March 6 - 12

Section: 

IMAGE(https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/pictures/pictures/picture-13445.jpg)   Felix “Don’t Stop Believin” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “5th Anniversary of the confirmation of the world’s oldest message in a bottle” week!

In January 2018, a couple was walking along the beach on Wedge Island in South Australia, when they found a bottle in the sand. It had a rolled-up piece of paper inside, which, after being dried in the oven for a few minutes, could be unrolled to reveal the message. It was dated 12 June 1886 and included coordinates, details of the ship and captain, their departure and arrival port, and a request to contact the German embassy upon finding the message. They gave the bottle up for historical verification, and an archival search in Germany came up with a result on 6 March, finding the captain’s logs and an entry dated 12 June 1886, noting that he threw a bottle overboard. You may all celebrate by playing The Order 1886.

I’ve been playing Forspoken, and it’s a lot better than the previews made it out to be. The writing is no worse (or better) than many AAA open-world games. Aloy was just as much the reluctant hero in the first Horizon game. The magic combat and traversal are a heap of fun, once you unlock more of your spellbook. My only gripe is being frequently taken out of play—there’s a lot of title card screens for story beats, and every time you finish a side quest or get a new tutorial tip or archive entry, it takes you from your game screen into a menu screen. So much of the combat and traversal are about flow and momentum, and having to X out of menu screens every few minutes stutters things up. The game’s fun! Don’t take me out of it so much.

Anyhoo, what about new games? There’s no big AAA releases, leaving the week open for indies, remasters, and DLC.

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is what happens when a Castlevanioid levels up enough to just become Castlevania. The student becomes the master in this mash-up.

Romancelvania is a dating sim with some side-scrolling combat. You’re a vampire on a reality dating show, who battles through levels to find a monster at the end that you can romance.

The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition is the full 2019 game plus all its DLC for the latest consoles. The release is not super newsworthy in itself (though it’s a perfectly cromulent game), but suggests that The Outer Worlds 2 may not be far away.

Dead by Daylight: Tools of Torment is the 27th chapter of the asymmetrical multiplayer horror game. Despite lacklustre reception for its last few chapters, and losing the Stranger Things content, it continues to shamble on.

DC Justice League: Cosmic Chaos is a G-rated dungeon-crawler. The heroes look like minifigs, and they explore an open world hub to find dungeons. As you’d expect, each hero has their signature powers and upgrades, and we hit the same problem that all Justice League content suffers from: Superman makes everyone redundant, so he has to be majorly nerfed. Best not to think about it and enjoy the ride.

Mato Anomalies is a AA-level JRPG with a detective story involving demonic rifts, card-based dialogue, and turn-based combat. It’s got an anime aesthetic with high production values, but is not quite polished as a Final Fantasy.

Clash: Artifacts of Chaos is a 3rd-person brawler with an odd aesthetic. The devs call it “punk fantasy” and it’s a beautiful, cel-shaded natural environment, populated with grotesque, sinewy humanoid-animal characters. Aesthetics aside, it looks like a God of War clone, in that you are essentially escorting a character (named Boy) through the world, having combat and earning XP along the way. The combat doesn’t look as well-tuned as in God of War, but all the basic elements are there. There’s also an in-game game. In-game games are so hot right now!

Final Profit: A Shop RPG is made by an Aussie bloke and is about maintaining a dungeoneer supply shop, but also with some pointed comments about capitalism. Well done, that bloke.

On the Switch and PlayStation, Little Witch Nobeta is an action game about being a witch, exploring a castle and learning a bunch of spells to fire off in combat, culminating in boss fights.

There’s nothing in my wheelhouse this week. I’ll give the GOTW to Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania just because I’m so glad for the Dead Cells devs that this mash-up even happened. It’s like when Journey recruited that guy from a Journey cover band to be the new lead singer of Journey.

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

PC

  • 03-06

  • Aniballs
  • Burg Wimmel
  • CalmLine
  • Chainmonsters
  • Citizens: Far Lands - Prologue
  • Conur Life
  • CucumbeRunner
  • Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania
  • Fabulous Field Trip
  • Final Profit: A Shop RPG
  • Flowa
  • Games to Learn Programming
  • Ghostly Moans
  • House Builder VR
  • Ka: Keepers & Assassins
  • KOP KILLER 22XX
  • Lawnmower Game: Zombies
  • Little Garden
  • Milo no Senki 3
  • NecroCity: Prologue
  • Riding Horse School
  • Rogue Sweeper
  • Saccharine Pale
  • Sakura Succubus 7
  • Sands
  • Shelltered
  • Swords & Bones 3
  • 03-07

  • A Mountain of One
  • Best Pearl
  • Crazy Clown
  • Cryogenesis
  • Dead by Daylight: Tools of Torment
  • Evil's Den
  • Find the Energy
  • Hotel Renovator
  • Jigsaw Puzzles: Fantasy Landscapes
  • Lattice Dancer
  • Leta Adventure
  • Not Anyone's Business But My Own
  • Outlanders
  • Romancelvania
  • Steelborn
  • Tank Online: War Shooting Simulator
  • The Azmodeus Project
  • The Obscura Experiment
  • The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition
  • The Whisperer
  • Up To Clouds
  • Windosill: Steam Deck Edition
  • 03-08

  • 1980s90s Style - Retro Track Car Racer
  • BAT HERO - Legendary Edition
  • Blue Wednesday: Prologue
  • CHI NINJA
  • Climber
  • Contraband Police
  • Crossroad of Worlds: Mirrors to Other worlds
  • Heralds of Silence. Chapter one
  • Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
  • Pretend Cars Racing
  • SEARCH ALL - FRUITS
  • Snafu
  • Stellar Sovereigns
  • STRIPPERS
  • The Magical Land of Canada
  • Troubled Times
  • TruXposure VR
  • Untold Love Stories
  • Zup! Q
  • 03-09

  • AA Soldiers
  • Alkurai
  • Ancient Saga: Vikings Journey - Resource Management Simulator
  • Australian Football Coach 2023
  • Caverns of Mars: Recharged
  • Chests, City, Clicker
  • Chippy & Noppo
  • Christmas Night
  • Clash: Artifacts of Chaos
  • Copter Strike VR
  • Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance
  • Darker Tides
  • Dirty Vampires - An RPG Tower Defence Adventure
  • DOOMSDAY SURVIVORS
  • Drain Mansion
  • Dude Simulator 5
  • Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
  • Figment 2: Creed Valley
  • Geko: entering the pipe
  • Halls of Torment: Prelude
  • Haulin' Oats
  • Hellscreen
  • Hunt
  • Jigsaw Puzzle Delicious Foods
  • Jump Barrel
  • Masterplan Tycoon
  • Mechafare
  • Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 6
  • ONI: Road to be the Mightiest Oni
  • PINO THE ELEMENTAL
  • Relic Space
  • Spaceship Ace Pilot
  • Stars Arisen
  • Strawb
  • Super Ninja Miner
  • The Last Element
  • The Office Rush
  • Three Kingdoms: Legend of the General
  • Tiny Troopers: Global Ops
  • Ugmania
  • Ultimate Anime Jigsaw Puzzle
  • Volley Pals
  • Yayla
  • 03-10

  • Angelwood
  • ApplePop
  • Barricade
  • Bedrock High
  • Big Ambitions
  • Bleak Faith: Forsaken
  • Boulette Hell
  • BRoS - Battle Royale of Survival
  • Chronicles of Forgotten Tears
  • Cx6
  • Damsels of Vice 2: Project Mesmer
  • DC Justice League: Cosmic Chaos
  • Draft - In the woods
  • Dragon Escape
  • Eternal Dread 3
  • Etherion Online
  • EXPLORERS
  • Gore Storm
  • Helpless
  • Kinda Knirpsi
  • Lovelorn Sanatorium III
  • Mato Anomalies
  • Medchess
  • Mythology Waifus Mahjong
  • Paper Flight - Beyond Time
  • Phantom Island
  • RINA RhythmERROR
  • SHUFFLE! Episode2 ~Kami ni mo Akuma ni mo Nerawareteiru Otoko~
  • Space Slaves
  • StafferCase: a psychotic mystery adventure
  • The Black Grimoire: Cursebreaker
  • The Dorm Is Yours!
  • The Way Of Joy
  • Traveler's Bastion
  • Xheres
  • You Are Sick
  • 03-12

  • Alice in dreamland
  • Archery Simulator
  • Escape Dream
  • Helmetman
  • Metal War
  • Passed Out

Xbox Series X

  • 03-07

  • Dead by Daylight: Tools of Torment
  • Guilty Gear -Strive-
  • Romancelvania
  • The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition
  • 03-09

  • Clash: Artifacts of Chaos
  • Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
  • Figment 2: Creed Valley
  • Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 6
  • Papetura
  • Tiny Troopers: Global Ops
  • Transport Fever 2: Console Edition
  • Zapling Bygone
  • 03-10

  • DC Justice League: Cosmic Chaos
  • Mato Anomalies

Xbox One

  • 03-06

  • Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania
  • 03-07

  • Dead by Daylight: Tools of Torment
  • 03-08

  • KartRider: Drift
  • 03-09

  • Caverns of Mars: Recharged
  • Clash: Artifacts of Chaos
  • Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
  • Figment 2: Creed Valley
  • Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 6
  • Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism
  • Tiny Troopers: Global Ops
  • Transport Fever 2: Console Edition
  • Zapling Bygone
  • 03-10

  • DC Justice League: Cosmic Chaos
  • FLASHOUT 3
  • Mato Anomalies
  • Titanium Hound
  • Volley Pals

PlayStation 5

  • 03-07

  • Dead by Daylight: Tools of Torment
  • Romancelvania
  • The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition
  • 03-09

  • Clash: Artifacts of Chaos
  • Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
  • Figment 2: Creed Valley
  • Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 6
  • ONI: Road to be the Mightiest Oni
  • Papetura
  • The Last Spell
  • Tiny Troopers: Global Ops
  • Transport Fever 2: Console Edition
  • 03-10

  • Before Your Eyes
  • DC Justice League: Cosmic Chaos
  • Mato Anomalies

PlayStation 4

  • 03-06

  • Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania
  • 03-07

  • Dead by Daylight: Tools of Torment
  • Little Witch Nobeta
  • 03-08

  • KartRider: Drift
  • 03-09

  • Clash: Artifacts of Chaos
  • Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
  • Figment 2: Creed Valley
  • Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 6
  • ONI: Road to be the Mightiest Oni
  • The Last Spell
  • Tiny Troopers: Global Ops
  • Transport Fever 2: Console Edition
  • 03-10

  • DC Justice League: Cosmic Chaos
  • Mato Anomalies

Switch

  • 03-06

  • Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania
  • Puss in Boots: Interactive Book
  • 03-07

  • Dead by Daylight: Tools of Torment
  • Fire Emblem Engage: Expansion Pass Wave 3
  • Little Witch Nobeta
  • Pronty: Fishy Adventure
  • 03-09

  • A passive boy at the Huntress clinic
  • Antigravity Racing
  • Cannon Dancer Osman
  • Caverns of Mars: Recharged
  • Chippy & Noppo
  • Escaping a Fireworks Factory ~ Nyanzou & Kumakichi: Escape Game ~
  • Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
  • Figment 2: Creed Valley
  • Ib
  • Island Cities
  • Know by Heart...
  • Mari and Bayu - The Road Home
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass - Wave 4
  • Mystic Gate
  • ONI: Road to be the Mightiest Oni
  • Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
  • Record of Agarest War
  • Super Ninja Miner
  • The Good Life - Behind the secret of Rainy Woods
  • The Last Spell
  • Tiny Troopers: Global Ops
  • WHY I was Born
  • Zapling Bygone
  • 03-10

  • DC Justice League: Cosmic Chaos
  • EvilUP
  • Felix the Toy DX
  • Hike Trip
  • Mato Anomalies
  • Package Rush
  • Ski Resort Driver
  • 03-11

  • Titanium Hound

Comments

Highly recommend Zapling Bygone; it's got a very interesting take on the Metroid style and I enjoyed my time with it on PC. As for me, I'll be getting Romancelvania and there is one game not listed there that I kickstarted what seems forever ago in the distant days of 2013: 24 Killers. It should be releasing on March 9, according to the dev (one-man team). This one's got the Love-De-Lic charm (think Chulip and Moon) with a little more quirk than even their stable of games.

I picked up The Last Spell on Steam in anticipation of it's 1.0 Launch at the end of the week. An absolutely awesome game blending a lot of my favourites together. Turn based, rpg, rogue-lite, base-building, with tower defense horde mode elements. So many interesting micro and macro decisions to make. Definitely my favourite game I've played so far this year

The Last Spell looks neat! It certainly seems like it occupies a specific Glendon/Rich Venn diagram overlap.

I didnt realise The Last Spell was coming to the PlayStation I think i will be on that.