ultrablade ($2.99) off Immortal Rogue another blast waves Developer Kyle Barrett came to iOS and Android this year. When it came out, we named it our game of the week, and I included it in our list of the best mobile games of 2023 (so far). Read it here. If you haven’t played it yet, ultrablade you fight endless hordes of enemies with thousands of combinations of heroes and blades with unique abilities and looks. A major free content update was released today for the game. Look ultrablade short gameplay video below:

Today’s update contains new weapons, items, relics, character slots and more. The update also includes several chests, a new hero, 2 new challenge cores to speed up the game and increase the difficulty of enemies, faster leveling up, and a fixed joystick control option. ultrablade now available in the App Store for iOS Here for $2.99. Check it out on Google Play for Android Here. If you haven’t played Immortal Rogue by Kyle, read our original review here. Official site For ultrablade there are also several GIFs showing animation and gameplay in motion. Check out our forum thread for ultrablade Here. What do you think about ultrablade so far if you have played it?

Why I Love is a series of guest editorials at GamesIndustry.biz designed to showcase how game developers appreciate each other’s work. This entry was provided by Li Shu, producer of the Lightracer series at SmartMelon.

Video games at their best can create amazing stories that make us question our values, reflect on our lives, and better empathize with each other. While this also applies to non-interactive media, games are unique in the way they react to the player’s actions. Many games don’t offer a tone of narrative variation, but some do, and that experience often stays with me the longest. This has been true of many games I’ve played over the years, but nothing has evoked a sense of wonder and intrigue quite like the SpellForce series.

“What I really admire about SpellForce is world building”

Part of it comes down to the scale of these games. They are absolutely, wildly, stunningly ambitious. It’s part RPG where you lead a specific character on an evolving adventure, and part real-time strategy where you take a broader look at building cities and commanding armies. Just in terms of gameplay, it’s a lot to take on. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg for me.

What I really admire about SpellForce is the world building. Its cast is divided into humans, orcs, dark elves, and trolls, each with their own unique, unconventional social formations. For example, orc society is centered around the idea of ​​”competition”. They have very different values ​​than humans and other races, so they often make decisions that at first may seem difficult for us to understand, but reasonable in the context of their culture. Similarly, the dark elves are run by an organization called a “commune” that claims to operate in a collective fashion.

These social structures do not have clear parallels with any real culture or nation, but they make us think about our own society and what kind of culture we would like to live in. group in a scientific experiment; a mirror for players to explore themselves and enjoy various social development opportunities.

One of the reasons I chose to write about the SpellForce series rather than any standalone article is because more recent titles have explored different aspects of the world that were created in previous installs. I think SpellForce 3: Fallen God is the most unique because you play the role of a troll, which is someone who usually acts as an elite villain in adventure stories. The opportunity to take on the role of a typical villain was a very attractive idea for me.

It wasn’t just a superficial palette change, as the developers created an entirely new skill tree, backstory, and campaign story around the trolls, allowing players to truly embody this special role (rather than a variant of the traditional role) and experience their circumstances, struggles, and resolve. This is amazing!

My most vivid memory of this was towards the end of the game, when the player needs to sacrifice a teammate in order to progress through the story. In the end, I decided to sacrifice the protagonist’s brother in order to save the troll tribe. In the moment of choice, all the pain and hardship the trolls faced throughout the game reached a crescendo, and the delightful spirit of sacrifice elevated the whole story. It was unforgettable.

“[SpellForce] inspired me to want to communicate with players from all over the world”

The sheer scope of SpellForce and the theme of learning to empathize with characters from a different culture is not just limited to in-game decisions, as it has inspired me to want to connect with players around the world. I think narrative games like the SpellForce and Lightracer series are a means of communication between creators and players. Like a global water cooler.

Through these games, we communicate with our fans about science fiction, build bridges of thought with people from different countries and regions, and promote mutual understanding. Just as SpellForce has expanded its world to explore both new characters and social structures, our vision as a development team is to continually add new and exciting stories to the Lightracer universe based on our communication with players.

It was this intercultural exchange that solidified my resolve to create a series of games that encourage feedback from the player community. Interaction and communication are the main themes of the Lightracer community, and since the launch of Lightracer: Ignition we have seen a huge influx of fan art and stories. I often discuss the story and setting with the players in the community and some of their ideas translate into the final product.

In one instance, I found a fan-written poem that miraculously described some important event in the history of the Lightracer series. I was very excited and contacted this fan creator immediately, getting his permission to include his poem in the Lightracer: Ignition ending! (Note that his contribution has been noted.)

“SpellForce is not so much the story of one man as it is an anthology of culture clashes.”

I admit that I don’t often go back and play SpellForce games, but it’s not so much about the consistent gameplay as it is about how those games have stayed in my memory all these years later. I still think about my experience as a troll and how unfair some of my initial suspicions were towards certain characters.

SpellForce is not so much a story of an individual (although there are plenty of classic RPG mechanics for those who want it), but an anthology about the clash of cultures. These games are big, ambitious and let us dream. But most importantly, they encourage us to consider the feelings of others. This is a universal good in my book, and the SpellForce series has inspired me to create the same inspiring stories as a game developer.