The Month In Gaming

The Month In Gaming
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Courtesy Photo |  Released Nov. 11, Dishonored 2 continues the story of Corvo Attano and Emily Kaldwin, who survive as political assassins with supernatural abilities.

I realize that I would normally be writing about our Tangerine-Nazi-Elect, but with the stunning actuality of America being okay with a raging raping racist leading our nation, I feel like, for my own mental health and for the sake of my readers, I need to focus on something fluffy and happy, and not the darkest timeline we currently find ourselves in.

Thankfully, the holidays are upon us, and with the holiday season comes the year’s biggest and hottest titles in gaming. I thought I’d take a break from the soap-boxing and talk for a minute about the exciting virtual worlds coming soon or already on the market.

Last weekend saw the release of Arkane Studio’s followup to their surprise hit Dishonored, aptly named Dishonored 2. Just like the first jaunt around the steampunk-esque city of Dunwall, Dishonored 2 focuses on stealth and challenges players to find creative and nonviolent ways to complete any given level. In the first game, you took the reins of royal bodyguard and protector Corvo Attano, but this time around you have your choice between Corvo and Empress Emily Kaldwin, the daughter you saved from the clutches of men mad with power during the course of the first Dishonored.

It’s a popular refrain in gaming these days that the city or environment is just as big a character as the protagonist, and for certain games (Bioshock, for instance) that rings very true. Dishonored joins those rare and esteemed ranks with the city of Dunwall and the lands beyond, intricate cities full of clockwork buildings and powered by whale oil. An entire alternate world springs fully formed from the moment you start the game with a tutorial between Corvo and Emily in an alleyway. Dishonored 2 is as challenging as the first game, but well worth the investment if for nothing more than the sheer scale and beauty of the world Arkane Studios has constructed.

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Courtesy Photo | Pokémon Sun and Moon will release Friday, Nov. 18 for the Nintendo 3DS. The seventh handheld game in the series, the role-playing video games take players to a new world full of new pokémon to catch and train for trainer battles.

In the world of story-driven games, Telltale is still seeing wild success with their various ventures, having yet to produce anything close to a disappointment. Right now, they are running the first season of Batman: Children of Arkham to much-deserved praise, and supposedly the newest season (three) of their stellar Walking Dead series is supposed to begin this week. Telltale also announced recently that there will be a season two of their Game of Thrones series, another in a long line of incredible titles from Telltale Games.

Finally, what are perhaps the most anticipated games of the year are due out by the time you read this. Pokémon: Sun & Moon, the latest installment in the rich world of Pokémon, comes out this Friday and by all accounts is going to be the best Pokémon game yet. With the ability to utilize Pokémon as they would be used in their reality, Sun & Moon will see you riding various types across particular terrains, flying around the Alolan region (based on Hawaii), and sees the return of the original 150 with all new looks, as they’ve “adapted and evolved differently than their mainland counterparts.” I’m picking up both copies as soon as payday gets here.

Last, but far from least, Niantic recently announced that the second generation of Pokémon will be added to PokémonGO in the coming months. A full 100 additional pocket monsters will be out wandering in the tall grass just waiting for a trainer to catch them. Don’t be surprised if, come December, we see hordes of Pokémon trainers out and about, phones in hand once again.

Until next time, dear readers, I hope you’ve enjoyed this break from the Tangerine as much as I have.

Categories: Commentary