With Game of the Year coverage out of the way, the gang sits down to finish it all off for a topical discussion of the year in games. Scott is joined by Spencer, Crystal, Elvie, and Lorelai to go over as many topics as they could in 12 20-40 minute segments.

Part 1: Friend-Type Games – Crystal
Part 2: Dynasty Warriors – Lorelai
Part 3: Silksong – Spencer
Part 4: Blue Prince – Scott
Part 5: The New Age of Handhelds – Crystal
Part 6: The Remastering of the Classics – Lorelai
Part 7: Final Fantasy Tactics asks us What is a remake? – Scott and Lorelai
Part 8: We have to talk about Rematch – Scott
Part 9: Unique Artstyles and Designs of 2025 – Elvie
Part 10: Nightreign – Scott
Part 11: Questions – Everyone
Finale: What do we want out of 2026? – Lorelai

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on social media @gamesline.net, Scott, Lorelai, Crystal, Spencer, and Elvie.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and tell a friend about the show!

If you want to send in questions, send them to our email podcast@gamesline.net!

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Edited by Lorelai and Produced by Lorelai, Crystal, Elvie, and Scott

The post The Gamesline Podcast Episode 81: Game of the Year Special Edition appeared first on Gamesline.

Honorable Mention: dirtbag MAHJONG

This came out of nowhere for me. I missed the Kickstarter and only ended up buying it because my fellow Bluesky Mahjong freaks started posting about it on release. dirtbag MAHJONG is a combination of mahjong with a visual novel story that had me rolling with laughter from the jump. The humor is crass and stupid in all of the best ways. It’s a game about a bunch of complete assholes playing mahjong together with HP pools, attacks you can build up to, and so many dumb ways to play. It’s a genuine delight that does a pretty good job tutorializing Mahjong. The game is exactly what the title says it is: a bunch of complete dirtbags playing Mahjong. A goofy mess of pure fun from start to finish.

Honorable Mention: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

I think it’s a phenomenal game that everyone should play if they have the ability to. Clair Obscur is carried by some incredible performances and some phenomenal art design. The background details of every area shine. It’s a fantastic game that lives up to the legacies of the games that inspired it, but it falls on its face for me in the end. I can pretty much guarantee that if I had beaten the game without doing some of the Chapter 3 sidequests, this would have been in my top five. But one of the main character’s sidequests contradicting the way she acts in the finale completely ruined it for me. The more I think about that decision, the less I liked the game, until it fell off my list.

Honorable Mention: Assassin’s Creed: Shadows

Hey, they made a great Assassin’s Creed game. This spot was bouncing between Ghost of Yotei and this, both games I greatly enjoyed my time with, but one just slightly edging out the other. I am a sucker for open world collectathon checklist podcast games and this one just really did it for me. I think part of it is me just being really into this era of Japanese historical fiction. Being the Nioh/Samurai Warriors freak that I am, it’s fun to go, “I KNOW THAT GUY” every once and a while. All and all it ended up being far more enjoyable than I expected and I don’t regret the 87 hours I spent with it at all. Being able to stealth through the game as Naoe or just barrel in as Yasuke gave me two play styles for whatever mood I was in, and that really tickled my fancy.

10. Octopath Traveler 0

Hey, did you know that if you just have one narrative throughline and more linear storytelling, the Octopath formula works a lot better? I thought they did a lot towards improving their storytelling with Octopath Traveler 2, but this is a much better story that flows from beat to beat rather than being multiple stories that don’t really feel connected. I was someone who did play Champions of the Continent and liked the story they were trying to tell, so it was great to see it put out in a form everyone could enjoy. Its biggest issue is that it is based on a gacha game that brings in everyone from the series, which does make some of the character moments feel lacking while its overall story shines. I would rather have somewhat weaker characters to go with fun turn-based action than great characters with a weaker overall narrative. I’m hoping they do DLC to take a look at some of the other stories that the mobile game has told because there’s some really great stuff in there.

9. Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

I honestly didn’t think I was going to be writing about this game at all this year. I was burned out, I watched its community be destroyed by grifters, and I was pretty close to uninstalling and being done after finding a lot of the patch story to be lackluster. But then the 7.4 patch came out, and suddenly I was back! I’m enjoying the game more now than I have in a long time. No more burnout, I’m enjoying the game on its merits rather than logging in every day out of some daily necessity. These days I log in to work on pointless achievements and spend time with friends, and it’s been a healing experience. I went from averaging 20+ hours a week to four, and it’s completely rekindled my love of the game and the time I spend on it. I didn’t think I’d ever be an achievement hunter in the game, but playing with a casual purpose is such a relaxing time. Hanging out in space and macro crafting as second screen material while I work is just a nice diversion. I’m making progress towards something, but it’s also relaxing listening to the sounds of crafting while I’m playing other games on my Steam Deck or second monitor.

7.4 came with something I sorely needed, the final raid series, and god damn is it a good one. Finally a raid with no bad fights and all bangers. Seriously, the biggest advancement in Dawntrail has been in the quality of their fight design, and the Heavyweight tier has been incredible to grind out my weekly clears. Do I wish we spent more time in Tuliyollal instead of the cyberpunk city? Oh god yes I do, but what we got this patch was so much better than I expected and has me hooked for what’s coming.

8. Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To

There are two games on my list this year that I think are important for the same reason: experiencing things from a different culture than my own. The game is dripping with the queerness and the Arabic culture of the people who made it, and it’s a genuine delight from start to finish. The main story fleshes out all of the characters, their world, their culture, and the way magic works. It’s a fascinating way to immerse myself in something different. My only complaint is that after you finish the story, the dating sim fully starts and there is a lot less of the match-3 puzzle gameplay. To this day, my morning routine has been to load up a game on Endless Mode, and play until I lose. It’s a zen start to my day, listening to great chill music while I swap tiles to make lines to make things disappear until I lose after around 10 minutes.

7. Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake

I probably wouldn’t have gotten this if I hadn’t gotten a little preview at PAX. I thought it looked good and didn’t fall into the HD-2D trap of muddied visuals from everything needing to have the same fidelity. The demo challenge of an underleveled party going into midgame dungeons was a lot of fun, and led to me snagging the release version for myself. Needless to say, it was a great decision. If you’re going to do a remake while keeping the core of the original intact, this was a pretty incredible way to do it. Not to mention, Dragon Quest II getting an entire extra game worth of stuff added to it that is not only challenging and fun, but surprisingly well written, building up a true end to the trilogy and providing a new experience for someone who had played the originals before, is super fun to see.

6. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

When I played Rune Factory 5, I called it a promising start for a new team of developers that had to figure the series out. I was hopeful for the future of the franchise, even while I took major issues with the game. I don’t think they have it 100%, but Guardians of Azuma gives me great hope for the future of the franchise. They gave me a fantastic game with fun town building as well as fun action. The action is where it needs to be for a game like this—the real thing they still need to work on is farming. I found the farming to be relatively boring, and the town management a little lackluster as well. Still, an incredibly charming cast of characters and an overall story that left me very content made this one of my most played games this year, and it’s still one I come back to when I just want to chill out and grind a little.

5. Coral Island

Last time I talked about Coral Island, I spent a significant amount of time gushing about its core while still lamenting the fact that it was not a true 1.0. This year we got two major patches which brought it to a place where I can fully say it feels like a real and complete game. Not only did we get a massive update that adds an underwater farm, and the initially introduced mermaids finally getting characterization, we also got a fantastic online co-op mode that has made the game more than worth revisiting. Coral Island is also steeped in Southeast Asian culture, being developed by Indonesian studio Stairway Games, and it really does make it so much better than just “Stardew Valley in 3D”. If you like the farming style games, this is not only a great one, it might actually be the best of them.

4. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time

When they announced this, I didn’t have a lot of hope. Previews left me feeling skeptical, and the state of Level-5 as a company makes Fantasy Life i feel like a complete miracle. I was worried it was going to be a game that lacked what I loved about the original, and never have I been happier to be wrong. While I would have loved more varied crafting between all the different crafters, every single craft is fun to pull off, every combat style feels great and has some incredibly fun abilities to play with. Every party member that can join you adds something to the game, whether it’s a crafter who sometimes attacks or regularly throws out buffs and debuffs or the fighting class characters who do a surprising amount of damage while being competent elsewhere. Your crafters can also aid in crafting, and gathering friends can help you by chopping trees to make farming materials so much faster. When you factor in the procedural dungeons, a procedural open world dungeon, and more content than you could play through in a reasonable amount of time, there is something to constantly do and unlock. I thought I was done when I finished the main story, but I keep coming back because there is still something new for me to do after 200 hours.

3. Warriors: Abyss

Who would have thought that a repetitive Dynasty Warriors roguelike would have been one of my most played games of the year? Look, I don’t have a lot to say about this game: the localization is bad, multiple abilities are incredibly confusing to understand, and there is no story to care about at all. But there  is an incredibly fun and rewarding gameplay loop where every character feels different, every stage is fun to blast through, and it goes fast enough that it never feels like it’s wasting your time. It’s been updated multiple times with DLC from the Atelier series, Ninja Gaiden, and more. Every new character they add has been a blast to play with. Is this the best Roguelike of the year? Probably not, but god damn it’s the most fun I’ve had with one in a very, very long time.

2. Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Dynasty Warriors is back! After the disaster of Dynasty Warriors 9 and the sales failure of Samurai Warriors 5, I thought they were done with Musou. But this year they really came back with a vengeance. They finally hit the right formula with deeper movesets and more varied combat, alongside numbers so big that past games wish they could see a KO count that high. Having a big map to run around with multiple sidequest opportunities, along with an emphasis on telling a single story of one person acting as a mercenary, leads to a much meatier story that allows character personality to shine through a lot of visual novel style cutscenes—with a ton of “so bad it’s good” voice acting that filled me with delight. Seriously, the English dub is a thing of beauty with some absolutely hilarious line delivery that captures the magic of the early games while still being something a little more directed. My only issue is the game has gender counterparts that do nothing to change the story, other than making the gayest Lu Bu straight if you were to be able to play as the female character. 

1A. Game of the Year: Unbeatable

I’m not a rhythm gamer, but Unbeatable grabbed me in a way I didn’t expect, and I’ve even been bopping through the arcade mode every morning for a song shortly after I wake up. The story is where this game shines. I keep going back to Chapters 3 and 5 which are where the whole point of the game solidifies. If you go into this wanting a game where music is illegal and you do crimes, you can play Chapter 2, but the chapters where they were going through the actual story they were telling, those hit me hard in the feels. It’s like the writer held a mirror up to my face and said you, this is you. I’ve never felt so seen. There is so much to chew on with the story they told, and while it definitely has some messy transitions and pacing, all of that fits the vibe and truly hit me. The main thesis of the story really is about someone who was lost finding themselves and regaining the will to live through both music and fighting for the people around her.

“I don’t know who I am right now. But I am better than who I was before. I am seven years different. And I am seven years better. And I refuse to be worse than who I was before.”

1B. Game of the Year: Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars

You all knew this was coming. Suikoden was one of the most formative games for me growing up. It’s lived rent free in my head since I played it on release. It was a franchise where I had finally accepted that it was dead and gone and the only way we’d ever see anything like it was through spiritual successors like Eiyuden Chronicle. And then after that game had an incredibly successful Kickstarter, suddenly a remaster for the original was announced. You had an active social media presence, you had Konami interacting with fans for a few weeks and then…

Radio silence.

Suikoden was dead again. There was no news, no updates, the social media that was so active went completely silent and whenever they got asked, they refused to say anything. I was sure it wasn’t going to happen. I was back to being mad that they got my hopes up, that my long dead franchise was still dead. Konami was just faking coming back to being a gaming company. All that hope that myself and the other Suikoden freaks felt had become a lie from a company who was only pretending to care about games again.

Then the release date reveal happened… 

My hope was restored. Literal tears on the podcast as I felt an overwhelming wave of joy that I would be able to share this thing I love so much with friends who would never have the chance without shelling out hundreds of dollars on original discs. Something I could share on every system. Then TGS came around and not only were we getting the remasters, we’re getting a stage show, an anime, and a mobile game. Not only was my favorite franchise alive, they seemed to be making the series a core component in their return to video games. I have cried tears of joy more than once over the past year as they continue to show that they care and are acting like they want Suikoden to be one of their tentpole franchises. I don’t know about corporate, but the people on the team sure feel like they have a real passion for everything.

But what about the game you ask? Well, there are two ways to do a remake: you can do the HD-2D thing like Dragon Quest or you can upscale the backgrounds and keep the original work as close as you can. They went with that second option for this one and they nailed it; even going back to address complaints that the fanbase had about background details. There are two games in this world where I would be angry if they remade the spritework: Suikoden and Chrono Trigger. I’m happy to say that the character sprites weren’t touched at all. In some ways the high resolution backgrounds with the original sprites can feel a little off, but the spritework is such a huge part of the charm and personality of these games that if they had messed with it I would have been sent into a violent seething rage.

All of the jank from the original releases is still there. Inventory management in Suikoden 1 is genuinely terrible and always was, but it also was the first RPG released on the Playstation, coming weeks before Final Fantasy 7 completely changed the environment. The story is quick and to the point, with my first playthrough of the remaster being about 20 hours to get everything while going out of my way to talk to every single NPC. The localization of Suikoden 1 sands some edges off, sometimes to its detriment, but is an overall improvement over the original release. If you don’t have the nostalgia for some of the sloppy editing, you’re getting a better version now than you did before. 

Suikoden 2 got the biggest upgrade in this release though. I think it goes to show the power of the story they were telling that it’s still considered one of the best RPGs of all time despite having an absolutely horrendous translation. The translation errors of the original were so numerous, with some NPCs having lines of code in their text boxes. This was a lot less charming than the “All this killing in front of a children” moments from Suikoden 1. With the translation fixed, it’s far easier to appreciate the rest of Suikoden 2’s strengths. Tons of minigames to waste your time with, tons of characters, incredible villains, and sprites that do fit in a lot better with the upscaled backgrounds. This release of Suikoden 2 is by far the definitive version of the game. I wish they could have put the inventory management from 2 into 1 to make it a smoother experience, but overall both games are an incredible experience that I think everyone who wants a great JRPG should pick up. Meet these characters I’ve been obsessed with for the last 30 years of my life, and the woman I named myself after!

The post Lorelai’s Top 10 Games of 2025 That Aren’t Game of the Generation Nioh 2 appeared first on Gamesline.

It’s time again for another episode of the Gamesline Podcast, this week, John and Lorelai sit down to talk about all the news coming out of both Nintendo Switch Directs. We try to parse through all the confusing Switch 2 messaging and also spend some time to talk about the BDS boycott of Microsoft’s Gaming products and services as well as Fatal Fury: City Of the Wolves burning a ton of goodwill by adding random celebrities to the game.

In games, both of them have been playing Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition while John also dug into the Pokémon romhack Mariomon. Lorelai played a ton of stuff but narrowed it all down to talking about the chaos of Nubby’s Number Factory, the pure comfort of Suikoden 1/2 HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars, and relaxing puzzle dating with Spirit Swap: Lo-Fi Beats to Match-3 To.

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Social Media @TheGamesline, @JudgementScythe, and @John_Michonski

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show!

If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at gamesline.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Edited by Lorelai

The post The Gamesline Podcast Ep. 50: Hey Tingle! appeared first on Gamesline.

What’s that? A new Episode of the Gamesline Podcast? That’s right, this week John and Lorelai sit down to talk about the most recent news and games they’ve been playing. Lorelai is still living in Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail when she’s not playing Earth Defense Force 6, Coral Island, or the new early access game Fields of Mystria. John’s been playing more Zenless Zone Zero, Granblue Vs. Rising, and Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.

In the news, they go over everything from the Nintendo Indie World and Partner Showcases with more Capcom fighting game collections, Castlevania DS collections, and the Suikoden remasters actually existing. They also talk about Itsuno leaving Capcom, Marvel Snap not paying Marvel artists, NetEase shutting down the Visions of Mana developer, Guilty Gear Strive getting a switch port and Croc I guess.

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @TheGamesline, @JudgementScythe, and @John_Michonski.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show!

If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at gamesline.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Edited by Lorelai

The post The Gamesline Podcast Ep. 42: Switching it Up appeared first on Gamesline.

First was an Indie World!

Witcher 3, Vampire Survivors, Dave the Diver, and Among Us crossover cards are all coming to Balatro in a free update later today.

The creators of GRIS have a new game, Neva, and it’s out October 15th.

Moth Kubit, a unique RPG starring a moth working in a bizarre office, drops Spring 2025.

Toge, devs of Coffee Talk, are making a new Coffee Talk game, Coffee Talk Tokyo. It’ll be ready for tasting in 2025.

Sea of Stars is getting a DLC, adding a new carnival area, new classes for the main characters, and a new character who is just Robo from Chrono Trigger. It’s out next Spring, and it’s free.

PowerWash Simulator is getting a paid DLC where you get to clean up locations from the Shrek series. It’s dropping in Fall.

Morsels, a rougelike shooter with gorgeous pixel art and strange character designs, got announced. Its release date is February 2025.

Date Everything!, a game where you can date everything in a house by Team 17, launches October 24th, 2024.

Peglin, a game based on a game jam experiment from 2019, is fully realized. You play as a lil goblin and play pachinko to do damage to enemies. It’ll be out today on Switch as a timed console exclusive.

Wobbly Life from Rubber Band Games lets you live a goofy lil life as a yellow guy. It’s out in December.

Pico Park 2 is a puzzle game where you have to stack and aim up to eight players to clear rooms. It’s out later today.

Montage time. Shovel Knight Shovel of Hope DX (2025), Europa (October 11th, demo out now), Cuisineer (January 28th, 2025), On Your Tail (November 21st), Metal Slug Tactics (Fall), The Plucky Squire (September 17th).

To round out the Indie World, Pizza Tower is finally coming to Switch. It’s out today.

Fangamer will also release a physical version of Pizza Tower.

Now onto the Partner Showcase!

For the 40th anniversary of Tetris, Digital Eclipse is putting together a Tetris collection called Tetris Forever. It has Tetris Battle Gaiden! And Hatris, which is hilarious. It’ll be out this year, and Tetris will be on Switch Online this Winter.

Star Overdrive is a third person adventure game where you surf around a desert planet on a hoverboard. It’s out in 2025.

Goat Simulator 3 will let you harass an entire island with you friends on Switch digitally today. The physical release will be in November.

Another montage. Trails in the Sky 1st (2025), Star Wars: Hunters Season 3 (September 26th), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy (November), Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition (September 26th), and a new event for Disney Dreamloft Valley.

SpongeBob Squarepants: The Patrick Star Game, is confirmed. You play as Patrick and flop around Bikini Bottom, as the game is focused on physics and interacting with the environment. Out October 4th.

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer, is coming soon. I don’t know why we need this, as we have the Miku and Fist of the North Star versions, but I guess some people have NO TASTE. You can get this lesser edition on December 5th.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2, including Capcom vs SNK 1 and 2, Project Justice, Capcom Fighting Evolution, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper, Power Stone 1 and 2, and Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein. It’s out next year, and that rules.

The Marvel vs Capcom Collection is out September 12th, with a physical out November 22nd.

There’s a new Atelier game, and they got a dragon voiced by Kiryu’s VA in this one. It’s called Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories and the Envisioned Land, and it’s out in 2025.

The Suikoden remasters are still happening! The first two games will be released in a bundle March 6th, 2025.

The Dragon Quest III remake will have a new Monster Wrangler class. It’s out November 14th.

The DS Castlevanias are getting a compilation, and it also includes Haunted Castle and a reimagining of the notably rough arcade game. It’s out later today.

Civilization VII will be on Switch. It’ll be out February 11th.

Tales of Graces f is getting a remaster for the series’ 30th anniversary. It’ll have combat options and all the DLC from the original release. Out January 17th.

MySims returns, in a bundle containing the first game and the Kingdom sequel. It’s out November 19th.

Five Nights at Freddy’s…..They’ve got a new Help Wanted coming, and you have to help those robots run the show. Out Holiday 2024. There’s also a new DLC for Security Breach this Holiday.

Montage again. Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed (September 24th), Tales of the Shire (Holiday), Just Dance 2025 (October 2024), Funko Fusion (Holiday), EA Sports FC 2025 (September 27th), Lego Horizon (Holiday).

Rune Factory‘s got a new style, where you play as an “Earth Dancer” and use magic to grow crops super fast, and also kick some ass. Guardians of Azuma is out next Spring.

Yakuza Kiwami is getting a Switch port. Looks like it’ll be a pretty straight port, but hey, Kiwami‘s great. Out October 24th.

The post Bulletin+: Indie World and Partner Showcase 8/27/24 appeared first on Gamesline.

Howdy, Partners

Microsoft’s announcement last week that four of their games would be coming to other consoles came true, as both Grounded and Pentiment were confirmed for Switch andPlaystation consoles. (While Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves were announced for the PS5.

Epic Mickey is being remastered for Switch, Playstation, Xbox, and PC, with new visuals and updated gameplay. No release date was confirmed.

The original Monster Hunter Stories game, originally a 3DS exclusive, is getting remastered for Switch, PS4, and PC this Summer.

A new game in the Ender Lilies universe, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist, was announced for this year.

Gundam Breaker 4 will release this year for Switch, Playstation, and PC.

Sega’s releasing a new Super Monkey Ball, Banana Rumble, with four player co-op and 16 player battle race modes. This will be Switch exclusive and launches June 25th.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, is confirmed for October 10th. We can accept this Nintendo Direct farm game representation.

Suika Game, the viral puzzler, is getting a new multiplayer mode. Local mode is available now, and online multiplayer will release later. It is paid DLC, and a bundle of the DLC and the base game is available.

Shin Megami Tensei V is getting a new version, subtitled Vengeance. This new version will have a brand new route that splits right at the start of the game, adds another 80 hours of gameplay, and has updates to demon interaction. It’ll be out on Switch, but will also be getting released on Playstation, Xbox, and PC, and maybe finally run at a good frame rate.

Penny’s Big Breakaway, the 3D platformer via ex-Sonic Mania devs, is out now! (Right friggin’ now!) It’s available on all consoles.

A release of Star Wars Battlefront has been announced that bundles both of the classic original titles into one! There are new characters and maps as well, plus 64-player matches. This will be hitting every console and PC as well.

Game Freak’s 3DS sleeper hit Pocket Card Jockey got a Switch port available now. It’s really good, if you like card games, please check it out!

Switch Online’s classic games got an update, with five Rare titles added. Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll, R.C. Pro-Am, Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, Killer Instinct, and Blast Corps. are all available today. In Japan, the GBA Switch Online roster got MOTHER 3. Keep dreaming, MOTHER fans. Maybe some day. (Just go replay the fan translation, John knows he will.)

Another Japan exclusive (so far) announcement was the RPG REYNATIS from FuRyu. Its staff is absolutely packed, and John agree with the below Tweet—this better get localized.

The last announcement was a new Endless Ocean, subtitled Luminous. The old Wii games were a delight for the senses, so we are sure this will be a treat as well. There will even be up to 30 player multiplayer as well. It drops May 2nd.

There were a few other reveals, such as a date for the new Contra and Aggro Crab’s new Crab-based Soulslike, so check the rest of the Direct here.

Other Reveals

IGN also had a few reveals lined up, mostly trailers for previously announced games. However, the big new announcement was a port of the Game Boy Advance title Ninja Five-O. This is exciting, as Ninja Five-O is a solid title that many haven’t experienced due to its massive aftermarket price. Now more people will be able to experience this fun title thanks to Limited Run.

Beloved MOBA Gigantic is coming back—this time as a $20 release. The Rampage Edition will release April 9th, with a closed beta starting today.

The League of Legends fighting game, previously known by the codename Project L, is officially named….2XKO. Pronounced with each letter/number separately. Two Ecks Kay Oh. What’re we doing?

Tekken 8’s developers confirm that the game will soon receive a microtransactions shop, certainly concerning players.

The Borderlands movie got its first trailer. We’re sorry for showing you this, but news is news—and this isn’t even the worst bite this week! At least Jamie Lee Curtis gets to cosplay.

Elden Ring‘s expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, has been confirmed to release June 21st. New weapons, areas, and characters were shown off in the below trailer.

Continuing Losses

Creator of Suikoden and director of its spiritual successor Eiyuden Chronicle Yoshitaka Murayama passed away on February 6th. He was 55 years old.

Toys for Bob, the Activision subsidiary behind the recent Spyro and Crash games, laid off 36 people. Rumors said the entire studio shut down, but instead they cut around a third of their staff and went fully remote. This followed the massive 1,900 layoffs Microsoft enacted throughout their gaming sphere after the Activision acquisition went through.

Nijisanji EN vtuber Selen Tatsuki was publicly fired after a lengthy absence, which was revealed to have been due to a self harm. Now rebranded as Dokibird, she has re-entered the Vtuber space and has regained success. Nijisanji released multiple statements on the matter, but only ended up fueling further anger at them.

Kazumasa Habu has stepped down as producer of Digimon titles at Bandai Namco. There is still a new Digimon Story game in development without his involvement.

Mane6, developers of indie fighting game Them’s Fightin’ Herds, were fired from development on the game while mid-quality assurance for the last two characters in their season pass. The characters were released in an unbalanced, broken, buggy state, and it has been confirmed that further development is not planned. Promised story mode additions will not be made.

Maximum Entertainment, the current owner of the Them’s Fightin’ Herds IP, is ending active development on the fan-inspired My Little Pony fighting game, reportedly shifting their focus onto an Avatar: The Last Airbender 2D fighting game set for 2025 and Diesel Legacy, set for this year.

In other news…

Larian Studios achieves several more wins from the 27th D.I.C.E. Awards, ending on a high note by ultimately winning another Game of the Year award for Baldur’s Gate 3. Unlike the limitations that they dealt with at The Game Awards, the recipients were able to take their time in their winning speech to call out the current melancholic and unsustainable state of the games industry.

Hosts of the show this year, Greg Miller of Kinda Funny Games and Stella Chung, were also not privy to holding back on cracking scathing jokes against executives who were in attendance.

Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 also walks away from the 51st Annie Awards winning Best Character Animation in a Video Game.

2B from Nier: Automata has been released as a playable fighter in Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising.

Lady Gaga has come to Fortnite, with her music being added to the Festival mode and a new skin so you can play as Mother Monster and shoot Peter Griffin.

IGN’s Creators Guild has been voluntarily recognized by Ziff Davis. There’s still more work to be done by the union, but this is a huge step in the right direction.

And finally, a beta version of Hotel Mario has been found by YouTuber Game Pak Rat at a thrift store. This beta has unused dialogue and clear versions of old speech, meaning YouTube Poop just got DLC, baby.

The post The Bulletin: Nintendo News and Borderlands Blues appeared first on Gamesline.

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The post VGCC Episode 433 LIVE: Video Game Choo Choo: The Movie appeared first on Gamesline.

Remember how last week we mentioned Babylon’s Fall will be shutting down? In anticipation of its closure, some Gamestop stores have been giving away copies if you ask them nicely.

Beta testing for Dragon Ball: The Breakers is now open for the public. The game’s official worldwide release will be October 14, 2022.

Twitch has updated two of their policies. One is regulating gambling streams, prohibiting the streaming of gambling websites not licensed in the US. Secondly, the streamer-site revenue split was changed from 70-30 to 50-50 for bigger streamers. They will also be running more ads on the site, even if the streamer disables midroll ads. Many streamers are already threatening to leave the site.

Among Us has launched a Hololive crossover, introducing costumes based on VTubers for your amogus to run around in. No word if the Pekora costume comes with a monkey.

Grand Theft Auto VI leaked. A hacker, allegedly the same one who recently hacked Uber, shared ninety pieces of leaked video, screenshots, and code from the long awaited game. Rockstar confirmed the leaks as genuine, and have said they come from an early version of the title. A suspect behind the hacking has been apprehended.

The first two Suikoden games are getting remastered. Announced at Tokyo Game Show, the PS1 classic JRPGs by Konami are getting up-rezzed and re-translated. They will launch for all major platforms in 2023.

New screenshots of the A Wonderful Life remake have been published. The screenshots stress the expected graphics overhaul and update, on top of what looks like the (what we feel) tragic yassification of some characters.

In celebration of the shared Undertale and Deltarune anniversary, an update on Deltarune’s future was posted by Toby Fox. The update showcased some new music and locales, plus launched Spamton’s Sweepstakes, a charity drive for Child’s Play that gave out very stupid prizes. It went on to raise over $322,000. The prizes were rewarded on a…very special livestream.

EVGA, one of the largest graphics card manufacturers, has both broken off their deal with Nvidia and backed out of the GPU business altogether. Nvidia is reportedly undercutting all other GPU makers by making their own, cheaper graphics cards to keep third parties like EVGA out of the loop.

The post The Bulletin: HEY EVERY !!!! appeared first on Gamesline.

AIn the news Babylon’s Fall is shutting down, Deltarune is getting an update, Overwatch is going offline for a couple days, EVGA is leaving graphics card manufacturing, and major layoffs have hit G4TV and Fanbyte. We also go over all the news from the Nintendo Direct like Zelda : Tears of a Kingdom, Pikmin 4, Fire Emblem Engage, Octopath Traveler 2, and all the farming games. At the Sony State of Play, we say a new Team Ninja game, Tekken 8, Pacific Drive, and the show closer, a God of War controller. Finally, we go over everything from TGS from Like a Dragon: Gaiden, Like a Dragon: Ishin, Like a Dragon 8, Street Fighter 6, Mega Man Battle Network, and the ultimate rare Konami W. That’s right, the remaster they’ve been teasing announcing forever wasn’t a Bluber Team Silent Hill or a Metal Gear remaster. No, it was a Suikoden 1 and 2 HD Remaster, and Lorelai is incredibly emotional about it.

As always, you can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @VGChooChoo,  @john_michonski, @ChorbySP and @JudgementScythe

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, direct download, or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 411: Suikoden Day appeared first on Gamesline.

We dig into all the big news stories of the week with a Riot Games guy going completely off the rails in taking down a fan project, Konami making a funny joke in saying they are getting back into games and then pulling out of E3, Toys for Bob being brought into the Call of Duty fold, Yoshinori Ono joining the team at Delightworks, and the Noid returning to come for the automated vehicles delivering your deliciously mediocre pizza’s.

As always you can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, @jugdgementscythe and on instagram @fataleflare

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, direct download, or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 356: Should We Still Avoid the Noid? appeared first on Gamesline.