The majority of Directive 8020 is set on a Space Colony ship called the Cassiopeia. The crew’s objective is to be the first people on Tau Ceti F and make sure it is okay for the colony ships following to settle there. One of the best parts of the game is the environment and its atmosphere. The game does a good job of making you feel trapped on a ship with the threat and the characters on board.

Directive 8020 Characters and Story

The cast consists of 10 characters total, but focuses on 5 of them. A couple of the characters stand out, but others are bland. A lot of the dialogue is stale with no chemistry between characters, and other times, the dialogue is compelling. So overall, it is a mixed bag.

Dialogue choices in the game matter as they are used to progress traits, which unlock destinies. Destinies are other outcomes for some scenarios that occur if the corresponding trait has leveled up enough. There is also an optional messaging feature, which is a nice added detail to help get to know the characters. During some parts of the game, the active character can message the other survivors, and sometimes the player can choose which message to send to help progress traits.

The story of Directive 8020, for the most part, is predictable as it follows a lot of horror tropes, especially since its main inspirations are Alien and The Thing. By the end of the game, the story does get better and includes some really memorable twists, which makes the 8-chapter story worth checking out. The game takes the approach of the player knowing a lot of elements that the characters do not. This both helps and hurts the story as some parts are predictable, but others lead to surprising outcomes.

A big example of this is the use of flashforwards, where the player knows what is going to happen when the story reaches a certain point. The story also does not change too much, as most outcomes are very similar. In a game where choices matter, not many parts feel like the player’s choice really matters.

Replayability and Exploration

The turning-points system is back, which is a good thing. It is a really good system that allows players to replay and change the story’s outcome at any time. Locked outcomes show requirements that are needed. These requirements are that either a character’s destiny be unlocked, a certain character be alive, or that a particular previous story branch be achieved. The game also shows total completion. It is easy for a completionist to track which scenes are missing, as well as find collectibles.

The biggest feature in Directive 8020 compared to Supermassive Games’ previous games is being able to walk around and explore parts of the ship. The levels are linear as it is a narrative-driven game, but there are parts where you can explore side rooms. These lead to finding more details about the setting and story, as well as finding secret collectibles. It makes the game more engaging, allowing the player to get to know the ship and its secrets. There is also a lockpicking minigame, adding to the exploration and the feeling of tension when sneaking around.

Stealth

The game features stealth sections where the player has to sneak around the current threat. However, the enemy AI could be heavily improved. The enemies always follow a set, predictable path, which makes it easy to evade if the player pays attention. But if the player gets caught, there is a second-chance mechanic that lets the character stun the enemy and get away. The stealth never changes, except that the setting becomes creepier as the game progresses. As the game goes on, some stealth sections feel repetitive. It is more of the same, which makes it feel lackluster.

Final Reaction

Overall, Directive 8020 is a fine game. Fans of this kind of game will enjoy it, and its added features help get new players invested. The story is worth experiencing despite some stale characters and uninspired gameplay segments.

The game is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S/X. On PC, there is a lack of optimization that the developers hopefully will patch soon.

The post Directive 8020 Review: A Fine Sci-Fi Experience appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The visuals of Deadhaus Sonata looked like a clean version of an early 2000s game. Even though it is simplistic compared to a lot of modern games, including some other indie games, it still had a particular feel that looked good for the most part. The biggest visual drawback is the rain visuals where it felt there was too much and too dense. There was also an issue where the character creator would not work so at this point could not make any new characters or customize appearance.

Players control a vampire with a focus on combat, which unfortunately felt stiff and was not enjoyable. The main attacks felt clunky, plus the dodge didn’t feel responsive and was hard to execute. The most promising aspect of combat is the use of ability cards, which can be assigned to any ability slot. The abilities themselves did help the combat feel a little better, but much like the base combat, it still feels clunky. The mechanics presented could be refined in future updates to create a good combat system.

Another major frustration with the game is the lack of explanations for how to accomplish tasks or what to do next. Normally, having to figure out mechanics is fine, but with the game in an early state, the bugs make it frustrating to do so. One example was the main narrator repeating itself constantly when looking at the celestial clock or other menus. Sometimes the voice repeats over itself and causes a headache.

The Celestial Clock is one of the systems in the tutorial that took a little bit of time to figure out how it works. The game does not fully explain its function, but it has a lot of information presented with it, such as the current time and weather. The clock also shows a solar system of planets and current positions, which is used for puzzles.

After the tutorial, the game has a focus on limited exploration, where you pick an area to go to. There’s no direction on what to do other than roam around and defeat enemies. I could tell there are other areas to explore, but it does not say how to unlock those areas. At one point, there was an event to defeat enemies attacking a tower, which felt like an unwinnable situation because while defeating waves of enemies, they still destroyed the tower anyway. After finishing the final map, I had no idea what to do next, as the main objective only said to go back to the hub, leaving me with no other direction and nowhere new to go.

Overall, Deadhaus Sonata’s initial early access release is a disappointment as it feels like a game in alpha. What the small team of developers made has the potential to become a game worth playing, given more time. There is a foundation of puzzles in the exploration, along with aspects of combat, such as the abilities or finishers, that show there’s a solid idea that needs time to be worked on and fleshed out. Hopefully, the game is more fun with friends when figuring out what to do next. Despite the game starting in a rough state, it could make a comeback just like No Man’s Sky.

The post Deadhaus Sonata Preview: A Pale Beginning appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

All definitions are official definitions derived from using the Major League Baseball Glossary and Baseball Savant. All of these stat categories appear in the Advanced Stats tab of the player profile for their respective categories (hitter or pitcher).

BATTER AND PITCHER ADVANCED STATS (NEW)

1st Row

• BIP – Balls in Play
• GB/FB – Ground Balls to Fly Balls Ratio
• LD% – Line Drive Rate
• GB% – Ground Ball Rate
• FB% – Fly Ball Rate
• IFFB% – Infield Fly Ball Rate
• HR/FB – Home Runs per Fly Ball rate
• IFH% – Infield hit rate
• BUH% – Bunt hit rate
• Pull% – Rate the ball is pulled
• Cent% – Rate ball is hit up the middle
• Oppo% – Rate the ball is hit opposite field
• Soft% – Rate ball is hit softly
• Med% – Rate Ball is hit with average power
• Hard% – Rate ball is hit hard (Exit Velocity equal or greater than 95 MPH)

2nd Row

• AVG EV – Average Exit Velocity of hit balls
• MAX EV – Highest exit velocity of hit balls
• AVG LA – Average Launch Angle of hit balls
• Barrels – How many balls are barreled. A barreled ball a ball must have an exit velocity of at least 98 mph and a launch angle between 26-30 degrees.
• Barrel % – Percentage of hit balls in play that are barreled.
• Hard Hit – Number of balls in play that are hit over 95 miles per hour
• xBA – Expected Batting Average is the likelihood that a ball in play will fall in for a hit
• xSLG – Expected Slugging Percentage is the expected rate at which the batter will slug the ball based weighted by each type of hit the player has tallies. The formula is (1B + 2Bx2 + 3Bx3 + HRx4)/AB)
• wOBA (For some reason there is no tracking of this in OOTP 27 but including it for you stat nerds because it relates to the below stat) – Weighted On-Base Average is a look at what kind of hits (and walks) a player used to get on base rather than just if they did or not.
• Determined via historical scoring data to get an average contribution to run production. This changes every season as new numbers are added to the data.

• Home Run: Worth approximately 2.037 runs.
• Triple: Worth approximately 1.252 runs.
• Double: Worth approximately 1.252 runs.
• Single: Worth approximately 0.882 runs.
• Walk: Worth approximately 0.691 runs

Looking at those numbers, it can be stated that the average homerun is a 2-run homer.

xwOBA – Expected Weighted On-Base Average uses the same factors for each kind of hit.

Batter Only

HITTER STATS

BATTER STATS YOU MAY CONSIDER ADVANCED IN BATTING STATS TAB (OLD)

OPS+ – Adjusted On-Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage
WAR – Wins Above Replacement

To find these change the view of the Career Batting Stats or Batting Splits tabs of the Batting Stats of the player card.

• wOBA – Weighted On-Base Average
• ISO – Isolated Power
• BABIP – Batting Average of Balls in Play
• wRC+ – Adjusted Weighted Runs Created
• WPA – Win Probability Added
• UBR – Base Running Value
• BsR – Total Baserunning Runs Value

Percentile Rankings (Batters)

Batted Balls

• Batting RV – Batting Run Value – This is the odds that a run will score during his at bat. In this case Gunnar has a 23.5% chance of having a run score during his at bats. It also shows the percentile for this stat. (Gunnar Henderson in this simulated season was in the top 4% of batting run value)
• Baserunning RV – Baserunning Run Value – This is the number of runs a player contributes when they are on base whether it is stealing bases or getting extra bases. In the case of Gunnar, when he was on base the Orioles were able to score 2.2 runs which puts him in the 90th percentile.
• Fielding RV – Fielding Run Value – This number is the amount of runs a player’s defensive performance (all aspects of it including holding runners from stealing in Gunnar’s case.) contributes to the team. In this case, Gunnar, who is typically not great defensively, causes his team to actually lose 1.5 runs per his defensive action putting him in the low 38th percentile of fielders.
• HR/FB – Home Runs per Fly Ball
• Soft % – Percentage of balls in play that are hit under 95 MPH.
• Solid % – Percentage of balls in play that are hit just under the definition of a barreled ball (See above for barreled ball definition)
• Barrel% – Percentage of balls in play that are barreled. (See above for barreled ball definition)
• Hard% – Percentage of balls in play that are hit over 95 MPH.
• Avg EV – Average Exit Velocity
• Max EV – Highest Exit Velocity achieved

Superstats

• xBACON – Expected batting average on contacted balls
• xSLGCON – Expected slugging percentage on contacted balls
• xwOBACON – Expected Weighted On Base Percentage on contacted balls
• xBA – See definition in Batter Advanced Stats (New) Section
• xSLG – See definition in Batter Advanced Stats (New) Section
• xwOBA – See definition in Batter Advanced Stats (New) Section
• K% – Percentage of strikeouts in at bats
• BB% Percentage of walks in at bats
• SB% – Percentage of stolen base success

Pitch Value

• Fastball RV – Run value on fastballs faced
• Breaking RV – Run value on breaking balls faced
• Offspeed RV – Run value on offspeed pitches faced
• Whiff% – Rate at which batter swung and missed at pitches
• O-Swing% – Rate at which batter swung at pitches outside the strike zone
• Z-Swing% – Rate at which batter swung at pitches in the strike zone
• Swing% – Rate at which batter swung at pitches thrown to him
• O-Contact% – Rate at which batter made contact with pitches outside the strike zone
• Z-Contact% – Rate at which batter made contact with pitches in the strike zone
• Contact% – Rate at which batter made contact with pitches thrown to him

Batter Spray Chart

• This shows where a batter has hit the ball. As you can see you can change what is shown. The legend contains:
• GO (Groundout)
• FO (Flyout)
• SI (Single)
• DO (Double)
• TR (Triple)
• HR (Home Run)

Pitcher Only

PITCHER STATS YOU MAY CONSIDER ADVANCED IN PITCHER STATS TAB (OLD)

• BABIP – Batting Average of batters faced when they put the ball in play
• ERA+ – Adjusted Earned Run Average – Earned Run Average that also takes into account ballpark factors. A full table of Ballpark Factors can be found here at Baseball Savant
• WAR – (See definition above)

3rd Row in Advanced Stats

• Pitches – Number of pitches thrown
• O-Swing % – Percentage of pitches thrown outside the zone were swung at
• Z-Swing % – Percentage of pitches thrown inside the zone were swung at
• Swing% – Percentage of pitches thrown were swung at
• OC% – Percentage of pitchers thrown outside the zone
• ZC% – Percentage of pitches thrown inside the zone
• Zone% – The ratio in percentage of balls thrown in the zone to balls thrown out of the zone
• RV – Run Value
• RV-FB – Run Value on Fastballs thrown
• RV-BR – Run Value on Breaking Balls thrown
• RV-OFF – Run Value on Off Speed Pitches thrown
• Close% – Percentage of pitches thrown in a 2-strike count
• Whiff% – Percentage of pitches thrown that resulted in a swing and miss
• Chase% – Percentage of pitches thrown outside the zone that batters chased at

Percentile Rankings (Pitchers)

Batted Ball

• GB% – Percentage of pitches hit that ended up as ground balls
• GB/FB – Ground ball to Fly ball ratio on pitches hit
• HR/FB – Homerun to Fly Ball ratio on pitches hit
• Avg EV – Average exit velocity for balls hit
• Soft % – Percentage of pitches thrown that were hit into play softly
• Solid % – Percentage of pitches thrown that had solid contact made on them
• Barrel % – Percentage of pitches thrown that were barreled
• Hard % – Percentage of pitches thrown that were hit hard

Superstats

• xERA
• xBACON – Expected batting average on contacted balls
• xSLGCON – Expected slugging percentage on contacted balls
• xwOBACON – Expected Weighted On Base Percentage on contacted balls
• xBA – See definition in Batter Advanced Stats (New) Section
• xSLG – See definition in Batter Advanced Stats (New) Section
• xwOBA – See definition in Batter Advanced Stats (New) Section
• K/BB
• K% – Percentage of strikeouts in at bats
• BB% Percentage of walks in at bats

Pitch Result

See other definitions in Pitcher 3rd Row of Advanced Stats except for Contact %, which can be found in the Batter’s Pitch Value Section.

Pitch Type

• Pitching RV – Pitching Run Value – Avg number of runs a pitcher prevented based on his pitching
• Fastball RV – Fastball Run Value – Avg number of runs a pitcher prevents when throwing a fastball
• Breaking RV – Breaking Run Value – Avg number of runs a pitcher prevents when throwing a breaking ball
• Offspeed RV – Offspeed Run Value – Avg number of runs a pitcher prevents when throwing an offspeed pitch
• All Fastball% – Percentage of any type of fastball thrown
• Breaking% – Percentage breaking balls are thrown
• All Offspeed% – Percentage of any type of offspeed pitch thrown
• FB Velo – Average Fastball Velocity

Pitch Usage Chart

This shows the percentage of pitches the pitcher used.

If anything is missing from this guide that you feel should be added, please contact me on X at @darthpyrin.

The post Out of the Park Baseball 27’s Advanced Stats Guide appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

This demo, also remastered, starts with a bit of info on the cancelled game. The story apparently focuses on Kain’s continuing quest to purify the Pillars of Nosgoth to heal the land once more. Also, it seems this game would have continued to focus on the demon beings known as Hylden, whom you faced in Defiance as both Raziel and Kain. These beings are a central theme in the Legacy of Kain story and are the reason the vampires are immortal yet sterile. Janos Audron, whom Raziel awoke in Defiance, is also mentioned as central to this story. All of these factors connect to the Pillars and how they were eventually corrupted.

Once that pop-up closes, you are free to explore this small slice of the beginning of the game. From what the pop-up states and the time I spent in this very short demo, I sensed this mountain pass was supposed to lead to some sort of entrance way to the Demon Realm. The enemies you fought to get to this portal were vampire hunters and Hylden, similar to those you fought in Defiance.

The themes of this unmade game certainly feel similar to those of Defiance. The difference is that you only have one protagonist in Kain. Since Raziel was absorbed into Kain at the end, with the Soul Reaver ultimately destroyed, it seems you are working towards restarting the cycle of the timeline by involving Janos, the keeper of the Soul Reaver. This is the sword that you wield as Raziel in Defiance, and it has a whole game named after it in the series.

The Legacy of Kain series focuses on a cyclical timeline. With what we know about this unreleased sequel, it seems Kain was working on breaking that timeline. If that is what this game could have been, perhaps the Legacy of Kain could have gotten some closure. Instead, we will never know what could have been.

After playing the remaster of Defiance, I could see a modern Legacy of Kain game being made that focuses on this. While the story repeating itself could open the door for some interesting alterations to each timeline, I think giving Kain and Nosgoth a chance to rest in peace could be something worth exploring. Defiance ends on a cliffhanger, and Kain wanders out into the world to continue his quest.

The post Unreleased Legacy of Kain: Defiance Sequel – What Could Have Been appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The game includes 18 characters from the show that bring a solid variety to the fighting roster. Obviously, there are the main characters of the current Guardians of the Globe to fill in most of the roster. But there are also some of the big antagonists to fill out the rest of the roster. This creates an overall balanced cast despite one concern. Are there too many Viltrumites?

A good portion of the characters look the same and have the same powers. However, they each have their unique feel. With so many of those characters, would it have been better to include some others? Such as the main villain from Season 3, Angstrom Levy, or the other main current member of the Guardians of the Globe, Shapesmith. Which would help bring some variety to the roster of the characters available.

Despite the first look at the roster, there is an official classification for each character. No two characters have the same playstyle. For example, Invincible is classified as balanced and rushdown. Atom Eve is ranged and zoner. There are other classifications, such as striker, technical, and pressure, which help show the variety of playstyles in the base roster.

Pick Up and Play

The fighting is mostly easy to pick up and play, with light, medium, and heavy attacks, plus a special attack. For the most part, everyone shares the same inputs for their abilities. Meaning it is not like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, where each character has different combos to remember. Instead, it has controls like Super Smash Bros where each character has the same number of abilities and the same inputs, but is unique per character. This approach makes it welcoming for the average button-masher player to pick up and enjoy the game. The gameplay also makes it easy to pull off combos, which can be hard to counter.

As in all fighters, there are controls that go deeper beyond the basic button inputs, as well as the game introducing its own spin on some fighting mechanics. There is a boost ability that can empower special moves, thus creating a stronger version of the attack. This is important to keep in mind for people who want to learn combos. There are also the super abilities, which are the main abilities that use the meter. In addition, there are two normal variations, and then the main ultimate ability. There are super abilities for more combo potentials.

The mechanics go even deeper for players who want to delve deeper into the game’s potential, such as having conditional abilities that will help block attacks or stop combos. There are also throw moves that can be used for creating combos. These more advanced abilities require pressing multiple abilities at once, which some can feel awkward to use at first. However, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and with using the abilities, executing them becomes more natural.

The last major component of the combat is the assists, which works similar to the Marvel vs Capcom games. Players pick a team of three characters, and either character can switch at any time or be called in for an assist. Being able to switch characters or use assist attacks is very easy to use. Also, the details of the character’s health bars are lowered; they get more bloodied and battle-damaged. It is a cool detail that also helps keep the vibe of the show.

Story Mode

The game offers a few different modes to play in. The first is a short story mode. It is a quick-paced story with a cool third act but a confusing ending. Unfortunately, it is nowhere near the quality of storytelling as the comic or the show. It is a story made so that the roster of characters can fight each other. Unfortunately, the story mode is a dud and, unfortunately, not a shining flagship part of the game as advertised.

There is more to do beyond playing the story, such as mastering the arcade mode ladders, which are like Mortal Kombat’s towers. The first character chosen is the main character who fights to the end, where there is a new character cutscene unlocked. Nothing new to offer compared to previous fighting game entries, but good to have some sort of single-player grind, which offers replayability. Harder ladders are unlockable, and there are different difficulties the game offers: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Viltrumite. One aspect the game has done well in is making the normal feel like a good challenge for average fighting game fans, which means that more seasoned players hopefully also have a challenge with the greater difficulties.

Online Battles

The main part of the game where most people will likely be fighting is online, where there’s ranked, quick play, and lobbies. Ranked and Quickplay have a nice setup where players can choose 3 fighting teams as well as pick what stage they want to fight on. Then at the end of the fights, there’s an option for a rematch if both players agree.

There are lobbies that have a nice layout but are flawed. The lobby has a layout for multiple battles at once and spectating. Unfortunately, if a battle has already started, players can’t spectate until the next fight. Another big problem is that there’s no stage select in the private lobbies. This is a very odd and disappointing design choice, where when fighting privately among friends, you can’t select what stage you are playing on, but you can against randoms. Another annoyance with the lobbies is having to go to the player’s social menu to switch character sets instead of right before the fight, yet another feature against randoms that is not a feature for private lobbies. Hopefully, lobbies improve with future updates. There were also lots of annoying server errors when joining friends, which hopefully will be fixed by launch day.

One more odd design choice is that to set up a custom single fight against a CPU fighter, you have to go to the versus local menu. The player picks which side they want to play on, and the CPU will fill the other side. Single CPU fights are a great way to test characters outside of the practice range, but unfortunately, the game hides where it is.

Rewards

The game also provides rewards where players can earn just by playing. There are both overall player levels and individual character levels. Regardless of fighting offline or online, the characters will gain their own levels. Having the option to play where the player wants to play and still gain levels is a welcome feature. The character levels occasionally unlock new skins. But the main unlockables are background and titles for player cards, which are customizable for online play. Also, player levels unlock some stages and collectibles, such as comic art, for the collection menu. The leveling system provides a solid incentive to earn the rewards, as it allows you to “play your way” to earn.

Final Reaction

Overall, Invincible VS is a bloody, fun, and solid fighting game, but not without its annoyances. The single-player content available might get repetitive easily. However, the game could thrive with its community as the popularity of Invincible is only growing. It makes it a welcoming fighter for new players to check out.

Invincible VS is developed by Quarter Up, which is a subsidiary of Skybound Games. It’s a new studio that includes ex-Killer Instinct developers and is available to purchase now on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. You can go to your local comic store and ask for the exclusive physical edition that has a different cover.

The post Invincible VS: A Welcoming Bloody Fun Niche Fighter appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

For players who want something tangible, the game’s physical edition is now available for the Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion features Marvel heroes as they try to save the world from an alien threat. Characters include Spider-Man, Storm, Wolverine, Phoenix, Captain America, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Black Panther, Rocket Raccoon, Nova, Beta Ray Bill, Venom, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Phyla-Vell, and Silver Surfer.

The game is developed by Tribute Games, which is known for fun gameplay and gaming nostalgia, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Scott Pilgrim EX.

Dotemu is the publisher, which also has a track record of games from classic franchises such as Streets of Rage 4, Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, Metal Slug Tactics, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

Players are able to do tag-team battles, allowing them to switch off characters to stay in the fight. Multiplayer includes 4-player local and online co-op.

Will you be able to stop the threat from Annihilus, with other villains joining including Thanos, M.O.D.O.K, Taskmaster, and more?

The post Marvel Cosmic Invasion Gets Physical Release on Consoles After Strong Reviews appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The Story

The story of Pragmata features the protagonist Hugh Williams, a space soldier, who goes to the moon to figure out what exactly happened there. Hugh finds an android in the form of a little girl, named Diana. She is a Pragmata, which is officially defined as “A high-functioning autonomous prosthetic body with a simulated organic structure.”

Together, these characters team up and create a special relationship. One of the best parts of the game is seeing their special relationship grow. Hugh is someone who never really thought about being a father and has to take care of Diana, an innocent child who only wants to help. So many great father-daughter-like moments are scattered throughout the game in both the main story and side dialogue.

The story outside of the relationship is solid, but could have been better. It is a story where it is best to know as little as possible going into it. But it can be easily described as an unraveling mystery. The game does give answers by the end. For any lore junkies, there are lots of notes to be found, which also help expand and explain exactly what’s going on outside of the cutscenes and dialogue.

Enemies

While unraveling the mystery, Hugh and Diana face off against a good variety of enemies featured throughout the game as well. All the enemies are different kinds of robots that range from basic humanoid models to bigger robotic warriors to flying enemies.  Between fighting basic enemies and stronger enemies, there’s a solid progression of difficulty. Enemies get stronger as the game goes on.

The gameplay features the player controlling Hugh while also using Diana’s abilities. Hugh focuses on shooting and movement. The combat involves using four different types of weapons or gadgets, each with its own role. First, there’s the basic weapon that has unlimited ammo and a cool-down on use. Then there’s a stronger weapon, which is used to pack a bigger punch, also with a cool down, but it has limited uses. The gunplay is simple compared to other games, but it pairs nicely with the hacking mechanic. The other 2 kinds of weapon slots are gadgets used to help distract enemies and aid in combat. These all have limited uses as well.

Hacking and Shooting

The variety of weapons and gadgets is only half of what’s involved in the combat. What really sets this game apart from other games is the hacking feature. This feature is essential in letting the player deal damage, and to do so, it involves hacking puzzles while fighting. The puzzles are simple, where it’s on different grid shapes depending on the enemy, and you have to make a line to go to the end. These hacking puzzles feel really satisfying on a controller, as it makes use of the action buttons on a controller to control the puzzle movement. This leaves movement, dodging, and shooting skills available to use at the same time. However, the controls don’t feel nearly as intuitive on keyboard and mouse.

The balance of handling both not getting hit and doing puzzles is tough. What adds another layer to this is the use of nodes during hacking. Special, limited-use abilities that are used during the hacking part of combat. This adds more depth as, due to their limited uses. The player would want to make sure not to use them on weaker enemies, but on the stronger enemies. This constant balance of figuring out puzzles while dealing with enemies makes for very fun and unique gameplay. However, it is also a different flavor of gameplay, which will most likely be an acquired taste and not for everyone.

The game takes a more tactical approach with resource management, such as when to use certain guns, gadgets, hacking nodes, and movement. The movement is similar to other third-person action shooters, but features a dash ability that takes stamina. This means stamina has to be managed as well when fighting enemies. This makes it feel sluggish compared to other third-person action shooters. Although in this case, describing the overall movement as sluggish is not bad, as it lends itself to the tactical action gameplay approach.

Exploration

One of the best parts of the game is the exploration of the areas. The whole game is set on a massive space station that rewards exploration, with upgrades and unlockables to be found. The game also helps track how many collectibles are left in each area, which is satisfying when exploring all the areas fully. Also, a really cool detail is that when going to previously completed areas, there’s new dialogue between Hugh and Diana. This adds even more depth to their relationship and allows for the impact of certain story moments to simmer. 

Side Content

Outside of the story and exploration, the game offers other side content, such as special challenges and similar content, after the story ends. This is a surprising welcome addition, as some of these challenges differ from the game’s normal challenges. These include having to use certain weapons in a certain way or to complete parkour courses. Completing everything can easily double the playtime put into the game. From personal experience, the final playtime after playing everything is over 21 hours. Playing just the story would probably take about half as long, or more if spending time on exploration.

Final Reaction

Pragmata offers a different flavor of gameplay that may not click for everyone. But it offers a unique experience to help stand out in a market that is oversaturated. This game has a cool gimmick combining puzzles and third-person shooting that would be awesome to see expanded upon, regardless of whether it’s being made by Capcom or the next great indie game. Pragmata is another Capcom game that’s definitely worth playing and has the potential to become a cult classic.

Pragmata will be available on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. The game releases on April 17th.

The post Pragmata Review: The Next Evolution For Third-Person Shooters? appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Adapting a video game into a movie is challenging, whether it’s making a horror game or an adventure game. The filmmakers need to walk a fine line in making sure that fans are happy as well as newcomers to the franchise.

“When you’re taking something that already has an existing fan base, one of the things you want to do is try to put as many things in there that please that fan base,” Clarke tells Nerd Reactor. “You can’t please everybody, and you can’t make all the references that you want to make. Also, you’re trying to make something for an audience that maybe hasn’t even heard of the game before. You need to walk in both of those worlds.”

The tide is turning for films and series based on video games. For example, the first season of Fallout and the Sonic the Hedgehog films have been praised by fans and critics.

“Well, I think that The Last of Us was hugely inspiring, because when you played the game, you felt like you were watching an HBO series,” Kipp said. “You were like, ‘Oh, these are characters with character arcs and narrative arcs, and in many ways, it felt like watching a cinematic experience. And indeed, by having characters and a story, you could easily translate that into a visual medium like a series. And I think The Mortuary Assistant tapped into that as well because you’ve got Rebecca Owens and Raymond Delver, who are really strong archetypes that the audience can hook on to.”

An important ingredient in adapting a property is being able to bring the creator on board.

“Coming from a development background, I was really timid at the start to be involved in the process, and I had this idea of I’m going to let people who are experienced in making films make films, right?” Clarke said. “I didn’t want to come in and be like, ‘I’m the Mortuary Assistant guy, I know what to do.’ But over time, getting more involved and really connecting on the project helped us figure out what makes a good video game adaptation, what needed to come from the game, and what could just be little nods in the background.”

“I always considered Brian to be an essential element,” Kipp explained. “I think where a lot of game-to-film adaptations have gone wrong is not including the developer in the process. I wanted to hardwire Brian in from the beginning, and I also understood from the beginning that Brian built this entire game from the ground up. The game is essentially all Brian’s subconscious, and I wanted Brian’s subconscious to be with us the entire time. It led to many conversations between Brian and me where we talked about the dark depths underneath, so that we both are working the same underpinnings and the same subtext.”

The Mortuary Assistant will be available to stream on Shudder on Friday, March 27, 2026.

The post From Indie Horror Game to Film: The Mortuary Assistant Creators Break It Down appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Trainers who attended were treated to photo opportunities, a Mega Night with DJ GlitchxCity, and early access to catching Mega Dragonite in exclusive Mega Raids.

Additional highlights include:

• 330,000 total Trainers participated in City-wide gameplay
• More than 2,300,000 Mega Raid battles won by Trainers in the region
• Over 27,000 Pokémon Mega evolved for the first time
• Over 69,000,000 Mega Energy consumed by Trainers over the weekend
• Over 1.3 million kilometers walked by all ticketed Trainers

“This is a team effort,” Angela Ferguson-Martens, Live Events Marketing Manager and lead organizer of the event, tells Nerd Reactor. “I’m so lucky to be connecting lots of teams – our game designers, our producers, legal – everybody comes together, and we really put on the best show we can for our trainers. We know how much our trainers are passionate about the game, and we just want to give that love right back to you.”

The rest of the world will be able to participate when Pokémon GO Tour Kalos – Global starts on Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2, from 10 am to 6 pm local time.

“As we are here kicking off the 10th anniversary of Pokémon GO, that’s probably a story for a lot of people,” Angela explained. “They played during that initial craze in 2016, and maybe they stopped, and now they’re kind of coming back to celebrate this really big milestone with us.”

The global event will give trainers the chance to catch Mega Dragonite, Mega Victreebel, and Mega Malamar in Super Mega Raid battles. The Super Mega Raid battles will be harder than regular Mega Raids, and that means you’ll need help from many local trainers.

Additionally, Shiny Pokémon debuts include Shiny Hodedge, Shiny Hawlucha, and Shiny Klefki.

The post Pokémon GO Tour: Kalos Brings 43,000 Trainers, 11 Million Pokémon Caught appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

A Fun Little Story

As one would expect with a game whose main character is Professor Hamster Jones, the story is simple and sweet. When Hamster Jones gets a package containing the creature Charaon (who is quite polite to the ladies), the creature challenges him. And what better place to have this challenge than a pyramid? So, Jones and his posse (one named Chris Ceratops; guess what kind of dinosaur he is) head to Egypt.

The cutscene in the beginning is all in French, but I appreciate the English subtitles. It does not affect the story or the gameplay in any way, and many indie developers cannot afford localization. You start your journey in the treasure room. This is the top of the pyramid and acts as your hub where you can talk to your friends. Often, after certain room objectives, they will have some important dialogue that advances the story. Charaon will often taunt you as the story progresses, all in an attempt to waver the player’s confidence.

Lots of Puzzles!

Hamstermind has multiple types of puzzles. Getting through the game only requires you to solve the big center puzzle in each room and collect the glowing orbs. As you go deeper into the Pyramid, the puzzles become more complicated. Not only do you go vertically through the Pyramid, but there are also side routes. Each route, labeled with a letter from A to E, has a different number of rooms. Routes B through D circled back to route A. The “E” rooms were what really took me by surprise. To really beat the game, you have to get over 200% completion.

The main puzzles are made up of tiles. These can be rotated and sometimes moved depending on the formation of the rooms. Later in the game, you have to flip some of the rooms as well. It is a lot of furious trigger pressing, and the game does recommend a controller when you boot it up. At the time of writing this review, I have still not reached the end of Route “E,” though I plan to.

Every room also has a scarab puzzle, and these start off very easily and get very difficult as you get closer to completionist status. They involve rotating a box and trying to get a labeled tile into the right spot. The labels are images of snakes, insects, and other critters. Scarabs unlock skins and hints for the translation puzzle. There are 5 different skins to unlock, from a spaceman to a cool Easter egg and a nod to One Piece with their version of a pirate.

Yes, More Puzzles!

The translation puzzles look like vending machines. When you use them, you will see a grid with symbols, blank spots, and weights. Don’t worry, the game will eventually teach you what everything means as long as you do the scarab puzzles. The translation puzzles involve putting symbols in the correct blank spots.

Some rooms also have a puzzle involving unlocking the entrance to other routes. In these puzzles, you must direct a bug to hit all the buttons on a web. Players must use the change of direction buttons to ensure the bug touches them all. Once you complete that, the passageway will stay open permanently.

Cute and Challenging

Hamstermind was a lot more fun than I expected. With it being their first PC game, Righteous Tree did not disappoint. Going around and trying to beat all the puzzles has been quite frustrating and fun at the same time. Your brain really has to work on some of the puzzles.

Can you help Professor Hamster Jones achieve archaeological glory?

Pick up Hamstermind on Steam. The game is currently 25% off with its introductory sale.

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