Romancelvania is exactly what it sounds like: dating sim meets Castlevania. No idea how I missed it during my own perusal of the demo list, because unsurprisingly it’s immediately become my favourite thing I’ve ever played at a Steam Next Fest. I was so drawn in, in fact, that I’ve been having a tough time putting it down, even when I really need to — hence my suspicion that this was some sort of test on Alice’s part....

Get the Samsung 980 Pro 1TB w/ heatsink for £98 (was £144) The 980 Pro is getting on a bit now, having been released in 2020, but it still occupies the upper echelon of ‘first-gen’ PCIe 4.0 SSDs alongside the WD SN850, and it is now considerably less expensive as a result of its age. At launch, it cost £83 for a 250GB model without heatsink, so getting one with four times the capacity and a heatsink for only £15 more is a pretty excellent result....

Get the Dell Odyssey G5 at Currys for £179 w/ code FNDDGAMING The Odyssey G5 is sometimes overshadowed by its Odyssey G7, Odyssey G8 and Odyssey G9 brothers - not to mention the super-shiny Odyssey Neo series - but this is actually the best value monitor of the bunch. You’re right in the sweet spot for mid-range PC gaming: a 2560x1440 resolution, 144Hz refresh rate and 27-in diagonal span. The monitor supports FreeSync and is G-Sync Compatible to prevent tearing and judder, while a well-stocked OSD allows you to select between different presets for various game genres, content creation and more....

I’ve always been happy to deal with NXZT cases’ less-than-perfect airflow in exchange for their pleasantly clean, straightforward designs, though I remember when this case’s ancestor – the H700i – came out, it was overpriced and appeared to make a materials downgrade from the S340 models I liked so much. Now that there are more affordable non-i models (this just means they don’t come with NZXT’s superfluous Smart Hub), plus the integrated USB-C port that the H710 and H710i introduced, the whole design has grown on me....

Rox was the name of the dog I grew up with, who passed away last year. He was an absolute bastard (whom I loved with all my heart), so it seemed fitting to memorialise him in a pirate game where he can terrorize people forever. He made a quick start of this, too, by immediately taking a piss on the deck of my ship the second I set the bugger down....

I’m not mad keen on gunning down wildlife, but I am mad keen on sliding, pump-action shotguns, and co-op shooters so I guess they’ve got my number. Hey, I suppose it’s more humane than Turok? The devs do plan to run a PC beta on Steam this summer, so here’s me heading on over to sign up for that in the hope of having a look. Second Extinction is being made by Systemic Reaction, a new studio who are part of Avalanche - the gang behind Just Cause, Mad Max, and Generation Zero....

Gauntlets Of Strength can be accessed from the game’s Sculptor’s Idols, and challenge you to fight a series of bosses with no breaks in-between. If you die (I mean properly die) you lose your progress and you’ll have to start again. One of the examples in the announcement is a Gauntlet called Severance, which starts with the Guardian Ape. So that’s me dead before the boss rush has even started, then....

Yeah, probably. GDQ organisers held a one-off Corona Relief Done Quick earlier this year, raising over $400,000 for personal protective equipment and medical support in the US. But the Summer show must still go on, raising funds for Doctors Without Borders in an online-only event taking place this August. There’s a high bar to beat, mind, with last year’s event raising a cool $3 million. So: The games! This year sees Half-Life: Alyx make its GDQ debut as a “bonus game” on Friday 21st....

In a blog post published today on Mimimi Games’ website, the studio announced they’re going to be referring to their work as “Stealth Strategy” games going forward, and they’re hoping this new genre label will help prospective players better understand their special blend of silent assassination tactics. This kind of shift isn’t without its challenges, though, so I caught up with the team at Mimimi to talk more about this newfound shift, and how it’s going to lay the foundations for what’s to come in Codename Süßkartoffel....

The latest twice-monthly game from the indie collective’s Patreon, Pipo Park is a highlight reel of that most wonderfully melancholy time of year. The leaves have fallen, the sun is low, the jackets are on after a long summer stashed in the closet… oh, and a colossal gnome has emerged from the soil, hungry for hearts. Much like its canine neighbour Pupper Park, Pipo Park is more a toylike sandbox than game proper....

But Solar Ash is a game about motion, something that’s very difficult to convey during a remote hands-off demo. I cannot tell you how Solar Ash feels, but I’m also a toddler with a marshmallow: put something that looks fuckin’ sweet in front of me and I want to consume it, and snatch it up with my grabby little fingers. Your character Rei surfs the light fantastic on a mission to save her world from a massive black hole known as the Ultravoid....

Developed by Stonewheat & Sons, KeyWe is set in Bungalow Basin where two kiwi birds must puzzle their way through a series of mailrooms. Some are like overgrown jungles, while others are almost underwater, and you’ll have to face all sorts of weather conditions to boot. I like to imagine this is how all mailrooms operate. The game will have online and couch co-op, or you can play singleplayer controlling both birds with one controller....

We already knew that the RTX 3080 was likely to be short supply until the end of the year, but this is something else entirely. The eBay listing has 105 bids on it at time of writing, with 200 people watching it - no doubt mostly for the entertainment value of watching some poor bastard spend their entire life savings on a heckin’ graphics card, but still. What absolute scenes....

In a response to tech site Digital Trends, Sony Interactive Entertainment confirmed that the kit – which allows for extensive customisation of button layouts and joystick positioning – will be built exclusivly for the PS5, with no native support for the PC or older consoles like the PS4. “Project Leonardo was designed from the ground up to seamlessly integrate with PS5 from a hardware and software standpoint,” the statement reads....

In response to inevitable questions, Bungie reiterated what they said back in January in a tweet: “Destiny 2 will remain on multiple platforms. Our games will continue to be where our community is, wherever they choose to play.” The above tweet also links to their longer statement back in January, which said that the “most immediate change you will see is an acceleration in hiring talent across the entire studio to support our ambitious vision....

Spellbook Demonslayers is as you’d expect from a Vampire Survivors-like. An arena quickly fills with rotten hounds and fetid fungi, and you must steer a witch out of their way while periodic auto-attacks help keep the demonic massies to a manageable amount. What’s neat about Spellbook Demonslayers is the way it iterates on Vampire Survivors’ formula, borrowing the good bits from it but still managing to bundle it all up in a convincing witchy way....

“I really enjoy Spelunky 2, and I wanted an excuse to stop playing ’to win’ so much, and start engaging with all of the small systemic corners of the game that I don’t see so often,” says Ben Wilson. “Every day the generator will spit out a dare, which is a randomly selected set of tasks and restrictions to complete during a run. The difficulty starts easy on Monday and gets progressively harder throughout the week, like a daily crossword puzzle....

Modder MrMarco1003 has plonked the Spyro from the remastered Reiginited trilogy into Stray, straight up replacing the game’s cats with dragons. It’s a pretty convincing mod, and Spyro actually seems like a decent fit for Stray’s visual style. Marco’s other mods include adding Spyro into Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8, as well as Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. He’s also replaced Resident Evil 3 remake’s Nemesis with Shrek and put Simba from The Lion King into GTA 5....

First up, this alpha build is getting rid of some of the safe Armistice Zones from a bunch of different areas, so players can partake in a spot of PvP combat when entering or leaving space stations. In a press release, the devs say this is “a major move to bring Star Citizen further in line with CIG’s vision for a realistic and immersive experience.” Then there are new force reactions (the way guns and ships react to explosions and gravity), weapons, improved planetary art, more prison gameplay, and improvements to your inventory UI as well....

Is it really a hard sci-fi space sim if you’re not cheering on the imperial might of an anthropocentric star empire? It’s Invictus Launch week in Star Citizen next Friday, which means it’s time for airshows, massive parties, and free access to a selection from Star Citizen’s big space garage. As outlined in the Invictus Launch Week guide, the free fly event will let you try out a range of ships, with different models and manufacturers rotating in and out every few days....