Multi 2025 Releases Thread

[Crazy Jamie]

I like the Souls formula, but I totally understand why many people don't. I could even argue that it suffers from bad game design (especially the later entries where bosses hit much harder and are less predictable). Often, the only way to progress is to bang your head against a boss over and over again, slowly learning their pattern. There's no ramping off difficulty or natural progression -- just sudden huge spikes.

GoT is not like that at all. It gives (pretty much) you all the knowledge you need to advance and succeed. Progression comes from your mastery of the combat system rather than learning the unique intricacies of every single enemy. Sure, there's a skill tree that expands your options and the complexity of the game, and which make certain enemy types easier to deal with, but it's still WAY more accessible and consistent than Souls

Yep, I think that encapsulates the differences quite well. And the GoT is exactly what I want. Once upon a time the Souls formula was fine for me. I imported the original Demon's Souls before its PAL release and still have a sealed copy of the Black Phantom edition on PS3 in my collection. But my life has moved on and my gaming needs have changed. Quite like the idea of playing GoT sometime soon and then getting the sequel near release.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

In response to both games - I waited years on Ghost of Tsushima because I thought it was another Sekiro Die Twice style game where it was just brutally hard. My coworker told me that it was by the same developers as InFamous and to just picture a Samurai game made by Ubisoft but actually good. (It was funny because I played it right before Shadows was announced and we have a good laugh at that).

The game is as hard as you want it to be, and the mechanics to the core are simple. You can defeat any encounter just using the basic skills - but if you want to get into it more, there are ways to make it more complex. It was great for me, as I was able to go long periods without playing it and could easily jump back in.

As for Expedition 33, I think it's a FANTASTIC point to drop into the RPG genre. I'm 11 hours in and it is a perfect game for me so far. It has the JRPG style of game world and mechanics, but it has a more Western influence on story, systems, and characterizations. Having most of the main characters just be regular 30 somethings facing mortality is relatable. It's not overwhelmingly large either. I've heard the main story is 25-30 hours with a total of 50 hours for completionists. It feels very God of War like in terms of pacing and execution. The voice acting and motion capture feels genuinely human - but fully JRPG in everything else.

I'd lean that over Baldur's Gate 3 personally, because BG3 is overwhelming and huge. But if D&D style games are your style, it's the best one to play. Both are incredible games.

 

[dimmerwit]

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, a Chinese soulslike action RPG, gets a 24 July release date. It's also launching on Game Pass.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

In response to both games - I waited years on Ghost of Tsushima because I thought it was another Sekiro Die Twice style game where it was just brutally hard. My coworker told me that it was by the same developers as InFamous and to just picture a Samurai game made by Ubisoft but actually good. (It was funny because I played it right before Shadows was announced and we have a good laugh at that).

The game is as hard as you want it to be, and the mechanics to the core are simple. You can defeat any encounter just using the basic skills - but if you want to get into it more, there are ways to make it more complex. It was great for me, as I was able to go long periods without playing it and could easily jump back in.

As for Expedition 33, I think it's a FANTASTIC point to drop into the RPG genre. I'm 11 hours in and it is a perfect game for me so far. It has the JRPG style of game world and mechanics, but it has a more Western influence on story, systems, and characterizations. Having most of the main characters just be regular 30 somethings facing mortality is relatable. It's not overwhelmingly large either. I've heard the main story is 25-30 hours with a total of 50 hours for completionists. It feels very God of War like in terms of pacing and execution. The voice acting and motion capture feels genuinely human - but fully JRPG in everything else.

I'd lean that over Baldur's Gate 3 personally, because BG3 is overwhelming and huge. But if D&D style games are your style, it's the best one to play. Both are incredible games.

Genuinely a positive for me that Expedition 33 is 50 hours or so to fully complete. I struggle to see me spending triple digit hours on a game again really, or at least not for a good few years, so a JRPG that looks the way it does but which can be fully explored in a fraction of the normal timeframe for that genre is very appealing.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

Another new release that I only came across just as it came out, but Tempest Rising came out last week. Basically feels like old school Command & Conquer for the modern world. Looks great and the reviews have been positive too. Not necessarily jumping straight in, but it's going on the watchlist.

 

[dimmerwit]

Borderlands 2 is moving forward to 12 September from the 23rd.

Naturally with Gearbox being another Take-Two studio people are already speculating what this means for GTA 6.

 

[dimmerwit]

Another new release that I only came across just as it came out, but Tempest Rising came out last week. Basically feels like old school Command & Conquer for the modern world. Looks great and the reviews have been positive too. Not necessarily jumping straight in, but it's going on the watchlist.

I caught the time-limited demo of this with about 2 hours left. It was only the early missions but I did see the potential.

It really is a version of C&C in every way. Similar storyline, similar resource (cross out Tiberium and write Tempest), and something else similar too.

Like you I'm waiting for now but I'll surely play at some point.

 

[dimmerwit]

I updated the first post in the thread with May's titles.

It's a somewhat quieter month as May often is. The big releases are Doom: The Dark Ages (15th) and Elden Ring Nightreign (30th).

Doom looks quite funky. For those that don't know, it's a very different game to the last two which has been made much slower, with the player being described as more of a tank. Although previews have seemed positive that's quite a shift for a game known for speed. Elden Ring Nightreign likewise sees major changes introducing a procedurally generated world which constantly shrinks and an emphasis on multiplayer, although there is a single-player mode.

 

[Smacktard]

Elden Ring Nightreign likewise sees major changes introducing a procedurally generated world which constantly shrinks and an emphasis on multiplayer, although there is a single-player mode.

i will now buy game

 

[Crazy Jamie]

Doom looks quite funky. For those that don't know, it's a very different game to the last two which has been made much slower, with the player being described as more of a tank. Although previews have seemed positive that's quite a shift for a game known for speed.

I'll put this back on my radar. I assumed that I wouldn't like it because I didn't like the shift from Doom to Eternal. It just felt to me like Eternal was designed to be too fast compared to the original and I just didn't have fun with it. Not because of the difficulty per se, but because I constantly had to be doing things like moving, strafe jumping etc. There was absolutely no room for strategy, which I felt like there was in the first game. It didn't grab me. But if Dark Ages is slower I'll certainly pay more attention to it.

 

[dimmerwit]

Game Pass May games are confirmed:

Date	Game	Win	XSX
1	Anno 1800	✔	✔
1	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)	✔	✔
6	Dredge	✔	✔
7	Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2	✔	✔
8	Revenge of the Savage Planet	✔	✔
8	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed	✔	✔
13	Warhammer: Vermintide 2		✔
15	Doom: The Dark Ages	✔	✔
16	Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo	✔	✔
20	Firefighting Simulator: The Squad	✔	✔
20	Police Simulator: Patrol Officers	✔	✔
28	to a T	✔	✔
TBD	Spray Paint Simulator		✔

 

[Spiner202]

Ghost of Yotei will release on 2nd October.

I ended up buying Ghost of Tsushima today. There are a few things ahead of it in my backlog, but I figure that with Ghost of Yotei coming out this year, it's possible GoT could actually go up in price. I'm pretty sure the same thing happened to all of the Souls games when Elden Ring came out.

 

[dimmerwit]

The previously leaked 8 August date for Mafia: The Old Country is confirmed.

They also describe it as a "linear highly-polished narrative experience that can easily complement the other more persistent games our players also love and engage with on a more consistent basis".

I've never taken to the Mafia series, despite the fact they're the type of games I usually like. Hopefully this one will change that.

Edit: Additionally the Gex Trilogy, a remake of the classic PS1 games, launches on 16 June.