TGO Daily | June 11, 2021 | Summer Game Fest Breakdown
Summer Game Fest title breakdown, Microsoft bringing cloud streaming to smart TVs, and Control is currently free on Epic Games Store.
TGO Daily | Friday June 11, 2021
Hey folks, Adrian here for today’s newsletter preamble!
It’s officially been two weeks since Brandon took over writing this thing, and I’ve got to say I’m pretty happy with the results. Not only has he been incredibly easy to work with, but I feel like the newsletter has only improved in quality since the days that I was writing it.
But I’m just one perspective, and I was hoping to get your opinions! Is there anything in particular we’ve been doing right or wrong that you’d like to vocalize? We tried some new things that we’d also like specific feedback on if you have any:
A lengthy review roundup for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart with lots of quotes, as opposed to a shorter summary of critical opinion.
Starting the newsletter with an indie game spotlight, rather than a news item.
A HUGE E3 prep newsletter which gave a full rundown of everything we’ll see this weekend.
Now that Brandon has found his footing, we’re interested in seeing what experiments we can run with formatting and content. If you have any thoughts at all, please do just respond to this newsletter at any time!
Finally, a huge thank you for reading and supporting what we’re doing here! Hope it’s bringing value, and I’m looking forward to how it will grow from here.
I’ll pass it off to Brandon for now. Until Monday,
Adrian
Summer Game Fest Begins
The Summer Game Fest officially began Thursday and brought some big titles with it. Here’s some big stuff to be excited for that we got to see:
Elden Ring - The highly anticipated From Software (Dark Souls, Bloodborne) game has made its first appearance again in almost two years. The Elden Ring first gameplay reveal trailer shows us a game with a lot of elements we’ve come to expect in a Souls series, but also some surprises! There’s horseback riding, and multiplayer for up to four people! It’s set to release January 21, 2022.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands - Gearbox showed off the announcement trailer for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands - a Borderlands spin-off. The game will be taking inspiration from the Borderlands’ Dungeons and Dragons equivalent “Bunkers and Badasses” from the Borderlands 2 DLC Assault on Dragon Keep. Tiny Tina will serve role as the ‘bunker master’, narrating and influencing the story with characters voiced by Will Arnett, Andy Samberg, Wanda Sykes, and, of course, Ashly Burch. The game is set to release early 2022.
Metal Slug Tactics - A new Metal Slug strategy game has just dropped their reveal trailer. The grid-based battler will feature roguelite elements and bring back the Peregrine Falcon Squad from the Metal Slug series. A release date was not announced.
Death Stranding Director's Cut - Death Stranding announced it will be coming to the PS5 as a Director’s Cut in a teaser trailer. We don’t have a release date, nor any info on how varied the content will be between this cut and the original game as of yet. A full reveal trailer is expected in a few weeks.
Jurassic World Evolution 2 - Jeff Goldblum made an appearance on the show to introduce Frontier Development’s reveal trailer for their new park-sim sequel, Jurassic World Evolution 2. In this game, players will be able to build their parks beyond the Muertes Archipelago (a restriction that existed in the first game). The game is ‘coming 2021’ to the PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One.
Lost Ark - The popular Korean MMO action RPG, Lost Ark, revealed in their trailer that they’ll be releasing the game in North America. The game originally launched only in Korea, with beta formats for Russia and Japan. It’ll be coming to western markets in Fall 2021.
Salt and Sacrifice - Salt and Sanctuary was pitched as “2D Dark Souls,” and its sequel is no different. The reveal trailer for Salt and Sacrifice showed expansion on the game’s co-op capabilities compared to its predecessor. It will release sometime in 2022.
Two Point Campus - Two Point Studios’ latest title will be a spin-off of their Two Point Hospital game. The reveal trailer showed the management-sim will be in a similar style of Two Point Hospital. The spin-off will be coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2022.
These are just the biggest announcements! There was also some stuff from games like Tales of Arise, Among Us, Smite, Tales of Tarkov, Rocket League, and more. For a full run-down of everything announced, check out this IGN article, which does a good job of summarizing it all.
Xbox Bringing Cloud Streaming to Smart TVs
Microsoft continues to tread forward with its ideal as a universal gaming domain. Xbox is currently working with global TV manufacturers to get Game Pass on to smart TVs - enabling people with controllers to access Xbox titles on the Game Pass without the necessity of a console.
Xbox also announced that in the next few weeks all Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will have access to browser-based cloud gaming for Chrome, Edge and Safari browsers. They stated that cloud players will see improvements in load times, framerates and optimized games as Microsoft completes a next-gen upgrade across its data centers.
Brandon’s Thoughts: Microsoft continues to push the idea of gaming being more accessible and universal. I’ll be interested to see how smoothly it all runs, but you won’t hear me complaining about making gaming more accessible to people outside of the stereotypical bubble of PCs and consoles.
Control Currently Free on Epic Games Store
505 Games action-adventure title, Control, is currently free for download on the Epic Games Store.
In the game you play as the new Director of a highly secretive agency as you struggle to gain control of the monsters that have come loose within your compound - leading to rifts and breaks in reality. The game originally released at the end of 2019 with some pretty positive reviews. Common praises for the game were its interesting narrative, unique world design, and fluid action-oriented combat.
If you’re interested in a unique (if maybe at times a bit complex) narrative or some smooth combat, I’d say the game is worth a try, especially as it’s free!
Miscellanea
Dark Pictures Anthology: House Of Ashes releasing October 22nd
Planet of Lana is a gorgeous hand-painted side scroller coming 2022
Koch Media announces new label, Prime Matter, and 12 new games including Payday 3
Say Hello!
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Thanks for the read <3