Final Fantasy VII Remake has a release date–March 3, 2020–but that game won’t be the complete story of Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, Aerith, and Sephiroth. Square Enix confirmed during E3 2019 that what releases in 2020 will only cover the first part of the 1997 original’s tale, with more episodes coming later.
That messaging got a bit confused when Square Enix also announced that Final Fantasy VII Remake will cover two Blu-ray discs. Remake producer Yoshinori Kitase, who directed the original game, explained that there’s so much content in this first episode, it’ll cover those two discs. And he doesn’t know how many episodes it’ll take to complete the story.
“We can’t reveal that many details about this, but just to give you a bit of background on it, before we actually started working on this, we knew obviously it was going to be a large amount of content,” Kitase said through a translator during a preview session with journalists. “To do the whole story was going to be huge. And then when we actually did start planning out the plot for the first game, it hit us again that this is going to be a huge amount of content.
“At that point, we decided we’re going to focus this game on Midgar and what happened in Midgar,” he continued. “And unfortunately, we can’t say anything more about the future games after that, because we don’t know ourselves, really. We really are still fleshing out that process and fleshing out what we’re going to do for the second game in the project, and what kind of story is going to be in that, so we really can’t tell you.”
Kitase also said he wasn’t sure how much the work already done on the game would speed up development of future Final Fantasy VII episodes. While a lot of work with characters and the underlying technology of the game is complete, future episodes will take place in settings beyond Midgar, which are going to take a lot of time to create in their own right.
All of that suggests that while fans have been waiting a long time for the Final Fantasy VII Remake, they won’t be finished waiting when March 3 rolls around. The question of how huge and sprawling Square Enix’s return to Final Fantasy VII will eventually be is one that likely won’t be answered for some time either.
Everyone had their breath taken away when prolific action star Keanu Reeves revealed Cyberpunk 2077’s release date on Microsoft’s E3 2019 stage. We know Reeves will play the “legendary rockerboy” Johnny Silverhand, but how CD Projekt Red got the Canadian-American actor to be involved with the upcoming first-person shooter has remained a mystery–until now. We sat down with senior level designer Miles Tost to talk about how the Polish developer recruited Reeves.
Reeves is a new addition to the game, only being approached about a year ago or so. When asked why Reeves and not some other action star, Tost said Reeves was the perfect fit. Tost mentions his “rich background [in] cyberpunky stores”–titles like Johnny Mnemonic and The Matrix come to mind–and says “the roles he’s been playing really fit” the team’s vision for the game, calling it “a very natural match made in heaven.”
When asked about Reeves’ reaction to CD Projekt Red’s inquiry, Tost said Reeves is a “super cool guy” who “seems really into this and very passionate about the project and the role he’s playing.” Tost recalls a vivid moment during the pitch process where Reeves was “really getting into the role,” enacting mannerisms Johnny Silverhand might actually have.
While the game won’t come out until next year, Tost says he’s confident the team will pull the project together and ship it when it’s ready. “Our studio is one that really puts quality above everything, and it’s also reassuring for me as a developer. I know we will not ship this game if it isn’t ready by the time we decide to ship it. With that, I think gamers will be able to expect the kind of quality that we had with The Witcher 3 and then some.”
Cyberpunk 2077 will launch on April 16, 2020 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. CD Projekt Red previously announced a North American-only PC version but swiftly changed its mind amid fan outcry.
The folks at Nintendo always seems to save the best surprises for last, don’t they? Although Nintendo filled its E3 2019 Direct with several surprise announcements–like Dragon Quest’s The Hero and Banjo & Kazooie joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as playable fighters–the biggest reveal was right at the end. Nintendo reiterated that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s sequel is already in development and revealed a brand-new trailer that teased further details for the spooky follow-up to the 2017 title.
When it comes to Breath of the Wild’s sequel, we know very little. Nintendo does a very good job of keeping its games under wraps, so the sequel’s name, story, setting, and characters are all still relatively unknown. Really, the only thing we know for sure is that the game is being made. This new trailer did give us a few new details though, and from there we can make some educated speculations as to what to expect.
Trailer Breakdown
The trailer begins with Link and Zelda exploring a dungeon-looking cave. Although Link’s rocking the same look he did in Breath of the Wild, Zelda has changed her wardrobe. Although her Breath of the Wild pants and blouse are still there, she’s adopted a cape and hood that’s similar to the one Link wears in his Hylian Armour Set. She’s also cut her hair, adopting a haircut that’s a lot closer to the one Link has.
What’s far more noticeable is the music that’s playing. The use of synth creates a much spookier atmosphere in comparison to Breath of the Wild’s soft strings. The sound, although slightly different, has been used for a Legend of Zelda game before: Twilight Princess. The comparisons to Twilight Princess continue throughout the trailer, as Link and Zelda delve deeper into the dungeon.
The duo encounters a dark energy that seems to almost be infecting the area and creatures around it and it’s coming from what appears to be the mummified corpse of Calamity Ganon (at the very least, it looks like a male Gerudo). The energy itself is only being channeled through Ganon though. It’s actually coming from a glowing arm clutching the mummy’s chest. The arm is wrapped in golden jewelry, with designs that closely resemble the twisting symbols of the Twili–a race of individuals who are trapped in the Twilight Realm after their ancestors (powerful sorcerers) arrogantly challenged the gods of Hyrule.
We then see a succession of quickly cutting scenes. The first shows Link’s seemingly attempting to channel and utilize the energy that is causing the glowing arm to glow. The next sees the dark energy careening into the ceiling. It’s followed by a shot of Link and Zelda reaching for each other before cutting to the opening of a crypt. We then see Zelda’s hand grabbed by the glowing arm and (perhaps) a flashback to Calamity Ganon first encountering the shadowy being that belongs to that arm. Link and Zelda’s presence then seems to awaken something in the tomb, as the floor begins to crumble and the mummified corpse turns to look at them and open its eyes with vehement hatred. The trailer ends with Hyrule Castle rising from the ground and a shot of glowing blue energy–which again looks a lot like the magic that the Twili (specifically Midna, Zant, and the other powerful leaders) uses.
What It Could Mean
Of course, all the comparisons to Twilight Princess could mean nothing. Some folks complained that Breath of the Wild simply wasn’t dark enough story-wise. A similar complaint was directed at The Wind Waker and Nintendo responded with Twilight Princess. Breath of the Wild’s sequel might simply look like Twilight Princess because Nintendo is just making an adjustment similar to what it did back in the mid-2000s.
That said, it’s a relatively plausible theory to speculate that the Twili and the Twilight Realm will be included in Breath of the Wild’s sequel. Early drafts of Breath of the Wild’s original story referenced alien involvement. Obviously, this was cut. However, the Twili are a sort of alien to the people of Hyrule. The dimension they live in might as well be on a different planet, and the last time they came to Hyrule (the events of Twilight Princess) it was as an invasive force.
The events of Twilight Princess are also directly referenced in Breath of the Wild. When Link is being knighted as the next Hero of Hyrule and being gifted the Master Sword, Zelda makes reference to the land’s previous heroes. “[Link, you] have proven yourself worthy of the blessings of the Goddess of Hylia,” Zelda says. “Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight…The sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the Hero.” If Twilight Princess, canonically, takes place prior to the events of Breath of the Wild, then the Twilight Realm exists in this Zelda’s game’s timeline.
A connection to Twilight Princess isn’t all the new trailer possibly implies, though. Zelda’s decision to adopt Link’s look, and decision to join him on his next adventure might imply a co-op element. If not co-op, then at least Zelda will be playable this time around. It would be pretty cool to finally play as the princess who’s in the title of the franchise.
Nintendo revealed a ton of new details about Pokemon Sword and Shield last week, but we also learned some new tidbits about the upcoming games during the Treehouse livestream that followed Nintendo’s E3 2019 Direct. In particular, we learned more about how the recently announced Pokemon Home service will work with the Switch titles, and it appears there will be some limitations.
During the Treehouse livestream, game producer Junichi Masuda revealed that not every previous Pokemon will be transferable to Sword and Shield. “Players will be able to transfer their Pokemon from Pokemon Home only if they appear in the Galar region Pokedex,” Masuda said through an interpreter. What that means is that if a Pokemon isn’t already obtainable within Sword and Shield, you won’t be able to transfer it over from Pokemon Home.
Masuda acknowledged this is a change from how the previous Pokemon cloud service, Pokemon Bank, worked and explained the rationale behind this controversial decision:
“In previous games that worked with the Pokemon Bank service, you were able to–for example, in Sun and Moon–bring over any Pokemon, even if they weren’t in the Alola Pokedex,” Masuda said. “But with the transition to the Nintendo Switch hardware, being much more powerful [and] allowing us to be much more expressive with each of the individual Pokemon … at Game Freak we really spent a lot of time thinking about what the best way to move forward was, really preserving the quality of all the different Pokemon while also taking into account the battle balance, having so many different Pokemon available, all within a limited development time so we don’t keep fans waiting too long for every new entry in the series. And after a lot of discussion, we decided to come to a new direction.”
One of the new features in Sword and Shield that undoubtedly proved to be a hurdle in this regard was Dynamaxing, which can supersize a Pokemon for a limited time during battle. Given that there are more than 800 Pokemon in the series, Game Freak would have had to make new assets for hundreds of different monsters to account for this feature. We also don’t yet know how many Pokemon will be available in Sword and Shield; we’ve only gotten a glimpse at a handful of them thus far, but we’ve already seen a number of fan-favorites among them.
We finally got a good look at The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening during Nintendo’s E3 2019 Direct. Link’s classic 1993 adventure has been reimagined with charming visuals and will make its way to the Nintendo Switch on September 20. Along with the announcement, Europe will see a cool, limited edition of the game–but it doesn’t seem America will get it.
Nintendo hasn’t provided an official statement on where the Link’s Awakening Limited Edition will arrive, but according to a tweet from user Wario64, the Limited Edition has, as of this moment, only been announced for Europe.
Pre-orders for Link’s Awakening are now up and a few different editions will become available in the coming months. The Dreamer Edition includes the base game and a hardcover book with concept art, while the Limited Edition–above–comes with a Game Boy-themed steelbook and 120-page artbook in addition to the game.
Pre-order The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening standard edition
The standard edition comes with just the base game and will cost you $60. You can pre-order it at the following retailers:
Nintendo also added Link’s Awakening to its voucher program, where you can buy two game vouchers for $100 and use them to redeem two games. You’ll save up to $20 if you use them on full-priced games. See the full list of eligible titles at Nintendo.
Techland’s Dying Light was a stellar blend of freerunning traversal with satisfying, brutal combat. In your fight to survive against hostile humans and the infected, the overrun city of Harran was your playground, and the open-world world zombie-game was at its best when it let you loose in its vast open areas. It offered up several different encounters to uncover, and a lot of these situations often resulted in a series of events that felt surprisingly dynamic and in-the-moment, presenting some of the game’s best sequences. With the sequel, Techland aims to lean in further with the follow-up Dying Light 2.
At E3 2019, we got to see an extended hands-off demo that focused on the conflict between two major factions. Though the concept of an open-world zombie-apocalypse experience letting you have the run of the city is very much intact, there’s now a greater emphasis on weaving those sandbox elements into the actual story.
Described as a “narrative sandbox,” Dying Light 2’s overall plot–centering on the story of infected survivor Aiden Caldwell–takes a more tangential approach when compared to the mostly linear plot in the original. The sequel takes place in a far more bleak and desperate setting as well, which the developers refer to as the “modern dark age.” Suffice it to say, things got a whole lot worse following the story in Harran, and now Dying Light 2’s location known as The City is likely the last major settlement on Earth. With little to no guns left, there’s a greater emphasis on scavenging items and crafting special weapons of your own. One of Dying Light 2’s more interesting weapons is a harpoon launcher that doubles as a makeshift club once your ammo is depleted.
In the live demo, set in District 2–one of seven unique areas in The City–we saw a questline between two rival factions fighting over control of a water pump facility. According to your quest-giver, the water pump is being controlled by a so-called tyrant named The Colonel, who resides in a heavily fortified pumping station in the outskirts of District 2. The developers chose to show off this section of the game because this event can lead to a significant turning point in the story. In keeping with the game’s new focus on the moment-to-moment actions, and based on the choices made, the flow of the plot will be changed irrevocably. According to the devs, Dying Light 2 will feature no manual saves, so every decision and action you make will be saved immediately after.
Like the original, Dying Light 2 is all about its traversal, combat, and survivalist gameplay. By collecting resources and scrap, you can build new items to increase your chances of survival. With your melee weapons and combat skills, you can pull off some slick maneuvers during a scrape against humans and the viral infected–such as a slow-mo dodge technique, allowing you to get behind a foe quickly. There’s also some enhanced parkour skills for player character Aidan to utilize, including wall-running, wall-jumping–a la Ninja Gaiden–long-jumps, and even grabbing enemies to break your fall. But in Dying Light 2, there’s a clear focus on blending these different branches of the game. During a fight with a heavy foe wielding an electrified sledgehammer, for example, you can use your grappling hook on the ceiling to use a swing-kick, stunning the opponent.
The particular questline we witnessed in the demo took many twists and turns, and there were several points where some key choices had to be made. After an extended chase sequence following a truck going through The City, you catch up to the driver and have to make a choice–kill him and steal his car, or coerce the driver to sneak you into The Colonel’s fortress. For the demo, we stuck with the latter; however, if you do the former, the developers stated you would not only have to find a different way into the fortress and face worse odds against the so-called tyrant.
As it turns out, you discover a thriving and mostly peaceful community once you enter The Colonel’s fortress. Inside you find the leader, who is more pragmatic and cordial than you were led to believe, even though Aiden killed some of his soldiers to get here. This sudden swerve creates a surprising moment conflict. Over the radio, your handler from the rival faction convinced that the only way to survive is to annex The Colonel’s compound–while the leader of the peaceful community attempts to persuade you to join his side. In the demo, we stuck with the plan and turned on the water pump, turning The Colonel’s faction against us permanently and inciting a war between the two groups. The result of this decision is not only a drastic change to your relationships, and also to the setting itself. By turning on the machine, you lower the water in one of the city’s flooded areas–opening access to a new place to explore. However, this also unearthed an evolved form of infected, one that has spikes protruding from its arms.
According to the developers, Dying Light 2 will require multiple playthroughs to see every branching path and world-changing event. And given how many choices there were to be made in this demo, I’d believe it. Watching all of this play out gave me a similar feeling to engaging with a classic role-playing game like Baldur’s Gate or the Fallout series, where minor encounters or critical decisions can irrevocably alter the flow of the story. That’s intentional, as the narrative designer of Dying Light 2 is Chris Avellone, who’s worked on games like Fallout 2 and Planescape: Torment. Avellone spent time reworking the original game’s linear main narrative into a more choice-driven plot.
“What I liked about Dying Light 1, and this is very much a personal reaction, was that there was a big focus on the open-world,” said Avellone during a short interview after the demo. “You can run anywhere, go find loot, and fight anywhere. The sense of freedom was really well-done in the first game. The second thing that really stuck out for me was that co-op play is really difficult to do in this type of game, and the game really did it well. Players just want to be able to dive into the world and experience it, and that’s something that Dying Light provides really well.”
I was a big admirer of the original game, and it’s clear that the sequel is building upon what worked and pairing it with a more freeform narrative. Though we didn’t get a chance to see it, Dying Light 2 also features co-op play with up to four players, with guests joining in a host’s world and observing their storytelling choices. In this way, it’ll present an excellent opportunity for players to visit a drastically different version of the larger story. With a map that’s four times larger than the original, Dying Light 2 is a massive upgrade from the original, and I’m excited to see just how many twists, turns, and swerves will happen during the story.
For more info on Dying Light 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and other games we saw during E3 2019, be sure to visit GameSpot’s E3 Hub page.
Before seeing the Child’s Play reboot movie in theaters, get ready to step into the world of the film and be terrorized by Chucky himself, in a new virtual reality experience. Child’s Play VR launches on June 12 and traps users in Zedmart–a store featured heavily in the film–after dark, as a demented Chucky doll roams the aisles looking for his next victim.
“From the beginning of this partnership with Orion, the goal with Child’s Play VR was to bring part of this insanely fun and creepy movie to life in a way that has never been done before,” Child’s Play VR director Dan Clifton, founder of branded content company Top Right Corner, explained in a press release. “After getting an early look at the script and some of the dailies, the idea was always primal: put the audience on Chucky’s home turf in a place where they will be uncomfortable. In the film, that’s represented by Zedmart, a discount catch-all everything store where much of the action takes place.”
According to Clifton, the Zedmart the experience is set in is a replica of the one seen in the film, “down to the millimeter.” To further drop users into the world of the movie, elements of the film’s new score from Bear McCreary have also been added to the game.
This first release of Child’s Play VR is an “on the rails” experience, with a set path through the Zedmart, though users will have a 360-degree point of view. However, Clifton hinted that there could be an even bigger experience coming eventually. “There’s also a version where in the future we take the entire Zedmart store and allow users to walk around and interact with each item, even a mischievous small doll trying to attack you,” he teased.
Child’s Play VR is compatible with the devices below and will be available for you to play on June 12. The Child’s Play movie hits theaters on June 21.
