November 13 - 19

  Felix “Nice Saloon…” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “28th Anniversary of the release of GoldenEye” week!

Apparently, GoldenEye was a hit movie before being adapted into a generation-defining video game. It came out on 13 November 1995. It was the first Bond film that was not based on any of Ian Fleming’s stories… meaning that those batsh*t crazy Roger Moore movies WERE based on Fleming stories. It was also supposed to be Timothy Dalton’s final Bond movie, but delays caused by legal disputes between production companies ran out the time on his contract and Pierce Brosnan eventually got the gig instead. You may all celebrate by playing a game that was better than the movie.

There’s no big AAA titles this week, so let a thousand indies and expansions bloom.

Remnant II: The Awakened King is a chunky expansion that adds what every Soulslike expansion does: new character class, new boss fights, new dungeons, new gear. The new class, the Ritualist, is based on inflicting status effects and spreading them among enemies.

PowerWash Simulator: Back to the Future is probably the most unlikely crossover this week. In this expansion for the notoriously chill and satisfying jet-cleaning game, you get a chance to hose down iconic stuff from the Back to the Future trilogy, including the DeLorean, the Hill Valley Clock Tower, and Doc’s Time Train.

UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves is based on the legendary Japanese cartoon from the 1970s and switches between 3rd-person robot brawling and shmup sections. Saturday morning fun.

Crusader Kings III: Fate of Iberia is the console release of an expansion that adds the Spanish peninsula to the map, and a bunch of Christian or Muslim leaders to play in it. Funnily enough, just the other day I was listening to a cool podcast on the Plantagenets that made me want to finally give Crusader Kings III a go, after many failed attempts over the years. I started up a game in Ireland, marvelled at how lush the map looks, picked a wife for my king, stared dumbfounded at all the other menu options, and then noped the hell out, just like I always do.

Bluey: The Videogame is a survival horror shooter. Kidding! It’s multiplayer minigames, voiced by the English-speaking cast, minus the wholesome life lessons.

Teardown is a voxel game about doing heists in fully-destructible built environments. The levels look like they were built in Minecraft: factories, office buildings, construction sites, and city blocks. Then you get a bunch of tools that can break them in fun ways, from the humble sledgehammer to the blowtorch, and on to things that are more explosive. Smashing virtual stuff without hurting anyone is fun enough on its own, but the campaign missions are cleverly-designed puzzles with a timer and heaps of secondary objectives to provide replayability. Or you can just sandbox it, making your own fun with stunts and jumps.

Teardown: Time Campers is an expansion set in the wild west, so your demolition tools are a little more old-timey… although the sledgehammer is as reliable as ever.

Persona 5 Tactica is yet another Persona 5 spinoff. This time, it’s turn-based tactics on a grid as you move your Phantom Thieves around the map, flanking and taking cover to get the most out of their abilities. It’s cartoonier than the main games, making it the XCOM: Chimera Squad of Persona 5.

Remember Dredge, the eldritch horror fishing game that feels like it came out years ago but actually it was only last March? Well, The Pale Reach is its first expansion, with an arctic theme. You know the drill: explore sea, catch fish, go mad. Now with added ice-breaking!

Not For Broadcast: Bits of Your Life is DLC for a 2022 FMV game that’s about being the editor of a nightly TV news broadcast. The idea is that you’re in the editing booth during a live broadcast of a talk show. You’re picking the camera angles, choosing when to bring out the guests, cutting to commercials and editing out the swears, flubs and whatnot. This DLC focuses on a ‘This Is Your Life’ style interview about a TV-show host turned politician. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and I can’t tell if the satire is too broad, or how you ‘win’, but it could be silly fun.

On the Switch, there’s the Super Mario RPG remake. It’s an updated version of the original 1996 SNES game, which was Mario’s attempt at being Final Fantasy. It’s pretty much a straight remake, with a few quality of life improvements like difficulty modes, post-game boss rematches, and a bestiary to tell you about the enemies you’ve defeated. They may have added a power gauge that unlocks big moves after being filled by normal moves, but I’m not sure if that’s new as I didn’t have a SNES in the 1990s, or ever for that matter.

I’m still so full from 2023, I don’t know what I want this week, so I’m more likely to pick something I don’t usually play. Super Mario RPG is a stone-cold classic. Not For Broadcast: Bits of Your Life could be fun with friends and beers, but anything is fun with friends and beers. I like the physics-based demolition modelling of Teardown and Teardown: Time Campers. It’s like Red Faction: Guerilla on steroids. This is for the people who have TNT at number 1 spot on the hotbar in Minecraft.

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

PC

• 11-14

• Astral Ascent
• Cats Hidden in Maple Hollow
• Cattie
• Coral Island
• Dungeons of Mysteria
• Dystofarm
• Endless Maze
• Faded Stories: Full Moon
• Fish
• FORSISTED : The Sacred Souls
• Gods of the Twilight
• Hand Simulator: Aliens
• Hex Cats
• Invincible Presents: Atom Eve
• KarmaZoo
• Loca Deserta: Odesa
• Loco-Sort
• Love Potion
• Love's Crescendo
• My intimate love with the devil king
• Not For Broadcast: Bits of Your Life
• Paper Can't Fly
• Park Up - Car
• Ratyrinth
• Refind Self: The Personality Test Game
• Remnant II: The Awakened King
• Renaissance Kingdom Wars - Prologue
• Rogue Glitch Ultra
• Ruin
• Run and Hide
• Super Crazy Rhythm Castle
• The Crimson Pearl
• The Dot
• Ticket to Ride
• Udonge in Interspecies Cave
• UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves
• Ultimate Solitaire Collection
• Western Redemption
• Wizards Quest - Adventure in the Kingdom

• 11-15

• Cooktopia
• DOUDINGMAN
• Dungeon Legends 2 : Tale of Light and Shadow
• Escape The Glubinka
• Fruit Salad
• Infinite Runner
• Just Date
• Lake: Season's Greetings
• Life Makeover
• Night Pact: Azuru
• Project: Sword Art
• Protoplanet Express
• Rebellion: The Beginning
• Santa World
• Slipgate
• Space Captain McCallery - Episode 4: The Turquoise Temple
• Spellarium 10
• Storm Striker
• Tamara In The Forsaken Dungeon
• The Boy and the Cathedral
• TObOR
• Tourist Trap
• Volatile Particle
• Wormswarm
• Zipp's Cafe

Xbox Series X

• 11-14

• Coral Island
• Crusader Kings III: Fate of Iberia
• KarmaZoo
• Not For Broadcast: Bits of Your Life
• Remnant II: The Awakened King
• Super Crazy Rhythm Castle
• UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves

• 11-15

• Lake: Season's Greetings
• Lily in Puzzle World
• Teardown
• Teardown: Time Campers
• The Last Faith
• Tri6: Infinite

• 11-16

• DREDGE: The Pale Reach
• Flashback 2
• Jagged Alliance 3
• PowerWash Simulator: Back to the Future
• Prison City
• Smoots Pinball
• Yohane the Parhelion: BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE

• 11-17

• Bluey: The Videogame
• Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
• Persona 5 Tactica
• The Walking Dead: Destinies
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin

Xbox One

• 11-14

• Super Crazy Rhythm Castle
• UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves

• 11-15

• Hades' Star
• Lake: Season's Greetings
• Lily in Puzzle World
• The Last Faith
• Tri6: Infinite

• 11-16

• DREDGE: The Pale Reach
• Flashback 2
• Jagged Alliance 3
• PowerWash Simulator: Back to the Future
• Prison City
• Smoots Pinball
• Yohane the Parhelion: BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE

• 11-17

• Bluey: The Videogame
• Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
• Persona 5 Tactica
• The Walking Dead: Destinies

PlayStation 5

• 11-14

• Astral Ascent
• Coral Island
• Crusader Kings III: Fate of Iberia
• KarmaZoo
• Not For Broadcast: Bits of Your Life
• Remnant II: The Awakened King
• Super Crazy Rhythm Castle
• UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves

• 11-15

• Koi-Koi VR: Love Blossoms
• Lake: Season's Greetings
• Lily in Puzzle World
• Teardown
• Teardown: Time Campers
• The Last Faith

• 11-16

• DREDGE: The Pale Reach
• Flashback 2
• Jagged Alliance 3
• PowerWash Simulator: Back to the Future
• Prison City
• Yohane the Parhelion: BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE

• 11-17

• Bluey: The Videogame
• Christmas Massacre
• Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
• Persona 5 Tactica
• The Walking Dead: Destinies
• Tiger Blade
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin

PlayStation 4

• 11-14

• Astral Ascent
• Not For Broadcast: Bits of Your Life
• Super Crazy Rhythm Castle
• UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves

• 11-15

• Lake: Season's Greetings
• Lily in Puzzle World
• The Last Faith

• 11-16

• DREDGE: The Pale Reach
• Flashback 2
• Jagged Alliance 3
• PowerWash Simulator: Back to the Future
• Prison City
• The King of Fighters XIII Global Match
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution
• Yohane the Parhelion: BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE

• 11-17

• Bluey: The Videogame
• Christmas Massacre
• Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
• Persona 5 Tactica
• The Walking Dead: Destinies

Nintendo Switch

• 11-14

• Astral Ascent
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Hogwarts Legacy: Dark Arts Pack
• KarmaZoo
• Rogue Glitch Ultra
• Super Crazy Rhythm Castle

• 11-15

• Lily in Puzzle World
• The Last Faith
• Turbo Shell
• Zombies Rising Dawn

• 11-16

• Adventure Tanks
• ASTLIBRA Revision
• Bokura no Keshigomu Otoshi Shingakki 3 + Special Set
• Castle Invasion: Throne Out
• Cats on Streets
• Dream Town Island
• DREDGE: The Pale Reach
• Eiga Sumikko Gurashi Tsugihagi Koujou no Fushigi-na Ko Game de Asobou! Eiga no Sekai
• Flashback 2
• Loot Box Quest - Mystic Maidens
• On Rusty Trails
• PowerWash Simulator: Back to the Future
• Prison City
• Smoots Pinball
• Smoots Pinball
• Sociable Soccer 24
• The King of Fighters XIII Global Match
• The Myth Seekers 2: The Sunken City
• There Is No Light
• Until The Last Bullet
• Yohane the Parhelion: BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE

• 11-17

• Bluey: The Videogame
• Call of Sniper Combat - WW2
• Drag Racing Car Simulator
• Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
• Persona 5 Tactica
• Runnyk
• Super Mario RPG
• The Forest Quartet
• The Smurfs: Learn and Play
• The Walking Dead: Destinies

• 11-18

• Extreme Skyway Racer Simulator

• 11-19

• Inertia 2