November 7 - 13

  Felix “God of Clean Your Room” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “510th Anniversary of Machiavelli being kicked out of Florence” week!

Niccolo Machiavelli was the foreign policy minister in the Republic of Florence when the Medicis took over in September 1512. Machiavelli had been imploring the Medicis to continue with a republican government; instead, they banished him and later imprisoned him. When he got out in 1513, he wrote The Prince. While many were shocked by its dispassionate discussion of tyranny as a ruling technique, others have since argued that it was an attempt to bring down the Medicis by giving them bad advice that, when followed, would cause the people to rise up against them. You may all celebrate by playing a game where you fail a persuasion check.

I’ve been waiting for God of War: Ragnarok all year. I’m on record as a fan of this series, going way back to the PS2 days. 2018’s God of War was part of the general Daddening of video games, but still made my top 10 games of the decade. The combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving were transferred to an amazingly-designed open world, punctuated by storytelling boat rides with the boy. One of my gripes was that the chaos blades—Kratos’ signature weapons from the earlier games—were made available too late and didn’t seem as viable as the axe. This was tempered by the fact that the axe was just great fun to wield and throw. I love it when a game nails its core thing, so it never gets old.

Ragnarok starts straight from where the last game left off, and Kratos will have his axe and the chaos blades from the jump, although in true sequel fashion, all his other gear and skills are reset to level one. Apart from that, I don’t know too much. I have been doing that weird half-research because I still want to be surprised. So, I basically just want to hear people say it’s really good (which they have been), without any specifics. It’s like I’m looking at the game coverage between cracks in my fingers.

The general vibe I’m getting is that it’s a much longer game, with more extensive sidequests. This may turn off some, but sounds great to me. Knowing this, I held off replaying the previous game to save my energy for this one. Side-characters will feature more prominently; you start with Mimir’s head and he natters away, providing comic relief. The story dives deep into Norse mythology, not just the entry-level tales. Also, the Boy has become the Teen, with all the attitude, rebellion, and conflict that brings. For all the curses inflicted upon Kratos, nothing will prepare him for that first withering “whatever” from a recalcitrant son.

There’s other games out this week too, I suppose.

Sonic Frontiers is the new open-world, 3D Sonic game. Previewers were down on the gameworld for looking empty, with a serious amount of pop-in—not great when you are hurtling through the air at speed, looking for the next platform to land on. There’s combat, where Sonic hits things directly or runs a circle around enemies for some energy attack. I’m sure it makes sense once you’ve done a tutorial or two. The best parts of it look like the cyberspace stages, which are secret levels on each island, based on levels from previous Sonic games.

Tactics Ogre: Reborn is a comprehensive remaster of a classic tactics RPG from 1996. There was already a partial remaster in 2010 for the PSP that glowed up the graphics, so this time the biggest improvements are to the sound and music. The soundtrack has been re-recorded with a full orchestra, and the cutscenes now feature voice acting. There’s also significant tweaks to the gameplay to take out some grind. Now, characters level up individually, unlocking skills as they go instead of having to spend points on them. Also, skills level up as characters use them. Add in some quality-of-life improvements to the UI, and you got a great reason to revisit a 26-year old game that was one of the foundations of the tactical JRPG.

Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising is a beat’em up based on the popular Netflix series. Pick a dojo, build up your fighters with drills and brawler levels, then enter them in tournaments and sweep the leg, or not.

Otherwise, Return to Monkey Island comes to Playstation this week. There’s also an expansion for Dying Light 2, Bloody Ties, which brings an arena and tournament for you to win.

It’s no surprise that God of War: Ragnarok is my GOTW by a mile. I cannot wait to jump in: I’ve already downloaded it, and am checking that countdown clock every few hours, even though there’s still 1 day 7 hours 37 minutes to go. I haven’t been this excited all year.

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

PC

• 11-07

• Astro Colony
• Bargain Platfomer
• Blue Funk
• Broilers
• Cat Herders: Couch Coop Cat Corralling!
• Cat Tower (StudioSitDev)
• Drive West Coast
• Duck Race
• Erebe
• ET Superman : Wrath of Tyrannosaurus Rex
• Find The Key
• GrassGames Hearts 3
• Great Pilots
• Hell O Corn
• IMPOSSIBALL
• In The Rural Village of Nagoro
• Last Kids on Earth: Hit the Deck! (Early Access)
• Medieval Fantasy Survival Simulator 2: Gladiator Edition
• Nature Escapes
• Naval Battle Online
• NiGHT SIGNAL
• Paragonian 3 : The Warrior of Light
• PUTRID SHOT ULTRA
• Ringlorn Saga
• Soulstone Survivors
• Space Bot
• Stunts Contest Extreme Cars
• Survival Academy
• TERRACOTTA
• The Enemy Approached The Walls
• The Ninja
• The Unliving
• Timewreck Tales
• Tragedy of Medusa
• VOID

• 11-08

• A Little To The Left
• Castle Defense Battles
• CHARGED: RC Racing
• Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising
• DrugRunner
• Farmhand Go!
• Football Manager 2023
• Franchise Hockey Manager 9
• Funplace: After Hours
• Godless
• Immortelle
• iO Inner Self - The Lava Planet VR
• Kaiju Klash
• Land of the Vikings
• Lost Between the Lines
• Meowjiro
• Monster Hunters: Frost Giant
• Nadir
• SEARCH ALL - BUDS
• SEARCH ALL - MICE
• Sokobear: Goo
• Sonic Frontiers
• The Adventures of Micoco
• The Letter: Classic Edition
• The Qin Empire
• The Tower (Thomas Tavera)
• True Skate
• VR Painting: Time
• Xeno Command

• 11-09

• A Castle Full of Cats
• Alice with Gatling
• Alien Colosseum
• Aswang Detective: The Case of New York
• Barrel Full of Monkeys
• Barren Depths
• Championship Wrestling Promoter
• Christmas Fever!
• Cocktail Rush
• Crystalreach Islands
• DR LIVESEY ROM AND DEATH EDITION
• External-Dimension: Mainframe
• Hallowed Pumpkins
• Invercity
• Memetric: Classic
• Munchkin Digital
• NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2
• Polyion
• Super DynoStory
• The Patcher
• The Protea Cases
• Underground Sheriff

• 11-10

• A hundred kinds of your smile
• Advent Calendar
• Alkali
• Among Us VR
• Anglerfish
• Beach Runner
• Bob's Journey
• Bunny Hop : Eggstreme
• CargoRun
• Charlie's Mansion Event Book
• Cherry Lady
• Chess Survivors
• City Bus Manager
• Common'hood
• Cyber Bodies
• Daydream Mosaics 3: Shards Of Hope
• Demolish or Die
• Divine Adventure RPG
• Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Bloody Ties
• Early Worm
• Ease Out
• Eversleep: Lunistice Gaiden
• Fabular: Once upon a Spacetime
• Gambit!
• Garfield Lasagna Party
• Guardian of the jungle
• Hellfire Tactics
• impossiBot
• Imprisoned Hyperion
• Kitsu's Destiny
• Kowloon High-School Chronicle
• Lila's Tale and the Hidden Forest
• Luna Biography
• Lunistice
• MAGNET EFFECT
• Mini Arenas
• Mining Copper
• Nightmare
• Pipeline Panic
• Pro Basketball Manager 2023
• RainyCloud
• Robo Legend
• Roboplant
• Run Foxy, Run!
• Shadow of the Guild
• Single Player: Horror
• Skystrike: Wings of Justice
• Speed Up
• Summoners War Chronicles
• The Night Of The Penanggalan
• This Way Madness Lies
• Tomb Robbing Spy
• Tumble Toys: Aviation
• Vispo - The Video Spot the Difference game.
• XP Soccer
• Your Blight

• 11-11

• Acid Puzzle
• ALIVE
• Arena Champion
• Astral Shipwright
• Astrofall
• Battle of Britain, Norway and Atlantic
• Candy Maid
• Castle Of Secrets: Prologue
• Cavatus
• Cold Way
• Color Zone
• Doughball Descent
• Dreams of Pain
• Escape From This Planet
• Fairy Girl
• Freddy Frog 2
• Going Rogue
• Gore Screaming Show
• IN THE BUILDING: CATS
• LamLam
• Lilium
• Link The Cubes
• Lost Memories
• Obscene Mansion
• Oceans
• Paper Flight - Speed Rush
• Seaberry Keep
• Search & Rescue
• Seasons
• She Who Rises
• Shinonome
• Skellington
• Song of the Exile
• SPEEDRUNNER
• Spirits of Baciu - Prologue
• Stunts Contest Monster Car
• The Archipelago
• The Exorcist's Story
• The Outer Space Bugs
• The Sports Trivia Challenge
• Times Dungeon
• Titan Station
• To the earth (Hotdogdog)
• Tower Numbers
• Twilight's Final Judgement
• Up & Away
• Valkyrie Elysium

Xbox Series X

• 11-08

• Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising
• Football Manager 2023
• Return to Monkey Island
• Sonic Frontiers

• 11-09

• Super Woden GP

• 11-10

• Kaiju Wars
• Police Simulator: Patrol Officers
• Vampire Survivors

• 11-11

• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
• Saint Kotar

Xbox One

• 11-08

• Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising
• Football Manager 2023
• Sonic Frontiers

• 11-09

• Super Woden GP

• 11-10

• Kaiju Wars
• Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager
• Lord of the Click III
• Police Simulator: Patrol Officers
• Vampire Survivors

• 11-11

• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
• Paper Flight - Speed Rush
• Yum Yum Cookstar

PlayStation 5

• 11-08

• Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising
• Return to Monkey Island
• Sonic Frontiers

• 11-09

• God of War: Ragnarok
• Super Woden GP

• 11-10

• Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Bloody Ties
• Kaiju Wars
• Police Simulator: Patrol Officers

• 11-11

• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
• Saint Kotar
• Tactics Ogre: Reborn

PlayStation 4

• 11-08

• Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising
• Sonic Frontiers
• Yum Yum Cookstar

• 11-09

• God of War: Ragnarok
• Super Woden GP

• 11-10

• Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Bloody Ties
• Kaiju Wars
• Police Simulator: Patrol Officers

• 11-11

• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
• Tactics Ogre: Reborn

Switch

• 11-08

• Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising
• Football Manager 2023 Touch
• Hidden Objects Collection Volume 4
• Oddworld: Soulstorm - Oddtimized Edition
• Orcen Axe
• SIFU
• Sonic Frontiers

• 11-09

• ARK: Dinosaur Discovery
• NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2
• Super Woden GP

• 11-10

• Aragami 2
• Cyber Velocity Run
• Geometric Feel the Beats
• Geometric Sniper
• Jurassic World Aftermath Collection
• Kaiju Wars
• Lost Chiko
• Lunistice
• Machinika Museum
• MULTIVERSEPOOL
• Orbital Bullet
• Ore ga Watashi ni Naru Made... ~ Becoming a She ~
• Pixel Game Maker Series ANGEL'S BLOOD
• Space Ducks: The great escape

• 11-11

• Arcade Machine: Gopher's Revenge
• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
• Brain Memory
• Kamikaze Veggies
• Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk and Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk
• Pocket Mini Golf 2
• Resident Evil 2: Cloud
• Run Sausage Run!
• Sausage Wars
• Save Room
• Tactics Ogre: Reborn

• 11-12

• Tempoknight