Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of March 4th 2021! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top 5 stories of the week.
Fall Guys gets bought out? Yuffie is in Final Fantasy VII Remake? Will we get the greatest Pokemon game of all time, next year? We’ll have to wait to find out. Let’s get into the news!
Epic Games Acquires Tonic Games Group
Via: Epic Games
The studio behind 2020’s smash hit, Fall Guys, is being acquired by Epic games. Epic jumped out ahead to assure nothing about Fall Guys will change by stating, “For Fall Guys fans, your gameplay isn’t changing and Epic will continue to invest in making the game a great experience for players across platforms. Your favorite colorful beans will still stumble through the chaos on PC, PlayStation, and soon Nintendo Switch and Xbox. Check out this blog post for answers to all your Fall Guys questions.”
Both parties seem to be very excited about this move as they share the same goals. Tonic Games CEO Dave Bailey feels like they have found a new home and they share a mission to “build and support games that have a positive impact, empower others and stand the test of time and we couldn’t be more excited to be joining forces with their team.” Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeny also hones in on those same goals, “It’s no secret that Epic is invested in building the metaverse and Tonic Games shares this goal. As Epic works to build this virtual future, we need great creative talent who know how to build powerful games, content and experiences.”
It will be interesting to see where Epic will go from here and if Fall Guys eventually goes free to play. Other than being the creators of the Unreal Engine, Fortnite battle royale has been Epic’s real stepping stone into the gaming space. With that they have been able to build by acquiring Psyonix, the team behind Rocket League, and now Tonic Games Group. Rocket League eventually went free to play under the Epic umbrella, so it could be safe to assume Fall Guys will do the same. Either way, this is a huge get for Epic and the sky is the limit for Tonic Games Group.
Pokemon Presents Delivered the Goods
Via: IGN
Last week we got a brand new Pokemon Presents presentation and they showed off some really cool games. First we were greeted with a new gameplay trailer for New Pokemon Snap showing off the world, new characters to the Pokemon universe, and some of the Pokemon you will run into on your adventure. New Pokemon snap is slated for an April 30th, 2021 release.
Next we were greeted with the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes, titled: Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. This remake will not be handled by Game Freak themselves, instead Pokemon BD/SP will be handled by ILCA Inc. Their previous work includes Pokemon Home and they have also done support for many other games like NieR: Automata, Dragon Quest XI, and Yakuza 0 to name a few. This great news to see Game Freak out sourcing content. They are still a relatively small studio, so they can’t juggle too many projects at once. Also, good on ILCA for securing a lead big project like this. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are scheduled for a late 2021 release.
Lastly, we got to see what Game Freak has been working on and it is a treat. Pokemon Legends Arceus is a brand new open world action RPG Pokemon game! It takes place in the very early days of the Sinnoh region. The trailer shows off a little bit of early gameplay with your character running around the world, catching Pokemon, and a few battles. There is even a dodge roll mechanic! This was easily the most exciting part of the presentation and I cannot wait to see more. Pokemon Legends Arceus is expected to arrive early 2022.
Square Enix Announces Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and a Couple of New Mobile Games
Via: Square Enix
Our wishes have been granted! Final Fantasy VII Remake will get PS5 updates with it’s next iteration, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. The PS5 version will bring visual improvements, photo mode, as well as new story content featuring Yuffie. Owners of the PS4 version will be able to upgrade for free, but the Yuffie episode will be sold separately. Final Fantasy VII Remake is also now available in March’s PS Plus offering. That version is not eligible for the PS5 upgrade. Intergrade launches June 10th 2021.
Square Enix also announced a couple of new mobile games. Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis and Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier
Square Enix to have Multiple Remakes in the Works with Forever Entertainment
Via: Destructoid
Square Enix has recruited Forever Entertainment to publish multiple remakes on the studio’s classic IPs. Forever Entertainment has published the recent Panzer Dragoon remake and will also be publishing Panzer Dragoon 2. At this time, there is no information on what IP Forever Entertainment will be working on. Square has an incredible catalog of games. Fingers crossed it’s Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger.
Monster Hunter Rise will be Ported to PC in 2022
Via: Fanbyte
And to round out The Geek Dojo Weekly this week, turns our Monster Hunter Rise will not be exclusive to just the Switch as the game will appear on the PC in 2022 as well. The game is still in development, according to the producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Yasunori Ichinose.
Noteworthy:
Guilty Gear Strive is delayed until June: Twitter
PlayStation announces 6 new PSVR titles: The Verge
Mistwalker reveals a new mobile JRPG: Polygon
God of War Ragnarok will release “When it’s done.”: Push Square
Dragon Age 4 will not have multiplayer: Engadget
Sony working on PS5 storage solutions this summer: Game Informer
Sony Japan Studio is winding down: VGC
Elden Ring leaked trailer rocks the internet: Game Informer
Notable Releases:
Tuesday, March 2nd:
Maquette – PS5, PS4, PC
Harvest Moon: One World – PS4, Switch
Yakuza: Like A Dragon – PS5
Thursday, March 4th:
Mortal Shell – PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Sea of Solitude – Switch
Gnosia – Switch
Catch me every Monday on The Skill Tree: A Gaming Podcast
Madness (Episode 17) – The Skill Tree (A Gaming Podcast)
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