Thatgamecompany
News

Thatgamecompany teases new multiplayer game “about giving” for 2017

Thatgamecompany has teased its next game after Journey (2012) with an image and the promise of its arrival in 2017. It’s also been confirmed that, unlike thatgamecompany’s previous three games—flOw (2006), Flower (2009), and Journey—it will not be exclusive to PlayStation platforms. The teases came yesterday on the studio’s Twitter account and a blog post. The first was an image of a lit candle about to light another one, with the words “a game about giving” accompanying it, as well as a link to a new Twitter account specifically for this new game, @thatnextgame. That account’s profile description also tells us…

Review

Don’t hesitate to dive into Abzû

When I try to picture what the ocean depths must have looked like near England’s Jurassic Coast, 300 million years ago, I picture something like Van Gogh’s Starry Night (1889). I picture a space of stillness but also turbulent life, things moving ceaselessly in the restless dark; I picture everything swirling, vortices upon vortices. What I picture undoubtedly derives from my encounters with what seems to have been the region’s primary resident: the ammonite, a snail-like prehistoric shellfish with a shell in the shape of a swirl. Ammonites were everywhere in this place. If you look hard enough, you can…

News

Get a load of the fluid, feminine power of Gris

As of right now, there’s not a lot of information about Gris. We know it’s a 2D game. We know it has “zones.” We know it stars a woman clad in a flowing cloak reminiscent of the main character in Journey (2012). We know it takes place in a surreal environment largely dominated by a Mars-like red, and we know it’s being worked on by a team from both Barcelona and Tokyo. More than anything, though, we know it’s beautiful as all get out. We know this because what has been revealed about the game, mostly through its social media accounts on…

News

Absolver is the low-poly, God Hand-inspired brawler of your dreams

It’s tempting to describe Absolver with an endless stream of references to other games—big ones, the type for which you see cardboard cutouts at GameStop. It’s an online multiplayer game riffing on the model of Destiny (2014) or Dark Souls (2011)—not, they clarify, an MMO—with players both friendly and unfriendly roaming a semi-open world. The elegantly low-poly world has the feel of a somber The Witness, and its tight, frame-specific combat recalls the brawlers of Platinum Games.  But that laundry list sells it short. Tucked back in an Airstream trailer, far enough from the Los Angeles Convention Center to allow me to…

ABZU
News

Dive into ABZÛ’s beautiful ocean world on August 2nd

ABZÛ has pinks, it has blues, it has greens, it has oranges. It has whales, jellyfish, angler fish, and dolphins. And all of it is going to flourish on your PlayStation 4 or PC on August 2nd. I can’t frickin’ wait.  This is a game especially for those who, like me, have a penchant for underwater levels in platformers. Ignore the terribly annoying ones in Crash Bandicoot 2 (1997) and focus on the musical joy and liquid flow of supreme underwater levels like Rayman‘s “Sea of Serendipity.” ABZÛ seems to have crystallized those levels and then melted them into a large and…

News

The Hollow is an interactive fairytale that enchants you into doing bad things

Fairytales, for all their other virtues, tend to be pretty easy games to hack. All you have to do before you get started on your journey/quest/trek is ensure you’ve memorized the Three Essential Pro-tips for Surviving a Fairytale: If you either a) encounter three magical creatures/witches/beings, or b) encounter one specific magical creature/witch/being on three separate occasions, be sure to get your No. 2 pencils out, because it’s pop quiz time. Be on your absolute best behavior around these creatures, because they are for sure judging your soul and worthiness. Never take the gold. Or the bet. Or the marriage proposal.…