One of the most promising upcoming action-RPGs around, Last Epoch had a pretty great year expanding the content available along with a new playable class and they have their sights set to get you playing online in 2021.

The singleplayer is already a lot of fun, but being able to play directly with a bunch of friends in Last Epoch sure does sound enticing. In their new preview , they make it clear it's still multiple months away but it sounds exciting. They're working on bringing up all the social systems so that you will be able to form parties, inspect the gear from other players, show off all your loot and more. With a party system allowing up to 4 players, the game will scale the difficulty of enemies based on that and their planning lots of server regions too.

Check out their preview video:

Watch video on YouTube.com

Areas they're currently tackling include:

• Improving performance
  We are still aggressively working on performance in Last Epoch. We have even more improvements coming soon, and we recognize that good performance is important for an enjoyable multiplayer experience.
• Preparing for Scale
  Launching server-authoritative multiplayer is challenging and we’ve seen teams with greater resources struggle to keep login and gameplay servers operating well when met with demand. We will be scale testing often before releasing multiplayer to the public.
• Testing, Testing, Testing
  There are bugs and party synergies that need to be found and addressed. While we’re sure that some players will find more when we launch, there is a lot that can be addressed before it’s in your hands.

We'll keep you posted on any upcoming announcements for when it goes live. They're hoping to expand the testing pool for it "in the near future".

You can buy Last Epoch on Steam .

Ready for some serious action-platforming with an awesome 8-bit inspired style? Cyber Shadow has been confirmed for release on January 26, 2021.

Coming from developer Mechanical Head Studios who teamed up with Yacht Club Games (Shovel Knight), Cyber Shadow is a pulse-pounding 2D ninja action platformer that allows players to relive the authenticity of the classic 8-bit challenge (with an added convenience or two)!

Watch video on YouTube.com

They've confirmed it will be supported across Linux, macOS and Windows for the PC release.

"The world has been taken over by the evil Dr. Progen and his merciless synthetic army. A desperate plea for help sets Shadow, the sole survivor of his clan, on one last mission to uncover what started the path to perpetual ruin. Your robotic companion, L-Gion, is your only guide through the ruins of Mekacity. How far will Shadow go to protect his clan and the one he loves? Is there more to their bond than meets the eye? Only you can unlock the secrets to your clan’s ancient powers. Hurry before you run out of time! The road to redemption awaits!"

Features:

• Dash, slice, and leap through masterfully designed levels filled with sharply honed ninja platforming action.
• Authentic 8-bit presentation with hand-crafted sprites, a detailed pixel aesthetic, and perfect controls. Modern touches like fluid animation, multi-layered parallax backgrounds, and evolved game design.
• Take down more than a dozen apocalyptic bosses, from enormous war machines to your synthetic clan rivals.
• Relive the authenticity of classic 8-bit challenge or experience it for the first time.. with an added convenience or two.
• Rescue your clan to unlock permanent Ninjutsu skills and abilities, combining them seamlessly as only the warrior of legend could.
• Search for secrets as you explore the ruined world. Return to your old haunts to find supplies, items and upgrades.
• Experience the gripping story, told both in-game and through animated cinematic story scenes between the action. Who can be trusted? How far will Shadow go to protect his clan and the one he loves?
• Pulse-pounding soundtrack by Enrique Martin, produced by Jake Kaufman.

You will be able to pick it up on Humble Store , GOG and Steam for $19.99 on January 26, 2021.

Are you ready for another major update to the Dagor Engine 6.0 used in War Thunder? As the Hot Tracks update is rolling out across the battlefields.

Gajin have continued upgrading their game engine to bring it more in line with other modern games, especially as War Thunder is a top earner for them it makes sense to keep it looking pretty. Hot Tracks brings in updated gunfire for naval and ground vehicles, 3 new helicopters for Italy and 30 new war machines for other countries on top of some new visual effects coming:

• Visual effects of all ground and naval vehicle gunfire have been updated.
• Physically accurate vehicle tracks.
• Spark effects have been added for the new ground vehicles tracks
• Game locations have received their own set of GPU objects

Watch video on YouTube.com

Some of the changes they mentioned like the new tank tracks will roll out sometime after the update is live, so not right away they said. It's also gotten a bit festive with a snowy hanger.

The Linux version has been running beautifully for me since the last major update that put Vulkan as the default. A few kinks they had to work out but now it's smooth, stable and it looks pretty good too. I've spent a good 30 or so hours in it recently and I have to say it might be my current favourite Linux game. War Thunder is just too easy to spend time in!

Play for free from the official site and Steam .

With a strange otter/cat as the protagonist, Shield Cat seems like one to keep on your watch list with some really charming visuals and you can try the free demo.

"Shield Cat is an Action Adventure game with light RPG elements. You play as Lance, an otter/cat who must go on a quest to rescue his friends and the Cat Kingdom! Along the way you'll solve puzzles, gain new abilities, meet new friends, and collect stuff!"

It feels a bit like a classic Zelda title, one with plenty of exploration and secrets to find as you explore. Shield Cat is not a finished game though, with the developer mentioning it's still a prototype but it's fully playable and quite enjoyable to run around in. Such a ridiculously sweet atmosphere I absolutely love it. There's already a plenty to explore, along with character ability customization. Shield Cat has all the makings of the next action-adventure hit. Check out the trailer:

Watch video on YouTube.com

There's some pretty clever game mechanics here too, it's quite a surprise. One of your abilities is to spin, which will cut down grass and other objects so you can find the secrets as well as the pretty petals currency. Not only that though, you also use it to interact with certain things like making a big cog rotate to extend a bridge, if you keep spinning you can cross over big gaps and use it to attack hostile creatures too. It's a fun multi-use ability that adds to the charm. Easily of the sweetest ideas I've seen recently.

I couldn't get my gamepad to work, which is somewhat typical of Game Maker with their odd input implementation but even so it still felt great on mouse / keyboard. Hopefully as it's further developed they will get gamepads ironed out fully.

You can find Shield Cat on itch.io with a free demo or support the development for $5 or more as a purchase.

1C Entertainment announced today that they've teamed up with Acid Man Games and Fire Plant Games as publisher for Viscerafest, their colourful retro themed sci-fi fantasy FPS.

Shown off originally during the Realms Deep event earlier this year, in Viscerafest "you take the role of Caroline, a bloodthirsty, psychopathic mercenary who wants nothing more than to marry her wonderful boyfriend Athens Fetter. Problem is money's tight, and rings aren't exactly cheap. But thankfully there may be hope for her yet, as a warlock named Cromune has acquired a rather hefty bounty on his head."

Check it out in the new trailer:

Watch video on YouTube.com

Planned Features:

• Navigate nonlinear hand-crafted levels, stuffed to the brim with secrets, using key cards, completing puzzles and various objectives to progress. Set across a wide variety of locations, from a space station above the earth, to a realm beyond our reality.
• Wield 9 unique and powerful weapons, from staples of the genre like the bunker buster double-barreled shotgun, to the more unique and offbeat, such as the Pung Cannon.
• Slaughter over 2 dozen different enemy types, from the minor grunts who make up the U.S.C's forces, to monsters beyond your ability to comprehend such as The Soul Hunters. New enemy types are introduced every level, each compounding the challenges you'll face with a variety of attacks and behaviors
• Juggle your resources, as you fight to stay alive, constantly balancing your use of ammo, health, and armor.
• Move at the speed of light, chaining bunny hopping and dashing together to move at speeds no man would dream of, and with your overbearing air control, dance around projectiles like no other.
• Collect tons of goodies to unlock items such as Cypher keys, and level modifiers to spice up your playthroughs.

Speaking to 1C Entertainment today, they confirmed over email to us that they are "planning to have Linux support for Viscerafest, but it hasn’t been decided yet whether it will happen during the early access period or once the game is fully launched" and they will be updating us on that when they fully decide.

For now you can follow / wishlist Viscerafest on Steam .

SouthPAW Games and NEOWIZ have confirmed that Skul: The Hero Slayer, their head-swapping 2D rogue-lite action game will leaving Early Access on January 21, 2021. One of the most promising Early Access titles that became available through 2020, they've enjoyed a very good reception to the game overall with over seven thousand user reviews giving it a Very Positive rating on Steam.

A fun mix on the traditional hero types you find in other games, with you taking on the role of the unusual skeleton Skul. After humans and heroes teamed up with an army to try and destroy the Demons once and for all, you're the only one seemingly left so you begin your quest to save your friends after the destruction left at the Demon King's castle.

Sadly, we have to wait a little bit longer for the full release which will bring with it a bunch of extra content to play through. Confirming the January 21, 2021 date in a fresh announcement , they mentioned how they underestimated the amount of time needed to implement and test all of the changes coming because they're "massive".

Up until launch they're working through the two final chapters, new cutscenes, a "ton" of new skull upgrades, polishing and balancing.

Never seen it before? Check out one of their trailers below:

Watch video on YouTube.com

Hopefully with the short delay they will be able to ensure the quality of it, as it's already a lot of fun and they're clearly putting a massive amount of effort into it.

You can buy it now in Early Access on Humble Store and Steam .

Gang Beasts from Boneloaf is the super-silly party game that sees various gelatinous characters engage in brutal fisticuffs and it's bigger and better than ever. Probably one of the funniest and dumbest multiplayer fighting party games around, and it seems they're going to keep on updating it after splitting from Double Fine .

There's a lot to go over but here's a small slice of what to expect: a major Unity game engine upgrade, it's now 64bit on Linux with 32bit removed, a new glass destruction system they said should look and perform better, a new buoyancy system to perform better and allow them to do more types of liquid, lots of new costumes and parts for customization including adding the Yogscast Charity Drive 2015 DLC now being part of the game, a new Aquarium stage, new audio, tons of combat tweaks to make it feel better and the list just goes on and on.

Safe to say, it's almost like a whole enhanced edition style update, something plenty of other developers have charged for or created a new standalone version of. Pretty awesome to see though, considering how much time across 2020 and well into 2021 many of us will be spending at home - a good party game like this is needed.

I've played a little bit of it myself now, both before and after the update and it is pretty amusing. I can't say I have any idea what is going on at any point though, with all players just flailing around like crazy people. That is, until you find that one person who clearly knows what they're doing and throws you in front of a speeding train or off the back of a lorry. Gang Beasts is certainly never dull.

Want to see how big an update it really is? See some patch notes here .

You can buy it on Steam and Humble Store , with Steam having a big 50% discount until December 14.

Tallowmere 2 could easily be a contender for my own personal Early Access GOTY as developer Chris McFarland has managed to craft an absolutely brilliant game here. Note : personal purchase.

You've played action platformers before, you've done plenty of dungeon crawling and seen many rougelikes and rogue-lites but Tallowmere 2: Curse of the Kittens is a whole new breed of nuts that also adds in some bullet hell blended with melee combat and magic. You are a cat, sort-of anyway and you're tasked with a ritual of finding Lady Tallowmere's kittens spread throughout the world. The whole setup is just completely crazy but it works so well thanks to the the loot, the action and all the fancy effects that happen.

Official Trailer:

Watch video on YouTube.com

Playable in single-player, local co-op and online co-op.

Tallowmere 2 is currently in Early Access and it will remain as such for at least one year. Over time the developer plans to add in more weapons, shields, modifiers, rewards, room themes, outfits, pets and companions, boss fights, conquest modes and an absolute ton more. It's already full of content right now though, another super easy recommendation.

You can buy it now on itch.io and Steam .

This might actually be my favourite class so far in Last Epoch, the impressive time-travelling action RPG.

Last Epoch 0.8 is out now and adds in the 5th playable character class with the Rogue, giving you the chance to dance around your enemies with some blades. This new class comes with 2 mastery classes with the Bladedancer and Marksman, 17 skills and specialization trees, 46 class-specific affixes for body armour and helments along with it having a unique character model, animations and some wonderful voice acting. Easily now my go-to character because seeing blades spinning around and throwing shurikens is ridiculously satisfying.

Not all though, they also improved the multiplayer with this update. While you can play it entirely solo, having multiplayer features is a nice touch to expand upon. The social features are more stable, you can now whisper to other players, you can adjust more chat settings and manage your friends list easier.

Lots more than that! It's a huge update. Love daggers? Good news, they're in with 11 subtypes available. There's also now Bows with 11 subtypes and they're currently Rogue-specific and Quivers as well that you use off-hand with bows and they also have 8 subtypes. So much experimenting now possible with all the different classes and equipment. Additionally there's 8 new unique items, a new 3-piece set, visual and sound updates, performance improvements and quite a lot more.

Check out their new overview video:

Watch video on YouTube.com

Even though it's in Early Access and so it's not finished, Last Epoch might now be my go-to action RPG when I want to run around questing, looting and cutting up horrible creatures with blades. Eleventh Hour Games are doing well with it and I'm seriously keen to see how much they expand it. Definitely one to take a look at if you're in need of a new RPG.

You can buy Last Epoch on Steam .