Hello and welcome, fellow viewers and readers new and old. This is me again, your Kakuchopurei content director, Jonathan “Mr Toffee” Leo, with this week’s video game and pop culture recap. We’ve debuted our new weekly show: This Week In PC Games. Thanks to our partners from ASUS, we’re going to recap the top PC gaming news. Don’t worry, we’ll still cover console and mobile gaming still. For these next few weeks though, PC gaming is getting the spotlight.
Check out our debut episode below:
Video Games: What We’ve Done
We’ve scored an Asian exclusive interview with Tribute Games about the company’s acclaimed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge 2D beat-em-up. If you want to find out the intricacies of making a video game based on an existing pop culture license and want to find out how a beat-em-up makes its characters fun and playable, this video interview will reveal all.
Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto IV were poised to get remasters, according to a Kotaku report. However, publisher and developer Rockstar Games canned the idea due to poor sales of the Grand Theft Auto 3: The Trilogy Definitive Edition. And also because the team are all hands on deck with Grand Theft Auto 6, which will probably be out late 2023.
We also talked a bit about Valkyrie Elysium, a spin-off action RPG title from the legendary RPG series Valkyrie Profile. You play a Valkyrie who has Einherjar (spirit warriors) who can fight for you, either through special moves or passive power-ups. The gameplay looks very action-packed and promising; a huge improvement over the previous PlayStation State of Play reveal a while back.
We also talk about getting into esports in Malaysia. If you know a friend who wants to get into the field but doesn’t know where to start, point them to this ever-handy guide from our esports guy Lewis.
Last but not least, Lollipop Chainsaw is getting a remake because the original makers of the game want to make people experience the magic and assets of the game. Namely, the bit where a voluptuous cheerleader fights zombies with a chainsaw and her cheerleader getup, with her severed boyfriend’s head which is magically alive for some reason.
Pop Culture: What We’ve Done
We’ve reviewed the new Marvel movie Thor: Love and Thunder. True, it’s not out in Malaysia, but it’s out in the rest of Southeast Asia, and we’re obligated to talk about it. Here’s a quote from our review:
“Thor: Love and Thunder is the perfect summer movie treat, as well as a funny and exhilarating action thrill ride with some touches of heart and drama. With a cast that clearly loves working in the film and a good amount of humour and comic book nods here and there, not to mention the action scenes and the lovely choice of music -the majority from Guns N’ Roses’ best album– you’ll be sure to ride this lightning more than once.”
Long story short, it’s the best Marvel Phase 4 movie so far. It’s worth the wait, we assure you.
There’s also a lot of anime news that came up. We have an upcoming Trigun Stampede series in 2023, a Korean manhwa series called Solo Leveling getting its own anime, more details of the Bleach: Thousand-Year War Arc anime adaptation, and a new Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt anime project from Studio Trigger. Anime fans will be eating plenty in the next few months and beyond.
What We’ve Been Playing
Cuphead: The Last Delicious Course (DLC, heh) is out right now, and we’ve been playing quite a lot of it. Just like the base game Cuphead, it’s tough as heck and the new bosses will really test your patience and endurance. If you want an easy ride in a 2D shooter game, this game is not for you. The art and animation, not to mention the tight controls and the new character Ms. Chalice (with her new skills and mechanics that add a lot to the game) made me want to go back to Cuphead and enjoy/suffer the ride all over again. The DLC cost US$8, which is pretty cheap for the massive amount of levels you’re getting.
Apart from that highlight, not much came out. We didn’t get to touch the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie collection – we’ll get to that one day since we do want to show some love for this retro title in the late 90s PlayStation era. We did play a lot of DNF Duel and it’s still pretty fun if you’re into anime fighting games with loads of cancels, special flashy moves, and a lot of potential for touch-of-death combos. To be fair, the game does feel like the MMO it’s based on, down to all the nonsense and OP stuff each of the classes in the fighter has. In other words, it’s a worthy adaptation from one game genre to another different genre. If you want to see what high-level DNF Duel esports competitions will look like in the next few months, look no further than this large-scale tournament below.
That’s all for this week of our gaming news recap feature and what we’ve been up to for the week of 1st-8th July. Catch you next time, readers new and old. As always, do check out our awesome content on kakuchopurei.com and on our YouTube website. We post new content every day and every week!
