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Gamescom ’25: Something invasive and alien is on the loose in the upcoming VR title, Star Trek: InfectionLooking radically different from anything that we’ve seen before from the property, Star Trek: Infection is coming to VR headsets. Fascinating As any Star Trek fan could tell you, Vulcans are a cold and detached species. Though they’re a pillar of the Federation, the alien race is almost purely logical, leaving emotions to its distant … The post Gamescom ’25: Something invasive and alien is on the loose in the upcoming VR title, Star Trek: Infection appeared first on BrutalGamer .

BrutalGamerAug 20

Fire Emblem-like Dark Deity 2 Switch Version Debuts in September Sword and Axe announced that its Fire Emblem style strategy game Dark Deity 2 will be coming to the Nintendo Switch within the next month. The game will debut on September 4, 2025, and it will cost $24.99. (That’s the same price as the PC release on Steam .) However, a launch sale is in effect immediately, which brings the price down to $19.99 until September 26, 2025. Dark Deity 2 is a continuation of the original, unlike the Fire Emblem series that tends to tell a different story in a different world with each installment. Players follow siblings Gwyn and Riordian as they lead the Eternal Delegation against the Asverellian Empire. The goal is to ensure every region stands tall and the empire doesn’t conquer the whole continent. Who you decide to support or fight will determine your allies and enemies. There is also replay value, as there is a randomizer built into it. There’s also a Switch Dark Deity 2 trailer that shows what the strategy game looks like, which also allows us to see how it compares to Fire Emblem . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rPsCK7lotM Indie.io is handling publishing for the game. As a reminder, it also did so for the first installment. That showed up on the Switch back in March 2022. It also handled the Suns Out, Swords Out DLC about a year later in February 2023. Dark Deity 2 will come to the Nintendo Switch on September 4, 2025, and the game is already available on the PC. The post Fire Emblem-like Dark Deity 2 Switch Version Debuts in September appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraAug 14

I can’t believe this abandoned Valve game still has players and is fun 4 years later Dead games keep pulling me in. I refuse to bury extremely popular games from just a few years ago, and that's why I don't want to let Dota Underlords go. Remember Auto Chess? This Valve game, inspired by the Dota Auto Chess mod that released in January 2019, was popular for a year or two, when everything everyone could think about was autobattlers. These games let you draft units, place them on a board, and build synergies between them via their classes, origins, or whatever their traits are called. Heroes battle automatically. You increase their power by getting duplicates as they’re randomly offered to you from a pool shared between all eight players in a match. Items you get every few rounds also make heroes stronger, but that’s about all you can do to increase your chances of winning. It’s a strategy game where you do the planning but let units fight as scripted. Dota Underlords came out in June 2019, a few days before League of Legends’ take with Teamfight Tactics and two months after the original Dota Auto Chess became a standalone game with generic characters in Auto Chess. Other companies' attempts to make autobattlers failed, like Tencent’s Chess Rush . Maybe Dota Underlords doesn't need an update. Screenshot by Destructoid You could say Dota Underlords has also failed. The game went from 111,000 concurrent players in July 2019 to less than 15,000 in December. Valve hasn’t updated the game since November 2020. No new content, no balance patches, no stability updates or fixes. It’s even too generous to say that Valve put the game in maintenance mode, because that would mean they are at least doing something to keep the game healthy over time, like Blizzard is doing with Heroes of the Storm . But this is not the case. Dota Underlords has been abandoned. Why do they keep going? Still, for some reason, over 1,000 players are in Dota Underlords on Steam at all times, not counting mobile players. So, what happened here? Why are people still playing a game that Valve discarded and probably just kept afloat because they already have the servers to keep the game running? My main guess, returning to the game in 2025, is that being abandoned ironically turned into an advantage. Dota Underlords has been the same for years, which means it’s a stress-free experience. Unlike Teamfight Tactics , which is the only big autobattler game that survived the 2019 hype, Dota Underlords has been the same for almost five years. There is no pressure to complete a time-limited battle pass or buy cosmetics that will be gone soon. Units are always the same, and no balance patches or rotations change them every few months like in TFT . Once you learn Dota Underlords and its strategies, you can master the smallest details to get an edge, and that's the fun part. Any knowledge you have gained in the last four years is still valid. This abandonment (or stability?) is what allows players to spend more time learning about each unit, developing new synergies, and becoming good at the game. I don’t think Dota fans are keeping Underlords alive because this gameplay has nothing to do with the MOBA. Returning to Underlords as a non- Dota player, I see that some units that were overpowered when I stopped playing, like Kunkka and Tidehunter, are still just as strong. It feels familiar. I don’t have to relearn the game, and I like knowing I can stop playing and return in six months to find the same game. Dota Underlords is an example that online games don’t have to be live service. You don’t need new content to keep a game afloat if you’re a big company, though I have no idea how much profit Valve makes from this title. However, I only recommend playing Dota Underlords today if you want a game that will never change. If you want something current with dedicated development, then play Teamfight Tactics. The post I can’t believe this abandoned Valve game still has players and is fun 4 years later appeared first on Destructoid .

Steam Archives – DestructoidAug 14

New Hololive Vtuber Games Are Holo Hidden and GuraQuestThe next new Hololive Vtuber games on Steam are the free GuraQuest and the hidden object game Holo Hidden.

SiliconeraAug 14

Patapon Spiritual Successor Ratatan Early Access Release Date SetRatatan, the former Patapon developer's rhythm roguelike, will enter Steam Early Access in September 2025.

SiliconeraAug 14

Review: Tiny Bookshop Will Steal Large Amounts of Time While many store management simulations are about doing as well as possible so you can gain more profits to reinvest and get even bigger so numbers can go up more, Tiny Bookshop eschews that idea in favor of a cozy and relaxed experience prioritizing the ambiance. It’s a slower paced game about taking it easy and appreciating how books help a community while developing a cute little shop you run out of a trailer attached to your car. It is a bit slow-paced and follows a very set routine, but it’s definitely a relaxing one. If you get into it, it's absolutely possible to find yourself really spending hours constantly selling books to new people in new places. Tiny Bookshop begins with a player pulling into the Waterfront Square parking lot of the small town of Bookstonbury-by-the-Sea. Your goal is to take in the sights and sounds of the village, sell some books, become a part of the community, and manage a little store you can be proud of. It’s a very chill experience. Do you have at least nine coins that you can pay as “rent” to hang your shingle for the day? You’re all set, then! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw23nSGvxNw This also means that Tiny Bookshop features a gameplay loop that doesn’t exactly work like other store management simulations. After that first day, things will start with you checking the newspaper. Is anyone selling a box of books you can afford in the Classifieds? (Wait a day unless it is free or a super-cheap crate of a genre you need, as the prices will go down the next day.) Is there a seasonal decoration you could use to drum up business? Does the actual news section’s calendar point out an event you should attend? From there, you get settled for the day. This means you pick your spot where you’ll sell. Initially, only the 9-coin Waterfront Square is there. However, as you meet customers, you’ll learn about and be invited to otehr locations, like the pricier 18-coin Far Beach. Each spot will generally feature a certain kind of clientele looking for specific genres. You can sell Crime, Drama, Fact, Fantasy, Classic, Kids, and Travel titles. So when you’re also preparing to head out, you need to take books out of storage and place them on your current shelves in your trailer. It’s also possible to arrange items outside and inside to do things like increase sales of certain genres or encourage folks to ask for recommendations. Images via neoludic games Once you’re actually at a location, things slow down a bit. For the most part, you’ll be watching. It’s possible there will be someone around nearby to interact with, like fellow vendors at the weekly flea market. But unless someone comes up asking for direct feedback or a recommendation for a book that could lead them to buying that and more titles for you, it is very hands-off. After the sun sets, you pack up for the day. The next newspaper arrives, giving you a chance to restock and see the calendar again, and the cycle continues. There are some “light” quests, such as talking to a person at a location a certain number of times or selling to certain kinds of customers. But again, it’s all generally quite relaxed. It's also compelling in a way I appreciate. Since the routine is really comforting and familiar, it's very easy to get caught up in that loop. Especially if you really love reading and start to recognize certain titles. I do wish I actually had a bit more control over what I sell in Tiny Bookshop . When you’re adding titles to your shelves to determine what you’ll sell at the location you visit that day, you are arbitrarily just clicking to add X amount. But once you are in a location, you’ll get requests for things involving certain page counts, types of topics, and other more detailed elements. Given neoludic games is pulling from actual books and comics, I would have liked to be able to select certain topics. Especially when heading to a spot like the Mega Marche store in town, where I know I’ll sell a lot of kids books or crime dramas, or Waterfront Square, where factual and travel titles perform best. Images via neoludic games It also would have been nice if the pace moved a bit quicker. Not the time of actual in-game days and weeks. That’s great, and I felt progression in that manner was great. I mean more along the lines of development when adding more bookshelves to my shop, being able to expand with decorations, and building myself up. Tiny Bookshop seems to sort of pull back on our own growth in a way that left me a bit frustrated, as it sometimes felt like maybe I wasn’t making enough on book sales to be able to get neat items before they went out of season, start selling in certain spots, and enjoy the customization elements that would let me make my shop my own and start to encourage sales of certain genres. Since the gameplay loop can get very repetitive, the speed of my shop’s development made that rhythm feel more pronounced. While I do wish it picked up the pace a bit, Tiny Bookshop is an absolutely delightful and cozy shop management simulation. I really appreciated the nods to actual literature. The ability to feel like a member of the community via some simple quests and character interactions is lovely too. I admit feeling a little stifled in terms of decoration and selecting stock, primarily due to some very minor pacing issues, but I still enjoyed running this quaint store and am eager to revisit it when I need to relax. Tiny Bookshop is available on the Switch and PC , and a demo is available on Steam. The post Review: Tiny Bookshop Will Steal Large Amounts of Time appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraAug 14

Okayu Nyumu Steam Version Lists English LocalizationThe Steam version of Okayu Nyumu, the romantic visual novel where you spend time with hololive talent Nekomata Okayu, will have English localization.

SiliconeraAug 14

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 DLC Character Pass 3 Pre-orders Open As part of One Piece Day 2025, Bandai Namco and Omega Force announced One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 will get more DLC with Character Pass 3. New characters will start to appear in the Musou game in Fall 2025, as that’s when DLC No 7 debuts. Then DLC No 8, which features Most Wanted Character Poll winners, will follow in “early” 2026. The season costs $29.99 on Steam , the PlayStation Store , and the Microsoft Store , and it also comes with Shanks’ Divine Departure Special Technique as a bonus. Only one of the three Fall 2025 DLC characters is confirmed so far. Rob Lucci CP-0 will be added. Much of the initial footage of him shows him with his Cat-Cat Fruit Model: Leopard and Rokushiki attacks. He’ll appear alongside two other unknown characters and three costumes for units. We do know all three characters in the Special Selection DLC No 8 add-on, however. Eneru, King the Conflagration, and Z the “Black Arm” Zephyr. They actually showed up first in the trailer that revealed the new pass. Here’s the One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 Character Pass 3 DLC trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmuIMbnHYo4 While One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is a five-year-old game now, it’s still getting various updates. For example, back in February 2025, Bandai Namco announced PS5 and Xbox Series X versions . One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is available for the Switch, PS4, Xbox Series X, and PC, it is headed to the PS5 and Xbox Series X, and Character Pass 3 DLC will start to appear in Fall 2025. The post One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 DLC Character Pass 3 Pre-orders Open appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraAug 12

Fae Farm PC Online Multiplayer Ending, Will Be Single-Player Only Phoenix Labs updated the Steam product page for the PC version of Fae Farm to announce it will end support for the online multiplayer, restricting the experience to an offline, single-player one . This will happen at 11:59pm PT on September 10, 2025/2:59am ET on September 11, 2025. [Thanks, Delisted Games !] The announcement appears both at the top of the listing under the Community Hub link and in an “Important Announcement” section between the Reviews and Editions sections. Each of the statements is quite short, and reads as follows: “ Fae Farm will be going offline September 10, 2025 at 23:59 Pacific Time. The online co-op service will no longer be available, and the game will receive no future updates. The single player offline mode will remain playable.” Fae Farm online multiplayer would allow someone to go from the offline single-player into an adventure with up to four players total. While the console versions would rely on your friends lists there, on Steam you would be using either that or the Phoenix Labs account system to bring friends over. Everything the group does affects the host’s world, and likewise you rely on their unlocks for experiences. As for other platforms, there aren’t any notices. The Epic Games Store page is gone and returns a 404 result . There are no Microsoft Store or PlayStation Store updates. The Nintendo eShop also remains unchanged, however it does also note that folks playing on that console can use a LAN session to start local wireless co-op with up to four people and systems. Fae Farm is available for the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Steam page said online multiplayer support ends on 11:59pm PT on September 10, 2025/2:59am ET on September 11, 2025. The post Fae Farm PC Online Multiplayer Ending, Will Be Single-Player Only appeared first on Siliconera .

SiliconeraAug 12

Can you save Jackie in Static Dread: The Lighthouse? Jackie followed the rules of the sea, yet Static Dread still punished him. A lesson in the cosmic horror you need to deal with over the next 15 days, deciding what happens to Jackie is just one of the many moral dilemmas you'll have to face. Here's everything you need to know about saving Jackie in Static Dread . Table of contents Should you let Jackie into the lighthouse? Where to send Jackie in Static Dread: Mystic Point or Outsmouth? What happens to Jackie? Should you let Jackie into the lighthouse? Screenshot by Destructoid Jackie is the first NPC you meet that you can invite into the lighthouse. About to embark on his own endeavor with his crew, you learn of a new island that's appeared from nowhere. This island is deeply connected to the underwater horrors and is a place Jackie may visit again (depending on your actions). Son of the Village Elder (who has ties to the Old Keeper); Jackie provides a bit of exposition on what happened prior to your arrival. As you're told by Chief not to let anyone into the lighthouse as it's Blackfort property, the choice to let Jackie in or not is your first real moral dilemma. What's worse is that if you already played the demo like we did, you already know how one of his routes ends. It's tradition for Jackie to look out into the sea before setting sail, so you'd think leaving him outside would set his demise. The truth is, whether you let him in or send him away, Jackie's crew will die and he will get badly hurt . The cosmic entity punishes his curiosity regardless. If it's your first time playing, though, you will learn far more about Static Dread by letting Jackie in and speaking to him at the top of the lighthouse. Where to send Jackie in Static Dread: Mystic Point or Outsmouth? Screenshot by Destructoid Jackie returns at the end of night three, and this choice is a big 'un. Ambushed by the Village Elder, who broke into the lighthouse upon hearing Jackie's voice on the radio, you must decide whether to listen to his pleas or follow Misty's request. Do you send Jackie to Mystic Point, where he'll be reunited with Misty, or Outsmouth to be with his father? Now, Jackie doesn't seem to remember much, and he's confused when you ask if he'd like to be with the Village Elder or Misty. It's only upon making your selection that you get what he truly wants: to see Misty one more time. There's no right or wrong answer here, for neither has a good ending . One choice will save his life, but at a cost of his humanity. Because of this, we recommend choosing Mystic Point for Jackie and Misty's sake. What happens to Jackie? Screenshot by Destructoid Screenshot by Destructoid Sending Jackie to Mystic Point means he dies at the research station . Misty couldn't save him, for his injuries were too severe. He did, however, get to have his final moments with the woman he loves. Now, if you chose this first, you likely want to head back in to try and save him, but there's a catch. If Jackie goes to Outsmouth to be with his father, he will die and be resurrected. This sounds much better on paper until Jackie shows up at the lighthouse door, his body transformed by some kind of ritual. Although Jackie was alive once more, he'll never be the same again. Missing Misty and having his body and mind fighting against one another, he's forced by his father to give in to The Great Old One. His flesh slowly transforming into scales and gills, Jackie becomes part-man-part-fish . He didn't want this, but the cosmic force overwhelmed him, manipulating Jackie into a blind sense of worship. This means that you either send Jackie to die in Misty's arms or prevent his death, only to turn him into a fishman. Which fate would you rather see? The post Can you save Jackie in Static Dread: The Lighthouse? appeared first on Destructoid .

Steam Archives – DestructoidAug 11