Hello Circle readers! Jon here – with another Roundup.
This past week was a busy one. Star Wars Battlefront II (not to be confused with Star Wars: Battlefront II from 2005) was confirmed, Nier: Automata held a livestream commemorating its 1 million copies shipped, and Code Vein was announced. And that was just the beginning.
On my end, I’ve been grinding away at Overwatch to get that sweet Soldier 76 push-up emote and just started Cosmic Star Heroine. The music in Cosmic Star Heroine can be a little overbearing (all the songs feel like they’re dialed to 100, constantly) but other than that, the combat system is fun and the humor reminds me of the droll writing from the 90s JRPGs of my childhood.
And with that, the Roundup:
Mike Andronico has the latest news on Star Wars Battlefront II. The single-player campaign begins shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi and spans 30 years, played from the perspective of Iden Versio, an Imperial special forces officer. Since Battlefront II is considered canon, its campaign will illuminate what happened in between Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens. For more details on the game, read Mike’s full write-up here.
Austin Walker wonders what happens to the galaxy after we save it. We pour dozens of hours into slaying every evil monster and collecting every bear ass in the games we play, but once we’re done destroying the Ancient Space Gods or killing the Wizard King, the curtains abruptly close. We never get to explore it again and see the lives we’ve changed, the lands we’ve saved from certain extinction. Why is that? Read Austin’s piece (if you plan on playing Mass Effect: Andromeda or Gravity Rush 2, beware of spoilers!) here.
Scott Stein cannot understand why Nintendo decided to kill the NES Classic. Seriously. He even slept on it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was cool, convenient to play, cheap to produce, and it sold really well. I say again on Scott’s behalf: Seriously. Read Scott’s piece here.
Eb Samuel reviewed MLB: The Show, which he declared to be the most realistic baseball game you’ll ever play. Batting is far more complex (hitting a baseball in the majors is widely considered the most difficult endeavor in all of professional sports), the physics offer more variety in how the ball moves (and thus affects plays), and it doesn’t fix what ain’t broke. Read Eb’s full review here.
Allegra Frank is looking forward to Nintendo’s upcoming SNES Classic and she’s got a couple classics she’d like to see return. By classics, she means the greatest RPGs ever made, the greatest fighting game ever made, and the greatest platformers ever made. When you read her list, you’ll know I’m right. Read Allegra’s list here.
And now for news outside of the Circle. . .
Peter Moore, the long-time, tattoo-sporting videogame executive, has left Electronic Arts to oversee the Liverpool soccer club. Moore’s humorous but thoughtful E3 speeches were legendary, and they began way back in the day with Sega’s Dreamcast. Post Sega, Moore moved on to Microsoft to help with the much-loved XBox 360. Here’s a video, made by Moore, which is touching and a little swaggering, too. In other words, it’s very Peter Moore, in a good way.
Bandai Namco announced Code Vein, a new action RPG set in an apocalyptic future ruled by vampires and monsters. The announcement comes, very wisely, off the heels of Dark Souls 3 releasing its final DLC. Code Vein is planned to be released in 2018. Check out more news here.
Titanfall 2 just announced A Glitch in the Frontier, a new DLC which continues Respawn Entertainment’s commitment to releasing all additional content of the game free of charge. Glitch adds new two maps, friendly robots, and a new weapon. Check it out here.
StarCraft: Brood War got its first patch in 8 years. If you’re part of the small but ridiculously skilled Brood War community that endures to this day, you can check out the new patch notes here.
Nier: Automata shipped one million copies and to celebrate, Square Enix hosted a dev livestream. It’s all in Japanese and there are no subtitles, but even if your understanding of Japanese ends with those phrases you hear in your favorite animes all the time (“Tsuyoi… MOTTO TSUYOI!”), they used lots of helpful pictures and videos to show you what’s going on. For one, there’s going to be a DLC featuring Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda and Platinum Games CEO Kenichi Sato as bosses. Yes – just when I thought no one could possibly top Garey Busey in HITMAN. Watch the livestream here and read this helpful article translating it here.
And that’s it for this week’s Roundup. See ya next time!
