Earlier this year, Crystal Dynamics laid out a detailed roadmap for the coming months. The roadmap kicked off with the introduction of Hawkeye, and has continued with things like the Tachyon Anomaly, which allowed for duplicate heroes, and the introduction of MCU-inspired skins. Today, Crystal Dynamics showed off the next steps in the Marvel's Avengers roadmap, most notably the introduction of Black Panther into the hero roster.

We already knew Black Panther was coming to the game, but today gave us a new look at the story and content his War for Wakanda expansion will bring. As the name suggests, this expansion adds a new area for players to explore (Wakanda), and with it a new cast of characters, including a playable Black Panther. During today's trailer, we saw the in-game debuts of characters like Shuri, the Dora Milaje, and the main antagonist of the expansion, Klaue. Klaue is working with AIM to secure the vibranium housed within the borders Wakanda, and if the trailer is any indication, he'll stop at nothing to obtain it – even if it means setting off explosions and unleashing a giant sentry on Wakanda. Black Panther and the War for Wakanda expansion comes to Marvel's Avengers as a free update this August.

Prior to that, players will get a new story-based mission in the new Cosmic Cube mission. This challenging sequence sees the Avengers traveling to the Frozen Tundra, where Scientist Supreme has created a powerful weapon that allows her to bend reality to her will. This expansion adds a new Villain Sector for Scientist Supreme, featuring a story that involves Hank Pym. The battle to defeat Scientist Supreme and her army of clones kicks off June 22.

Wasteland Patrols allow you to hop into the Wasteland and search for clues about the coming apocalypse. This all new Patrol mode lets you stumble upon exploration-based rewards and even randomized, replayable boss fights. In this massive, open map, players can move to one area to the next with no set objective, visiting locales like a Kree sentry graveyard, a ruined city, and a SHIELD stronghold. Wasteland Patrol doesn't have a release window and is currently scheduled to come to the game this summer or later.

Sadly, we did not get any information on when Spider-Man, who was previously announced as a PlayStation exclusive for "early 2021," is coming to the game. Clearly, that projected release window has passed, and when I asked Crystal Dynamics studio head about the highly anticipated webslinger back in March, he wasn't able to say much, but he did confirm that people were working on Spider-Man back then. Unfortunately, today's Square Enix stream brought us no further information about his introduction into the PlayStation versions of the game.

Marvel's Avengers launched last fall. While the story sequences were well-received, the multiplayer modes left much to be desired in terms of content and replayability. While Crystal Dynamics has made strides toward remedying that, fans are still hoping for more reason to keep diving into the experience in the near future. Cosmic Cube comes to the game on June 22, War for Wakanda hits in August, and Wasteland Patrol joins the game sometime in the summer or later.

Announced today during the Square Enix E3 presentation, a pixel remaster is coming for the first six Final Fantasy games, hitting Steam and mobile platforms. While no date was given, the presentation did say they were “coming soon”.

While the old-school Final Fantasy games have been available on Steam and mobile platforms for ages, many players disliked the new graphic styles, UI, and interfaces of those versions compared to their classic pixel looks - including me. In fact, this announcement may be one of the coolest things to come out of E3, in a subtle fashion. While I absolutely love the classic Final Fantasy games, it can be an absolute pain to track down the hardware to play the old games in their original, pixelated incarnations. These remasters should give players like me exactly what we’re looking for, and it’s also wonderful for streamers that want to show off the games with their stylized, if simple, presentations.

With the exception of Final Fantasy II, which is more of a Saga game, the original lineup of Final Fantasy titles is impressive and mostly holds up, even in the face of the fabulous cinematic presentations and alternatives to turn-based combat that the series has embraced today. 

Final Fantasy 1 is the original, landing at a time when RPGs were incredibly simple affairs like Dragon Warrior, and gave players the chance to select their own team of characters from classic archetypes. Final Fantasy 2 is the odd duck of this bunch, but players might want to engage with it as a unique game that doesn’t play like the rest of the bunch. Final Fantasy III introduced the job systems that would go on to define some of the franchise’s best titles, and while I consider it rather slow and uneventful, it’s a solid title. Final Fantasy 4 is my favorite game in the entire catalog, a classic tale of good and evil with heartwarming characters and larger-than-life opponents. Final Fantasy 5 brought the job systems to life and made them a staple, with all kinds of unique classes to play as, from geomancers to rangers that summon squirrels. And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about 6, which is widely regarded as the best title in the entire series, featuring a huge cast of memorable characters and a jovial, maniacal villain.

Are you excited to see these pixel remasters bring back the classic Final Fantasy titles? Let us know in the comments!

Life is Strange: True Colors is a game about empathy, but don't mistake the feeling-driven narrative for being something soft or "weak." With empathy comes a strength that is often buried. To feel so fully is a blessing and a curse, and Deck Nine is taking that complexity and transforming it into a new adventure for Life is Strange fans to enjoy, endure, and to overcome. 

With E3 2021 in full swing, Square Enix revealed another new look at Alex Chen's story in Life is Strange: True Colors. Before, the team at Deck Nine showed off the next step for the franchise, a tale of Alex desperately trying to solve the mystery of her brother's death. Just like Max in the first game, there is a supernatural element at play. Instead of the power to rewind time, however, Alex has the power of empathy. Sometimes, that power is too much, too overwhelming. Flowing from a mindless rage into a bottomless pit of grief, only to mosey on over to ecstatic happiness - people everywhere are going through something, so when empathy comes into play, especially in a powerful form like in True Colors, the impact can be immense and overwhelming. 

In the latest trailer, as seen above, we see the varying degrees of her power. She can harness human emotion, she can amplify human emotion. It's a lot to handle and even more to master. Especially with the emotions we try to ignore, the uglier side of humanity: anger, despair, jealousy. This look also gives us a glimpse into her own personal journey. Going from realizing her power and thinking it a burden, to mastering it and learning what a gift it can truly be with enough control and enough personal introspection. It's honestly beautiful. Is it an adrenaline-driven adventure coming off the heels of a reveal like Battlefield 2042? Absolutely not, it's a tale, a beautiful one, about an aspect of human connection that we as a people continue to stray further and further from. 

The Nova revealed is an emotionally charged state that will help Alex uncover the answers she seeks, but as seen - this is a double-edged sword. You can't unlearn what you know, and that feeling? Alex absorbs it into herself, feeling it as if it is her own. 

I think what Deck Nine is doing with Alex's tale is incredibly important and I can't wait to learn more before the game arrives later this year. Life is Strange: True Colors will be available in three editions: the Standard, the Deluxe, and the Ultimate. You can learn more about the different versions right here through the game's official website. The adventure begins on September 10, 2021, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia.