By Ronald Gordon
Hello once again and welcome back to the Roundup! It’s the column that’s filled with nothing but news from our beloved members and interns! The weather is heating up and with it, more games are expected for the Spring and upcoming Summer months. I myself got to review the phenomenal Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second installment of FFVII remakes which seem to be getting better each and every time. I wholly suggest that you check it out if you’re a fan of Final Fantasy, and even if you’re not, the game has plenty of what any RPG fan could hope for. Aside from that, this week we’ve got news from Kim at her first Game Developers Conference, Khloe’s review of Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story, our talented, winning student from the Hudde school, Jatin’s time as a Mudrunner, and so much more!
I’d personally like to give a big congratulations to one of the talented students from our middle school programs. At Brooklyn’s Hudde school one young student stuck out and wrote a fantastic article about the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Elisabeth Chery is a smart young lady who I hope continues to write far into the future. Her words were fluid and impactful and she communicated with passion in class. I was glad to be a part of mentoring her class about what it means to be a journalist, and give her praise for winning the Lenovo’s awesome Legion 5 laptop!
Starting us off, I’d like to congratulate Kimari Rennis for getting the chance to cover the Game Developers Conference all the way in San Francisco! With this being her first ever GDC, Kimari agreed to add diary entries every day and post it to the site – including the talk she gave about the game she produced, FISHGUN! Her most ambitious coverage occurred during the final two days when she wrangled many CD PROJEKT people together for a photo. If you’re interested in GDC and what Kim is taking away from the event, I highly suggest you check out her diaries for the week; they’ve been packed with good vibes and vital information!
Isaac Espinosa brings us a review of Rise of the Ronin, a game packed with Japanese history and even more weaponry. Rise of the Ronin doesn’t just give you the feeling of being a swordsman with no master; it gives you the weight and consequences of this lifestyle as well. “As you travel through a retelling of many of Japan’s darkest points in history, Rise of the Ronin truly tests to see if you can handle the unvarnished truths of bloodshed and war.” Isaac begins his article with this fact, mentioning just how much history plays into the overall experience. Writes Isaac, “It really does feel as if the game is bringing you right into the center of Japan’s history, and not just making you watch through it either. You’re a central piece of that puzzle, and every step, choice, or fight you face, may be the ultimate one that seals Japan’s fate for the remainder of time.”
Next up, we have Khloe Wilkerson reviewing Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter story, a documentary/game about the power of retro games and the influential figure that is Jeff Minter. “If you’ve ever wanted to travel back in time, Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story will make your fantasies come true. Here, as an interactive participant, you’re witness to the history of one of the weirdest, most distinctive game creators ever. With a love for llamas, sheep, and shooters, England’s Jeff Minter became a groundbreaking game creator known for doing his own thing – regardless of what others think.” Taking us through Jeff Minter’s life as presented in the game, Khloe’s article details the esoteric nature of not only Llamasoft games but the experiences Jeff Minter sought to bring to the world: “I would say Jeff Minter games are pretty recognizable to spot. The llamas and camels, upbeat music, and lighting all indicate this. Unlike other game makers that frequently utilize aliens, troops, and ships.”
Jatin Gundara enjoys the experience of trekking through difficult terrain in Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, breaking through all sorts of terrains to get the next job done. Says Jatin, “In gaming, the line between fun and frustration can be paper thin. At one moment a player could be enthralled by the atmosphere, intrigued with its prospects, and the next completely turned off due to one mistake.” Jatin pulls no punches in explaining how A MudRunner Game may destroy someone’s fun without proper patience when he writes. “The atmosphere of Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game, and the time a player will remain within its world, boil down to the player’s willingness to partake in one thing: Preparation. Without it, the game’s realism (harkening back to the other games in the runners series, i.e. 2020’s Snowrunners), will constantly serve as a reminder that at any moment, one’s expectations could be flipped. And a grand expedition could devolve into a struggle between the desire to stop playing and the will to keep going.”
Moving on from interns to members of the Circle, Giovanni Colantonio talks about Hyper Light Breaker, which was demoed at GDC recently! It’s a game that he has dubbed “A colorful mix between Risk of Rain and Dark Souls.” Giovanni was deceived by how the demo started off – easy. “I was too cocky. As a much bigger enemy wiped the floor with me, I’d start to see the secret FromSoftware influence hiding underneath the waves of neon. In order to take out tougher bosses, I’d need to carefully read their attack patterns, evade, and parry just as I would in a Dark Souls game.” In a bit of a cheeky business strategy, it seems as though Heart Machine designed the demo to show you just how tough Hyper Light Breaker can get in the long run. “The slice I played has real potential as a future co-op staple that scratches the same itch as Risk of Rain. When you combine that foundation with some Soulslike challenge and Heart Machine’s signature art style, you wind up with a colorful, mysterious little action game that’s sure to turn heads when it hits early access.”
Alyssa Mercante covers the story of an Apex Legends hacker named Destroyer2009, who seems to have used an exploit that needs patching out of love for the game. Hackers are everywhere, in both real life and in video games, and being at the end of a hacker’s power trip is never fun in an online game. Yet when it comes to the hacker that used an exploit in a global tournament, with a $5 million cash prize, fun is no longer a part of the equation. ““Not many people would have used an exploit like that in an absolutely innocent way for players,” Destroyer2009 told TechCrunch. “Just imagine if it wasn’t a joke and we didn’t put any memes in the cheat, I’m pretty sure you can ruin someone’s career if they had a cheat pop up on a tournament.” The hack took place during the North American finals, and appeared to have only affected two players: Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose, who was given a wallhack cheat that let him see through walls, and Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen, who suddenly had an aimbot (perfect accuracy) applied to his guns.” In an attempt to get Respawn to pay attention to what’s happening within their game, Destroyer2009 seems to have made himself a martyr in this, showing them that these exploits are real and should be dealt with so that they don’t end up in the wrong hands.
Stephen Totilo of Game File also writes about his time at GDC, though as an experienced Journalist his time is spent interviewing the developers of some of the Best Games of 2023. Taking the opportunity to interact with talented developers, Stephen didn’t follow the norm of asking interviewing questions about their games, instead challenging them to do something more engaging, “I asked each award winner to describe their game to me. The catch: They had to pick a die to roll (from 4-sided to 20-sided), and then describe the game using only as many words as the number they rolled.” Anyone can interview a game dev, but Stephen is one of the few that gets them to play by his rules. In doing so, he gets some very interesting insights from the creators of these impactful games, something that isn’t gleaned very often if you’re not subscribed to Game File!
