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Welcome back! This week, the team shares their Game of the Year-So-Far selections, and highlight news from the Annapurna showcase.

Stuff We Talked About

• Hunter’s Arena: Legends
• Destruction AllStars
• Life Is Strange: True Colors
• Stray
• The Outer Wilds
• Returnal
• It Takes Two
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Going Under

The Cast

Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE

Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE

Thanks to Cory Schmitz

Last week, we asked you to keep out of the shadows in the dangerous world of A Plague Tale: Innocence. While avoiding plague-infesting supernatural rats, you shared Amicia and Hugo’s best moments using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights: 

RyoppyGamePhoto shares Amicia carrying Hugo as he grows weak.

DKANG0316 shares Hugo’s connection to the rats growing.

justinphotomode shares a lovely portrait of Amicia.

ISAchan_97 got up close and personal with the rats.

kuanpunchman stays in the light.

crisg_art shares an emotional shot of Hugo.

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: Bosses

SUBMIT BY: Wednesday 9 AM PT on August 4

Next week, we’re facing our toughest enemies. Share epic moments confronting bosses from your favorite games using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Mobius Games is very excited to finally talk about our first (and only) expansion to Outer Wilds! Echoes of the Eye adds a mysterious new location to the solar system, packed with secrets to uncover. We designed the expansion as if it was always lurking within the world of Outer Wilds but hadn’t been discovered yet. When Echoes of the Eye launches, check out the new museum exhibit on Timber Hearth which marks the trailhead for one last journey into the deepest, darkest part of the solar system.

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You might be wondering why we chose to add content when Outer Wilds is already a complete experience. As a relatively small and un-established studio we needed a project to immediately follow Outer Wilds that wasn’t too big or crazy, while still allowing us to grow as developers and hopefully deliver something that would appeal to fans of Outer Wilds. Internally we had been tossing around various, more conventional, ideas for Outer Wilds DLC. Ultimately we realized that we wouldn’t be comfortable expanding on the existing game unless it gave players something new and substantial to explore while also adding something meaningful to the narrative. While Echoes of the Eye doesn’t match the breadth of the base game by itself, it does have more depth than any existing location in the solar system. Our playtesters have been pleasantly surprised by how deep the rabbit hole goes! 

As you might guess, adding something substantial to the existing game was a rabbit hole of its own. Making Outer Wilds content is an involved process, and it wasn’t long before the DLC became an expansion. Because it needed to work equally well for both new and returning players, the structure of Echoes of the Eye wound up resembling a microcosm of the original game as a whole. That being said, don’t expect Echoes of the Eye to be the base game in miniature. We took some risks with the method of storytelling and added plenty of new mechanics. Outer Wilds has always had light horror elements to it, but this expansion really leans into the spooky side of things (don’t worry, we’ve added a “reduced frights” option to the menu if you find it too intense!)

As with Outer Wilds, Echoes of the Eye will play best the less you know about it, so we’re trying to avoid spoili

Hello, everyone! After a long period of intense work with the team, we are delighted to finally be able to show more about our game Stray with this just-released gameplay trailer. But we wanted to add a bit more context to what you’ve hopefully just enjoyed.

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At its core, Stray is an adventure game. It tells the story of a cat who accidentally falls into a weird, mysterious city and his journey to return to his family. Exploration is a key element and as we love to add lots of details to our environments, we hope players will enjoy looking for all the little bits of hidden lore that we’ve added across each level.

There’s quite a lot to find and learn about this forgotten city and the surprising characters who live in it! Not everything will be explained clearly, so it will be up to the most attentive and insightful players to figure out what exactly this place is, who these inhabitants and creatures are, and the story and purpose of this beguiling world in which we are immersed.

The cat is definitely the star of the show in the game though, and it was important for us to show a glimpse of all the playful interactions that he can have with his environment. Some of them are useful and will help solve puzzles as you progress, and some are just here because cats will be cats — and as most cat owners know painfully well, no sofa can be left unscratched.

The unique perspective of playing as a cat also creates interesting opportunities in terms of level design. Some of the usual tropes of videogames can be twisted in funny and interesting ways: a grid blocking the way for humans? Not for a cat! A decorative rain pipe spiraling along a building? Perfect platforming sequence for a feline!

A Memoir Blue is an atmospheric journey featuring a champion swimmer named Miriam who, on the day of her greatest achievement, begins to reflect on long forgotten memories.

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The story of the game is based on a childhood journey I took with my mom. My recollection as a child was that we had taken a wonderful day trip to the neighboring seaside city, but when I became older I realized my mother had taken me with her as she ran away from home.

Although the game was built around this personal story, it quickly expanded into a larger scale world that players could explore in greater detail. True events are still at the core of the game with some creative additions to help our players understand what Miriam is feeling as she progresses along her journey.

Some of the scenes depicted are taken directly from my memories as a six year old. One of the things I remember vividly was the train my mom and I took during the beginning of our trip. 

We also visited a scenic lake where my mom rented a boat for just the two of us to enjoy the views as the breeze swept through our hair.

Eventually, after our fateful day trip, we moved into a small apartment that was so small we could only fit a single reading chair in it. But as a child I had fond memories of that place and was happy to call it home.