Multi Upcoming Releases: Week 23 (06/10~06/16)

[Raine]

You're better off that way! Stay pure, it's a fucking madhouse out there!

But also, vagina bones. Objectively fucking hysterical (and infinitely sad that people believe this stuff).

 

[TD]

Okay, TD will stay pure.

I have no idea what this vagina bones madness is but I did see Sony is giving digital refunds to any who ask for it.

 

[Raine]

Spoiler: Despair

Different game, same concept:

 

[TD]

 

[Raine]

They made a change.org petition and everything, which is what Vash was laughing at.

It's amazing(ly bad).

 

[TD]

.

 

[VashTheStampede]

Can't wait to casually drop "vagina bones" into a conversation with my wife.

That's usually how I do it

 

[Raine]

Upcoming [Console] Releases: 2024 Week 19 (05/06~05/12)​

Howdy, folks! Another fairly uneventful week here as we slowly work our way towards what would usually be the E3 press events. A decent number of games on the whole, but not much in the way of obvious standouts - particularly with virtually no data available via Metacritic. Looking through videos on YouTube also revealed nothing particularly engrossing. So, the quick and dirty!


Sea of Stars finally gets its physical version release this Friday, some 8 months after initial launch. Word of mouth has remained strong, and we had a pretty active thread for it. So if physical collecting is your jam, well, you know what to do. It's retailing for $39.99.




If you're looking for another short-lived, experimental multiplayer experience Namco has you covered with Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs. It officially launches this Thursday (Deluxe Edition pre-orders went out last week, so regretfully you're behind the learning curve) and is the most recent foray into the whole "Take an old arcade-style game and turn it into a Battle Royale experience" genre. If you found enjoyment in things like Tetris 99 or Super Mario Bros. 35, you could probably get a good few hours of entertainment out of this. $20 may be a bit steep though, depending on how long it can maintain enough people's interest to fully function.
.

Date	Game Title	NSW	PS4	PS5	XBO	XSX	Metacritic
5/5​	Brocula				✔​		TBD
5/7​	Broadsword Warlord Edition (Physical)	✔​		✔​			TBD
5/7​	Guilty Gear -Strive- 25th Anniversary Edition (Physical)			✔​			87
5/8​	15in1 Solitaire	~​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/8​	Gift	✔​				✔​	TBD
5/8​	I Am Your President				✔​		TBD
5/8​	INDIKA			✔​		✔​	79
5/8​	MIDNIGHT Remastered	~​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/8​	Prison of Illusion				✔​		TBD
5/8​	Tennis Elbow 4				✔​		TBD
5/8​	The Prisoner of the Night	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/9​	Animal Well	✔​		✔​			TBD
5/9​	Chronicles of Magic: Divided Kingdoms	✔​			✔​		TBD
5/9​	CorpoNation: The Sorting Process	✔​			✔​		74
5/9​	Crow Country		✔​	✔​		✔​	TBD
5/9​	Imagine Earth	✔​	✔​		~​		78
5/9​	Little Kitty, Big City	✔​			✔​		TBD
5/9​	Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/9​	Rainbow Cotton Remaster	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/10​	Aquarium Designer				✔​		TBD
5/10​	Farlands Journey				✔​		TBD
5/10​	Kinduo 2 - Frostbite	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/10​	Paper Flight - Future Battles		~​		✔​		TBD
5/10​	Sea of Stars (Physical)	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		87
5/10​	THE ORIGIN: Blind Maid		~​		✔​		TBD
5/10​	WW2 Rebuilder			✔​		✔​	TBD

Spoiler: Switch exclusives

Date	Game Title
5/6​	Adventure Field Remake
5/6​	Coconut Farm 3D
5/7​	Girl Genius: Adventures in Castle Heterodyne
5/7​	Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona
5/8​	King Of Pyramid Thieves
5/8​	The Night of the Rabbit
5/9​	1000xRESIST
5/9​	Animals drop
5/9​	Battle Minesweeper Online
5/9​	Dark Fantasy Epic Jigsaw Puzzle
5/9​	EGGCONSOLE WANDERERS FROM Ys PC-8801mkIISR
5/9​	Gearhead Karting Simulator - Mechanic & Racing
5/9​	Mysterious Adventure of Michael 2
5/9​	ONIKO KORORIN GAME
5/9​	Pummel Party
5/9​	Spot the Odd!
5/9​	Summer Games Challenge
5/10​	Hotel Hustle
5/10​	Mars Farming 2034
5/10​	QUALIA ~​ The Path of Promise ~​
5/11​	Culinary Cooking Master Simulator
5/11​	Hand In Hand
5/11​	Hole io: Warzone DLC
5/11​	MergeZ
5/11​	Roman City Tycoon
5/12​	Crab Digger TROPICAL ISLAND

 

[TD]

I imagine most who would've been interested in SoS would've played it by now - but if not and you're into retro style RPGs, I highly recommend it.

 

[TD]

Oh and I'm actually pretty excited for Animal Well too.

Comes as part of the PS Plus Catalog on release day.

 

[TD]

Oh and I'm actually pretty excited for Animal Well too.

Comes as part of the PS Plus Catalog on release day.

 

[Raine]

Upcoming [Console] Releases: 2024 Week 20 (05/13~05/19)​

Howdy, folks! Another week into May, and... yep, another week of Indies! Which as evidenced last week, don't necessarily lend themselves very well to quick glances for the purposes of highlighting. Which definitely also applies to this week, so if something sticks out to you - let us know! I still don't understand Animal Well lol


This week does have a good display game, however, in the form of Please Fix the Road. It's a colorful, sleekly animated puzzle game that released back in 2022 on PC and is now set to arrive on consoles this Thursday. Each puzzle gives you a certain number of moves as well as a gimmick, like copy-pasting parts of the road into other areas but not being able to rotate or being able to slide tiles but not create new ones, and it's all seemingly very easy to understand.

Date	Game Title	NSW	PS4	PS5	XBO	XSX	Metacritic
5/13​	The Land Beneath Us	✔​		✔​		✔​	TBD
5/14​	Athenian Rhapsody	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/14​	Chip and Charge	~​			✔​		TBD
5/14​	Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution	✔​	✔​	✔​			TBD
5/14​	Ziggy		~​	~​	✔​		TBD
5/15​	Awesome Pea 3	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​	TBD
5/15​	Electronics Puzzle Lab	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/15​	Time Trap: Hidden Objects Remastered	~​			✔​		TBD
5/15​	Turbo Dash Kart 2024 Racing				✔​		TBD
5/16​	Anime Studio Story	~​	~​		✔​		TBD
5/16​	Musashi vs Cthulhu	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/16​	Please Fix The Road	✔​	✔​		✔​		80
5/16​	PO'ed: Definitive Edition	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/16​	Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/16​	The Ramen Sensei	~​	~​		✔​		TBD
5/17​	Claws & Feathers 3		✔​		✔​		TBD
5/17​	FoxyRush	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/17​	Morbid: The Lords of Ire	✔​		✔​	✔​		TBD
5/17​	My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/17​	Not Not - A Brain-Buster	~​	~​		✔​		TBD
5/17​	Outbreak The Fedora Files: What Lydia Knows	~​	~​	~​		✔​	TBD
5/17​	Slave Zero X Calamity Edition (Physical)	✔​		✔​			70
5/17​	Spellcats: Auto Card Tactics	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD

Spoiler: Switch exclusives

Date	Game Title
5/14​	Biomutant
5/14​	Boardwalk Arcade 2 (Boardwalk Edition)
5/14​	Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior
5/15​	Purple Explorer
5/15​	Roman Empire Farming
5/16​	3 minutes Mystery 2
5/16​	8th MILLENNIUM: WAR AGAINST THE PAGAN GODS
5/16​	A Simple Life
5/16​	Arcadia: Colony
5/16​	Duck Creator
5/16​	Dungeon Arsenal
5/16​	Internet Generation
5/16​	Little Cat Doctor
5/16​	Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
5/16​	Mutant Express
5/16​	Pool Party
5/16​	Puzzle World: Cute Cats
5/16​	Puzzle World: Neko Girls
5/16​	SEKIMORI GAMI - SAIEN
5/16​	Slide Puzzle World History
5/16​	Trust No One
5/16​	Ultimate Traffic Sign Quiz
5/16​	UNDEMON
5/16​	Zombie Night Defense
5/17​	Express Courier Pro: Urban Bike Delivery Simulator 2024!
5/17​	Horse Club Adventures 1 Plus 2: Lakeside Collection
5/17​	Overmorrow
5/17​	Sweetest Monster
5/17​	Tokyo Cooking
5/18​	Adrenaline Rush: Highway Extreme Traffic Racer
5/18​	Astroblaze
5/18​	Eternal Light
5/18​	Finger Suck
5/18​	Undercat
5/19​	Toon Toon Racing

 

[Dead2009]

The Turbo Dash Kart game is the one I'm looking forward to.

 

[Raine]

Upcoming [Console] Releases: 2024 Week 21 (05/20~05/26)​

Evenin', folks. Been an exhausting week(end), so no highlights for now. Although, unlike the past couple of lists, there are noteworthy releases: Xbox's Hellblade II finally sees the light of day, Paper Mario TTYD Remake drops, and System Shock Remake hits consoles. Alongside a host of other things.

Date	Game Title	NSW	PS4	PS5	XBO	XSX	Metacritic
5/21​	Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1	✔​					69
5/21​	Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation	✔​					67
5/21​	Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Generation	✔​					70
5/21​	Juicy Realm (Physical)	✔​		✔​			TBD
5/21​	Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters	~​	~​	~​	✔​		65
5/21​	Paper Trail	✔​	✔​	✔​		~​	82
5/21​	Senua's Saga: Hellblade II					✔​	TBD
5/21​	System Shock		✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/21​	Vertigo 2 (Physical)			✔​			80
5/21​	XDefiant			✔​		✔​	TBD
5/22​	Doug's Nightmare	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/22​	Survive on Raft				✔​		TBD
5/23​	Cat Pipes		~​	~​	✔​		TBD
5/23​	Crown Wars: The Black Prince			✔​		✔​	TBD
5/23​	Eternal Threads	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		73
5/23​	Galacticare			✔​		✔​	TBD
5/23​	Hauntii	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/23​	Morbid: The Lords of Ire	~​	~​	~​	✔​		TBD
5/23​	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door	✔​					TBD
5/23​	Rocket Rumble			✔​		✔​	TBD
5/23​	The Quintessential Quintuplets: Five Memories Spent With You	✔​	✔​				TBD
5/23​	The Quintessential Quintuplets: Memories of a Quintessential Summer	✔​	✔​				TBD
5/23​	Ultra Foodmess 2	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/23​	Until Then			✔​			TBD
5/23​	Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord Remaster	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/24​	Delusion				✔​		TBD
5/24​	Dragon Ball FighterZ (Physical)			✔​			87
5/24​	Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2 (Physical)			✔​		✔​	72
5/24​	Hand in Hand	~​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/24​	Paper Dash - City Hustle	~​	~​		✔​		TBD
5/24​	The Glass Staircase	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/24​	TP Bullet	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD

Spoiler: Switch exclusives

Date	Game Title
5/20​	BEASTWATCH: Meat & Mayhem
5/20​	Loving Life
5/22​	50 Pinch Barrage!!
5/22​	C.A.R.D.S. RPG: The Misty Battlefield
5/22​	Sunland Town
5/23​	Blade Jumper
5/23​	Bread & Fred
5/23​	Chocolate Factory Tycoon
5/23​	Crazy Stunt Driver: Extreme Racing Simulator
5/23​	Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
5/23​	EGGCONSOLE Shin Maou Golvellius MSX2
5/23​	Electronics Puzzle Lab
5/23​	Evidence Destroyer
5/23​	Paper Dash - Invasion of Greed
5/23​	Pine Hearts
5/23​	Scarlet Tower
5/23​	SlidePuzzle
5/23​	Soul Link
5/23​	You adorable! Elfin Clay 2
5/24​	Castle of Shikigami 2
5/24​	Coffee Simulator Tycoon
5/24​	Helicopter Battle Arena Simulator
5/24​	Hellboy: Web of Wyrd (Collector's Edition)
5/24​	Highlaundry Overwashed - Play with your friends!
5/24​	NecroBouncer
5/24​	Restaurant Tycoon Simulator
5/24​	Super Puzzle Pack 2
5/24​	Tales From The Under-Realm: After Midnight
5/25​	Cat Warrior
5/25​	I am Titan
5/25​	Ninja Shadow Quest
5/26​	Airplane Delivery Simulator 2024: Realistic Geographical
5/26​	Dish Puzzle

 

[Raine]

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth trilogy for Switch delayed to unannounced date in the west

Idea Factory International has delayed the Switch versions of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation, and Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Gene…

www.gematsu.com

Not that anyone should care, but yeah. Curse you Idea Factory, delaying your games the day before they release! And more importantly, the day after I do my list.

 

[Raine]

There is a good chance mistakes have been made. We're now on the Finding Out section, 'cause ya girl already done the Fucking Around.

---

New Releases in 2024: Week 22 (05/27~06/02)​

Howdy, folks! We're now moving into June, which in prior years was home to the Electronics Entertainment Expo - and now Summer Game Fest. So things will likely remain relatively sparse for a time, although shadow drops of games that aren't on the lists are quite possible!

This week, then, isn't really an exception; there isn't anything here of particularly high profile save WB's MultiVersus. Which, well, has had a weird story to date. People were pretty positive about the game when it launched in open beta back in 2022, and the game was originally meant to stay open and fully launch. But after about a year, with interest and hype waning, the decision was made to pull the game and then relaunch later. Seems like an odd choice to me, and we'll see how people react to this second launch. But hey it's free so there are probably worse things out there.




Capes, which launches this Wednesday, is an XCOM-style tactics games starring super-powered heroes with abilities not terribly different than those you might find in something like Marvel's X-Men. These games, like traditional RTS or RPG offerings, are fairly finicky to review. So while Metacritic currently has it at a respectable, if a touch middling, score of 72 - it may be something to look into if turn-based strategy is something you enjoy.




And as a third highlight, Astor: Blade of the Monolith releases on Thursday. It's a colorful Action-RPG announced several years ago out of a small, formerly mobile-centric Colombian development studio called CS Game Studio. While it does not seem to be breaking any new ground or doing anything revolutionary, production values are decently high with the controls and combat appearing snappy at a cursory level.

Date	Game Title	NSW	PS4	PS5	XBO	XSX	Metacritic
5/27​	Seed of Life	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		58
5/28​	Adam Wolfe (Physical)	✔​	✔​	✔​			57*
5/28​	Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game			✔​		✔​	TBD
5/28​	MultiVersus		✔​	✔​	✔​		80*
5/28​	Sushi Ben			✔​			TBD
5/28​	TEVI	~​	✔​	✔​			83
5/29​	Capes	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		72
5/29​	Lesson Learned				✔​		TBD
5/29​	Terminal 81	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​	TBD
5/30​	Astor: Blade of the Monolith	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/30​	Horizon Chase 2	~​	✔​	✔​	✔​		71
5/30​	Humanity		~​	~​	✔​		86
5/30​	Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes Definitive Edition (Physical)	✔​	✔​				77
5/30​	Phantom Fury			✔​		✔​	67
5/30​	Potion Permit: Complete Edition (Physical)	✔​		✔​			72
5/30​	Umbraclaw	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/30​	Xuan-Yuan Sword 7	✔​	~​		~​		71
5/31​	F1 24		✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
5/31​	HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed	~​			✔​		74
5/31​	New Lands		~​		✔​		TBD
5/31​	O-VOID: Console Edition	✔​			✔​		TBD
5/31​	Pool Party	~​	~​	~​		✔​	TBD
5/31​	Project 13		✔​		✔​		TBD
5/31​	SKELER BOY	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
5/31​	To the Sky			~​		✔​	TBD

Spoiler: Switch exclusives

Date	Game Title
5/28​	Construction Simulator 4
5/28​	Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling
5/28​	Hidden Objects Collection 5: Detective Stories
5/28​	Terror Mansion
5/29​	Dreamland Solitaire: Dark Prophecy
5/29​	Echoes
5/30​	A Cat & His Boy
5/30​	Burst Hero
5/30​	Cook 'Til Escape ~ Nyanzou&Kumakichi: Escape Game ~
5/30​	Ginger - The Tooth Fairy
5/30​	Goliath Depot
5/30​	Jelly Battle
5/30​	LET'S THROOOW! Street Basketball Simulator
5/30​	Master Key
5/30​	Medieval Lords
5/30​	NINJA KAMUI: SHINOBI ORIGINS
5/30​	One Punch
5/30​	Picross S Namco Legendary Edition
5/30​	SkateCat
5/30​	Spellbearers
5/30​	Stick to the Plan
5/30​	vridniX
5/31​	Color Water Sort
5/31​	Mezmeratu
5/31​	Nine Nights - Martial Ci Lang Story
5/31​	Ruler Battle Online
6/1​	Broadsword Warlord Edition
6/1​	Sculpt People: Famous Edition
6/1​	Sticky Hands
6/1​	The Cat
6/2​	Mars Colonization Expedition: Survival Simulator

 

[TD]

I've never even heard of Astor but it has my attention now.


Also, morbidly curious of Killer Klowns.

 

[Raine]

I've never even heard of Astor but it has my attention now.

Likewise! I can't quite pin down which exact game it's reminding me the most of, but - again especially for their first higher budget outing - it looks enjoyable.

Also, morbidly curious of Killer Klowns.

It looks kind of fun, surprisingly! Although I'm not really into online multiplayer affairs and I can't imagine more than a couple of people ever playing the game, so with it being asymmetrical it'll likely have a very small window at best where it functions properly.

Spoiler

 

[TD]

Likewise! I can't quite pin down which exact game it's reminding me the most of, but - again especially for their first higher budget outing - it looks enjoyable.

Having just come off Tunic too, that probably factors into the appeal to me. But everything about this appeals to me. Naturally I won't buy it yet cause reasons but I'll get to it eventually.

It looks kind of fun, surprisingly! Although I'm not really into online multiplayer affairs and I can't imagine more than a couple of people ever playing the game, so with it being asymmetrical it'll likely have a very small window at best where it functions properly.

Spoiler

undefined

Yeah... online multiplayer games aren't my thing anymore, it does look decent and thematically up my alley but I'm also the guy who recommended the movie constantly when I worked at Blockbuster.

 

[Dead2009]

Ill have to try out Multiversus just for the Jason character.

 

[TD]

And as our third highlight, we're going to go with Tales of Kenzera: ZAU which also launches this Tuesday. It will be available Day 1 to PlayStation Plus subscribers thanks to a deal with Sony. Billed as a fast-paced Metroidvania, Tales of Kenzera is the first game out of actor Abubakar Salim's development studio Surgent Studios. Much of the marketing and aesthetic attempts to fill a void that's still ever-present in the video game industry, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it shakes out. This is the better trailer, but... you get the idea.

I've been playing this game the last couple days with all the "drama" surrounding it.

And wow. This game does not get enough love. I love everything about it, the platforming, the puzzles, the progression, the combat... but where it really shines? First the atmosphere and art design, but more importantly, it's deep emotional story rooted in African culture.

Obligatory fuck the haters:

Tales of Kenzera: Zau Director Addresses 'Constant Targeted Harassment,' Lowers Price of Game on Switch - IGN

Abubakar Salim, the creative director of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, issued a statement today addressing the "constant targeted harassment" both he and his studio have faced since the release of game.

www.ign.com

 

[Raine]

Gamers™ have for sure been showing their ass a ton of late. Which isn't surprising, I guess, just... yeah. The "Ishmael Swimsuit Incident" in relation to South Korea, the Sweet Baby Inc harassment, people still going after the damn actresses associated with Abby from The Last of Us 2. Absolute insanity up, down, left and right.

Unfortunately there's no surprise that non-white creators would be targeted for harassment, but hopefully the chuds just stick to saying disgusting things on the internet and leave it at that. And hopefully the good reception of ToKZ keeps that team chugging along.

Edit: Actually, let's put the direct embed in here.

 

[Raine]

New Releases in 2024: Week 23 (06/03~06/09)​

Howdy, folks! First list of June rolling in, and... things are pretty barren? Handful of games that are getting updates or DLC - Destiny 2 would probably be the highlight for that latter category - but nothing that feels like it should really stand out. Downward Enhanced is basically low-budget Mirror's Edge, if that's your jam?

Otherwise, Summer Game Fest officially starts this Friday and we may see a couple of shadow drops amongst the various publishers participating in that.

Date	Game Title	NSW	PS4	PS5	XBO	XSX	Metacritic
6/4​	As Dusk Falls Premium Edition (Physical)			✔​			77
6/4​	Downward Enhanced	✔​		✔​		✔​	TBD
6/4​	Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends				✔​		TBD
6/5​	Democracy 4: Console Edition	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
6/5​	Dig or Die: Console Edition				✔​		76
6/5​	Ghost Teen Escape from Limbo	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
6/5​	Run & Jump Guy				✔​		TBD
6/6​	Magazine Mogul	~​	~​		✔​		TBD
6/6​	Pocket Stables	~​	~​		✔​		TBD
6/6​	Rocksmith+		✔​	✔​			70*
6/6​	The Smurfs - Village Party	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
6/6​	Tour de France 2024		✔​	✔​		✔​	TBD
6/7​	Dash and Roll	~​	~​		✔​		TBD
6/7​	GRAPPIN				✔​		TBD
6/7​	POMBERO: The Lord of the Night		✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
6/7​	Rider's Spirits	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
6/7​	Shy Dogs Hidden Orchestra				✔​		TBD
6/7​	Slime Rancher 2			✔​		~​	TBD
6/7​	The Hong Kong Massacre	~​	~​		✔​		71

Spoiler: Switch exclusives

Date	Game Title
6/3​	Kittey 64
6/3​	Ultra Mission
6/3​	WAKUSEI
6/4​	Star Wars: Hunters
6/6​	Aery - Peace of Mind
6/6​	Cat Pipes
6/6​	Fading Afternoon
6/6​	Garage: Bad Dream Adventure
6/6​	HighScore Anomaly Underground
6/6​	Let Me Sleep
6/6​	MyRummy
6/6​	Rainbow Diamonds
6/6​	Seven Days
6/6​	Zombie Derby
6/7​	Airhead
6/8​	Delivery Drop
6/8​	Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge
6/9​	Craft Archeology Simulator: Pyramid to Polar

 

[Dead2009]

Star Wars and Riders Spirits (the Mario Kart clone) are the ones on my radar for this week.

 

[Rachel]

I have so many questions

I am not looking anything up

Why would you dig or die?

What is Democracy 4? There are 4 such games? What do you do

Why are the dogs shy and why are they hiding an orchestra

"Grappin"

"Cat Pipes"

"Ultra Mission"

The Hong Kong Massacre sounds like a wholesome adventure

"Let Me Sleep" is so mood rn

 

[Raine]

I have so many questions

I am not looking anything up

The life of an indie studio must be endless torture, trying to figure out what and how to name your game so that it stands out.

Or, y'know, minimally so that it even shows up in search results...

Why would you dig or die?

My mind goes to the Simpsons gif, or at least Dig Dug, but this game doesn't actually seem to have anything to do with digging? It's like a platform/action game where you pewpew and play with the environment sometimes.

What is Democracy 4? There are 4 such games? What do you do

It's like Civilization, except without the fun. Endless amounts of charts and graphs in Powerpoint slides instead.

Why are the dogs shy and why are they hiding an orchestra

Because the Shy Cats started it, apparently?

Spoiler: It's basically Where's Waldo/Wally?

"Grappin"

"Cat Pipes"

"Ultra Mission"

The Hong Kong Massacre sounds like a wholesome adventure

Basically a Hotline Miami clone. So, yeah.

"Let Me Sleep" is so mood rn

I've actually watched my partner play this one before, or at least something extraordinarily similar.

But on a Monday morning? Yes, absolutely, mood.

Spoiler: It might be a good sleep aid

 

[TD]

So yesterday... Square just shadowdropped Octopath Traveler for PS and Octopath Traveler 2 for Xbox (apparently on Gamepass?).

 

[Raine]

So yesterday... Square just shadowdropped Octopath Traveler for PS and Octopath Traveler 2 for Xbox (apparently on Gamepass?).

Yup! Right before Summer Game Fest too, so they can get lost in the shuffle.

Square is such a dumbass company. OT1 came out on Switch ~6 years ago and Xbox ~3 years ago, but for some ungodly reason (read: moneyhat) it... skipped PlayStation!?!

And then OT2 released simultaneously on Switch and PlayStation about a year ago, and skipped Xbox...

So you could play OT1 on Xbox, but not PS. And OT2 on PS, but not Xbox.

And Square wonders why most/all of their small- and medium- sized games bombed in 2022 and 2023, you need a spreadsheet just to know which console anything is on.

 

[Raine]

New Releases in 2024: Week 24 (06/10~06/16)​

Evenin', folks! We're in the middle of not-E3 season, which has shockingly been fairly bereft of shadowdrops. But there's still time so if nothing on this week's list catches your fancy (how dare you!), then it's possible something else will crop up between now and next Sunday.


As for what is here, this Friday sees the release of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance - an updated version, as Atlus is wont to do, of 2021's Switch exclusive. Including a new storyline branch as well as a selection of tweaks, changes, and new Demons, Vengeance has a variety of things for folks that already played the original game to sink their teeth into.

If you don't know what a Shin Megami Tensei is, then: This is the effective parent series of Persona, amongst a slew of others. Turn-based combat that is similar enough to Persona 3/4/5 that you'll feel right at home, but Persona focuses more on characters and narrative (and the social sim aspect) whereas SMT proper is typically a bit more focused and streamlined, with basic/trope-y characters and a stronger focus on the combat and Demon mechanics (with higher difficulty to facilitate that).




If that's not quite your speed, then V Rising comes to PS5 this Tuesday. It's a stylish Action-RPG with a three-quarter overhead view; if you've played anything from Diablo to Bastion you have some semblance of an idea of what you're getting here. Plus, you play as a vampire and it has a Castlevania crossover! If you're not already sold watch the trailer and try again.




And for a bit of something different plus a nice dose of nostalgia, Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked also launches on Tuesday. This is a collection/compilation of three games in the Sparkster/Rocket Knight series: Sparkster (SNES), Rocket Knight Adventures (GEN) and Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 (GEN). Notably, Rocket Knight (PS3/X360) is not included. Still, if some platforming is what you've got an itch for then this might be for you.

Date	Game Title	NSW	PS4	PS5	XBO	XSX	Metacritic
6/11​	ARK: Survival Ascended (Physical)			✔​			67*
6/11​	Backpack Hero	~​	✔​	✔​	✔​		76
6/11​	CityDriver			~​		✔​	TBD
6/11​	Crossfire: Sierra Squad (Physical)			✔​			71
6/11​	Hubris (Physical)			✔​			TBD
6/11​	Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked	✔​	✔​	✔​			TBD
6/11​	Sunrise GP	~​			✔​		40*
6/11​	V Rising			✔​			83
6/12​	Draconic Resurgence					✔​	TBD
6/12​	Lost Chiko 2				✔​		TBD
6/12​	Prison of Illusion					✔​	TBD
6/12​	Roxy Raccoon's Pinball Panic	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
6/13​	Dead Station 2		✔​		✔​		TBD
6/13​	Detective - Minerva Case			~​	✔​		TBD
6/13​	Hidden Cats in Paris	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD
6/13​	Panzer Paladin	~​			✔​		77
6/13​	Willy's Wonderland - The Game	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
6/14​	Astrune Academy	✔​			✔​		TBD
6/14​	Froggy Bouncing Adventures	✔​	✔​		✔​		TBD
6/14​	Magical Drop VI	~​	✔​		✔​		77*
6/14​	Monster Hunter Stories	✔​	✔​				79
6/14​	Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin	~​	✔​				81
6/14​	Monster Hunter Stories Collection	✔​	✔​
6/14​	Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance	✔​	✔​	✔​	✔​		TBD

Spoiler: Switch exclusives

Date	Game Title
6/11​	Boardwalk Arcade 2 (Boardwalk Edition)
6/12​	Clue: The Classic Mystery Game - Whispering Pines Retreat Crime Scene
6/12​	Lesson Learned
6/13​	DUNGEON SLASHER
6/13​	EGGCONSOLE Sorcerian PC-8801mkIISR
6/13​	Forest Fantasy
6/13​	Monolith
6/13​	Path to Purge
6/14​	Bumper Kitty
6/14​	Cozy Jigsaw Puzzle
6/14​	Cyberpunk City Tycoon
6/14​	Fit My Zoo
6/14​	Neon Noir
6/14​	Railbreak
6/14​	Railway Islands 2
6/15​	Anime vs Evil: Apocalypse
6/15​	Chopper Strike
6/15​	Tiny Little Farm
6/16​	Urban Trace: Parkour Simulator Pursuit

 

[Dead2009]

Oh man, Hidden Cats in Paris? Sign me up

 

[Raine]

Oh man, Hidden Cats in Paris? Sign me up

They're actually fun little distraction games, we've put a little time into London and New York.