Star Wars Outlaws hyperspace jumps onto PLAY’s cover

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a little movie called Star Wars helped to shape pop culture as we know it, just as the gaming medium was beginning to gain momentum too. From inspiring Final Fantasy games to having games of its own, it’s helped define the current gaming landscape in which we find ourselves.

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Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars Outlaws is the culmination of all those years, and also the first non-EA Star Wars game to be released on console following that company’s near-decade-long exclusive right to the licence. While going hands-on has shown it to be a great game in its own right, it also marks the start of a bold new future for the sci-fi series’ gaming ambitions.

Star Wars' gaming legacy

Having a clearer picture of that legacy can help us appreciate what’s to come, though, so we set the co-ordinates to blast through the whole thing, charting all the Star Wars games that have come before. Make sure your hyperdrive motivator is running smoothly, though, as there’s a lot to dig into!

Summer Game Fest

We return from Summer Game Fest to tell you all about it. Three years in, does the in-person Play Days live up E3’s history? We also unpack PS5’s future, and get into what Concord, Astro Bot, and Lego Horizon Adventures mean for the future of the console.

Plus: talking FFXIV: Dawntrail with Naoki Yoshida, The Last Of Us 2’s second TV season, Starship Troopers Extermination heads to PS5, “sometimes choosing to do the right thing isn’t the best choice overall”, and more!

Following the thread

Designers, artists, and community managers talk the importance of cosplay when creating worlds, and how to embrace fandom.

Immortality

Sam Barlow talks fairy tales, film history, and building Immortality. From ‘the V word’ to the art of the insert shot, we unpack the live-action gaming milestone.

Metaphor: ReFantazio

There’s nothing metaphorical about some of the great games we’ve gone hands-on with this month… Except for Metaphor: Refantazio, that is, purely because of the title. This ambitious evolution of Atlus’ RPG formula is set to impress.

We also get into the ring with both Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves and 2XKO. Old school meets the new school, and while both take vastly different approaches toward becoming new, modern fighters, they’re both shaping up to be excellent challengers.

Crow Country

Talking about old school, Crow Country leads the reviews section this issue. Smartly updating PS1-era survival horror mechanics with an eye-catching diorama-like style, it’s a short but sweet horror treat!

Plus: SaGa: Emerald Beyond, Indika, System Shock, Eternal Threads, and more!

RetroStation

Skull & Bones came and went like a ship in the night, but there’s no missing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Thanks to the boistrous, loud sea shanties there’s never any chance of forgetting about it, making it prime for revisitation this issue.

We also celebrate 20 years of Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga, give our gaming hands a workout with G-Police, as well as spotlighting other past favourites.

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