April 24 - 30

  Felix “Cal Bestis” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “125th Anniversary of the declaration of the Spanish-American War” week!

On April 25, 1898, America declared war on Spain for refusing to get out of Cuba. It backdated its declaration to April 21, which I didn’t know you could do: “Oh yeah, well I was at war with you 4 days ago!” Anyhoo, America went on to win and that’s how Puerto Rico and Guam became territories of the USA. You may all celebrate by playing a game where you say you’re only starting wars to protect your smaller friends.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the first big game on my 2023 wishlist. Fallen Order came out at the tail end of the PS4/Xbox One era in 2019, and it was a solid experience—the rough edges on the combat and exploration were smoothed over by a decent story and the general Star Wars sheen. Survivor looks to deliver on the same formula, but bigger and with quality of life tweaks.

The “bigger” starts with an expanded combat system. Cal starts with all the powers he finished with in Fallen Order, so there’s more lightsaber skills and more force powers on offer. The lightsaber styles have been more strictly divided into stances, with a skill tree for each. Similar to Ghost of Tsushima, the idea is that different enemies are weak to certain stances, giving combat encounters a rock-scissors-paper feel. How it plays out is more uncertain. Even in Ghost of Tsushima, you could fudge the stances in the mid-to-late game once you’d maxed out skill trees and pure offense, but it took a dozen hours to get there. All the previews for Survivor are heavily embargoed and based off playing an opening area in the first few hours of the game, so they can’t really give a feel for the depth of the combat.

There’s also a bigger and more luscious map, as you’d expect for a next-gen sequel. The exploration is where many niggles from the first game are addressed. Players who were frustrated with the constant backtracking in Fallen Order will be happy to know that there is fast travel now. Plus, the rewards for exploring are not just ponchos and lightsaber handles —they’re entire outfits and hairstyles! There’s also collectibles for your home base hub, like seeds for a garden and music tracks for a jukebox.

If you’re not into pushing stormtroopers off of ledges, there’s a grab-bag of indies to dive into.

PUNCHERMAN!: First Day is like Octodad but all you can do is punch. It’s about a retired FPS hero who is done with vanquishing waves of goons with his fists, and is now trying to retire and be a good husband and father. With only punching. Could be a coupla physics-based LULZ, could be a searing indictment of toxic masculinity.

Bramble: The Mountain King is a 3D adventure game about a child brother looking for his sister. There’s a horror element, as it is set in a haunted forest, and your character being a small boy makes everything seem bigger and extra spooky. There will also be some David vs Goliath boss fights.

Strayed Lights is a fantasy action adventure game. It’s Souls-lite, in that there’s parry-based melee combat, but not such harsh penalties for dying.

Trinity Trigger is an action JRPG which got 31/40 from Famitsu when it released in Japan last year. Its main hook is that it allows co-op with friends, which not many JRPGs do.

Dungeon Drafters is a card-battle dungeon crawler. The Last Case of Benedict Fox is a spooky Castlevanioid.

Desta: The Memories Between is a Netflix game about solving puzzles on a grid laden with obstacles, similar to Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

On the Switch and PC, there’s Minabo: A walk through life, which is a game about social relationships. You are an anthropomorphised turnip, who grows differently depending on the other turnips and beings you associate with. By choosing how you build your social circle, you can end up going in various directions: starting a family, owning lots of pets, or something entirely different. Each character and life is randomly generated.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is my clear pick this week. I’m not expecting a perfect game, but as a Star Wars game that I can enjoy with my son, it will do nicely. My bet is that combat will still be a little janky, and I will turn down the difficulty to suit, unless my hardcore son shames me out of it. GOTW.

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

PC

• 04-24

• 3D PUZZLE - Vintage House
• ALTER EGO
• Amalgamare
• Archmage Rises
• Ball Wall
• Beat Banger
• BIKI BIKI FLIP
• Cluster Tower
• Elevator
• Friends World
• Graveyard Sprint
• Hidden Cats in Medieval Times
• Hoping Forest
• Hypno-Mart
• Imaginal Voyages
• Lichenvale
• Lichkeeper
• Life Of Pi
• MISTROGUE: Mist and the Living Dungeons
• Mystic Blast
• One Eleven
• PhaigeX: Hyperspace Survivors
• PhotonVERSE
• PUNCHERMAN!: First Day
• Pure Logic
• Puzzlepops! Plus
• Re:Fresh
• Remote Planets
• RoboSlayer
• Runic Defenders: Trials of Ascension
• Samurai Survivors
• Save The Forest
• Serene Hike
• Shadows of Doubt
• Sisypush
• StarCore Legacy
• The Adventures of Mr. Willickers the Rotting Mule
• Verisim Skies

• 04-25

• Afterimage
• Bad Cops
• DinoPlanet VR
• Dragon Spirits
• Echo of the Last Light
• Katana-Ra: Shinobi Rising
• Lifeless Song
• Mage Tower, A Tower Defense Card Game
• Magical Drop VI
• Mech Mastery
• NeonHClouds
• Number8
• Oddyssey: Your Space, Your Way
• Robots - Invaders
• Roots of Pacha
• SCP: Observer
• Shadow Saboteur
• SHOVELBOY
• Sky division
• Solas City Heroes
• Square Wave
• Stranded: Alien Dawn
• Strayed Lights
• Together in Battle
• Trinity Trigger
• Tulgey Wood

• 04-26

• Art Gallery Simulator
• Auto Mechanic Sim
• Cassette Beasts
• Contraptions 2
• Desperate Shootout
• Desta: The Memories Between
• Dr Wan
• Dungeon in Grid Puzzles
• Ed's world story
• Enchanted Voyage
• Interstellar Expedition
• Invasion: Family Ties
• Jump Up, Jerry!
• Mystery in the Office
• Natural Disaster: A Butterfly's Guide to Mass Destruction
• Neko Rescue Tale
• PlasmaBlast 0.0.0
• Shapes & Shots - Prologue
• Ship Graveyard Simulator 2: Prologue
• Square Brain
• The Forgotten Concluder
• Zombie Defense

• 04-27

• ArcRunner
• Ash of Gods: The Way
• Bramble: The Mountain King
• Busy Bee
• Cadence Cuties
• Crystarise
• Doggo Garden Defense
• DragonStone
• Dungeon Drafters
• FANTAVISION 202X
• Fish 'N' Chips
• G.O.M.P!
• GRAB
• Great Again
• Horror Maze 2
• Junk Survivor
• Kao the Kangaroo: Mystery of the Volcano
• Legend of Youlong
• Lightballs
• Live A Live
• Mail Time
• MimiK
• Mine
• Mini Star Cafe
• Omega Strikers
• Paper Bride 4 Red Silk
• Puzzle Wizards
• Shepherd's Crossing
• Skiing Frenzy
• Smashpunks
• Space Wing Cadet
• Succubus Alchemist: Transformation, Orgasming Hell
• Super Kill-BOI 9000
• The Hellchemist
• The Last Case of Benedict Fox
• THE MILKED BUSTY STEPSISTER
• The Strangers
• The Swordsmen X: Survival
• Treachery in Beatdown City: Ultra Remix
• Unwording
• Welcome to Qiqu Club
• Witch Rise
• Wukong Odyssey
• You Who Are Not Forgotten

• 04-28

• A Good Truck Driver
• Academy Carols
• AmazeVR Megan Thee Stallion VR Concert
• Artemis: Book One
• Assassins of Darkness
• At the dream end
• Auver
• Bad Times at the Silver Lake
• Blood Swordsman Shadow
• Bone Boy
• Build the Garden of Easden
• BURGER IMPACT: SOLAR STRIKE
• Chernobyl: Origins
• City of Dusk
• Climb New York Parkour VR
• Deadbait
• Depths of Insanity
• Don't Take It Personally, I Just Don't Like You
• ELEGIES: Aya
• Expel
• Fantasy Love
• G.O.P.O.T.A
• Gematombe
• Green Reaper
• Jump, Dodge, Die, Repeat
• Light and Shadow - Doppelganger
• Madness Chambers
• MEATGUN
• Minabo - A walk through life
• My monstrous roommate. (etude)
• Odin's Ring
• One Flag: A 2D Puzzle-Platformer
• Pickup Artist Trouble
• Pixel Town: Akanemachi Mystery 2
• Pixels N Pistols
• Poly Jigsaw: Dinosaurs
• Pong Pong Crows
• Project: InfoGrid
• Puzzle Party VR
• Re:Touring
• Seed of Agony
• Shutter
• Skinny & Franko: Fists of Violence
• Sole Saga
• SpacePod
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Starjet Fights
• Stickman and the sword of legends
• Sugar Sweet Temptation
• Survival for Treasure
• Sword Smash
• TETRAGUN
• The Filth of Us
• The Goblins are Coming
• Toon Toon Racing
• Varney Lake
• Voltorometer Recharged +
• Welcome to Goodland

• 04-30

• Hell Of A Racket
• Wyvia: Prologue

Xbox Series X

• 04-25

• Afterimage
• Roots of Pacha
• Stranded: Alien Dawn
• Strayed Lights
• TramSim: Console Edition

• 04-26

• Ampersat
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle - Special Edition
• Mangavania
• Neko Rescue Tale

• 04-27

• ArcRunner
• Bramble: The Mountain King
• Omega Strikers
• The Creepy Syndrome
• The Last Case of Benedict Fox
• Tin Can
• Treachery in Beatdown City: Ultra Remix

• 04-28

• Gematombe
• Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Sweet Bakery Tycoon

Xbox One

• 04-25

• Afterimage
• Roots of Pacha
• Smile For Me
• Stranded: Alien Dawn
• Strayed Lights

• 04-26

• Ampersat
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle - Special Edition
• Mangavania
• Neko Rescue Tale

• 04-27

• ArcRunner
• Bramble: The Mountain King
• Omega Strikers
• The Creepy Syndrome
• The Last Case of Benedict Fox
• Tin Can
• Treachery in Beatdown City: Ultra Remix
• Velocity Noodle

• 04-28

• Gematombe
• Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
• Nuclear Blaze
• Sweet Bakery Tycoon
• Varney Lake

PlayStation 5

• 04-25

• Afterimage
• Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord
• R-Type Final 3 Evolved
• Roots of Pacha
• Stranded: Alien Dawn
• Strayed Lights
• TramSim: Console Edition
• Trinity Trigger

• 04-26

• Neko Rescue Tale

• 04-27

• ArcRunner
• Bramble: The Mountain King
• Live A Live
• Tin Can

• 04-28

• 8Doors: Arum's Afterlife Adventure
• Gematombe
• Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

PlayStation 4

• 04-25

• Afterimage
• Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord
• Roots of Pacha
• Stranded: Alien Dawn
• Strayed Lights
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution
• TramSim: Console Edition
• Trinity Trigger

• 04-26

• Neko Rescue Tale

• 04-27

• ArcRunner
• Live A Live
• Tin Can
• Velocity Noodle

• 04-28

• 8Doors: Arum's Afterlife Adventure
• Bramble: The Mountain King
• Drago Noka
• Gematombe
• Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Switch

• 04-24

• Smile For Me

• 04-25

• Afterimage
• DoraKone
• Droid Trivia
• DROP - System Breach
• Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord
• Magical Drop VI
• Roots of Pacha
• Strayed Lights
• Trinity Trigger
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Expansion Pass Wave 4

• 04-26

• Aliens: Fireteam Elite
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite - Pathogen
• Desta: The Memories Between
• Mangavania
• Neko Rescue Tale
• The Excrawlers

• 04-27

• 44 Minutes in Nightmare
• Ash of Gods: The Way
• Bramble: The Mountain King
• Contraptions 2
• Convenience Stories
• Fortress S
• Invercity
• Mercenaries Lament: Requiem of the Silver Wolf
• Mugen Souls
• Ninja Smasher!
• Omega Strikers
• Picross S 9
• Roomie Romance
• Spooky Spirit Shooting Gallery
• Super Trunko Go
• The Creepy Syndrome
• Velocity Noodle

• 04-28

• AMAZE!
• AMAZE! Level Pack 1
• AMAZE! Level Pack 2
• Chernobyl: Origins
• Dig Deep
• Dormitory Love
• Fran Bow
• Gematombe
• LOUD: My Trip to Japan
• Minabo - A walk through life
• Nuclear Blaze
• Piano for kids
• Super Alloy Ranger
• The Companion
• Varney Lake

• 04-30

• Terra Flame