Rock climbing has always been one of my passions that for one reason or another, I haven’t had a lot of chances to actually do for a number of years.

So I was excited to try out Jusant by developer Dontnod, best known for their Life is Strange series. Part platformer, part visual novel, part puzzler, Jusant is a unique experience that not only intrigues but also knows how to leave just enough threads unwound to keep the experience from becoming stale.

Jusant follows the experience of your young nameless hero who appears out of the lifeless, monochrome desert to climb a now-abandoned tower of rock and stone. Where the land and tower once held water and life, now all that remains are the vestiges of a close-knit, vibrant, but dying community as they grapple with ever-decreasing natural resources. Your job is to climb this tower, moving from climbing hold to climbing hold ever upwards. There’s never an express reason given for you doing this, but, not to give too much away, as you do it becomes clear why it’s so important you finish your climb.

The tower is split into a number of biomes, each different not only in look and feel but also in environment-specific gameplay mechanics. The lower levels are simple enough, but soon you are learning how to use your new skills in chains and combinations that while never difficult, are increasingly challenging. From simple movements going from rock hold to rock hold, you move to swinging via ropes, and managing your stamina over marathon climbs. It all adds up to a great experience that is shaken up enough not to feel too repetitive. Plus, there are some other abilities unlocked that I’ll save for your own discovery.

A game about rock climbing could be incredibly frustrating if the penalty for falling were to be extreme. Fortunately, there are a number of tools Jusant gives you to keep you from getting too frustrated. You can create an anchor point practically anywhere, which acts as a sort of mini checkpoint in case you do fall. There are relay stations which reset your rope length and stamina, and the game is smart enough to give you enough stopping points along the way to reset and recharge before the next climb.

At these stops you’ll find the remnants of a civilisation whose lives centred around the tower. In letters, newspaper clippings, advertisements, and diary entries you’ll come to know the daily goings-on of some of these inhabitants. As you climb, the tone of these writings are increasingly more desperate. As the water disappears and lives are more deeply affected, people try to adapt or leave for the unknown in the surrounding desert in search of something that could save the tower, or just themselves.

The writing is powerful, and the gorgeous environments tell their own story of everyday life and despair. Otherwise, there’s no talking or dialogue at all, so it’ll be up to you to discover these entries if you want to know what is happening in the world. I would have liked to see a little more explicit motivation for the main character, who seems to be a passenger in their own journey but if you’re willing to dig there’s a powerful story to be told.

Jusant could have been tedious, with long stretches of repetitive movements and each mechanic used a few too many times to be interesting without getting bored or frustrated. But developers dontnod know when to move on to a new environment, mechanic, or setting to keep things mixed up, even if each idea could have been used in perhaps a couple more dramatic ways before it was discarded. It felt like there was a chance for a slightly more impactful denouement for each climbing challenge and mechanic. Instead the drama is reserved for a narrative payoff, which some might prefer anyway.

Playing Jusant made me consider our own world.

What happens to us when we are faced with a changing environment – do we have blind faith that it’ll all work out, do we reach out to the unknown as a last-ditch hope, do we adapt and curl up until we stop? Jusant’s  lone wanderer doesn’t have any specific answers to addressing environmental collapse. But they do show us we should be working at it, to play an active part, to climb, as it were, our own tower.

The post Jusant Review (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Focus Entertainment and DON’T NOD are thrilled to reveal an extensive gameplay overview trailer of their upcoming title Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.

You play a couple of Banishers, Antea Duarte and Red Mac Raith, experienced spirit hunters, sent to New Eden to lift a mysterious curse and solve haunting cases. But after an ill-advised attack, Antea is killed and becomes one of the ghosts she loathes. Torn between their vows to protect the living from malicious spirits and the nightmare of Antea’s condition, you must make hard decisions: Will you honour your Banisher oath or sacrifice the living in a desperate bid to bring your beloved back?

Enter the lives of New Eden’s communities in a world plagued with supernatural creatures and ancient secrets. Combine Antea’s spiritual powers and Red’s powerful arsenal to defeat and banish the souls that torment the living. Uncover secrets, navigate mysterious landscapes, upgrade your gear to unleash another measure of power, and meet memorable but tormented characters whose fate rests in your hands.

Heavy decisions will lie on your path as you decide the fate of New Eden’s inhabitants—be they living people or wandering souls—dramatically impacting your story and the challenges you’ll face.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden releases on the 7th of November, 2023 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

The post Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden – New Gameplay Trailer appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Developers Don’t Nod Games, best known for Life is Strange, Vampyr, Twin Mirror, Gerda a Flame in Winter and so on, are back with another beautifully shaped narrative story, Harmony: the Fall of Reverie.

Initially released on PC and Switch early June (2023) and PlayStation and Xbox late June (2023), Harmony: the Fall of Reverie has players take on the role of Polly, who has returned home to find her hometown drastically changed by megacorporation MK. Unlike others, Polly has the gift of clairvoyance which connects her to another realm called Reverie, the realm of the Aspirations of Humanity. The line between the two worlds is thin so it’s up to us and Polly to decide how we want the fate of the world to pan out.

Recently, I’ve gone through the backlog of Don’t Nod Games and caught up with all of them, enjoying each and every one of them in their own unique but familiar ways. Because of this, Harmony: the Fall of Reverie attracted me from the get go and I was incredibly excited to deep dive into the worlds of Reverie and Brittle.

I’m not going to lie, it’s taken me a while to get used to the idea of 2D games again, taking on a more simplistic art style rather than using today’s increasingly realistic graphics to bring fictional worlds to life. As Dusk Falls, a narrative driven 2D game helped me appreciate and admire how rewarding 2D games can be, especially when having branching narratives and granting more opportunities and resources for endless choices that might otherwise not have been possible.

The art style of Harmony: the Fall of Reverie is gorgeous. Full of colour, texture, beauty and grit, every still image on the screen could be a work of art. Not one shot of the entire game wasn’t worthy of sticking up in a framed picture on a wall, and that’s saying something behind the quality and effort put in by the team to produce a high quality piece.

Characters from both worlds are fleshed out and layered, creating bonds between characters and players very easily, depending on which relationships you choose to pursue. On one hand, the Aspirations were my favourites, making us players constantly think from different perspectives and question our own choices and morals. On the other hand, Polly’s everyday family and friends complimented her in ways rewarding to the story and also pulled us in different directions when approaching scenarios.

As a narrative driven game, Harmony: the Fall of Reverie has no action gameplay. You won’t even find yourself hitting random buttons for quick time events. That doesn’t mean to say there isn’t action, it just plays out determined by how you have chosen the story to play out in the Augural.

Picture the Augural kind of like a family tree or a timeline.

Here is where you are constantly deciding which branch to take, with no going back once a decision has been made unless you start the game all over again. As someone who has currently only played the game once through, I’m unable to deep dive into how detailed choices actually make an impact on the story. It’s no secret there are an abundance of choice driven story games that claim players drive the story, only to have it pushed down the same path anyway. Saying this, there are also games like As Dusk Falls that utilise the 2D narrative story to provide an abundance of actual different choices and endings. My guess is Harmony: the Fall of Reverie is the latter, so I’m excited to revisit the game at a later date, making different choices and following other paths.

Players will find themselves lost in the narrative of Harmony: the Fall of Reverie very early on. The multiple path choices fill your mind with endless storytelling possibilities, leaving you eager to find out more and tell yourself, as the gaming hours add up, to play just one more chapter…

The post Harmony: The Fall of Reverie (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

DON’T NOD, French independent video games developer and publisher, is happy to announce the release dates for its newest seminal narrative experience, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie.

A free playable Steam demo for Harmony: The Fall of Reverie will be available for a limited time as part of LudoNarraCon, which takes place from May 4 to May 8 2023. This demo will be available until May 21 and will span the first act of the game which will introduce Harmony: The Fall of Reverie‘s setting, story, and most of its colorful cast of characters. Members of the development team will also stream the demo on the game’s Steam page.

A brand-new trailer, which offers a deeper look at Harmony: The Fall of Reverie’s colorful universe and branching pathways, is now available.

In Harmony: The Fall of Reverie, players will step into the shoes of Polly, a young woman returning home to look for her missing mother. On her journey, Polly discovers she has the gift of clairvoyance that connects her to another world, Reverie, where she becomes Harmony. Players must attempt to restore balance between our world and Reverie, the realm of the divine beings known as Aspirations: Glory, Bliss, Power, Chaos, Bond, and Truth.

As Harmony, they will have to choose an Aspiration to be the new Heart of Humanity. Use the Augural to go from scene to scene, see into the future, and open new paths. Reverie is the place in which resources will be managed: crystals that Harmony gains from making decisions and bonding with Aspirations. These will unlock important nodes in the story and change the course of destiny.

In addition to a captivating story, the game will feature a delightful cast of characters and a universe rich in lore to explore. It will also boast a colorful, lively, and futuristic aesthetic, and an outstanding original soundtrack created by the talented, award-winning composer, Lena Raine.

“We’re excited to have the opportunity to participate in this year’s LudoNarraCon alongside many fellow narrative game developers and to introduce players to the universe of Harmony: The Fall of Reverie. We can’t wait to hear everyone’s first impressions of the demo and the enchanting worlds we’ve built.”, says Cyrille Combes, Executive Producer of Harmony: The Fall of Reverie.

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is developed and published by DON’T NOD and will be available on June 8th, 2023 on PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch and on June 22 2023 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

The post Fall of Reverie Gameplay Trailer appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

DONTNOD Entertainment announces today that pre-orders for Twin Mirror are now live on Xbox One (via the Microsoft Store) and PlayStation 4 (via the PlayStation Store).

Players pre-ordering the game on PlayStation 4 will receive a dynamic theme inspired by the game’s main character Sam Higgs’ Mind Palace.

Co-produced with Shibuya Productions, this new story driven adventure has been available for pre-order in the Epic Games Store since September 15th, 2020. Pre-ordering the game on this platform, players will also get the digital original game soundtrack.

On December 1st, 2020, Twin Mirror’s players will slip in Sam Higgs’ shoes and start investigating the mysteries surrounding Basswood and its inhabitants. As a former investigative journalist, Sam Higgs has developed multiple analytical skills represented in the game by the Mind Palace, a place where players will discover multiple aspects of his personality.

Thanks to unique gameplay mechanics serving the narrative, Sam’s Mind Palace is a safe space where the protagonist can be his true self without any pressure or judgment. Players will be able to revisit Sam’s past and witness his memories during flashback sequences in order to unveil the truth. Sam’s singular mind both logical and analytical can sometimes hurt his acquaintances’ feelings, that’s when the Double comes into play. This is a character only Sam can see. A representation of himself more emphatic and social.  Sam can always rely on this ally to guide him through social interactions and navigate a society that sometimes rejects singularity.

Along the way, players will face drastic choices with major implications regarding how the events will unfold. Who to listen to? Who to trust? Confronted with his own doubts, which voice will Sam decide to follow in his quest for the truth? Some of his decisions will massively impact the story…

Twin Mirror is DONTNOD’s first self-published title and co-produced with Shibuya Productions. In this psychological thriller, Sam Higgs is coming back to Basswood, his childhood town, for his best friend’s funeral. It quickly becomes obvious that this little West Virginian city holds numerous dark secrets. The former investigative journalist will employ his deductive skills to uncover the mysteries surrounding the city and its inhabitants. Confronted with his past, Sam will be torn between his quest for truth and his desire to reconnect with loved ones. Who can he really trust?

Twin Mirror will be released the 1st of December 2020 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One (Microsoft Store) and PC. The digital PC version will be exclusively available on the Epic Games Store for one year.

Twin Mirror will be compatible with PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

Everyone that works on STG is a volunteer. If you like the site and its contents please think about donating. Even a small amount helps keep the servers running.

The post Twin Mirror Pre-orders are Now appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Dontnod’s seminal series Life is Strange was a powerful narrative adventure focusing on two teenagers coming to terms with themselves, their lives, their town, and their superpowers.

Dontnod’s followup, Tell Me Why, takes a clear lineage from those games, with a more mature, considered take that matches the similarly more sophisticated themes.

Tell Me Why opens with Tyler Ronan finishing up a juvenile rehabilitation facility, 10 years after he kills his mother when she attacks him. Linking up with his twin Alyson, they return to their remote, abandoned childhood home in remote Alaska to sort it out before its sale, and come to terms with their shared past.

While the story is the tale of the twins, the story does focus primarily on Tyler. His experience of his childhood, his incarceration and the world he now finds himself takes a while to get going, but the twists and turns, at least in the first three chapters that I played, are interesting, if smaller scale than in previous Dontnod games.

At the Ronan’s childhood home, it is there that the twins reconnect with their “Voice”, a silent, telepathic connection that allows them to talk remotely. They also discover a new ability to see shared memories, though, interestingly, how these memories play out can differ between the two. These two abilities play a significant role not only in the story, but in the gameplay mechanics as well.

Speaking to someone? Why not discuss silently with each other about what they’re saying and if you should press them further? Or perhaps a shared, previously forgotten memory fundamentally rewrites what both twins remember happened. It’s an interesting twist on the gameplay, though, over time I don’t feel that it was used as innovatively as it could be.

As in Life is Strange, or similar games such as The Walking Dead, each choice you make affects the course of the story and the relationship between each character. But this gets to one of the areas of Tell Me Why that don’t hold up over the course of the three chapters I played.

Fundamentally, the narrative of Tell Me Why is that of personal reflection, understanding and growth, drawing on the twins’ shared past and childhood. Unlike other, similar games, there are almost no external stakes. While in Life is Strange you were fighting for the very survival of Arcadia Bay, in Tell My Why the world around you, for the most part, is largely static, reacting against you rather than being a source of conflict or interest itself.

In some ways what Dontnod have attempted in their story is more ambitious than ever before. Tyler is a trans man, and telling a story firmly centred around that, in remote Alaska, is a task more complex than that of teenage dreams or of the living dead. It is a far more mature discussion and praiseworthy that Dontnod do not shy away from some of the harder issues in this space, noting that this is a topic in which I am admittedly not an expert to speak on. There is no overabundance of “hellas” here or other cringey “fellow kids” moments.

But unfortunately what we end up with is a story that feels much more linear than before, without the sense that our decisions are having major impacts on the world, since the focus of the story is on discovering what has already happened rather than creating that history yourself. Where before your decisions might determine who lives and dies, now choosing one path or the other tends to simply hurt somebody’s feelings, which you may not even care about if you think your decision was correct regardless of its consequences.

Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is important to set your expectations if you were a fan of the Life is Strange series or Telltale adventures. It is the story of Tyler, and Alyson, told through the medium of interactive media, rather than a choose-your-own adventure game where the player instead has narrative agency. Where before you might legitimately play through the game multiple times to see what happens if you take one path over another, I couldn’t see how many decisions that I took would affect the overall story in Tell Me Why and so I felt satisfied that one time through was enough.

That said, the work on animations, environment and the game world is top notch. Playing on an Xbox One X, the frozen Alaskan town looked stunning, with richly detailed environments and some nice particle effects. The voice acting is also top-notch, and each voice actor is excellently matched with their character. I only had one technical issue in my time with the game – a hard crash to the Xbox’s dashboard, but luckily the checkpoint system meant that I didn’t lose much progress.

And thankfully each chapter is a good length. Chapters in Life is Strange 2, in particular, felt bloated and unnecessarily long. Tell Me Why has a clearer story to tell, and there’s less wandering around looking at random objects before you get to the meat of the story. I’m glad the developers have gone with shorter chapters, and fewer of them, because each progresses the story meaningfully without getting sidetracked.

Narrative adventure games like this are one of my favourite genres, and I’m always pleased when a new high-budget entry makes an appearance. It’s even better when it’s on Xbox Game Pass, all released at once, where I don’t need to wait 6 excruciating weeks in between each episode. Yet, Tell Me Why didn’t resonate with me, didn’t impact me as much as other Dontnod games (or the excellent Life is Strange: Before the Storm). I felt less in control of the characters and what they were going through, and more of a backseat drivers. And while it is fantastic all three chapters are available at launch, the ending of each felt less important, less necessary than if they were being released separately.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a fine game that I am glad is out there, a solid entry into its genre, and is a perfect weekend bite to enjoy sitting back on the lounge with your choice of beverage – I just don’t think it will change the world.

The post Tell Me Why (Xbox One) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Still wondering what to get for the gamer in your life this Christmas?

STG has you covered. From retro classics to driving tractors, this year has a game for everyone.

Old timers and newbies alike will enjoy either a trip down memory lane or a glimpse of how we used to game with Sega Mega Drive Classics. This neatly curated package of fifty gaming gems from the 1990’s offer a museum-like presentation of such pieces of gaming history such as Golden Axe I, II and III, Space Harrier II, Virtua Fighter 2 and, of course, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Available on PS4, Xbox One and now also Nintendo Switch, this massive collection of games from the Sega vault should be on every gamer’s Christmas list.

Things take a somewhat darker turn in DontNod’s Vampyr. In this action RPG, players step into the shoes of Victorian doctor and newly-turn vampire, Jonathon Reid. As the good doctor fights his bloodlust, he must scour the smog-choked streets of London searching for the creature responsible for his predicament.

Steeped in atmosphere, and beautifully rendered, Vampyr offers up macabre tale that requires both quick reflexes and an inquisitive mind. The game is available on Windows PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Keeping with the horror theme, H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos come to life in Call of Cthulhu. The game is based on the 1980s pen and paper role-playing game of the same name. Set in the 1920s, French outfit, Cyanide’s Call of Cthulhu follows private detective Edward Pierce as he uncovers clues pertaining to a case that heralds the arrival of the elder god, Cthulhu.

The game combines the usual RPG elements, with players also following leads to further unlock the mystery. As with Vampyr, Call of Cthulhu is out on Windows PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

And now for something completely different. If hellish adventures are not your sort of thing, perhaps a trip down on the farm is what you are looking for. GIANTS Software’s Farming Simulator 19 has broken the franchise record in selling more than a million copies worldwide in the first 10 days of release.

Bringing a welcome break from the blood-soaked carnage that seems to be gaming’s mainstay these days, Farming Simulator puts players in charge of running a farm and, more importantly, in the driving seat of a variety of farm equipment. With licenced John Deere vehicles added to this year’s roster, joining the likes of Massey Ferguson and New Holland, players can put themselves behind the wheel of over 300 meticulously modeled farming equipment.

Players can choose from US or European environments in which to build up their farm, tending to needs of livestock and crops. Farms can even be taken online to have them prosper with the help of other players.

Farming Simulator 19 is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Mac.

If you think tending to farm animals is a little too pedestrian for your gaming loved ones, perhaps managing the dinosaurs of Jurassic World is more their thing.

Jurassic World Evolution is a strategy game that ties into, and expands upon, the dinosaur movie franchise. Players must not only manage their own Jurassic parks, but also research and breed new dinosaurs.

As well as keeping the park financially afloat, things like keeping on top of the electrical supply and security also need to be considered. Dinosaurs need suitably secure pens- separating herbivores from the carnivores, and the visitors need viewing platforms.

Hopefully players maintain their parks more effectively that the park management in the movies. Jurassic World Evolution is available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Managing a park full of dinosaurs in one thing, surviving on an island infested with them is another. Studio Wildcard’s action-adventure survival game, Ark: Survival Evolved. has enjoyed success from PC to Xbox One and PS4. Players can now, also enjoy the game on Nintendo’s Switch.

Switch version does lack some of the fidelity of it’s console and PC counterparts. This is offset, somewhat, by that ability to take the game with you and play on the go.

Ark has players choosing to play on either an online server with other players, or locally on their own. After customising your survivor, you awake on the shore of a strange island. Around you dinosaurs of all type roam and fly in the air.

Players start with nothing. Resources such as stone, wood and twine need to be gathered to make tools, clothes and shelter.

As players progress, they gain experience unlocking stat points which in turn can be used to buy engrams: the plans required to craft new items. Player progress from using rudimentary tools to high tech equipment.

As well as hunting the island’s dinosaur population for food, players can also tame the wildlife. They can them be used as mounts or used to assist in harvesting materials.

The main goal of the game is to survive. But the island has many secrets that can be uncovered as players explore the huge landscape.

Ark: Survival Evolved is available on PC, Xbox One and now Nintendo Switch. The Switch version allows players to take the incredible, immersive world of the Ark with them.

Next, we go from survival adventure on a mysterious island to survival adventure under an alien ocean, with Unknown Worlds Entertainment’s, Subnautica. This is another survival game that cut its teeth, to widespread acclaim, on PC, before making the recent jump to console.

The game starts with a harrowing decent from orbit in a life pod, before crashing on an ocean planet known only as 4546B. On exiting the pod, you find yourself alone floating on a vast ocean, in the distance the wreckage of your huge star cruiser, Aurora, burns. After a while it disappears beneath the waves, leaving the player, the ships only survivor, alone.

As is the case with survival games, players need to scavenge resources, this time from the seabed. With limited oxygen, at least at first, dive depths will be limited. Fortunately, there’s an abundance of debris from the crashed space cruiser, sitting in the shallows.

Players must develop equipment and vehicles to extend their exploration and unlock more blueprints. In time underwater habitats can be built to use as bases and submersible vehicles constructed in which to further explore the planet and uncover its secrets.

The beautiful undersea world makes exploration exciting and never dull. There are plenty of surprises and mysterious places for player to find in order to piece together why the ship crashed and how to get off the planet.

Subnautica is out for PC, Mac and as of December this year, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Taking a break from escaping with your life, Saber Interactive have just bought their Mudrunner – American Wilds 4×4 truck simulator to the Switch. Having enjoyed a great reception on PC, Xbox One and PS4, the Switch version of this entry into the Spintires franchise comes complete with the original game plus the American Wilds DLC.

The game features huge wilderness environments for players to traverse using a variety of 4×4 vehicles. Missions have player collecting logs and other deliveries and transporting them across some of the muddiest terrain every seen in a videogame.

The terrain is unforgiving and features an impressive reform-able landscape. Anyone that has done any off-road driving will immediately recognize the feeling as your truck’s wheels start to burrow into the mud. You see the mud building up on the tires.

The mud will have you engaging diff. lock, turning the wheel full lock and rocking the truck to get free. If it all gets too much, thankfully some of the vehicles come with winches to pull them out of trouble. The vehicle handling and the game’s physics all feel spot on.

The game looks great. It’s a credit to the developers to have squeezed the game onto the Switch with barely a compromise.

The package features a load of tutorial and challenges, as a campaign mode that’ll test even the most dedicated off-roader. Mudrunner– American Wilds is available on Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Sega’s Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a remake of the 2006 third-person action-adventure game, Yakuza 2. The game follows ex-yakuza gang-member Kazuma Kirya as he travels around open world environments across the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka.

Following the death of his former leader, Kazuma must find avert an all-out gang war whilst replacing the head of the Tojo Clan. The story is heavy-hitting, but with elements of quirky Japanese humour.

The remastered visuals look great, but the original game didn’t look too bad, either.

The Yakuza series has been popular in Japan for years but has fast been gaining fans in the west. The game is packed with mini-games, including the opportunity to revisit Sega arcade classics, Virtua Fighter and Virtua On.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is available on PlayStation 4.

All the above gaming experiences are worth picking up, but for the gamer that has everything, a great audio solution may the gift that you are looking for.

Turtle Beach are pioneers in the realm of computer audio. In recent years that same expertise has created some of the best gaming headsets PC and console owners.

The Turtle Beach Ear Force Atlas One wired gaming headset is one of the most versatile on the market. It is compatible with PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and most mobile phones.

The compact design and lightweight construction hide a robust metal-reinforced headband and great-sounding 40mm memory-foam encased speakers. There’s a volume control on the left side of the headset for easy adjustment.

The headset has a snug fit that never feels too tight. I wear glasses, which Turtle Beach have accommodated with a softer foam just where the arms of your glasses are.

The discrete microphone picks up your voice, without having it hover in front of your face. It also flips back, flush with the headset, muting your voice as well, when not in use.

The Atlas One has a 3.5mm connector that will fit a PlayStation 4 controller, the newer Xbox One S and X controller, into the top of a Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita and compatible mobile phones. For PC owners there is a Speaker / mic splitter cable.

Older Xbox One controllers will need the Ear Force Headset Controller, available separately. Similarly, PC players wanting to connect the headset via USB will need to purchase a suitable USB audio controller with a 3.5mm socket.

Versatile, compact, lightweight and well built, the Ear Force Atlas One is a great headset. For gamers that use multiple devices, it’s a great all-in-one headset solution. And at only $90 AUD it’s particularly great value for money.

We hope that the above guide helps you decide on what to get the gamer in your life this Christmas. Be sure to come back in the new year for more gaming goodness on STG.

The post Gaming Gifts for everyone this Christmas appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Square Enix has revealed to us here at STG their LIFE IS STRANGE 2 release date and brand new trailer (above).

The next entry in the highly successful, critically-acclaimed and award-winning franchise from DONTNOD Entertainment, the creators of the original LIFE IS STRANGE sees this new first entry in the all-new five-episode story of LIFE IS STRANGE 2,

Discover a story of two brothers, 16-year old Sean and 9-year old Daniel Diaz, who have to flee their home in suburban Seattle after a tragic event that changes their lives forever. On the run from the police, Sean makes a difficult decision; to take his brother and go to Puerto Lobos, Mexico. Life on the road is dangerous and the brothers will be faced with tough decisions as they bravely undertake a journey that will test the bonds of brotherhood.

Everything is new in LIFE IS STRANGE 2 – a new cast of characters, multiple new settings, new gameplay features and a brand new power for players to discover, making Life is Strange 2 the most ambitious project in series history.

“The release of Captain Spirit was a great moment for the team and we can’t wait to introduce the players to the new story and characters of Life is Strange 2” said Raoul Barbet, Co-Creative Director of LIFE IS STRANGE 2 at DONTNOD Entertainment. “We have worked hard with the original team to keep what I personally loved to craft in the first game: the mood, the cinematographic work and of course, the music.”

“After the exciting adventures of Max and Chloe, we are extremely happy that you will all soon meet Sean and Daniel Diaz, our new protagonists, and follow them on their journey.” said Michel Koch, Co-Creative Director of LIFE IS STRANGE 2 at DONTNOD Entertainment. “We love diving back into the Life is Strange universe along with our lead writer, Jean-Luc Cano, to create our new story and characters”.

DONTNOD Entertainment are back with an all-new story to tell, and have been hard at work on LIFE IS STRANGE 2 since completing work on LIFE IS STRANGE. DONTNOD are set to continue their tradition of telling compelling stories with believable characters in a grounded setting, with a new tale that tackles relatable real-world themes like brotherhood, education and coming of age.

“We’re very excited to present Life is Strange 2, one of our most important releases of the year. After the overwhelming success of the original, we knew that crafting a sequel that is every bit as compelling and powerful as the first game would be a real challenge”, said Jon Brooke, VP of Brand and European Marketing at Square Enix External Studios. “We are confident that the talented team at DONTNOD, who have been working closely with the Square Enix External Studios team, have truly outdone themselves.”

LIFE IS STRANGE 2 will release on September 27th, 2018 on Xox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC.

The post LIFE IS STRANGE 2 Reveal Trailer appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Square Enix announced today during the Microsoft E3 Briefing that THE AWESOME ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN SPIRIT, an all-new, original narrative experience demo set in the critically acclaimed, award-winning LIFE IS STRANGE franchise, is coming to XBOX ONE.

Return to your childhood with a touching and heart-warming, one-of-a-kind narrative experience, from the directors and development team behind the BAFTA award winning game LIFE IS STRANGE. Chris is an ordinary 10-year old boy who wants to be a superhero. He loves his toys and has a big imagination that takes him on all sorts of adventures, but today is not one of his usual adventures, today something truly extraordinary will happen to him.

DONTNOD Entertainment are back with an all-new original and endearing story that will let you experience a slice of young Chris’ life, as he turns an ordinary Saturday into an epic superhero adventure.

THE AWESOME ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN SPIRIT is not LIFE IS STRANGE 2, but is the first step towards the highly anticipated sequel. The episode is a self-contained narrative experience allowing players to discover plenty of hidden secrets with each play-through. THE AWESOME ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN SPIRIT will feature links to the brand-new story of LIFE IS STRANGE 2.

“We’re very excited to present THE AWESOME ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN SPIRIT. We have created a self-contained narrative experience that’s brimming with content – the deeper you dig, the more you will discover. We’re happy to announce that we will be giving away this content completely free of charge.” – said Jon Brooke, VP of Brand and European Marketing at SQUARE ENIX.

“We have always imagined LIFE IS STRANGE as a diverse universe filled with interesting characters and stories to tell. THE AWESOME ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN SPIRIT and the story of Chris is one of many stories that we really want to share with the world.” – said Michel Koch and Raoul Barbet, Creative Directors of Life is Strange at DONTNOD Entertainment.

It is completely free of charge, and does not require any additional purchases to enjoy the full experience.

THE AWESOME ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN SPIRIT will also release on PlayStation 4 and Windows PC in addition to XBOX ONE, digitally and completely free on a permanent basis for everyone on June 26, 2018.

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Developed by DONTNOD Entertainment, the studio behind the critically-acclaimed Life is Strange, Twin Mirror showcases a player-driven experience featuring a malleable narrative that chronicles the journey of a tormented hero who must walk a tightrope between the harsh realities of the film noir-esque Basswood, West Virginia, and his own personal struggle.

“Twin Mirror is a game heavily rooted in the concept of duality, redemption and self-acceptance and is on track to deliver a stunning emotional journey” said Oskar Guilbert, DONTNOD’s CEO. “While we were scripting the player’s investigations within the game, we suddenly found ourselves researching just how far the limits of the Narrative Adventure genre could be pushed in the real world. When the dust settled, all evidence pointed towards Twin Mirror being a stunning emotional journey. Now, we can’t wait to see how the players react when all the pieces of their investigation fall into place within the game.”

Players will assume the role of Sam, a 33-year-old investigative journalist who suffered a harsh breakup he’s desperately trying to overcome, returning home to bury an old friend. As Sam wakes up one morning in his motel room with a bloody shirt and no memories of his whereabouts the previous night, he embarks on a thrilling investigation to find the truth, with his mind as his only weapon. Twin Mirror offers the ability to dive into Sam’s painful memories to personally and uniquely shape the investigation through a series of gut-wrenchingly impactful choices, each bringing the player one step closer to discovering both the truth, and their place in the world.

“Now more than ever, gamers are seeking out narrative journeys that not only progress the story in a particular direction but force them to make difficult moral decisions that impact the outcome in real, dramatic ways.” said Eric Hartness, Vice President of Marketing for BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.

“Twin Mirror is our first entry into the world of Narrative adventures, and by partnering with the creative artists at DONTNOD, we are working to create a title that not only meets and exceed the high standard they’ve set but forms the foundation for new and compelling narrative adventures in the years to come.” Adds Hervé Hoerdt, Vice President of Marketing & Digital at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe.

Twin Mirror will be available in 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and STEAM for PC.

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