Featuring Custom Game settings, reworked wall construction and whitelisting tools, and new food production buildings, the Great Hall & Feasts Update is now available for Thunderful and Sand Sailor Studios’ Viking survival tribe builder ASKA.
The Great Hall & Feasts Update is live in ASKA now!
🍻 The Great Hall & Feasts ✨ Expanded Custom Games 🌾 Wheat, Windmills & Bread 🏳️ Reworked whitelisting 🧱 Path-based wall building 🛠️ QoL Upgrades … and much more!
As part of this ASKA update, players will be able to customize their settlements alongside the introduction of new food production systems, overhauled building tools, and a landmark that reflects one’s achievements.
Learn more about this Great Hall & Feasts Update with the latest Dev Diary for ASKA below:
Nothing beats the quiet after the storm. Starry skies above, warm fires below, and recounting of epic battles and victory hauls with the tribe. How did your day in ASKA go? pic.twitter.com/qa0Cnvv3DV
A PSX/Saturn-style sci-fi mecha JRPG about identity, philosophy, and political conflict, Classi5ed has revealed their new title Lie of Caelum: Spirit – with Motoi Sakuraba joining as a Guest Composer!
Taking place from September 5-6 at the Long Beach Convention Center, Nerd Street Events has officially unveiled the full programming lineup ahead of Long Beach Comic Con 2026.
The world of Panana Studio and Com2uS’ Star Sailors is crossing over with the Naver Webtoon The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide for a special collaboration event.
An adventure where conversation is your only weapon, Arc System Works’ alien conversation title Donutal will launch for the PC via Steam on September 3.
Long Beach Comic Con 2026 is set to host Main Stage conversations celebrating Five Nights at Freddy’s, Pokémon, Phineas and Ferb, Power Rangers, and other properties.
Am official costume contest, GeekFest film programming, artists and publishing discussions, cosplay workshops, and additional activities are also planned.
The world of Panana Studio and Com2uS’ Star Sailors is crossing over with the Naver Webtoon The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide for a special collaboration event.
An adventure where conversation is your only weapon, Arc System Works’ alien conversation title Donutal will launch for the PC via Steam on September 3.
Award-winning mobile gaming developer Avia Games has released a new guide for 8 Ball Strike, featuring tips and tricks from the 8 Ball Strike Cup finalists themselves!
Now available in Bandai Namco’s title as a free update (believe it!), Naruto Uzumaki (Sage Mode) has made his way to Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker.
See whether this dark fantasy title is worth checking out with our review…
The Blood of Dawnwalker Review
Following the Story of Coen, The Blood of Dawnwalker tells how this hero is trying to save his family from the valley’s vampire scourge.
Everything is peaceful from the offset – except for the vampires being in charge, of course. Players will go around, doing chores, collecting herbs for mother, and coming home before Mass.
As it turns out, every adult has to attend Mass – or face the penalty of death. It’s at Mass where the vampires take a little blood from everyone, deciding if the cattle need to be culled or not.
It’s at this Mass that the people of the village have finally had enough.
Coen, his father, and the other villagers decide to raid the silver mine to make silver weapons and fight back. You’re found out almost instantly, and the vampires rip everyone apart except for you and your kin.
While Coen’s family is spared, he is then turned into a vampire – and your father has to watch. Failing to save him, his family is taken to the castle. From there, players are given 30 days to rescue them.
Better get to work.
The day-night cycle of The Blood of Dawnwalker will appeal to a select type of player.
Quests, events, digging up treasure, and other activities net players skill points – but all take time to complete. Each day and night cycle features eight time segments to use; finishing one side switches to the other.
As a result, this system feels unnecessary and restrictive. It makes sense to use both the vampire and human Coen, but choosing would be preferable.
To be clear, 30 days was way more than enough. Having six days left to face the big bad, I was JACKED.
For those that enjoy the time cycle system, the combat in The Blood of Dawnwalker is well worth the fight.
Providing a LIGHT mix of Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Batman: Arkham Asylum elements, combat utilizes angles (via the analog stick) to hit and block.
As a result, The Blood of Dawnwalker’s combat flow is truly incredible.
Coen can use basic attacks to open enemies up for your Witchcraft or Vampire skills; when an enemy comes to attack, a marker appears that shows which side they hit from. Block that, and the enemy is wide open for a counter.
This primarily works, because the block takes priority. If I’m swinging and then hit block, Coen blocks.
While a simple concept, The Blood of Dawnwalker’s combat provides a rare quality that shines bright.
Fighting in this title also depends on whether it’s day or night. Vampire Coen gets claws to use and can warp, drain blood, and turn into a wolf. There’s a bit more savagery to the night fights; more of a brutish smashing and ripping than the controlled human.
During the day, Coen uses swords or fists, alongside the aforementioned Witchcraft. This provides blood magic to talk to the dead, heal, stun enemies, or do damage in combat.
It’s a testament to the combat system that I enjoy playing both day and night Coen, though Witchcraft cannot be used in vampire form.
There’s a lot to see in The Blood of Dawnwalker’s open world, but it occasionally taps into the formulaic Ubisoft formula. Players will go to the marker, do the job or find the loot, and move to the next marker. There are even towers to climb to find things in the distance!
While not a bad system, it does mean certain elements can be skipped.
The Blood of Dawnwalker also features a staggering amount of loot. Not quite Nioh or Diablo levels – but pretty close.
I think for this type of game, the “less is more” option should apply.
Side content in The Blood of Dawnwalker includes quests, challenges, treasure hunts, and even hidden NPCs and merchants.
The advantage to having all this loot comes from its sheer weapon and armor combo variety. Find something you really like? Get it upgraded and keep using it.
However, each time I did a quest or event, I was always aware of the time, leading to skipped items I hoped would be there later.
It can be frustrating, to say the least.
Do note that The Blood of Dawnwalker is coming in red-hot…
Frame drops, bugs, and crashes were commonplace throughout the review period, and while I never lost a save, the title froze during a big boss battle.
That being said, a huge patch for The Blood of Dawnwalker is planned. When this title works, it’s akin to The Witcher and The Witcher 2. Rebel Wolves’ next release could very well be akin to the highly acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
While The Blood of Dawnwalker and its dark fantasy vampire setting is well worth exploring, best wait for a few patches before exploring its vast open world.
See whether players should take on this new encroaching Genma menace with our review…
Onimusha: Way of the Sword Review
Following the story of Miyamoto Musashi, Onimusha: Way of the Sword follows history’s greatest duelist.
After defeating another challenger, Musashi is chased through some woods until he thinks he is in the clear. Unfortunately, demons are invading the same time of his escape, with a group surrounding Musashi and killing him.
Sending him to the underworld, Musashi is granted an Oni gauntlet against his will, tossed right back into the world.
Every attempt to remove this Oni Gauntlet proves useless, and Musashi eventually accepts his role to stop the Yokai invasion.
Said Oni Gauntlet in Onimusha: Way of the Sword lets Musashi absorb the souls of killed demons, allowing him to get stronger.
Considering how many demons are in Japan, you’ll need all the help you can get.
With a new mission and a new weapon, Musashi sets out to Kyoto to help its people and gain new allies.
An action RPG at its core, Onimusha: Way of the Sword will have players fighting a good deal. Combat is straightforward – but it’s important to be patient. While rushing in and spamming light and heavy attacks is an option, that won’t get players very far.
Rather, Onimusha: Way of the Sword requires players to properly utilize counters or perfect dodges to do the most damage.
After performing a successful parry, players can then do a heavy attack and possibly land a fatal hit. Even when missing a kill, I still had a skill that lit my sword on fire after three successful parries – it really made boss fights more tense!
Thankfully, Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s parry system is generous, so even people bad at it (like me) can still feel powerful.
Beyond basic attacks, Onimusha: Way of the Sword also features Oni weapons.
When absorbing enough blue souls, players can then use these Oni attacks to do serious damage and even break guards. A standout maneuver is a spinning tornado attack that hits multiple enemies and knocks them back, allowing players to regain footing.
Combining Oni attacks with normal parry and strike combos will have ripping through enemies like rice paper. While I can’t tell you how many demons I’ve cut in half, I loved it every single time.
Red souls gathered from enemies can then be used to unlock new skills, improve bow damage, or even improve one’s sneaking ability. That fire blade mentioned earlier was a skill I learned, in fact.
While not every skill is as useful as a flame blade, most are worth obtaining.
These red souls can also be used for charm upgrades that grant specific buffs to help refine one’s play style. The starter one increases healing, while the one I primarily used increased damage after a successful parry.
While not game-breaking, these additional options are most welcome.
Weapons and armor also play a big part in Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Not taking any souls to upgrade, these specific items can be found scattered throughout its world and by doing side quests – and are always worth it.
Playing on Normal, there were more than a few times when I overstepped because I didn’t go back to upgrade. Dying isn’t terrible in Onimusha: Way of the Sword with players spawning at the last shrine, but still best to avoid this altogether.
Side quests in Onimusha: Way of the Sword range from simple kill missions to big stories that culminate in a big boss fight.
Clearing out some of Kyoto’s ended up having more people come out and explore the area – I loved that. Demons still roamed the streets, sure but some people were brave enough to come out.
Regarding its boss fights, way too many of Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s foes had multiple HP bars. It can be frustrating being one phase, only to see a second HP bar yet again.
While I love the combat, even I have my limits!
There were no bugs during our review period, and I experienced no frame drops playing on Performance mode on my base PlayStation 5.
The way of the samurai shines bright in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, marking a triumphant return for Capcom’s long-running action RPG series.
We recently spoke with TJ Davis at Sonic Boost about her love for the Sonic community and even her work with Gary Numan – learn more with our interview…
TJ Davis Sonic Boost 2026 Interview – Acclaimed Singer Talks Sonic, Community & More
TJ Davis @teresajanedavis here – reminding you to get your tickets to Sonic Boost before they sell out. Aug 15-16 in San Diego CA
What inspired you to take on this project in the first place?
TJ Davis
This project came about after hearing some of the songs from when I did the Sonic Symphony!
With lots of the albums and tracks from other games, I was quite surprised at how rocky everything was – because Sonic R is pure pop. I was a bit blown away by it!
When listening to an orchestra do all these different songs at the Sonic Symphony, I just thought:
“Wow!”
Then I went to Sonic EXPO – and they did it again!
I noticed one of the songs – a popular karaoke choice – was Undefeatable.
These are really strong songs – they’re big, dramatic songs!
I said to my keyboard player that when we go to Sonic EXPO, we’re not going to tell anybody this – and we didn’t. We rehearsed it once back in the UK, but we got out there – and we didn’t even sound check it.
We did a little medley, like the one I did last night, of “I’m Here” and “Undefeatable.”
Honestly, the reaction was just so amazing!
Everybody was saying:
“You’ve got to record it – you’ve got to do your own versions!”
I missed your stop, but Jun Senoue and Casey Lee Williams (great name!) did fantastic work. I know exactly what you’re talking about!
On that same note, talking about the fans, I love your One Way Dream video!
I love how the community came together for you for the Sonic Symphony, along with Super MAGFest.
Whether it be Sonic Boost or any other event, what have been some of your favorite community stories?
TJ Davis
Oh my goodness, there’s too many!
One of my favorites is when I went to Sonic EXPO when my keyboard player Mark Boden told them it would be a good idea for me and him to play the Sonic R game.
I’ll be honest – I haven’t played it; I’m not a gamer.
Instead, we got somebody to pretend to play! They played, and I pretended to play the game.
That’s probably one of my favorite stories, because Mark had no idea and this person played the actual game for me. That was fun!
I think the biggest thing has been the reaction coming on stage – it’s blown me away!
There are quite a few times I’ve gotten quite tearful; just meeting people and hearing all their stories about what the songs meant to them when they were younger.
I will say now because a few people have said “I love your songs.”
I’m the singer of Sonic R, while Richard Jacques wrote the songs. I’m just so grateful and happy I got a chance to sing them!
Gamers Heroes
Not just that, but there’s just that astounding legacy!
I was there day one, and I have multiple versions. I brought the Japanese SEGA Saturn version of Sonic R to get signed by you [thank you!], but I also have it for the PC.
I know you talked about how you worked on Sonic R, and the Metropolis Street Racer track from last night’s concert was truly incredible as well.
I was there for the journey with a Dreamcast; I was a 9.9.99 kid!
What have been some of your favorite experiences working alongside Richard on all these great tracks?
TJ Davis
Richard and I worked very well together!
I think I got it straight because I’m a pop singer, and I knew exactly what he wanted; I could hear and feel what he wanted to do.
MSR was harder in a way, because it has different styles. I don’t know whether I was successful on this [you were!], but I tried to change my voice to suit the different styles of its music.
Sonic R was also just pure joy when recording it from start to finish! We just had a great time, just doing those songs and having real fun.
Every day I’d go in the studio, and Richard would just go:
“Remember: It’s bright, it’s happy!”
Sometimes I would have a video screen with Sonic running to remind me to sing quick and smile a lot!
We had great fun recording those songs – it was fantastic!
Gamers Heroes
I think you raised an interesting point – my wife’s not a gamer, but she loves your music and other gaming music as well.
It’s amazing how great music can bridge the gap when it comes to Sonic – or anything else!
TJ Davis
I never realized as well!
I’ve worked with different people, and I’ve been a singer pretty much all my life. However, the gaming industry is absolutely huge!
It wasn’t really until lockdown that I realized how many people there were, because people were of course at home more; they were playing games.
I started dipping my toe back into the community, doing podcasts, interviews, and other things.
Then I was like:
“Oh my goodness, this is huge!”
Gamers Heroes
And we’re here for you too!
So going farther back, I’m also a huge 80s music fan – and I saw you worked with Gary Numan. That’s absolutely iconic!
I’ve gone to see New Order and countless other great shows that also bring people together. Gen Z, Millennials like me, Gen X, and more – they’re all there. It must have been really incredible working with another legend!
What are some of your favorite moments working with Gary Numan?
TJ Davis
I love Gary!
It was my first big tour – I’d always sung with loads of different bands, but Gary was my first big tour. I remember crying so much when I finished that first tour. because it was amazing.
You’re right – Gary is iconic, isn’t he? Singing those songs, I remember it just being a lot of fun.
Gary was very much like “run around do what you like.”
Funny enough, after that, he didn’t have any backing singers after me.
I always used to make the joke with him:
“I put you off completely of having another backing singer!” [laughs]
But Gary’s lovely! Two of my really good friends are still in the band – the keyboard player and the guitarist.
If they’re around in the UK, I’ll go and see them! It’s nice to go and see everybody.
Gamers Heroes
You’re the one and only!
I’d love to know this from you, and I’ve asked this to other composers and musicians…where do you personally find inspiration?
Some are inspired by other artists, some people find something in the bathtub.
Some people might have a melody stuck in their head!
TJ Davis
That’s really difficult…it all depends on what I’m singing.
To be honest, I’m a bit of a drama queen – I like the big rock ballads and anything particularly dramatic.
That’s why with New Frontiers, with songs like “I’m Here” and “Undefeatable,” I imagine it as a huge sort of Hollywood-style dramatic production.
Thankfully, my keyboard player Mark got the memo! He knew exactly what I thought, along with the people we brought in to actually produce it.
At the end, they could see where we were going with it, which was really nice.
Gamers Heroes
That’s a great answer!
Finally, what advice would you give to those that look up to you, that want to follow in your footsteps?
TJ Davis
Oh my goodness! Somebody asked me actually yesterday – they were talking about being a singer and what I would suggest.
For me, it was always been to just learn your craft. Make sure you get out there!
If you want to be a live singer, go to where live musicians are. Meet people, swallow that fear, and get up on stage and try things out!
Music is in the heart of everybody, isn’t it?
Don’t give your stuff away for free! Always try and protect your own material – which I think is quite difficult with streaming these days. I never had that back in the day…
Also, it’s going where your heart is, really – and enjoying it.
It’s a hard business. I think any sort of creative side of things can be, but you’ve got to believe in it and enjoy it while you’re doing it.
Meet people and take the advice as you’re going!
Gamers Heroes
That’s fantastic advice!
I always say strengthen community, and we’re all in this together.
TJ Davis
I think, if lockdown and COVID taught us anything, we’ve got to just literally do what we really want to do!
Do what makes us happy, you know?
Gamers Heroes
I couldn’t ask for a better closer – always find that joy.
Thank you so much!
TJ Davis
You’re very welcome!
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