LONG BLOG
Ten After Ten: 7/20/21-7/29/21
News
The biggest story to grab headlines during this time was a lawsuit filed in California alleging workplace discrimination. From there, a whirlwind of events happened including a walkout, an open letter from Ubisoft, and more. It is still an ongoing situation, so don’t be surprised if more is to happen in the near future.
This whole fiasco started when the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed a suit for various incidents and issues involving harassment and discrimination at Activision Blizzard. More and more of these stories are seeing the light of day as time goes on, but shortly after this, over 2,000 employees signed an open letter asking for change from the company. Activision Blizzard denied many of the allegations, which prompted the employees to stage a walkout. Their actions have prompted various companies and individuals both within and outside of Activision’s umbrella to speak up about the issue, including an open letter from Ubisoft.
As said earlier, a lot of this is ongoing, and more will likely surface as the days and weeks roll on.
Normally I don’t focus on new content updates for games in the news section, but I had to make an exception for both this game and Outer Wilds as they are games I love. Hunt: Showdown released a new map, DeSalle, for the first time in three years. This new map is easily the best of the three, as its new settings are larger and more intricate, its overall terrain has more verticality, and its autumn setting gives the map a more unique feel compared to the other two. Hunt: Showdown is my most-played game at 730 hours (as of writing this), so a content drop as big as this one is news for me.
Outer Wilds Expansion Announced
Another game I absolutely love, Outer Wilds, also recently announced new content. Echoes of the Eye is planning on adding a new story thread to the game. I have no clue how they will be able to do it considering its story, but any excuse to revisit the game is a good enough excuse for me. The DLC is planning a release on September 28th.
Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony
The 2021 Tokyo Olympics are well underway, and while I’m personally excited to see climbing make its debut here, where the Olympics relates to video games is with its opening ceremony. Throughout its opening ceremony, songs from various games were played, including NieR, Monster Hunter, Soul Caliber, Kingdom Hearts, and more. Nintendo was left out, though recent reports sounds like Nintendo pulled out of featuring any of their scores.
After rumors started floating around for a little while, EA announced a remake to the original Dead Space. Motive Studios is spearheading the horror title, and the game will feature “improved story, characters, and gameplay mechanics” on top of a ground-up remake in the Frostbite Engine. There is no set release date yet, but it’s planning on releasing on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Releases
The Forgotten City
Modern Storyteller’s The Forgotten City is an adventure mystery game about travelling back in time and being stuck in a time loop in a Roman city that is cursed. As a big fan of Outer Wilds and time loop stories in general, I’m always interested in seeing a game tackle this style of storytelling, and I think video games are a perfect medium for telling this style of story. I’ve seen this game kicking around E3 for quite some time, so seeing it finally release is nice too. The Forgotten City released on the 28th for PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4.
The Ascent
The Ascent from Neon Giant is a twin-stick ARPG set in a cyberpunk world where the corporation running the city suddenly shuts down, sending everyone and everything into chaos. While I think the cyberpunk setting is starting to wear thin on me, I think this is the best looking cyberpunk setting I’ve seen. Beyond that, I think the combat looks fun, and I can see playing with some friends being a blast. The Ascent released on the 29th for PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.
Chernobylite
The Farm 51’s Chernobylite is a first-person horror RPG about looking for your fiancée in Chernobyl. There has been a small surge in Chernobyl-themed games, and what I think makes this one unique is the fact that this game’s version is an actual depiction of the exclusion zone as the developers have 3D scanned the environment. More than that, though, I think the team building and management looks fun, and I’m down to play a survival shooter by this point. Chernobylite released on the 28th for PC.
Death’s Door
Acid Nerve’s Death’s Door is an isometric top-down action-adventure game about a crow reaping souls. I’m all for short-and-sweet games, and I think this game seems like a great little Zelda-like experience. The combat looks fun, the art style looks great, and I think its level design looks solid. Death’s Door released on the 20th for PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.
Blogs
Cannon Brawl is a mix between an artillery game and an RTS game about taking out the enemy tower using a variety of structures. It’s a solid mashup of the two, and I enjoyed the various strategies and counters of each structure, but that fun only lasted for so long. While the game seems built for couch co-op, I think it’s also difficult to do so considering the various structures to learn. In the end, I gave the game a 3.5/5, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a small but interesting strategy game.
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