August 5 - 11

  Felix “Rusty Robots” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “1,114th Anniversary of the Battle of Tettenhall” week!

In the summer of 910, the Vikings that had settled in northern England launched a big invasion of the kingdom of Mercia in central England. On 5 August, a combined Mercian/West Saxon army met them at Tettenhall and wiped the floor, even killing 3 Danish kings. Although Viking raids wouldn’t fully stop for another century and a half, this victory earned the Saxons over 30 years of respite before the next one. You may all celebrate by watching season 4 of The Last Kingdom. Destiny is all!

After a few weeks heavy with ports and remakes, there’s a bevy of new, smaller releases this week.

SteamWorld Heist II is a side-scrolling, party-based RPG with turn-based combat. The combat plays out like a geometry puzzle, due to the ricochet mechanics and aiming preview of the angles of your bullet bounces. The first game made you restart a mission if your party wiped in combat; this time, you can choose to rewind a couple of turns instead, with a penalty to your reputation. The overall structure involves sailing your boat over the high seas to find the levels that contain the combat and loot, so it adds pirate vibes to the trademark SteamWorld steampunk aesthetic.

CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is published by Konami. It’s a cinematic shmup: there’s high-res cutscenes to create a sense of stakes and the in-game graphics and sound are also crisp, like a freshly diced iceburg lettuce. There’s some roguelite elements to the shmup gameplay: bigger bosses will just up and leave if you take too long to kill them, which lets you partially finish a level, but with lower rewards. This encourages you to grind on Easy to upgrade your ship’s loadout, and then repeat levels on harder difficulties to tick off their higher-tier achievements.

Eden Genesis is a side-scrolling 2D platformer in a cyberpunk setting. As is common in cyberpunk worlds, the augments that make you do cool videogame stuff also make you sick, so you are in a race against time to find a cure. This translates into an emphasis on speedrunning levels to unlock the rewards needed to progress. It’s fast, precision-based platforming wrapped in a slick package.

While Cygni and Eden Genesis are high-res entries in their genres, Volgarr the Viking II is a throwback to 1980s pixelated 2D arcade brawlers like Rastan, including their “insert credit” approach to difficulty. Thankfully, you can enable checkpoints and save states to lock in progress.

When a game has a name like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles, you just know it’s going to be based on an anime. And this one sure is. Once upon a time, these licensed games were pretty thin on features, but these days, you get all the trappings of a grand RPG: bonding with your party members to unlock special moves in combat, and city-building mechanics, with lashings of fan service.

There’s a lot to choose from this week. CYGNI: All Guns Blazing looks great, but I was never great at shmups. Volgarr the Viking II reminds me that I pumped many a credit into Rastan back in the day, which also reminds me that I was not great at that, either. Therefore my GOTW goes to SteamWorld Heist II: it’s got absorbing turn-based combat, with chunky quests and loot to keep me motivated.

GWJ Word of the Week

Shmup: short for ‘shoot-em-up’, describes a genre of games where you are typically a plucky lone fighter plane, dogfighting hordes of enemies of varying sizes. Levels are presented from a top-down or side-on view, and the screen is always moving, so you cannot stop or camp. Enemies typically come in from all directions on-screen, and will fire different types of ammunition that move in different ways, slowly but surely filling up the screen with a seemingly undodgeable amount of stuff that can kill you, creating an effect known as ‘bullet hell’. Shmups originated in the arcades, and some are known for being difficult, even impossible, until you see some freak on Youtube ace them in one run.

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

PC

• 08-06

• 1 vs 1 Football Tournament
• Aero GPX
• BACKROOMS NO RETURN: Prologue
• Blackwoods
• Candlelight: Lament
• CHAINED
• Chronicles Of Sagrea
• Crazy Bike Hill Racing
• DARKWELL:Assassin's Choice
• Do You Know Kimchi?
• Echoes of Humanity
• Eden Genesis
• Gas Gas Heli!
• Gravitorium
• Happy Town
• Haunted: Attack of the Dead Men
• I raised a flag.
• I'm Not Sleepy
• Jetpack Man
• Kick Them All
• Made in Tower
• Moon Fire : A Seeker's Saga
• Nerl's Crazy C"rough"t!
• Nuts (Game Dev)
• One Btn Bosses
• Photo Playhouse
• Proof of existence
• Pupa
• Rabbit on Skateboard
• Rebirth! New Lover
• Retail Company Simulator
• SAVE Teaser: The Beginning
• Stock Stack
• Sugar Rush
• The Last Sight
• Volgarr the Viking II
• Yijian Jianghu
• Zomcats Invasion

• 08-07

• Anomalous Adventure
• black Bird
• Cats Around Us : Giant Cat
• Creatures of Ava
• Day of Invasion: Reloaded
• Derpy's Fun House
• Dragon Warrior
• ELEVATE
• Format
• Grab and Guts
• Job Joust
• KILL KILL KILL KILL
• Lacrimal Eye
• Life of Kanji Island
• Merge Donut
• MetroTD
• Nucleuz Underground
• Orc Hunter Wizard Emona
• Play with my balls
• Project Apparatus
• Prove It and Move It
• Pryzm
• Rodland of Pipes
• Shift Legacy Collection
• Skidaddle Skidoodle
• Slate
• Surrounded by Death
• Umbral
• Underwater Diving
• Womb Defense Force

• 08-08

• A Mazing Cheesesnake
• Astro Hunters VR
• Before Exit: Supermarket
• Bitter
• Blubber
• Cat Quest III
• Chimera
• City Bus Driver Simulator 2
• Deathbound
• Decipher The Deck
• Delearnia: Fractions of Hope
• Dj 8 Beats: Infinite
• Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers
• Eight Balls
• FireStarter 2
• Glowie Rammer
• Holy Heroes
• Ichima-san
• Infernal Bloodrush
• Mononeko Rhythm Adventure
• Muggo Clicker
• Myst of Guatemala
• Oh no! I'm about to fall in love!
• Paired Path
• Roads Construction Sim
• Shoujo * Kageki Revue Starlight Butai Souzougeki Harukanaru El Dorado
• SteamWorld Heist II
• Strive For Power:King Growth Program
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles
• The Burst
• The Well of Heaven-Reaching
• Under the blue horizon
• Vinecard
• VLADiK BRUTAL
• Who is He: Let Me Out

• 08-09

• Aery - Ancient Empires
• BURN
• Casino Island Simulator: Prologue
• DinoTribe
• Fairy Biography 6 : Revenge
• Game Builder Tycoon - Prologue
• GraveyardGambit
• Haruka Ao no Hanayome ni
• Jinko
• KnightLight
• MAOUISHO:~ La Dolce Vita with Another World's Demon Lord~
• NTR Loop
• Pape Rangers
• Pirate Combat Trainer
• Robot Female Hero Remastered
• SIM - Simple Idle Miner
• Spammerina
• Supermarket Together
• Tactic Legends
• Tehawar Puzzle!
• The Crush House
• The Last Train
• Tokyo Coffee: Grinding in the Pandemic
• Wander Hero:Rebirth

• 08-10

• Bopp File
• Crypto Mayhem

• 08-11

• 3D PUZZLE - Deserted Village
• Catbo
• Combatant
• Demolish
• Goddess Light
• Savior's Hand

Xbox Series X

• 08-06

• CYGNI: All Guns Blazing
• Eden Genesis
• Pepper Grinder
• Seed of Life
• Volgarr the Viking II

• 08-07

• Cattie
• Creatures of Ava
• I Want To Go To Mars
• The Lullaby of Life

• 08-08

• Cat Quest III
• Cultist Simulator
• Dead Age 2
• Deathbound
• SteamWorld Heist II
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles

• 08-09

• Gravitators

Xbox One

• 08-06

• Eden Genesis
• Pepper Grinder
• Seed of Life
• Volgarr the Viking II

• 08-07

• Cattie
• I Want To Go To Mars
• The Lullaby of Life

• 08-08

• Cat Quest III
• Cultist Simulator
• SteamWorld Heist II
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles

• 08-09

• Gravitators

PlayStation 5

• 08-06

• CYGNI: All Guns Blazing
• Eden Genesis
• Pepper Grinder
• Volgarr the Viking II

• 08-07

• Cattie

• 08-08

• Arcade Paradise VR
• Cat Quest III
• Cultist Simulator
• Dead Age 2
• Deathbound
• Princess Maker 2 Regeneration
• SteamWorld Heist II
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles

• 08-09

• Gravitators

PlayStation 4

• 08-06

• Eden Genesis
• Pepper Grinder
• Volgarr the Viking II

• 08-07

• Cattie

• 08-08

• Cat Quest III
• Cultist Simulator
• Princess Maker 2 Regeneration
• SteamWorld Heist II
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles

• 08-09

• Gravitators

Nintendo Switch

• 08-06

• Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Vacation
• Pigeon Sim - Bird Simulator: Premium Edition
• Volgarr the Viking II

• 08-07

• Cattie
• I Want To Go To Mars
• Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona
• The Lullaby of Life
• Youkai Club

• 08-08

• Anime Dance-Off - Party Total
• Anime Dance: Party Total
• Billy Bumbum: A Cheeky Puzzler
• Cat Quest III
• Cats Hidden in Magic Places
• Delirium
• Demon Go!
• Drone Pilot: Extreme Flight Simulator
• EGGCONSOLE ARGUICE NO TSUBASA PC-8801mkIISR
• Gray Dawn
• Hanaemu Kare to & bloom
• Kanna Maze
• Koi ni wa Amae ga Hitsuyou Desu
• Love Is All Around
• Minna de Battle! 8P Joushiki-Ryoku Test: Minna de Asoberu Kakudzuke 4-Taku Gakushuu Kyouyou Taisen Quiz
• Omochapon
• PumPum
• Quiz de Mi ni Tsuku Kyouou Butsurigaku-Sha-Hen: Shougakusei Kara Otona Made Asoberu Zatsugaku Kyouou Quiz Game
• Quiz de Mi ni Tsuku Kyouou Nihon Shinwa-Hen: Shougakusei Kara Otona Made Asoberu Zatsugaku Kyouou Quiz Game
• Rashomon of Shinjuku
• Shikon-X Astro Defense Fortress
• Shoujo * Kageki Revue Starlight Butai Souzougeki Harukanaru El Dorado
• Slot & Learn HIRAGANA
• SokoMage
• Spin & Match Puzzle Learn at Once 3 Languages
• SteamWorld Heist II
• SUSHI Drop
• Tactical Strike: Special Forces
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles
• Train Your Brain! Spot the Difference with Japanese landscapes
• VIVIDLOPE

• 08-09

• Bid Battle: Auction War Simulator Storage Hunter
• Boom Robots
• Escape from the Pharaoh's Tomb
• Fashion Friends: Super Version

• 08-10

• Bullet Time

• 08-11

• Moonshot (Max Interactive Studio)
• The Books Tale: A hop adventure!