Video Games
Become the Devil and Do Your Work in Upcoming Roguelike ‘Rogue Lords’
Games like Dungeon Keeper or the Overlord series demonstrates that evil can be kind of fun. Cyanide Studio and Leikir Studio hope to tap into that same vein with their upcoming roguelike, Rogue Lords, which is set for release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Set in 17th-century New England, “where mortals and diabolical entities walk side by side”, Rogue Lords puts in the hooves of the Devil, who after having suffered a recent beatdown, is putting together a team, including the likes of Bloody Mary, Dracula, the White Lady, and Baron Samedi, to help him get back into the win column. To do so, you will guide your Disciples of Evil around a 3D map and stir up trouble with other characters. Combat will be turn-based, and in keeping with the roguelike rules, losing a fight means game over.
As a last resort, however, the player can call upon the Devil’s special powers and cheat via the game interface in order to turn the situation on its head.
“Rogue Lords is a game we came up with several years ago with Jeremie Monedero, the game director,” said Cyanide Studio artistic director Camille Lisoir. “We are delighted to see the project become reality. We have fantastic synergy with the talented team at Leikir Studio and we can’t wait to reveal our diabolical world.”
Kinetic Games has followed through with the 13 Willow Street map rework for Phasmophobia today, which is free across all platforms. Accompanying the map rework is the first of two major quality-of-life updates bringing hundreds of bug fixes and helping refine the gameplay experience.
Ghost hunters can prepare for a refreshed investigation experience with the reworked Willow map, adding a host of new paranormal interactions, objects, and hiding spaces. As with the most recent overhaul to 6 Tanglewood Drive, Willow retains an almost identical layout but features redesigned rooms, including a reconfigured basement layout, bringing the gameplay experience up to the team’s current development standards.
The reworked rooms include an art studio, home gym and entertainment room, replacing the bedroom, garage and basement previously featured in the haunted house. Alongside these visual updates, curious players will be able to uncover new lore hidden throughout Willow, piecing together a story waiting to be discovered.
“As part of the 13 Willow Street rework we’re continuing our approach to storytelling in Phasmophobia and developing the game’s narrative,” said Anastatia Dukakis, Senior Narrative Designer at Kinetic Games. “It’s always exciting to see the community make new discoveries together and we love seeing everyone share their theories and thoughts on the lore behind in-game locations.”
Players will also be tasked to correctly identify (and survive) 50 ghosts as part of map’s challenge, awarding the Sun Seeker ID set upon completion. Players can also unlock the Cool Cat ID card and badge for the first week after launch, by watching 2 hours of Phasmophobia streams.
Meanwhile, the major update accompanying the map rework is inspired by community feedback following the Player Character Update, and reflects Kinetic Games’ ongoing commitment to delivering the level of quality players expect before Phasmophobia leaves Early Access.
The update introduces a range of changes helping to refine the gameplay experience with refreshed animations allowing for smoother and quicker movements, and changes to evidence collection for a more seamless experience, and ghost hunters might also face a new presence lurking in the shadows…
New keybinds have also been added with players now able to use 1,2,3 and 4 for changing inventory slots alongside wider accessibility tweaks. For an overview of all the fixes landing in-game, you can check out the blog post here.
Phasmophobia is available in Early Access on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2, and the Xbox Series.