Gaming: Surprises galore in Final Fantasy VII trailer; Deadpool playable in Fortnite & more

It’s almost here — Cloud Strife’s return to the slums of Midgar, and with it one of the year’s most highly anticipated games. Nearly five years after fans lost their collective minds when Square Enix melted down the 2015 E3 expo with the seismic reveal that Final Fantasy VII would live again for the HD console generation, the finished product is now only a week away from landing like a Meteor in players’ hands.

That means one last peek at the game before it’s here at last, and the final trailer for FFVII Remake comes loaded with the kind of new revelations that're likely to surprise even die-hard fans. Square Enix has fleshed out the original game’s cyberpunk sci-fi story in unexpected yet lore-appropriate ways, and the new trailer is filled with so many rapid-fire reveals that, if you’re hoping to dive into the remake with fresh eyes, you may just want to look the other way.

That’s not to say this game doesn't look impressive. Take a peek if you dare, and judge for yourself:

We won’t spoil things by calling out any specific OMG! moment, but fans of the PS1 original, as well as PSP spinoff Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, will definitely spot several new additions, backstory deep dives, and character meet-ups that weren’t in the first game … at least, not like this. That falls right in line with what Square Enix has been telling fans throughout the remake’s development: Modern consoles give director Tetsuya Nomura and the team — many of whom worked on the first game — a chance to go back and mine the original story to fill in tons of details that, for the past 13 years, have mostly been left to players’ PS1-era imaginations.

It all comes to a head beginning April 10, when Final Fantasy VII Remake at last arrives for PlayStation 4.

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Pieces of Deadpool’s snarky world have been strewn all about Fortnite throughout the current phase of Season 2, but not until this week could players actually suit up as the mouthy merc and katana-slice their way to battle royale victory.

Fortnite has added a complete Deadpool skin to the game, though of course you’ll have to do a little in-game sleuthing to find it (or, as Epic teases, “Just complete a teeny tiny challenge and he’s yours”). The skin will unlock even if you haven’t completed any of the game’s previous Deadpool challenges, and all you have to do is track down his pair of hidden pistols.

Once you suit up, you’ll get access to more than just the Marvel maverick’s red outfit. In addition to taking over the game’s party yacht with a complete Deadpool theme, says Epic, you can take “Deadpool’s Meaty Mallets for a test drive, take a glorious rainbow journey on his Dragacorn Glider (aka ‘Sparkle Thunder’), or just ride around with the dangerously dainty mini-scooter motorbike Emote!” The katanas come as an unlockable reward for a separate challenge, so there’s nothing standing between you and your dream of completing the look and slicing your way to victory — with maximum effort, of course.

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Finally, Amazon appears to be putting the finishing touches on its long-brewing big push into gaming. The New York Times reports the online retail giant will launch its first game, Crucible, this spring, followed closely by New World — an MMO set in an alternate-history version of the Colonial period.

A sci-fi shooter designed as a team-based game with battle arena-style elements (think League of Legends or Dota 2), Crucible is set to arrive in May. New World, which folds fantasy elements into its quasi-historical setting, also will arrive in May on the heels of Crucible’s debut, according to the report.

Perhaps even bigger news is Amazon’s plan to dive head first into the world of cloud-based gaming. In a bid to put games on more devices by having cloud computers do all the process-intensive heavy lifting, NYT reports that Amazon is prepping the launch of a cloud gaming platform code-named Project Tempo. The new service would vie with Google Stadia and Microsoft’s forthcoming Project xCloud for players looking to untether their gaming experience from consoles and desktop computers.

Amazon hasn’t said when Project Tempo (by whatever name it launches) will arrive, although NYT cites “people close to” the project who believe the coronavirus pandemic could push the platform’s debut, reportedly set for a soft launch in 2020, into next year.