The Personal Computer is a sort of container in which most of the titles that crowds the videogame market place: more often, moreover, some works in exclusive console also land on the shores of Steam, and the policy of the Play Anywhere of Microsoft, on the other hand, does nothing but expand the catalog of releases on the store of Windows 10. As if it were not enough the large number of cross-platform products, ready to put on fire and our graphics cards, on PC there is no shortage moreover, completely exclusive games, mostly of a strategic, rolistic and simulative kind: that is, productions that are able to give the best of themselves, especially if you play with the timeless pairing of a mouse and keyboard.
Exclusive PCs
Year 1800
Ubisoft takes a step back several centuries compared to Anno 2205 and brings us into the nineteenth century, a period of conflict and scientific discoveries. Year 1800 is presented as one of the most ambitious episodes of the entire series: the options to strengthen and expand our cities will be, as always, many, but also the war size will have its weight. Next year we will find out if the game manages to win back the hearts of disappointed fans from the previous iteration: the premises seem very convincing.
Age of Empires IV
On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the series, Microsoft Studios announced Age of Empires IV , a new chapter in the strategic real-time history. The game will be released by Relic Entertainment, the same studio behind Company of Heroes, Dawn of War and Homworld.
At the moment we still have very little information on the project: from the images of the trailer it is easy to imagine that the title will include different civilizations and as many historical periods, including Romans, Japanese, British and Native Americans. We look forward to discover more.
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
Creative Assembly returns to develop the historical chapters of Total War after the fantasy bracket with the two Warhammer. Thrones of Britannia is set in 878 AD, when King Alfred the Great managed to curb the Viking invasion in the Battle of Edington. The threat, however, is always present, and the kingdoms of Scotland, England and Ireland are preparing for war. In the new Total War players will have to forge the history of Britain, or turn the kingdom into a pile of rubble.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Obsidian brings us back, two years after the first Pillars of Eternity, into one of the most intriguing fantasy worlds of recent times. Pillars of Eternity 2 is set in the region of Deadfire, a new territory full of locations explored on board a ship, which will be introduced for the first time in this chapter. The title will then offer a huge amount of dialogue and an impressive depth, certainly good news for the most passionate painters.
Frostpunk
In Frostpunk the world was hit by a cataclysm that caused a new ice age. The few remaining men live on top of the crater of a dormant volcano and begin to exploit the heat to use increasingly advanced technologies. The expansion of the settlement, however, is not painless and requires many sacrifices: will you also make children work to ensure the survival of all, or you will magnanimously be risking to kill a good slice of the population? The choices to make will be difficult, and we certainly could not expect anything else from the authors of the acclaimed This War of Mine.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlorld
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord was announced back in 2012 and since then TaleWords has been working hard on what is the most ambitious chapter in the Mount & Blade saga. The peculiar role-playing structure fused with a strategic real-time will always be the backbone of Bannerlord: at the command of a handful of troops we will have to win the victory in field battles or conquer a fortress during sieges. The title will also use a brand new graphic engine, which will allow to exploit new mechanics and to guarantee an even deeper level of interaction.
The Bard’s Tale IV
Thirteen years after the last The Bard’s Tale, InXile Entertainment decided to take advantage of Kickstarter to finance a new chapter in the series, more faithful to the first iterations dating back to the 80s and the last of 2004. The Bard’s Tale IV is a RPG dungeon crawler on which some of the most famous names of the entire industry are involved. Thanks to the experience of its creators, the game will enjoy an amazing attention to detail and will offer a fairly deep turn-based combat system. The release is scheduled for the second half of 2018 exclusively on PC.
Dauntless
Dauntless recovers many features from the famous Monster Hunter series and amalgamates them into a product that winks at the Capcom games, but which is able to develop its own personality. From an aesthetic point of view, the creation of Phoenix Labs embraces a rather cartoonish style, composed of a saturated color palette and almost caricatured forms. There will also be a climate system that will influence the action and the appearance of particular monstrosities, which will be hunted by exploiting the whole arsenal of weapons and traps available to the various hunters.
Runes: Ragnarok
Seventeen years after the first Rune, Human Head Studios unveiled Rune: Ragnarok , coming next year. The information is very tight, but we know that it will be an open world RPG set in the cold lands of the north, where the warriors fight alongside gods and monsters. The player can upgrade his avatar by acquiring magical powers, legendary equipment and creating objects through a crafting system. There will also be a combat system that the authors define as “raw and brutal”.
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
The same authors of the remastered of Planescape: Torment have taken the commitment to give back lifeblood to another of the pillars of Western role-playing games: Neverwinter Nights . The original title, developed by BioWare, saw the light in 2002, sixteen years later Beamdog prepares his return in a more sparkling, as well as complete with all additional content. HD graphics, compatibility with old backups, even improvements to the original code: Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition will be the best way to recover a great classic of the past, or to reopen a long-closed memory drawer.
