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“We are in the last year of development and we still have quite a bit to go,” say devs Previously, Path Of Exile 2 was going to be a kind of extra large expansion to the original game, rather than a standalone sequel, but that’s no longer the case. The good news, though, is that Grinding Gear Games will continue to support both games simultaneously. “People like that game, there’s no reason to destroy it if we don’t have to, and we can run them both concurrently so we might as well do so....

Come and see them in action Grinding Gear Games debuted a lovely big chunk ofPath Of Exile 2this evening, taking us through a section of Act 3 of its campaign and showing off two of its six new character classes: the Monk and the Sorceress. With almost 30 minutes of uninterrupted gameplay, we got to see exactly how they work in practice, and most importantly, we got a big long look at the monk’s beautifully choreographed staff twirling melee attacks....

The nuts and bolts of Sony’s latest PS5 port I bloody loveRatchet & Clank: Rift Apart. It’s a meaty and satisfying action-platformer with possibly the best-executed comedy and character work of the entire series; a series that’s essentially grown up alongside me, in tone as much as technical sophistication. I wish I had the time to review it properly but, with a weekend and aBaldur’s Gate 3-shaped boulder bearing down, I’m staying in my hardware lane to focus on the performance of and best settings to use in Rift Apart’s new PC version....

Joining Dwarf Fortress at publisher Kitfox When I say it terrifies me, it’s not in the sense that it’s a scary game featuring dolls that move when I’m not looking at them, but in the sense that it’s a deep and complex simulation played out in a dense 2D style that makes my brain go funny, and featuring locations like “the toxic arboreta of Ekuemekiyye” and the “oasis-hamlet of Joppa”. There are many similarities toshoving-birds-in-a-hole simulationDwarf Fortress, up to and including the new publishers, but another is that it’s a game where I fear to tread despite being glad it exists, and despite it having many fans who do love it....

The next 2D Sonic has “that old classic Sonic feel” but needed a “current look” Sonic Mania 2 isn’t in development and never was, according to the devs behind the celebrated 2D revival of the blue hedgehog. Contrary to rumours, that’s not because of a falling out between publisher Sega andSonic Mania’s devs, but because both sides of the creative team decided they wanted to make something new. Both Iizuka and Whitehead said that Sega and the devs agreed that whatever followed Mania would need to “move beyond” the pixel art style used as a throwback to Sonic’s 16-bit origins....

Smooth deckbuilders, bittersweet coming-of-age and psychedelic rhythm on show in Kyoto Japan’s biggest yearly indie games event returned to a blisteringly hot Kyoto last weekend, just in time for the world-famousGion Matsuritaking place in the city that same weekend. Bitsummit Let’s Go was the name given to the 11th incarnation of the event, expanding to three days for the very first time - also featuring over 100 games, the largest showcase yet....

Part Two of our annual countdown of our personal Bestest Bests The RPS 100 I always love putting together big team lists like this. As explained in Part One, this list isn’t intended to be a definitive ranking of thebest PC gamesof all time, or the most important or influential. It’s simply the games that we as a team love the most, and hold closest in our hearts - a snapshot of who we are as a team right now, that will no doubt change and evolve as the years go on....

“We expect people to die a lot more” Get ready to die lots inPath Of Exile 2, as developers Grinding Gear Games have told me that both the regular and Hardcore difficulty modes of their upcoming,now standalone sequelto their enormously popular ARPG are going to be a whole lot more challenging than before - both when it comes to the campaign and the end-game afterwards. Bosses, in particular, will pose much more of a threat this time round, as studio co-founder and Path Of Exile 2 creative director Jonathan Rogers says the big monsters you fought in the first game’s campaign were, in hindsight, “pretty anemic”....

Stuck on the Wordle word for July 28? Read our hint or find the answer below! Need a hint for today’s Wordle answer?As someone who often resents having to put down their video games in order to eat, I’m delighted byWordle, a game you can absolutely play while munching on your mid-morning snack. Every day, Wordle presents its legions of players with a deviously simple quandary: can you guess the right five-letter word within just six guesses?...

While also naming a cool mod as an example I enjoy cracking video games open like an egg so I can fry, scramble, poach or, uh, omelette their insides. Modding and tapping in console commands are a core part of why I like PC games. Alas,Diablo 4is not to be tinkered with. In a post on the game’s forums, Blizzard’s global community development director Adam Fletcher says that “any game-modifying software” is prohibited and may lead to accounts being permanently banned....

An incremental yet significant improvement, inside and out Most racing fans daydream about being Lewis Hamilton rather than Toto Wolff, and there are tons of games that cater to that majority. If you’d rather be signing cheques and contemplating tyre strategy, though, there are only a handful of games out there for you, and F1 Manager is one of the big ones. Once you click that “New Career” button you’re faced with the single most meaningful choice in the game: which team will you play as?...

But only after a break Baldur’s Gate 3launches next week, but already people are wondering what developers Larian might turn to next. Mainly, they’re curious whether the studio will return to their own long-running RPG series, Divinity. “Definitely,” is the answer from CEO Swen Vincke - but not until after the studio has had a break. Vincke was asked about returning to Divinityin an interview with IGN. “It’s our own universe we built, so we’re definitely gonna get back there at some point....

Paradox’s open world Sims killer shifts by six months Since the game’s announcement in March, the developers have been stockpiling feedback from fans online and from modding partners who have been playing early builds. “We want to take some extra time to integrate [that feedback] before launching early access,” explained Humble in avideo update. Some of that feedback was geared towards Life By You’s visuals, which ironically look a little lifeless compared to fellow budding rivalParalives, and indeedThe Simsitself....