What kinds of games might you recommend with deep worldbuilding and interaction that aren't RPGs?

I like worldbuilding and stories, and I like when they're mixed with the interactivity of games, so RPGs seem like they should be a natural fit. Problem is, I dislike the stat-heavy, grindy progression of many RPGs.

I enjoy point & click adventures and visual novels but they're often more limited in their interactions. What kinds of game might I be missing combining the two?

@games

Today, one day after Microsoft announced that it would shut down four of its games studios, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, held a town hall to discuss the division’s future goals. “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,” Booty told employees, according to internal remarks shared with The Verge.

For some listeners on the call, it was a surprising goal: Microsoft had just shut down the Japanese developer Tango Gameworks, which was coming off the small, prestigious hit title Hi-Fi Rush.

Hi-Fi Rush, which was a surprise release last year, was praised for its innovation and charm. The rhythm action game featured music by The Black Keys and Nine Inch Nails, with an art style that evoked the hyper-stylized games of the PS2 era. Just four months after its release, Hi-Fi Rush hit 3 million players. During the 2023–2024 awards season, the game went on to win a Game Award, a Game Developers Choice award, and a BAFTA.

More than anything, though, it’s a gut punch because it sends a message. The wrong message, really. Xbox had one major studio in Japan - no more. Xbox is making deals with third parties and independent creators, yes - it’s got something in the pipes with Hideo Kojima, for instance - but like I said, the first party is your north star. It’s your best foot forward. The message becomes this: Japanese games are not a priority for us.

No amount of Spencer pow-wowing on the Final Fantasy fanfest stage with the Square Enix CEOchanges that. No amount of co-marketing money thrown at Persona or Yakuza to get Xbox versions and Xbox logos on the trailers can undo that message. Publishing a Kojima game might help a bit - but not as much as having a beloved Japanese studio in your actual stable. In the end, Kojima is just a gun for hire - whatever he makes for Xbox will be compared to Death Strandingand his big new spy franchise at Sony.

And furthermore, if you were a Japanese publisher or developer approached for acquisition, how would you rate the odds of survival for your business based on the evidence before you? Would government regulators trust that Microsoft would be a safe pair of hands for Japanese brands, big or small? In 2019, the year before the Bethesda deal, Xbox mulled over a purchase of Square Enix, not for the first time in its history. How much of Square Enix would remain now had the company pursued that takeover?

In recent times, triple-A publishers have repeatedly had their lunch eaten — at least, in terms of mindshare — by more creatively nimble indies. Lethal Companywas last holiday season’s breakout hit, andPalworld followed not long after. Balatroand Manor Lords have come out of nowhere to tear up the Steam charts, as have mind-bogglingly fast riffs on this new paradigm like the Lethal Company-inspired Content Warning. Helldivers 2 is both the exception that proves the rule and an example of exactly why big publishers should let studios cook even in the face of only modest success (or failure!). WithoutHelldivers 1, a relative unknown, you don’t get Helldivers 2, the biggest breakout hit of the year. Recent triple-A darlings like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Elden Ring come from similar lineages.

Yes, it’s a slow year for triple-A publishers, but that’s what happens when you spend years quietly canceling projects that you’re worried *might *not achieve such a spectacular liftoff as to take over the entire universe. Eventually, it catches up with you. And years from now — already a record year for layoffs — it’s gonna catch up with the video game industry again.

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🎮 Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Game Boy Advance)

Complete Gameplay: https://youtu.be/RWUY_r0CXmw

#Castlevania #GBA #Konami #KCET #GameBoyAdvance #GameBoy #Dracula #vampire #Nintendo #悪魔城ドラキュラ #SymphonyOfTheNight #Alucard #Metroidvania #ゲームボーイアドバンス #任天堂 #Viciogame #Gameplay #Walkthrough #Playthrough #Longplay #LetsPlay #Game #Videogames #Games

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EA is reportedly ready to finally release Dragon Age: Dreadwolf this financial year.

Eurogamer Editor-in-Chief Tom Phillips reports that BioWare’s upcoming fantasy role-playing game is one of two unannounced games slated for release by March 2025 in publisher EA’s latest financial report.

“We have two unannounced titles in FY25: one partner title expected in Q4, and one owned IP title,” EA said in an earnings slide. “We expect to provide more details on timing at a later date.”

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