TimeSplitters Rewind, a fan-made remake of the zany shooters’ multiplayer in a single game, might well represent the last gasp of the beloved first-person shooter franchise following the closure of resurrected original developers Free Radical – who were working on their own TimeSplitters reboot – at the end of last year. With over a decade of work already invested in the fan project, however, the team have now released a call for help to overcome development hurdles caused by the ongoing troubled state of the games industry.
CD Projekt Red are continuing to bulk up the team developing The Witcher 4 – officially codenamed Polaris – with two-thirds of the studio now working on the follow-up to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Meanwhile, the team working on Cyberpunk 2077 has shrunk to fewer than 20 people, less than half the number working on its upcoming sequel.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has dropped its first update, addressing one of the fantasy action-RPG’s most baffling decisions – the inability to start a new game once you’ve begun your first adventure – and letting you acquire a home of your own earlier, providing a reliable place to rest and save. There are some other small tweaks too, while Capcom dare to raise the question about future DLC in the wake of the game’s controversial microtransactions.
So, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, eh? I liked it a lot. 150 hours a lot. I big cried at least twice and welled up, much like a well, many other times. As much as I’d like to wax emotional about the plot and characters in an endless lifestream-of-consciousness ramble, articles need both headlines and subjects (truly an act of conspiratorial violence targeted at my personal dadaist instincts). So, let’s talk about just the minigames, because I think they’re wonderful for all sort of reasons that might not be immediately apparent. Naturally, big spoiler potential ahead if, like me, you consider everything you haven’t experienced in the RPG game a spoiler.
I think one of OG Final Fantasy’s 7 best tricks is how it doesn’t just dish out its strangest distractions as a palette cleanser to the main meal of its action and drama, but actively works them in as an indispensable part of the menu. It also does this all without a shred of shame or self-consciousness, resulting in a cinematic video game with no inner turmoil or resentment toward either part of that equation – a characteristic I feel is suffered from by many of the games for which FF7 lead the way. Take the Gold Saucer. It’s an excuse to dick around and ride motorbikes, sure, but it’s also an essential story beat while the party takes time to relax and enjoy each other’s company away from the stress of travel and battle.
I think its reasonable to say that the term ‘fetch quest’ is well passed the point of being a neutral descriptor and has moved firmly into the realm of full pejorative. You won’t see many games tout ‘epic fetch quests’ on their Steam Page, and you’re much more likely to hear the term lodged between the words ‘not a bloody’ and ‘again’, like two slices of exasperation-enriched bread stuffed with a shit-tier filling. Cucumber, perhaps. Not so, at least not for me, when it comes to Dragon’s Dogma 2. The action RPG game has more or less solved the fetch quest problem. All it took, it turns out, was some interesting world design.
Have you said hello to our new staff writer, Nic Reuben yet? You should say hi to Nic. You’ve already been reading him on RPS for years as a freelancer, but he’s ours now. Is us now. In other news, hey, it’s a long weekend! Most of us (sorry, Alice Bee) have Friday off and Monday too, so expect us to return properly on Tuesday. Until then, what are you playing this Easter weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on!
Head over to the Epic Games Store on April 4th and you’ll be able to grab The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition and Thief (2014) for free and to keep forever. Like a thief!
Rhythm shooter Metal: Hellsinger has you circle-strafing Quake-style level layouts at high-speed while you shoot demons to the beat. I meet the news that it’s getting a VR version this year with some trepidation, therefore. Do I really want to vomit on the beat?
Sega Of America employees have become the first a major US video games studio to ratify a union contract. The contract covers guarantees minimum yearly pay increases for around 150 staff through 2026.
A regular rogue’s gallery of independent game developers – including the creators of Dead Cells, Slay The Spire, Darkest Dungeon, Spiritfarer, Terraria and V Rising – have clubbed together to run their own videogame showcase: the Triple-I Initiative. Initially screening on 10th April, it’ll be a 45-minute, unhosted, back-to-back series of trailers, reveals and surprise game or demo releases, designed (as per the press release) “to highlight fan-favorite games and hype up established indie classics as well as new IPs”. It could become a yearly thing, but that’ll obviously depend on how well the first showcase goes down.
According to a few of the organisers, the IIIIs – as they shall now and forever be known – reflect a high level of anxiety even among more established indie teams about finding an audience, together with a feeling that they aren’t being served by existing showcases like the Geoffies, with their blockbuster headliners, celebrity cameos and extended Kojima soliloquies.
