What a week, guys. If you’re not playing the second episode of Batman: The Telltale Series, then you’re surely putting time into Destiny: Rise of Iron. And if not that, then probably NBA 2K17 or The Bunker, depending on your proclivity for sports/FMV. Or maybe you’ve been waiting for that Xbox One release of Firewatch. Today also marks the release of the Ultimate Edition of Forza Horizon 3.
But let’s also not forget that multiple people lost their lives this week in reprehensible and alarming events, including Terence Crutcher of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Keith L. Scott of Charlotte, North Carolina. This is while Ohio Trump campaign chair Kathy Miller stated there was “no racism” before Obama. Oh, and we learned that Oculus founder Palmer Luckey not only believes that memes and shitposting has a place in political discourse, but he funds it for the Trump campaign! And proudly!
Anyway, I just wanted to get that out there. It seemed wrong not to. But now we can get to trailers, I guess.
Passengers — Official Trailer
This almost seems too obvious. Let’s throw two of the biggest Internet crushes into space and film it. Duh. I am, of course, being overly reductive, but it’s also a somewhat deserved reaction. Fuck, just look at it. It’s mostly just them two, and the one other major presence is also a Tumblr darling.
The other deserved reaction is that this looks damn good. The bait-and-switch of a celestial romcom turned thriller turned action turned thriller again is fantastic. And that’s not mentioning the incredibly ripe with potential premise that is grade-A sci-fi. Plus the major The Shining vibe from that bar is super agreeable to me. It hits theatres on December 21.
Resident Evil: Vendetta — TGS Trailer
So, holy shit, but there’s a Resident Evil movie coming out that genuinely looks good. Not only that but it actually has Capcom involved in the development with Hiroyuki Kobayashi overseeing the entire project. And you’re not crazy: that is definitely Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy you see in there.
It gets better from there, too. It’s written by Psycho-Pass writer Makoto Fukami and produced by Ju-On/The Grudge creator Takashi Shimizu. Yeah, that’s a lot of (admittedly hyper-specific and niche) talent to throw at this thing. It comes out in Japan in 2017 with no date yet for a Western release.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — Official Cooking Trailer
To be totally honest, outside of Don’t Starve, I’m really not into the modern trend of survival games and their influence across the industry. (Their surprise existence in games like No Man’s Sky and We Happy Few is especially detestable because those games are way more interesting without that slant.) It just never has been anything besides busywork to me.
That being said, there’s something endlessly charming about the way Link cooks and eats things. Not only that, but the adorably bouncing food in the pot is just stupid-awesome, just as is the “Dubious Food” result, both of which feel distinctly Japanese for some reason. Blame Persona 4, probably. Anyways, it comes out for the Wii U and NX in 2017.
Robinson: The Journey — Official PlayStation VR Demo
Wow, um, this looks clumsy as hell. Rec Room seems to have a far better grasp on what makes VR interactions interesting and it’s basically a busted-ass, free-to-play chat sim, albeit with fantastic movement and shooting mechanics. Approximately zero percent of this game, however, looks interesting.
When you open the door, for example, you don’t even physical move the handle. Shooting that basketball looks straight out of Fallout 4‘s wheelhouse of interactions. And fucking fuck I don’t want to repair a god damn scarecrow made of barrels. I will say, however, that it does say “NOT FINAL GAMEPLAY,” so there’s that to fall back on. Plus that segment of panhandling for fish was neat. It comes out exclusively for the PlayStation VR on October 13.
Rez Infinite — Area X Reveal Trailer
So this looks like the perfect way to lose your mind. I don’t mean lose it as in you’ll go crazy (though that is a distinct possibility) but lose it in sense that Leonardo DiCaprio was afraid he’d lost it in Inception. How can you react to Rez in virtual reality with anything but both fear and excitement?
And this new level “Area X” is sure to take advantage of that even more than the original ever possibly could have predicted in terms of VR. I fully expect tons of particles coming at you, giant cyber dragons, and an intense disability to respect reality after playing. It comes out alongside the PlayStation VR on October 13.
Batman: The Telltale Series — Behind the Scenes
Voice actors seem like a lot of fun. They’re celebrities with the understanding that their fame is totally unrecognizable beyond the most deeply devoted. Plus all of their stories come with a sizable serving of vocal acrobatics and/or gravitas, and that’s a serious bonus.
But speaking towards the game, it’s really cool that these are people that have more than a passing familiarities with their characters. Laura Bailey talks about her character Catwoman with a storied and analytical mind and Troy Baker has been in enough different Batman-centric roles that the entire mythos must have replaced his human blood by now. The second episode is out now for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Standby — Release Trailer
This trailer doesn’t actually show a whole lot. It doesn’t, in fact, show much of anything at all, despite looking and sounding quite good. It does, however, make you want to know more, and so a-googlin’ we must go. (Turns out search for a game called Standby is extraordinarily difficult.)
But then you end up at the official website and then you watch the original Greenlight trailer and you’re kind of impressed. It looks incredibly stylish but with the right amount of focus on a Super Meat Boy-esque brand of movement and platforming. What I’m saying, really, is that it seems criminal to not play it. It comes out for PC on Steam on October 14.
Dual Universe — Voxel Technology Pre-Alpha Video
The idea of voxels has always fascinated me. It seemed like a logical conclusion to move from pixels to voxels (consider the analogical shifting of dimensions when talking about drawing in fourth or higher planes of existence) but also immensely more complicated than necessary. But I suppose that is the crux of any development issue: build the system to be properly systemic and the problems eventually solve themselves. (In a way.)
I also just fucking love dev diaries. Sure, I’m a developer, too, but it’s the same way magicians can’t stop talking about, watching, and performing magic. You’re kind of in it for life. But also this game seems pretty interesting. You can still back it on Kickstarter—after you watch its strangely protracted, 18-minute pitch video—if you want. (The server-side tech video also has a pretty good explanation of why No Man’s Sky isn’t easily transformed into a traditional multiplayer experience.)
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 — English TGS Trailer
Dragon Ball will never die.
