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)!
Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris will faithfully follow the anime
By Lindsay M., News Editor
Last week, Bandai Namco announced Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris. The title will faithfully follow the Alicization anime series – normally the games and anime aren’t quite as entwined. Here’s a trailer:
The game will follow Kirito as he becomes immersed in the Underworld, where AII characters behave as humans. Familiar names will be there, including Administrator, Alice, and Eugeo. The press release for the title promises epic battles and stunning JRPG visuals.
Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris will be released worldwide for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
There’s a Sakura Wars actually coming to the west
By Matt S., Editor-in-Chief
Over the weekend, SEGA made one of its most exciting announcements in quite some time: it’s bringing us a Sakura Wars title! A blend of JRPG and romance, this is a series that has been incredibly popular over the years, but SEGA’s never figured that there would be a market for it in the west. That all changes with Project Sakura Wars (working title), which is coming to PlayStation 4 in early 2020.
The game’s setting, according to the announcement: “The stage is set in a romanticized version of 1940s Imperial Tokyo. 10 years ago, a cataclysm resulted in the devastating loss of the Imperial Combat Revue of Tokyo, the capital’s global defense force operating out of the Imperial Theater. The theater has since fallen on hard times and risks closure. As captain of the new Tokyo revue, it’s up to you to mend the hearts of your troops and restore the Imperial Theater back to its former glory!
With absolutely gorgeous production values, and an amazing case of beautiful women to woo, I’ve got my bets on Sakura Wars being something of a sleeper hit come 2020.
Psychological horror game Dollhouse coming this May
By Lindsay M., News Editor
Marie, formerly the greatest detective in the world, is suffering from amnesia while on an investigation inside Dollhouse. It’s seriously creepy. Before we get to the release date, soak up this new film noir-styled trailer:
That’s right, Dollhouse will be released on May 24, digitally for PC (via Steam) and PlayStation 4. There will also be a physical release for PS4.
Marie is being pursued throughout Dollhouse, while also having to solve cryptic clues and avoid deadly traps. She can freeze her pursuer using Flash, or Focus to see through their eyes. Dollhouse features a narrative-driven single player mode, as well as a multiplayer mode, which is a rare thing for survival horror indeed. It’s going to be interesting to see how that one turns out.
SEGA announces a bunch of Olympic games
By Matt S., Editor-in-Chief
Next year – 2020 – is going to be a big year for sport in Japan. The country is playing host to an Olympic Games, and when the company with the license to the Olympics just happens to be Japanese, that means they’re going to go all out. And that’s exactly what has happened; SEGA has announced four Olympic-based games, for PS4, Nintendo Switch, mobile and arcades.
There’s going to be two different Mario & Sonic At The 2020 Olympic Games titles – one for Switch, and one for arcades. Most people with Nintendo consoles have played the tie-in titles, either based on the Olympics or Winter Olympics. SEGA has been producing these for a while now. In addition, there will be a Sonic-only Olympics title produced for mobile.
PlayStation 4 owners won’t get to play a cutesy Mario and Sonic-themed Olympics title, but there will be a more realistic take on the sport with Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: The Official Video Game (which will also be released on Switch). There’s no details on this one yet, in terms of what events will be in there and so on, but SEGA has done a reasonable job with “realistic” Olympics titles in years past, so I find myself looking forward to this a good deal. It’ll be a great way to get in the mood for what will be the greatest Olympics ever.
