The Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week is a three-way tie between Dark Souls III (PC, PS4, Xbox One), Ratchet & Clank (PS4), and Bravely Second: End Layer (3DS).
Dark Souls III is the third (and presumably, final) game in From Software’s gothic fantasy series that reminds me quite a bit of a grim and gritty take on The Legend of Zelda. Fans love its relentless difficulty and wide variety of grotesque monsters, so Dark Souls III is one adult players will definitely want.
Developer Naughty Dog has taken the original Ratchet & Clank and given it the full remake treatment to launch alongside the movie adaptation. Critics weren’t too kind to the film, but they love the game (which adds new characters, new bosses, and new weapons to the platformer-styled shenanigans), and it’s a perfect match for the “All Ages” segment of your population and adult players who remember playing the PS2 original more than ten years ago.
Finally, Bravely Second: End Layer is a retro-inspired RPG from Square Enix that, again, will appeal to adult patrons who grew up with this style of game. The large game world is even bigger in the sequel and should also keep fans of the franchise busy finding every secret and battling every monster for a very long time.
All Links in “This Week’s New Releases + Game News” are Provided by Warp Zoned.
New Release Round-Up
- Retail Releases: Dark Souls III, Bravely Second: End Layer, Ratchet & Clank
- Nintendo Download: Bravely Second: End Layer, Super Metroid, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, more
- PlayStation Store: Dark Souls III, Ratchet & Clank, Stories: The Path of Destinies, more
- Xbox Games Store (Wednesday): Dark Souls III
- Xbox Games Store (Friday): Soda Drinker Pro, Gear Gauntlet
Weekly Warp-Up
The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center will open its doors for PAX East 2016 in less than five days (118 hours, to be exact) and the exhibitor list is filling out nicely:
- Square Enix will have playable demos of more than a dozen games on the show floor including Final Fantasy XV, I Am Setsuna, and Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness.
- Sony’s booth will be overflowing with more than 20 PS4 gamees, including several PlayStation VR titles. Congoers can look forward to demoing Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Ratchet & Clank, Rez Infinite, and more.
- Bethesda is also shipping up to Boston next week with a brand new multiplayer build of Doom.
Elsewhere around Warp Zoned this week, we published a review of Ska Studios’s Salt and Sanctuary. It’s a little like Dark Souls, and if you don’t have the time to dive into Dark Souls III, it’s the next best thing.
New Game Announcements
- Mercury Steam announces Raiders of the Broken Planet, a “distinctive blend of shooting, brawling and thinking man’s strategy.”
- Activision will release two Ghostbusters games this July.
- The Hunstman: Winter’s Curse is an RPG based on the film… and it’ll be available next week.
- Kobe Bryant will appear on the cover of NBA 2K17‘s Legend Edition.
- The King of Fighters XIV is officially coming to America thanks to Atlus.
- Titanfall 2 is officially coming to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. EA will lift the curtain on the game on June 12.
More News
- There’s a new Super Mario Bros. “Any Percentage” world record.
- Shovel Knight has now sold over one million copies. Yacht Club also said the Specter Knight and King Knight expansions will be finished by the end of the year.
- Tom Clancy’s The Division was the best-selling game in March 2016.
- Final Fantasy IX is now available to download through Steam.
- Nintendo is teaming up with Nickelodeon next week for a SpongeBob Splatfest in Splatoon.
- EA will add an Offline Mode to Star Wars: Battlefront this Spring.
- Splatoon‘s latest update added eight new weapons to the game.
- The recently shuttered Evolution Studios has joined up with Codemasters to form a “UK racing powerhouse.”
New Videos
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – “Eclipse DLC Pack Preview”
- Doom – “Player Progression and Character Customization”
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – “Zetsubou No Shima”
- Dark Souls III – “Launch Trailer”
- Gears of War 4 – “Tomorrow”
Rumor Has It
- The Pokemon Company is holding a “secret auction” for the rights to a live-action Pokemon movie.
- Nintendo might be planning to release remastered versions of The Legend of Zelda Wii U, Splatoon, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, and Super Mario Maker for the NX.
Etcetera
- Disasterpeace’s soundtrack to Hyper Light Drifter is now available to download