In the ashes of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, amid the bloat and pretense of the games industry, always must there be a presentation... always must there be game trailers... and always must there be those who commentate. So it is that we find ourselves in the aftermath of this year's collected summer showcases, a cavalcade of announcements and information to parse in its wake. For my part, I set forth to note the games that stood out among the pack. Today, we go over the high points of the Future Games Show , the Xbox Games Showcase , the PC Gaming Show and, yes , even the Ubisoft Forward . Heaven help us all... Future Games Show The High Point: Duck Detective: The Secret Salami The premise of “riffing on the hardboiled detective story with talking cartoon animals” would be a fine selling point for a game in itself. The choice to also lean into a sticker book aesthetic, complete with characters hobbling around as barely moving objects in a scene? Now that's a fun time ...
"I am the crushed one. It crushes my heart to see you not doing your best." Release Date: August 25, 2021 Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X Note: writer contributed to 2015/2016 Fig campaign funding the game's development In an age where sequels and reboots are in abundance, particularly where video games are concerned, sixteen years is a hell of a gap. Yes, it can help cultivate a nostalgic longing for the return of something beloved from a bygone era... but it can't be helped that in that time, everything from the basics of design priorities through to the greater-scope concerns of the world around us has shifted more than once in inescapable, inevitable fashion. So it's an interesting position for Double Fine's latest work Psychonauts 2 to find itself. It needs to not only stand on its own merits but also ride the line between honoring its cult classic predecessor and growing beyond its roots, while also reckoning with the reality t...