Feb 20 Week Ahead

February 20 – February 26

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It's hard to be objective about the release of Night in the Woods this week. The result of a Kickstarter campaign that raised $200,000, and the team features the unique artwork of friend-of-the-site Scott "BombsFall" Benson.

What's the game you ask? Well, on the surface, it's an adventure game, but mostly, it's a narrative game about a young woman (actually, a cat) who returns to her small town after dropping out of college and ... well, I don't want to spoil what little I know from the first half-hour of gameplay, which has been at various conventions for the last year. The reason I'm stoked is that, beyond the brilliantly weird art style, the storytelling and gameplay seem to bear more in common with Gone Home, Kentucky Route Zero and Welcome to Nightvale than anything else I can think of.

So if you like those things, you should probably buy this delightfully odd game, which is available on Steam, PS4, and itch.io.

Greg "Doubtingthomas396" Decker

I sure am glad Steam is getting rid of Greenlight, because there are just too many cool-looking games coming out for PC. This week I clock in with 14 new titles on my wishlist.

And no, 911 Operator isn’t one of them. Neither is NakedMan VS The Clothes, even if it does let me play as an agent of Nudist Beach. Open Sorcery is on my list, though, because I can’t resist a good pun. Or a bad one, come to think of it.

I’m very interested in the new Berserk game. I was a fan of the Berserk series before I knew it was a television show. I liked Guts' Rage on the PS2 quite a lot. The only thing staying my hand with Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is that the gameplay looks an awful lot like Dynasty Warriors, which is a series I always think I’m going to like until I actually start playing it and remember why I traded in the last version of it I bought. If it’s just smashing through arenas of enemies with a questionably large sword, I’m all for it. If I’m going to have to contend with an esoteric minimap while lesser characters shout at me to do things I can’t find, I’ll leave it on the shelf.

Until I get that sorted, I’ll have to go with a sure thing: Frog Hop. It’s cute, it’s pixelly, it’s probably going to cost less than five dollars. What else could I ask for?

Frog Hop gets my nod for Game of the Week.

Chris "C" Cesarano

It looks to be a surprisingly busy week, though blink and you'll miss it. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Resident Evil VII both get DLC to prolong the enjoyment of each game's experience, and those with PSVR helmets get the opportunity to dive back into Double Fine's twisted world of Psychonauts with The Rhombus of Ruin.

However, the real highlights here are two indie darlings that I suspect will be making waves in Steam sales for a lengthy time. Night in the Woods is a narrative adventure developed in-part by Goodjer Scott Benson (Bombsfall on the forums). Expect to hear the Conference Call crew discussing this one heavily in the coming weeks.

Myself? I'm all about Hollow Knight. Aesthetically the game reminds me of Ska Studios' goth sketchbook art crossed over with Behemoth's interactive-cartoon style, just the sort of fusion to get my eyes plastered to the monitor in admiration. What really gets my palms sweating in controller-gripping anticipation is the gameplay, which at first reminds me of Super Metroid meets Castlevania ... meets Zelda II ... meets Mega Man, even ... and that constant combination of inspirations means the various synapses of my brain are gonna be popping like fireworks on the Fourth of July.

The only question is whether I buy the game now or wait for it to release on Nintendo Switch.

Felix “Jailbreak” Threepaper

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided: A Criminal Past is set before the start of Mankind Divided. This bugs me, because I thought that the abrupt ending and unanswered questions of Mankind Divided were being left for DLC to fill in later. Apparently not – Criminal Past is the last piece of story DLC.

It’s still my pick of the week because, despite the flawed storytelling, I frickin love Deus Ex. A big part of that is its level design. Criminal Past is set in a prison. If it’s anywhere near as well-designed as the Palisade Bank, once I’m there, hiding in a vent, eavesdropping on guards, I’ll forget all about how they never explained the (spoiler).

This week:

PC

  • 911 Operator
  • A Trip to Yugoslavia: Director's Cut
  • Badass Hero
  • Ballistic
  • Beauty Bounce
  • Bedfellows FRENZY
  • Berserk and the Band of the Hawk
  • Beyond Enemy Lines
  • Blackwake
  • BUCK
  • Chester One
  • Choppa
  • Chowdertwo
  • City Climber
  • City of God I - Prison Empire
  • Dad Quest
  • Deus Ex Mankind Divided: A Criminal Past
  • Dodge Master
  • DYE
  • DYSTORIA
  • Eternal Return
  • Ethereal Legends
  • Fog of War
  • Forma.8
  • Frog Hop
  • Geology Business
  • HELLION
  • Hollow Knight
  • KByte
  • Land it Rocket
  • Mad Dojo
  • Midnight at the Celestial Palace: Chapter I
  • Miner Meltdown
  • NakedMan VS The Clothes
  • Night in the Woods
  • Northgard
  • Open Sorcery
  • Polterheist
  • Resident Evil 7: biohazard - Banned Footage Vol. 1
  • Resident Evil 7: biohazard - Banned Footage Vol. 2
  • Robot Soccer Challenge
  • Shadows of Adam
  • Super Spring Ninja
  • The Exiled
  • The Shadows of Pygmalion
  • Vaccine
  • Virus Crashers
  • Vive le Roi
  • Wizrogue: Labyrinth of Wizardry

PS4

  • A Pixel Story
  • Berserk and the Band of the Hawk
  • Chime Sharp
  • Deus Ex Mankind Divided: A Criminal Past
  • Forma.8
  • Night in the Woods
  • Psychonauts in The Rhombus of Ruin
  • Vaccine
  • Ys Origin

Xbox One

  • A Pixel Story
  • Bokosuka Wars II
  • Chime Sharp
  • Deus Ex Mankind Divided: A Criminal Past
  • Halo Wars: Definitive Edition
  • Resident Evil 7: biohazard - Banned Footage Vol. 1
  • Resident Evil 7: biohazard - Banned Footage Vol. 2
  • Riptide GP Renegade
  • Trulon: The Shadow Engine
  • Vaccine

Wii U

3DS

  • Go! Go! Kokopolo 3D: Space Recipe for Disaster

Vita

  • Berserk and the Band of the Hawk
  • Ys Origin
  • Forma.8

RIFT

  • Nature Treks VR
  • Seabed Prelude
  • Munch VR

Vive

  • Just VR Slingshot Target Practice
  • Nature Treks VR
  • Seabed Prelude

Comments

Oh, look a new writer for the front page. Welcome, rabbit!

Notsurethomas396 wrote:

If it’s just smashing through arenas of enemies with a questionably large sword, I’m all for it. If I’m going to have to contend with an esoteric minimap while lesser characters shout at me to do things I can’t find, I’ll leave it on the shelf.

It is exactly what you expect from a Warriors title, so the latter.

That said, the spinoff Warriors games (One Piece, Zelda, etc.) are all significantly better than the standard Warriors titles imho. But, yeah, you still have that minimap and shouting at you.

The only question is whether I buy the game now or wait for it to release on Nintendo Switch.

Spoiler alert: immediately after writing this I went and pre-ordered the game.

Hollow Knight looks amazing. Can't wait for impressions.

Night in the Woods on PS4 for me. Had it pre-ordered for a while. Should be playable soon according to the count-down on my dashboard (if not already). Looking forward to playing it later on today!

Psychonauts in The Rhombus of Ruin better not be the Psychonauts sequel promised in our younger days!