January 23 - 29

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

Welcome folks, and happy “655th Anniversary of the coronation of the Hongwu Emperor” week!

On 23 January, 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang was crowned as the Hongwu Emperor of China. This marked the end of almost 100 years of Mongol rule in China, and began what would become known as the Ming Dynasty. During the 300 years of the Ming Dynasty, the Forbidden Kingdom was built, China went on a spate of global exploration, and people made some very nice vases. You may all celebrate by playing a game with well-decorated rooms.

Welcome back to The Week Ahead for 2023! The thing about starting late in January is that things are already kicking off.

Forspoken is this week’s hot AAA mess. It’s a PS5 and PC ‘sclusy, published by Squenix and developed by Luminous, who did Final Fantasy XV. It’s an open-world RPG with a fish-out-of-water storyline about a sassy young woman from New York who is transported to a magical fantasy world. It’s a bit like Alice in Wonderland, if Alice dropped F-bombs every 5 minutes. Last year’s demo gave folks a taste of the in-game banter and dialogue, to tepid reviews (discussed on the Conference Call here).

Characterisation aside, the combat system holds promise. You use magic, but you are not a squishy sniper. You are way more acrobatic—leaping, dodging, and flinging spells mid-air, switching between AoE, melee, summons, and debuffs. This will require constantly bringing up your skill wheel to select spells, about as much as you switch up weapons and ammo in Horizon Zero Dawn, giving combat a “real time with pause” feeling. The skill tree/spellbook is very large and branchy, based on different elemental types, and offers the chance to discover cool combinations. The first few hours may grind while you are stuck with the opening spells, but once your spellbook fills out, there’s potential for fun builds. But some previewers have said it takes too long to get there.

Considering that Forspoken was planned as a showcase for the PS5, it’s not offering anything amazingly next-gen in its open-world design or presentation. Take the stealth mechanics, which includes some compulsory auto-fail stealth sections, which harks back to that cursed time in the PS3 era when it seemed compulsory for every game to include auto-fail stealth sections. We are living in the light of the Erdtree now, and a PS3 kinda game with upscaled graphics doesn’t shine as bright by comparison.

Speaking of PS3 kinda games with upscaled graphics, the other big dog on the block this week is Dead Space. This is no “spiritual successor” like the disappointing Callisto Protocol; this is a belt-and-braces remake of the spooky 2008 game.

The original Dead Space is a modern classic that was big on jump scares, strategic dismembering of enemies, and horrific vignettes in a poorly-lit spaceship. The remake turns the visuals and lighting effects up to 11 on a game that already holds up visually. The new detail in the environments and enemies, and the improved lighting, are stunning and noticeably outdo the original.

The mission progression is largely the same, although some missions have been redesigned. The weapons have been repurposed with more alternate fire modes and other mods. The map has been rejigged to allow backtracking and exploration to find these mods. They’ve also added more complexity to the dismemberment, with more layers of flesh and viscera to peel off the creepy enemies before finally dispatching them. Also, your guy talks now, but not too much.

It all adds up to an extra level of gruesomeness and tension across the board. This remake offers plenty of improvements to bring the old fans back and is “this-gen” enough to find new fans.

Besides the big dogs, there’s some lesser beasts sniffing about this week.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Rise of Rasalhague bolts on another 12 missions and 11 Mech models to this 3rd person action mech shooter.

The Dark Side of the Moon: An Interactive FMV Thriller is a console port of a 2021 game that seems conveniently well-timed to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Pink Floyd album.

On Xbox, Shoulders of Giants is a sci-fi roguelike where the hook is that you are riding around on the back of a big robot, exploring to find upgrades and new weapons. Imagine Ratchet and Clank with the roles reversed, with a mini-Ratchet riding around on Clank’s shoulders.

On the PC, there’s Warlander, a free-to-play, team-based multiplayer game that does the whole big medieval battle thing, but this time you’re wizards. Dismemberment is also on offer here, as one of the wizard powers is a lightsaber-lookin’ ability where you try to line up your slashes to get through gaps in armour. There’s also lots of teamworky checkpoint mission design, to ensure your war machine keeps turning (oh lord, yeah!).

The Switch gets a port of The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, a point-n-click adventure game from last September that filled out the bottom 5 of quite a few “top 10” lists for 2022.

Forspoken gets my GOTW this week. While I think Dead Space is the better-made game, it’s too spooky for me. I could barely get through all the previews. Forspoken, mixed bag as it is, is the one I’m more likely to play, although it’s shaping up as a “wait for sale” kinda game. That’s fine! I’m still munching on leftovers from 2022.

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

PC

  • 01-23

  • A Modest Legacy
  • Asfalia
  • Champ at Dawn
  • Chestnut Grove
  • Death Swap: End As One
  • FinalFort
  • Friend or Foe
  • Invincible Medusa
  • Just One
  • Land of Towers
  • LingerToAlive
  • Locke(d)
  • LR2 : Liars' Race in Lost Ruins
  • Master Heroes
  • Maximum
  • Open Fishing XL
  • Project: Mirror
  • Summit
  • The Forgotten Tapes: Analog Nightmares
  • The Great Ocean
  • The Hidden and Unknown
  • Walden Horde
  • 01-24

  • Catoise
  • Constructor simulator
  • Disgusting Puzzle
  • Eastern Europe Train Sim
  • Endless Nesla
  • Forspoken
  • Gemstones
  • holy soul
  • Keyboardmen
  • Mahokenshi
  • Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters
  • Rival Rides
  • Rougle
  • SpaceDog
  • Super Kids Racing : Mini Edition
  • Temple of Boonil
  • Warlander
  • 01-25

  • A Maiden Astrologer Divines the Future
  • ASU
  • Ballistic Zen
  • Brick Odyssey
  • Bus Simulator: Car Driving
  • Desktop Dungeons: Rewind - Daily Demo
  • Eiyuu Densetsu: Kuro no Kiseki II - CRIMSON SiN
  • Forest Of Relics
  • Forkscythe
  • Four Color Puzzle
  • Handyman Corporation
  • Hidden Post-Apocalyptic 4 Top-Down 3D
  • Karakuru
  • Know This Array
  • Larcin Lazer
  • Learn Japanese
  • Nebula (JuTek Pixel)
  • Old Tunnel
  • Pets Hotel: Prologue
  • Reviver
  • Scary Turnaround
  • SENTINEL
  • Space Escaper
  • Stories From the Cores
  • Temple and Secrets
  • The madness of death
  • Word of mouth stories. vol 1
  • 01-26

  • A passive boy at the Huntress clinic
  • Agent Roy - Zombie Hunt
  • Death in the Water 2
  • Deathtide Survivors
  • Duelyst GG
  • Emberfate: Tempest of Elements
  • Eternal Fidelity
  • EX_Holics.exe
  • Flightpath
  • Garden In!
  • Hyper Shapes
  • I commissioned some bunnies
  • In the Dark (teamkamakiri)
  • Inhabit
  • MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Rise of Rasalhague
  • No13Shelter
  • Old Shadow
  • Onion Assault
  • Pizza Tower
  • Playback Trauma: In Sickness
  • Power Chord
  • Rogue Blaster
  • Roller Drama
  • Shoulders of Giants
  • Stack Machines
  • The Adventurer's Domain Online
  • The Green Room Experiment (Episode 1)
  • Unusual Ghost
  • Vradark's Revenge
  • 01-27

  • 14 Days of Desire
  • 8 Ball 3
  • Alice Escaped!
  • Anime Squad
  • Arrogation: Unlight of Day
  • ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree
  • Bloody Hell
  • Break Everything - Park
  • Castle Capture Topkapi
  • CUBEMATRIX
  • Cyber West: Hidden Object Games - Western
  • Dead Space
  • Eastern Europe Bus Sim
  • Friendly Facade
  • Grappling Dash
  • Hank: Straightjacket
  • Hike Trip
  • Hope (Pedro Lima's Productions)
  • In The Gym
  • Kori's Fable Visual Novel
  • Medieval and Secrets
  • Milky Quest II
  • Mount Farewell
  • My Neighbor Neko
  • Scarlet Maiden
  • Space Blast
  • Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - Different Future
  • Tactical Command
  • Tedram
  • The Duduk Master
  • Travelers Game
  • 01-29

  • Alien Battlefield
  • Dark Night Maze
  • Disgusting Puzzle 2
  • Dungeon Survive

Xbox Series X

  • 01-24

  • World War Z: Aftermath
  • 01-26

  • MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Rise of Rasalhague
  • Shoulders of Giants
  • Startup Company: Console Edition
  • Transiruby
  • 01-27

  • Dead Space
  • Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - Different Future

Xbox One

  • 01-24

  • Risen
  • 01-25

  • Clunky Hero
  • Kingdom Rush
  • The Dark Side of the Moon: An Interactive FMV Thriller
  • 01-26

  • MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Rise of Rasalhague
  • Shoulders of Giants
  • Startup Company: Console Edition
  • Transiruby
  • 01-27

  • Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey
  • Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - Different Future

PlayStation 5

  • 01-24

  • Forspoken
  • Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
  • World War Z: Aftermath
  • 01-26

  • MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Rise of Rasalhague
  • Startup Company: Console Edition
  • Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection
  • 01-27

  • Dead Space
  • Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - Different Future

PlayStation 4

  • 01-24

  • Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters
  • Risen
  • 01-26

  • MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Rise of Rasalhague
  • Miracle Snack Shop
  • Startup Company: Console Edition
  • Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection
  • 01-27

  • ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree
  • Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey
  • Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - Different Future

Switch

  • 01-24

  • Right and Down
  • Risen
  • 01-25

  • Clunky Hero
  • Sissa's Path
  • The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
  • VELONE
  • 01-26

  • 7 Days to End with You
  • Bike Clash
  • Cubic Light
  • Hippo: Little Red Riding Hood
  • Japanese Escape from The Room with Sturdy Door
  • Mars Base
  • OddBallers
  • Onion Assault
  • pixelBOT EXTREME!
  • Poker Legends: Omaha Champions
  • Startup Company: Console Edition
  • Uphill Rush Water Park Racing
  • Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection
  • Zodiacats
  • 01-27

  • Alice Escaped!
  • ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree
  • Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey
  • nOS new Operating System
  • Offroad Moto Bike
  • Wonderland Nights: White Rabbit's Diary

Comments

I really wanted Forspoken to be good. I loved the ‘fish out of water’ concept and liked the main character but the open world looked too much like an old fashioned, way too empty RPG. I thought the combat might be the game’s saving grace but, after playing the demo, I realised I didn’t like how it worked or felt. Shame but, at the same time, nice to have another game I can cross off my endlessly growing list of ‘must play’ games.

I bounced off Dead Space in it’s original form so I’m excited to try this enhanced version for cheap or free some time mid 2024.

As someone who was very luke cold on the Forspoken demo, I suspect its issues are in line with just about every other Triple-A game out there.

UPDATE: Reviews look all over the map, which is a weirdly good sign, in my book.

Hope Forspoken is good!

TheHarpoMarxist wrote:

As someone who was very luke cold on the Forspoken demo, I suspect its issues are in line with just about every other Triple-A game out there.

UPDATE: Reviews look all over the map, which is a weirdly good sign, in my book.

My impression, I’m on shaky ground because I played very little of the game, is that it’s a lot emptier and less interesting open world than games like God of War, Ghost of Tsushima or Marvel’s Spider-Man.

In all those games the incidental combat was enormous fun (in the end Ghost of Tsushima is the one I connected with the most as the combat felt less reliant on button combos.) The traversal in Spider-Man is so entertaining that you could give him the weakest of excuses to cross town and it’d still be the best time. Ghost of Tsushima has astonishing atmosphere. It’s a pleasure just to ride around in that world. Both God of War games have, on top of the great combat, fun, Portal level puzzles to solve and the character development is astonishing in both of them. Kratos is not the same person at the end of either game that he is at the start and it’s wonderful to witness how his relationship with his son grows slowly over time from a pretty terrible start.

Triple A games have a lot to offer but I understand if they aren’t your thing.