June 5 - 11

  Felix “Gothic Romance” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “[redacted] anniversary of my birth” week!

Yes, it’s my birthday today. No history tidbits, just yay me. You may all have a huge party to celebrate.

Diablo IV fully releases this week, after some open betas and early access. Early buzz is good. Aesthetically, it’s like an evolution of the dark art style in Diablo 2, rather than the more cartoony and colourful Diablo 3. Gameplay-wise, it’s a collection of ARPG greatest hits, picking up some tips from Path of Exile and Lost Ark along the way. The story is a Diablo story: cutscenes with high production values that barely make sense to me. Diablo IV doesn’t redefine the ARPG, but it’s a polished package that keeps Diablo current with its competitors.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom is the summer expansion in this MMO that just keeps growing. If you enjoyed the Apocrypha portions of the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim, this is like a super-fleshed out version of that, with particular focus on eyeballs and tentacles. The new magic class, the Arcanist, draws power from Hermaeus Mora to heal, buff, or deal damage. The new areas to visit include the Apocrypha realm, as well as Necrom, the Dark Elf capital city. It’s another season of TESO, strap in!

Apart from these huge fantasy timesinks, there’s some indies and annual sports titles.

Tiny Thor is a 16-bit arcade platformer where you play as Thor, but the real star is Mjolnir. Your trusty hammer will unlock all the combat and traversal abilities to get you through the puzzles and enemies. You start with a cool ricochet ability, where you can bounce Mjolnir off of enemies and the environment for multi-hits, and you discover more as you go.

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is by the devs of the Life is Strange games, Don’t Nod. So it’s a choice-driven, narrative adventure game with a new setting that switches between a futuristic Mediterranean city and a fantasy realm of gods. It’s presented in a visual novel style, rather than walking around a 3D space. As you’d expect from Don’t Nod, the game tracks all of your choices and reactions, which will branch out the storylines and endings as a result.

Mask of the Rose is by Failbetter games, the devs of Sunless Seas and Sunless Skies. It is in the same world of those games: Fallen London, with its dark gothic sensibilities. This time you’re investigating murders, but also trying to find romance for your friends, or even yourself. It’s all an excuse to explore the city and talk to people.

Inhabit is a game by an Aussie studio with anthropomorphic chores. It’s got a 16-bit, Stardew Valley look, and as you do your chores they come to life and become your friends. It seems quite peaceful and affirming.

On the sports front, there’s Motosport GP 2023 and Tour de France 2023 for all your two-wheeled needs.

Riders Republic is an open-world sport MMO where you can bike, ski, wingsuit, or snowboard in huge races of up to 50 people. Get to the finish line, any which way you can.

Super Drunken Guy is a cheap Super Mario Bros knockoff coming out on the Switch. It could also be me later this week, if we get enough people along to the kegger.

Although Diablo IV is the biggest game this week, it’s not my GOTW. ARPGs have long been service games, to be played through multiple times, which is where they lose me. After one run through the story, I feel done, but that’s really just the beginning. Diablo IV is for the grinders and the raiders.

Instead, Mask of the Rose is my GOTW. Failbetter has done so much groundwork in building the Fallen London setting that it plays confidently within it, and the writing is really good. I’m also drawn in by the gameplay blend of investigation and romance. I can’t wait to meet the quirky characters in Mask of the Rose and noodle around town, not knowing if I’m ‘winning’ or not.

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

PC

• 06-05

• CityDriver
• Colorlines
• Corpse Master
• Dragon Dodge Valley
• Eigengrau
• Lhama Clicker Prologue
• Liberation (WINTERS)
• Mini Drifters: World Racing '89
• NANOFORCE tactical surgeon fighter
• Old Town Bus Simulator
• Repella Fella
• Secrets of the Witch House
• Square Inertia
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom
• Tiny Thor
• Z World

• 06-06

• Alien Protection
• Amnesia: The Bunker
• AUTOPISTA
• BEYOND THE EVIL
• Ciudad Alfombra
• Death Roads: Tournament Prologue
• Diablo IV
• Edmund and Eliza
• Forest Horror
• IF: Walls could answer
• Loop8: Summer of Gods
• My Senior Happy Life
• Ornament Express
• RoomNo.404
• Saivu
• Society (Comma Studio)
• Tag Online
• The Kingdom of the End & The Witch of the Beginning
• Their Land
• Xian Yu Xiuxian Zhinan

• 06-07

• Arcade Classics (Reza Mirzaei)
• Arcana: Heat and Cold. Stories
• Battle Grid
• Brain Show
• Bunker Builder Simulator: Prologue
• Chasing rabbits in snow
• Espresso Tycoon
• Grand Emprise: Prologue
• Late Night Drive
• Nocturnal
• Quantaar
• R.O.O.T.
• The Lotus Holidays
• Tracks of Triumph: Retro Blast
• VR travel as a little tiny small dwarf
• Zombie Soup

• 06-08

• A Whisper in the Twilight - Chapter One
• Battle of Zama
• Bleak Sword DX
• Camping
• Cyber Dose
• DHL Box Stacker Pro
• Fenrir's fury
• Force of Nature 2: Prologue
• Harmony: The Fall of Reverie
• James Peris 2: La fuente de la eterna embriaguez
• King of Fate
• Mask of the Rose
• Matrix Hearts - Season 1
• MotoGP 23
• Pokemon Trading Card Game Live
• Pro Cycling Manager 2023
• Public Bounce
• Realms Edge
• Slayer
• Survivors Will
• System of Souls
• Tour de France 2023
• Undead Citadel
• Unibat
• YGGDRASILL

• 06-09

• 9-Ball Pocket
• Adventure Diary
• Avia corporation
• Block Tower TD
• Burning Branch
• Carnage in Space: Crucible
• Cat-aclysm
• CODA
• Death Rabbit Arena
• Enatus Radi
• Energy Collector
• Ethereal Rift
• Fairy Biography4 : Affair
• Greyhill Incident
• HexBat
• I commissioned some pigeons
• Kunoichi Demon Slayers
• Magic and Machines
• Magic Cube 4D VR
• Nacht-sama is quitting being the demon king!
• Nyanpaya
• Pixel Punk
• Quadrium 2
• Riders Republic
• Rise of Jericho
• South Scrimshaw, Part One
• Super Archer
• The Proponent
• The Pulse of Evil
• The Silicon Shadow
• Thunderday
• True Driver
• Wordsearch Attack

• 06-10

• HANA : Hide and seek
• Lita's Dream
• Street Fighting Grandma

• 06-11

• Exchange Student

Xbox Series X

• 06-06

• Amnesia: The Bunker
• Diablo IV
• Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX

• 06-07

• Nocturnal
• SENSEs: Midnight
• Toodee and Topdee

• 06-08

• MotoGP 23

• 06-09

• Greyhill Incident

Xbox One

• 06-06

• Amnesia: The Bunker
• Diablo IV
• Loop8: Summer of Gods
• Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX

• 06-07

• Nocturnal
• SENSEs: Midnight
• Terminal Velocity: Boosted Edition
• Toodee and Topdee

• 06-08

• MotoGP 23
• Truck Driver: Heading North

• 06-09

• Aery - The Lost Hero

PlayStation 5

• 06-06

• Diablo IV
• Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX

• 06-07

• Nocturnal
• SENSEs: Midnight
• Toodee and Topdee

• 06-08

• MotoGP 23

• 06-09

• Greyhill Incident

PlayStation 4

• 06-06

• Amnesia: The Bunker
• Diablo IV
• Loop8: Summer of Gods
• Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX

• 06-07

• Nocturnal
• SENSEs: Midnight
• Terminal Velocity: Boosted Edition
• Toodee and Topdee

• 06-08

• MotoGP 23
• Truck Driver: Heading North

• 06-09

• Greyhill Incident

Switch

• 06-06

• Dreamy Trail
• Loop8: Summer of Gods
• Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX

• 06-07

• Brain Show
• Nocturnal
• Reasoning of Courage Nori 3 Balanced Diet
• SENSEs: Midnight

• 06-08

• A Painter's Tale: Curon, 1950
• Angel Symphony
• Bleak Sword DX
• Cubic Figures 2
• Demon Sword: Incubus
• Harmony: The Fall of Reverie
• Inhabit
• Mask of the Rose
• MotoGP 23
• Sakura Dungeon
• Speed Crew
• Talk to Strangers

• 06-09

• Avia corporation
• Cat Souls
• Dogotchi: Virtual Pet
• Super Drunken Guy