feudal Japan Archives

AppWizard

June 14, 2025

This massive mod for Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord not only converts it to Sengoku-era Japan, it adds fully simulated naval battles months ahead of the base game

Shokuho is a total conversion mod for Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord, set in feudal Japan starting in 1568 during Oda Nobunaga's campaign. Players can build armies or ally with local lords, featuring mechanics like tiered castle sieges and naval battles. The mod integrates the Diplomacy Mod and has surpassed Bannerlord in naval gameplay, which is still under development. Shokuho showcases a distinct aesthetic with visually impressive battles and is inspired by Ghost of Tsushima. It is available for download on ModDB, while the War Sails expansion for Bannerlord has been postponed to autumn.

AppWizard

June 5, 2025

Nioh 3 stars the first Tokugawa Shogun, and it’s coming in 2026—for PlayStation, at least

Koei Tecmo announced Nioh 3 during Sony's State of Play showcase, set in feudal Japan and featuring Tokugawa Ieyasu as the main character. The game introduces new gameplay elements, including weapon stances, randomized loot, and specialization skill trees. Players can switch between samurai and ninja combat styles. Nioh 3 will be available on PC and PS5 from day one, with a launch scheduled for early 2026. An announcement trailer is available for viewing.

AppWizard

May 12, 2025

Doom: The Dark Ages helms a week of GTA-style cop games, sweaty animal spas and feudal strategy

- Chambers is a new Weird West shooter from the creators of Golden Light. - Labyrinth Of The Demon King is a first-person dungeon-crawler set in feudal Japan. - The Precinct is a top-down 1980s urban sandbox game where players are policemen battling gangs. - Animal Spa is a resort for chibi creatures that allows players to enjoy their bathing rituals while managing tasks. - Doom: The Dark Ages features "gratifying and chunky violence" but has been criticized for restrictive combat and tedious exploration. - Into The Restless Ruins allows players to build dungeons as they explore them. - House Of Legacy is an isometric strategy management game inspired by imperial China. - Kulebra And The Souls Of Limbo is a whimsical adventure game based on Latin American myths, focusing on helping shades find closure. - The editorial team is working on longer-form pieces about survival games and nihilism, with Nic and James collaborating on a review of Doom: The Dark Ages. - Brendy missed the morning meeting but provided information about Take Two Interactive's financials, which may relate to the anticipated delay of GTA 6.

AppWizard

April 30, 2025

The Best PC Games of 2025 So Far (Spring Edition)

Spring 2025 has seen the release of several notable PC games, including: - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: Released on April 24, 2025, by Sandfall Interactive, it sold over 1 million copies in three days and features a blend of French art nouveau aesthetics and JRPG combat mechanics. - Monster Hunter Wilds: Released on February 28, 2025, by Capcom, it introduces full narrative integration and dynamic monster interactions. - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered: Released on April 22, 2025, by Bethesda Game Studios, it attracted over 4 million players shortly after launch and features enhanced visuals and gameplay updates. Other early 2025 releases include: - Blue Prince (April 10, 2025) - Split Fiction (March 6, 2025) - Atomfall (March 27, 2025) - Assassin’s Creed Shadows (March 20, 2025) - Two Point Museum (March 5, 2025) - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (January 23, 2025) - Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist (January 22, 2025) - Ninja Gaiden II Black (January 23, 2025) - The Talos Principle: Reawakened (April 10, 2025) Highly anticipated titles for later in 2025 include: - Grand Theft Auto VI (Late 2025) - Doom: The Dark Ages (May 15, 2025) - Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (August 28, 2025) - The Outer Worlds 2 (Expected 2025) - Borderlands 4 (September 12, 2025) - Marvel’s Blade (TBA 2025) - Hades II (Full Release later 2025) - Frostpunk 2 (Summer 2025) - Slay the Spire 2 (Early Access Expected 2025) - Anno 117: Pax Romana (Expected 2025) - Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 (October 2025) - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (Expected 2025) - Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl (Expected 2025) In 2024, top-rated PC games included: 1. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree 2. Metaphor: ReFantazio 3. UFO 50 4. Tekken 8 5. Caves of Qud 6. Animal Well 7. Satisfactory 8. Balatro 9. Thank Goodness You’re Here! 10. The Last of Us Part II Remastered The PC gaming landscape in 2024 was characterized by significant hardware advancements, improved game integration and compatibility, and thriving online communities.

AppWizard

April 16, 2025

Best Single-Player PC Games to Play in 2025

Single-player PC games are thriving in 2025, featuring captivating narratives, intricate gameplay, and stunning visuals. Notable titles include: 1. Blue Prince - An indie roguelike puzzle game with a Metacritic score of 93, set in a shifting manor where players solve interconnected puzzles. 2. Assassin’s Creed Shadows - Set in feudal Japan, this game features two protagonists with distinct playstyles and has been praised for its narrative pacing and environmental design. 3. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - A cinematic first-person adventure focusing on exploration and puzzle-solving, released on PC in late 2024. 4. South of Midnight - A magical adventure following a girl with weaving abilities, notable for its claymation art style and emotional depth. 5. Avowed - A first-person fantasy RPG with choice-driven storytelling, set in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity. Upcoming games include: - Blades of Fire (May 22, 2025) - A Soulslike combat game with a focus on cinematic storytelling. - Cairn (TBA 2025) - A survival climbing simulator emphasizing precision control mechanics. - Hell Is Us (September 4, 2025) - A narrative-driven action game that eschews traditional open-world design. - Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream (Late 2025) - A stealth-adventure game featuring orphans uncovering a conspiracy. The PC platform remains the best for single-player games due to mod support, performance flexibility, a vast library, and indie innovation. The evolution of gaming technology has led to cutting-edge graphics, immersive storytelling, and innovative exploration mechanics, enhancing player engagement.

AppWizard

March 21, 2025

Assassin’s Creed Shadows hits 1m players on launch

Over one million players have engaged with the newly launched Assassin's Creed Shadows, reaching this milestone by 16:00 Montreal time. The game peaked at 46,813 concurrent players on Steam. The one million figure does not directly indicate sales, as players can access the game through the Ubisoft+ subscription service. Ubisoft expressed gratitude on Twitter for the community's support. The performance of Shadows against Ubisoft's internal goals is unclear, and the previous installment, Valhalla, had doubled the player count of its predecessor, Odyssey.

AppWizard

March 18, 2025

Assassin’s Creed Shadows review

Assassin's Creed Shadows is a stealth-action adventure set in feudal Japan, developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft, with a release date of March 20, 2025, priced at £60. The game features the historical Black samurai Yasuke as its protagonist, sparking discussions on cultural representation. Shadows includes a unique loot mechanic with a flexible engraving system for gear customization. The game presents a visually striking rendition of 16th-century Japan, although interactivity within the environment is limited. Players navigate using vague clues rather than straightforward markers, encouraging exploration. Shadows includes over 30 castles to conquer and is designed for extended play, inviting players to revisit the game for a relaxed exploration experience.

AppWizard

March 7, 2025

Rise of the Ronin PC review: an engrossing action-RPG plagued by technical issues

Rise of the Ronin has transitioned from a PS5-exclusive title to a PC release, featuring enhanced frame rates, support for DLSS, XeSS, FSR upscaling, ray tracing, and ultra-wide support. However, it struggles with optimization on PC, leading to inconsistent performance, frame rate drops, stuttering, and muddled textures. Koei Tecmo plans to release a day-one patch to address these issues. Performance problems are linked to heavy VRAM usage, even on powerful graphics cards like the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super. The core gameplay includes a combat system focused on parrying and stamina management, with engaging encounters and exploration. The game features impressive draw distances and a dynamic day-night cycle but suffers from visual shortcomings, such as less polished character models and animations. Its file size is 143 GB, which may deter some players. The game is available at a discounted price of .99 on PC, appealing to those interested in the Souls-like formula and Japanese culture. Players prioritizing performance and visual fidelity may want to wait for optimizations.

AppWizard

March 1, 2025

5 biggest new games launching in March 2025 for PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PC

March 2025 will see the release of several notable video games: - Split Fiction (March 6): A cooperative multiplayer game by Hazelight Studios featuring two rival authors, Mio and Zoe, who must collaborate to escape a simulation of their imaginations. - Assassin's Creed Shadows (March 20): The fourteenth installment in the Assassin's Creed series set in feudal Japan, where players alternate between two protagonists, Naoe, a stealthy shinobi, and Yasuke, a samurai. - Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (March 20): A return of the open-world RPG originally on Wii U, set on the alien planet Mira, where players explore and survive as part of the Blade organization. - Atomfall (March 27): A narrative-driven game set in an alternate-history 1960s Britain, where players scavenge and confront inhabitants in a quarantined area affected by a nuclear disaster.

BetaBeacon

February 19, 2025

Top 8 mobile games like Stardew Valley

- Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories is a game where players move to Chestnut Town to transform a ruined farm and create new memories with the people in the town. - Graveyard Keeper is a less wholesome alternative to Stardew Valley where players manage a graveyard and help the people of the town. - Harvest Town is a game similar to Stardew Valley where players reconstruct a family farm and produce goods to sell to the town. - Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a wholesome game where players can customize a campsite, befriend cute animals, and participate in events similar to Stardew Valley. - The Island Castaway is a game where players must survive on an island by growing food, fishing, and providing for the people of the town, similar to Stardew Valley. - Kingdom: Two Crowns is a strategy game inspired by Japanese culture with features similar to Stardew Valley. - New World: Castaway Paradise allows players to create their own tropical island, grow crops, catch fish, and complete quests similar to Stardew Valley. - Spiritfarer is a game where players build a boat, explore a magnificent world, build relationships with characters, and engage in various activities like cooking and fishing, similar to Stardew Valley.