Sony recently held their State of Play, and as you might expect, the internet was awash in coverage. I am going to try to avoid that, because there was a lot I didn’t care about, to be frank. PlayStation has its own roundup if you would like to check it out. Otherwise, we shall try (and slightly fail) to avoid only covering that.
Rayman’s return leaves a lot to be desired
It appears as though Ubisoft’s turnarounds are as fast as their turnovers. It is two weeks after we spoke about the Australian Classification leak, and the Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition is out now. Now, for my one-word review: Meh. It is fantastic to see this icon back, but it should have been better. I was expecting a lot more for the 30th birthday of a legend, and Ubisoft has sorely under-delivered.
It is just 5 platform versions of the original Rayman. Being able to play the SNES prototype is cool, it must be said, and 120 additional levels are also fun, because it was a good game. But couldn’t we have gotten more of an anthology? A more complete version of Rayman’s adventures? At least it is only £17.99.
Monster Hunter Wilds is hopefully getting a resurgence
Since Monster Hunter Wilds launched on computers, it has been getting a bit of flak, to put it lightly. To be less delicate, it has run like absolute rubbish. It has taken almost a year, but a patch has finally been released to help optimise the game, and it seems to have worked. Capcom has also committed to another patch this month for even more optimisation.
Away from the technical side, Capcom will be releasing an expansion akin to Monster Hunter World’s Iceborne for Wilds. In a video, Ryozo Tsujimoto explained that it will have more monsters, mechanics, and story taking place on a new map. Bonus consumer advice: Wilds is currently 45% off on Steam until February 26th, if you are interested.
Konami is turning up the heat
We are starting our quasi-rundown of Sony’s State of Play, because damn did they have some exciting stuff. The most interesting for me is Konami revealing a lot of new projects. Let’s kick off with Rev.Noir. It is your usual JRPG: amnesia, mysterious characters, and a phenomenon that instantly kills you.
A standard template, and one that I will absolutely fall for every single time. So far, we have a teaser trailer and a website, but neither gives anything away. What I will say, though, is that the design of the most likely main character bothers me. Everyone else is your classic anime style that looks lovely, but he doesn’t. I think it’s the hair. Hopefully, you can put a hat on him.
Motion Twin is bringing the Belmont’s back
Konami is also delving into its considerable store of existing franchises, and it has brought out a good one. Castlevania is back and is in the hands of Motion Twin. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse will follow Trevor Belmont’s successor, so close to playing as the great man himself. Paris is under siege, and only you can save them.
A key mechanic in the game will be the Vampire Killer whip. Not only does it, shockingly, kill vampires, but it can be used as a grappling hook of sorts to swing around the whole map. Imagine if they put the Eiffel Tower in with this. As mentioned, the architects behind this future gem are Motion Twin, creators of Dead Cells, who have already made a fantastic Castlevania expansion for said game. This is going to be incredible.
A few interesting technical announcements
As well as games, I enjoy hearing about new hardware and technical breakthroughs. There have been a few this week to quickly run down. To start, Sony has patented a technique to shrink your game files by a huge amount, but it involves streaming. By having critical files on your console, you shouldn’t have input lag or any latency drop. However, if you aren’t connected to the internet, you will have shoddy graphics. It is very interesting, because more space is always welcome, and most of us are always online anyway.
Speaking of Sony, there was another recent patent for a fully customisable controller. This would let you place the buttons anywhere you want to, which could be fun. And possibly great for accessibility, I imagine? For me, though, I need buttons. I love the clicks; I have a mechanical keyboard over a membrane for that reason. I want that tactile feeling.
Finally, a few new details have been released on the next Xbox console, and it is still pretty much what we are all expecting. It looks like it will be a hybrid console-gaming PC with a host of storefronts on it; Microsoft Store, Steam, etc. And, according to a recent interview between Windows Central and Steve Allison, it seems Epic Games Store.
Allison is the Vice President of the Epic Games Store, and it seems he has been speaking to Microsoft about this venture. And Epic Games Store would be right there. It would be a risky move for Xbox, since, depending on the price, people might just say “no, I will get a gaming PC instead”. At least this gives me a tenuous link to mention that Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark is currently free on the Epic Games Store. I already gushed about it on 148Apps, so I will keep it short; get it.
