Mighty Metroidvania returns It’s been a bit of a wait, but soon Switch fans will be able to get their furry mitts on of 2021’s most undersung releases. Publisher Astrolabe Gamesannouncedthat dystopian MetroidvaniaF.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torchwill finally arrive on Nintendo Switch on July 12, priced at $29.99. (Pre-order customers will receive a 10% discount on the price.) I probably don’t need to pour over this title once again to all y’all, especially those who have followed my coverage to date, butF....

Bethesda exec talks F2P mobile outrage I was particularly disappointed with the lack of surprise video game releases during E3 week this year. Normally for at least a few presentations there’s multiple “look under your chairs!” announcements where games become available immediately online following the show. Capcom did it spectacularly last year withDead Rising 3: Super Ultra Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX + α. This year, all we basically got was the mobileFallout Shelterfrom Bethesda’spossibly last E3 press conference....

Family Feud Japanese indie dev nekogameteacher, (ofSuper Drink Bros.fame), is back on the scene with an equally nutty title with an equally silly premise. Currently in development for PC,Family Battle: Tag Arenapromises multiplayer mayhem in a colorful anime world that hosts one too many superheroes. You’ll have to bear with me, as details are understandably muddled, but it appears thatFamily Battle, true to its title, is the tale of two extended families of superpowered heroes, facing off to determine who is the one true “Super Family....

Rose and the Old Caste of Twilight Nippon Ichi Software’s experimental puzzlerhtoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diarywas a success, it seems, as the studio has unveiled a successor of sorts,Rose and the Old Castle of Twilight. While not a direct sequel toThe Firefly Diary,Rose and the Old Castle of Twilightplays on the same themes, starring a young girl trying to escape a treacherous maze with the help of a friend. This time that companion is a mysterious giant, rather than a firefly, which should give the team at NIS a new perspective on how to go about designing this sort of puzzle experience....

Those are some nice vintage robot designs Admittedly,Fortifiedlooks rough around the edges at this pre-alpha stage, but I’m liking the concept of a third-person shooter centered around base defense in a 1950s sci-fi setting. You and up to three friends will throw down defensive structures, command army units, and shoot down clunky robots and UFOs to protect the city. Yes, I think this’ll be one to watch. Up until now, Toronto-based studio Clapfoot has focused on mobile gaming but it’s bringingFortifiedto PC and unspecified consoles....

Being familiar withSNK boss syndromedoesn’t make it any less painful to have my ass handed to me byStreet Fighter IV‘s final boss, Seth. Although the image above does a decent job of conveying the unreasonable amount of douchebaggery he exudes, you have to play the game before you may truly hate him with a burning passion. But don’t take my word for it, go readBahamutZero’s community blogon how much he adore’s the man in blue....

Sometimes I wish I had gotten into voice acting and motion capture. I mainly just want to wear one of those awesome suits with the ping pong balls all over them. Above is a full scene fromThe Last of Usas recorded in the motion capture studio, and in Dale’s post you can watch that same scene as it plays out in the game. Here are the other videos, in case you missed them....

Gas Powered Games teamed up with Sega two months ago and promised us a new RPG was in store. Today they fulfilled their promise with Sega’s announcement of the action RPGSpace Siege. The jump fromWarcrafttoStarCraftworked well for Blizzard a decade ago, so the jump fromDungeon SiegetoSpace Siegeshould work well too, right? Gas Powered Games stresses that their space combat game will focus on a dynamic character development system, but I’ll stay skeptical until we see some videos....

In a morning GDC session packed full of interesting game sales trend data, EEDAR’s Geoffrey Zatkin shared some research on how important game review scores are for sales. While it would stand to reason that highly rated games would sell more copies, it’s surprising to see how poorly anything below 80 fares. The average review score floats around the 68-71 out of 100 range, but the games rated in that range rarely sell more than 100,000 copies....

A great homage to Mega Man Gunman Clivelaunched previously on the 3DS, Android, and iOS marketplaces to high praise and great sales — now, it’s on Steam. I’m a huge fan of it personally, as I think it’s a great homage to classic platformers of old — particularly theMega Manseries. One of the best aspects ofCliveis how easy it is to plow through one playthrough — which takes roughly an hour....

Halo: ODSTis a newHaloexperience. You play as an Orbital trooper, a human who hasn’t been injected with the special sauce that Master Chief has. You’re weaker, less combat adept and without an AI. You’ll have to fight the Covenant differently. That spin on combat is what makesODSTa special bit of campaign content. But that’s not exactly all the expansion offers. Bungie is craftingquite the story. Below the fold is the first video documentary forHalo: ODST, featuring details about the crew the rookie is rolling with and what exactly is going on in New Mombasa....

The Tesla Tower is one of the many stationary turret Stratagems inHelldivers 2that you can unlock after some time. It looks pretty good from the demo video and has pretty good stats, so if you want to know more before taking it on a mission, here’s everything you need to know. How to get the Tesla Tower inHelldivers 2 To get the Tesla Tower inHelldivers 2, you will need to belevel 15 and spend 8,000 Req Slips....

Medium-mini We got our hands on a Sega Genesis Mini early, and have the go-ahead to showcase its complete contents. Naturally, the first thing I didbefore playing itis see how it compares to all the other minis so far. I have a little mini museum! There isn’t much more to say about the actual unit: it’s a cute ‘lil micro-version of a beloved console. The Genesis Mini’s size is roughly half (55%) of the real Genesis: which puts it at 9....