Felix “WitchiO” Threepaper
Welcome folks, and happy “80th Anniversary of the premiere of the first Tom and Jerry cartoon” week! While the duo had technically appeared in a cartoon a year earlier, Tom was called Jasper, Jerry didn’t have a name, and the studio intended it to be a one-off. Then, Texan businesswoman Bessa Short wrote a letter to MGM asking when they would do more of those cat and mouse films. A naming competition was held to drum up publicity, and two iconic cartoon characters were born. You may all celebrate by playing a game where you respec your character after a few hours working out the game’s wrinkles.
Orcs Must Die! 3 has served its one year of Stadia sclusy time and is now available for purchase on platforms folks actually use. That said, it’s not much easier to get a Xbox Series S/X or PS5 than it was a year ago. Stadia could be a handy, stop-gap way to play new games when you can’t get a new console. Maybe Stadia’s actually good? As for the game, you may recall that this is the Game King’s favourite tower defence series. At least, it was in 2014; I haven’t checked since. New features include a War Scenarios mode (which is about defending against much larger, 1,000-strong armies), Endless mode, weekly challenges, and 2-player co-op in multiplayer (2-player co-op was previously only available in Story mode).
Another big release isn’t on the list because it’s coming to mobile platforms: The Witcher: Monster Slayer. It’s a Witcher version of Pokémon GO, so you explore real places with your phone to hunt monsters that show up in AR. It promises deep, story-driven quests, but I’m not sure how you render the Witcher’s renowned character writing in AR. Maybe you are tasked with hunting a cursed child, and the game takes you to the local supermarket, where you find out that one of the cashiers was having an incestuous affair. So you have some dialogue with them, use a little Axii, play a little Gwent, then discover there’s a striga in aisle 4. There will still be a Witcher-like focus on preparation, brewing the right potions, and selecting the right weapons beforehand.
Otherwise, there’s another Sims expansion: The Sims 4: Cottage Living. Sims expansions are bigger than Kit packs, Game packs, or even Stuff packs. This one puts some Stardew Valley into the Sims: it’s all about raising animals, growing produce, and then wandering over to the village to show off your wares and interact with your neighbours.
Cris Tales is an RPG in the JRPG style, made by Colombian developers, Dreams Uncorporated and Syck. It features prominent, and amazing, Colombian architectural landmarks in its art. I was so busy goggling at the beautiful art, I have no idea what the actual game is about.
Meanwhile, on the Switch (and later, on phones) there’s Pokémon Unite, a free-to-play MOBA. Pretty much all the game’s descriptors are well outside my wheelhouse, but it is aimed at being very approachable for a MOBA.
I’ll give the GOTW to The Witcher: Monster Slayer, just because it’s The Witcher and I will look at anything that comes out with that name on it. Well, almost anything.
Here's the list, now in release-date AND alphabetical order!
PC
-
07-19
- 3 O'clock Horror
- Anima Forest
- CODE608
- Duelist
- Existensis
- Fish Heads
- FollTower
- Kanamono
- Kselebox
- Sapling
- They're Coming
- Trenches - World War 1 Horror Survival Game
- Tube Rolling
- Yoshimitsu Hatsumi
- Zombaliens
-
07-20
- Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed
- BeerLeague Superstar
- Clown In a House
- Cris Tales
- Death's Door
- Dirty Beastly Muscles
- Donutis Simulator
- Fallen Knight
- Fear Protocol: Shadow Paradigm
- Follow Your Heart
- Gabriels Worlds The Adventure
- Gopnik
- Gun Mage
- Heliotropism
- Horror Villa
- Mini Jumper
- Mini Motorways
- Mythos Ever After: A Cthulhu Dating Sim RX
- Now you can't see me
- Occupation 2.5
- Perfect Affection Plan: Cassiopeia
- Poker Quest
- Renova
- SaberStyle
- Samurai Gunn 2
- Shanghai1920
- Shut your teeth
- Skydome (Nomad Brasil)
- Stuck Together
- Tactical Vanguard Saga
- The Final Stand: Breakout
- TIERRA - Mystery Point & Click Adventure
- Unshaded
- VR Eagles of Victorian England
- Welcome to PINEHILLS
- Wind of shuriken
- XSection
-
07-21
- Beyond The Gates
- Craft Craft Craft!
- Dot Dash Dot
- Eggy
- Fastest Hands In The WASD
- Grey Instinct
- In da Hoop!
- Lords of the Darkreign
- MouseBot: Escape from CatLab
- PEOPLEDOWN
- Song of Farca
- Star Chaser in Sea World
- Summer of '58
- Super Sami Roll
- The Best BJ
- The Secret Of Retropolis
- The Witch Eye
- Toad On Fire
- Vaccine A
- Yummy Mahjong
-
07-22
- A Walk Through Echoes
- Asterism
- Battle no Gunji Hakubutsukan San Chouzetsu Muteki Kyuukyoku Heiki
- Beauty Agent
- Chimes
- Creeping Darkness
- Dead-End Detective: The Sixpence Strangler
- Deepest Chamber
- Faded Grey
- Gigapocalypse
- Heal Hitler
- Interregnum Chronicles: Signal
- Last Stop
- my brother lives in a canyon
- Natural Instincts
- Noosphere
- Reality's Reverse Side
- RhythmSlinger
- Sand Bullets
- Sport Shooter
- THE ORIGIN: Blind Maid
- Urban Trial Tricky: Deluxe Edition
- Visitors: First Contact
- YUKI
- YUME 2 : Sleepless Night
Xbox Series X
-
07-20
- Cris Tales
- Death's Door
-
07-21
- In Rays of the Light
-
07-22
- Last Stop
-
07-23
- Orcs Must Die! 3
Xbox One
-
07-20
- Cris Tales
- Death's Door
- Mind Maze
-
07-21
- The Last Rolling Hero
-
07-22
- Last Stop
- The Sims 4: Cottage Living
- Urban Trial Tricky
-
07-23
- Aery - Calm Mind
- Orcs Must Die! 3
- Scrap Garden
- Where the Snow Settles
PlayStation 5
-
07-20
- Cris Tales
-
07-22
- Last Stop
PlayStation 4
-
07-20
- Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed
- Cotton Reboot!
- Cris Tales
-
07-22
- Last Stop
- The Sims 4: Cottage Living
- Urban Trial Tricky: Deluxe Edition
-
07-23
- Blue Fire
- Orcs Must Die! 3
Switch
-
07-20
- Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed
- Cotton Reboot!
- Cris Tales
- Mind Maze
- Steam: Rails to Riches - Complete Edition
- Terra Trilogy
-
07-21
- Fatal Twelve
- MouseBot: Escape From CatLab
- Pokemon UNITE
-
07-22
- #pinocchio, Super Puzzles Dream
- Aery - Calm Mind
- Bishoujo Battle Mahjong Solitaire
- Bunny Bounce
- Last Stop
- Nyakamon Adventures
- Racing Xtreme 2
- Terra Bomber
- Terra Lander
- Terra Lander II - Rockslide Rescue
- Timothy vs. the Aliens
- Urban Trial Tricky: Deluxe Edition
- Wood Block Escape Puzzles 3
-
07-23
- 112 Operator
- Dininho Space Adventure
- Freddy Spaghetti 2
- Hunter Shooting Camp
- Truck Simulator 2
-
07-24
- US Navy Sea Conflict
Comments
CDPR is milking the Witcher like they were run by Activision. Have any of the spinoffs done as well as they had hoped?
Cris Tales has been on my radar for a while, but I haven't even bothered to play the demo, despite having it downloaded. At this point I'm waiting on reviews.
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.
As GamersWithJob's resident Awful Person, I'm kind of looking forward to the US release of Akiba's Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed. The sequel was the subject of my last article for the front page (hrm, there's a few spots I come off as quite conceited in there), its low fidelity doing little to curb the otherwise immersive sense of wandering the summer-time streets of Akihabara. However, Hellbound and Debriefed is the first game of the two. We never received it until now. So as janky as Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed was, I can only imagine Hellbound and Debriefed will be jankier.
Which is why Death's Door would be my pick of the week. From the makers of Titan's Souls, this blend of isometric Zelda with presumed requisite Soulsborne influence is looking like my jam. Devolver Digital has an eye for some interesting ideas, and this one looks to be filled with character and polish. I look forward to giving it a spin.
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Devolver is secretly the best publisher in the business.
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.
No, Annapurna is! And, actually, Annapurna is publishing a new game this week, too: Last Stop, which is described as "a single-player third-person adventure set in present day London, where you play as three separate characters whose worlds collide in the midst of a supernatural crisis." Intriguing.
Cris Tales will be on Game Pass day one, for anyone looking at that.
"Quotations are useful in periods of ignorance or obscurantist beliefs."
~ Guy Debord
I'm really behind their release schedule because I'm not a huge adventure game fan. I tend to get to adventure games years after their original release. And since their catalog is basically 75% adventure games ...
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.
That article makes me want to visit Japan...it's a pity I'm no good at any Olympic sports.
Defunk'd Bloggue
Bluesky: @lancecalhoon.bsky.social