NLG - Next Level Gaming

2020 was a challenging year to enjoy the full breadth of the tabletop hobby. Many players were unable to gather with friends and gaming groups to play in person, but it didn’t stop publishers from continuing to pump out some remarkable and incredibly fun games. And many players responded by finding ways to play games remotely, sharing the hobby with partners, family, and roommates, as well as buying and learning new games solo, with the hope of playing again with bigger groups in the coming months and years. Amid an extraordinary mix of game styles and settings, these were 10 of the very best new releases, each promising the potential for many hours of shared fun. Atheneum: Mystic Library Publisher: Renegade Game Studios On the eve of your magical exam, you have a lot of spells to study, but you can’t forget to re-shelve the books before you’re done. Atheneum is filled with charm and lovely components (including individually named book chips), but it’s the solid card-drafting sy

Valve has revealed its Steam "Best of 2020" lists, highlighting the best-selling and most played games on the digital storefront this year. While Valve doesn't rank the games, meaning we don't know what the overall best selling game on Steam is, nor does it include data like overall revenue, it does give a detailed peak at what kind of games trended throughout the year.  Unsurprisingly, Among Us and Fall Guys appear in the Platinum category of Steam's best sellers list, as do competitive games such as Dota 2, Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Rockstar Games has two different titles topping Steam's sales charts: Red Dead Redemption 2 and the seven-year-old Grand Theft Auto 5. The most recent game on Steam's Platinum list is Cyberpunk 2077 , which was released on December 10. Cyberpunk developer-publisher CD Projekt Red recently revealed that it had sold more than 13 million copies . All in al

Katsuhiro Harada, most well known for his work on the Tekken fighting series, is heading up development for a new project at Bandai Namco that just might have the highest development budget in the company's history.  Harata, who currently serves as general manager, director, and producer, for Bandai Namco, recently hinted at the new project during the " Piro Live! New Year’s Eve Special 2021 " livestream event (translation via Gematsu ). While he didn't reveal any specifics about what the game is, aside from saying it's not a fighting game, Harata did express surprise that company higher-ups approved a project of this scale.  "Well, honestly I think this might be the most costly development project in Bandai Namco history,” Harada said during the event. "I think its incredible that the higher-ups approved of this. Well, the approval has passed, its just that due to the coronavirus, we haven’t really been able to properly start the project." Whe

Cyberpunk 2077 will begin receiving free DLC early next year, as discovered by a new update to the game's official website.  While no details were given, including specific release dates or what the DLC would entail, the official Cyberpunk 2077 website has been updated with the news. The page can be seen here at the link , which reveals only that the DLC will be free and released early 2021.  Whether or not this is news might depend on how closely you watched the Cyberpunk 2077 launch trailer, released on December 8. As PC Gamer points out, at the end of the trailer, behind the game's logo, text flashes on screen revealing CD Projekt Red's plans for Cyberpunk DLC.  "Our planned expansions will take you even deeper into the world of Cyberpunk 207, offering substantial, story-driven content that'll give you tough choices to make through impactful narratives that you won't soon forget," CD Projekt's message reads (via PC Gamer ).  "But before

At this point in the studio's history, the Hitman series has been with IO Interactive longer than anyone working in its office; no one at the company has worked on every single entry in the franchise. For 20 years, the name IO has been synonymous with Hitman and its protagonist Agent 47. While the developer has made other games, such as the Kane & Lynch, Freedom Fighters, and Mini Ninjas games, the vast majority of its releases have been Hitman games. But Hitman 3 is the end of an era. Capping off the World of Assassination trilogy it started in 2016 with its episodic Hitman reboot, IO is walking away from its most iconic franchise – at least for the time being. And there are a lot of emotions tied up in that fact. In a lot of ways, the story of Hitman is the story of IO Interactive – especially considering the company's last few years. Always a niche, cult series, when 2016's Hitman didn't make the return IO's then-publisher and parent company Square Enix wan

This wasn’t the type of year any of us could have anticipated and we were all forced to make changes in our lives due to COVID-19. We had to get creative about how we worked, socialized, and met other daily needs. The quarantine is necessary to stop the spread of the virus, but that doesn’t mean feeling confined to the walls of our home isn’t difficult to deal with day in and day out. I’ve often turned to video games as a way to unwind and socialize , but this year, they became essential in battling the isolation of not being able to interact with others on a daily basis. It wasn’t a normal year, and therefore I wanted to end 2020 by sharing a special appreciation for the games that got me and many others through these past few months of quarantine. When the quarantine first started, I really didn’t want to deal with what was going on around me. The world suddenly became frightening; COVID-19’s reach was growing, killing more and more people and we still didn’t know much about it. As

Every Wednesday, I travel to my local comic book shop to pick up nearly a dozen books, most coming from Marvel and DC. I'm a big fan of the classic superhero formula, and have been reading about capes and masks every week since I was eight years old. My first ongoing series was Captain America, which was soon followed by Batman, and then I got my hands on everything. I wanted to read as much as I could, and I haven't stopped doing that in the decades that followed. Like most things happening in 2020, the comic book industry had a strange year. When the pandemic took hold, comics ceased to be. New release racks had nothing on them. For a few months, physical comic books were no longer being released, and digital distribution hardly had a footprint. The industry just shut down, and there was a fear that it wouldn't come back the same. Not getting my weekly fix of stories was one of the hardest things for me to adapt to during the pandemic. I can shelter in place with the b

CD Projekt Red is having a catastrophic month, and Cyberpunk 2077 has been at the forefront of industry scrutiny since its controversial release at the start of December. Even though the game's sales have already exceeded its costs, investors have taken heavy monetary losses. One such investor - Rosen Law Firm in New York - filed a class action lawsuit  right before Christmas in order to recover damages made by misleading statements. According to the lawsuit, CD Projekt Red "failed to disclose (1) Cyberpunk 2077 was virtually unplayable on the [last-] generation Xbox or PlayStation systems due to an enormous number of bugs; (2) as a result, Sony would remove  Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation store, and Sony, Microsoft and CD Projekt would be forced to offer full refunds for the game; (3) consequently, CD Projekt would suffer reputational and pecuniary harm; and (4) as a result, defendants’ statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false

Another batch of PS Plus games have been set for the first month of the new year. The collection includes two PS4 games - Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Greedfall - and the PS5 version of Maneater.  Shadow of the Tomb Raider builds upon the story of Rise of the Tomb Raider and chronicles Lara Croft's journey to the treacherous South American jungles where players are tasked with preventing a predetermined apocalypse. The fluid stealth and gunplay from previous contemporary Tomb Raider games returns as well as the multi-layered puzzles that the series is known for. Greedfall is a narrative-based, choice-driven RPG set in an expansive open world filled to the brim with creatures and ruffians that want to kill you. Based on the skills you invest in, conversations can branch off into multiple outcomes and exploration can be limited. We enjoyed Greedfall's soundtrack, simplistic combat, and writing but felt that the game could use some more polish. Andrew Reiner likens it to e

Click here to watch embedded media If you play Apex Legends , then you know Pathfinder. He's a high-mobility character with incredibly cheery voice lines. Even when he obliterates entire teams, it's hard to get mad at the lovable oaf. Despite being one of the game's most popular personalities, Respawn has never released an official backstory description for him. Based on in-game loading screens as well as his boxing glove heirloom, many fans suspected that Pathfinder was a ring fighter long before he took part in the Apex games. Today, however, these speculations were finally laid to rest. It turns out that Pathfinder worked as a custodian and waiter in his early years. In a new " Stories from the Outlands " cinematic, Pathfinder gets in trouble with the local mafia and somehow ends up fighting a multitude of MRVN robots atop a high-speed shuttle in the pouring rain - I mean, what did you expect? Pathfinder not only helps a retired cop make strides in his inves

When it comes to Hitman VR, IO Interactive owes a lot to the game Firewall: Zero Hour, the PlayStation VR game from First Contact Entertainment. As Eksil Møhl, a senior game designer at IO, tells it, the studio's interest in VR started two years ago with his coworker Oliver Winding, a senior writer at the company. One day, Winding approached Møhl, asking him to come over. He wanted Møhl to try out his new PlayStation VR. Møhl was taken with the system, going out and buying his own as a Christmas present to himself. And that's when he played Firewall. Like Winding, Møhl wanted to show off the PlayStation VR headset. He took it to the IO office, showing his coworkers, and having them play Firewall. As luck would have it, people at IO Interactive shared his enthusiasm, including lead game designer Sidsel Hermansen, who recalls that people at the office "couldn’t stop playing." "We just had to play, play, play," Hermansen says. This past August, IO announced

The Halo Infinite gameplay footage proved to be lackluster to large number of waiting fans. In response to the graphical complants, 343 Industries got to work optimizing their game for next-gen players by delaying the game to Fall 2021. Neill Harrison, director of art management at 343, stated "Much of the feedback we heard from the community aligned with our own views and work we were already committed to doing around things like indirect lighting, material response, foliage and tree rendering, clouds, level-of-detail transitions, and character fidelity." He would go on to say that "the feedback was humbling, and it also pushed us to look at additional opportunities for improvement." 343 Industries studio head Bonnie Ross added that the delay is completely worth it in a holiday blog post published on the Halo Waypoint website, "I realize the wait has been difficult, and I assure you that the team wants the game in your hands as soon as possible, but they

The Resident Evil movie reboot is one step closer to being ready for its 2021 premiere. In a tweet posted on the official Resident Evil movie page, the filming has finally been completed. The reboot was announced in 2017, and despite 2020 being an unprecedented year (and particularly harsh on both the cinema and video games industries), the Resident Evil movie is still going strong. In previous months the ensemble cast was announced and exciting set photos emerged . Additionally, a release date was revealed with the movie slated for a Fall 2021 launch.   That’s a wrap in Raccoon City. 🎬 diREcted by Johannes Roberts pic.twitter.com/9HdIf7shs2 — Resident Evil (@ResidentEvil) December 28, 2020 According to director Johannes Roberts, the reboot film looks to draw on the horrifying atmosphere and settings of the video game franchise, "With this movie, I really wanted to go back to the original first two games and re-create the terrifying visceral experience I had when I first

On the Talking Games with Reggie & Harold podcast , Former President of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime talked about his brief meeting with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian-West. Apparently, Kanye stopped by the Nintendo booth at E3 many years ago, spent time with the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, and asked to meet with Reggie. The two visionaries sat down with each other in Kanye West's fashion office in Calabasas, California where the famed rapper-producer would ultimately voice his interest in partnering with Nintendo to create a new video game. Reggie recalled that the meeting was "interesting" and felt that "Kanye [had] such a passion for the video game space." Despite this praise, Reggie politely declined Kanye's pitch. "We had so many different projects at Nintendo going on, the possibility of doing something with Kanye just wasn't there, and so I had to find a way to politely decline this opportunity to work with him." Reggie reme

Founded in 2009, the award-winning interactive entertainment company Yoozoo Games has developed popular MMO titles like the League of Angels series as well as the  Game of Thrones Winter Is Coming mobile game. Unfortunately, Lin Qi, the 39-year-old CEO of Yoozoo Games and producer on an upcoming Netlflix series from the creators of Game of Thrones, died on Christmas Day. According to CNN , Yoozoo Games' board issued a statement saying, "The directors, supervisors, senior management and all employees of the company express their deep condolences on the passing of Mr. Lin Qi." Moreover, the police investigating Lin Qi's death suspect that the billionaire was poisoned. A colleague of Lin Qi, named Xu, was arrested in Shanghai with the police confirming that Xu was "suspected of committing a major crime." Two days before his death, Yoozoo Games released a statement informing fans that Lin Qi had been admitted to the hospital following a period of "physi

Cyberpunk 2077 has received a ton of justified flak for looking less-than-stellar on last-gen hardware. Well, how bad would it look if it ran on the original PlayStation? One cheeky and talented animator created a cool video providing an idea of how Night City would perform on the classic consoles and the results are hilarious.  The video transports CD Projekt Red’s controversial game back to the 90’s, and it brings its well-documented glitches along for the ride. That includes an NPC suddenly t-posing and floating off into the polygonal ether after V jacks her ride. The kicker, though, is a low-poly Johnny Silverhand stretching his neck like a drugged-out Mr. Fantastic. The video comes courtesy of Anders Lundbjörk , a game developer at Dreamon Studios. Lundbjörk says he made the video using Unity and special shaders to achieve the low resolution and “wobbly look” found in PS1 titles.  Click here to watch embedded media Feel free to make any and all variations of “Cyberpunk alread

Yes, Bayonetta 3 is still happening according to an update by PlatinumGames' Hideki Kamiya in an interview for Famitsu . The Japanese gaming publication ran its annual end-of-year creator interviews where it sat down with 110 Japanese developers to learn what they’re up to and their development goals for 2021. The piece provides updates on studios big and small including Atlus, Konami, Team Ninja, and, of course, Platinum.  Hideki Kamiya reaffirms a statement he made earlier this year by once again confirming that Bayonetta 3 is still in development. He acknowledges the fans' concern over the long-awaited project and says that verifications on new systems “have been going great and development is going very well”. By "new systems", Kamiya likely means gameplay systems and not new consoles since Bayonetta 3 is being published by Nintendo as a Switch exclusive. The highly anticipated sequel was announced at The Game Awards in 2017 and we haven’t heard much about it si

Some people, myself included, believe Crash Team Racing is the best non-Nintendo kart racer ever made. Don't believe me? Well, if you’re a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber you can take CTR's enhanced remake, Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, for a complete test drive thanks to a free game trial starting later this week.  The free trial makes Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled available to play from December 30 to January 5. The trial gives players access to the game’s full suite of modes, which include its local and online multiplayer. Nintendo ran a similar trial for Overwatch a couple of months back, and it seems like it’s becoming a new initiative to help bolster the value of its online subscription service.  On Dec 30 at 11 AM PT until Jan 5 at 11:59 PM PT, #NintendoSwitchOnline members can trial the full version of Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, including local + online multiplayer! It's the Crash Team Racing action you know and love, remastered and revved up on

During the development of Rocsktar’s now long-missing spy game Agent, Rockstar San Diego project leader Luis Gigliotti had to do something far outside his typical job description: Call the United States Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. But he needed help. A small team of artists – his fellow coworkers at Rockstar – were being held under house arrest in Cairo. Not only that, but the Egyptian authorities were also trying to pin the group with false charges of shooting pornography – a crime in the country. He needed assistance in getting them home safe. "And I'll never forget, whoever it was on the call from the Embassy just literally said, 'Are you guys stupid?'" Gigliotti tells me in a recent interview. "'Whatever possessed you to think this was a good idea?'" In 2019, for Polygon , I reported on the development of Agent, talking to developers at Rockstar San Diego who worked on an early version of the game before it was moved to Rockstar North. During

Animal Crossing: New Horizons delivered a diversion when I needed it most during the pandemic. The real world was bubbling with stress and anxiety, but that wasn't the case on an island governed by raccoons. While I questioned their money making schemes, those little critters put my mind at ease with escapism that hit like a warming ray of light. In the opening moments of the pandemic, my mind would shift from dreadful COVID-19 news stories to determining what shade of blue I wanted my walls to be in my beautiful home on my beautiful island. My emotions bounced all over the place like a chaotic game of life pinball, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons helped me keep my fears and uncertainty in check. It either took my mind off of the pandemic, or gave me time to cool down and not freak out about it so intensely. I've always loved the Animal Crossing series, but this entry holds more of a unique charge than its brethren, and it isn't because of how it's different. I hol