397: Stellar Blade, Manor Lords and Xbox Studio Closures

The Inner Gamer Podcast

Austin gives his full review of Stellar Blade, the game from Korean mobile game developer SHIFT UP. He talks about the story, gameplay and how the world actually opens up beyond the demo. Brett also reviews Manor Lords. It's a indie title made by one guy where you build a medieval city and survive through the seasons. Brett also jumps into the early access version of Hades 2. It's here and it's better than ever. Brand new characters, new mechanics and a beautiful art style make us mostly excited to play this game.

In the news, we talk about some unfortunate events. Sony made a huge mistake by requiring PSN logins for PC users. Then they pulled the game from 177 countries. Then they removed the requirement, but the game is still unavailable in those countries that PSN doesn't exist. People were upset for good reason. Can Sony redeem themselves from this?

We also talk about Microsoft's surprise decision to close down 4 studios from their Bethesda/Zenimax acquisition. Those studios include Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, creators of Prey and Hi-Fi Rush. It's a surprise mood that makes people wonder...can we trust Xbox anymore?

Show Notes:
1:03 - Housekeeping
2:17 - Stellar Blade Review
32:51 - Manor Lords Review
56:02 - Hades 2 First Look
1:06:25 - Helldivers Win the Fight for Freedom Against Sony
1:26:53 - Microsoft Fooled Us All: 4 Studios Get Shut Down
1:53:09 - Upcoming Video Game Releases

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