to May 7. During festivals, the appearance and available meals in the Grand Hub will change, and hunters can obtain limited-time equipment, gestures, Pop-Up Camp decorations, and more. In addition to seasonal Event Quests, most previously held Event Quests will also make a return. Arch-tempered Rey Dau will appear as part of an Event Quest near the conclusion of the festival from April 30 to May 21.
 
Don’t be Blandgonga
Looking to style out more than just your hunter? A new free outfit for your trusty handler Alma will be introduced in Title Update 1, and following a certain side quest the ability to change her glasses will be available. Classic gestures are also making their return as free DLC in Monster Hunter Wilds, alongside Cosmetic DLC Pack 1 that is being offered as a stand-alone item and included for Premium Deluxe Edition and Cosmetic DLC Pass holders. In addition to all of the fun cosmetic options for your hunter and Palico, Cosmetic DLC Pack 1 will also include new Camp Gear options for your Pop-Up Camps throughout the Forbidden Lands. Additional Paid DLC not included in Cosmetic DLC Pack 1 will also be available.
 
There is another update planned at the end of May, including a collaboration with another Capcom title, a function that allows you to see the Endemic Life you’ve captured, and some other adjustments. Please also keep on the lookout for more information regarding the second free Title Update coming to Monster Hunter Wilds this Summer.

New trailer for Revenge of the Savage Planet Showcases Cosmic Hoarder Edition

Independent Developer Raccoon Logic has shared the latest trailer for their self published sci-fi adventure Revenge of the Savage Planet, launching on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC on 8th May. Shown as part of the Future Games Show, the trailer showcases the Cosmic Hoarder Edition, which includes, the Cinco de Mayo Trash Panda skin (First Month Only), Shama Lama’s D.I.A.P.E.R (Ding Dong Influencer Accelerator Program Extreme Routine) 4 New Missions, HR Enforcer Deluxe Suit, Gold Lamé Space Suit, the Official digital Soundtrack and Artbook, and if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also get three days access from the 5th of May. 

Depending on your preference for pioneering – you can take to Revenge of the Savage Planet solo, or you can throw down join up with a best friend/partner/mortal enemy and jump in for hours of co-op fun (in both splitscreen/couch co-op, and online varieties), with crossplay allowing you to play with your pals on your platform of choice. 

Revenge of the Savage Planet Key Features:

  • Third-Person Online Co-Op & Crossplay – Play with your best friend, partner or hellspawn on/or between any platform and now in third-person! You’ll be tasked with fully exploring and understanding these beautiful alien landscapes and uncovering its secrets.   
  • Couch Co-Op with Split Screen – Experience the nostalgia tinged joy of sitting on the same couch and playing on the same screen with someone you love, like the olden days but with 100% more corporate satire
  • Survive aFOUR Savage PlanetS – Populate your Kindex by exploring four large, vibrant worlds each with their own weird and wonderful plants and creatures. Scan everything, catalog everything, hopefully increase your clearance level… and you might even unlock new (yet still 4th best) gear! Plus… there may be more than four planets. Maybe.
  • Space Action & Adventure – Run, Jump, Shoot, Grind, Stomp, Dodge, Slide, Lasso and Grapple your way through the world! While you’re at it you’ll also be experimenting with three different types of gameplay goo, most of which are highly flammable! Overcome challenging combat encounters with alien boss battles, suggestive fauna, problematic software and maybe even a greedy CEO.
  • Habitat & Character Customization – Alien plants! Exciting gear! Weird rocks! Each planet is packed with nooks and crannies hiding all manner of rewards and secrets.  While you’re at it you can even customize yourself,  and your tiny habitat-like corner of the universe.
  • Collect Alien Creatures – Intergalactic Hoarders can also use their Lasso to Capture and Collect dozens of strange creatures, then go visit them once they’re relocated “happily placed” in Pens outside your customizable space trailer in scenic Nu Florida.  After all, who is the real dangerous enemy, the corporate profiteers who fired you or a slimy exploding alien creature?
  • Savage Planet Franchise – Originally released on Xbox One, PS4, Epic Games Store, Steam, Stadia and Switch platforms enabling fun space adventures for millions of players across the globe.  The original game earned multiple awards as a humorous, cooperative indie adventure, Typhoon Studios captured attention of press, creators and earned its Very Positive consumer ratings and Critics endorsements. 

Nif Nif (Steam Review)

Nif Nif is a cute rogue-like card battler sent to me by Springfox Games. The general idea is you play as a pig cleaning up the forest. As you make your way through the single-level you will use different cards to wipe mud and dirt off different forest creatures.

If this sounds simple, it is because it kind of is. My second run let me finish the whole thing. This unlocked the second character, a cat. The cat plays very differently but the game doesn’t really get any harder. You will however notice that enemies, including the final boss, do change and it will take a few runs before you see them all.

Leveling up each character unlocks new skins and hats, hats give you power-ups for the run

Leveling up unlocks new skins and cards, and finishing runs unlocks hats. Each hat offers a powerup for the entire run, and finishing the run while wearing a hat unlocks a new hat. There is also a full garden to unlock, which can be used to create food and cards.

They managed to do a lot with this game while also making it friendly for younger gamers. As a fan of these types of games I still enjoyed it, not every game needs to be super challenging, sometimes I just like to relax. This is a 7/10 game. I would like to see moe levels added to it, but aside from that I had a lot of fun with it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Near Dark

So Caleb is a good-looking country guy working on his dad’s farm with his little brother, living the typical boring farmhand life. When he and a buddy go into the city looking for chicks, beer, and a good time, Caleb finds it. Mae is hot, quirky, and likes Caleb a lot…so much she nearly bites his throat out getting some hanky panky. Understandably Caleb freaks out and heads back home, bleeding out and feeling his skin burn the closer morning comes. Before he can reach his home, he’s snatched by a gang layered in thick blankets who speed off with Caleb in an RV with all blacked out windows. Odd. Turns out Mae is part of a nomadic gang of anarchist vampires, feeding and raising hell by night while laying low come dawn. Caleb is drawn between his budding love for Mae and the comradery he begins slowly forging with the maniacs but is he willing to destroy his soul for love and immortality?

Ok, this movie is a gem and I’m utterly pissed its a pain in the ass to find. There’s some legal rights dispute bullshit with it so finding it physically is going to cost you a hell of a penny, and streaming is a headache. I found it on Tubi- once- after trying for over a decade to track it down.

If you loved Aliens the gang will look extremely familiar; Henrickson, Goldstein, and Paxton did Near Dark right after Aliens actually. Bill Paxton (RIP) steals the show as a menacing, hilarious, and awesome villain. The acting all around is great. I love that the movie is a terrific balance between a western and a horror movie. I weirdly found many themes from Twilight as far as Caleb’s pathos when he has to fight the cravings to keep his humanity, just obviously much better and effectively done, reminding me much of Kaneke’s arc in Tokyo Ghoul (season 1) . I do like how they came up with a clever means to a happy, albeit badass ending. In the end, I implore you to go find Near Dark and experience this super underrated, near-forgotten gem for yourselves. May the gaming gods bring you glory Mr Pig Knuckle.

Salem’s Lot (2024)

You know, this is one of those damn movies I never thought would see the light of day (hehe lame vampire pun). It was announced, delayed, then disappeared for a few years before getting dumped on HBO Max like a dead carcass at the slaughterhouse. Years ago I reviewed the novel for Salem’s Lot and since then I’ve read it at least twice and I can say it is a damn good book and a pretty solid vampire tale. While I never saw either mini-series, the trailer for 2024 was enough to make Savior and I at least excited for a flaming dumpster fire. Did we get it?

Sadly no. Salem’s Lot 2024 is not a garbage fire. That’s not to say it’s particularly great or even good. The cast gives decent performances given a pretty crammed script. Much of the soul, the suspense, and characters of the book are crushed, compacted, and repackaged into a forgettable vampire romp. It’s the kind you can forget the same day you watch it which honestly is a shame given how good the book was. The vampires are more like zombies. Barlow isn’t a nightmarish ghoul like in the 79 mini-series but a parody of that memorable design. There’s not even as much gore or hilarious jumpscares as I thought there’d be in the trailer. In the end, read the book or seek out another vamp movie because good or bad, you’ll remember it more than this thing that should’ve stayed in the development grave. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Monster Friday -Kappa (Japanese Yokai)

Welcome back to Monster Friday, today we will be discussing a popular monster from Japan the Kappa. This water spirit, or Yokai, is a creature of mischief. The Kappa have various legends surrounding them, but they are more intelligent than most other creatures. Their legacy can be traced as far back as the Edo era (starting around 1603) and since then they have been blamed for everything from the disappearance of children to the murder of adults near water. It is thought that they would convince men to get in the water drag them under and eat them.

Their general look is similar to an ape except with fish scales and a turtle shell. While being the size of a 6-10 year old child. The indentation in their held holds water it is believed if it is ever spilled, they lose their magical abilities. Many think you can force them to grant you favors if you can make them spill this water. They also believe you can gain their favor by giving them cucumbers or tossing cucumbers into their water to make them happy. I am not sure why something that feeds on humans would love cucumbers so much but weirder things have happened.

Weirdly, I couldn’t find any sort of Kappa festival. Most of these popular creatures have some sort of formal festival or day attached to them in Japan, but the Kappa doesn’t seem to have any widespread formal holiday. Kappa Matsuri is a festival held in some parts of Tokyo, Ushiku, Komaki, and Misawa according to Wikipedia but it didn’t supply any real information so I don’t consider it very reliable. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Autopsy Simulator hits the slabs on April 3rd

 Team17 and developer Woodland Games are bringing Autopsy Simulator, a first-person medical-horror experience, to PS5 and Xbox on April 3rd! In Autopsy Simulator, players will take on the role of a practice pathologist and study realistic case files, created in collaboration with real-world forensic doctors, to help guide their examination and dissection of anatomically accurate bodies and determine each subject’s cause of death.

Alongside their powers of deduction, players will be able to use a variety of medically authentic tools and procedures, certified by a real-world pathologist, to learn more about each body as they peel back the layers of individual cases and unravel the mysteries surrounding each death.   

Autopsy Simulator also includes Autopsy Simulator: Dead Memories, a self-contained, narrative-driven psychological horror experience set in 1990s New Orleans that follows the story of Jack, a middle-aged pathologist whose life has taken a turn for the worse after a personal tragedy. Players will unravel a gripping mystery as Jack battles his inner demons while performing a range of medically accurate post-mortem procedures. 

  • Gruesome anatomical detail and medically certified autopsy procedures: Dissect anatomically accurate bodies using a range of autopsy procedures authentic to real-world practice pathology 
  • Realistic true crime scenarios: Study a range of case files designed by real-life pathomorphologists and forensic doctors and use what you learn to guide your approach to each autopsy 
  • Self-contained story mode with simulation gameplay: In Autopsy Simulator: Dead Memories, follow a gripping personal mystery while performing medically accurate autopsy procedures vetted by a certified pathologist 
  • Free play ‘Autopsy Only’ mode: Learn the ins and outs of practice pathology bycompleting unique autopsy scenarios and unravelling the mysteries of death 

Spilled! Steam Review

Spilled! over on Steam will be released on March 26th and was sent to me by its Developer and Publisher Lente who honestly I couldn’t really find their social media for. She is a single person who made the game over two years.

I took these off Steam, I swear I’m not stalking her or anything

The game is simple, in every way imaginable. You simply use the arrow keys to drive your boat around and clean up oil and in the process save some cute animals.

As you clean up the oil being spilled by a huge oil tanker, you earn money. This money is then used to upgrade your tiny boat with a bigger oil catcher, a faster motor, or a tank to hold oil. This makes gathering oil quicker and easier. There is only one enemy to fight at the very end, and I use the term fight very vaguely as he can not kill you, you simply use your hose to sink him. This same hose can be used to put out fires or wash oil off the sides of mountains throughout the world.

The game is fun for a little bit before it gets repetitive, which is nice because the game is only about an hour long. This doesn’t mean you have to sit there for an hour straight and beat it. Play it for 10 minutes at a time if you want. It wasn’t a bad way to spend an hour.

Another cool thing is that 10 cents of every sale goes to whale and dolphin conservation, so really you get to play a fun game and help animals in need. So if playing an 8/10 game wasn’t enough to support an Indy game, this should really help push it over the edge. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokémon, Genshin Impact Talent Star in Werewolf-Smooching Dating Sim ‘Scholomatch’ Coming to PC in 2025

The Horizon Wizarding Academy is taking enrollments and you’re the newest student! Fall deep in love and deep into the spirit realms as you learn magic, mingle with other academics, and uncover the secrets that threaten the academy’s future.

Your fellow students include a magical menagerie of otherworldly beings, including werewolves, fairies, sirens, and more. Scholomatch’s 11 main, potentially romanceable, characters each feature their own art, story, gameplay mechanics, and voice acting.

The game’s voice cast stars Jesse Inocalla (Genshin Impact, New Tales from the Borderlands, Marvel Battleworld), Sally Beaumont (Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader), Jingle Deleon (Pokémon Arceus’ Wish, Diablo IV), and a number of other brilliant vocal talents.

Dialogue decisions allow you to flirt, or get to know a character more, before you head to the match 3 board to clear gems and complete puzzles in order to score points. Clearing a round rewards you with XP which can in turn be used to unlock elemental improvements to score even more points. Plus, it impresses other students!

Though supernatural smooching is on the cards for those whose hearts desire, Scholomatch fully supports platonic connections, too. Character playthroughs can be completed in any combination of platonic and romantic, and there’s also the possibility of polyamory throughout its more than 15 hours of gameplay content.

Key Features of Scholomatch:

  • Deep Spirit Realms, Deeper Relationships: Form earnest relationships with a number of supernatural beings, who have their own likes, dislikes, and carefully crafted personalities. 
  • Wizards, Werewolves, and More: Live vicariously through the protagonist and engage in your wildest fantasies by dating wizards, fairies, sirens, werewolves, and vampires just to name a few! 
  • Designed for Inclusivity: Different types of relationships are represented in the game, including same-gender matches, as well as platonic, romantic, and polyamorous relationships.

Scholomatch will be released in 2025 on PC via Steam. A playable demo is now available via the Steam page.