Shoot ’em up sequel Valfaris: Mecha Therion hits PC this month, consoles in 2024

November of 2013 was a big one for games, with two major consoles launching opposite one another after years of discourse about the surely imminent demise of the console market.

Despite launching just under eight years ago on mobile, Lords Mobile has just held its most exciting event. 

Steel Mantis’s Valfaris: Mecha Therion, a sequel to the 2D action platformer from 2019, is out now on PC. It sees protagonist Therion returning to take down Lord Vroll through the galaxy. This time, he has Mecha Therion, a powerful mech for causing mass destruction.

Released in 2019, Steel Mantis’ Valfaris impressed me with its high-octane, thrash metal-infused take on the run and gun. Building on their first game, fantasy hack and slasher Slain (one of my first reviews on this site back in 2016) and improving on it in almost every way, it remains one of my favourite action titles of recent years. Now, four years later, Steel Mantis are back to continue the adventures of Therion but they’ve taken a surprise turn in genre and approach. Aesthetically, this is still very much within the world of Valfaris but rather than the platforming run and gun, here we have a more traditional horizontal shoot-em-up. Does this bold change pay off or does Mecha Therion blow up in the devs’ faces?

The fortress of Valfaris disappeared from the stars, and when it came back it was overrun with corruption.  Therion journeyed back to his home to cleanse it and learn why everything went so horribly wrong, but discovered his father, Lord Vroll, as the source of Valfaris’ ruin.  Justice for the citadel’s people was delayed due to Lord Vroll’s escape, but a determined Therion chased after and is ready to renew the attack.  This time, however, instead of a full heavy metal run and gun shooter it’s a side-scrolling blaster from the pilot seat of a giant mech.

Intel's 14th Gen Non-K CPUs seem to be entering the retail segment as the Core i3-14100 has been listed on China's 3rd party retail outlet, Goofish.

Capcom have announced a showcase for November 28th to delve into Dragon’s Dogma 2, a sequel to their oddball fantasy RPG from 2012. That’s exciting news to me, since the original’s small-person-climbs-big-monster combat was pure fun to simply watch. Doing the actual monster-stabbing was even better, though, and thankfully the sequel’s release date doesn’t seem that far off if a videogame ratings board is to be believed (accidental ratings boards leaks being the way many release dates are revealed these days).

Hitman: Blood Money was a big hit for the franchise when it was released for PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox 360 back in 2006. Now, a new set of players can experience the classic stealth title as heads to iOS and Android at the end of November as Hitman: Blood Money – Reprisal.

Capcom is finally ready to reveal Dragon’s Dogma 2 to the world.

Long, long-awaited sequel Dragon’s Dogma 2 is showing off new gameplay in a 15-minute livestream later this month.

Capcom has announced a Dragon’s Dogma 2 showcase for later this month.

Sony has announced a strong assortment of titles headed to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers in the Game Catalog this November, including several PlayStation Classics being added with glow-ups included.