Welcome to TAG Roundup!
Ever wonder what you missed in the world of gaming last week? No worries – we’ve got you covered!
We read a ton of video game articles each week and wanted to share some of our favorites with the Average Gamer community. We’ll feature everything from previews to reviews and everything in between.
The articles we share will be from a combination of well-known sources (like IGN) and more niche blogs that you may not have heard of. In the previous TAG Roundup post, we talked about Gotham Knights, Final Fantasy, Black Myth and more!
At the top of the hour, we’ve got all the updates from Nintendo Direct Mini. The Partner Showcase had a little bit of everything, so you’re sure to find something exciting in 12 minutes presentation!
Nintendo Direct Mini – IGN
Last week was an exciting time for Switch owners, with gameplay reveals for many intriguing titles. Nintendo Direct Mini showed off everything from rhythm games to fighters to classic RPGs. Here’s a quick blurb on each game announced during the Partner Showcase:
- Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory – Rhythm-action gameplay in the classic Kingdom Hearts journey format
- Fuser – The creators of Rock Band and Dance Central let you DJ your own virtual music festival
- Taiko no Tatsujin – Recruit monsters to your party in this time-traveling RPG, filled with colorful scenes and 130 songs
- World of Tanks Blitz – Command over 350 tanks in epic 7v7 battles
- Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions – Train like Rocky with mini-games, arcade-style boxing, and a roster of legends
- Collection of Saga Final Fantasy Legends – Experience three Final Fantasy Legends games, upgraded with high-speed mode, adjustable screen magnification, and game screen customization
- Just Dance 2021 – Described as the “ultimate dance game”, perform choreography to some of your favorite songs
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 – Play traditional Puyo Puyo, or Tetris, or combine the two, taking advantage of character-based skills
- Minecraft Dungeons – The Creeping Winter DLC adds new missions, weapons, armor, artifacts, and a Wretched Wraith to defeat at the center of the storm
- Jump Force – Choose from over 50 fighters from series like One Piece, Dragon Ball and Naruto, battling online or locally
- Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions – Arcade soccer featuring customizable characters as you play through the story of Captain Tsubasa
Overall, the Nintendo Direct Mini was a much-needed celebration of gaming that continues to expand the Switch library. You can catch the full 12-minute video below to see all the gameplay from last week’s Nintendo Direct Mini.
Duos Megaman – Nintendo Life
Megaman set the standard for retro blaster platformers, and many games have followed its successful formula. In Mighty Gunvolt Burst, experience the pixelated goodness as Gunvolt and Beck!
You’ll trigger burst combos, be able to customize on the fly, and enjoy 245 pixel stickers. Use the HD rumble on Switch to find hidden treasures on your journey to defeat powerful bosses! Pick up the standard or collector’s edition now if you’re a fan of the Megaman series.
Amazon’s new MMO – IGN
Following the disastrous launch of Amazon’s Crucible, I’ve had fairly low standards for their online RPG, New World. People have gotten their hands on an early build of the massive war game, and the reviews are fairly mixed.
The art style looks great but you spend a lot of time either waiting or running around. New World’s combat system has the potential to be very deep but can get repetitive.
Amazon delayed the game until Spring 2021 so hopefully, they can get some of the kinks worked out over the next 6 months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI8aJP6WTfQ
Relaxing Puzzler – Polygon
The Last Campfire places you in a “charming but dark world”, solving puzzles and exploring the mysterious environment. Its main character is reminiscent of a sack boy, but the story is much more evolved than Little Big Planet.
There’s also a mode where players can simply roam about, appreciating the beauty around you. It’s available now on the Epic Games Store and has been described as very relaxing and laidback.
Pokemon GO Meets The Witcher – Gamespot
The most recent release of the Witcher has been touted as one of the greatest games of all time. Now, you can experience the magic of monster-slaying while out in the real world!
The Witcher: Monster Slayer has a very similar feel to Pokemon GO or Harry Potter Wizards Unite, except now your slashing monsters to pieces. No release date on this yet, but you can sign up on their website to be notified when it’s available.
Better Than Starfox – Gamespot
Chorus is a gritty space shooter that pulls you into the high-speed action. Last week’s trailer shows off flashy explosions, impressive movement, and an eeriness that only space can recreate.
One of the taglines is to ‘become a living weapon’ so I expect there will be plenty of customization of your ship. Chorus is slated for a release sometime next year on console, PC, and Google Stadia.
FPS on Loop – Polygon
The concept of Live, Die, Repeat has been done a few times, and it’s always a challenge to balance an appropriate learning curve with an acceptable level of difficulty. In Lemnis Gate, you bend time to replay 25-second rounds, learning from your previous mistakes, and improving on strategy each time.
The devs reference the ‘butterfly effect’ and how all your in-game actions are tied to one another. Lemnis Gate will bring 2- and 4-player team-based battles to consoles and PC early next year.
Portable Nintendo Wii – Nintendo Life
Creator spotlight time!! GingerOfMods managed to stuff the components of a Nintendo Wii into a fully-portable, handheld system. The end result is something that would make a Switch jealous.
The console plays Wii and GameCube games, has a fairly large screen, and all the buttons you’d need to enjoy your favorite games. Check out the video to see 9 months of video game brilliance come to fruition!
New PvPvE Shooter – WCCF Tech
If you’ve seen any of my streams from The Cycle, you’ll be familiar with the player vs player vs environment genre. At its core, you deal with elements of CPU hostiles as well as human opponents.
Observer: System Redux is the latest game in this space, letting players partake in a VR tournament to take home a prize. The cyberpunk world is dark and futuristic, as though Ready Player One had a creepy spin put on it.
You can pick up the demo now on Steam ahead of the Holiday 2020 launch.
That’s All For Now
There were plenty of other highlights from last week but these ones really stood out. Be sure to check in next time to read about video game current events.
For more regular updates, feel free to follow our Flipboard, where we have a news feed of all the latest and greatest gaming news!
What were some of the most interesting things you read last week? Leave us a message in the comments so we can check it out!
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