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It has been an interesting week, at least for me. I’ve spent most of my time playing three games: The new Saints Row, the very much not-new The Last of Us Part 1, and Sam Barlow’s Immortality. Those are three flavors that really should not mingle, but I’d rather have too many games than too few. I like Immortality with all of its subtle horror aspects, even I’m in a state of perpetual, simmering confusion for the first couple of hours. And I’ll keep my thoughts on Saints Row to myself for now, because I’m still letting it sit for now.
In news this week, we’ve seen the acquisition of a few game studios: Quantic Dream and Savage Games. From Software also sold some of its shares to Sony and Tencent. We’ve also heard rumors about an even lighter PS5 coming out — which will still be going for the higher price Sony announced last week. Also, for some reason, Twitch is having a moment. It’s loosened its creator restrictions — basically, partnered streamers are allowed to create content on other platforms. Now, some of its biggest streamers are pulling away from Twitch citing burnout, so apparently that concession wasn’t enough.
On the games side, we got to see some new footage of Hogwarts Legacy this week. We shan’t be able to play Quidditch upon our return to magic school — not that I think anyone was missing it. Also, Ubisoft has dropped the first art for a brand new Assassin’s Creed game called Mirage. As far as I can tell from a single piece of art, it looks amazing. Against my better judgement, I’ve missed Assassin’s Creed and I want to see what Ubisoft has in mind for the new title.
I am working on the review of the third edition of The Last of Us, but I want to address something that bugs me about the game: Whether or not to call it a remake? Yes, the new version of The Last of Us is technically a remake, because the developers rebuilt it with a new codebase. But I don’t think using the strict, esoteric view of the topic serves anyone. Tomatoes are technically a fruit, but you won’t catch me calling my caprese a fruit salad. Personally, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a remake because that implies a level of “new-ness” that isn’t present in this title. But please feel free to give me an alternate definition in my Twitter mentions if you wish.
What to play this week
What’s new:
- The Last of Us Part 1
- Immortality
- F1 Manager 2022
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection
- Tinykin
- Gerda: A Flame in Winter
- Call of the Wild: The Angler
- Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed
- Scathe
Now on subscription services:
- Commandos 3 – HD Remaster (Xbox Game Pass)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (Xbox Game Pass)
- Gods Will Fall (Xbox Games with Gold)
- Thrillville (Xbox Games with Gold)
- Tri6: Infinite (Stadia Pro)
- Overcooked! All You Can Eat (Stadia Pro)
- Spiritfarer (Stadia Pro)
- PJ Masks: Heroes of the Night (Stadia Pro)
- Arcade Paradise (GeForce Now)
- MythBusters: The Game – Crazy Experiments Simulator (GeForce Now)
- Dark Deity (GeForce Now)
- Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (GeForce Now)
- Lumencraft (GeForce Now)
- Assassin’s Creed Origins (Prime Gaming)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Prime Gaming)
- The Dig (Prime Gaming)
- We. The Revolution (Prime Gaming)
- Defend the Rook (Prime Gaming)
- Football Manager 2022 (Prime Gaming)
- Castle on the Coast (Prime Gaming)
- Word of the Law: Death Mask (Prime Gaming)
- Hot Wheels Unleashed (Luna Prime)
- Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (Luna Prime)
- Riptide GP: Renegade (Luna Prime)
- Earthworm Jim (Luna Prime)
- Yooka-Laylee & the Impossible Lair (Luna Prime)
- Everspace (Luna Prime)
- Hanx101 Trivia (Apple Arcade)
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