BitPunch October Recap!
Prey (Game Pass Version) | Rich
Death’s Door (Steam) | Rich
Nuclear Blaze (Steam) | Rich
The RiftBreaker (Game Pass Version) | Rich
Yakuza 4 Remastered | Michael
Moonglow Bay | Michael
Back 4 Blood | Michael/Rich
Bassmasters Fishing 2022 | Michael/Rich
It’s been a lighter month here at BitPunch HQ as life has been awfully busy lately. November we are planning on changing things up a bit and not necessarily streaming through a full playthrough of all games. It’s tough to always be available on Twitch and sometimes we just want to play games casually and discuss them on the podcast. Michael is planning on streaming some Age of Empires 4 in November, along with Final Fantasy V. Yakuza: Like a Dragon will be sporadic, but Yakuza 5 won’t be started until January. All this alongside some early morning backlog items.
Saga is Finally Returning in January 2022
By: Michael Perry
Brian K. Vaughan, author of such fine comics as Saga, Y: The Last Man, Runaways, and a bunch of other series have had an interesting month. Y: The Last Man finally came to light as a TV show on Hulu after Disney and FX swooped in and made it a reality after development hell for 6+ years. News broke that the series wasn't gaining the viewership needed to keep funding and the show has been canceled after the first season. I enjoy watching the show but understand the concept of dystopia earth is played out at this point, and it failed to stand out above the others out there. Hopefully, it can land on another network, but nothing official has been announced yet.
The good news is his long-running series Saga, which has been on a hiatus for over a year now, is making its return in January. Saga is at the top of my list as one of the best comic series I've ever read. It's the perfect time for me to dive back into the series from the beginning and experience this tale all over again. Rich kicked off our comic review series again with Sandman, which we covered vol. 1 on our latest podcast, and will continue with that series for the foreseeable future.
If you haven't read Saga, I believe it is one everyone should at least look into with the first volume. The story is told through the eyes of Hazel, the child from the main characters of the series Marko and Alana, and depicts her journey through this space opera. Marko and Alana are from rival gangs that have been at war with each other for years. Their love is forbidden which starts an all-out investigation for various gangs to hunt down the parents, kill them, and return the child. It definitely pulls from Romeo & Juliet but in terms of style, it stands out as its own.
Saga is absolutely ridiculous and stands out as one of the funniest and most heartfelt comics I've experienced. It has so many highs and introduces characters that you build a relationship with throughout the current 54 issues. I'm happy to see this series is through my local library through Hoopla, so I can revisit this entire series on my iPad. My goal is to finish the 54 issues again before the series starts again this upcoming January. You can view the first issue for free on their website which does a great job at setting the stage at what to expect. If you enjoy comics, you really should check this out.
Discovering New Games
By: Rich Matney
Every day it seems there are thousands of games released across all the different game stores available on PC. With so many games and so much fragmentation between the various storefronts, finding new and more obscure games gets increasingly challenging. Most stores have the ability to "wishlist" or save games that you may want to play, but that list gets hard to track and almost impossible to figure out where a game is launching. Is it a timed exclusive, is it in early access, or is it just everywhere.
Just yesterday, my cousin talked me into buying Call of Duty Vanguard. He plays on Xbox, so his purchase is pretty straightforward. Since I am playing on PC, I went to the Xbox app and could not find it. I went to Steam, still nothing. Then it hit me, Activision! Call of Duty is made and published by Activision Blizzard. Which means I have to go to Battle.Net.
The more significant issue here isn't the AAA games. It's the small ones. Most get buried on Steam or some other platform and don't gain attention unless they hit a viral stream. Take Nuclear Blaze, for example. I had heard about this game on a podcast I regularly listened to and thought, that sounds cool. I went to Steam and noticed that it had less than 100 reviews, which is LOW. After playing the game and enjoying it so much, I couldn't help to think how many more games like this are out there, just waiting to be played.
I decided I wanted to search out more of these "indie" games and play them and talk about them on BitPunch. I find myself burnt out on the Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and countless other AAA games that all seem to be the same game, over and over again. I think every chance we get; we should be highlighting these smaller games and talking about them. While I don't have an answer for solving the store fragmentation issue, this is the next best option, in my opinion. Seek out these great games, play them, and tell your friends or audience.
October Episodes of BitPunch Radio
031 - Game Talk and Upgrade Woes
Rich and Michael discuss a ton of games on this week’s podcast including Diablo II: Resurrected, Prey, Yakuza 4, Halo: Infinite, Battlefield 2042, Like a Dragon, Blaster Master Zero, and more.
032 - Death’s Door, Apple Conference, Preludes and Nocturnes
Rich and Michael discuss our gaming from the last two weeks, along with our Apple conference thoughts, a spoiler discussion on Sandman Vol. 1, Back 4 Blood, and much more.
News
Concerned Ape, the developer of the hit game Stardew Valley announced his next game this month with the release of an announcement trailer. This new game will have the player running their own chocolate factory. It looks very similar to Stardew which should be a plus for fans. Check out the trailer below. | Concerned Ape YouTube channel
DICE has announced some of the changes that will be coming to Battlefield 2042 after the beta this month. The goal of a pre-release beta test is to improve the launch product, and it seems DICE is acting on feedback received during those tests.
Here's How Battlefield 2042 Is Changing After The Beta | Gamespot
Facebook is looking to distance itself from itself by rebranding the company to Meta, which is emcompassing all their endeavors under one umbrella. Facebook’s new name is Meta - The Verge
Y: The Last Man has been canceled after viewership starting declining amid the first season. This was a show that has been in development hell for years before landing on FX/Hulu. Why was Y: The Last Man canceled? This might be the reason | TechRadar
Apple had their big “Unleashed” event where they revealed step up versions of their Macbook Pro line, AirPods, New chipset, and a $19 polishing cloth that sold out instantly. Here’s everything Apple announced at its ‘Unleashed’ event this morning | TechCrunch