Gaming News of February That Caught my Interest

Not some deep analysis here, just a few highlights from the past month I think are worth mentioning for one reason or another. If you guys like it I'll probably keep this up on a monthly Basis.

Catherine Full Body Ending Leaks and why not to jump on stories

So, a story from mid-February began spreading around about one of the endings in Catherine Full Body that sparked some really angry comments. This is one of those instances where people jump on leaks without any context and find something to get angry about without actually knowing what they were talking about.

The claim was one of the endings involves going back in time to make things ideal for everyone, which includes a Trans Woman, I forget her name, just being a man and never transitioning. The problem here is this was not at all true. Yes, the bit about going back in time and creating a situation in which everyone can be happy is true, but this is a time before the character in question ever Transitioned. When the time reaches the present day, the character does indeed still transition into being a woman.

It was a bunch of misdirected outrage, and that is one of the problems with how a lot of these gaming news sites work, they are more than happy to jump on info and talk about it before the hype dies down, and you end up with terrible situations like this where terrible stories spreading are going to do nothing more then hurt game devs and publishers for things that aren't actually true.

There is, of course, this really bizarre story saying that Atlus USA is apparently taking steps to lessen the original 'Transphobia' caused by this outrage, but something about it doesn't sit right. As we learned, the thing that sparked the outrage turned out to be entirely untrue, so I am sitting here wondering what they are even planning to censor? It's something that came from the twitter account of one of the American Voice Actors on the game, so it's really difficult to know if it's something that's even going to happen, and likely we won't know for sure until the game is out.

For the time being though, I'd suggest anyone planning to get Catherine: Full Body and cares about censorship to hold off until after release to find out what, if anything, did get altered for the Western release.

Hollow Knight: Silk Song

I adored Hollow Knight, though I missed it at its original launch. That said, there was a planned DLC for it called Silk Song where you would play as another character from the game, but due to its size they instead opted to create a full sequel for her.

Furthermore, since it was a goal for the original Kickstarter for Hollow Knight, everyone who backed the original Hollow Knight on Kick starter will get Silk Song for free. I think this is a great thing.

In the end I think it does suck a little that a character who was supposed to come along with the original game would have been nice to have come as a lower cost DLC since it was something originally being planned, but at the same time if the game is as big as Hollow Knight itself that may not be a viable financial option, and at least they are making sure the original backers aren't being left behind.

As long as it's as good as the first, I think it's fine if one of the original promises on the Kickstarter isn't quite being met. Not saying this excuse will fly in every Kick Starter, I'm looking at you Double Fine, but in the case of Hollow Knight, it's not a huge hit against it.

Bowser Runs Nintendo

It's hard to say what this is going to mean for Nintendo of America going forward right now. Reggie is going to retire of President of NoA, and a man named Bowser is taking over. The only reason I bring this up here is I am greatly amused by his name.

That said, it's a bit sad to see Reggie stepping away. Nintendo has always been a bit of an oddity in that in some ways they have the single best mindset of all three major console developers with its focus on the games, fun, and innovation, but in other ways being a bit archaic in relation to things like their Nintendo Partners Program on Youtube (Which has thankfully been shut down) and their way of nickel and diming you with all the extra accessories, though at least they aren't necessary to enjoy any of the games.

All in all, I do hope Bowser has a good vision for Nintendo of America going forward, and they keep up the far more lax standards they have taken on recently in regards to censorship.

Rune Factory 4 and 5

Rune Factory has been one of my favorite series since first playing Frontier on the Wii. Even though I couldn't quite get into the one and two, playing three was amazing, and four was a pretty damn good game as well.

For Rune Factory Fans, it was almost a given at this point with the folding of the company who originally owned the game that we may never see another entry, so the reveal that not only are four getting a remaster for the switch, but they are in the process of developing the fifth game, this has been one of the best things I heard all year. I look forward to an expanded version of 4, as well as seeing what they have in store when five finally gets its long-awaited release.