Promising Sims-like Paralives gets seven-minute gameplay video, is hitting Steam early access next year

Out of all the Nintendo Direct announcements last week, the one I was most sad to see not get a PC release date was the sequel to the much beloved Metroidvania Ender Lilies. The announcement came as a bit of a surprise, all told, and I was worried I'd have to consign it to what I've now dubbed my Unicorn Overlord pile of games that are never coming to PC. Happily, publishers Binary Haze Interactive have now confirmed that Ender Magnolia: Bloom In The Mist is, in fact, coming to PC (and other consoles) after all, and that it's coming real soon, as its PC early access release has been set for just weeks away on March 25th. Result.

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights sequel ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist will launch in Early Access for PC via Steam on March 25, followed by a full release across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC in 2024, publisher Binary Haze Interactive and developers Live Wire and Adglobe announced. The PlayStation, Xbox Series, and PC versions are newly announced—the 2D action adventure RPG was originally announced for Switch on February 21.

Nightingale is a game of fascinating contradictions. While I’m still early on in the Early Access version of this co-op survival crafting game, it’s already jumping wildly between intriguing and confusing, aesthetically pleasing and outright ugly, intuitive and obtuse. It does a lot right, and I can see the potential of building a life from the ground up in this mysterious land – but it also does a lot wrong, particularly with how much time and effort it takes to make meaningful progress. I have a lot more to play before I put a score on this review, but so far I can’t quite tell if Nightingale's rough spots will eventually become part of its charm or hold its otherwise interesting ideas back.

After several delays, Inflexion Games’ Nightingale is now available in early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Helmed by former BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn, the fantasy survival title sees players traversing the Fae realms in search of the titular city. Check out the launch trailer below.

As part of a 'business update' confirming four first-party Xbox exclusives are coming to PlayStation 5 and Switch, Microsoft has moved to assuage fan fears it might be considering abandoning the console market, saying it's planning a new Xbox that will deliver «the largest technical leap...ever seen in a hardware generation.»

Post-apocalyptic RPG fans are in luck; the next batch of freebies coming to the Epic Games Store have been revealed, and two bonafide RPG classes — Fallout and Fallout 2 — have made the list alongside Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel.

Starnaut is a new roguelike bullet hell from a developer behind Devil May Cry and Okami - and it enters early access this week.

Upcoming life simulation game Paralives is planned to release in early access on PC via Steam at some point in 2025, it’s been confirmed.

After years without a new The Sims game, it seems like three are likely to land in fairly close proximity - sort of, anyway. We know that Paradox’s ambitious competitor Life By You will arrive this June (assuming no more delays), while EA’s own free-to-play evolution of the OG life-sim series - currently codenamed Project Rene rather than The Sims 5 - is probably still a while off yet. Dropping somewhere in the middle will be Paralives, the promising Patreon-funded up-and-comer led by indie dev Alex Massé, which has been given a fresh look and confirmation of a release date sometime next year.

These days games suffering last-minute delays has become routine, but don’t worry – while the release date for Nightingale is changing, it’s not a delay. Today the Inflexion Games, the new Edmonton-based studio founded by former BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn, announced that Nightingale will actually be coming out two days earlier than expected. Wisely, this change has been made to ensure the co-op survival game will be running smoothly by the weekend, which is likely when most people will be jumping in.

UPDATE 9/2/24: Helldivers developer Arrowhead Game Studios has pushed out a «rapid patch» on Steam to sort some of its issues.

Stardew Valley creator Eric «ConcernedApe» Barone has shared an update on the farm-life sim's highly anticipated — and long-in-the-works — 1.6 update, saying he's now «done adding major new content» and that it'll «definitely» be out this year.