Felix “Trippy Marten” Threepaper
Welcome folks, and happy “48th Anniversary of the Battle of the Sexes” week! On 20 September 1973, 29-year-old Billie Jean King played a tennis match against 55-year-old Bobby Riggs, who had famously declared that no woman could beat him and had previously beaten Margaret Court. Although initially down 2-3 in the first, King came back to win in 3 sets. She abandoned her usual, aggressive, serve-and-volley game to sit at the baseline and run the out-of-shape Riggs all over the court. The prize was $100,000, and the estimated US TV audience of 50 million makes it the most-watched tennis game in America. The popularity of the match had Riggs demanding a rematch, as well as other washed-up male tennis players wanting to cash in and challenge King to an exhibition match, but King declined. You may all celebrate by playing a game where you quit while you’re ahead.
Nuremberg: VRdict of Nations is less a game than a way of presenting a large catalogue of information. The VR provides a 3D space for you to investigate the files of leading Nazis from WW2 and to go through the actual dossiers of evidence used to convict them at the Nurembereg trials. It’s a harrowing (and unfortunately necessary) experience. Currently, it is only of academic interest to most here, because it’s all in Russian. I mention it as an example of how VR can be used for more than just thrills’n’spills.
Street Outlaws 2: Winner Takes All is a tie-in to the TV show about not-so-illegal-anymore street racing. It’s by Team6, the devs behind the very broken Super Street street-racing game. In that game, the car customisation and tinkering side was fine, but everything fell apart once you hit the road. Buyer beware.
Sable is finally here, after a few years’ delay. This is an indie, open-world exploration game by Shedworks, a 2-person studio. You play as the titular Sable, a young girl going on her rite of passage, known as the Gliding. The world has a “rocky desert with hidden temples” thing going on, and the cel-shaded art is very striking and atmospheric, backed up by a soothing soundtrack by Japanese Breakfast. The art style is heavily influenced by French illustrator Moebius (and wouldn’t be the first game to claim such influence) but that’s a plus for me.
Sable’s gameplay is all about exploration: running, jumping, climbing, gliding, or riding a hover bike. There’s no combat, stats, or survival mechanics. It’s a similar vibe, if not look, to Journey, but more fleshed out, in that there’s NPCs to talk to and little quests to complete. The devs were assisted with writing by Meg Jayanth, who did the writing for Inkle’s marvellous 80 Days. The story nudges rather than pulls you. Instead, the environment beckons—hoping you will want to see what’s over the horizon, around that corner or behind that glowing door.
The Switch gets another week of ports, including Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and Suzerain, the turn-based, text-based, modern politics RPG.
Also, there’s the “cats fighting in a kitchen and knocking everything over” simulator, Fisti-Fluffs. Or DLC for Mechwarriors 5. And there’s Death Stranding: the Director’s Cut, in which Kojima includes all the the content he was told to edit out by those stuffed shirts at... Kojima Productions. It’s not really a “Director’s Cut” in that sense, but more like a patch that puts in a bunch of cosmetic and quality-of-life features, new carrier missions, and even a race track for some kart racing.
Sable takes the cookies this week. It looks like a charming, relaxing wonder. Just like you keep certain albums for a special mood like a rainy day, this is for when you get sick of all the murder, loot, and progression. It’s an Xbox/PC sclusy for now, which means it’s on GamePass. GOTW.
Here's the list, now in release-date AND alphabetical order!
PC
-
09-20
- ball.io
- Bean Stalker
- City of Cards
- Cubyrinth
- Drone Gladiator
- ENDURE (Hackneyreese Limited)
- Haunted House - The Murder
- KOSHMAR
- Mind Space
- MOVERS IN THE WAREHOUSE
- Neko Hacker
- Peppy's Adventure
- Protect the Earth
- Siege the Day
- Skattered Dream
- Smack Studio
- Sokobear: Winter
- Solys
- Sorcerer Knights
- The Elm Game
- UNDER the WATER
- Universe 25
- When the Train Whistles for 3 Seconds
- You are a slave!
-
09-21
- ADARKMENT
- Beyond Contact
- Chessplosion
- Cyberdunk Anime Edition
- DOGNUTS
- Flynn: Son of Crimson
- Gpi
- Guild of Ascension
- If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Kingdom of Heroes
- Lie Shan Hai II
- Meow'n'Dash
- Miko Adventures Puffball
- Mud River
- Nuremberg: VRdict of Nations
- Potion Craft
- Sheltered 2
- Slimefrog
- Sword of Hypotenuse
- The Long Journey to Farewell
- ToruTaru
- Undergrowth: VR Maze
- World War Z: Aftermath
-
09-22
- Ball Ranger
- Cato, the cat
- Chronicles of Galdurvale
- DKLS
- last fight
- Lily's Dream: Dinosaur Adventure
- Lowsy
- Magic Time
- Merge Chess
- Muttsuri Kishire Ika no Dosukebe Inran Kakusei RPG
- Tap Tap Builder
- The Bizarre Adventure of Magic Story
- The Revenge of Sophia Red
- The Wish Notes of the Lonely God
- Welcome to Free Will - Episode 1
- Yao
-
09-23
- ARCH STONE vs The Zombie Specters
- Badlands Racer
- Beyond Enemy Lines - Remastered Edition
- Bullet Wave
- Citystate II
- Coloring Pixel - Fantasy Characters
- Cubicus
- CYBERDAD
- Dad's Monster House
- Defend the Fort
- Diablo II: Resurrected
- Dungeon Danger Traps
- Elementowers
- Exotic Cars VI
- Find Match Icons
- Fisti-Fluffs
- Flewfies Adventure
- FORTRESS DEFENDER
- G-Mode Archives 39: Flyhight Cloudia 4
- Hidden Flowers
- KAIWorld
- Listen to the wind
- Mystery of Lucy Green - The Devil's Diaries
- Niko and the Cubic Curse
- Rhythm of the Universe: Ionia
- Sable
- Teacup
- The Final Stand: Breakout
- The Plane Effect
- The Signal State
- VR Summer Sports
- Yuzi Lims: Puzzle
Xbox Series X
-
09-21
- Street Outlaws 2: Winner Takes All
-
09-23
- Diablo II: Resurrected
- Diablo Prime Evil Collection
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Legend of the Kestrel Lancers
- Sable
- Teacup
-
09-24
- A Gummy's Life
- Lost Judgment
- Port Royale 4
Xbox One
-
09-21
- Golf Peaks
- Lost Judgment
- Street Outlaws 2: Winner Takes All
- World War Z: Aftermath
-
09-23
- Diablo II: Resurrected
- Diablo Prime Evil Collection
- Embr
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Legend of the Kestrel Lancers
- Sable
- Teacup
-
09-24
- A Gummy's Life
- Blind Postman
- Death Park
- Little Kite
- The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem
PlayStation 5
-
09-21
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Street Outlaws 2: Winner Takes All
-
09-22
- Subdivision Infinity DX
-
09-23
- Diablo II: Resurrected
- Diablo Prime Evil Collection
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Heroes of the Inner Sphere
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Legend of the Kestrel Lancers
- Teacup
-
09-24
- A Gummy's Life
- Death Stranding: Director's Cut
- Lost Judgment
- Port Royale 4
PlayStation 4
-
09-21
- Apsulov: End of Gods
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Street Outlaws 2: Winner Takes All
- World War Z: Aftermath
-
09-23
- Diablo II: Resurrected
- Diablo Prime Evil Collection
- Embr
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Heroes of the Inner Sphere
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Legend of the Kestrel Lancers
- Rhythm of the Universe: Ionia
- Teacup
-
09-24
- A Gummy's Life
- Lost Judgment
- The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem
Switch
-
09-21
- Street Outlaws 2: Winner Takes All
-
09-22
- Crisis Wing
- Cube Samurai: Run Squared
- Grisaia Phantom Trigger 06
-
09-23
- Beast Breaker
- Chef's Tail
- Diablo II: Resurrected
- Embr
- Fighting Fantasy Legends
- Fisti-Fluffs
- Hampuzz
- MageQuit
- S.W.A.N.: Chernobyl Unexplored
- Staxel
- Suzerain
- Teacup
- The Plane Effect
-
09-24
- Blind Postman
- Don't Touch this Button!
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot + A New Power Awakens Set
- Spacebase Startopia
- The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem
- Top Down Racer
-
09-25
- In My Shadow
Comments
Sable's been on my radar since that first teaser trailer (2018?), so this is a big week.
And look, Kena Bridge of Spirits is dropping too.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits would be on my radar if it weren't for the platform and store exclusivity. Looks like a pretty solid game. I'll look forward to playing it next year.
I admittedly sunk the extra money to play Lost Judgment early. That is easily my most anticipated game of the month, and would probably be my top anticipated game of the season were it not for Metroid Dread shortly after. It's been a good minute since I played a Yakuza game so I'm primed for the joys it has to offer.
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I'm in for Kena if the reviews are solid. It's supposed to be a short game too which I'm all for with all the other long games I'm juggling.
I need an "I'm with Dyni" t-shirt. -- Localgod54
Say what now?
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No mention of Diablo II? Good, it doesn't deserve mention. Fresh coat of paint, aged mechanics.
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.
If you're looking for something in a similar vein, but NOT in Russian, War Remains: Dan Carlin Presents an Immersive Memory is a VR experience that isn't quite as impactful as it wants to be, and would be better suited to a headset in a history museum than your VR cave at home. But for someone who is mostly unfamiliar with the inhumanity of WW1, it's still a unique window into history. If you've listened to all 26 hours of Dan's WW1 epic podcast, it's very much painting the same picture he paints there, just in a novel medium.
Buyer beware, it's a ~ 30 minute VR movie that for most people will be one-and-done, but at $5 (or down to a buck in sales), it's priced appropriately.
You've never known true joy until you've shaken a lich stick at someone.