Microsoft has announced the first wave of titles coming to Game Pass in May. It’s kicking things off early with Have A Nice Death, a 2D action rogue-like available today on console, PC and the cloud.
23.04.2024 - 10:23 / screenrant.com / Bruno Yonezawa
is a new game that explores the depths of grief, a topic often avoided in and outside of games. Published by EA Originals, Electronic Arts’ indie-focused label, is a project born out of Surgent Studios’ Abubakar Salim’s own journey through grief. The metroidvania was announced at The Game Awards 2023 by Salim himself, who shared a portion of his story and how the game came into being. is an homage to Salim’s late father, Ali Abubakar, who died over 10 years ago from cancer.
Four years ago, Salim decided to make a game about that loss as a healing mechanism. The title is centered around the spiritual shaman named Zau who, like Salim, lost his father. The jist of the plot is that Zau makes a deal with Kalunga, the god of death, to guide three ancient spirits to the afterlife in exchange for the revival of his father, who he endearingly calls “” This story is told through metroidvania-driven gameplay, which guides Zau to the far reaches of Kenzera as he meets new people, who assist him in his journey toward healing.
is a supreme metroidvania and already one of the best of 2024. The title lets players control Zau with two distinct masks. The Mask of the Sun grants him incredible melee and close-combat power, while the Mask of the Moon allows him to attack enemies from a distance, and alternating between them is as simple as pressing a button. While the start of the game may feel a bit clunky when getting used to these different skill sets, by the end of the campaign, players should be executing combos seamlessly.
's skill tree present in the game is somewhat simple, but it offers just enough options to keep players entertained while they progress and gain more points to invest. Players can power up their regular attacks, boost the range and damage of their ultimates, and even gain unique skills, such as the ability to deflect projectiles. The combat of the game is also rather simple, but it accomplishes its purpose: players slowly master the techniques as they are presented with more challenges. Initially, combat sequences may seem a little scarce in comparison to other metroidvanias.
Later on, combat becomes ever more frequent, to the point that, on occasion, it feels like a waste of time, considering the plot gets so interesting and navigation becomes more fluid. In addition to the regular combat skills that are present since the beginning of the game and those unlocked through the skill tree, players gradually obtain other abilities through progression in the campaign. These special skills help guide the story forward and represent the powers conceded by other shamans to the titular protagonist. These are the best abilities in, especially toward the second half.
Moving through maps with Zau is
Microsoft has announced the first wave of titles coming to Game Pass in May. It’s kicking things off early with Have A Nice Death, a 2D action rogue-like available today on console, PC and the cloud.
New leaks about 2.3 have hinted at a potential update to the Simulated Universe and, with it, a memorable new boss fight. Simulated Universe is a weekly roguelike activity found in Herta Space Station, where players choose a World to challenge and go through randomized maps and enemies before facing a fixed boss at the end. After completing the tougher encounters, players get to farm Planar Ornaments, which are key items for every character – they are, for instance, crucial for Aventurine’s build in .
Fallout 5 won't start development until after The Elder Scrolls 6 launches, so we're a long way off from the next numbered game in the series, but the Amazon show has ignited a newfound hype in the franchise. So, the question is whether a third party will develop a spin-off akin to Obsidian's New Vegas in the meantime.
A collection of five Phoenix Wright games - including some of the greatest visual novels of all time, in my opinion - is about to be discontinued on Steam, making it slightly less convenient to pick up the original Ace Attorney trilogy and its recent prequel games. That’s the bad news. The good news is you’ve got a month’s notice - and it’s on sale for the next week or so.
You’ve heard of the Lands Between, but have you ever considered the Sands Between? That’s not a joke, that’s a genuine area in Another Crab’s Treasure, and I don’t think anything sums up the exact vibe that this game is going for better than the name of that one area. This is a love letter to and a sendup of so much of what FromSoftware has done, all wrapped up in a very cute crab protagonist just trying to get their home back, and a deeply unsettling message about pollution that we all already know, but don’t often get to play through.
Another Crab's Treasure might not look like a soulslike action RPG, but it is one. Take out the dark, oppressive nature of FromSoftware's output and replace it with SpongeBob, and you're more or less there. Purposely juxtaposing the established tropes of the genre, this title offers a fresh, more lighthearted experience without sacrificing the level of challenge you'd expect.
It’s wonderfully ironic that the biggest breath of fresh air the soulslike genre has received in years comes from an adventure that takes place entirely underwater. Where most dodge-rolling action games are drab, bloody, and edgelordian, Another Crab’s Treasure is bursting with bright colors, cartoonish sea creatures, and silly humor. That extreme departure from serious and spooky vibes makes it standout in an increasingly crowded space, even when it follows the formula extremely closely in every other regard. It suffers from overly simplistic combat, a general lack of challenge, and some bugs and camera wonkiness now and again – but with memorable characters, an extremely enjoyable story, and lots of original ideas, Another Crab’s Treasure had me grinning all throughout my 20-hour tour of the ocean floor.
is celebrating its 20th anniversary with three epic expansions which will tie together to form, the first of which is coming later this year with the release of the expansion. While the overarching narrative will be one that looks at the greater picture of with Azeroth's history, Titans, and what is going on with the Sword of Sargeras, will have a more enclosed story going on in a new area.
is the latest indie release from developer and publisher, Aggro Crab. In this Soulslike crab game, players will take on the role of Kril the Hermit Crab as he embarks on a life-changing journey across a polluted ocean to get back his home, encountering over 50 shells and various referential costumes. Though the enemies are tough, Kril will face an even greater struggle in comprehending the state of the world around him and his role in it.
Your main upgrades in a metroidvania like Tales of Kenzera: Zau will always be your new abilities. These transform the way you move and fight, but there are other ways you can make Zau a more powerful shaman. Trinkets are introduced right away, but aren’t given away as freely as you might think. Each one requires you to overcome a small trial that tests your platforming abilities off the main path. Technically, you can miss every single one aside from the one you begin the game with. Even though there are a few fast travel points, backtracking isn’t a particularly fun experience. Here are all the Trinket locations in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, plus which ones you should equip.
We are in the midst of a Metroidvania renaissance. Metroid: Dread, Ori, Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, and more have kept fans of the genre fully satiated in recent years. 2024 has already seen the launch of one of the genre’s best in Price of Persia: The Lost Crown.
Loss is inevitable, and yet, knowing that makes it no less difficult. Grief is all but guaranteed to touch your life — to touch my life. And, most certainly, it already has. That assuredness — that we’ll all be touched by death — is part of the reason so much art is dedicated to interrogating those feelings. For so long, video games have been one medium that, for all its death, dying, and multiple lives, had not quite unpacked the emotion of grief. There was little reason to: When you die in a video game, you always come back to life. The danger of death amounts to nothing but a few hearts on a screen, a number. Oftentimes, it’s encouraged. The more kills you get, the better. Death is not something to mourn there, but a celebration. But this isn’t a universal truth across all games. More and more video games are exploring what it means to lose — no longer just a level, but the more tangible, life-altering loss. It’s games like Spiritfarer, a “cozy management game about dying,” which is about life after death; What Remains of Edith Finch, about the stories that are left behind; or A Mortician’s Tale, which has you going hands-on with death. You’ll find grief in games, too, that are not explicitly about loss; like I said, it’s inevitable.