Fabled Lands gets its first DLC called the Lords of the Rising Sun:

BIG NEWS! FABLED LANDS DLC COMING 16 FEB!

I'm incredibly excited to announce that Fabled Lands will have its first DLC on Feb 16th, 2023!

What an incredible journey it has been folks! A lot more months than I initially anticipated but I can proudly say that the time is nigh for the BIG content update, Lords of the Rising Sun!

The Lords of the Rising Sun DLC adds a new continent as well as variety of changes - new quests to find, new lands to explore, new layers of lore and world building to unravel! Defeat challenging enemies in exotic places and obtain new legendary loot that awaits you in places long forgotten by the living...

The game’s final release wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible help of Fabled Lands’ dedicated community. The current closed beta has proven the content is as exciting as I have hoped for, bringing a smooth experience and adding lots of depth to previous choices and strategies.

I am immensely thankful for the opportunity to continue flying on the wings of my indie game dev dreams! It’s both a privilege and honor to bring these fantastic series by fantastic authors Jamie Thomson and Dave Morris as a full-fledged PC game.

Cost and Discounts

The DLC will cost $3.99 USD and the Steam team has been so kind in providing a Daily Deal to celebrate the launch! The base game will have its deepest discount to date, and for the upcoming months, so make sure to wishlist the game, book this date and not miss on the news!

See you at the launch party!

Kordanor checked out the Early Access dungeon crawler Gloomgrave:

Gloomgrave - Roguelike Dungeoncrawler - Preview [EN] by Kordanor

Kordanor's conclusion (snippet from the video) is:

...It feels quite polished, and the balancing during a playthrough is also fine. It's just the different characters and the attributes themselves which could be rebalanced to make for more interesting choices. And that would also be necessary if the game should be expanded in some way. It would also need more intersting stuff, random events, boss fights, anything like that to keep the player engaged for a few hours...

The third person action RPG Earth's Shadow has been released:

Earth's Shadow

Earth's Shadow is a third person action Sci-Fi dungeon crawler set in the year 3081 on planet Sumbra; a remote alien planet where legends of valuable relics surround this black world, calling to the greedy and brave explorers seeking a bright future... but end up uncovering an even darker past.

Working a dead-end job... Alexi-Ru, a cyborg CSP (cargo ship pilot), tends to fill the void-ness of his boring flight job by day-dreaming of the mysterious stories surrounding planet Sumbra, aka Earth's Shadow.

In the year 3081, the original Earth and it's galaxy has been dead for centuries, and although a few humans still exist, colonized in far away sectors... Earth's legacy is not forgotten with some even referring to Sumbra, as the shadow of Earth.

Intrigued by Earth's history, Alexi-Ru often finds himself flying millions of light-clicks off his normal cargo route just to speed by the mysterious planet, hoping to catch a glimpse of something on the alien surface via radar that might force him to slow down or possibly even stop.

Eventually Alexi-Ru's curiosity is justified when his ship encounters a malfunction one night, while passing by the tiny planet, forcing him to crash-land on the surface he dreamed of so often on previous flights.

Alexi-Ru remembers his attention right before the impending crash, focused on an un-jostled book, thrown from a compartment during the violent atmosphere re-entry, titled... "When Day-Dreams Turn To Nightmares"

"That doesn't mean anything," mumbles Alexi-Ru, trying to re-assure himself as he arms himself with a Tec-9000 semi-automatic and sets forth to explore... Earth's Shadow.

Features

• Three different game modes: ROGUE, ADVENTURE or STORY mode (Never lose progress or equipment)
  Fully Voiced NPC Characters
• Role Playing Shooter (RPS) - Level up your character while building your stats to become a powerful cyborg
• Explore and uncover secrets from an ancient alien civilization
• Find and equip weapons and tech with dynamic stats and modifiers
• Crawl through procedural and custom locations
• Adjustable DIFFICULTY settings to allow for an easier or more challenging experience
• All loot is random, allowing each playthrough to be a completely different experience

Lackblogger spotted a big update for Black Geyser - among other things you can play the game in French now:

Ho there, adventurers!

We are thrilled to announce that Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness is now available in French! Our heartfelt thanks goes to Vincent "Goat Buster" Lagaillarde for the French translation of the game.

Since our last update, several fixes and improvements have been implemented as well. You can read their list below.

Latest Changes

• Added French localization
• Enabled unique spellcasting chants for companions
• Corrected Interrupt Strength and Interrupt Evasion calculations
• High Interrupt Evasion characters can now tolerate a lot more hits
• When casting identical spells on a target, now all instances take effect instead of just one
• Sling weapon models are now always positioned correctly
• Duration scaling based on class and level is now calculated correctly
• Heal over time effects now work correctly
• Duration scaling introduced for Healing Mist and Verdant Growth
• Healing Mist and Verdant Growth now restore less Health per turn compared to single target heals
• Adjusted the damage and scaling of damage over time effects
• Item comparison tooltips now appear correctly both in the Inventory and the Shop UI
• Available Special Ability points are now correctly displayed during level-up
• Dorb won't spawn multiple times anymore
• Hamlin no longer disappears after becoming hostile in his first quest
• Arvex's final quest cannot get stuck after sparing Siracca anymore
• Volendir no longer appears later in the game if he was killed before
• The mound of sand in Freynagar now also contains Moist Sand
• Jury Rigged Golems no longer engage instantly upon entering the area
• Corrected marker positions for all areas on the world map
• Each animal in Scofarth now only drops a single instance of Animal Pelt
• Isla's staff is now identified by default
• Trapped Jade's dialogue now starts correctly when approached by companions

If you like our work, you can support the project by posting a review on Steam.

The Black Geyser Team

Kordanor checked out the demo of the tactical RPG Wantless:

Wantless - Nightmare Tactics RPG - Preview [EN] by Kordanor

Ever encountered a nightmare in person? In Wantless we jump into our patients brains to erase unwelcome memories. A turnbased tactics-RPG of a different kind, with a very interesing spin on tactical combat where for every action you take, your enemies get more action points. Efficiency is key! The game also comes with a nice artstyle and an interesting spell-crafting-system.

Check out my Preview-Video for more details or give the freely available demo a spin. The game does not have a scheduled release date yet.

The tactical RPG Tenebris: Terra Incognita got a Steam page:

Tenebris: Terra Incognita

Tenebris: Terra Incognita is a turn-based tactical RPG in a Sci-fi setting inspired by Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" and Ridley Scott's "Prometheus". Create your own unique squad and set out to explore the grim planet of Tenebris!

(older alpha video)

Tenebris: Terra Incognita is a complex turn-based RPG in a grim science fiction setting. You will face a harsh journey through an uncharted planet teeming with terrifying monsters. The player's task is to rescue the human expedition from the crashed ship Solaris, overcoming serious obstacles along the way.

CHARACTERS
Over the course of the game you will have access to 23 different classes with their own unique mechanics. We are big fans of such series as X-Com, Disciples 2 and HoMM, so we want to give players a similar experience, thanks to the deep customization of characters and the career progression.

• Experiment with the talent branches of the characters.
• Combine your abilities with equipment items.
• Create your own unique build, and conquer the world of Tenebris!

The tactical RPG Wantless got a new trailer:

Wantless - Official Reveal Trailer

Wantless is a turn-based tactical RPG where you face the woes inside your patients’ tortured minds. Set in a dystopian future of another kind, where most of the population is asleep, Wantless takes you through procedurally generated runs called mind-mazes. Brace for a fast-paced combat experience, supported by a deep skill-crafting system. Use your action points wisely, as each of your foes will receive the same number of points as you've just spent. Wantless is releasing in Fall 2023 for Early Access on PC and will be part of the Steam Next Fest with a free demo to play.

This video showcases ChatGPT in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord by simulating NPC interactions dynamically.

The following video will demonstrate the using ChatGPT in Bannerlord with a custom build story engine for NPC dialogue interactions. SECOND VIDEO(more characters, professions etc): https://youtu.be/L_qauw4QM3Q

In the video, we will go to Battanian village, Imlagh and start chatting with random NPC's. NOTHING is scripted in this video. This implementation allows the player to interact with random NPC's in the game directly by typing, in a more natural way. All the stories in here are generated on the fly, with correct information (factions, locations, occupations, near-by events, rulers etc) with a custom story engine and ChatGPT. They provide you information about the world they are living in.

This is a demonstration project for showing the possible future of RPG Games and the way we interact with NPC's. I also added, "word by word" text processor to give amplify the "chat" behavior for NPC's (similar to ChatGPT's built-in system) and gave mouth/face animations for NPC's to make them look more alive. Sorry for the typos in my inputs, I was trying to be coherent and fast while typing :) Overall it took 2-3 days to finish, including custom story engines and such. But it's still not finished. More videos will come soon (With Imperial towns, taverns etc)

The Xbox Hub checked out the Sci-Fi Strategy RPG We are the Caretakers (on the Xbox):

We Are the Caretakers Review

If you’ve been feeling guilty about making animal-skin wallets in the Far Cry series, then you might want to redeem yourself with We Are the Caretakers. Instead of carving up creatures you’re protecting them, in what might be Xbox’s first anti-poaching game. Buy it, and you’re even contributing 10% of the amount to Save the Rhinos. 

We Are the Caretakers has more to offer than a noble message. It’s a two-hander: on one hand it’s an exploration sim, not too far distant from Curious Expedition 2, or the opening moments in Civilisation, where you’re scouting the area for resources and villages. On the other hand, it’s a turn-based RPG. While the Steam page references X-Com, We Are the Caretakers takes its lead from the battle sequences of a JRPG. The positioning of your troops is less important than deciding whether to attack, heal or buff.

[...]

We Are the Caretakers deserves heaps of praise. You can point to the world design, story, depth of gameplay and themes of conservation and find something to fall in love with. But it needed longer in Early Access. The bugs and crashes keep stampeding through the game, trampling on what was painstakingly constructed. Should the bugs be removed, we’d add at least a half-mark to the score.

Score: 3/5

The J-RPG Absinthia will be released on March 13:

Absinthia

Absinthia is a turn-based RPG featuring the story of scorned Knight Freya, her young apprentice Sera, and their individual struggles with loss, betrayal and acceptance as they fight to protect their home.

Story
When a mysterious enemy threatens the peaceful town of Katti, a traveling knight named Freya steps in to save the day. Young warrior Sera, alongside her friends Jake and Thomas, begin training under Freya's guidance to protect Katti Town and the Ambrose Isles. But when another assault ends in a tragic loss, Sera must grapple with the true nature of their enemy--as well as that of the knight protecting them.

Features

• Traditional turn-based jRPG battle system featuring a regenerating MP system for faster-paced combat, powerful team-based attacks and no random encounters
• Difficulty options for those who seek challenge--or only want to focus on the story
• Colorful handheld-style pixel art and illustrations
• Original soundtrack: Composed by Jazz Stewart, Absinthia's soundtrack is a modern take on some of the greatest tunes from the SNES era of jRPGs

Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children still gets a lot of updates:

[Notice] Contents Update and System Maintenance Announcement

Hello everyone, this is the Troubleshooter development team.

We beg to inform you that the game contents update and system maintenance.
During the maintenance, players who use the Online mode can't play the game.

[...]

Update Details:
- Added a new Normal Case, 'Uninvited guest in the town'.
- This mission is activated on the Mission Control Panel once you complete the scenario mission 'Got a Clue'.
- Added an information telling current status of Mimicking Attack and Mimicking Evasion on the HUD. You can check enemy's Mimicking Attack and Mimicking Evasion on an enemy's information windows after you click an enemy.
- Added an information for the enemies in the Joint Training to the Troublemaker List.
- Once you activate the Joint Training, you can check new tab on the Troublemaker List.
- You can acquire the Valkylie Coin from the enemy information of the Joint Training tab.
- Added '15 degree' value to the option Camera Rotation Angle.
- Added new Steam Achivements.
- Bald Black Eyepatch
- Bald White Hat

- Changed the abilities configuration of Fighter Mungo, Swordman Mungo, Slaughterer Mungo and White Mask.

Changed some abilities.
Sion:
- Lightning Storm is now 6 consecutive attack ability.
- Attack Power Scaling and EMP Power Scaling of Flash Kick was 100, 50 respectively. And it has been modified to 125, 25 respectively.
Leton:
- Frostmill now has unblockable property.
- Frost Storm Kick is now 8 consecutive attack ability.

Changed some masteries.
- Best Condition: Changed Action Time decreasing effect from 10 to 5. [Edited]Damage reduction effect has been changed from 25% to 30%.
- Prosperity: Changed Action Time decreasing effect from 10 to 5 and changed the required TP from 2 to 1.
- Toad Skin, Healthy Body, Lightning Rod, Snowman, Inner flame, Tough Spirit: Added an effect Vigor + 2
- Activation condition of Apex Predator has been changed: 'is higher than' → 'is lower than'
- Changed the some stats of the beasts when they get level up.
- Mungo and Crabmit are not included.
- There is little change in the lower level intervals. However, at higher levels, stats increase slightly.
- [Edited] This change makes base stats of the beasts to be slightly decreased and the stats that acquired when they get level up to be slightly increased. Based on the level 57, there could be a stat that is lowered than before. But based on the level 60, their stat will be slightly higher.
- It also applies to beasts you already own.
- Changed the 'Mastery Research' shows newly acquired masteries on their top.
- Changed the initial camera directing for the ability to be affected by the option 'Minimize Camera Movement'.
- Fixed a bug that controller guide menu was not showed when you use a specific screen resolution.
- Fixed a bug that camera directing was omitted when the legend class Mungo appeared.

Thank you.

Thanks Henriquejr!

Henriquejr spotted an update for Monomyth!

Monomyth - December / New Year Update

Video Devlog 1.0 | Beta Update 2

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

It's time for another update on Monomyth! Just like last month, I would like to present this update in the form of a short video, which you can find here:

For those of you who would rather read, I will attach the transcript plus relevant screengrabs!

Best wishes,
Michael

Video Transcript (Video Devlog 1.0)

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

A new year has begun and I am still very busy developing the project. I am going through milestone after milestone, slowly pushing toward a game that is ready for you, the backers, and the many followers who have supported Monomyth for over a year now (some of you even longer than that). Thank you again for your patience! I will do my best to get the project into your hands as soon as possible.

But before that, we will have to go through a couple more beta patches first. As this new year begins, a new update for Monomyth’s closed beta is about to be released. Update 2 is being packaged at this very moment. So, I thought, let’s take a look at what’s actually in there, so you can get an understanding of what goes into a patch and why this particular one took so long:

The most time-consuming task for update 2 was the level design. Under the heartlands, you will find the mines and the factory tower.

[...]

Splattercatgaming checked out Stellar Tactics:

Stellar Tactics - Open World Space Mercenary RPG

Immortal Darkness: Curse of The Pale King is now available for free on the developers website.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM GIANT SPACE MONSTER! 🎆💥
DOWNLOAD AND PLAY
Immortal Darkness: Curse of The Pale King (Windows/PC ONLY)
🎁 FOR FREE! 🎁

Wait, what's the catch?

No catch*. The Giant Space Monster (All Hail The Giant Space Monster), has proclaimed that more mortals should play our game, and so we're giving our game away, free to play. No spyware, no crypto miners, no malware, no data gathering or snooping, and no in-app purchases or paywalls! Just install anywhere and play (Windows/PC ONLY).

NOTE: This version of the game has several improvements and bug fixes, and doesn't rely on Steam or any Steam services. If you previously purchased the game on Steam, this version is compatible with your saved games, and can be played instead.

If you already played our game and enjoyed it, or if you would like to pay your respects to The Giant Space Monster (All Hail The Giant Space Monster), consider sending us a few dollars by clicking the big, blue coffee button below :D Cheers!

* By downloading and playing Immortal Darkness: Curse of The Pale King, you pledge your undying soul to the service of The Giant Space Monster (All Hail The Giant Space Monster).

Lamo Gaming checked out then open world RPG Gedonia:

Gedonia Review | Old-school inspired RPG!!

The action RPG Back to Ashes got a new version:

Version 0.9.0

 

Major Changes:
- new area - Ghan's Chapel. You can reach it from Ashen Roads of Forgotten
- new optional boss
- added game epilogue
- new base armor
- new relics

Minor Changes:
- updated items bonuses coloring
- minor UI/movement bugfixes
- minor optimizations

Maddmike checked out the open world RPG Gedonia:

Gedonia Review

Nookrium checked out the management RPG Warsim: The Realm of Aslona:

Warsim: The Realm of Aslona - (Procedural Kingdom Management Game)

-> RPGWatch thread

RPGamer reviewed the J-RPG Manafinder earlier this year - somehow I missed the release of this game:

Manafinder Review

The kingdom management game Warsim: The Realm of Aslona has left Early Access:

Warsim Early Access Release Update (209 features)

This is it, finally out of early access! It's a technicality that it's been in EA for so long but until the unfinished parts were all added I didn't consider it complete, and unfortunately back in 2017 I had myself a great number of loose ends, and spent a lot of time making new ones and expanding the game instead of closing those previous ones! Worth it? I think so. Without further ado here's the update!

THE DUNELANDS UPDATE

The Dunelands is finally added! This was the last region of the game that was unfinished. There is a lot of new content so I've broken it down into sub categories.

[...]

The tactical RPG The Last Spell will be released early 2023:

The Last Spell 

The Last Spell is a tactical RPG with roguelite elements. During the days, you’ll have to carefully choose how you will re-build your city and how you’ll position your defenses. Will you prioritize buying a brand new flaming sword, or build a Mana Well to regenerate some priceless Mana after battles?

During night, you’ll have to exterminate all the monsters coming at your walls with a large range of weapons and powers. Level up your heroes, and repeat until the end.

Turn-Based Tactical RPG:

• The whole RPG package: primary stats, secondary stats, skills, perks, traits… and more.
• Build your own classes: upgrade your heroes with stat bonuses and perks. Want to make a canon glass rogue/mage fighting with a gun? Do it!
• Tons of procedurally generated trinkets, armors and weapons, each with their own skillset and playstyle!
• Manage your squad of heroes: they’re strong, but they are few and they have access to limited resources. Healing is rare, so try to find the good balance.

Hordes of Evil:

• Waves of hundreds of enemies to slay, burn, shock and slice! Don’t get overwhelmed.
• Dozens of enemy types with different behaviors, which will get stronger and stronger as you progress.
• Think and adapt: you have to deal with A LOT of enemies, so you want to optimize your damage output with strong AOE attacks. Enemies have various strength and weaknesses that will challenge your wits.

Protect the City:

• Rebuild the city to help you between fights. Get healed, get items, get new heroes. Spend your resources wisely!
• Build up your defenses: walls, traps, towers, catapults… every bit of help is welcomed.
• Protect the circle of magic at all costs! If you lose it, it’s game over.

Roguelite Elements:

• The game is meant to be hard. You will fail… but everytime you do, you’ll grow stronger.
• Procedurally generated Enemy waves, characters, weapons and a ton of unlockables will keep you entertained.
• A full range of difficulty levels to entertain the craziest hardcore players.

The major update #3 for Wartales introduces co-op gameplay:

Major Update #3 | Co-op

Attention mercenaries!

The highly anticipated and much requested Wartales co-op update is available now!

Traverse the vast open world of Wartales with up to 4 players, lay out your tactics and devise a strategy before you face off with some of the many hostile inhabitants of this harsh world and defeat them side by side.

Work together to explore and unravel the mysteries of these strange, unwelcoming lands, while sharing your money, loot and resources before ending the day with a delicious meal sat around a roaring campfire alongside your loyal companions.

Read on to find out more about the Co-op Update…

[...]

Ye Old Entertainment checked out Underrail:

Underrail Review: A Fallout Meets X-files Post Apocalyptic RPG that you just can't miss!

SplatterCatGaming checked out the life-sim Kynseed:

Kynseed - Open World Sandbox Fantasy Life RPG

Josh's Gaming Garden checked out the Life Sim Kynseed:

Is Kynseed the Perfect Life-Sim RPG? Full Review!

A new environment renderer will soon be available for Underrail:

Topic: Dev Log #6: New Environment Renderer

Hi guys,

We're finally ready to give you a sneak peak in the new and improved Infusion environment visuals. We've done extensive work on the 2D rendering engine, and while there are still things to improve, we're quite pleased how it looks now. Keep in mind, though, that all the scenes you'll see below were made for demo purposes only and do not reflect how the actual game levels will look.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!