This Week in Games

Hot Summer Rumors

Heyas! We're having yet more unseasonably hot days here in Portland. This summer has been miserable, but hopefully this is the last of it, because as much as I enjoy having an excuse to go to Round 1 and sit in air conditioning for several hours, I also like being able to be productive at home without being soaked in sweat.

Anyway, there's a fair bit of interesting news this week, but I want to address a couple things first. Did you all see Nintendo's Indie World showcase? Lots of nice stuff there, including Axiom Verge 2, Boyfriend Dungeon, and Necrobarista. I was a little disappointed that Loop Hero wasn't a same-day drop, as I've been waiting for that one to come to Switch in order to play it. Overall, I'm really glad indies have found a second home on Switch, because it's easily my favorite of the current platforms and I enjoy having handheld versions of these games to play comfortably.

Also, if you know me, you know I love retro game history – particularly old prototype versions of games and the materials used in making them. And just today, a fairly notorious prototype has finally made its way onto the internet: version 0.5 of Castlevania Bloodlines.

This particular version of Bloodlines (the best Classic-vania, not up for debate) is known for having been previewed in lots of game magazines of the early 90s and featuring several elements cut from the final game, including a gigantic blimp and a steel foundry area. Folks knew that this version of the game existed, but the ROM had never been put online publicly until now. With this and several other, earlier-in-development prototypes that have been found for Bloodlines over the years, we now have a very clear picture of how this game evolved during its development. Incredible stuff!

Now, let's get on with this week's headline gaming news!

ACTIVISION-BLIZZARD SHITSTORM UPDATE: I DOUBT THIS IS THE LAST TIME WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS

The fallout continues in the wake of revelations that Activision-Blizzard put lots of terrible, abusive people in positions of power and made their workplace a hellish nightmare. The big news this week is that three major employees of the company are, apparently, no longer with the company: Luis Barriga, Jesse McCree, and Jonathan LeCraft. No word on if they “resigned” or if they were directly sacked, but all of them were pretty high up at Blizzard. Luis Barriga was directing the upcoming Diablo IV (I don't think it's releasing anytime soon, folks), Jonathan LeCraft was a high-level designer on World of Warcraft, and Jesse McCree worked on Diablo III and was working on Diablo IV. It's safe to assume they were very likely in on the abuse and harassment going on, as I recall at least two of those names being associated with the now-infamous “Cosby Suite.”

Also, Jesse McCree has a long-established Overwatch hero directly named after him.

Well… this is awkward. I learned long ago that naming your RPG party members after your online friends is generally a bad idea, because if they turn out to be secret asshats then you've suddenly got a lot of unexpected real-life baggage in game. (I can't boot up my old Disgaea and Etrian Odyssey saves for this exact reason.) Blizzard has now learned the same lesson the very hard way with both Overwatch and World of Warcraft that naming characters after management could cause problems down the line. Some Overwatch League casters are already going out of their way to avoid saying McCree's name while commentating, so I won't be surprised if he'll be getting a new moniker in the future.

Moral of the story: Be careful with character names. Also, don't be predatory assholes.

THE NEXT MUSOU GAME IS REVEALED, AND IT'S ALL ABOUT THOSE SWORD BOIZ

Koei-Tecmo is always busy with something, and that something is usually a Musou game. Samurai Warriors 5 dropped in June, so taking into consideration Omega Force's eternally packed schedule, we were about due for another Musou announcement. Surprise, it's another crossover game with a non-Tecmo-Koei IP, and it feels like such a perfect fit that I'm surprised it didn't happen years ago.

Yes, Touken Ranbu, the cross-media otome juggernaut with swords incarnated as very attractive men, is getting its turn as a Musou game for Switch and PC (but not PS4 or 5, it seems). Sword boiz decimating gigantic armies with superpowered attacks in that distinct Musou fashion just seems like a logical extension of the IP, y'know? I'm honestly pretty psyched for this one – I may have had my criticisms of the browser game, but the concept and characters are all very intriguing to me, and I think I'd personally enjoy them a lot more in this sort of game. Plus, the promo image shows a silhouette of Muramasa (my fave Touken Danshi) so I know I've got my dude.

Here's the question, though: is this going to get a Western release? Thus far, I can't think of any Musou games – even the licensed ones – that have been skipped over for release here. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) But Touken Ranbu is an odd one due to its nature as a game targeting a female audience. The historical Musou games have had a strong female fan following in Japan, and Koei-Tecmo's own Ruby Party development team (who are working on this alongside Omega Force) are pioneers in otome gaming, so it's a perfect fit for the established female gamer crowd in Japan. However, Musou’s audience in the West is viewed as primarily male (as evidenced by ignorant Twitter comments I saw saying “WTF why Touken Ranbu, girls don't play Musous”), and Koei-Tecmo US continues to shy away from localizing any of their parent company's otome games. It's a tough one to market here for those reasons… though I can't help but think that, y'know, if they'd spent some time building up a brand for localized otome games that wouldn't be an issue.

Anyway, if Touken Ranbu Musou does make the trip Westward, it'll be the first Ruby Party game to ever be localized, which is both exciting and really depressing when you think about it. Here's hoping!

RUMORS: XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3 MAYBE PROBABLY EXISTS, ALONG WITH A NEW FROM SOFT EXCLUSIVE

The rumor mill is a-churnin’ once more, and it's got a real hot one coming off the line: Apparently Nintendo and Monolith Soft have been prepping Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for a while now, and it's just about ready to be revealed.

Gossip began when Melia's voice actress, Jenna Coleman, said some vague but very strange statements during a chat with small YouTube channel Din's Meteorite.

“God, when was the first game? Ten years ago? It was a long time ago—I did it pre-Doctor Who days, and when they did the second one, they asked me to come back. And I think they're going to do another.” ... “Common knowledge? Don't know. Yeah, I think they're going to do another. Not sure if I'm allowed to say that.”

Not long after, it was reported by well-known gossip handler Imran Kahn that, indeed, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 had been in the works for a while and was nearing completion. However, due to various factors (read: COVID and Switch hardware limitations), it hasn't been publicly unveiled yet and it's unlikely it will make its original release target of Winter 2021. Given the reliability of the source and the popularity of the series, I think this is pretty likely to be true.

That's not the only rumor being bandied about, though: apparently From Software has a new Soulslike in the oven, and it's a Sony PS5 exclusive – but it's not Bloodborne, and it could be revealed as soon as August 19^th, when the next State of Play stream is said to go live.

From is currently busting their collective asses getting Elden Ring wrapped up, and I'm sure they have another project already lined up after that – they're one of the most in-demand developers in gaming right now, so they've got lots of potential suitors for future projects. This also seems likely, as Bloodborne was such a big early get for the PS4, and I'm sure Sony wants to repeat that success on PS5 as well. We'll find out soon, I suppose.

FIGHTING GAME NEWS ROUNDUP: I HEAR THE GAW IS LOOKING FOR NEW TALENT

It's King of Fighters XV character reveal time, and we've got the final member of a brand-new team stepping into the ring.

You might remember Antonov from King of Fighters XIV, where he sponsored the tournament and acted as the game's sub-boss. He's got a new look that's apparently designed to disguise him from everybody he owes money to after the last tournament got really messy. It's okay, though, because he's got a new wrestling promotion, Galaxy Anton Wrestling, and he's brought Ramon and the King of Dinosaurs onboard! The big bucks are comin’ in soon, I know it!

Meanwhile, over in Granblue Versus land, one of my personal favorite characters is joining the Season 2 DLC roster: formidable fighter, weirdly obsessive, and probably-a-lesbian Vira!

Also, the Type-Moon channel has been posting a lot of Melty Blood Type Lumina character videos – way too many to embed them all here! I do suggest giving their Melty Blood playlist a runthrough to see all of those lovely high-res sprites in combat action.

Well, that's an interesting assortment of news! What caught your attention this week? Are you hoping for a localized release of Touken Ranbu Musou? Excited over a potential Xenoblade Chronicles 3? Wondering what From Software's getting up to? Or are you too busy going through your summer gaming backlog right now to really care? Come chat it up in the forums at the lovely little link below! We'll have more great gaming content soon, so stay cool and stay safe!