FROW Gaming Highlights | Tokyo Games Show, Counter-Strike 2, Dragon's Dogma 2 & more
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In this week's gaming highlights, we have some new releases that will make you RUN not walk to your PC. We have some of the most highly anticipated games, cosy easter eggs of the Steam store and a new Netflix Original you don't want to miss. We also have news on one of Japan's biggest Gaming exhibitions, The Tokyo Games Show(TGS).
While TGS wasn't exactly flooded with shiny new announcements, there was a good number of deep dives on games both close and far to release that were pretty easy to miss if you weren't paying attention. But never you worry, we've picked out a handful of our (mostly Capcom related) favourites.
Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways
Resident Evil 4's 'Separate ways' DLC starring Ada Wong released last month, during the first day of TGS 2023. Before Leon's arrival in the village in the main game, you'll take control of Ada who's been set on a mission by famed series antagonist Albert Wesker. Armed with a grappling gun, Ada is given new ranged attacks and the ability to traverse areas that would be otherwise inaccessible. The remake of the original 2005 action survival horror game has sold 5 million copies since its release back in March of this year and with its dramatic updates to the graphics, gameplay and story, its no wonder why its gotten such a positive reception.
Street Fighter 6 - New DLC character "A.K.I." Launch
Following up Rashid's reintroduction to the series, A.K.I. made her debut as Street Fighter's newest addition last month and the sadistic disciple of F.A.N.G certainly left her mark. Packaged with options at every distance, her snake-like fighting style is made even more threatening at mid range by her extendable mechanical claws, all tipped with lethal toxins. If that wasn't enough, she can shoot the same poisons at her opponents as balled purple projectiles.
Street Fighter 6 has earned it's success so far, with over 2 million units sold worldwide the title has seemingly recouped some of the good faith lost by the controversial launch state of Street Fighter 5. Running on the RE Engine, Street Fighter 6 provides ample single and multiplayer content across its three core modes. World Tour mode features an open-world single player story starring your very own created character that you'll take with you to fight online in the Battle Hub, all on top of the traditional arcade experience available in the Fighting Ground.
Dragon's Dogma 2 - Extensive Gameplay Showcase
The High Fantasy, action-focused RPG Dragon's Dogma 2 got a 9-minute gameplay deep dive at TGS.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is the single player sequel to the 2012 game and as before, players will create their character, choose a vocation (class) and then embark on a quest to slay a dragon alongside a customisable party.
One of the biggest draws of the series is the variety of approaches afforded to players in combat: ranging from monster scaling action reminiscent of the PS2's Shadow of the Colossus, to the visually spectacular casting of destructive magic spells. This freedom is accessed through the games vocation system which so far, we know at least allows you to choose between the six shown off in the deep dive: Fighter, Archer, Thief, Mage, Magick Archer and Mystic Spearhand.
The four first basic vocations are what can be applied to your AI companions, letting you choose if you want to make your party up of sword-and-shield wielding fighters, supportive mages, self explanatory archers or dextrous thieves. However, the Arisen, our protagonist gets access to unique vocations that function as specialised advancements or combinations of the basic four, such as this title's new "Duospear" wielding Mystic Spearhand that integrates both melee and magic into their combat. Distinguishing itself further from the previous entry, Dragon's Dogma 2 promises to have an intricately detailed world and terrain for players to take advantage of as much or as little as you see fit. The release date has not yet been announced.
That's the end of our Capcom highlights, but you can take a look at the full stream right here:
Tokyo Game Show Bonus...
Where Winds Meet - Fantasy Action and Bear Bowling Fun
Where Winds Meet seems to be a massively ambitious fantasy action RPG in development with the Chinese Everstone studio, set in ancient China we can expect to find ourselves traversing scenic grassy planes, bustling towns, sailing into ship combat and taking to the skies.
Boasting a character creator being compared to some of the most in-depth in the industry, every time this game makes an appearance it shows something new that makes it hard to believe it all comes together in one package, despite the lack of a release date and only a PC launch confirmed so far this game is still definitely one to keep an eye out for.
Counter-Strike 2
FPS fans, the wait is over! Counter-Strike 2 is finally out after being teased for the past few weeks with a tweet from CounterStrike hinting to the release, the new game released the following Wednesday 28th.
After 12 years of CSGO, we can now delve into the newest edition with a complete redesign from the menu screen to the maps. New features have also been added. This includes a new way to play competitive with the maximum number of rounds per comp game changing to 24, following a MR12 format making every round truly count as well as overtime being added which changes the game (literally).
The game has also had a complete revamp of the ranking system as posted onto their Twitter, the old ranks have been scrapped and starting from the beginning - giving old and new players the same chance to climb the ranks.
Mineko's Night Market
After eight years in development, Mineko’s Night Market is finally out and the cosy gamers need to try out this hidden gem!
The game follows Mikeko, a young girl on a journey to restore the struggling Japanese-inspired village, which is centered around a sun cat called Nikko, by crafting, doing quests and exploring, unlocking more as you progress all in time for the night market at the end of the day where you can then sell items to the townies of the game and even barter with them. It isn’t a game that you’d want to rush through but you will likely start playing and look at the time to see 5 hours had just gone by. This cute game’s release date was 26th September and is out now on Switch, PS5 and PC.
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Castlevania: Nocturne
Good news for all Castlevania fans! The franchises brand new series began streaming on Netflix last month. Based on the action RPG Castlevania: Symphony of the night, with its first major release in 1997, the spin-off consists of eight episodes set in 1792 France (during the French Revolution).
We follow Richter Belmont, a descendant of the Belmont vampire-hunting clan, as he fights to keep his family legacy alive and to prevent the rise to power of the cruel vampire Erzsébet Báthory.
That brings this highlight's coverage to a close but stay tuned to FROW Gaming for much more to come.