Welcome to The Week in RPGs, your weekly foray into the world of Rash Prevention Gel. No, wait. Raucous Pink Gerbils. Red, Purple, Green? Listen, I’m trying here. Let’s just talk about roleplaying games, yeah? Right then. Your week in RPGs: news, commentary, terrible puns, and bad jokes, delivered fresh every Friday. To the RPG Files!
The Witcher 3 developer, CD Projekt Red, held their summer press conference yesterday and announced some exciting things for the Witcher universe. First, the game will be coming to all platforms on February 24th, 2015 with "over 100 hours" of content. There will be multiple editions for purchase but the easy money is on the GOG Edition which comes packed with a digital artbook, soundtrack, and a free copy of NeverWinter Nights (and its expansions). More impressive is the loyalty discount giving players up to 10% off just for owning the first two games in the series, no matter where they bought them from. Classy, CD Projekt.
We also got to see some new gameplay showing Geralt fighting from horseback, swimming underwater, and repeatedly tantalizing scantily clad women. There was also a part that looked eerily like Geralt was going to tongue-kiss a bone monster. Really. The new trailer is beyond impressive and hints at the open world we’ve seen glimpses of in past sneak peeks. It also shows just how exciting a mature-rated RPG can be.
CD Projekt also announced The Witcher: Adventure Game, though all we know is that it looks to be some form of CCG and is accepting sign-ups for its multiplayer beta.
Fable Anniversary could be coming to PC via Steam. The series developer, Lionhead Studios, has released two teaser trailers on their official YouTube page. If you’ve only played the lackluster Fable 3 you owe it to yourself to give this a shot. Fable is one of those games that captured my imagination and seemed to unfold like a fairy tale. Even though some players were disappointed that the world didn’t evolve quite like Peter Molyneux promised – you’ve got to be able to plant that acorn, folks – it still stands up as an engrossing video game that helped define a console generation. Anniversary edition also comes packed with HD remastered visuals and audio.
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Kingdom Hearts is one of those series that baffles me. It’s almost as if the heads from Square Enix and Disney sat down for a round of drinks and decided, hey, our franchises are like long lost brothers. Why not reunite them? Disney and Final Fantasy, like chocolate and peanut butter. Anyhow, you’re unlikely to find a better drunk thought because the series has turned out fantastic. If you’re a PS3 owner, get ready because a new collection is coming your way entitled Kingdom Hearts HD II.5 ReMIX. It follows up on last year’s 1.5 ReMIX and includes remastered battles and cinematics from Kingdom Hearts: reCoded. Who would have though, Final Fantasy works pretty well in a cartoon world.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is on a lore binge and I think it’s time we call for help. On an almost daily basis, Bioware has been dropping new entries on its official site. Since our last tour, we have entries on: The Fade, The Breach, Therinfal Redoubt, The Hinterlands, and Redcliffe. Of all of those, the entry and screenshots on The Fade interest me the most (screenshots on Facebook). This is a place of dreams and nightmares, where demons come and steal your soul, and all too infrequent in Dragon Age 2. Who would have thought every demon battle would come down to a tea party? The imagery we’ve seen in this game is just fantastic. The new Frostbite 3 engine is pushing the Dragon Age universe, and the nightmarish Fade, to new levels and I officially can’t wait to see it for myself.
Dark Souls 2 is getting a trilogy of DLC. Entitled “The Lost Crowns,” each pack will release monthly between July and September for $9.99. The first is Crown of the Sunken King (July 22nd) and will send players to an “entirely different world in the Dark Souls 2 universe” where pyramids span underground caverns. These seem to be much more than the mini-packs we’ve seen more often in console centric RPGs. Still, I can’t get over just how bleak and depressing the game is. It’s like being trapped in a mausoleum and smacked by skeletons. Each pack will cost $9.99 and is sure to offer every more keyboard breaking fun for fans of the bleak and depraved. I’m looking at you, MMO staff.
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Quick Hits:
- Drakengard 3 is Receiving “Sister Prologues” DLC: The pack will feature new levels playable with one of the various sisters. Hopefully a dragon gets killed. They burned down my pigpen.
- Terraria is coming to Xbox One and PS4: The only major system this game isn’t on is the Nintendo 3DS. In other news, Nintendo hates pick axes.
That’s your week in RPG news! Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you have a tip for the RPG files, drop us an email and we’ll make sure to investigate!
Christopher Coke / Chris has been an MMO player since the days of MUDs and dial-up internet. These days he can be found browsing around online games and RPGs alike. Follow him on Twitter: @GameByNight.
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