Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Tale of the White Wyvern Fishing Update Coming March 9, Season Two Coming Soon!

First off, Season One was a blast! Thanks to everyone who played! Without further ado, here are your winners...

Overall Winners

Saturday has won the season and brought peace to Wyrmdoor!

Declan

Quite Dapper

Azure Azul

Beo Rubirnen

Most Adventurers Killed

Nawt Wynnor: 10 kills

Quite Dapper: 9 kills

Bre Orgligrat: 4 kills

Azure Azul: 3 kills

Mystical Lord: 3 kills

Most Deaths

Nawt Wynnor: 27 deaths

Declan: 27 deaths

Saturday: 19 deaths

Bre Orgligrat: 17 deaths

Quite Dapper: 16 deaths

Looks like the developers die a lot! :D

Thanks to everyone who played our first season! Let us know what you thought about the season and things you'd like to see in future... Read All

Diablo IV Quarterly Update

Looks like the development of Diablo IV is going well and as such Blizzard has released a few updates about what we can expect. A couple things I found interesting is that Blizzard is creating a more co-op friendly Diablo IV user experience. Before if you opened a menu in Diablo III co-op only one person could control their inventory at a time.
If you are playing with a friend on a console you might want to both open your inventories at the same time so they are working on providing a user experience where you can do that. Also, they are allowing controllers to be used on PC and be completely re-mappable, something Diablo III does not allow.

That a ton more is... Read All

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Announced

Today Yacht Club Games announced an all new Shovel Knight game in development called Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeons.

"Delve with Shovel Knight into the depths of the Pocket Dungeon in an action-packed puzzle adventure mashup like none other! Join your mysterious guide Puzzle Knight as you shovel through scads of foes, procure new equipment, and battle bosses both familiar and new. Explore a tale with endless twists and turns, quest as your favorite heroes, and even challenge a friend for fast-paced head-to-head competition in Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon!"

No release date or platforms are announced yet but I hope the pocket part means smartphones as Shovel Knight on a... Read All

The Witcher Netflix Season 1 Review (No Major Spoilers)

The Witcher is a new series on Netflix. So far, it only has one season, but it is apparently going to have at least one more. The show is based much more closely on the original literature than the game and there’s apparently a lot of material there which can therefore lead to a lot of episodes. I enjoyed watching season one, but there are some things I thought I’d also point out.

I haven’t read any of the original literature. My knowledge of the Witcher comes from the three video games. I wasn’t too fond of the first one, the second was better, and I really enjoyed the third. I really like Geralt in the game. I like his voice actor. I also enjoyed the collaboration... Read All The Witcher is a new series on Netflix. So far, it only has one season, but it is apparently going to have at least one more. The show is based much more closely on the original literature than the game and there’s apparently a lot of material there which can therefore lead to a lot of episodes. I enjoyed watching season one, but there are some things I thought I’d also point out.

I haven’t read any of the original literature. My knowledge of the Witcher comes from the three video games. I wasn’t too fond of the first one, the second was better, and I really enjoyed the third. I really like Geralt in the game. I like his voice actor. I also enjoyed the collaboration that was done to add him into Monster Hunter: World. That was quite fitting to put the two together.

However, the game’s voice actor for Geralt is not in the show. Although, Henry Cavill does a pretty good job of being Geralt, at least I think so. He speaks kind of like the voice actor in the game, giving Geralt a gruffy kind of sound. I’m pretty sure I read or saw something some where that said Cavill was actually a fan of the Witcher before taking the role and that he wanted to change his voice a bit to match. He is a gamer, actually.

Yennifer was one of my favorite characters in the game, so I was surprised to find out her origin story. I did not know it was so significant. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but you may not recognize her the first time you see her in the show, or at least until someone calls her by name. By then, you’ll wonder what the difference is, which you’ll learn eventually.

Triss Merigold is also in the show. She teams up with Geralt to solve a monster mystery. This episode reminded me of Game of Thrones. Speaking of which, the two shows have some similarities such as “adult” language and nudity. So, this show isn’t “for kids.” Triss later teams up with Yennifer and other sorceresses.

Dandelion is in the show, too, but I don’t think he’s ever called by that name. You’ll know who he is though, he’s the only bard that seeks Geralt’s companionship. I really love his song, "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher." I think it's quite catchy. Search for it on Google. Of course, Roach, Geralt’s horse is there, too.

Of course Ciri is in the show as well. The first season will help you learn about how and why they are bonded, which I thought was good. If I remember correctly, this story differed in the third video game. She's special, not just because she's a princess. You'll see (hint: and hear).

One of the most confusing parts about season one is the timeline. I watched one episode that had a character in it that died and then saw that character again in a later episode. I wondered if it was a twin, but I ended up finding out that we were shown timelines out of chronological order. You’ll see this happen more than once, but when it finally happens, you’ll pretty much understand it. It’s basically just there to give you the perspective of another character at that time, but that first time it happened was rather confusing.

Of course there are also monsters and magic. You get sight of a monster right off the bat, within the first ten minutes of episode one. You’ll see magic later, although it’s more focused around the sorceresses like Yennifer and Triss. Geralt does use it, but not very much. He also drinks potions some times. One thing to point out about magic, too, is the overall understanding that magical use comes with a price (not monetary).

I strongly recommend watching the video posted on the New Rockstars YouTube channel after watching season one. It will clue you into the timeline confusion and point out some things that you may have overlooked, including things that were in the game. You can find it here: https://youtu.be/EkZir-2mjf0

I am looking forward to seeing more of this series and I hope it does well. I think it could. I believe it was received well and I know for certain that it caused a spike on Steam of people buying and playing the third game.

The New XBox Series X Will Be Backwards Compatable

Microsoft unveiled a ton of new details on the upcoming next gen Xbox Series X today and one in particular caught my attention. Historically Sony has provided excellent backwards compatibility between the Playstation and Playstation 2 era of console to later drop it after a time during the PS3 and entirely on the PS4. It seems Microsoft has picked up the love for compatibility in that it seems the upcoming Xbox Series X will still be able to play some original Xbox, 360 and all Xbox One games:

"Four generations of gaming: Our commitment to compatibility means existing Xbox One games, including backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, look and play better... Read All

The Lineage of Shovel Knight Explained

Shovel Knight launched in 2013 and since then received a ton of free content updates. It might be a bit confusing what it all is so Noclip created this handy Shovel Knight Lineage video explained by Yacht Club Games David D'Angelo.

This last weekend I put Shovel Knight Showdown through the paces playing it with a friend. It's a fun addition to Shovel Knight Treasure Trove and is a worthy brawler game. I didn't quite get the feel for each of the Knights but I appreciate that they all fight very differently. If you have friends over and Treasure Trove is on tap, you should give it a go.

Wargroove Is A Fantastic Retro Themed Turn Based Strategy Game: My First Thoughts

I'm late to the uptake with some game releases as there are so many. This isn't something I've minded for a while now because even folks that professionally review video games can't play everything. Recently I heard a glowing review for a, new to me, retro turn based strategy game called Wargroove that takes the formula that Nintendo perfected in Advance Wars and gives it a fun fantasy spin.

Wargroove is Hard by Default

Generally speaking modern triple A games or indie titles, unless they are a rogue-like, have a normal degree of difficulty by default. If you want more of a challenge in a typical shooter you can raise it and lower it if things are too hard. Typically I... Read All

The Batman - Camera Test

I geek out over superhero movies, and this camera test just dropped for The Batman.

I didn't think we needed another Batman movie... but we probably always will lol.

This is very simple, but looks so rad!

The State of the Wyvern: Day of Devotion Update & More!

Hello Adventurers, we hope you all had a great holiday season and we wish you a belated Happy New Year! As you may have noticed Jon and I decided to take a much earned holiday break from active Wyvern development, and the good news is, we had a very relaxing time and the even better news is we’re back in active development toward the final 1.0 game launch.

The Day of Devotion Holiday Event

To kick things off, Tale of the White Wyvern is getting a new holiday event called “Day of Devotion.” Rather than explain it ourselves, we’re going to turn to the expert on Wyrmdoor traditions, Helga!

”The Day of Devotion is an annual celebration of love. Couples traditionally... Read All Hello Adventurers, we hope you all had a great holiday season and we wish you a belated Happy New Year! As you may have noticed Jon and I decided to take a much earned holiday break from active Wyvern development, and the good news is, we had a very relaxing time and the even better news is we’re back in active development toward the final 1.0 game launch.

The Day of Devotion Holiday Event

To kick things off, Tale of the White Wyvern is getting a new holiday event called “Day of Devotion.” Rather than explain it ourselves, we’re going to turn to the expert on Wyrmdoor traditions, Helga!

”The Day of Devotion is an annual celebration of love. Couples traditionally celebrate with gifts and delicious meals. The Inn of the Old Hen throws a party every year for anyone who doesn't have a partner to celebrate with. The Day of Devotion is celebrated from February 13 to February 15.”

https://thewhitewyvern.com/game/1/potions/seasons

Alongside the holiday event we created two new fun themes called “Day of Devotion” and “Night of Devotion.” We recommend turning your screen brightness all the way up and putting on some fuzzy slippers when you give those a try.

The Fishing Update

We are very focused on the Fishing update which has turned out to be the BIGGEST single content update Wyvern has ever recieved. When we described what’s coming to some of our friends and that it was taking much longer than we anticipated, one mentioned that it was because it sounded like we are building an all new game and that’s actually fairly accurate. One of our development goals with the Fishing update is to add a boatload(har har) of new content to keep longtime players busy exploring for quite some time. All that in mind we’re still in active development on it and it should take a bit longer to finalize things. Whereas this is a huge update that adds a lot of new mechanics to the game, we do plan on updating the game with fishing for everyone at the same time.

If you haven't played Tale of the White Wyvern yet, head over to https://thewhitewyvern.com/ now to play for free!

Digital Foundry Got To Peek at the Tech Behind Doom Eternal

Doom Eternal's launch date of March 20th is fast approaching and as such certain media outlets are covering it before launch. Digital Foundry got a peek at the game for a few hours and interviewed the folks at iD about the game.

"As well as sitting down for *three hours* to play the upcoming Doom Eternal, Digital Foundry's John Linneman also had the opportunity to discuss the new id Tech 7 engine upgrades with Doom Eternal executive producer and id software studio director, Marty Stratton. From engine upgrades to ray tracing to Switch to next-gen consoles, there's a ton of new info in this one."