@shgamer Personally, I think Darksiders Genesis is the best of them. Strife just felt so different compared to the other 3 that I enjoyed the banter.

After getting a taste of the character, Im still looking forward to the day if ever we get a 5th entry starring him. He just felt so lively to play and is clearly the most laid back of them.

@LikelySatan given the furore around it and the silence i mean its a bit suspect. Most of these things are always the same thing. you dont have to be especially prescient to guess (and you want to bet that the people who have been guessing this is about 'womens objectification' or something similar to that are right? ) it would be a risky wager. And come on man, no one thinks that some right winger in Crystal Dynamics asked to have these removed for 'think of the children' lol. At least let us be honest and we can be pretty sure what this is. This is the zeitgesit we are living in, and it just ties in with the increase in hate speech laws and bills being passed left right and centre and the culture of wrong think that is coming from left wing/liberal sources. If i am wrong, i will stand corrected, but i am willing to bet i and everyone here is not. I mean read the article, earlier statements from CD show a left wing narrative and scope running through the whole ethos of the company. they have the statement in the actual article. It is extremely disingenuine to say 'ah, this could actually be a right wing thing' lol. we know what this is

I guess it’s time to Embracer these new names

Personally I've grown quite fond of Embracer the last five years or so. I've really enjoyed Darksiders III and the new Alone in the Dark game took me by surprise. The Tomb Raider Remaster collection was thankfully really well done, and I also put a lot of hours into Remnant: From the Ashes (until I realized it's a souls-like with guns and therefore too unforgiving in the long run for my liking).

“Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends”

Did Saruman come up with this name?

Looks like this is a Steam Deck purchase.

@smithyo Welp, there's no evidence anywhere that the posters were removed for right wing "think of the children/sex is bad" pearl clutching or left wing "women are not sex objects" pearl clutching. Sooooo, zero reason to point fingers.

Shame it was censored.

Did I enjoy the first two movies? Absolutely not. Am I skeptical that they're actually going to make meaningful callbacks? Definitely. Will I purchase absolutely anything with Knuckle's face on it as per tradition ever since Sonic & Knuckles dropped? Absolutely. Long live the entertainment industry's favourite enchilada. Hail!

Hoping to see the update soon. I have it on Switch and PC, but the portability of Switch can't be beaten so I'm holding out. I'm mixed on whether I'll start a new farm - probably not as I'm invested in the one I already have and feel like I was just getting the hang of it.

Jack Black is an enigma in this world and I am here for every casting. If Jack Black was casted to be the voice of Lara Croft I wouldn't hesitate to preorder. When will Bethesda pick up Jack Black to do an Elder Scrolls cameo? Sheogorath's Uncle or something - come on people.

I'm a new mom so this list is a godsend for me right now, haha. My comfort games have been Skyrim, Tetris (GB) and Mean Bean Machine (Origins). I might try Abzu though, as it looks like it has a similar vibe to AER, which I really liked.

Pretty sure I got this game still in the wrapper lol

"Coffee Stain & Friends" feels TOO on the nose.

I have quite the collection and may be able to support the cause. Contact me nintendolife

Thanks for the review I will sadly cancel my Switch preorder. Hopefully one day it will be patched or if not I could try a different console

@TheBoilerman This is the core MISunderstanding of why Embracer has such a bad reputation. Embracer is not "a bunch of investment bankers;" it's all one insane Swede; Lars Wingefors. This has all been his insane vision from the get-go. His main problem was that he was TOO hands off and willing to let people do what they want. This led to an unfocused vision as every department went in every other direction. Mostly Randy. Most of Embracer's debt came from bad deals Randy made with their checkbook, but it was Lars over-reaching to get Eidos and Middle Earth at the same time that bit him. It wasn't the greed of a shadowy cabal; it was a kid in a candy store that got too anxious.

This new three-pillar structure will be more sustanable, while still keeping everything under the closest thing to an Iwata style "mad visionary" the western corporate world has.

@Banks Tis all good Figured I'd chuck myself out over here a bit Happy to have a chat when it's next convenient.

@smithyo Yeah I don't know, it's like I said earlier. I'm just a guy that works and pays bills for my family etc, like most other people my age. I work at a shelter, my wife works at an lgbtq advocacy org. As far as I'm concerned, it's all pointless to grand stand online, so I'll just do the work and hope people don't try and work directly against the people we serve and my family. The culture war stuff is so tiring when I'm sure most of us have much more in common than differences, but I'm getting sick of people who don't have a real boogeyman pointing at "the other side" and saying "there's the bad guy." This ain't animal control...

Basically, it seems to me anyway, Embracer was made up of a bunch of investment bankers who were buying up IPs to create a portfolio that they hoped was worth more than the sum of its parts with the intention of selling said portfolio for mega-profits.

Gamble didn't pay off and now they're scrambling to make anything they can from a fire sale.

@SuntannedDuck2 I am in love with Mole Mania atm - even if playing it in Japanese. Catrap I can’t recommend enough and I know Avenging Spirit and Quarth have really dedicated fan bases. Really keen to add them next.

@Ogre84 it’s something I genuinely keep in mind when buying games nowadays. If there’s a title I’m even curious about I’ll get it in case it’s one day just prohibitively expensive. Reselling helps a lot. Was sad to pass kid Dracula on again but glad I got to try it.

@Servbot_EJ oh nice! Best find?

@refreshgamesdev hello! Thanks for reaching out. Sorry not to chat this time - I’m always keeping an eye on the scene so will look you up 😊

@SpaceboyScreams very nice! I think the comparative simplicity of the gameboy makes homebrew a much more viable path for people looking to make games. Great to see people trying interesting & new things with it. I adored the 3ds too though and am sure a homebrew scene will emerge - can you imagine folks making their own 3D titles? That would be mad.

@Jhena no problem! I’d love to hear if you pick any up.

If you read the whole press release you'll see that the 'Coffee Stain & Friends', and 'Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends' are just place-holder names, and an in-joke about Lar's start as a comics distributor. They're structured like that to show that the CEO of Coffee Stain, Anton Westbergh, will lead that group, while MEAF is lead by Phil Rogers of Crystal Dynamics, formerly Square-Enix North America. Yeah, THAT guy... luckily, he'll still be answering to Lars. since it will be "the remaining" of Embracer itself.

AS FOR WHO'S GOING WHERE:

Asmodee is just going to be it's own thing again, but still have to answer to MEAF

Coffee Stain is taking: everything it already has, Tuxedo Labs (formerly of Saber), DECA, Easybrain, Amplifier Game Invest (although Tarsier is listed seperatly so it may have some additional autonomy now), and MOST surprising, THQNordic. Yep, the branch that started it all now is getting partially spun-off, and doesn't even get top billing... though looking at what happened with Six Flags that may change anyway.

MEAF specifically calls out that in addition to everything else under Freemode, they'll be keeping TripWire (again, formerly of Saber), Dark Horse, and PLAION. Specifically calling out that they still control 4A, but not Zen, signifying that they may be keeping the Metro studio, but not the Pinball boys.

Notably unaccounted for is; Lost Boys Interactive, Arc Games, Captured Dimmensions, Aionic Labs, demiurge, 34 Big Things, Shiver, Snapshot, and aspyr.

I saw a documentary about Middle-Earth enterprises, where the forest was to make way for the fire of industry.

If I remember correctly, it didn't work out well for the CEO.

This looks to be more of an internal issue, than any actual backlash. Still, it is indeed silly.

We used to criticise companies for only wanting profits. At least that made some sense. The modern quest for growth at the expense of all else leads to some utterly bizarre behaviour.

Wow, thanks for the review, cancelling my pre-order then, sadly. Probably will get it when it's all patched up though.

This is the same company that has been buying IPs up for the last 5 years right?

Anyone ever read, “There was an Old Lady that Swallowed a Fly?”

Eventually she went kablooie after swallowing a horse.

Ahh yes. The corporate restructuring game of merging then splitting. Then selling. Then buying. 😂🤣 🤪 🤪

@GravyThief Middle-Earth enterprises is the sequel to LoTR.

After the one ring was destroyed, Embracer purchased the rights to the land of Mordor. Eventually they took over all of Middle-earth.

Not even the combined powers of Gandalf and Aragorn could stand against the might of Embracer's legal team.

No one ever mentions Turrican 2 sniff

@Vexx234 Well, I agree with you. It's quite saddening to see the extremism when it comes to sexualized things, like you explained with the examples. Making nude mods and stuff like that, I've never understood the appeal. It is also frustrating to see bodies of women (fictional and real) being so heavily critized. Like I said, I feel extremely mixed about these kinds of situations. I'm not gonna sit here and tell people that I don't like fanservice and stuff like that. Absolutely, I love it. For both women and men. I've used mods in some Japanese PC games to remove sexual censorship from some games.. And nope, I'm not bisexual, I'm just comfortable with my sexuality that I don't need to hide my eyes when it comes to sexualized men. Hell, I've always loved androgynous men in JRPG's, for example. I prefer them over the stereotypical masculine men.

But indeed, sex sells. And I want to see it in my games. For both genders. It does suck how extreme people get over these things. I try to understand everyone, even though it takes effort lol.

@Fangleman32 You mean Narnia?

What terrible, terrible names.

Middle Earth Enterprises & Friends
Waitrose & Partners
Mars & Affiliates

Welcome to the new company naming scheme

North American covers always have to be angry or violent, even in franchises like Kirby or Mario. Tells you something...

Well, they had to do something. They got tired that every time they mention their name, investors and customers would run for the hills.

@Olliemar28 Question for ya. Where is Early-earth and Late-earth?We never hear from those two.