Welcome back to another Weekly Roundup! I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween festivities and is moving into November with renewed energy! This week, we’ve got heavy helpings of Sonic Frontiers and PlayStation VR news as our two main stories. Following that, we’ve got a Last of Us TV series update, and a new fighter in MultiVersus. So, without further ado, let’s get right to it!
The official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel dropped two new teasers for Sonic Frontiers ahead of its release next week. The first is an animated prologue providing some background for Knuckles and how he ends up in the Frontiers world. The short film opens with Knuckles narrating his duties as guardian of Angel Island and its Master Emerald. While exploring the island, Knuckles is teleported to a similar, darker land where he is promptly attacked by a group of robotic creatures. After defeating the grunts, a “big boss” creature appears to take him captive. Atop this creature, we get a first glimpse at a mysterious human-like character with a prominent glowing red eye, presumably the game’s villain.
A second video, called the Showdown Trailer, released Thursday. The trailer shows off more gameplay footage as Sonic whizzes through various environments, including the familiar grassy hills area we’ve seen in previous trailers as well as a rocky desert, dilapidated ruins, and a floating techno cityscape. We also see what appear to be a few boss fight sequences as the music picks up to an emo-y alternative rock song typical of the 3D Sonic games. In the final seconds, Sonic transforms into Super Sonic to take on a massive techno-kaiju type enemy, recalling the Sonic Adventures Perfect Chaos boss.
Throughout the trailer, familiar side characters Big, Tails, and Amy make appearances, confirming their inclusions in the game. Creating a tie to the Knuckles short film, we get another glimpse at the new character introduced in that previous video. It’s definitely humanoid, with bowl-cut, swooping grey hair and a dark blue robe. However, red cybernetics coursing throughout its hair and robe suggest that it’s at least part robot. These two trailers definitely imply to me that this character is one of the game’s villains, but we’ll have to wait until Sonic Frontiers launches on November 8 to confirm this suspicion.
Moving to some hardware news, PlayStation announced the release date February 22, 2023 for its new PlayStation VR2 console. Their PS VR2 webpage breaks down many of its new features. The new controller–called the Sense controller–brings over the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers from the PS5’s DualSense gamepad. In addition, it also introduces “finger touch technology” which enables players to “[i]nteract with in-game items and environments naturally” without button input. The VR2 headset also hopes to make gameplay more natural with new eye-tracking functions which can “adjust resolutions to pinpoint and enhance whatever you’re focusing on.”
The PS VR2 webpage also outlines the two packages available at launch. The console-only package includes a headset, one pair of Sense controllers, one set of headphones, three pairs of earpieces, and a charging cord. There’s also the Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle which includes everything in the base package plus a digital version of the upcoming VR Horizon game. Please note that while I refer to the VR2 as a “console,” it is not stand-alone, as you do need a PS5 console in order to use the VR2. The official website does not list prices or pre-order live dates, but IGN and Polygon both report prices of $549.99 for the base package and $599.99 for the Horizon bundle, with pre-orders opening soon on November 15 through the PS Direct online store.
Continuing a tidbit from one of my previous blog posts, HBO revealed the release date January 15, 2023 for its upcoming Last of Us TV adaptation. The show stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones) as Joel and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones, His Dark Materials) as Ellie. The production team seems to be in good hands with HBO mainstays Craig Mazin and Carolyn Strauss (both of Chernobyl fame) as well as writers and producers from the games’ development teams such as Neil Druckmann and Evan Wells. Film and TV adaptations of video game franchises have historically not fared too well, but recent successes such as Detective Pikachu, the Sonic films, and Netflix’s Witcher series have brought about more interest in and hope for new adaptations. Fans of TLoU have a short wait until January to see if HBO can deliver on these hopes.
Closing out this week’s post, Black Adam is now available as a playable character in Warner Bros.’ crossover fighting game MultiVersus. Coinciding with this reveal, the MultiVersus YouTube channel dropped a new trailer showing off the DC antihero’s moveset. Black Adam’s fighting style seems to lean heavily into his lightning powers alongside aerial strikes and combos. The character is getting a good bit of attention right now with last week’s theatrical release of the DC Extended Universe Black Adam film, starring Dwayne Johnson in the title role. So if you’ve got a DC itch that needs scratching, then look no further than this double dose of Black Adam!
That’s all for this week’s roundup! I know PS VR2 and Sonic dominated this week’s post, so if there’s anything I missed that you want to shoutout feel free to drop a line in the comments below. Thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you next time!