I would be remiss if I didn’t at least give a shout-out to Nuts! The Battle of the Bulge for doing a serious history-nerd deep-cut by referencing General Anthony McAuliffe at Bastogne. Thumbs up, and if there weren’t already something I wanted this week, it may have been my pick.
This week I’ll be continuing my streak of picking games that I’ve been anticipating for months. 2016 has been a hot year for me so far, and I look forward to what the coming weeks bring. This week brings Unravel, a game that captured my heart at E3 last year. It’s adorable. It’s beautiful. It’s a craft-themed platformer that is made not by Nintendo, but by EA, of all companies.
It’s also twenty bucks, which keeps it safely in my budget even after a highly unexpected Tet celebration on Steam.
Unravel gets my pick of the week.
Felix “Concealment phase” Threepaper
Imagine if the GWJ Conference Call hosts made a game. Day-one perch, no contest, right? (Well, unless it were an Xbone-exclusive JRPG deck-building MMORTS with microtransactions.) I feel the same way about Firewatch by Campo Santo, a studio that up until now I thought was a mere fiction, part of the Idle Thumbs extended universe – because seriously, how do the Idle Thumbs folks have the time to make games, play games AND podcast about them when I find it hard enough these days to get it together once a week to write these gorram – but I digress.
Firewatch has my blind vote based purely on name recognition. It’s set in ... a forest? And there’s red. Suffice it to say, if you hear any character in the game ask, “How’re you holding up?” you’ll know a part of Sean Vanaman died during production.
Runners-up include: Computerised version of WW2 card game Nuts! The Battle of the Bulge (Tagline: If you know why “Nuts!” is in the title, you’ve probably already pre-ordered it), Unravel (Tagline: Kirby meets LittleBigPlanet and everyone goes “Aaawwww!”) and Alekhine’s Gun (Tagline: It’s not about chess, it’s a 1960s Cold War stealth-action game. Wait, maybe it is about chess, but only metaphorically).
Chris "C" Cesarano
February is the November of smaller games, I swear. There's just something releasing every week, and neither my wallet nor spare time can possibly keep up.
I still have yet to play season two of Telltale's The Walking Dead. You'd think I'd be fired up for it since I enjoyed the first season as much as I had. Instead, I'm more eager for Firewatch simply because the writers responsible for The Walking Dead's first season are behind it. They jumped Telltale's ship, started a new studio, and are developing an original game that looks quite atmospheric.
It doesn't have the look of a typical horror game, and I'm not even sure you can bid it as such. In fact, I've kind of kept myself on blackout for months on information regarding the game. I know it takes place in the 80's, and you play a park ranger, and something is up in the park. That's about it. Yet I'm excited to play it and see what developer Campo Santo has in store.
Collen “Momgamer” Hannon
My Daily Planet job is kicking my backside. This week I’m going to be hard pressed to keep up my garrison missions in WoW, much less start something new. And everything was pretty much eclipsed by XCOM2 last week.
Just reading the release list, a lot of these may not be what you thought they were. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia is a 2d side-scroller set in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Renegades of Orion 2.0 is not the announced Masters of Orion remake I have been waiting on - it’s a bullet-hell where you play as various ethereal beings and constellations. It’s kind of confusing.
Unravel gets my nod for the sheer beauty of the landscape and the interesting mechanic of investing your character’s own substance to get where you need to go.
This week:
PC
- Firewatch
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
- Arslan: The Warriors of Legend
- Dying Light: The Following
- Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition
- Unravel
- Wayward Terran Frontier: Zero Falls
- Pesadelo - Regressao
- Dream Catcher Chronicles: Manitou
- Lost World Zero
- Defragmented
- Doors
- The Renegades of Orion 2.0
- SnakEscape
- Kindred Spirits on the Roof
- Nuts! The Battle of the Bulge
PS4
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
- Firewatch
- Arslan: The Warriors of Legend
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
- Dying Light: The Following
- Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition
- Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
- Siralim
- Unravel
- Alekhine’s Gun
Xbox One
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
- Arslan: The Warriors of Legend
- Dying Light: The Following
- Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition
- Neverwinter: Underdark
- Unravel
- Q*bert: Rebooted: The XBOX One @!#?@! Edition
Wii U
- Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee - New 'n' Tasty
PS3
Xbox 360
3DS
Vita
- Siralim
- We Are Doomed
Comments
I won't be getting either right now but I hope both Firewatch and Alekhine’s Gun turn out to be good.
How did I live before digital distribution of old, cheap games?
MilkmanDanimal wrote:You did live before digital distribution of old, cheap games. Now you just play games.
Capcom is also releasing a PSP game this week on the NA PSN store: Breath of Fire III. It should be compatible with your PSP, PS Vita and/or you PS TV.
Should be a nice complement to the copy of Breath of Fire IV I bought on the PSN store 3 or 4 years ago...
Currently playing: Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS5), Tomb Raider I-II-III Remastered (PC)
I rarely buy games on Day 1 these days, but I'm really considering getting Firewatch. I've been anticipating it since I first saw teasers and trailers last year.
Steam: [GWJ]MeatMan | "Now I know where to go if I have a hankering for testicles." –Higgledy
Wow, Siralim is coming to the Vita? Awesome, that game is great. It's like a Pokeman roguelike. Really fun.
Space Game Junkie | Twitch | YouTube | Podcast
I'm planning on picking up Firewatch right away.
I'm cautiously interested in the Dying Light rerelease. Many were still talking about that game at the end of the year, and it seemed to have flown under the radar.
Most places: Aristophan | Switch: SW-7774-7919-6764
Unravel looks interesting. I haven't heard of it until today. I'll have to check it out--thanks Week Ahead!
Firewatch for me. I'll also give a nod to Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime as a fun thing that I already played last year on PC.
GWJ Enhancement Suite
Wow just looked up Unravel and that looks fantastic. I hadn't heard of that one before. I'm have had my eye on Firewatch for a while and that is reviewing pretty well too.
Is "We Are Doomed" a game, or a commentary on the Vita?
Good. Fans are whiny, trend-chasing babies.
OzymandiasAV wrote:I am a vengeful hypothetical god.
Firewatch for me. I've been on total media black-out for this game, so I can't wait to play it. I assume I'll be a rebellious fireball-slinging wizard, maybe defending a sacred grove? Fire propagation? Gonna be awesome.
Gravey, I'm never sure, on a scale of 1-10, just how serious you are when you post. – Minarchist
Yeah, I've got the original's demo on my PS4 and have yet to fire it up. I'm hoping this re-release with expansion does what Dark Arisen did for Dragon's Dogma and take a good game and make it great.
How did I live before digital distribution of old, cheap games?
MilkmanDanimal wrote:You did live before digital distribution of old, cheap games. Now you just play games.
I've been on full blackout too. I think it's actually an Amazon Fire wearable.
Words... are a big deal.
Jill Lapore wrote:Editing is one of the great inventions of civilization.
FIREWATCH
I just--
So far, so good. So, so good. So story driven I'll not say much more than that.
Unravel is a delightful celebration of the smol, and I adore it even though I find some parts don't really do it for me. Overall I'm keen.
I bought Firewatch and Unravel, and I'll play a bit of both tonight. I know Firewatch will be good, and Unravel gets a buy just for that sincere demo the developer did on stage at E3 during the Sony press conference. I'm guessing it'll be pretty good too.
Tuffalo buffalo Tuffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Tuffalo buffalo.
SW-0326-3336-1619
Firewatch! No time to play tonight, but looking forward to digging in later this week