February 1 – February 7

Section: 

Europe and California have at least two things in common: I've never been to either of them, and SCS Software has. All I really know about the west coast of the United States comes from a business trip to Oregon last year. I'll recognize the heck out of all those brown buildings, that's for sure, but other than that, the setting of American Truck Simulator will be as foreign to me as that of European Truck Simulator.

The Truck Simulator series isn't about topological fidelity for me, though I do admire their dedication to the "simulator" part of their name. No, my reason for picking American Truck Simulator as my game of the week is purely nativist. As funny as seeing the word "Ausfahrt" everywhere is for my lowbrow mind, I'd like to be able to read the street signs while driving a Peterbilt truck. Also, as an American, I want nothing to do with foreign rulers, so having my speedometer read out in MPH is an aesthetic plus.

(If you get that joke, congratulations: We’re both nerds)

American Truck Simulator gets my game of the week nod.

I wonder what other wondrous things our crew has found for the coming week.

Felix “Beat to quarters” Threepaper

After a pleasant month at sea, I’m back on dry land, and the only thing surer than my footing is my vote for this week’s GOTW: XCOM 2. While I’m a bit miffed about it being PC-only, the silver lining could be a stabler game. XCOM is harsh enough without having to deal with save borks on top of squad wipes. Otherwise I’m keen to see new the unit types, new story and mostly how they’ve shaken up the strategic element to prevent CS:GO tactics (Cautious Snipers Grinding Overwatch) and spice up the mid-to-late game.

Fans of the old Fighting Fantasy gamebooks should check out Inkle’s adaptations of Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! series for devices and, now, PC. The artwork alone will twang the nostalgia nerve enough to open a few wallets. They are also quite playable, even if it felt weird having to actually conduct combat, rather than declare myself the winner and move on, as I did back in the day. The inveterate finger-jammers of yore will be pleased with the rewind function, where you can backtrack to previous entries. The second instalment, Khare: Cityport of Traps, releases for PC this week, but it’s really worth diving in from the start as, Mass Effect-style, your decisions in one book can carry through to the rest of them.

Chris "C" Cesarano

I'm tempted to select Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth as my game of the week.

Stop laughing.

I was probably too old for the television show when it localized in America, but being starved for anime after my brother had taken the good stuff to college, I snagged what I could get from syndication. I had learned about some of the changes made to the likes of Macross (released in America as the first generation of Robotech), Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, and could see traces of such localization and censorship in what, on the surface, was a mere Pokémon rip-off. While I was able to recognize that I was too old for Digimon as it aired, I still found the overall plot mildly compelling and have always wanted to see it in its original, uncut form.

However, I just do not need another JRPG this year, especially one based on a series that, if I was too old for at the time, I am most certainly too old for now. So Gravity Rush Remastered gets my nod. The one game I was curious to play on the Vita is now on Playstation 4, further guaranteeing that Sony's little handheld that coulda, woulda, shoulda, will be forgotten by me – at least until the gaming press sees fit to remind me how dead the platform is come E3.

Collen “Momgamer” Hannon

XCOM2 ... dribble … dribble … drool … .

Actually, it might be more accurate to say something more like “bang … bang … splat … squad wipe,” but it’s all fun.

Seriously. I’m here at PAX South, and we got a demo of the actual gameplay. It looked slick, and the new perspective on the story looks intriguing.

I was already sold, but then they really gilded the lily. The SDK they’re including with the game in action just might inspire me to get back into modding. You could get access to these assets before with the right tools and know-how, but this game was built to be easily moddable from the top down. I look forward to being killed and eaten by a whole new generation of community-made nasties.

This week:

PC

  • Aveyond 4: Shadow Of The Mist
  • Tales of Symphonia
  • Sydney's World
  • Spellweaver
  • Feesh
  • Time of Dragons
  • Cat Simulator
  • Cobalt
  • Blitz Breaker
  • CALENDULA
  • Sorcery!
  • Dreii
  • It's Spring Again
  • Path to the Sky
  • Super Bomb Rush!
  • Hubert's Island Adventure: Mouse o' War
  • Fortified
  • American Truck Simulator
  • Hieroglyphika
  • Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders
  • Astral Breakers
  • Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
  • Take the Dream IX
  • Red Comrades Save the Galaxy: Reloaded
  • XCOM 2

PS4

  • Not a Hero
  • Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth
  • Megadimension Neptunia VII
  • Gravity Rush Remastered
  • Nitro+ Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel
  • Crypt of the NecroDancer
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Awakening
  • Amazing Discoveries In Outer Space
  • Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders

Xbox One

  • Cobalt
  • Fortified
  • Krinkle Krusher
  • Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders

Wii U

  • Peg Solitaire
  • FreezeME

PS3

Xbox 360

  • Cobalt

3DS

Vita

  • Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth
  • Crypt of the NecroDancer

Comments

Woo! Megadimension Neptunia VII!

Oh yeah, and that XCOM2 game. Whatever that is about...

XCOM2? Is that a rerelease of Terror From the Deep? Huh. That's really niche. I hope it's decent, at least.

American Truck Simulator has me wanting to break my no buying games in 2016 thing ... again.

XCOM2 will be had eventually, but I'm wary of Firaxis games anymore so I'll wait on that.

garion333 wrote:

but I'm wary of Firaxis games anymore so I'll wait on that.

? Any particular reason?

Huh... on a whim I looked at the store page for Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders, and it actually looks intriguing. It's a cell shaded point and click adventure game, and the characters seem to be modeled on the David Suchet version of Poirot.

CptDomano wrote:
garion333 wrote:

but I'm wary of Firaxis games anymore so I'll wait on that.

? Any particular reason?

I don't like em anymore. lol Sorry, should've mentioned that it's a personal thing and not something others should avoid. They just don't do it for me much anymore:

I don't like their Civ model of TBS. Been there, done that.

XCOM1 was a good game, but over time I found it was lacking something for me. It wasn't as fiddly and in the process lost ... something.

Nothing for me this week outside of the final DLC drop for Super Smash Bros. 4

XCOM2 got here fast. Wow.

Stele wrote:

XCOM2 got here fast. Wow.

You wanted more delays?

Mantid wrote:
Stele wrote:

XCOM2 got here fast. Wow.

You wanted more delays? :D

Yes. The pile isn't ready.

Woooo XCOM2!

LarryC wrote:

XCOM2? Is that a rerelease of Terror From the Deep? Huh. That's really niche. I hope it's decent, at least.

well...it DOES have proper mod support this time around..... *crosses fingers*

While I shed many tears over my lack of PC and resulting lack of XCOM 2, that Agatha Christie game looks like a fantastic present for my wife. We're nearing the end of Divinity: OS, so I imagine she'll need a new distraction from grad school...

I liked Gravity Rush on the Vita in spite of its silly Vita features, so I'll happily get the PS4 port soon enough.

American Truck Simulator, Xcom 2 and a week off next week.

Best hide the breakables.

Aveyond 4. I might grab that one.
Amazing Discoveries in Outer Space is one I want to try. It looks weird and silly.
Gravity Rush Remastered is one I'll buy eventually. I've already finished the Vita version so there's no rush. Hahah.
Crypt of the Necrodancer is a maybe.
XCOM2? Maybe.
Not a Hero? Maybe.

So, lots of maybes. I should probably go play The Witness instead of buying something.

Oh wow, Tales of Symphonia. Playing that with my wife years ago is probably my favorite gaming experience ever, but it's also one of those things where I don't think I'll ever be able to recapture the magic. Still, nice to know I can play it on a modern system. It's being ripped apart as a bad port in the Steam reviews, but the nostalgia is strong on that one.

Stele wrote:

The pile isn't ready.

The pie is never ready. It's just a fact of life.

I know I'm going to get XCOM2 at some point, but I can't decide whether to order now and get the 20-25% off preorder sale price, or wait a couple months until I'm done with current games and get it then at a potentially higher price.

Boudreaux wrote:

I know I'm going to get XCOM2 at some point, but I can't decide whether to order now and get the 20-25% off preorder sale price, or wait a couple months until I'm done with current games and get it then at a potentially higher price.

You know what the right choice is.

IMAGE(https://img.grouponcdn.com/coupons/gMH7PGJwA4KdS3teZNvpXD/nike-highres-500x500)

Stop playing so many video games and get more fresh air and exercise? Yeah, probably.

Agatha Christie's The ATS Murders

Mantid wrote:

The pie is never ready. It's just a fact of life. :D

Now I want pie.

Boudreaux wrote:

Stop playing so many video games and get more fresh air and exercise? Yeah, probably.

Nah, I was being overly clever. My intention was to point you towards "Just Do It" in terms of buying the game now.

Nitro+ Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel was robbed!