AFA Arcade: MultiVersus, Dragon Ball Breakers, Adventure Light 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!

 

Kickstart This: Adventure Light

From solo developer Yurii Chervonyi comes the atmospheric puzzle platformer Adventure Light, now seeking funding on Kickstarter. The game sees players take control of a young boy named Adam who journeys into the creepy Dark Forest hoping to find his missing best friend. The game has an original silhouette style of graphics, and with nice use of layering, it also has a cool 3D-esque effect. It's the kind of game Lotte Renigner would have made if video games existed in her lifetime.

The project is seeking $5,000, and the campaign will run until December 18. A digital copy of the game will cost $13, but $20 gives you early access via the Beta release. 

There is also a demo version of the game available via Steam and itch.io, so you can see if the game is for you before pledging. Head over to the campaign page now for more details and- if you feel so inclined- to back the project.

It was one of the worst kept secrets in the industry (thanks to recent links) but Warner Bros Games has officially revealed their Super Smash Bros clone MultiVersus. The platform-based fighting game will see players take part in up to four-way battles featuring iconic characters from Warner Media franchises. Characters revealed so far include Bugs Bunny, Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman, Jake and Finn from Adventure Time, Arya Stark (from Game Of Thrones), Gandalf, Steven Universe, Shaggy, Harley Quinn and Tom and Jerry. The game will be available on multiple platforms and will be free to play.

 

Nineties kids will remember Earthworm Jim, the Super Nintendo and Sega Megadrive/Genesis platform game that had (for the time) impressive cartoony graphics and an irreverent sense of humour. It also had an animated series spin-off that ran for 23 episodes between 1995 and 1996 and features Dan "Homer Simpson " Castellaneta in the title role. The character is set to make an unexpected comeback in a new animated series, from video game publisher Interplay's new TV and movie division.  London based Passion Pictures (Love Death and Robots, 101 Dalmation Street) will animate the series.

Bandai Namco have announced Dragon Ball Breakers, the latest game in the Dragon Ball franchise. However, unlike the majority of Dragon Ball games, Breakers is not a fighting game. It's described as an 'asymmetrical multiplayer online game' set in the Dragon Ball universe. The game sees players take control of one of seven survivors trying to hide from supervillain Cell- or try to hunt them down as Cell himself! Up to 8 players can take part at once. The game features a roster of characters who don't usually feature in the brawler games- including Bulma and Oolong. Dragon Ball Breakers is coming to PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC in 2022.

 

Naruto and his ninja friends are coming to Fortnite. The iconic Shonen Jump series is the latest popular franchise to get Fortnite-a-fied You better believe it!

Sifu is an innovative fighting game for PlayStation and PC, that sees a powerful martial artist take on waves of enemies in order to track down five targets. The game uses a unique ageing mechanic, where players can use a pendent to come back from the dead- but each time you do, you age, and when you get to a certain age, the pedant can't save you. Set for release in February of 2022.