AFA Arcade: Gotham Knights, Pui Pui Molcar, Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles and More

Today, animated film and TV is more popular than ever, but the biggest and most successful part of the animation industry is actually video games. Animation is a big component of almost every game (rare exceptions being text adventures and visual novels) and many games feature excellent storytelling. We cover games every now and again on AFA but we're planning on levelling up our games coverage with our new feature AFA Arcade. This regular column will bring you news from where the gaming and animation worlds meet as well as the gaming industry as a whole. Don't expect updates on the latest hardware or the newest Call of Duty or Madden- we aim to highlight the standout work being done in the games industry, whether it's a triple-A game or something from the smallest indie developer. 

New on PlayStation and Xbox consoles and PC via Steam from SEGA is anime adaptation Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles. The game recreates the spectacular action of the anime and allows gamers to recreate the story of the anime in the story mode, or play as a full roster of characters in the one-on-one battle mode. Check out the launch trailer, below.

At last weekend's global DC Fandome event, new trailers were released for two highly anticipated DC based games from Warner Bros Games. Gotham Knights and The Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League are both due in 2022.  Gotham Knights take place in a Batman-less Gotham City (it's suggested he's dead, but we'd expect him to return before the final credits rolls) and sees players step into the shoes of Bat-family members Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl and Red Hood to take on the Court of Owls. This creepily effective story trailer does a great job of setting it up.

Harley Quinn and co step into the spotlight in the first game featuring the Suicide Squad, DC's infamous anti-heroes. The new game comes from Rocksteady, the creators of the popular Arkham game series. For some reason that has yet to be revealed, the Justice League have gone rogue, and so the Squad is tasked by Amanda Waller to go to Metropolis and take them down by any means necessary. It's another story trailer, this time with a much more comedic bent.
   

Meanwhile, in another Universe Square Enix's game Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy arrives later this month. The new launch trailer shows off a lot of the game's story and despite featuring its own version of the Guardians, not modelled on their movie counterparts, it's clear it takes a lot of inspiration from James Gunn's hit movies.

Adorable stop-motion anime Pui Pui Molcar (available on Netflix) is getting a game on Nintendo Switch from Bandai Namco. Pui Pui Molcar: Let's Molcar Party will feature 10 minigames for up to 4 players and is due in December (in Japan at least). The game features more than 40 unlockable Molcars and customisation options. There ain't no party like a Molcar party!

If you have any interest in games at all you probably already know, but in case you missed it, Kingdom Hearts hero Sora was revealed as the final new DLC fighter coming to Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. Sora is now available to download, alongside the latest update of the game! The Kingdom Hearts games are also coming to Switch for the first time (as Cloud only games).

Also new on Switch is the brilliantly named Fisti-Fluffs. And the concept is as great as that title: Fisti-Fluffs is a multi-player brawling game... with adorable kitties. It's a literal catfight! The game has a graphic style reminiscent of the wonderful Untitled Goose Game, but this is a lot more chaotic than that game ever was.