2023 has reared its ugly head, and while we’re still fruitlessly pretending we’re back in 2019 and that the past few years were just a fever dream, TheGamer’s editors have been hard at work distracting us with plenty of great features. And since it’s the first Thursday of the year, let’s dig into some of those features.
Hitman 3 was already the best live service game
Hitman consolidates its entire modern trilogy into one game, World of Assassination, meaning existing Hitman 3 players will get access to Hitman 1 and 2 and their DLC for free. This only continues Hitman’s status as the best live-service game that no one really talks about as a live-service game, according to Features Editor Ben Sledge.
Hitman 3 has had seasons, DLC, new objectives, festive themes and even a whole pack of limited-time missions themed around the Seven Deadly Sins. It’s undeniably a live-service game, and while it’s flourished under the radar since launch, the rebrand is bringing it into the limelight, and it’s only just getting started.
My favorite moment in Final Fantasy 9: Getting completely destroyed by Beatrix
Evergreen editor Ryan Thomas Bamsey kicks off our new column, My Favorite Moment, with a piece on Final Fantasy 9’s Beatrix. She is the foil to Steiner’s chuckling captain of the Knight, and shows what a composed, well-rounded leader looks like, so much so that when we fight her, it’s impossible to win.
Every single time she wipes the floor with us. Cheat or manage to go through and ‘win’, she’ll just throw you back down with the scripted equivalent of “nuh uh”. All of this ties into one of Final Fantasy 9’s best themes – inevitability. Not everything is in your hands, but more than that, the only way to finally break through her tough shell is to talk to her. Fighting isn’t always the answer, and fate is far too powerful to fight anyway.
Interview: The Voices Of The Red Bull Campus Clutch Valorant Esports Tournament
Cross-Department Editor Issy van der Velde sat down with Velly, Vansilli and Iain Chambers this week to talk casting, hosting and the importance of representation in eSports. Casters have taken to discussing games colloquially, while Chambers says he refused to shave off his Northern, Hull accent. He said this was because “you should celebrate the way you sound. The way I speak is part of my identity.”
Online criticism reflects the need for this kind of representation among roleplayers, as many of the comments tend to be racially coded. Velly said, “People on social media said they didn’t like me because I sounded like I was commentating on an NBA game.” However, his response is quite positive, stating that he is “here to educate the world one broadcast at a time”.
I wish I could get past Overwatch 2’s monetization and enjoy the game, but I can’t
Overwatch 2 is a hard pill to swallow. The first game, now unavailable in its entirety, had you earning cosmetics right and center, albeit via loot boxes, because you could earn them through daily challenges and leveling up. Now the only way to get new cosmetics is to shell out money or buy a battle pass, a battle pass that has far less cosmetics than you would have gotten from battles in the last game.
As Features Editor Eric Switzer writes, this new free-to-play model has completely ruined the game. It’s not so much a sequel as it is a short-term cash grab built on the back of corporate greed, and a bad sign for gaming as a whole.
Square Enix’s Blockchain Future will just leave it stuck in the past
Speaking of bad omens for the gaming industry, Square Enix is doubling down on blockchain. In its annual letter of intent to mark the beginning of 2023, it mentioned blockchain 14 times. NFTs and the metaverse have become a joke all over the internet, but the idea of chasing dollar signs is too tempting for Square Enix, so it’s doubling down.
As Lead Features Editor Jade King writes, this vision of gaming’s future is cynical and unappealing, and has cast a cloud over Square Enix that makes it difficult to support them.
