WEEKLY TRENDING NEWS – 13/08/2023

By Nikola Hristov

Welcome back, everybody! In this weekly roundup of all the trending news from the past seven days we have compiled everything that's important for you to stay up to date! What exactly is happening in the online space, and what can you expect from your beloved franchises in the future? Well, let's find out right now!

1. Baldur's Gate 3 is now one of the biggest games ever

Seemingly out of nowhere, Larian Studios have given us the same experience Elden Ring managed to achieve at the start of 2022. These types of games are my favorite - to go against the mold, to try new things constantly and to succeed doing it. Despite the criticism of some AAA developers saying BG3 will set unrealistic expectations for future titles, players all around the world unitedly agree that what we have here is truly something special and other studios need to learn, not hate. Larian's RPG is currently the highest-rated 2023 game on Metacritic with a 97 - beating even Tears of the Kingdom. Though the time-sink may frighten you at first, it is well worth the 50-70 hours and maybe even more that you spend doing whatever the hell you want to. The sheer scope of Baldur's Gate rivals Elden Ring and maybe even surpasses it, which is not easy to do.

2. TMNT: The Last Ronin game announced

Though it was rumored earlier this year, a game based on the popular mature TMNT comic is now finally confirmed and it's developed by the studio behind Destroy All Humans! The Last Ronin is a fan-favorite because of its much more unique and grown-up take on the Mutant Turtles. Without spoiling the story, I can assure you that if the game follows the comic run closely, we'll have a treat on our hands. The combat possibilities are endless and the narrative has major potential. Let's hope THQ Nordic delivers!

3. Rockstar disappoints fans of RDR yet again

Earlier this year it was hinted at by leakers that a remaster of the original Red Dead Redemption might be coming. As it turns out, it's not - instead, the game, with all of its original graphics and 30 fps, as well as outdated controls, is simply being ported to PS4 and PS5 and Nintendo Switch - with no mention of PC whatsoever. This is terrible enough, but when you hear about the $50 price tag - you might start getting intrusive thoughts about hurting the executives over at Rockstar. To add more salt to our wounds, Take-Two's CEO has stated that the pricing is, well, essentially justified according to their data. Every year I'm left flabbergasted with this company's greediness… and I can assure you, Rockstar ain't getting a dime out of me anytime soon.

4. Blizzard supposedly isn't worried about declining player engagement

Speaking of greediness and disappointing your playerbase - welcome to Overwatch, where we haven't gotten any good news since 2019. The sequel came out on Steam and as I'm sure some of you heard - it's rated "Overwhelmingly Negative" by players reviewing the game. The game is on an obvious downwards spiral - but why, you may ask? In a nutshell - canceling the PvE missions (the whole point of OW2) and selling them for $15 a piece (not just a one-time purchase), the PvE missions not being good to begin with, terrible balancing and meta, garbage pricing on all their skins and content (that you used to be able to farm for free in OG Overwatch) and quite a lot more. Despite everything I just listed - the company doesn't see anything wrong with what they're doing to the developers' hard work on the game. All in the name of money. Sigh.   

5. MK1 reveals new characters

In addition to Geras who was announced last week, we now have the coming of fan-favorite Reptile, the demon-valkyrie Ashrah and the deadly Havik. The game seems to combine the usual suspects that are in every Mortal Kombat game with the more unusual characters, who haven't been featured anywhere in 17 years. Just like everybody else, what you love about these characters will still be here, but with a more modern take and new abilities. For example, Reptile can choose between his Lizard and Human form. We also saw gameplay for lots of characters during the recent Kombat Kast, my favorite being Smoke, who combines invisibility, teleportation and smoke abilities with his Indonesian Karambit slashing playstyle.

6. Capcom faces fan outrage because of TMNT DLC

The second TMNT news piece of the day, Capcom announced that Street Fighter 6's World Tour Mode will be getting the four Ninja Turtles as skins for your character. However - it's exactly that. Just cosmetic skins for the single player gamemode, which makes the $15 price for EACH of the turtles obscene. To get all four of them, you'll have to pay about $55 to buy the in-game currency needed. Honestly? Unless Capcom decreases the price by at least 30-50%, I don't see many people purchasing these, no matter how cool it would be to get Raph vs Juri Han.

7. Lollipop Chainsaw remake - title RePOP gets release date

One of the most famous games from back in the Xbox 360 days because of the amazing gameplay and dialogue, Lollipop Chainsaw was great because it succeeded in giving the players fun. It really showcased the goofiness that James Gunn's capable of. Now that it's gotten an official name, the remake has also been pushed back a year - until summer 2024. Dragami Games has apologized about the delay but also stated that it's essential to making the kind of experience they want to achieve. Make sure you give this game a try when it comes out! 

8. Wonder Woman 3 - happening or not?

Gal Gadot made some comments recently about how James Gunn and Peter Safran assured her that they'll be making WW3 with her. However, Vanity reports that that's not the case at all. The DCU slate which was revealed back in January bears no reference to the possible threequel. That being said, if the main actress herself said these things, they're probably true, right? Gunn hasn't made a statement about the claims yet, so it's possible they have some plans for Gal's character. As of right now however, this boat is sailing in uncertain waters.

9. The creator of Invincible assures that the gap between seasons 1 and 2 will be the longest

Robert Kirkman has come out to say that he hears about the fans' impatience and how much they want to continue watching the Invincible universe grow. Well, he has stated that Season 3 is actually very far along now - which could mean that it's coming as soon as sometime next year. Season 2 is set to release its first half on November 3rd, with the second coming at the start of 2024, marking a gap of over two years between the start of the show and its sequel season. Thankfully, this will be the longest we'll ever have to wait to see how Mark's story unfolds. 

10. Across the Spider-Verse's digital release changes dialogue for seemingly no reason

For those of you paying attention, Across the Spider-Verse actually had two versions in the theaters - the original one, with audio issues at the beginning and a second one without them. However, Sony Animation had also altered some dialogue during some scenes in the second version and even some animation - that being said, nothing major had changed about the story. Well, they've done it again in the digital release, removing a line of dialogue after Miles' now iconic "Nah, I'ma do my own thing". Among other changes, this is now the third version of the movie we have on our hands for seemingly no reason at all, because none of the alterations make the picture better, in fact fans argue otherwise. That being said, differing versions of the same movie does kinda fit Spider-Verse - I just wish it didn't make some scenes' impact less than the originals!

Well, that's about everything for this week's news! Stay tuned for more gaming reviews and articles regarding all your favorite franchises right here, on One Up Gaming.

Written by: Nikola Hristov