As you may have noticed, we weren’t among the lucky few to receive an early code for The Blood of Dawnwalker from Bandai Namco. Never mind, thanks to GOG, we were able to access the game at launch on order to put together a gameplay video of the PC version for you. We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to them for placing their trust in us, even though we regret not being able to tell you much about this new game considering our time of play. While it clearly still needs some optimization (it’s impossible to achieve a stable 60 fps, or above, on our RTX 5080 and i9 12900k without using Frame Gen), its characters and world are undeniably captivating. With all the upcoming releases in September, we unfortunately won’t have time to dive into it if we want to keep up with the latest release news. So feel free to share your thoughts on the game if you’ve had a chance to play it a bit.

Also released at the end of August, Mortal Shell II didn’t reach us until far too late for us to provide any coverage of it until today. We were able to capture footage from the PlayStation 5 Pro version, and while it performs respectably, not everything is technically perfect. In our opinion, the image could still be a bit sharper, and the stutter issue can be a bit annoying. Let's hope it can eventually be fixed. This second installment has received very positive reviews, which is a wonderful surprise given how much the first one disappointed many players at the time of its release. Since the studio listens to players, the game is gradually addressing the issues it was criticized for; for example, the latest update added more beacons to save your progress and restore your health and healing potions. Finally, it’s worth noting—since this is important information these days—that the game is also available in a physical edition, even on PS5. Let's enjoy it while we still can!

It’s been over two years since Dragon’s Dogma 2 was released, and the game received an update earlier this week that brings performance improvements across all platforms, enhancements to the save system, and various welcome gameplay tweaks. All of this is, of course, in preparation for the release of the Arisen version in October, but while you decide whether you want to invest in the upcoming DLC, all of these fixes are, of course, free. So we’ve put together a short video showcasing the PS5 Pro version with its various graphics settings.

There’s something for everyone, and even though the game we’re going to show you this early evening isn’t really our cup of tea, there’s no reason not to share a short video with you. Released on August 18, Starsand Island rides the wave of cozy life simulation games where you gather resources, craft various items, build and decorate your home, and so on. The game faced some harsh criticism on Steam a few months ago, and as a result, its current average player rating is still below average. Suspicions of using AI bots to generate positive reviews on Valve’s platform (which the studio denies, claiming they had nothing to do with it and that it only harmed their work), assets used without obtaining permission from the rights holders (Steam was forced to temporarily remove the game from the store, but the issue has since been resolved), obviously, that was all it took to set the powder keg ablaze, though again, things seem to have been fixed since some of the controversies appeared earlier this year. We’ll let you judge the game’s quality and appeal for yourselves in our gameplay video captured on PC, as we’re not really in a position to give you a relevant opinion on its strengths and weaknesses.

After the very enjoyable Busbound, Bus Simulator 27 has been a major disappointment in terms of performance, as the game struggled to maintain a consistent frame rate, even with a graphics card like the RTX 5080. This is unfortunate, although it is possible to somehow work around the problem by enabling frame generation. We also noticed numerous traffic anomalies right from the start of the game, with cars that don’t always follow traffic laws or obey traffic signs. These various issues obviously detract from the immersion, and they end up overshadowing the game’s strengths, which otherwise feature perfectly decent and colorful visuals. The game also offers more interactions than Busbound (you manage passenger tickets, the boarding ramp for people with limited mobility, a full team of drivers, etc.), and even though we prefer the physics engine in Busbound, there’s clearly plenty here to please fans of the genre. However, we advise them to check to see if things will have improved by the time the game officially ships next week.

Here is the Konami Press Start, a showcase featuring the latest news and updates on Konami's titles like SILENT HILL: Townfall, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, and Rev. NOiR.

4A Games has just announced the official release date for METRO 2039, which is set for February 4, 2027, and to mark the occasion, we’ve been treated to the first gameplay video of the console version. The PlayStation 5 Pro was chosen to showcase the Performance mode, which includes ray tracing.

Following our review earlier this week, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is back with a homemade gameplay video of the PlayStation 5 Pro version in both available graphics modes. There is no intrusive commentary in French in today’s video, so we’ll let you enjoy the very beginning of the adventure in 4K.

Released in Early Access on August 25, 1666: Amsterdam is finally coming to Gamersyde now that we have a little time on our hands. This lull won’t last long, so we’re taking advantage of it to catch up, which we hope you'll appreciate. The game from Patrice Désilets’ new studio came under some fire as soon as the free prologue was released last June, due to the use of AI in the game. The developers have since apologized, explaining that none of this would be included in the Early Access version, but for now, the reception on Steam remains very average. It must be said that the game is still far from being sufficiently optimized (our RTX 5080 regularly struggles in 4K, even with DLSS Performance enabled), and the combat system isn’t very convincing at the moment. Still, the game has a unique atmosphere that makes you hope the project comes to fruition and has the resources to live up to its ambitions.

Crimson Moon has been available since September 1 and it offers a sort of cooperative blend between Soulslike games and the Darksiders series, particularly in terms of its art style for the latter. The game also incorporates mechanics that are clearly reminiscent of roguelikes, with equipment that can only be used during the current mission, and equally temporary upgrades—three to choose from at each major milestone as you progress through a district. Mechanically, it all works well, but we had a really hard time getting the hang of the parry timing, which seems to be inspired by that of the first Dark Souls. Since some enemies can’t seem to be interrupted by our attacks, beating them can be tricky, unless you spend your time rolling and settling for just one hit at a time. So the difficulty level is pretty high when you first start out because the goal is to kill all the enemies that are present. That said, leveling up when you return to the HUB (where, among other things, the blacksmith is located) lets you come back a little stronger and make a bit more progress than last time. For €/$19.99, it does not seem to be a bad deal, but so far it’s received a very mixed reception on Steam.