Month: June 2020

Square Enix will announce multiple games individually throughout July and August in lieu of having a press conference, Gematsu reports. During a shareholder meeting it was asked how the company would announce new video games since it did not have an E3 press conference due to the entire event being canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Square Enix responded that it would be announcing games (plural) “individually as the timing permits.”

The company followed up saying that several will debut around July to August, but nothing more specific was said. Square Enix recently announced Project Athia at the PS5 reveal event, a new action-adventure game designed exclusively for PS5.

Its most recent release was Final Fantasy VII Remake. GameSpot awarded it a 10/10 in our Final Fantasy VII Remake review, with critic Tamoor Hussain writing, “Final Fantasy VII Remake’s narrative and characterization achievements are facilitated by gameplay that feels modern but is crystallized around the classic’s role-playing fundamentals. In many ways, its gameplay model feels like the culmination of the franchise’s evolutions, with ideas from throughout the series brought together in a composite that is fresh but familiar. This is the first time that the action-focused style of modern-era Final Fantasy games doesn’t feel like it comes at the expense of the methodical nature of the series’ roots.”

Continue Reading at GameSpot

French indie studio Focus Home Interactive has announced the acquisition of Deck13 Interactive, the studio behind Soulslikes such as Lords of the Fallen and The Surge franchise.

Deck13 is the first studio Focus Home has bought, according to a recent financial report. “Focus Home Interactive has acquired 100% of Deck13 Interactive’s share capital shares for a total price of €7.1 million [$8 million] (of which €6.5 million [$7.2 million] in cash from the new bank financing and €0.6 million [or $673,000] in shares held in treasury) and a long-term incentive plan for the managers,” the report said. “Deck13 Interactive is a leading German game development studio and long-time partner of Focus Home Interactive.”

Deck13 is most known for The Surge series, releasing a sequel to the 2017 Soulslike in 2019. The Surge 2 received a mixed reception from critics and fans, with our The Surge 2 review scoring it an 8/10. The studio is also a publisher, bringing the retro-inspired RPG CrossCode to life on PC in 2018 through its spotlight program. CrossCode will make the jump to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on July 8.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

2020 may be the year of Cyberpunk 2077, but developer CD Projekt Red has more than just a video game in the pipeline. Announced during the Night City Wire broadcast, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a collaborative project between famed anime powerhouse Studio Trigger and streaming giant Netflix that will see Night City expand beyond its video game roots, venturing into the territory of animation for a 10-episode series that’ll feature new characters and story set within the game’s grim world of tomorrow.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners won’t be released until 2022, so what’s a fan of cybernetic enhancements and dystopian future worlds supposed to do until then? Watch some other cyberpunk anime, of course! There’s no shortage of material within that genre, as the last few decades have given birth to not only classic examinations of how technology could impact humanity, but also modern-day masterpieces that have helped to shape the world of entertainment.

Here’s a look at 10 essential anime cyberpunk series to jack into.

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Dennō Coil

The cyberpunk genre may mostly focus on distant futures and feature technology that could be made real one day, but seeing an anime show reach into the future and pull out a surprisingly accurate prediction of tomorrow? Now that’s a rare treat. The underrated Dennō Coil is a colourful and surprisingly detailed series with a young cast that’s thrown into a reality which has collided with the virtual world.

Hints of a more supernatural element are thrown into the mix, multiple plot threads are woven throughout the tale and it all ends on a satisfactory high note. An energetic and youthful exploration of technology that skips the bleaker outlook of many entries on this list, Dennō Coil is Stranger Things by way of Hayao Miyazaki, an overlooked gem that was simply too far ahead of the curve when it was first released in 2007.

Akira

At first glance, Akira may not seem like the typical cyberpunk adventure, but there’s no denying that it possesses all the hallmarks of the genre through its gritty dystopian future, grimy technology, and a level of mainstream success and influence that can still be felt to this day. While it has plenty of mind-bending themes, Akira’s cyberpunk impact is a more overt collision of style and substance.

Thanks to incredible animation that was years ahead of the curve and a soundtrack that pushed the envelope back when it was released in 1988, Akira nails the attitude of cyberpunk and raised the bar for anime at the time. Akira has the coolness factor of cyberpunk, distilled into one incredible feature-film package of teenage gang violence, psychic warfare and an iconic motorcycle slide that pop culture simply cannot get enough of.

Ghost in the Shell

If you’re going to dive into Cyberpunk, there’s no better starting point than one of the most influential and iconic anime films of all time. Created by manga artist Masamune Shirow and adapted by director Mamoru Oshii, Ghost in the Shell isn’t just visually stunning; beneath its chassis is an examination of what it truly means to be human in a world that has quickly begun to abandon the frail flesh of our species in favour of bleeding-edge technology.

Ghost in the Shell is a feast for the eyes and the soul that questions the core concept of identity, as protagonist Motoko Kusanagi attempts to hunt down the deadly Puppet Master before his plan throws a corrupt world into chaos. Twenty-five years after the original film first rocked cinemas across the globe, Ghost in the Shell’s influence still resonates, questioning everything from life to sexual identity in a post-human future that pursued a technological evolution without ever considering if society was ready for such an upgrade.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

If 1995’s Ghost in the Shell is regarded as the gold standard in storytelling and cyberpunk themes, how do you even begin to craft a sequel to one of the most influential films of the 1990s? Answer: You leap deeper than ever into the core themes of the source material, building on the ideas that the cyberpunk yardstick established across a lengthy sequel series.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex expands on the dark future established in the original film across 52 episodes of espionage, corruption and betrayal.

Tasked with the capture of the elusive cyber-criminal known only as The Laughing Man, Motoko Kusanagi and the rest of the Section 9 task force quickly find themselves in the middle of a dangerous game of cyber-cloak and dagger. While Stand Alone Complex still has a few philosophical aces up its sleeve, the action-packed Ghost in the Shell sequel series focuses more on a world that has evolved to become more dangerous and treacherous in the aftermath of successive world wars, treachery at the highest level, and post-human augmentation run amok.

Ergo Proxy

I think, therefore I am. Almost four centuries since Rene Descartes shook philosophy with a simple statement on what it means to be alive, Ergo Proxy came along to put that idea into practice across 23 episodes filled with moody atmosphere, post-apocalyptic chaos clawing at the gates of utopia, and a search for that all important raison d’être that could give meaning to both organic and artificial life.

In an age where the last remnants of humanity hope to survive a world gone mad by huddling inside of the domed city of Romdo, only the AutoReivs can ensure that mankind survives. But when these automatons begin to show signs of independent human behaviour thanks to the Cogito Virus, a dark tale unfolds. Tasked with hunting down these renegades and the mythical Proxy that may be humanity’s salvation, investigator Re-L Mayer’s mission to preserve a fragile balance soon becomes a journey into mystery that questions the very nature of life itself.

Battle Angel Alita

To this day, it’s a shame just how little anime content there is for Battle Angel Alita. A touching examination of humanity told through the innocent eyes of an amnesiac cyborg programmed with the fighting skill of gods, Yukito Kishiro’s manga only received two original video animations in 1993 (plus the 1998 CGI short that has aged like old socks, but let’s speak of that one no more). But what was produced back then was a masterclass in not only animation but heart, spirit and a level of action that not even a decent chunk of Hollywood cash could recapture.

It may come across as an ass-kicking extravaganza wrapped up in a short and sweet OVA package, but Battle Angel Alita has so much more going for it. Beneath the cool cybernetic cells of animation, there’s a tale of heaven being built on top of hell, of the drive to follow your dreams and of the power of love that transcends mortality and technology itself. A vintage slice of excellence, Battle Angel Alita is a bucket list anime that every cyberpunk fan has to see at least once in their lifetime.

Serial Experiments Lain

Whereas most cyberpunk stories are only too happy to press fast-forward on the clock and throw viewers several decades into a mad future, Serial Experiments Lain is a more contemporary series with themes that are more relevant than ever in a world where everyone is online. What begins as the surreal adventure of a teenager by the name of Lain exploring a virtual reality world known as The Weird quickly evolves into a massive download of myriad ideas.

Everything from the fragile nature of reality to loneliness, the idea of human consciousness to the perception of reality and so much more is packed into a 13-episode run that begs to be watched multiple times so that the weight of all of its various ideas can be processed. Years ahead of the curve, Serial Experiments Lain is a tense psychological horror about the isolating effects of technology that might leave the viewer questioning their very existence by the time they’ve finished watching it.

Psycho-Pass

The only thing more terrifying than technology growing out of control is when that same technology results in the core belief of human freedom and destiny being stripped away in the process. Many cyberpunk series look at how cybernetic advancements will impact the concept of the human soul, but Psycho Pass deftly side-steps that well-trodden path to instead focus on the human mind and its potential for criminal activity.

Set in a future where the very idea of crime has been reduced to a mathematical equation, Psycho Pass is the Minority Report sequel that you never knew you wanted. Unforgivingly gritty in its dark exploration of what a human could be capable of, Psycho Pass ups the ante with heroes who never know how close they are to one day being branded criminals by the very system that has been trusted with control over the fate of humanity.

Texhnolyze

What price would you pay to not only be the best, but to survive long enough to see another sunrise? Would you give an arm and a leg? For prize fighter Ichise, that’s the toll after one disastrous night, but it’s not long before he finds himself outfitted with new prosthetics and a new destiny. Texhnolyze may have a pace that many an anime fan would consider soul-crushing, but it’s a series which takes its time exploring concepts such as civilization, morality, sanity and so much more through a cyberpunk lens.

It is often an exploration into hopelessness within these themes, but those who are emotionally resilient enough to absorb everything that Texhnolyze throws at them will come out the other side of this hauntingly gorgeous series with a new appreciation for the immutable nature of human spirit.

No Guns Life

Anime isn’t just content to rev the engine of cyberpunk, it wants to pop the hood and tinker with the parts inside of the genre. From existential crises to philosophical pursuits for meaning, there’s are plenty of hard-hitting topics waiting to be explored across multiple series. And then there’s No Guns Life, which can best be summed up as a cyberpunk anime series that is as deep as it is joyfully dense.

There’s a cyborg. He is purpose and conviction, unmatched skill and pure willpower as he seeks to right the wrongs of a world that has fallen to crime. Also, he has a gigantic revolver for a head. That’s it, that’s the hook right there, a hard-boiled cyberpunk detective story starring a gumshoe thrust into several mysteries that somehow manages to be an emotional exploration of everything from climate change to poverty, corporate greed to immoral science and so much more.

No Guns Life is a mad slice of creativity from heavyweight anime studio Madhouse, but it’s also one of the most unique uses of the cyberpunk genre: wonderfully insane and surprisingly heartfelt. Plus the main character has a giant gun for a head. I cannot stress this enough.

What anime would you suggest folks should check out in preparation for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Guy Beahm, better known as the streamer Dr. DisRespect has been banned from the streaming service Twitch on Friday. Dr DisRespect’s channel, which previously had over 4 million followers, no longer appears to be available on the service.

Twitch has not announced the reason for Dr DisRespect’s most recent ban, and it’s unclear how long the ban will last. Beahm was previously banned in July 2019 after he was caught filming from the LA Convention Center bathrooms during E3 2019.

Since he began streaming in 2015 Dr DisRespect has grown into one of Twitch’s biggest personalities. He broke out by streaming games like H1Z1 before exploding in popularity thanks to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Dr DisRespect currently streams a variety of competitive battle royale games including Call of Duty: Warzone and Fortnite.

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What’s even more surprising is that earlier this year Dr DisRespect signed an exclusive, multi-year deal with Twitch reportedly worth millions of dollars. But now, a few months after the deal was announced, Twitch seems to have banned the popular streamer.

IGN has reached out to Twitch for a statement, but the company provided no specific reason for the ban. Instead, Twitch provided the following statement:

“As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. These apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community.”

Dr DisRespect has not addressed his ban on social media, though he was streaming as early as yesterday. IGN will update the story as the situation develops.

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

The Last of Us Part II is now out and it contains plenty of callbacks to the first game and references to other pieces of pop culture. In the following article, we’re going to focus on that latter group–so here’s every single Easter egg we’ve found in The Last of Us Part II. We’re going to be talking about several moments throughout the game, so turn back now if you want to avoid spoilers.

If you want to know about all the callbacks to the first game, we’ve got you covered there as well. In the video embedded below, Evan Langer and Jake Dekker detail all of the Easter eggs, callbacks, and references in Part II–which includes all of the items, scenes, and dialogue that are in reference to The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Left Behind.

So right at the beginning of the game, Joel plays the guitar and sings for Ellie. The song is real–it’s Pearl Jam’s “Future Days,” which was officially released on October 11, 2013. Of course, with Outbreak Day occurring on September 26, 2013, the song was never actually released in the world of The Last of Us. Joel likely heard Pearl Jam perform “Future Days” live (it was first performed in July of that year) and managed to memorize the song or happened upon a CD that was locked away in some warehouse somewhere just waiting to be distributed.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2 is officially out on PS4 and with it there are lots of easter eggs, callbacks, and references, so here are 47 things you might have missed.

Zombie movies have been a huge part of the horror genre for a long time, but the last decade has seen more undead TV and movies than ever before. The huge success of The Walking Dead brought flesh-eating zombies into the mainstream, but with zombies seemingly everywhere, it’s been increasingly difficult for filmmakers to find something interesting and new to do with the undead.

But that’s not to say there aren’t still inventive and successful zombie films being made, and 2016’s Train to Busan is one of the best recent examples. It was directed by South Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho, and was a massive hit in his homeland, where it became the highest-grossing film of 2016. It currently stands as the 14th most successful South Korean movie of all time, and in the US, it was released to rave reviews and can now be found on Netflix.

Train to Busan’s basic set-up is familiar–a biological leak from a factory causes an infection that turns people into running, snarling, flesh-eating zombies. As the title suggests, the action is set almost entirely on a high-speed train, allowing Sang-ho to create some exciting, scary, and inventive horror sequences. The relentless pace and thrilling action were matched by an impressive level of characterization, with the cast of characters you actually care about and some moments of genuine emotional power.

An animated prequel titled Seoul Station was released in 2017, and later this year, the much-anticipated live-action sequel Peninsula arrives. From the trailers released so far, it looks like this follow-up will expand the scope of the first movie, and we can expect it to be every bit as exciting, gory, and action-packed as its predecessor. So while we wait for Peninsula to arrive, you can watch the original Train to Busan on Netflix, and check out our ranking of the movie’s wildest, scariest, and craziest scenes.

12. The first victim

The first zombie attack happens off-screen, but the build-up to it is masterful. A seemingly ill woman has boarded the train, and as the attendant attempts to get her radio to work, the woman stands up at an alarming angle behind her. Breakfast time!

11. Attendant attack

Next time we see the attendant–literally two minutes later–she’s become a blood-crazed zombie. The first proper attack is sudden and scary, as the attendant chows down on her colleague in the next carriage. We see just how quickly victims become infected and transform into savage creatures.

10. Jong-gil has enough

Jong-gil, devastated by the loss of her sister, has had enough of the in-fighting and selfish behavior of her fellow passengers. She lets the zombies in to massacre the entire carriage, and Sang-ho captures the carnage with a stylish slow-motion tracking shot through the mayhem.

9. Flaming locomotive

As the train sits stationary at East Daegu station, a flaming, out-of-control locomotive suddenly appears around the bend, speeding towards it. It’s one of the most striking shots in the movie.

8. Through the window

As the passengers race back to board the train at Daejeon station, a group of zombies on a bridge above the train crash through the window, landing on the roof of the train and tumbling off onto the platform to attack again.

7. Farewell to Yong-Suk

Yong-Suk is Train to Busan’s human villain. The selfish businessman eventually gets his comeuppance as he is attacked by zombies as he races towards the new train at East Daegu station, leaving a helpful conductor to die in the process. Yong-Suk’s refusal to accept that he is infected adds a darkly comic touch to his final scene.

6. On the rack

This incredibly tense sequence sees the heroes continue their journey through the train by using the darkness provided by a tunnel and the luggage racks above the seats to slowly move down the carriage without being seen by zombies.

5. Never let go

As Su-an and Seong-kyeong race away from East Daegu station on a locomotive, dozens of zombies chase them up the tracks. The creatures grab onto the train, then to each other, as they are pulled along, forming a huge, writhing, snarling mass.

4. Sang-hwa’s last stand

As well as delivering wild zombie action, Train to Busan packs an emotional punch. The scene in which Sang-hwa sacrifices himself by holding off a swarm of zombies to allow his pregnant wife Seong-kyeong to escape is an extremely powerful moment.

3. Falling zombies

One of the most memorable shots in the movie comes from some viral footage that one character watches on his phone, showing the spread of the zombie virus throughout South Korea. A group of skateboarding kids look up to see helicopters flying overhead, with dozens of zombies clinging onto them. The undead fall to the ground, then jump up and start chasing the unlucky skaters.

2. Through the carriage

Seok-woo, Sang-hwa, and Yong-guk make the brave decision to fight their way down the train to get back to their loved ones. They have no weapons beyond a single baseball bat, so strap up their arms to protect them from bites and head into the zombie-packed carriage. What follows is an exhilarating scene as the trio punch and kick their way down the aisle.

1. Escalator mayhem

While the vast majority of Train to Busan is set onboard the train, the movie’s most exciting sequence takes place in Daejeon station. The passengers disembark from the train and head into the eerily quiet station. The tension builds to the moment where the main characters descend on an escalator, only to see dozens of infected and ravenous soldiers at the bottom, who start heading towards them in a terrifying, snarling group.