TGO Daily | April 1, 2021 | Binding of Isaac: Repentance
Hello my newsletter reader! I promise I don’t have an April Fool’s joke for you today — the rest of the world will handle that one for me :P
New Releases
A whole bunch of stuff happened yesterday in terms of new content! Looks like devs were trying to sneak in there before the press outlets were doing their annual April Fool’s activities.
The Binding of Isaac: Repentance
The one I am most excited for is the release The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. Six years following Rebirth’s initial release, and 4 years following Afterbirth+, this is the final expansion for the game. I’ve had the chance to play about four hours of it so far, and I’m having an amazing time.
To those of you are veteran Isaac players, this is the best expansion that has ever come out for the game, and it’s worth returning to it if you were burned by previous ones. Not only does it bring a ton of new content, per usual, but the overall base game has gotten a ton of tweaks. It also adds proper co-op gameplay, rather than the pseudo-co-op we had before. Here’s the full list of changes to the base game…there’s a lot, and it fundamentally changes the way the game is played. To those of you who have never played the game, this is the most polished that it will ever be — though I warn you that it’s difficult as heck, and requires a lot of meta learning.
No Man’s Sky “Expeditions”
A surprise release happened for No Man’s Sky called Expeditions. It introduces expeditions as a game mode, which some people are calling their version of “The Amazing Race” game show. Multiple people start on a planet, racing across the galaxy to get to the end while completing challenges on the way. They will run in seasons, so that new concepts are being introduced on a consistent basis. I think it’s a pretty neat idea for something new. As usual with their free updates, they’ve also put in a bunch of quality of life stuff.
Alongside the release they are running a Twitch Drops event, where you can watch people playing the game on Twitch and then receive in-game content.
Among Us
Still in the collective consciousness, Among Us has dropped its new map called Airship. Of course it adds new tasks, ways to navigate the map, and ways to kill people.
Perhaps more importantly though, they have added an internal account system which will help them have better moderation and reporting tools. This will smooth the process for future plans of cross-progression and friend systems.
Per their blog post, they are also looking to revamp the art style and increase lobbies to 15 people in the future.
505 Gets Ghostrunner
Last October, a game called Ghostrunner released. It’s a cyberpunk hack-and-slash with a huge focus on fast movement. Today it was announced that the publisher, 505 Games, acquired the rights to the IP from its developer All In Games. They payed €5 million for the acquisition, with All In continuing to get profits from the game’s ongoing sales.
The original cost of the game was somewhere around €2.5 million, which 505 recouped on launch day, so this seems like a pretty suitable deal for any future content they might want to build around it. All things considered, the game has been pretty successful, and they expect to sell one million units later this year. Maybe check it out if it strikes your fancy? I had a great time with the demo.
Xbox and PlayStation
Sony are giving away games through PlayStation Plus as usual this month, and they’ve got some heavy hitters. The big one is Oddworld: Soulstorm which is releasing on the same day, and whose release has been long awaited. They’re also giving out Days Gone, which is a fairly well regarded PlayStation exclusive which has gone under the radar for the most part. The cherry on top is Zombie Army 4: Dead War.
On the Xbox side of things, they just made 16 original Xbox and Xbox 360 games available through cloud streaming to Android devices. This includes games like Banjo-Kazooie, Fable II, some Gears of War games, Perfect Dark, and Elder Scrolls III / IV. The only way to play those is with a Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
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