This week we’re getting Pokémon details directly from Nintendo, as well as jumping back into the Overwatch League, rising from the ashes in X-Men, and kicking off E3 week on Saturday. Here’s your heads up about what’s making waves big and small this week in the world of games and beyond. Watch the video above, or find out what’s coming in the post below.
The second installment of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Torment of Hades DLC starts the week off on Tuesday, June 4th. The newest episode, titled The Fate of Atlantis, gives us more of that sweet sweet Greek mythology. Dig further into your hero of choice’s power as you venture into the underworld and unravel the mystery of the First Civilization. I’m happy to see ACO double down on this weird mythological storyline, though there’s still no word on whether or not there’s a robotic owl named Bubo yet.
3DS faithfuls, rejoice! Tuesday is the release of Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth. Persona Q2 sees our beloved Phantom Thieves lost in a strange city after meeting two new characters who emerge from a movie screen. Bump some of that catchy acid jazz and meet new and old friends as you fight your way through different cinematic worlds. Kotaku’s Natalie Degraffinried reviewed the game, and it’s live on our site right now.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners can finally jump into The Elder Scrolls: Elsweyr this Tuesday. Continuing the “Season of the Dragon” adventure that started with the Wrathstone DLC, Bethesda says Elsweyr features its own stand-alone story that has you fighting alongside the Khajiit as they struggle to defend their homeland from invading dragons. This update also introduces the Necromancer class, a 12-player trial, and a whole new zone to explore.
June’s PlayStation Plus games drop on Tuesday, too. This month, they’re Borderlands: The Handsome Collection and Sonic Mania. If you’re a PS+ member, don’t forget to download those when they go live. I personally can’t recommend Sonic Mania enough.
Set your alarms for Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT for a Nintendo Direct all about the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield for the Switch. Nintendo says it’ll be roughly 15 minutes and packed with new info. You can check it out on their YouTube and Twitch channels. And, of course, we’ll have coverage of it on Kotaku, too. Nintendo’s getting a head start a week before E3, but they’re still planning another Direct for the following Tuesday. I’ll be giving you a heads up on all of the E3 festivities next week.
Slay the Spire finally makes its way over to the Switch on Thursday. From developer Mega Crit, this rogue-like deck-building game gives you hundreds of different cards and ancient relics to help you craft your ultimate deck. The Switch version supports Joy-Con and touchscreen controls in portable mode, too. We’ve got coverage on the site from earlier this year, including tips on how to play Slay the Spire.
Hell Let Loose also jumps into early access this week on PC from developer Black Matter. Hell Let Loose is a realistic World War II first-person shooter that supports 100-player battles on open maps with a mix of infantry, vehicle and artillery combat. Manage resources and lead players to strategic points on a huge map to break through enemy defenses and capture key locations in order to win but, more importantly, survive. I’ll try streaming this at some point this week, so be sure to follow us on Twitch to join me in the chat.
Overwatch League also jumps into the first week of Stage 3 on Thursday and will continue all the way through Sunday June 9th. Things kick off with the San Francisco Shock taking on the Atlanta Reign at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Florida Mayhem face off against Seoul Dynasty at 8:45 p.m. ET, and things close out at 10:30 p.m. with the Guangzhou Charge taking on the Chengdu Hunters. Coming off of their first loss ever, Vancouver’s slated to play two matches this week. Can they bounce back and play with the same energy as before? Catch this week’s matches on Twitch or the ESPN app.
On Friday, Octopath Traveller comes to PC. Explore the world of Orsterra with eight travelers and dig into each of their unique stories, presented with a dope mix of pixel art and 3D perspectives. We covered the game at length last year when it hit the Switch, so check out Jason’s review on our site and Tim’s video coverage on our YouTube channel.
Dark Phoenix rounds out the work week on Friday. The movie is the twelfth movie based on Marvel’s X-Men comics, which includes the Wolverine and Deadpool films. Dark Phoenix is a direct sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse and the seventh and final film in the main X-Men series. This new adaptation of John Byrne’s The Dark Phoenix Saga is basically a re-do of X-Men: The Last Stand. Remember that? We’ll find out if this version closes out the series in a blaze of glory or flickers out quietly.
E3 might not officially start until Tuesday, June 11th, but that doesn’t mean the hype train won’t already be barreling its way through a bit early. EA starts bright and early with a countdown to EA Play at 12:15 p.m. ET / 9:15 a.m. PT. We’ll likely get another look at Respawn’s Star Wars game: Jedi Fallen Order and hopefully some news on what’s next for Apex Legends.
Nintendo continues things on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT with their Battle Of the Best. Teams from all over the world will face off in Super Mario Maker 2, Splatoon 2, and of course, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World Championship.
And finally, on Sunday June 9th at 10:00 a.m. ET / 1:00 p.m. PT, Microsoft will have their Xbox E3 Briefing, which should be full of some announcements for first-party and third-party games. Will they swing for the fences since there won’t be a PlayStation conference this year? Or will they all hold hands on stage and sing songs about the streaming future? We’re likely to see more of Halo: Infinite and Gears 5, but what else do they have up their sleeve?
We’ll of course be covering all of the upcoming E3 news on the site, so stay tuned.
Tell us what else is on your radars this week below!