Written by Mary Joaquin
Welcome to the Weekly Round-Up!
Every week, we cover the latest in the gaming world. Ruined King: A League of Legends Story marked the end of October followed by a glimpse into a new Portal 2 challenge with the Portal Reloaded mod.
The weekdays saw highs and lows alike with announcements: its highs with Orwell’s Animal Farm, Steam Playtest, and Demon’s Souls; and its lows with Friday the 13th: The Game and The Medium.
Let’s get right into it!
On Saturday, Oct 31, Riot Forge, Riot Games’s new publishing label, announced Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is slated for an early 2021 release.
Developed by Airship Syndicate, Ruined King is a single-player, turn-based RPG, that takes place in the regions of Runeterra and the Shadow Isles, with an aim to expand the world for new and seasoned players alike.
Tasked with defeating a yet unknown enemy, the player teams up with Miss Fortune, Illaoi, Braum, Yasuo, Ahri, and Pyke to answer the mysteries of LoL’s extensive lore.
Ruined King will be playable for the first time on consoles (current-gen and next-gen) and PC.
On Sunday, Nov 1, Modder Jannis Brinkmann released a gameplay trailer for Portal Reloaded, a mod for Valve’s Portal 2.
Introducing a third green time-portal to the classic blue and orange place-in-space portals, it challenges seasoned players to “think in four dimensions”. While it includes a story, the mod’s site’s Q&A page elaborates that it is a separate and isolated short story with “more than 100 custom voice lines”.
The mod will be released on Steam for free on April 19, 2021, exactly ten years after the launch of Portal 2 to honor its achievements.
On Monday, Nov 2, London indie studio Nerial confirmed the Dec 10 release of their game, Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Reimagining the novelist’s classic allegorical novella into an adventure game, the game follows the post-overthrowal of the humans and tasks players with overseeing how the farm is to be run.
It allows for either an exact replica of the original story’s events or a completely different narrative depending on the choices made.
“Play it to explore a classic tale from inside,” reads its Steam page description. “Play it because Boxer deserved better.”
According to the game’s Twitter, there is no planned sequel.
On Tuesday, Nov 3, Gun Media announced Friday the 13th: The Game will be decommissioning its dedicated servers this month.
The game will receive a final patch and see its dedicated servers go offline soon after. It will remain playable, however, with Quick Play going back to peer to peer matchmaking and its database servers kept alive for Private Matches.
The game’s online outlets will also have decreased activity, and players are encouraged to consult JasonKillsBugs.com for game help.
According to PC Gamer, the game has had a rocky lifetime from release, involving bugs, cheaters, and disputes with both the original movie’s director and scriptwriter.
On Wednesday, Nov 4, Steam presented Steam Playtest, which simplifies playtesting for both developers and players.
According to Engadget, the process becomes streamlined in how they can more easily see player interest and just as easily close testing.
Alternatively, players interested in testing a title can simply click on a beta test’s “Request Access” to be added to a queue, to which the developer can manage how many to give access to.
“The goal of this feature is to give developers a free, low-risk way to get playtesting data for their game without stressing out about Steam keys, user reviews, or wishlists,” reads its description.
On Thursday, Nov 5, The upcoming remake of Demon’s Souls revealed details of its character creation and Photo Mode.
Gavin Moore, Creative Director for SIE Worldwide Studios, shared the features on the PlayStation Blog, boasting the several ways the remake honors the beloved original.
With the character creation, players are treated to up to 16M permutations, which complements the freedom of its upgraded Photo Mode. From helmet and weapon toggles, to pose and expression choices, and various camera settings, players can capture their character’s glory or downfall however they choose to.
Demon’s Souls releases simultaneously with the PS5 on Nov 12.
On Friday, Nov 6, Bloober Team’s upcoming dual-reality horror The Medium gets delayed to Jan 28 2021.
The developers cited both COVID-19 and the “current schedule of other games on the market” in its announcement tweet as its reason for the delay.
The game is one of the few (along with Path of Exile and Everspace 2, according to IGN) who have had to move their launch date as to not release simultaneously with the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077.
The Medium was originally planned for a Dec 10 release—the latest launch date for CD Projekt Red’s popular title—on Xbox Series X, S and PC.
EGD’s Weekly Round-Up gives a quick look into the newest in the games industry. From triple-A games and indie titles to events and gamer tech, the Weekly Round-Up covers all and more every week. Join the EGD Community Server to discuss the latest news!