Originally I planned this to be a PIT STOP but I've been telling myself PIT STOP blog posts should have more uniformity and should be talking about an upcoming RAVE, RAVE or LIST like how I used to use them. As of late I've been using PIT STOP as a generic catch all blog post and I feel I can just post a blog without a subtitle and be fine. So this blog post is one of them catch all and I just want to talk about all these big game announcements especially the ones who have caught my eye.
Marvel's Cosmic Invasion was announced previously but they have now announced two new characters to the roster and both are pretty good choices. We now have She-Hulk (looking more like her Immortal self aka the ultra buff one) and Rocket Racoon. RR make sense because it looks like the guys at DotEmu are focusing on cosmic side of Marvel and RR is one of the breakout characters from the Guardians of the Galaxy. Also with Jonathan Hickman's big summer event for Marvel 'Imperial' (which you know I am super excited for) on the horizon it make sense for them to lean into that upcoming storyline as well and I know the Hulks will play a role in that as well.
 |
| Hickman writing Hulks AND Black Panther? Say Less. |
The game itself looks very fun. I know DotEmu and Tribute has resurrected the beat'em up genre with Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so to see their take on a Marvel license really excites me. I loved playing beat 'em ups growing up with Final Fight, Streets of Rage 1 to 3, Capcom Alien vs Predator and countless others dominating my childhood. I have waited a long time for a game like this and to see a roster already filled with big names like Captain America alongside lesser knowns like Quaser/ Phyla-Vell (rest in peace to her co-creator Peter David) excites me to what possibilities this game holds. I think the last Marvel game that explore the cosmic side of Marvel was that really, really bad Marvel Galactic Storm fighting game (and I use the word fighting very loosely) so to see gaming companies willing to explore this side of Marvel and make it a beat' em up is 100% up my alley. Speaking of up my alley, lets talk about Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls.
Beside the unique name, this game speaks to me in every possible way. I have made it no secret that I have slowly fallen out of love with the fighting game genre especially with all the new versions of the games I used to play really not resonating with me (looking at you Tekken 8 and Mortal Kombat One) but I do enjoy playing the occasional anime fighter by French Bread or Arc System Works. BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle was my jam for a month or so and I still like to much around in UNI2 when I get bored. However one of my favorite games to just muck around in was Capcom's Marvel games. X-Men: Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs Street Fighter and Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 are all games I loved playing so to see a new Marvel versus game was already a win for me. However to see it done by Arcsys who has been on a role with Guilty Gear Strive, DragonBall Fighter Z and GranFantasy Versus at the helm and them being told to explicitly to do it in their 'style' is the icing on the cake. This game looks AMAZING and the 4 on 4 battles looks like chaos but in the best way. Also say what you want about Arcsys' game design and dumbing down fighting game complexity their art design is second to none. I mean look at this.
Oh...My...Goddess
Also just like Cosmic Invasion I am loving the character roster picks so far. Of course we have the heavy hitters and popular choices like Iron Man and Doctor Doom but Ms. Marvel, Storm and Robbie Reye's Ghost Rider all speak to them pulling from all corners of the Marvel universe. Also I know I am not the only one thinking in a 4 v 4 game and Marvel's Fantastic Four (important to note, not Fox's Fantastic Four... Marvels) coming out soon could we have all 4 Fantastic Four characters on one team? How amazing would that be? Also just putting it out there, I was never a fan of Marvel having to share half of the roster with Capcom characters in the Versus series. I am 100% a dye in the wool Marvel fan and I enjoy some Capcom games but not all of them so to have a Versus game with only Marvel characters is a dream come true. I said it in my UPDATE a couple days ago and on twitter that I think this might be the game that gets me back into fighting games again and make want to start going to tournaments again as well.
My final game that I HAVE to talk about is Mortal Shell II.
As one of my favorite Souls-likes, Mortal Shell has a space in my heart. I think it ranks up there with the Surge 2 as my favorite non Fromsoft action RPG. I played the heck out of it on PS4 and even double dipped when it was on sale on Steam as well. The Virtuous Cycle DLC which did the Souls-like as Roguelite before Nightreign was even a thought in From's mind is also exceptional and I dedicated a lot of time to that as well. I even watched the Virtuous Cycle trailer recently and thought to myself, man, I would love a sequel and lo and behold, here it is. I am loving the tone, the fact they kept the aesthetic (which I realize now the new Lords of Fallen whole ass stole their drip) and the heavy metal OST and if anything they have amped it up. The trailer showed off some brutal finishers, new long range weapon options and a much bigger scope than the previous game but at its core, it is still the Mortal Shell I feel in love with. The characters/ shells are back and it appears they have added some other shells to occupy. Also is that Sester Genessa getting her hands dirty in some of the footage?
Maybe a different mode where you use Sester and guns only?
I am super excited and it appears you can sign up for a beta which will be playable in 2026 which means they are getting closer to releasing it. If anything, seeing Mortal Shell again makes me want to play the original again and get the 100% trophy like I did with the Surge games. I'll probably even write a RAVE for it after my replay similar to how I did one for Puzzle Quest Galactrix.
So yeah, those are my thoughts for now. I saw some other cool announcements but these 3 are the ones that peak my attention the most and I just had to talk about them. I think these 3 games are the most excited I have been for new games in the last couple months and the first games that make me consider updating my hardware because I feel Mortal Shell II might need it and the first fighting game in a long time that actually has me wanting to compete again.
AV
No comments:
Post a Comment