AFA Arcade: Horizon: Forbidden West, Disney Speedstorm, The Wolf Among Us 2 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. 

Do you work in the animation side of the games industry, or are you an indie game developer? We would love to hear from you!

 

Disney Speedstorm is a new free-to-play racing game featuring characters from Disney and Pixar racing each other across a range of tracks inspired by their movies.  Characters featured in the trailer include Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Sully (Monsters Inc) and Captain Jack Sparrow. Expect many more to be revealed- and more will probably be added to the game in future as unlockables or DLC. We imagine it probably won't include Marvel or Star Wars characters (as they surely would have mentioned it in the trailer). The game will release on consoles on PC this summer.

After a botched initial launch, CD Project Red (The Witcher) are hoping to save their reputation with the new next-generation edition of Cyberpunk. Check out the game in action on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and see if it finally lives up to its promise Watch the launch trailer here!

Watch the incredible story trailer for Horizon: Forbidden West, featuring incredible cinematic quality animation including main heroine Alloy. The game is available now on PS4 and PS5. Pro-tip: buy the cheaper PlayStation 4 version and you upgrade to the PS5 for free.

 

Telltale Games are back from the dead, ready to unleash a whole new era of their particular brand of story-based adventure games. Check out the first teaser for the long-awaited sequel The Wolf Among Us based on the Fables graphic novel series. Step back into the shoes of private dick, Bigby Wolf. The game was previously cancelled when the studio went bust, but the new owners have resumed development on the episodic game.

Star Wars The Old Republic, the MMORPG Star Wars game from the studio behind the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games has a new expansion Legend Of The Sith coming out. .Marking the game's 10th anniversary a stunning new cinematic called Disorder has been released,  featuring animation from none other than Industrial Light and Magic, LucasFilm's own VFX and animation house.

  

 

Crunchyroll's app in now finally available on Nintendo Switch! Available worldwide, you can enjoy anime on your TV or on the go, and it also includes offline support so that subscribers can download episodes to enjoy later. The release is marked by this cute animated video.

 

Kickstart This: Bō - A Hand-Drawn Metroidvania Based on Japanese Folklore

From indie developers Squid Shock Studios based in Chiang Mai, Thailand comes Bō a game based on Japanese folklore. It's a Metroidvania-style 2.5D platform game. The game features a cast of yokai and sees the player control a fox spirit with a mystical Bo staff. The game will be released for both Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Stated influences on the game are said to be Okami, Hollow Knight, Paper Mario, Dust Force and Celeste and anime such as Spirited Away, Demon Slayer and Princess Mononoke.

The project is fully funded already but you can still be one of the first to play it by pledging via the campaign page. A digital copy of the game will set you back $20.00, and other rewards include digital downloads, soundtrack, digital art books and more. The campaign runs until Thursday, March 3.