By Ronald Gordon 

Hello and welcome once again to the Roundup, a series created to gather the works of members and interns alike to give them a shoutout! Back to School season is starting, and with it comes some last minute summer reviews! This time around we’ve got news on a whimsical noir point and click, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynched, a fantastic Zelda-like, GTA Leaks galore, and so much more! 

Recently, we at the Circle had a wonderful time at M.S. 131 in the Lower East Side, a diverse school of even more diverse creatives. While our Playing with Purpose courses usually last a full 10 weeks, M.S. 131’s packed schedule meant the school could only spare time for three, which turned out to be plenty. We gathered students from two different classes, showed them the amazing love story within Florence, and displayed slideshows all within three weeks, and they couldn’t have been happier. After all was said and done, the wonderful teacher we partnered with, Otis Kriegel, had these words to share about the experience: “You would never think that a 3-day workshop with 8th graders would have such an impact, but Playing with Purpose broke that model! My students loved the project and dove deeply into it. They shared ideas, pushed each other to further develop each other’s concepts and really enjoyed the entire process. I would love to have them back for the 10-week course. I can only imagine how impactful that will be after seeing the positive effect the 3-day had! Thank you Harold and team!” We’re excited for Playing with Purpose to return in the fall, and hope to reach many more schools all across New York! 

We shift into reviews with Karoline Castillo-Troncoso’s thoughts on Case Solved: The London Files, and the whimsy it brings! While most people may assume that detective style point-and-click games will often be dark and gritty, as it turns out this is not always the case. Karoline notes this in regards to the freedom of choice within the London Files, mentioning a particular game mechanic as she writes, “Players can click on the objects they believe are pieces of evidence, or they can wait to interact with the different suspects. After exhausting the suspect’s entire script/dialogue, the interaction ceases and a clue is revealed, checking off objects on an evidence list. The freedom of choice concerning whether a player can find a clue on their own or allow it to be revealed for them leans into the casual and stress-free nature of this game.”

As an avid fan of Nintendo’s colorful customizable characters, Isaac Espinosa enjoyed the return to Miis in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. Simulation games where you pilot the lives of tiny individuals are a dime a dozen, but something about Tomodachi Life’s Mii interactions stood out, mainly because they involve the player. When referencing the way the Miis can engage with you, or one another, Isaac writes, “Completing these will not only grant you gifts that you can give to your Miis, but the Mii you play with will also gain an increase in happiness. This cycle of engaging with the Miis as the island grows larger and more populated is the core of what makes Tomodachi Life so enjoyable. The further you go, the more rewarding and satisfying the game feels. This all can be quite addictive, especially when the Miis do something you don’t expect. You’ll just be idly watching over the island when suddenly three of your Miis start acting like a punk gang, complete with mohawks and synchronized suits, or one of the Miis will suddenly start swooning over another.”

Assassin’s Creed fan Saniah Etienne got her hands on Black Flag: Resynched, where pirates come before assassins. Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag can feel misleading, according to Saniah. If you walk into the game expecting to be an assassin right off the bat, you may just be surprised. While it may have turned off  fans initially, Saniah stood firm in her time with Resynched, even going on to praise the game as she writes, “At first, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag: Resynced challenged my positive view of Assassin’s Creed. But by the end of my playing time, I was a fan. The Assassin’s Creed Universe is big enough for a pirate game, and I understand why this one is well loved. Exploring the Caribbean, interacting with the Templars and the brotherhood, and leading your own ship and crew through naval battles creates an experience unlike any other game in the franchise. Some may need to adjust to the balance between piracy and the traditional assassin experience. But those who can adapt and see the vision will find a unique and rewarding playing experience.” 

Old games are hard, and that’s no surprise to Jatin Gundara. But the difficulty of Gothic 1 Remake certainly was unexpected. After 25 years, the remake of the cult classic RPG Gothic 1 blew fans away with its stunning graphical upscale and faithful recreation of mechanics and story. Ironically, the remake sticking close to the original is what drove Jatin to discover Gothic 1’s true gruesomeness, which he details as he writes, “But for how much I’ve been raving about the world of Gothic, it certainly does not hide that it’s meant to be unforgiving. The first cutscene features the player being cast down a one-hundred foot waterfall, then punched and almost killed by bandits before being narrowly rescued. Ironically, the most common subtitle written in the loading screen played after a player’s death reads ‘Gothic is challenging, make sure you save often!’”

“Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo puts you in control of a blue bat, Pippit, who gets unwittingly caught up in corporate warfare.” Giovanni Colantonio introduces what might be one of the best Zelda-likes out there as he writes, “When his family’s business is attacked by rivals, he sets out on an urban adventure to take down some evil corporations. His weapon? A giant mythical sword — no, wait, that’s not right. It’s a yoyo.” With the weeks in between the Ocarina of Time Remake’s release date feeling like an eternity for many Zelda fans, Giovanni tries his best to pull minds away from the original and appreciate what it has inspired. There’s no better example of this inspiration than this yo-yo centric journey, which Giovanni outlines as he writes, “Described as a ‘yoyovania,’ Pipistrello sets itself apart from your average Zelda ode by building the game around that unique tool. Yes, it can whack the heck out of enemies, but developer Pocket Trap finds a lot of ways to play with its utility. Pippit can ride it, ricochet it off of walls, launch it to hit switches, and more. It’s like having Link’s entire toolset (boomerang, hookshot, etc) in one single item. That creative approach to design allows for a creative game that’s always remixing Zelda staples in fresh ways.”

Stephen Totilo brings shocking news of GTA VI’s week-long leaking crisis. Grand Theft Auto VI is anticipated to be one of the biggest games released to date, with millions of fans and dozens of fellow game developers eagerly awaiting its November arrival. Yet one thing seeks to push this release date further, and that’s a mysterious hacker known as CyberLeek that’s been posting gameplay clips and content for almost the entire week. They even released a manifesto around their motives, which Stephen mentions as he writes, “The leaked footage was overlaid with links and messages, including a solicitation for people to buy a memecoin and a threat to conduct similar hacks and leaks against video game companies that didn’t follow a set of ‘commandments.’ Those demands: offer offline modes for online games, refrain from ‘fake single-player DLC’ and don’t solicit digital pre-orders for games ‘before release and independent review,’ according to a Kotaku run-down of the manifesto.”

Beyond the Circle 

Indie developers rejoice. There’s a brand new method of achieving funding on the horizon. The Creative Artists Agency, CAA, is launching a brand new mentorship program called Frame1Games, aimed at helping the independents of the gaming world achieve a level of success near that of Triple A studios. In a statement to the public, CAA writes “Starting in 2027, Frame1Games will support its cohort titles with flagship marketing to drive awareness at industry-leading events such as Summer Game Fest in June and The Game Awards in December, placing these independent titles alongside the industry’s most celebrated talent and the year’s most anticipated titles. With more than 10,000 independent titles released annually on Steam alone, discoverability has become one of the industry’s greatest challenges, making strategic partnerships and visibility as critical to success as the game itself. Frame1Games builds on CAA‘s three decades representing developers and studios across the industry, from blockbuster franchises to breakout independent studios including Respawn, Obsidian, Turtle Rock Studios, AdHoc Studio, and Strange Scaffold.” The program is said to launch sometime in 2027, with applications opening soon. If you’re interested in partnering with such a prolific company, definitely check out its website for more info! 

Ronald Gordon is a New York Videogame Critics Circle Member and Mentor. He was the first of our writers – or any intern anywhere – to complete an internship at Rockstar Games.

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