December 2 - 8

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IMAGE(https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/pictures/pictures/picture-13445.jpg)   Felix “Psyche!” Threepaper

Welcome, and happy “165th Anniversary of the Eureka Stockade” week! You may all celebrate by downing tools and burning down a pub.

This is an odd week, filled with puzzling entries in established IPs.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York is not a sequel to cult classic Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, but it is based on the same tabletop RPG. The devs are going for more of a Telltale-style experience than a fully-fledged RPG, so they’ve removed a lot of crunchy mechanical stuff, like levelling and weapon stats, in order to concentrate on dialogue and story choices.

Darksiders Genesis is a top-down, hack’n’slash Diablo-clone that serves as a prequel to the other games, at least in terms of lore. It introduces the Darksiders version of the fourth horseperson of the apocalypse: Strife, who wields 2 pistols, because videogames. You can switch between Strife and War in single player, or have a buddy join in for co-op.

Two Worlds II HD - Shattered Embrace is the second piece of DLC for Two Worlds II, a game which came out in 2011. I actually played and finished Two Worlds II. It’s a solid B-grade open world RPG with ambitious scope, brought down by glaring flaws. It seems to be big in Europe. This DLC offers HD-upscaled graphics and a new island to play on, full of elves. I’m baffled as to who would want this DLC now. Surely after 8 years, actual Two Worlds fans would want Two Worlds 3, and the promise of iterative improvement that a sequel often brings, rather than an extra chapter of the old game? If you’re one of those fans, tough: the sequel was reportedly pushed back to 2022 so this DLC could be finished. You can play the DLC standalone, without the base game, like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

There’s some remastered, rebundled packages of older Halo and Assassin’s Creed games coming out, to keep some sizzle during a year of no new entries for either series.

Remember roughly this time last year, and how much fun everyone was having with Spider-Man? Did you complain that Spider-Man did not realistically render the damage that a body would suffer during collisions it may have while swinging at high speed between skyscrapers? Would you like a game that does that? In VR? Look out! Here comes Swinger-Man. It bills itself as “the Super Meat Boy of Spider Man experiences”.

Heroland is set in an RPG theme park where you play as the tour guide, ushering the hero guests through their adventures. It’s a novel twist on the genre, written by the guy who directed Mother 3. I’ll give it a GOTW for almost selling me on a 16-bit JRPG.

Here's the list, now in release-date order!

PC

  • 12-02

  • XO
  • Sunflower
  • Swinger-Man
  • Lost Empire 2977
  • Empty Sharp
  • A Pirate's Pleasure
  • Sub Terra Draconis
  • Glyph
  • Trapped in Fear
  • Qi Qiang
  • KUMO The Little Robot
  • Paint Warfare
  • Noroshi Oo Shin
  • Endless Tower
  • 12-03

  • Phoenix Point
  • EarthNight
  • Halo: The Master Chief Collection
  • Life is Strange 2: Episode 5
  • Tools Up!
  • SaGa: Scarlet Grace - Ambitions
  • RollerPlay
  • Arise: A Simple Story
  • Valakas Story
  • Heroes Of Avranche
  • Spaceman
  • MANIC
  • Cosmo story
  • Reika Memory
  • ToGather:Island
  • Heroland
  • Halo: Reach Remastered
  • Arzt Simulator
  • Easter Egg
  • Pirates on Deck VR
  • Press Forward OOOOONNNNN
  • 12-04

  • Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York
  • Everreach: Project Eden
  • Day of Dragons
  • Majula Frontier: The Offense
  • Door In The Woods
  • Dream Detective
  • Ray Versus
  • Fear of Dark
  • Paunch
  • strike mole
  • Volleyball Fever Flat
  • Dawnfall
  • Remuage - MeltySensation
  • Hermes: War of the Gods
  • 12-05

  • Mosaic
  • Retimed
  • Counter Terrorist Agency
  • Mist Hunter
  • Interrogation: You will be deceived
  • Strategic Command: World War I
  • Darksiders Genesis
  • Cryptofall: Investor simulator
  • 6souls
  • Monophobia
  • Oppaidius Tropical Cruise!
  • Shape Cascade
  • Don't Die, Minerva!
  • MouseWars Party
  • Draconic Echoes: The Ardent War
  • Fox-Trot Over Run
  • The incredible friends
  • Neighbourhood Loot
  • Best in the West
  • Gang District
  • Drone Combat
  • 12-06

  • Battle of the Bands
  • Galactic Tanks
  • Little Dungeon Stories
  • Floaty Fighters
  • Disco Bullets
  • Binky show
  • Concept Destruction
  • AstronTycoon2: Ritual
  • Ransomware Dating Sim
  • Playmobil: The Movie VR Adventures
  • Vladimir Putin Style
  • Exitium
  • Two Worlds II HD - Shattered Embrace
  • 33 Rounds
  • NARWHAR Project Hornwhale
  • Memody: Sindrel Song
  • Suite 776
  • The Battles of Spwak 3
  • Natsu no Iro no Nostalgia
  • Snowballs
  • Inferna
  • MMA President
  • Classic Snake Adventures
  • Ski Jumping Pro VR
  • 12-08

  • CO-JUMP,FLY

PS4

  • 12-03

  • EarthNight
  • Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
  • Life is Strange 2: Episode 5
  • Tools Up!
  • Heroland
  • SaGa: Scarlet Grace - Ambitions
  • Mars Odyssey
  • Fight'N Rage
  • Arise: A Simple Story
  • Blair Witch
  • 12-05

  • Star Ocean: First Departure R
  • Kerbal Space Program: Breaking Ground Expansion
  • 12-06

  • Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
  • Immortal Planet

Xbox One

  • 12-03

  • Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
  • Life is Strange 2: Episode 5
  • Tools Up!
  • Arise: A Simple Story
  • Halo: Reach Remastered
  • Trover Saves the Universe
  • 12-04

  • Everreach: Project Eden
  • Big Pharma
  • Seek Hearts
  • 12-05

  • Kerbal Space Program: Breaking Ground Expansion
  • Heroland
  • 12-06

  • Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
  • Immortal Planet

Switch

  • 12-02

  • SaGa: Scarlet Grace - Ambitions
  • 12-03

  • Skellboy
  • Tools Up!
  • Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
  • Heroland
  • EarthNight
  • Farming Simulator 20
  • JigSaw Solace
  • SIMULACRA
  • 12-05

  • Tick Tock: A Tale for Two
  • Star Ocean: First Departure R
  • Alien: Isolation
  • Big Pharma
  • Must Dash Amigos
  • Defenders of Ekron: Definitive Edition
  • NekoMiko
  • Sacred Stones
  • 12-06

  • Assassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection
  • Breathing Fear
  • Immortal Planet
  • Space Pioneer

Comments

Waiting for the console release of Darksiders Genesis, which comes out on Valentines day no less - great for that couch co-op demon slaying with the one you love. Currently playing Darksiders III thanks to Game Pass on PC.

Heroland! I keep forgetting about this game since they renamed it from Work x Work. I'd be all over it, but ...

SaGa: Scarlet Grace finally hits US shores after the Vita release was passed over for localization, so we're getting the re-release on Switch and PS4. It's the first original SaGa game in forever and plays a bit differently than most games. It was clearly made on a limited budget, but still contains the weirdness you may look for in a SaGa game.

Having wrung every last drop of enjoyment out of XCOM2 over the years, I'm super excited for Phoenix Point.