KKP Weekly Gaming Recap: Skull & Bones, Spidersaurs, Valorant

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.

I should stress that we’re incredibly lucky in covering video games and the business behind them. Sure, it’s a lot of sleepless nights especially when game publishers overseas send over copies of titles or host preview events outside of the GMT+8 timezone. And that you have to be on-point with news pieces and features. But really, we are fortunate in this line of work. It’s honestly hard to go back to desk jobs and 9-to-5 ordeals. As someone who has been doing this for a while, I’m pretty glad to be hosting Kakuchopurei and being the bastion of games journalism in the Asian region, along with like-minded peers. 

With that said, here’s a recap of all the PC gaming-related events and news on our end. 

Video Games: What We’ve Done

Ubisoft finally announced Skull and Bones’ release date, the pirate ship combat game that the company has incepted, developed, and worked on since 2014. The game’s main idea has been scrapped back and forth, and Ubisoft’s internal harassment issues didn’t help matters either. But after years of dilly-dallying and wishy-washy brainstorming, the game is back on track for an 8th November release date, sandwiched between Nintendo Switch’s Bayonetta 3 on 28th October and PlayStation’s God of War: Ragnarok on 9th November. This won’t bode well for Ubisoft, but at least it won’t get sued by the Singaporean Government and the Media Development Authority body since they gave Ubisoft and Ubisoft Singapore a lot of grant money to make a game the country can be proud of. 

Speaking of Nintendo, Bayonetta 3’s release date of 28th October is long overdue, given that the game was teased a number of years ago. In any case, players can expect high-octane 3D action reminiscent of a Devil May Cry title, a number of varied playable characters, a ton of angels and demons to fight, a good chunk of innuendoes, and some stylish aesthetics. 

The folks at Annapurna Interactive has established a pretty nifty partnership with Travel Cat, a company known for making cat-carrying backpacks. The both of them are making limited-edition Stray cat backpacks, which comes with its own harness and leash for the cat. It’s rather adorable and splendid marketing. You can pre-order yours here.

Two big fighting games with battle royale/multiplayer elements will be coming out for free: Multiversus open beta on 26 July and Rumbleverse on 11th August for PC and consoles. While both games aren’t traditional 1v1 fighting games like your Street Fighter games, both titles are a good entry point for people who want to play a melee-based game with simple controls and easy access. The fact that both of them are free-to-play with optional cosmetics purchases, along with a colourful roster based on popular licensed characters for Multiversus, means that your parents, loved ones, and your nephews can join in the fun!

On the Malaysian games industry side of things, Metronomik (No Straight Roads) is currently hiring for its next game, Ondeh-Ondeh. Job positions include game designer, environment artist, character modeller, rigger, 3D animator, and VFX artist. If you’re looking to contribute towards another potential Malaysian-made wunderkind title, go ahead and try your luck. 

Finally, do check out our esports writer Lewis Larcombe’s coverage of the Valorant Champions Tour 2022: Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen. The tournament pits the best worldwide Valorant teams, including Asian ones like Paper Rex and Northeption. 

Pop Culture: What We’ve Done

Our comics expert Alleef Ashaari broke down the epic conclusion to the Disney+ superhero TV show Ms. Marvel. 

On the reality TV show side of things, our esports writer Lewis Larcombe talked about Good Game Asia’s episodes in-depth. Do check out his episode breakdown and thoughts on the latest in Southeast Asian streamer contest entertainment.

What We’ve Been Playing

We’ve been playing a 2D shoot-em-up title called Spidersaurs, which pits a rock star and a police-in-training to take out their makeshift guns to fight off spider-dinosaur hybrids invading the lab they’re interning in. It’s all tongue-in-cheek, as the company they’re in, InGest, made these freaks of nature in the first place to solve world hunger. If you’ve played a 2D shooter like Contra or Metal Slug, you’ll feel right at home with this game. It even has co-op so you and a buddy can kill off spidersaurs as a unit. 

If you rather just have a power hose from a car wash garage and wash things in various locations, PowerWash Simulator will scratch that itch. The game is basically that: wash things from statues to a moon lander in space using a power hose in a first-person view. Don’t laugh: it’s a lot relaxing and soothing than one would expect. Plus, you don’t have to worry about a giant water bill at the end of the day.

That’s all for this week of our gaming news recap feature and what we’ve been up to for the week of 9th-15th 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!