All posts tagged in Exploration
Aug 26, 2019
On August 30th, we will finally get our hands on the game we’ve been pining for. Re: Legend, by Magnus Games! With early access opening so soon, Magnus Games has used their regular 25th-of-the-month update on Kickstarter to talk about what we can expect to see in the world of Ethia. Quite literally, too. We got a good look at the world map.
Magnus Games also made a second map to highlight the smaller islands, which will be of much interest to explorers. Is that island basically just one HUGE STATUE? “Sunken Valphyr”? And the other island looks like one enormous, jewelled turtle shell! And over there is a massive shipwreck! We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to explore these islands for ourselves! What will we find? Treasure? Special materials? Rare magnus? OH MY.
Explore
With the Re: Legend just about to enter early access, everything we see now is still very much subject to change. Magnus Games is looking forward to player feedback during this period, to refine and add to their game to make it the best it can be. Those of us who will be waiting for the full release are grateful to the pioneers who will play the game in its rougher, not-entirely-finished state. Re: Legend already looks great. Imagine how much fun it will be when it’s polished to its final lustre! Magnus Games hopes to complete the early access phase in 9 to 12 months.
Farm and go questing
Even in early access, there’s going to be lots to do. Not just finding and taming the game’s many magnus, but also farming and questing. In the screenshots Magnus Games posted, we saw evidence of several quests, such as to find the ‘forest island’ and to search for someone in trouble. We also need to get answers from a guardian? Answers to what? Who is the guardian! Our intrepid (and lucky!) early access players will get to learn these things for themselves in just a few days. We can’t wait for that sweet, sweet farming, whether on land or water.
Befriend
Also newly revealed in this update was the existence of shadow magnus. They are special (and difficult-to-see) versions of regular magnus, but with special stats that make them well worth carrying around lots of taming goods for. They really are tricky to see, though. We think one is supposed to be in this screenshot. Do you think it’s that blue bit by the spot of light?
If a regular Draconewt has stats like this, what kind of stats would a Shadow Draconewt have? And what will it look like?
We have so many questions, and look forward to all the feedback that will be coming from early access players very soon. If you want to get in on this great action, go wishlist Re: Legend on Steam and get set to sail the seas on the back of one of your aquatic magnus buddies!
In the meanwhile you can also check out some of our previous coverage of Re: Legend and its upcoming early access period.
- Aug 19, 2019
The presentation of Kerbal 2 at Gamescom 2019 Opening Night Live surprised us! We were watching this very realistic-looking video of a rocket ship travelling through the stars, with some very serious music playing…and then all of a sudden these adorable bug-eyed little green dudes started piling out!
Described as a ‘space flight simulation game’, Kerbal Space Program 2 seems like quite the deceptive game. At first glance it appears to be very serious, but no game with a Kerbal in it could be all THAT solemn. They reminded us a little of the minions in Despicable Me. But they’re not minions…they’re Kerbonauts. And you can watch their trailer here:
Build on the old
The game will feature “Improved Onboarding”. We think that rocket science is not something you accidentally learn, but apparently that is how Kerbals do it. Accidentally! The game will have animated tutorials, a better user interface, and revamped assembly and flight instructions to make Kerbal 2 fun for experienced players and beginners alike.
And add some new, too!
You will also be able to build and use “next-gen” engines, fuel, parts…everything you need to be the best Kerbonaut and explore not only the entire Kerbolar System, but even beyond it! And NEW to the series are colonies. They are a challenge to build, and will also require you to gather resources to build stations, housing and other structures. But your colonies will grow and become advanced enough to support vehicle construction, furthering space exploration even more.
The better your spacecrafts, the more you will be able to explore. You can discover unique celestial bodies, such as “Ovin”, a massive ringed planet with intense gravity. Or perhaps “Rask and Rusk”, a pair of planets “locked in a dance of death” will be more to your interest!
Kerbal 2 will have modding that builds on what was available with the first game. And for the first time, multiplayer is also an option! Not much is known yet about multiplayer in Kerbal 2, but the official site assures us that we will learn more soon. The game will come to PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2020!
If you like seeing cute things in space, then have a look at our Astro Bears Review.
- Aug 18, 2019
A long-awaited game
We’ve been keeping an eye on PINE for a long time now. We first reported on it when the game was approaching the beginning of its Kickstarter campaign in early 2017. The campaign was successful enough to secure a Switch version of the game. It has since then been featured in this spring’s “Nindies” Showcase, bringing it to the attention of a much broader audience. You can watch that trailer here.
No specific release date was given at the time. PINE has, however, been listed on the Nintendo e-shop as coming to the Switch in ‘August 2019’. But August is half over and no specific date has been revealed. So we’ve decided to provide a little update for fans who have been watching the e-shop hopefully.
Coming soon!
In a recent update on PINE’s Steam page, the developers have revealed that the game will, in fact, be releasing in October. Not only that: the specific date will be given out at the start of September! The developers, Twirlbound, will also be at Gamescom this year with a new demo for visitors to play. It will give them “a full inventory of fun stuff” and let those lucky convention-goers experience all of the game’s systems, exploration and combat. They’ll even be able to take on up to five quests!
Looking great
We spuds are homebound. We will not be able to hop a plane to Cologne, Germany to attend the conference. (We’re afraid they’d stick us in cargo anyway!) But we will definitely be eagerly following the news from home! PINE is looking great, with all the seasons and environments to enjoy.
If you’re looking for games you can play sooner, check out our article on family-friendly games. Among them is AER, another beautiful game of exploration that takes some cues from Legend of Zelda.
- Aug 17, 2019
Games that defy genre are increasing. Eastshade belongs to the wave of games that make you question their classification. Published earlier this year, Eastshade is amazingly beautiful. And if it must be placed in a genre, then it’s probably a walking simulator.
You play as a wandering artist. Explore the world extensively, and even stop to paint pictures of anything that catches your eye. You can paint for yourself, and you can even take commissions and paint what is requested of you. (Though the painting mechanic is more like taking pictures.) Eastshade feels like it’s much more than just a walking simulator.
Eastshade is full of NPCs who are full of their own interests. They can give you quests. They even have branching dialogue chains, so what they say is dependent on how you speak to them. What’s more is that the game remembers your previous actions. Characters you meet will respond to you based on the actions you have been taking all along. Quests will be available depending on what you have unlocked, so the potential for more than one play through the game is high.
Key Features
- A peaceful open-world exploration-adventure full of character.
- Compose paintings anywhere in the world and offer them to the locals to unlock secrets and gain items.
- Acquire crafting materials and schematics to surmount obstacles and solve quests.
- Make friends along the way through fully-voiced dynamic conversations and unlockable topics.
Your actions will impact the world around you in Eastshade. You gather materials and help people in need. You can even create solutions that will allow you to explore the world more fully. Some areas of the world are unexplored because of natural impasses, but you will be able to find ways to surmount them. (And boldly go where no one has gone before!)
Eastshade is currently available on Steam, and while no firm plans have been announced, the developers are still considering other platforms. We hope Eastshade will spread to as many platforms as possible so that it can reach the biggest audience! You can also visit the developer’s official site.
If you can’t play Eastshade on Steam, why not try a game like Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles or My Time at Portia? They’re all quite different from each other, but all allow you to explore a beautiful world at your own pace. Yonder and Portia are also available on Steam as well as almost all current-gen consoles.
- Aug 6, 2019
Sayri Adventure is developed by Vidloonnya Reborn, a game development company located mainly in Ukraine. This game is about meeting new friends on another planet and using their unique abilities to help you find a new home. The creators, a team of 6 people, say they were specifically “inspired by masterpieces such as Journey, ABZU, Ico, and Fe”. Thus, they created this beautiful world to explore. Sayri Adventure will be releasing in 2019 for consoles and PC.
Due to disastrous events, Sayri and the other inhabitants of its planet must escape and leave their home-world using ships built by their ancestors. Sayri’s capsule has now landed on an unknown planet, left alone and lost without any family. Nevertheless, Sayri survived and not without hope!
Sayri landing on an unknown planet Sayri is a cute alien with telepathic abilities which allows you to physically affect the environment. Interact with friendly NPC characters, all with different behaviors and personalities. As a result, you get to embark on an emotional experience by forming relationships with these creatures. Bring up to four companions with you at a time and use their combined skills to solve puzzles.
Sayri and companions Key Features
- Friendship and cooperation
- Adventure and exploration in a magical vibrant immersive world
- Relaxing gameplay without violence
- Puzzle-solving with unique obstacles
- A heart-warming and emotional story
Learn more about this visually-stunning game on the official website here. For another heartfelt game about friendship and love, check out our article about Ghost Giant here.
- Jul 24, 2019
Since our last article on Critter Cove, which was the interview we had with Gentleman Rat including all three members behind the indie studio, there has been a lot more development to the game! You can get the full details from their blog post right here or get the highlights below. We’d like to thank Gentleman Rat for giving myPotatoGames a shout-out on their website and can’t wait for their playable demo to be ready! We’d absolutely love to be a captain of our own ship and go treasure hunting, salvaging shipwrecks, and exploring with the most adorable crew members!
The Main Island
The main island of Critter Cove is the first location that the player will see when starting the game. Therefore, the developers wanted to make sure that it would immediately catch our attention and give us the urge to explore. You can see below that the vast and varied layout is perfect for long-term building of homes and shops, which is a large part of what we are looking forward to at myPotatoGames. This central location is the perfect balance of mountains and lush greenery with large empty spaces for customization. Moreover, the more you build-up this port, the more bustling it will become with more friendly NPCs!
Swimming with the Fishes
In Critter Cove you’ll be spending quite a bit of time on your ship and sailing to new locations such as other islands. You’ll also be diving underwater to explore the depths below. The developers mentioned in their interview with myPotatoGames that the player character will have the chance to stay underwater longer with the help of equipment like re-breathers and diving suits so it should be quite the experience! The sea has many resources and treasure so the creators have made sure the environments down there are fun and interesting. Their blog goes on to say: ” The world of Critter Cove is built on top of the sunken ruins of the old world, so expect to find sunken ships, buildings, monuments, cars, planes, and much more. “
Character Customization
All the characters in Critter Cove have very unique looks and personalities so the developers decided to give us the option to not only be humans but to be critters as well! We now also have the option to mix and match various body parts, to choose new patterns, and to alter colors. This will be a highly creative experience with more plans to include fantasy style characters such as griffons and dragons. Want a human body with a blue fox’s head? Well you can do just that! On that note, players will be able to customize and change the colors of their clothing which can even be gifted to your animal friends.
You can continue to follow Critter Cove’s progress via Twitter here or join the Discord channel here. You can also stay tuned with us here at myPotatoGames as we look forward to more content for this grand adventure on the high-seas!
- Jul 10, 2019
We here at myPotatoGames are happy to say that Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands has a release date of October 2019! Furthermore, it is releasing worldwide both digitally and physically. This open-world adventure and simulation game is developed by Lemonbomb Entertainment and published by rokapublish. Now they have also teamed up with Merge Games to bring the title to all current generation consoles! Stranded Sails will be released for PC, Nintendo Switch, as well as Xbox One and PlayStation 4 simultaneously on the same release date!
About Merge Games
Merge Games is well known for publishing great indie titles like Yonder, Moonlighter, Solo: Islands of the Heart, and Frost Punk, to name a few! They will also release a special collectible Signature Edition of Stranded Sails exclusively for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch! We have to stay tuned for now to see exactly what a special edition version will look like!
However, if it is anything like their other unique ‘Signature Edition’ line of boxed games, we’re in for quite a treat! They normally come complete with collector’s items like art books, soundtrack CD’s, enamel pins, or other such merchandise, and always signed by the creators of games! We’ll definitely keep you all posted when we know for sure!
Example of Signature Edition for Sparklite New Announcement Trailer
You can check out our previous article on Stranded Sails here and get a sneak peak of what lies in-store for players that enter the dark caves on the archipelago that they have been shipwrecked on. Survive along with your crew by building shelters, farming, fishing, and more! Explore around other islands, uncover treasure, and discover other mysteries all so you can escape this place. See below for the newest and most exciting trailer of Stranded Sails!
- Jun 20, 2019
Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands is developed by Lemonbomb Entertainment and published by rokapublish. Make camp on an island and explore through many story-driven quests as we have just discovered we may not be alone here after-all.
You start off setting sail on an adventure to find new land. However, a storm hits and it leaves you shipwrecked on the Cursed Islands. As the child of the injured Captain you take charge of the crew! Your goal is to explore the Cursed Islands, unravel the mystery that lurks in the depths of the archipelago, and find tools to build a new ship and leave the Islands with your crew. There are several islands to explore and it is important to keep your energy up by cooking good meals. Therefore, you must do some farming and fishing, and discover new plants and seeds.
Delve into dark caves, cut through the thickets of tropical islands, or enter ancient temples. Below we get a new look at the story of Stranded Sails which seems to have our protagonist trying to grab treasure or an artifact but is interrupted by several ghost-pirates! There is indeed a curse on the island that we must uncover and fast!
The game has officially been postponed to Q4 2019 due to the creators wanting to implement all of the great feedback they received from beta testers. It should be well worth the wait with all of the hard work they are doing! You can still wishlist the game on Steam right here. We’ll keep you updated on any new information about this game. For now, while we wait, let’s appreciate their most adorable mascot below.
Want more pirate goodness and treasure abound? Check out Critter Cove here with quite the cute and charming crew.
