Set in 1920s Chicago, Empire of Sin will be hitting the PC, Switch, Mac, Xbox One and Playstation in 1920. It’s from Romero Games and Paradox Interactive and pits you in the heart of Prohibition-era Chicago. You have to hustle, charm, and bully your way to being on top of the underworld.
Yearly Archives: 2019
Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer ft. The Legend of Zelda
Crypt of the NecroDancer is coming to the Nintendo Switch, but in a whole new form: Cadence of Hyrule! Play as Cadence, Link or Zelda, and defeat evil while keeping the rhythm.
Astral Chain: Nintendo Switch Trailer (E3 2019)
Astral Chain released a new trailer for E3 2019, which shows what the few survivors of a global disaster do to survive. You have to protect those people from otherworldly threats, but at least you don’t have to do it alone. You’re a part of a special task force, equipped with sentient armaments known as Legions.
Nintendo E3 2019 Press Conference Highlights
The last major press conference of the week was held by Nintendo, who kept their traditional Tuesday afternoon spot. It’s a hard call to say whether Nintendo or Square Enix “won” E3 since both of their presentations were absolutely filled with amazing content, and almost no filler. But I think Square Enix might have had a greater number of titles I’m excited for, Nintendo had a much wider variety of games that I think people, in general, are going to be incredibly excited for. Remakes? Got those. Classic franchises brought back? Nailed that one too. Fun family/multiplayer stuff? You betcha. PC titles that Nintendo fans might have missed out on? Double check. The Nintendo Direct was only 45 minutes long, but they packed over 20 games into this amount of time, with more info coming at the Nintendo Treehouse. So what’s the most amazing stuff in my opinion? Well, I’m glad you asked!
Dragon Quest XI S: Come on. You know I’m excited about this. I don’t have to say a word about it, but I will anyway. I’ll keep it brief. It looks like it’s going to have new content, and the 16/8 bit-style mode is what really sells me on it. I never did get the True Ending, since my PS4 crash corrupted my save file. Never did get back to it. But this version has enough new content/visuals that I will without a doubt be diving back into one of my favorite Dragon Quest games of all time. Trailer: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of An Elusive Age
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics: If you had told me that The Dark Crystal, Jim Henson’s incredible creation was not only going to get a Netflix series but a video game a few years back, I’d have still said you were mad. But here we are, getting a turn-based tactical RPG in the Dark Crystal universe, set in the new series’ timeline, and it’s coming out in 2019. The Lord works in mysterious ways, my friends. Trailer: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics
The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening: OH. MY. LANTA. I need this in my life, and I need it right damn now. The animation style is incredible, and it’s one of the best Legend of Zelda games (and potentially one of the most overlooked), and it has an awesome, fun new feature: You can build your own dungeons to challenge, offering infinite gameplay. This is the Chamber Dungeon system, which lets you complete objectives by arranging dungeon rooms. It’s coming to life on September 20th, 2019, and that cannot get here fast enough. What a packed fall it’s going to be! As an aside, holy damnit! The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is getting a direct sequel! They must really want to use that version of Hyrule again, and that engine (both of which were delightful). It’s pretty rare in my estimation, for a Zelda game to get an immediate, direct sequel. Trailer: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Luigi’s Mansion 3: Now, I haven’t really played the Luigi’s Mansion games, but I think Luigi’s awesome, and he deserves more time in the spotlight. Looks like similar gameplay from the previous games, but it looks gorgeous, and it’s a game about Luigi! But now he can smash the ghosts while he’s sucking them up and can fire a plunger from it, then pull it back to destroy objects (or some ghosts). If he’s being ganged up on, he can use the Burst function to deal with that situation. He also has a slime clone, Gooigi. For obstacles too great for Luigi, you can use Gooigi, and he can also be used as a co-op partner. There is also the Scare Scraper mode that is can be used as an online/in-house co-op/multiplayer mode. It’s coming in 2019 also, so that’s big stuff.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance: The Black Order: We get to see a bit of gameplay at least, and some of the cast of characters. Elektra, Ghost Rider, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova, Spider-Gwen, Thor, Nightcrawler (and a bunch of X-Men), The Guardians, the Avengers. I am a gigantic fan of the Ultimate Alliance games and having such a potentially huge roster (even if much of it seems like it’s going to be DLC), it ought to have the ARPG gameplay that made Ultimate Alliance a hit in its own day. Thanos is the big bad, as is made evident by the name of the subtitle, “The Black Order”. It essentially looks like an Infinity Gauntlet game, with modern characters. I’m totally on board with that. It’s coming sooner than I thought – July 19th.
Trials of Mana Remaster: Seiken Densetsu 3 is a game I’m vaguely familiar with, even though it never came to America. I played a few fan-translations back in the early 2000s but never did complete it. It’s the third Mana game, that I thought we were going to get (but instead got the North America-designed Secret of Evermore – not that it’s a bad game, mind). It’s a complete rework from the ground up, but I hope it doesn’t fall into any of the trappings that the Secret of Mana remake did (tons of bugs, glitches, et cetera). This came with another announcement, that the “Collection of Mana” that was teased in Japan earlier this year, is now available in a digital format (with a physical release coming this year). That will have the first three “Mana” games in it, and I’m so excited about that. Trailer: Trials of Mana
Contra Anniversary Collection – Launch Trailer
The Contra Anniversary Collection is now available, and features 10 classic Contra titles from a variety of eras! They will without a doubt put your skills to the test.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch Trailer (E3 2019)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was revealed with a March 2020 release date, where players start on a deserted island and can enjoy an existence full of creativity, freedom, and wonder, as you make your new life whatever you want it to be.
Spyro: Reignited Trilogy Gliding to Nintendo Switch and PC this Summer
Spyro Reignited Trilogy dropped last year, and on September 3rd, 2019, the dragon is dropping onto the Nintendo Switch and PC for the first time! Fans on the PC and Switch will be able to play all three original Spyro games on the go, for the retail price of 39.99. This is the first time a Spyro-led game has hit a Nintendo console in more than 11 years, with the Skylanders series.
Immaculately remade from the ground up, Spyro Reignited Trilogy features the exciting and nostalgic gameplay that fans enjoyed years ago with over 100 levels, enhanced reward sequences, as well as the beautiful redesigns of Spyro’s hoard of zany dragons and other goofballs (including Sparx the Dragonfly, Hunter, Sheila, Agent 9 and Sgt. Byrd) and many more.
“Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a love letter to the fans. Bringing this nostalgic experience to the Nintendo Switch and Steam means that no matter what gaming platform they choose, players will have the opportunity to experience this incredibly fun and iconic game,” said Michelle Fonseca, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing, Activision. “Our goal is to transport players back to their precious memories from the ‘90s, while also inviting new fans to dive into Spyro’s world on whatever platform they desire.”
Trials of Mana to Receive Full Remake and Collection of Mana Out Now
Square Enix had more amazing announcements during the Nintendo Switch E3 2019 press conference. The first is that an unreleased Mana title, Seiken Densetsu 3: Trials of Mana is receiving a full remake, and will get a global release: Trials of Mana. The 1995 hit in Japan has six characters, and players can customize their own party of three, for different story experiences.
It is presently in the works, but if you want your Mana fix now, Collection of Mana is now available on the Nintendo eShop for 39.99, with a physical release being dropped on August 27th. Collection of Mana has the first three Mana games: Final Fantasy: Adventure, Secret of Mana, and Trials of Mana/Seiken Densetsu 3. Secret of Mana in the Collection will have local multiplayer with up to three players as well.
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games – Tokyo 2020 Announced for Nintendo Switch
SEGA announced during E3 2019 that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 2020 will mark the return of the iconic sports franchise, and will be a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Characters from both franchises will be available to play in some fan-favorite sports, as well as four new Olympic Events.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Sequel – First Look (E3 2019)
Direct sequels in The Legend of Zelda franchise are not terribly common, though the story has an overall timeline. But at E3 2019, Nintendo announced that a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is in development.
