September 6 - 12

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IMAGE(https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/pictures/pictures/picture-13445.jpg)   Felix “Look Behind You” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “161st Anniversary of Jane Addams’ birthday” week! Born in Illinois, Jane Addams was inspired by the work of Charles Dickens to help the poor. In 1889, she established Hull House in Chicago, America’s first major settlement house. Settlement houses were places that offered social, educational, and artistic programs to recently-arrived immigrants. Hull House was the first settlement house to be established on democratic, instead of religious, principles. Addams was also the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Yale. She co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union in 1920 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. You may all celebrate by playing a game where your great-grandma was more progressive than you’d think.

Spring (or Autumn, if you live in the upside-down) has sprung, and with it comes a grab bag of games sitting slightly under the AAA tier (apart from NBA 2K22), but offering a variety of experiences nonetheless.

Life is Strange: True Colors is by Deck Nine, the devs behind the Life is Strange prequel, Before the Storm. You play as Alex Chen, a young woman with super-empathy: she can read, feel, and change other peoples’ emotions. Without being too spoilery, Alex returns to her home town in Colorado and plot ensues. The original soundtrack is by Aussie duo, Angus and Julia Stone. As for the licensed music, they missed a chance to use Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors, but went with a bunch of more recent artists instead, including mxmtoon. Also, the whole game will be out this week, instead of the episodic release schedule of the previous games.

“Triple-I” is industry shorthand for indie games with decent funding, high production values, and a broad gameplay scope. Triple-I Games is also the name of an indie studio made up of alumni from BioWare and Sucker Punch. Its debut game is Hindsight 20/20: Wrath of the Raakshasa: a third-person, action-RPG that offers choice’n’consequence on a large scale, provided by the game’s Experience Engine. Basically, the game watches all your actions and choices and then responds to affect the world and its NPCs, creating a branching, highly-tailored playthrough. They’re certainly talking a big game with this feature: it’s Telltale’s “X will remember that” mechanic on steroids, with choices ranging from whether to use a lethal sword or stun rod before each battle, big story-related choices and everything in between. The game touts 10 totally different endings; will players be inclined to play the game 10 times?

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is a Battle Royale set in the World of Darkness. Vampires are on the prowl in Prague, fighting each other and feeding on humans. The starting clans are the sneaky Nosferatu, brutish Brujah, and the magey Toreador. In true Battle Royale style, you start with nothing and have to pick up equipment as you go. Feeding on humans not only restores health, but also gives other buffs, depending on the person. There are vampire hunters who are harder to kill, but grant bigger bonuses. You can also diablerise other vampires. Breaking the masquerade means that all players on the map can see you for a minute. While there’s a suite of supernatural, vampiric powers and melee weapons on offer, it is still a Battle Royale game, so guns look necessary for success. It enters Early Access this week and will be free to play.

This week’s other vampire game is BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites. It’s a remaster of the 2011 2D hack’n’slasher with higher resolutions and extra voice acting from the leads, Laura Bailey and Troy Baker. There’s no new levels, though. The original was punishingly hard; the remaster offers a new, rebalanced difficulty setting.

F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch is like a 2D, metroidvania version of Biomutant.

Tales of Arise is the 17th entry in this JRPG series, and the “Tales of” naming convention looks to have run out of steam.

Surviving Mars: Below and Beyond is an expansion that allows you to expand your base underground and to mine asteroids for resources.

On Xbox and Steam, Annapurna is putting out The Artful Escape, the rock music platformer inspired by Bowie.

The Switch is getting WarioWare: Get It Together!, the 10th WarioWare game that is a collection of competitive minigames that are so short, they’re called microgames.

It’s another tricky week to pick a GOTW. I like the idea of getting about as a vampire, but I want to do it in RPG mode, instead of a Battle Royale. I also like the idea of Life is Strange, but would have to start with the original, instead of this week’s entry. I’ll give the GOTW to Hindsight 20/20: Wrath of the Raakshasa. Choice’n’consequence, and stories that truly, meaningfully branch, are one of those things that players say they want out of story-driven games (but then they go running off to find the ‘best’ ending). With Hindsight 20/20, it’s touted as the major feature of the game; I’m curious as to whether the delivery matches the hype.

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

PC

  • 09-06

  • 69 Yuki Love
  • Anicon - Animal Complex - Rabbit's Path
  • Auto Mechanic
  • Ball Bounce Maze
  • Brain Games
  • DANGER: ELECTRIC SHOCK
  • Dash Realm
  • Desert War
  • Flower girl
  • Hammerheart
  • Hope Trigger
  • Looking for Clothes
  • Mr.Treemp
  • My Best Nightmare
  • Night Darkness
  • Nightmare
  • Pandemic Pandemonium
  • Passive Income
  • Thukothea Defender
  • Tower Stacker
  • Towers Inc.
  • Visual Novel Sisters
  • Yarn
  • 09-07

  • 2 Synchro Hedgehogs
  • Animalia Survival
  • Anti-Science Brigade
  • Ark of Loif
  • Blon
  • Bus Simulator 21
  • Detention Club: School's Out
  • Don't Hate My Music Taste
  • Dream Cycle
  • FGTeeV Goozy
  • Milo and the Magpies
  • Placebo Love
  • ROGUE SHIFT
  • S.I.N. Unit
  • Sonic Colors: Ultimate
  • Surviving Mars: Below & Beyond
  • Tiny Robots Recharged
  • True Believer VR
  • Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt
  • Wavy Trip
  • World of MiniMonsters
  • WORLD OF PARANOIA
  • 09-08

  • Brambles in the Mist
  • Combo Babies
  • Dull Grey
  • Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster
  • Infinity war
  • Minesweeper Ultimate
  • Night Hunter
  • Parking light
  • Plumber 3
  • POWERTRIP
  • Rooten
  • Shambled Spiral
  • Shine Within
  • Splash King's Tournament
  • Stationery Frontier
  • Terragon: Symbol Of Magic
  • The Dawning Clocks Of Time
  • 09-09

  • Ardarium
  • BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites
  • Bright Ball Action
  • BRINK Traveler
  • Bubble Breaking
  • Cardinal Chains
  • Dice Legacy
  • Dungeon Adventure
  • Fluffert and Friends
  • Fool's Paradise
  • Gate to Site 8
  • HAJWALA LINE
  • Hindsight 20/20: Wrath of the Raakshasa
  • Legendary Tales
  • NAGARE-BOSHI
  • Residual
  • RICO London
  • Smash MAGA! Trump Zombie Apocalypse
  • Space Tower Defense
  • spaceXplorer
  • Spell Swap
  • Terrain of Magical Expertise
  • The Artful Escape
  • The Durka
  • The Final Frontier (DJ Games)
  • The Final Stand: Breakout
  • The Gardener and the Wild Vines
  • The Octots
  • Toy Soldiers HD
  • Vortex
  • Webbed
  • 09-10

  • Lost in Random
  • Tales of Arise
  • The Rewinder
  • Why Neon Lights Again?

Xbox Series X

  • 09-09

  • BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites
  • Hindsight 20/20 - Wrath of the Raakshasa
  • The Artful Escape
  • 09-10

  • Life is Strange: True Colors
  • Lost in Random
  • NBA 2K22
  • Tales of Arise

Xbox One

  • 09-07

  • Bus Simulator 21
  • Crown Trick
  • Sonic Colors: Ultimate
  • Surviving Mars: Below & Beyond
  • 09-08

  • Struggling
  • 09-09

  • BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites
  • Boulder Dash Deluxe
  • Hindsight 20/20: Wrath of the Raakshasa
  • Nuclear Throne
  • The Artful Escape
  • Toy Soldiers HD
  • 09-10

  • A Day Without Me
  • From Earth to Heaven
  • Life is Strange: True Colors
  • Lost in Random
  • NBA 2K22
  • Tales of Arise

PlayStation 5

  • 09-07

  • F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch
  • 09-09

  • BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites
  • Hindsight 20/20: Wrath of the Raakshasa
  • The Touryst
  • 09-10

  • Life is Strange: True Colors
  • Lost in Random
  • NBA 2K22
  • Tales of Arise

PlayStation 4

  • 09-07

  • Bus Simulator 21
  • F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch
  • Sonic Colors: Ultimate
  • Surviving Mars: Below & Beyond
  • 09-08

  • Struggling
  • 09-09

  • BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites
  • Hindsight 20/20
  • The Touryst
  • Toy Soldiers HD
  • Ultra Age
  • 09-10

  • Life is Strange: True Colors
  • Lost in Random
  • NBA 2K22
  • Tales of Arise

Switch

  • 09-06

  • Enchanted Path
  • Red Square Escape 2
  • 09-07

  • Sonic Colors: Ultimate
  • 09-08

  • Frontier Quest
  • The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos
  • 09-09

  • Apple Knight
  • BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites
  • Boulder Dash Deluxe
  • Dark Fantasy: Jigsaw Puzzle 2
  • Dice Legacy
  • From Heaven to Earth
  • Glo
  • Hindsight 20/20: Wrath of the Raakshasa
  • LoveKami -Healing Harem-
  • Luna's Fishing Garden
  • Mystik Belle: Enchanted Edition
  • Olympia Soiree
  • Residual
  • Smashing the Battle: Ghost Soul
  • Toy Soldiers HD
  • Tux and Fanny
  • Ultra Age
  • 09-10

  • Ball Physics Draw Puzzles
  • Knights & Guns
  • Life is Strange: True Colors
  • Lost in Random
  • LoveChoice
  • Momolu and Friends
  • NBA 2K22
  • WarioWare: Get It Together!
  • 09-11

  • Beat Them All

Comments

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is a Battle Royale set in the World of Darkness.

What? Why? This is either the dumbest idea or the best.

Tales of Arise is the 17th entry in this JRPG series, and the “Tales of” naming convention looks to have run out of steam.

One of the recent mobile games is Tales of Crestoria. Yes, Crestoria.

I'll take Arise. They finally put a budget behind the game, changed some things and opened up exploration. I'm hoping it works!

Breaking the masquerade means that all players on the map can see you for a minute.

The entire concept of the game breaks the masquerade.

Tales of Arise is in my wheelhouse but is too close to the latest Yakuza spin-off. Can't pack huge games that close to one another. Ultra Age is an indie-looking Devil May Cry with potential, but I've been burned by indies with good trailers earlier this year. Going to wait and see on that one. Ultimately my interest is in the Pixel Remaster release of Final Fantasy IV so I can revel in some nostalgia.

Anyone tried Lost in Random? I'm loving the American McGee's Alice look of it.