April 5 - 11

Section: 

IMAGE(https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/pictures/pictures/picture-13445.jpg)   Felix “Odds and Sods” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “Billie Holiday’s birthday” week! The self-taught, jazz pioneer was also one of America’s first reality TV stars, appearing on the ABC’s The Comeback Story in 1953. Whatever you say about the Bethesda Fallout games, including Billie Holiday made them better. You may all celebrate by booting up one of those games and then getting distracted as you search through the music mods.

It’s another week of nothing specifically for the newest consoles; however, you can enjoy the other games coming out (on the systems that people can actually play) through backwards compatibility. There’s a few titles this week that certain niches of folks have been anticipating for a long time. In dog terms, the drool is nearly on the floor for some of these games.

Oddworld: Soulstorm has kept a can of chum hovered over the bowl for nearly 6 years. It’s a this-gen-makeover of Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus. Unlike so many pixelated platformers these days, it has graphics that look like they belong on a system built this century. I was getting some Mark of the Ninja vibes from the stealth, and *extreme Camp Leader voice* ...don’t forget the crafting!

Lost Words: Beyond the Page spent a year as a Stadia exclusive—a decision that the devs must surely regret every time they tell their butlers to piggyback them to their swimming pools filled with money. It’s written by Rhianna Pratchett, and for some, that’s all you need to know for a sweet Easter perch. The story involves journals coming to life, mixing narration and mechanics as you platform on actual words to change the story. Finally, a game where you can literally leap to conclusions.

Star Wars: Republic Commando is a reheat of a classic 2005 FPS, which was Star Wars doing Halo. There’s also some Tom Clancy’s Tom Clancy mixed in, as you command your clone squad around all tactically, doing tactical Clone War stuff. Fool me once with a remastered, retro Star Wars game, shame on me. Fool me twice, and one of these may eventually be good.

Breathedge looks like Prey, but it’s more like an SNL skit of Prey. It has the whole “explore a derelict spacecraft” thing, with survival and crafting mechanics—and when Survival and Crafting meet, they often bring one of my top 5 worst game mechanics: item degradation. Unfortunately, it turns up here, along with one of my top 5 worst game narration styles: sarcastic AI that thinks it’s David Spade. This game also commits the videogame version of Jimmy Fallon corpsing: serving up stale video game tropes while cracking self-aware gags about how much these game tropes suck, amiright? Then it pivots to being a walking simulator! Buyer beware.

Cozy Grove is Animal Crossing with ghosts, but they’re nice ghosts who give you missions. Luckslinger is a pixelated, side-scrollin’ platformer with cowboy vibes, where you collect and spend luck to survive all the gunslingin’ and double-jumpin’.

On the Switch, there’s an indie game that sounds like an indie shoegaze band, Always Sometimes Monsters, while The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV promises to put the whole dang Trails of Cold Steel saga to bed, once and for all. With mechs.

It’s outside my wheelhouse, but I’m giving the GOTW to Oddworld: Soulstorm. The parts where you rescue unfeasibly large numbers of dudes and lead them through the levels could be a delightful gameplay twist or escort mission overkill. And it looks real nice.

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

PC

  • 04-05

  • Adventure of Dog Egg God: Very silly and naive
  • Born Race
  • BURNT ASHES
  • Cute Honey 3
  • Dungen
  • Hextones
  • I Make Saints
  • Mariuccha Alchemy Queen
  • Nether Nightmare
  • No Parachute
  • Parallax Tunnel
  • POPOP!
  • PRISONER 17
  • Quiet Thoughts
  • Rounded Hills
  • Sea Battle: Annihilation
  • Set Cafe
  • Super Maze Labyrinth
  • The Little Red Lie
  • Your Chronicle
  • Zombie Spectre
  • 04-06

  • Captain Coffer 2D
  • Converter
  • Duck Creator
  • Internet Court
  • Kanojo xx Switch
  • Ladder Box
  • Little Octopus
  • Lost Voice
  • Lost Words: Beyond the Page
  • Oddworld: Soulstorm
  • Smart Moves 2
  • Tatarian aster
  • The New World
  • The Slormancer
  • The Wild Case
  • UNBEATABLE [white label]
  • 04-07

  • 8Doors
  • a guard walks into a tavern
  • Aron's Adventure
  • ChessBase 16 Steam Edition
  • CrateTastrophe
  • Daenerys Miracle
  • L.S.D.: Prologue to Lasting Spiritual Derangement
  • Lab Rags
  • Little Monkeys Eat Bananas
  • Maelstrom: A Yaoi Visual Novel
  • Pacific Life
  • Race On Ice 2021 Pro
  • Secrets of Egypt
  • Steel Salvo
  • Tactical Battle Chronicles: Prelude to a War
  • 04-08

  • 3 out of 10: Season Two
  • Across the Obelisk
  • Archer boy
  • Astrodogs
  • Becoming
  • Buildodge
  • Classified Stories
  • Coda
  • Cozy Grove
  • CyberNEON
  • First Class Trouble
  • Futanari of the Amazon
  • Graviter
  • In Marte - The First Moon
  • In My Shadow
  • Laid-Back Camp - Virtual - Fumoto Campsite
  • Little drift
  • Lux mina
  • Memento Vivere
  • MUSICUS!
  • Piozila
  • Potion Party
  • Recapture the Castle
  • Scarlet Hood and the Wicked Wood
  • Sky Goddess II
  • Space Ape
  • Space Slurpies
  • Sports Paradise VR
  • times infinity
  • Traffic Jams
  • Trial Of Destiny
  • Viking Vengeance
  • What The Dub?!
  • 04-09

  • Angry Giant
  • FutureKreate
  • Puzzle & Chess
  • Say No! More
  • Sentinel: Cursed Knight
  • ShemHaMephorash
  • Speedy Gun Savage
  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV
  • The Unmarked
  • TOGETHER BnB

Xbox Series X

Xbox One

  • 04-06

  • Breathedge
  • Lost Words: Beyond the Page
  • 04-08

  • Cozy Grove
  • Luckslinger
  • What The Dub?!
  • 04-09

  • Yoko & Yuki: Dr. Rat's Revenge

PlayStation 5

PlayStation 4

  • 04-06

  • Breathedge
  • Lost Words: Beyond the Page
  • Luckslinger
  • Oddworld: Soulstorm
  • Star Wars: Republic Commando
  • 04-08

  • Cozy Grove
  • What The Dub?!

Switch

  • 04-05

  • CyberTaxi
  • 04-06

  • Breathedge
  • Lost Words: Beyond the Page
  • Stacks On Stacks (On Stacks)
  • Star Wars: Republic Commando
  • 04-08

  • Always Sometimes Monsters
  • ASTRO AQUA KITTY
  • Cozy Grove
  • Delicious! Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
  • DON'T GIVE UP: A Cynical Tale
  • Graviter
  • ISLAND
  • Legends of Talia: Arcadia
  • Pixel Game Maker Series Osyaberi! Horijyo! Holin Slash
  • Potion Party
  • Sakura In Gameland
  • Super Fowlst 2
  • What The Dub?!
  • 04-09

  • Gravity Heroes
  • Luckslinger
  • Ravensword: Shadowlands
  • Say No! More
  • Skyland: Heart of the Mountain
  • The House in Fata Morgana - Dreams of the Revenants Edition -
  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV
  • Toree 3D
  • Yoko & Yuki: Dr. Rat's Revenge
  • 04-10

  • .cat
  • Candy Match Kiddies

Comments

Breathedge looks like Prey, but it’s more like an SNL skit of Prey.

I think "Subnautica in space but with the humor of Journey to the Savage Planet!" was probably the elevator pitch for this one.

Lost Words: Beyond the Page is the one I'm looking forward to this week (it has a demo, too). Slim pickings otherwise. a guard walks into a tavern piqued my curiosity from the name alone, but it appears to be Chinese-language only, with no English support.

Meh

Billie Holliday shoulda won GOTW.

Looked up CyberTaxi and it looks like a near shot for shot Quarantine remake. Which might be interesting if they put in some quality of life features.