April 17 - 23

  Felix “Moar Aloy” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “12th Anniversary of the premiere of Game of Thrones” week!

The Game of Thrones TV series premiered on April 17, 2011. It was a simpler time, when TV show episodes came out once a week, and people still went to each other’s houses to watch TV. George RR Martin released A Dance with Dragons a few months later, joking that he had to finish the book series before the show caught up to the books, because how preposterous would it be otherwise? You may all celebrate by playing a game where you have quests in your log you know you won’t finish.

I’m back on deck with a real computer. My first big hype game of 2023 is out next week, giving this week an “almost there” feeling—I just need to stay on target. However, there’s some heavy hitters in the list, trying to knock me off course.

Minecraft Legends is a third person, action RTS presented in the Minecraft block-built world. Unlike most RTS, you don’t have a god’s-eye view—you control a leader who must go to the place and build the thing or direct the minion, like in Brutal Legend. Yes, you collect Pikmin-like minions to help you build or battle. As it’s made to be played with a controller, you won’t be assigning your minions into sub-groups with their own hotkeys, like in grognard RTS games. The controls are simpler: you can tell groups of one type of minion to do things. But on the plus side, you get to wade into battle with your own hero.

Otherwise, it’s very Minecraft: you roam a proc-gen world, foraging for resources and building your own bases and structures, especially to deal with the swarms that come out at night. There’s also enemy bases to find and raid. There’s multiplayer, both co-op and PvP. You can freeplay against the AI and play a map until it’s cleared, or you can PvP, taking on other player’s bases. The difficulty curve suggests that it’s meant for multiplayer, but what do I know? Some 9-year-old will probably speedrun it solo in 15 minutes by the end of the week.

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores is set in a volcanic ruin of LA. It’s PS5-sclusy, so you know the visuals will drip. The DLC for the first Horizon game was some of its best content, so this is seriously tempting. The only snag is that this DLC can only be done after finishing the main story. I burned out before finishing Forbidden West—I put in over 100 hours, and there was still so much of it left.

Disney Speedstorm is a Disney/Pixar-themed kart racer where you pick a character and race on a themed track. A big part of the draw is the deep pool of IPs available: along with the classics (and clearly compulsory to keep them relevant) like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, there’s Mulan, Monsters Inc, The Jungle Book, Pirates of Caribbean, Hercules, and heaps more.

You unlock racers, karts, and tracks by following progression breadcrumbs that will introduce you to the various, and many, game modes and character systems. There’s a bunch of progression mechanics, with character ranks, crew perks, and kart mods. Wouldn’t most folks want to get to the point where they can just pick their favourite track and their favourite character, and go? It’s hard to tell whether Speedstorm’s gradual unlocks would feel engaging or like the good stuff is hidden behind busywork. At least it’s not hidden behind in-game purchases.

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story is an isometric action-RPG set in the League of Legends-verse. You play as Sylas, the chain-whuppin’, magic-usin’ dude from the original game. It’s got that Diablo loop: clear dungeon, collect loot, upgrade gear, fight boss, watch cutscene. There’s a lot of ways to tweak the difficulty, and a lot of lore on offer.

God of Rock keeps the streak going for rhythm games in 2023. This one’s presented like a Tekken-style fighting game where your well-timed guitar riffs unleash punches and power attacks.

Secret Agent: Cold War Espionage is a single-player stealth action game with a green sepia-toned look that’s as low-res as Goldeneye. I can’t tell you much more than that—this game is so secret, there’s no previews for it. The one video I found was in Russian. There’s 7 levels, that’s all I can say.

Dead Island 2 is the long-awaited sequel to 2011’s Dead Island. Back in 2011, The Walking Dead was at season 2. While Rick and company were stuck on a farm, you could enjoy open-world zombie-slaying at an island resort. Dead Island 2 takes you to zombie-infested LA, manifested as a series of 10 zones to explore. The visuals are lush, with beautifully-detailed vistas and buildings, and brutally-detailed zombie-killing gore. Not for the squeamish. All the weapon types, and their upgrades, are back, and you’ll have to have a decent arsenal to take on zombies with different damage resistances. There’s also more variety in the environmental effects you can cause. The combat looks well done, but the cut’n’paste mission design looks grindy.

My fave this week is Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores. Maybe I could dust off my save and actually beeline the story, instead of the free-roam hunting and gathering that I spent 99% of my time doing. GOTW.

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

PC

• 04-17

• 3001 Pages : a fairy tale for 33
• Battle of Honice 1423
• Beyond the Long Night
• DAR BattleVerse
• Doomed Lands
• Editor's Hell
• ENERGY HEIST
• Eternal Roadster
• Hitman Party
• Kingsblade: King's Keep Prologue
• MADGUN
• Pets Hotel
• Ptero Pursuit
• Recollection
• Run Penguin Run
• Soulvester VS Lil' Beezey
• Suffer The Night
• Swirl [email protected]
• The Cube of World
• The Imposters
• Time Survivors: Prologue
• WarpVector
• What Is Sleeping In My Room?
• World Strategy War

• 04-18

• Cave Crawler
• Creeping Deck: Pharaoh's Curse Prologue
• Curse of the Corsair
• Desktop Dungeons: Rewind
• Disney Speedstorm
• Enjaulados
• Exogate Initiative
• God of Rock
• Green New Deal Simulator
• MANKI YAGYO
• Minecraft Legends
• Ocean Cat
• One (Prime Ape Studio)
• Pirateland
• Space Fighter 2
• Tank kingdoms
• The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story
• Trade Bots: A Technical Analysis Simulation
• VR Internet 3.0 - Cyber Space
• Zippy Detective: Cats

• 04-19

• 24 Solar Terms
• BUCCANYAR
• Candy Lattice
• CATEGORY CHALLENGE
• FAS: Fight Action Sandbox
• Find the Way Out Samurai!
• Fortune Follow: The Mansion
• Freedom's Twilight
• JACKPOT
• Koga Online
• LaborSurviveManual
• Life Changer
• Mafia Pigs
• Medusa VR
• Moons Of Darsalon
• Save 2020
• SHOOTING STAR VR
• Steel Rampart
• Survival: Fountain of Youth
• Teravit
• Three Kingdoms Fantasy

• 04-20

• 2 Bit Operative
• A Drop of Hope
• AI Unbound
• AMID EVIL VR
• Arcana of Paradise -The Tower-
• Between
• Blood Moon
• Bloodscent
• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly
• Conduit To Nexus
• Counterclocking
• Day Of Dead
• Dead Unending
• DINO MERCS
• Divine Dawn
• Factory Town Idle
• Flame Tale
• Forever In The Backrooms
• GlowBoarding
• Gold Rush
• Havendock
• I commissioned some frogs
• In The Well
• Labyrinth of Zangetsu
• Lkyt.
• Memories from Beyond a Coral Sea
• Monkey Business
• Mr. Sun's Hatbox
• Mushroom Pin
• Mystillion
• Neon Echo
• OTXO
• Outer Terror
• Putin vs. Aliens: Extended Cut CyberPutin 2033
• Puzzled Runner
• Rainbow Warhead
• Rainbowcore Hypernova
• Rectangle Guy
• Sisyphus.12.20.03
• Start Over
• Stray Blade
• UNPOGABLE
• Void Blitzing
• Volcano Princess

• 04-21

• Abyss (Nightmore Works)
• After Gym: Gym Simulator Game
• Akairo No Kaii
• Buddies in Boxes
• Car Parkour
• Coral Caper
• Cruo Domine
• Cute Honey : Special Edition
• Dead Island 2
• Dreaming Worlds
• DS Epoch
• Folletti
• Formula TOP
• Grief Trigger
• Head Soccer
• Homestead Arcana
• Hope's End
• Hyperhell
• KIRO II: The Wizards Guild
• Lifeless Song
• Man Tingfang: Prosperity in Song Dynasty
• My Best Friend Kouta
• Panic
• Pigeon Protocol
• Princess of Mekana
• Rainbow Rendezvous
• The Agnietta - The Holy Healer and the Cursed Dungeon
• The Regions
• Typing Tempo
• Wheels of WAR
• Where is He
• Zhijiang Town: Double Virtual Universe

• 04-22

• Kreeps

• 04-23

• Back to Vietnam
• Castle War
• Goblin and Coins II
• Goyourei
• Homelander
• Jurl
• Military Tanks
• o7
• Puppetmaster - Pose Viewer
• Ranger Quest: The Elemental Orbs
• Save District 3
• The ABC
• Towers Together

Xbox Series X

• 04-18

• Disney Speedstorm
• God of Rock
• Minecraft Legends
• Puzzle Quest 3
• The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story

• 04-19

• Secret Agent : Cold War Espionage

• 04-20

• Cavity Busters
• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly
• Stray Blade

• 04-21

• Dead Island 2
• Homestead Arcana

Xbox One

• 04-18

• Disney Speedstorm
• God of Rock
• Minecraft Legends
• Puzzle Quest 3
• The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story

• 04-19

• Secret Agent : Cold War Espionage

• 04-20

• Cavity Busters
• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly

• 04-21

• Dead Island 2
• Homestead Arcana
• Mr. Brocco & Co.

PlayStation 5

• 04-18

• Disney Speedstorm
• God of Rock
• Minecraft Legends
• Puzzle Quest 3
• The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story

• 04-19

• Afterlife VR
• Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

• 04-20

• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly
• Stray Blade

• 04-21

• Dead Island 2
• Moe Waifu H

PlayStation 4

• 04-18

• Disney Speedstorm
• God of Rock
• Minecraft Legends
• Puzzle Quest 3
• The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story

• 04-19

• Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster

• 04-20

• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly
• Labyrinth of Zangetsu

• 04-21

• Dead Island 2
• Moe Waifu H

Switch

• 04-17

• Jump Challenge!

• 04-18

• Disney Speedstorm
• God of Rock
• Minecraft Legends
• The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story
• The Mageseeker: Hijacked Spells Pack

• 04-19

• Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster
• Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster
• LOST EPIC

• 04-20

• Arcana of Paradise -The Tower-
• BACKGAMMON PRO for Nintendo Switch
• Cavity Busters
• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly
• DNF Duel
• Japanese NEKOSAMA Games The Outlaws
• Just Xiangqi
• Labyrinth of Zangetsu
• Lifeslide
• Melonizard
• Molly Medusa: Queen of Spit
• Mr. Sun's Hatbox
• Panic Porcupine
• Park Story
• Summer Bubble Splash
• Sunrise GP
• The Last Dragon Slayer
• Tin Hearts
• Wild Dogs
• Zoeti

• 04-21

• Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp
• Light of Life
• Mia and the Dragon Princess
• Moe Waifu H
• Yello Adventures