The big Death Stranding 2 preview: how a big dollop of Metal Gear is expanding Kojima's bizarre epic

2 months ago

The dark main hallway of Kojima Productions feels like a cinema corridor. Its black walls are adorned with giant film posters for Death Stranding, with side routes leading to meeting rooms and facilities rather than screens. Along another section of wall are a series of signed plaques and polaroids from various stars of film, games, music, and beyond who have each visited the studio. It's as if the very walls themselves are taking us through Hideo Kojima's mind - or are simply an extension of his social media feed.

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Author
Ed Nightingale

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How Death Stranding 2’s Interactive Encyclopedia Helps Players Make Sense Of The Lore And Narrative

2 months ago

Death Stranding 2

Platform: PlayStation 5
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Kojima Productions
Release:
Rating: Mature

I don’t think it’s controversial to say that the first Death Stranding is a confusing game. Between the strange lore surrounding BTs and the world of the dead, as well as bizarre terms like DOOMS, Chiralium, and Timefall thrown about, it’s a lot to remember, let alone understand. With Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Kojima Productions wisely takes a page from Final Fantasy XVI’s storytelling playbook (one of the game’s best features) by introducing Corpus, a new interactive in-game encyclopedia.

Author
Marcus Stewart

This Horror Game Is Perfect For Short Spooky Speedruns

2 months ago

What would happen if you blended the mascot horror of Five Nights at Freddy’s with the parkour goofiness of Fall Guys? You’d get developer SUPERLOU’s twisted game show adventure Finding Frankie. And yeah, it’s every bit as wacky and unsettling as you’re thinking.

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Author
Billy Givens

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Despair at prospect of new PlayStation live service game lifted by mysterious mention of frogs

2 months ago

Sony have announced a new PlayStation studio made up of former developers of Destiny, Halo, League Of Legends, Fortnite, and Roblox, plus a few industry newcomers. Called teamLFG - where "LFG" stands for Looking For Group, not the other, naughty phrase you're thinking of - they're based in Bellevue, Washington, and are dedicated to "exceptional action-based gameplay, moment-to-moment game feel, and richly social virtual worlds". Uuuuuurrrgh. Their first project is a "comedic" and "lighthearted" team-based action game set in a new science-fantasy universe.

The PlayStation blogpost announcing all this is a wearying paean to an idea of the live service game that dates back to the original Destiny in 2014. It's written in the style of a cyborg that is trying to remember how to love. There is, however, a spark of eccentricity at the end that makes the labour of being preached to about engagement processes worthwhile: the team claim to be inspired by "frog-type games". What is a frog-type game? A Frogger homage? A real estate sim about Finishing Rooms Over Garages? Did they just misspell "frag"? The mind froggles.

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Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

The anti-heroes of Grand Theft Auto 6 look sexy and dull

2 months ago

The second trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 came out yesterday. The open world crime 'em up looks as flashy and expensive as you might expect from a Rockstar game, and we now know more about the game's story, particularly the two sexy reprobates you'll be playing as in the streets of Vice City and the swampy countryside beyond. They are horny, jacked, thicc, and pretty as a picture of your prettiest purple petticoat. They are also, so far, extremely boring.

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Author
Brendan Caldwell

EVE Vanguard: An Ambitious Second Chance At MMO FPS Innovation

2 months ago

EVE Vanguard

Platform: PC
Publisher: CCP Games
Developer: CCP Games

EVE Online is arguably the most obtuse MMO ever made. Famous for its headline-making space battles, it continues to entertain its audience 22 years after its release. Icelandic developer CCP Games aims to transform how players can approach its persistent sci-fi world, New Eden, with the development of its upcoming extraction shooter, EVE Vanguard. The studio wants players to inhabit the same world through the two games and seeks to answer the question: “What if the events in one game affected the other?”

Author
Alex Van Aken

Could We Be About To Enter A Skippable Boss Fight Utopia?

2 months ago

In a gaming world increasingly built out of Soulslikes, where the concept of the boss battle becomes the central game mechanic, some of us have been left behind. I have always hated boss fights, and while I have no interest in convincing anyone else to agree with me, I have long lamented the lack of accommodation made…

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Author
John Walker

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The 9 Netflix Series Characters Crazier Than You's Joe Goldberg

2 months ago

You’s Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) is many things, but he’s definitely not the worst. Let me explain. Joe is a psychotic serial killer and stalker who makes the title “hopeless romantic” an eerie prophecy. He’s trapped the boyfriend of the woman he loves in a creepy basement cage before poisoning him, killed his wife…

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Author
Keith Nelson Jr

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The supposed secret best Japanese RPG gets a full remake in September

2 months ago

Sponge away the dross and ephemera of my life and you're left with a series of moments in which I wonder: is now the right time to get into Legend of Heroes? I've been planning to play Nihon Falcom's 17-part RPG series ever since a respected peer gently suggested that my enthusiasm for Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest marked me out as a Basic Bitch, and that if I ever want to experience a real role-playing game, I should give LoH a go.

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Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

GTA 6's animations have improved, says original GTA programmer: "things are moving much better"

2 months ago

One of the programmers behind the very first Grand Theft Auto has praised Rockstar for delaying GTA 6's initial release to May next year, observing (not in so many words) that the developers could have rushed out an early release consisting of a city's worth of T-posing NPCs and whitebox freeways, and people would still have paid top dollar for the game.

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Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Inside the legendary unsolved heist that haunts GTA 5

2 months ago

Every few weekends, my wife and I go for a drive in Los Santos. Itineraries vary. Sometimes we get a submarine and explore the oceans. Sometimes, inspired by shows like Million Dollar Listing and Selling Sunset, we head up to the Hills and have a pleasant in-game evening racing through rich people's backyards. My wife knows the game much better than me, which makes for an unusual dynamic. I know Los Angeles, which Los Santos is based on, but she is far more familiar with Rockstar's version. In other words, I'm often a backseat passenger in the endless lateral tracking shot that defines the common experience of both of these car-centric cities.

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Author
Christian Donlan

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