News by Lindsay M. and Matt S.
Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s regular catch-up news feature. With each issue we will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!
Has the Western name for Work x Work been revealed?
By Lindsay M., News Editor
Siliconera has reported that developer FuRyu has trademarked a possible title for the (unannounced) Western localisation of Work x Work. Here’s a trailer for the Japanese release to refresh your memory:
The trademark is for “Heroland.” At first glance it seems unrelated to Work x Work, but the setting of the game is in a place called “Hero-sama Land” so the connection definitely makes sense.
Work x Work has been available for the Switch in Japan since October; a PlayStation 4 version is expected to be released in the same region on February 28. FuRyu is one of my favourite developers thanks to The Legend of Legacy and The Alliance Alive, and I’ve been eyeballing Work x Work since its initial announcement.
Now this is cool; a Pakistan-based studio is making a VR game
By Matt S,. Editor-in-Chief
We don’t often hear about Pakistan’s game development scene, which means when a new game is announced, it’s intrinsically interesting. When it’s a studio leaping straight into the complexities of VR, even more so. Rematch Studios is doing just that with Area of Darkness: Sentinel.
In Area of Darkness, players explore the North Sentinel Islands and try to uncover a mystery within. It’s being billed as a psychological thriller with adventure elements, and we’re promised an in-depth narrative, too. The script is 135 pages long, we’re told.
The game is going to be available on PC only at this stage. This is hardly surprising given the resources available to developers in emerging nations such as Pakistan. The good news is that while it’s being designed for VR, you will be able to play this without a headset, as a conventional game, too. It arrives on the market in March
Life Is Strange 2, Episode 2 is ready for release
By Lindsay M., News Editor
We’re only a day away from the release of Life Is Strange 2, Episode 2, titled “Rules,” and Square Enix has dropped the release trailer to remind us (as if we needed it) of what’s to come:;
Sean and Daniel are still running from the police, but it’s getting more difficult in the winter months. They seek refuge as their grandparents’ home, far away from the scene they left behind in Seattle, as Daniel becomes ill. It is there they meet Chris… otherwise known as Captain Spirit. The situation becomes more difficult as Daniel is forced to keep his newfound supernatural skills secret for his own safety.
Life Is Strange 2 is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. There will be five episodes total, released intermittently. My review of the first episode can be read here. Trent’s thoughts on the demo based on Captain Spirit is also a great read to prep for the next episode!
The next SteamWorld game will be a card-based RPG
By Matt S., Editor-in-Chief
One of the real darlings of the indie space, the SteamWorld property goes from strength to strength. There’s the two SteamWorld Dig titles; platformers mixed with Mr. Driller, which are well-known for their tight gameplay and gorgeous visuals. Then there’s SteamWorld Heist; a kind of 2D XCom that showed that the developer could take this franchise in surprising directions. And now we have SteamWorld Quest.
This game was developed after (apparently) SteamWorld fans constantly fed back to the developer, Image & Form, that they would like to see a full story-driven RPG set in the SteamWorld universe. The deck-building approach to combat is certainly an interesting way to do that, but we’re on board with it for sure.
The game will release first on Nintendo Switch, and potentially other platforms to follow; this has always been the way Image & Form has worked anyway. We’re going to get a 2019 release, we’re told, so stay tuned! No doubt we’ll hear a lot more about this game soon!
