by Stephanie Cookies
The second annual Playstation Experience took place this past weekend in San Francisco. Lots of trailers, demos, reveals, and announcements so here is the Geek Girl Authority Roundup.
Let’s start with the big one, Final Fantasy VII Remake. Every time even a little snippet is announced about this game, my social media feeds explode with nerdy goodness. Final Fantasy VII was THE defining game for me all those years ago, it was the game that kept me firmly entrenched in my hobby and made me promise myself to keep gaming throughout the trials of adulthood.
So I was just as excited as everyone else to get some more FFVII Remake footage.
My first thought, even though they have been redesigned, I love the characters maintain the basic look of the original FFVII, but also have a decidedly Advent Children feel to them.
My second, “Oh, no turn based combat”. No real surprise there. Shorty after the E3 announcement, it was revealed the game would not be an exact remake, there would be changes to more than just the graphics. Obviously the battle system is one of those changes, but it won’t be the last change.
Hot on the heels of the trailer, Square Enix put out a press release bomb that is still rippling through the gaming community:
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE will be told across a multi-part series, with each entry providing its own unique experience.
So what exactly does that mean? According to Kotaku, they received a follow up when they queried Square Enix directly about this decision.
It means instead of concluding in one entry, multiple entries are being considered in development. Each entry will have its own unique story. As a gaming experience, each entry will have the volume of content equal to a full sized game.
Well, that’s appropriately vague and leads to a host of questions. How many parts or episodes will there be? Is this going to vastly change the story of the game? If so, in what ways?
But wait, there’s more!
Yoshinori Kitase, Final Fantasy VII’s original director, did an interview with Dengeki Online. In it he explained that the game is being broken up due to content. If they attempted to remake the entire game with the graphics we’ve seen thus far, they would need to cut out some of the content to fit in a single volume. Instead, they chose to break it up to maintain the “density” and integrity of the original game.
You can find the original interview, in its entirety, here.
You can read the partial interview translation over at Gematsu here.
Next up: Epic Games made a big splash with its entry into the MOBA genre, Paragon. Paragon boasts “explosive action, direct third-person control, and deep strategic choices” all while maintaining the classic MOBA elements of 5v5, three lanes, minions, towers, and cores.
Paragon Announcement Trailer
Gameplay
I’ve always wondered what a MOBA would look and feel like if we took it out of the traditional realm of overhead combat and took the player into the trenches for an up close and personal slugfest. Battleborn and Overwatch both seek to answer that question to an extent, however, while they both borrow heavily from the MOBA genre, they both seem to be shooters at their core. Although, to be fair, I feel like Paragon is aiming to be direct competition for both games in 2016, Paragon is just staying more in the lines of a traditional MOBA. All are bucking to enter the eSports arena.
Right now Epic has only revealed 5 of the playable characters, Sparrow, Dekker, Steel, Twinblast, and Grux with no word on how many there will eventually be. But I have to give credit where credit is due, out of the 5 announced heroes, TWO of them are women, bravo. Based on the announce trailer, and every other MOBA in history, there will be more heroes. I love the choice Epic made by revealing 2 women from the very beginning. It’s a rarely done reveal and while it is becoming more commonplace to have, much less highlight, multiple playable female characters, it still does warrant cheering when it does happen.
On another note, I can’t help but compare Sparrow’s look to that of Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games franchise. She wields a bow and has dark hair worn in a braid off to one side. Decide for yourself in the character reveals below.
Sparrow
Dekker
Steel
Twinblast
Grux
Speaking of Battleborn, Gearbox revealed a new playable character, a penguin in a mech suit. Because Gearbox, that’s why.
Battleborn: Toby the Destroyer
Also, speaking of shooters, Bungie decided to bring Sparrow Racing League to Destiny: The Taken King. What is the Sparrow Racing League? Glad you asked, Sparrow Racing League is “a competitive, six player, free for all, death race through enemy territory”.
Destiny: The Taken King – Sparrow Racing League
Bungie ViDoc
Based on these 2 videos that description pretty much sums it up. It is worth noting the SRL is only available to those players that have The Taken King and is a limited event.
Want to know how to start it? Bungie has the answer for that as well.
“For all you Sparrow lovers out there, Amanda Holliday has always been your dealer. Sparrow Racing League will be her event. She’ll grant access to all players of Destiny: The Taken King, who will earn rewards as they cross the finish line again and again:
• Obtain your SLR Quest and Bounties
• Earn a new Sparrow as part of the SRL Quest
• Upgrade your reputation by completing SRL Bounties
• Each Race is a chance to earn SRL gear and Shaders
• The higher your reputation, the better the post-game drops
• Helmets and Class Items can drop with up to 320 Light
• Helmets and Class Items with Light can be used for Infusion
• All other SRL gear has no Light, but features racing perks
• New emotes to celebrate the thrill of speed and competition
• ToolKits that include stylish (but equally fast) Sparrows
• ToolKits that include Horns to let you signal your approach
• A new Record Book to provide more challenge and reward
– Complete challenges to earn vanity gear with 3 Light
– Collect an exclusive Emblem and Shader
– Commemorate your SRL stats after the event is over
– SRL Helmets and Class Items acquired via the Record Book can be Infused to immortalize your status as a racing champion”
From what I’ve gathered this is an experiment of sorts, if it goes well and the players love it, Bungie will work to make it a permanent part of the game and add more features. If it bombs, then that’s it. So make your voices heard, if you like it let Bungie know.
Sparrow Racing kicked off December 8th and will run for three weeks, concluding on December 29th.
More information can be found at the Bungie website here.
We’ve come to the end of the roundup, with a collection of some of the best trailers, announcements, and revels. Enjoy!
Ni no Kuni II Announcement Trailer
Hob Announcement Trailer
Yakuza 0 Announcement Trailer
Golem VR Announcement Trailer
100ft Robot Golf VR
Eagle Flight VR
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Dark Souls III
NIOH
Street Fighter V – F.A.N.G.
Hitman Beta
King of Fighters XIV
Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey
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