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Who knew release dates could be so comforting?
The pandemic has postponed so many projects that the mere mention of their arrivals is cause for relief. We here at Speedrun covered these announcements with enthusiasm — they’re reminders that some aspects of the world are still spinning, and a few more things to look forward to.
And they’re not that far off. Barring any more quarantine wormholes that stretch months into years, The Last of Us Part 2 arrives only weeks from now. Ghost of Tsushima isn’t far behind that. Also, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is officially a thing, and it will feature viking rap battles. What’s more, it’s being made by the team that worked on Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Origins, and in my professional opinion: that all sounds dope.
All in all, it was another busy week for Speedrun. We spoke to the project lead of the upcoming Torchlight 3, who also happened to be the director of Diablo 2. We recounted the creation story of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. We also showed Animal Crossing players how to create rock gardens with toilet gates (Thanks to our friend Russ Frushtick for that one. His mind works in diabolical ways, and we didn’t hesitate to make use of his expertise).
Side note: thanks to our host Jimmy Mondal, whose daily battle with the Long Island Railroad is already becoming the stuff of legends:
The perils of shooting a TV show when our host is only feet from the Long Island Railroad: pic.twitter.com/RdlWZOjvfh
— Mike Mahardy (@mmahardy) April 30, 2020
On a personal front, I got to see what it might have been like to grow up a Sega Kid this week. Streets of Rage 4 is my first game in the series, and it could not have come at a better time — it’s stylish, exciting, and not a little bit mindless, setting the perfect stage to catch up with isolated friends and family members while we power-chord our way through bad-guy-muscles.
Gears Tactics, on the other hand, provided a more throughout escape, as I guided squads of beef blocks through the familiar bombed-out streets of Sera. Despite a fair amount of repetition throughout the campaign, it’s a joy to see how well Splash Damage handled the transition from third-person shooter to turn-based strategy. It’s not XCOM 2, but it will do.
As usual, the Speedrun team is already planning the week ahead, and it promises to be a great one. We’ll see you on Monday, and I’ll see you on Friday.
