Top RPG News Of The Week: July 18th (Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Path of Exile, Persona and More!)

Happy weekend from Fextralife! If you’ve been too busy to keep up on the latest in the games we cover or are looking for a refresher we’ve got you covered! Here’s a bite-sized version of the Top RPG news of the week. Taste all the latest news across the Fextralife Wiki Network.

Check out the video above and read on for the text!

Persona

The Persona franchise’s 25th anniversary is fast approaching, and a new anniversary website to mark the occasion is now live, The website teases that there are seven announcements to be made from September 2024 to Fall 2024.

It also shared that “as of 2024, the Persona series has sold over 15 million copies worldwide”. The website also shares that there will be commemorative merch, events, collaborations and games. While the seven announcements may not mean seven games, it does mean lots of Persona related content in the coming months.

For more on this news find it here in Persona Gets 25th Anniversary Website Teasing Seven Reveals.

Phoenix Point

• Publisher Prime Matter and developer Snapshot Games will be releasing the Phoenix Point: Behemoth Edition for Playstation 4 and Xbox One on October 1st. The edition will also be coming to Playstation 5 and Xbox Series at a later date with a free upgrade.
• Also releasing on October 1st will be the fourth DLC expansion called Corrupted Horizons, launching on PC. The DLC outline shares that a new strain of Pandoravirus has starting plaguing Phoenix. There will be new campaign missions, new enemies and a new soldier type.
• Phoenix Point: Behemoth Edition will include the base game, four downloadable content expansions which include Blood and Titanium, Legacy of the Ancients, Festering Skies and Corrupted Horizons, plus redesigned controller support.

For more on this news find it here in Phoenix Point: Behemoth Edition Releases On PS4 And Xbox One October 1st, PS5 & Xbox Series Later.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister

• Solasta: Crown of the Magister this week received a new patch which added the new Sorcerer class, Iron Man Mode, Dungeon Maker campaigns and environments. Patch 1.1.4 brings a number of changes related to the new class, as the Sorcerers wields the ability to manipulate Spells, lengthening their range or increasing their duration, as well as other abilities.
• The patch also introduces a new difficulty mode called Iron Man which adds a perma death modifier. This means you can only load the latest save available and once your party has struck out, all saves related to that specific playthrough will be deleted.
• There are also two additional campaigns that have been added for the Dungeon Maker, plus three new environments Sewer, Woodland and Catacomb.
• To find out all the additions and changes with Patch 1.1.4 for Solasta be sure to check out our patch breakdown video.

For more on this news find it here in Solasta Update 1.1.4 Patch Notes | All Changes.

NieR Automata

It’s been roughly four years since the release of Nier Automata on Steam but it’s finally getting improvements on the platform via a new patch which arrived this week.

It was back in April when a patch was first announced by Platinum for the PC Steam version of NieR Automata, set to improve the version on the platform. Previously the version available through the Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass also received a patch, but the Steam version still awaited some needed fixes to performance and frame rate issues.

The patch notes have been released. These include improvements to anit-aliasing, UI textures (4K), cut scenes, borderless video settings and more. It will also get rid of the pesky cursor that just pops up when using a game pad controller which in the past also needed a mod to help. The frame rate will also be stabilised at 60FPS.

Have you tried out NieR Automata after the patch release? Let us know in the comments below.

For more on this news find it here in Nier Automata Finally Receives Improvements On Steam July 15th.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

• Square Enix have shared a little more of what will be happening in part 2 of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 1 was the first instalment for the return of the classic JRPG, concentrating on the Avalanche narrative, along with Shinra and the corruption of Midgar. While fans eagerly await Part 2, director Tetsuya Nomura shared a little of what’s to come.
• During the official Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier live stream, Nomura had seen how many people were asking about Part 2. In order to talk about the next instalment, Nomura shared it was a “huge mess” in order to get clearance to talk about it.
• But fans can rest assure development is going well, Nomura commented “the game’s development is going smoothly,” he also shared “Cloud will be running around a lot of nature.”
• While it wasn’t a whole lot of details in terms of what Part 2 will entail, he did share that the atmosphere compared to Part 1 will be quite different, the story will be picking up where it left off from the events of Intergrade.

For more on this news find it here in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 Will Have Cloud “Running Around A Lot Of Nature”.

Shin Megami Tensei V

Atlus has released the official story trailer for Shin Megami Tensei V, which outlines factions, friends and the conflict between gods and demons.

In Shin Megami Tensei V the main character is a third-year student, who gets separated from his friend one day when crossing the Shinagawa train station. Trying to find his friend, he ends up exploring a tunnel that collapses, knocking him unconscious. He awakens in a desert being attacked by demons. Here a mysterious being named Aogami offers to help him, uniting together and being neither human nor demon as Nahobino.  He will then use his newfound powers to fight the demonic forces now attacking Tokyo which is now called Da’at, a baren city taken over by deities and demons.

Shin Megami Tensei V will utilise Unreal Engine 4, while players explore and battle demons with the Press Turn Battle System. Pinpointing an enemy’s weaknesses to perform consecutive actions.

Shin Megami Tensei V releases on Switch on November 11th in Japan and November 12th worldwide.

For more on this news find it here in Shin Megami Tensei V Story Trailer Revealed.

Bless Unleashed

Bless Unleashed is finally…unleashing next month on PC via Steam. The game has been going through a number of beta tests over the past 18 months or so, but publisher Neowiz Games has shared a short teaser trailer showing a glimpse of the action.

Bless Unleashed is a fantasy MMORPG built with Unreal Engine 4. It was first launched as “Bless Online” but was then overhauled and rebooted as Bless Unleashed. The new version released on Xbox One and Playstation 4, but the PC version has spent a long time in the making.

Bless Unleashed is a free-to-play MMORPG that introduces players to the world of Lumios, where you will fight mighty monsters, or go against other players, as you search for the truth behind the strange daunting visions and hidden secrets. The game features combo-driven mechanics, player customisation, co-op PVE and PVP content. Currently, those who pre-register can gain a number of bonuses.

Bless Unleashed will be releasing on PC via Steam on August 6th.

For more on this news find it here in Bless Unleashed Gets PC Teaser Trailer.

Path of Exile

Grinding Gear Games released details about their Expedition Expansion for Path of Exile which launches next week, adding the new Expedition League, new active skills and support gems. There were also various balance changes in 3.15 and the return of the Battle Royale mode. Path of Exile: Royale was originally a limited-time April Fool’s game mode introduced in 2018, but has now been revamped and brought back for weekend play sessions.

The expansion is free for all all launching on July 23rd for PC and macOS and on July 28th for Xbox One and Playstation 4. The Expedition Challenge League will add four new merchant NPCs, 19 new Skill and Support Gems, massive balance changes, a flask system rework and new item types.

If you want a full breakdown of this update be sure to check out next our Path of Exile 3.15 Expansion article.

For more on this news find it here in Path Of Exile 3.15 Expansion: New Expedition League, Balance Changes, And Battle Royale!.

Steam Deck

Valve this week released new details about their portable gaming device Steam Deck, which will launch this December. The reservations went up this week also on July 16th.

The Steam Deck is designed to emulate the regular Steam app that you use on a desktop, which includes chat, notifications, cloud save support and your whole library, and it will keep in sync. The Steam Deck will also allow you to game directly from your PC with the device using Valve’s Remote Play feature if you require a little more power.

The device runs on what Valve calls a “new version of SteamOS”, which is optimised for the handheld’s mobile form factor. The OS is based on Linux and will use Proton to make it compatible with Windows-based games. You can also plug in the device to an external screen with options for keyboard, mouse and controllers. Pierre-Loup Griffais from Valve in an interview with IGN shared it “can pretty much run anything you can run on a PC.”

The announcement had some interesting timing, as it was announced a few hours before the pre-orders for the new Nintendo Switch OLED went live. The pricing for the entry-level Steam Deck is $50 more than the new Switch OLED model. But what gives Valve its competitive edge with the Steam Deck is that those who already have a library of Steam games, can simply buy the device and play their favourite games without the need of purchasing a whole new stack of games. So you can potentially play your favourite RPGs wherever you like.

What do you think of this news? Did you get in line to get a reservation to purchase the Steam Deck? Let us know in the comments below.

For more on this news find it here in Valve Announces Steam Deck Releasing This December 2024.

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