Gaming news impressions September 2020
Between the PS4 price reveal, a Ninendo Mini-direct, and the Tokyo game show, there’s been a ton of game news and announcements this past few weeks, so I thought I’d share what grabbed my attention.
Devil May Cry 5: SE
I really enjoyed DMC5, so buying the Vergil DLC is a no-brainer for me. I’m not really in any rush to buy a next-gen console though, and DMC5 SE really isn’t doing anything to convince me. Better graphics and Turbo mode? Yay? The only thing I’d be missing out on by not upgrading is LDK difficulty mode, and honestly I’m not sure sure how well I’d fare. Maybe if they had an extra couple of stages I’d be more interested, but meh, I’ll grab it in a year or two when I can be bothered with an updated console.
Also, no playable Trish or Lady? That sucks :/
Balan Wonderworld
When this was first announced a couple of months ago, I was mildly interested (being a well-known sucker for 3D platforming games), but new info has come to light that has this game skyrocket to near the top of my “must have” list. It has Tims. Tims are essentially Chao. Yuji Naka is giving us a new chao garden. Life is good.
Final Fantasy XVI
There’s a lot I like in this trailer, what with the chocobo cavalry, and the middle-ages setting (I actually like the futuristic settings of more recent FF, but change is always good), and the new combat does look really awesome, thanks to Ryota Suzuki’s DMC pedigree, but, what about your party? None of the footage shows anyone else fighting alongside the player anywhere, and that just isn’t Final Fantasy. The work the previous game put into fleshing out your party is one of the reasons I loved the game as much as I did, so seeing that potentially cast aside is really killing my enthusiasm I had for the title. There’s no reason they couldn’t make it work with the combat style they’re going for, have your allies running around like they did in XV, and add the ability to switch up your party’s classes on the fly (using FFXIIIs paradigm system mapped to the dpad a-la DMC style switching). Who knows, maybe the soldiers by the bonfire in the trailer are your party members, and they just wanted to focus on the protag for this trailer, but I honestly think we’re looking at a solo-FF here. Shame.
Crash 4: It’s About Time
I’m feeling reasonably good about how Crash 4 is going to turn out. The base gameplay looks great, and a lot of the new additions look pretty interesting (some of the new crates could really shake things up in a good way) but then I remember that it’s being published by Activision and I get all nervous again. I know they keep saying that there’s going to be no microtransactions, but I honestly don’t believe it for a second.
I do like the replacement of the lives system with a death counter (I’ve never really considered lives as a good platformer mechanic) and I like that there’s a clearer landing marker, but the implementation of it is butt ugly and really takes me out of the game. And speaking of ugly, what have they done to my boy Dingodile? Really not liking his redesign. I’ve seen a lot of people against the multiple characters aspect online, comparing it to later Sonic games, and while I get it, I’m waiting to give it a try before passing judgement. It looks like Cortex might scratch my puzzle-platformer itch, and Tawna’s later stages looked alright in her reveal trailer (her intro stage looked boring as shit though) so maybe they’ll be okay.
I’m super excited about the challenge levels they briefly showed off this month; precision platforming is my jam, so bringing more of that to Crash should be a slam-dunk. I’ll probably wait till after Christmas to pick it up (so I can be better aware of Activision scum-baggery) but yeah, looking forward to some more Crash.
Rune Factory 5
I’d never heard of Rune Factory before, and if it wasn’t for the Nintendo mini-direct, I probably never would have, but I’m so glad I caught this. Stardew Valley was a massive time-sink for me, so seeing a game that essentially combines that with action RPG combat and a lush looking 3D world to explore makes for pretty much everything I could ask for in a game. I’m going to be following this one closely, hopefully there’ll be some more details revealed soon!
Oddworld Soulstorm
Honestly, I haven’t been keeping up with Oddworld the past 2-3 years, cause there was so little progress being made, at least officially. So with the new teaser trailer coming out, I decided to catch up on what I’ve been missing, and I’m not too sure on this one. The game does look gorgeous, with a great attention to detail, and I love how stages now move around in full 2.5 d now, instead of running along a fixed 2d plane. I’m slightly less convinced by some of the visual design choices, everything just looks so much brighter and non-oppressive than it did in the original two games, and I’m not so sure it’s a positive change. But nothing explains my concerns for the game better than the user interface.
Let’s consider the elements on the main hud. We now have a health meter, equipped items, currency counter, a key collection, a mudokon counter/status tracker, some control prompts for sneaking and chanting in-case you forget how to play the game mid-session, some additional counter and icons I have no idea what for, and a meter that tracks the enemies alert level. What a freaking mess.
Some of these may indeed be useful for gameplay, but others? Do we really need a reminder of the alert level at all times? Here’s a hint, if there are sirens going off, and enemies chasing you down and filling you with lead, guess what? You’ve been discovered! Half of the items on display could easily be shunted off to other menus (money, keys) or extrapolated from the environment (health, alert level, mudokon status) instead of polluting the main screen.
My big concern is just how “gamey” it all feels. Oddysee and Exoddus kept not only an incredibly clean look, but also managed to feel so very non-game-like by the absence of collectibles like money, health and ammo. Soulstorm seems to be heading in the exact opposite direction, even including stupid grindy shit like “pick up 10 collectibles to get bronze level collector” tasks which should really be consigned to multiplayer and sandbox style games, not forced into linear, story-driven experiences like Oddworld.
I’m still going to be getting this one, and possibly going to enjoy it, but it really seems to be lacking the magic of the original titles. I’d love to see a spiritual successor, maybe by an indie team somewhere. Instant purchase.
Deathsmiles re-release
Never played Deathsmiles, but have heard some good things about it, so maybe getting it rereleased on modern consoles will be just the push I need to give it a go? I haven’t had a go-to shmup since Zeroranger launched a couple of years ago, so this might be just what I need.
Zenimax/Bethesda buyout
Yeah yeah, Fallout this, Elder Scrolls that... you wanna know the property I care about? Croc. Croc was owned by Zenimax, and with all the 90s nostalgia games cropping up, Microsoft has the opportunity to greenlight a new Croc game! I mean, they won’t. But they could.
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