Plus Valve catches 40,000 DOTA 2 cheaters and some cool updates from IGN Fan Fest
NEWS THIS WEEK
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SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Daniel Ang & Adam Christou. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Omny Studio for their support of SIFTER.
KYLE: Hi I’m Kyle Pauletto
FIONA: and I’m Fiona Bartholomaeus
KYLE: Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
FIONA: This week Sony showcases upcoming games at the State Of Play, Valve smashes 40,000 DOTA2 cheaters at once, and some big departures from Tango Gameworks and Firaxis.
Here is the news for Sunday 26th of February. Let’s go!
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KYLE: Sony hosted a State of Play update on Friday showcasing a bunch of third party games coming to the PlayStation 5.
There are five new games coming to the brand new PSVR2.
A couple of first person shooters, with steampunk “The Foglands”, and the Scifi title Synapse.
Also coming soon is Before your Eyes, a narrative game that tracks when you blink, Green Hill, a survival game, and space RPG Journey to Foundation.
Tchia is a shapeshifting adventure game set and inspired by New Caledonia, made by a team that lives there and it’s arriving on the 31st of March on PlayStation and PC.
Goodbye Volcano High the adventure game set in a dinosaur highschool just before the meteor hits looks great, and has an art style that’s sure to get all the scalies excited. That’s out on June 15.
FIONA: Baldur’s Gate 3 the legendary RPG series based on the world of Dungeon’s and Dragons will arrive on PS5 later this year, you can roll for initiative on August 31.
Street Fighter 6 is out on June 11 and we got a look at characters Zayne-geef (zangief), Lily and a new athleisure look for fan favourite Cammy.
Batman Arkham series makers Rocksteady gave us a 15 minute look into the rogues gallery looter shooter Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which is sadly the last time we’ll hear Batman voice Actor Kevin Conroy who passed away last year.
What are you excited to check out on the PlayStation Kyle?
KYLE: Well I was really excited for Suicide Squad, but after seeing the new gameplay I don’t think i’ll be going in. What’s the point of a playable captain boomerang or King Shark if they all just use guns? Seems odd to me.
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FIONA: It wasn’t the only showcase this week, IGN Fan Fest revealed some cool new details about a few games we’ve been expecting.
The biggest news was Diablo IV, it’ll be going into Beta on the 17th of March for people who preorder and everyone else from the 24th of March until the 26th. You can pick up the full game on the 6th of June.
There is a souls-like Pinnochio game coming out in August called “Lies of P” and it looks very Bloodborne if we’re honest.
There is tabletop rpg inspired ‘For the King II’ which features four player co-op with a really cool cartoony style.
KYLE: Australian made Jumplight Odyssey, the anime inspired colony sim and roguelite is coming to early access very soon, by Melbourne’s League of Geeks who also showed off some gameplay from their hell themed political simulator Solium Infernum.
Gianni had a chance so speak with Kelsey Gamble from the team this week on our interview podcast Lightmap so keep an eye out for that.
We got the first look at Telltale Games’ The Expanse, based on the beloved scifi book series and TV Show, and it’s got some 3D adventure based gameplay as well as that choice based storytelling we all love.
And who could forget I Am Jesus Christ, first person adventure where you play as the messiah himself. Cure the sick, walk on water, but it seems a little bit OP, a bit like turning on god mod.
What caught your eye Fiona?
FIONA: I’m so excited for Jumplight Odyssey, it looks absolutely amazing. It’s been a while since I’ve played a colony sim so I’m ready to jump back in.
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FIONA: There is a new update in Slime Rancher 2 but it’s a secret, one the devs hope players will discover on their own.
The new update called the Song of the Sabers added a beautiful snow-covered zone called Powderfall Bluffs and Monomi Park co-founder and Slime Rancher 2 Director Nick Popovich said the entire zone is hidden.
The company wanted to create an experience and situation where in years to come someone might have missed this update announcement, pick up the controller and accidentally stumble into Powderfall Bluffs.
KYLE: I think that’s such a cool idea, letting players explore to find this secret area, and leaving something there for future playthroughs.
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KYLE: A new rogue-lite Doom game is coming to mobile.
Mighty Doom is an adorably violent top-down shooter set in an animated Doom Universe.
It looks like a fun game to play, running and gunning through iconic levels, battling hordes of demons, bosses and more. Plus lots of power ups to unlock, and gear and weapons to upgrade
It’ll be out on Apple and Android on March 21 and will be free to play.
FIONA: I haven’t played much of the Doom series but this looks like a great game to play while sitting on the bus or train to full in some time.
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KYLE: After 23 years working at Firaxis, Jake Solomon has announced his departure from the company.
The surprise announcement came late last week when the Marvel’s Midnight Sun’s director posted a message on Twitter saying he had fulfilled his two lifelong dreams of making an XCOM game and Marvel Midnight Suns.
With the positive reviews and attention that Midnight Suns has received, he’s definitely ending on a high a note, but the game hasn’t sold as well as the company expected despite the critical success.
There aren’t many details on what he has planned to do next but we do know he has a new dream to chase, so we’ll probably see his name attached to a new project soon.
FIONA: Speaking of developers leaving companies, it has been revealed that Shinji Mikami is planning to leave Tango Gameworks, the studio that he founded in 2010.
The announcement came from an internal company email from Bethesda’s Senior Vice President Todd Vaughn stating that after 12 years of being a creative and supportive leader he has decided to leave.
Tango Gameworks is known for many hit series including The Evil Within, GhostWire Tokyo and the recent hit Hi-Fi Rush.
Despite his departure, it’s reported that the studio will continue to support Ghostwire: Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush while it’s decided on what the future of the team will be.
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KYLE: Valve says this week they’ve snared 40,000 cheaters in Dota 2, after a recent patch created a “honeypot” that only the cheating software could access.
Accounts that accessed this “secret” area exposed themselves and received the hammer of justice.
In a statement, Valve said that because of this method, they have “extremely high confidence that every ban was well-deserved.”
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FIONA: That’s it for news, here are the games releasing this week
KYLE: The latest paid expansion for Destiny two is out this week, it’s titled Lightfall, and promises new story missions and enemies, a new neon-lit city location to explore and that’s just to name a few. I think it might be time for me to dip back into Destiny. That’ll be available on the 28th.
FIONA: Also out on the 28th is Scars Above, the sci-fi action adventure shooter by developers Mad Head Games. Set in a mysterious alien world, players will need to solve environmental puzzles whilst mowing down terrifying otherworldly monsters. Grab it on PC, Xbox, or PlayStation.
KYLE: After spending three years in early access, the highly anticipated indie mech title Phantom Brigade is finally here. It’s a hybrid turn based and real time strategy RPG that looks fantastic. It’s out on PC this Tuesday.
FIONA: And on March 3rd we are getting the release of Team Ninja’s latest action adventure title, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. It’s an Action RPG that tells the story of a militia soldier fighting for survival in a fictionalized fantasy take on ancient china. Pick it up on PC, Xbox, or PlayStation this Friday.
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KYLE: This has been Walkthrough by Sifter, my name is Kyle Pauletto
FIONA: And my name is Fiona Bartholomaeus. Thank you so much for listening.
KYLE: We know you love our podcasts, so why not become a monthly backer on Ko-Fi? Your support lets us keep making our shows so why not show the love and sign up to be a monthly backer. It’s easy, head to sifter.com.au/support where support starts from just $1 a month that address again is sifter.com.au/support
FIONA: SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Daniel Ang & Adam Christou . Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer who also edits each episode, wrote the Sony story, and is definitely a scalie.
KYLE: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune.
Thanks to both Audio Technica Australia and Omny Studio for their support of SIFTER’s three podcasts.
FIONA: Thanks again for listening, we’ll be back with more news next Sunday.
