Plus Cult of the Lamb composer has sadly died and Summerfall Studios announced their next game
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SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Courtney Smith, Adam Christou and Chris Button. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Audio Technica Australia and Apple 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 we get our first real look at the Nintendo Switch 2 and give you all the details, Cult of the Lamb composer River Boy has sadly passed away, and Summerfall Studios announces their next game.
Here is the news for Sunday 6th of April. Let’s go!
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PROMO: Join the SIFTER community on Discord at sifter.com.au/discord
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KYLE: The biggest news of this week was the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct where we finally got a better look at the console and the upcoming games.
So let’s break it all down.
The screen itself is LCD, supports HDR, has resolutions of 1080p and up to 120fps, which is something many people are stoked about. It’ll finally have decent storage space and 4K support when it’s docked.
People totally called the mouse functionality from the very first trailer, the Direct showed off some games using the feature.
FIONA: The mysterious C button that’s on the JoyCon turned out to be GameChat which is essentially Discord or Zoom. You can join in a call with your friends, all play the same game together, stream your games to each other, or just hang out on call and play different games.
As part of that, Nintendo announced a camera that you can plug in so your friends can actually see you and so you can have your face appear in some of the games you’re playing. Honestly that announcement took me back to the 2000’s Eye Toy era.
KYLE: People are a little skeptical on that, not sure what the video quality would be like streaming with multiple people and having the microphone so far away if you’re playing it docked.
They are however bringing back the ability to share games locally with friends, similar to how we used to be able to on the DS.
A bunch of games are getting an upgrade like both Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, but you‘ll need to buy the Switch 2 edition or pay extra if you already own the games.
They’ll also be sold separately as new cartridges.
FIONA: Some of the new games that were announced included Mario Kart World. It’s more open world, think the Horizon series on Xbox, so I guess where we’re going we don’t need roads now? You do get to drive the kart as Moo Moo the cow character so that’s cool.
Donkey Kong is getting a new game that blends 2D and 3D called Donkey Kong Bananza which looks really great, Kirby AirRiders is back, a game we haven’t seen for 20 odd years helmed by Masahiro Sa-kurai of Smash Bros fame, and finally Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment by Koei-Tecmo continues the fighting spinoffs and is set before Tears of the Kingdom.
KYLE: Third party game The Duskbloods is the legally distinct - NOT BLOODBORNE 2 - It’s Fromsoft’s way of almost giving you what you want, this time it’s PvPvE
Although as always people were quick to point out annoyances. For one thing the console is $700 AUD or US$449 and most of the Switch 2 games are $110 or more, so it’s very very pricey.
Luckily everything else has gotten cheaper hey.
The tutorial game ‘Welcome Tour’ isn’t free which is crazy, you have to pay to learn about the Switch, and finally the storage size still might not be enough considering Cyberpunk 2077 would take up 25% of the internal storage and it needs a newer type of MicroSD card you probably don’t already have.
The console is launching on June 5th which is incredibly soon.
There were a stack more announcements as part of the direct so you can more about it in our show notes.
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FIONA: Some incredible sad news this week, Narayana Johnson aka Riverboy the composer and sound designer of Cult of the Lamb has passed away.
Posted to the Massive Monster socials this week, the team shared their heartbreak about the loss of their friend and collaborator.
Johnson, who before working in games had a career as an electronic musician, was much loved in the indie scene.
KYLE: The Cult of the Lamb soundtrack will go down as one of the most iconic indie game scores ever, Riverboy will always be remembered for crafting incredible loops.
If you want to learn more and pay tribute to River Boy, you can head back to the Lightmap podcast feed,Gianni spoke to him a bit more than a year ago now, and people are gathering there to share their thoughts in the comments on YouTube.
Vale mate.
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FIONA: The rumour mill is spinning as a new Square Enix page fuels the Final Fantasy IX remake theories.
The new website page is dedicated to the 25th anniversary for the game and features figures, plushies, music and heaps more.
It’s the latest in a long line of references to Final Fantasy IX.
Years ago we heard the announcement of an animated series, and then in 2021 there was a Nvidia leak which we’ve since seen some of the other leaked games become reality.
KYLE: The anniversary isn’t until July 7th but Oblivion remake leaker NateTheHate said we're getting closer to an announcement or release.
Bloomberg's Jason Schreier has also said that the Final Fantasy Tactics remaster is still being worked on, a rumour that’s very similar to Final Fantasy IX.
Maybe it’s a hint or maybe they’re just celebrating an anniversary, I guess we’ll find out.
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KYLE: This week the team behind Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical announced they’ve got a new game on the way called Malys.
Revealed on their website, Summerfall Studios shared that it’ll be a roguelite deckbuilder where you’ll play as a former priest turned demon hunter and you’ll be exorcising the infernal and helping the city.
Summerfall Studios include ex-Bioware developers Liam Esler and David Gaider, and the previous game was a cult hit.
FIONA: Summerfall will be crowdfunding Malys on Kickstarter in a few weeks and according to their website, they’re hoping to have a full 1.0 version of the game ready for their backers within 6 months.
That’s an ambitious goal, so we’ll see how they go.
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KYLE: That’s it for the headlines, here are the games coming out this week
FIONA: Out on the 8th is South of Midnight. Set in a fictionalised Deep South, the modern folktale takes you on a journey as you learn to weave an ancient power for combat and overcoming obstacles. That’s out on Tuesday on PC and Xbox Series X and S. Check out SIFTER’s website for Adam’s review.
KYLE: Also out on Tuesday is Tiny Garden. Just like the name says you’ll be growing your own pocket-sized garden inside a magical toy passed down through generations. It’s a cute mix of farming, puzzles and strategy. That’s coming to PC and Switch on the 8th.
FIONA: Monaco 2 is the sequel to the indie heist game, it’s been a long time between games and this role based thief-em-up will have you pinching riches from across the principality. Monaco was one of those very early indie hits - it’s a big act to follow - Pick it up on Xbox, PC and PlayStation on the 10th.
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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: Hey we’re throwing a bunch of our stories up on Instagram, so if you haven’t visited @sifterHQ lately you’ve been missing out, luckily though all you need to do is give us a follow there, head to instagram and search for @ sifterHQ and then you’ll be in on the fun.
FIONA: SIFTER is produced by myself, Kyle Pauletto, Adam Christou, Courtney Smith and Chris Button. The episode is edited by both Senior Producer Mitch Loh and Gianni Di Giovanni who is SIFTER’s Executive Producer and also Walkthrough’s script editor.
KYLE: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune, and Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER’s podcasts.
FIONA: We’ll be back with more news on the 13th of April, see you then!
