New Releases: July 12th-18th, 2018

From a subtle tweet to role-playing tradition in Octopath Traveler, a double-dose of Touhou delight, as well as Jeff Minter’s latest foray through digital psychedelia, a number of notable titles arrives this week. Beyond that, the rerelease of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker onto Switch and 3DS brings the enjoyable action-puzzlers to new audiences, while Sonic Mania receives a digital supplement that puts the digital version in line with the physical release.

Header image: Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded, PlayStation 4 and Switch

PlayStation 4
Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion (physical and digital, $39.99)
Chicken Assassin Reloaded (digital, $TBA)
Earthfall: Deluxe Edition (retail, $39.99)
Far Cry 5 – Lost on Mars (DLC, $11.99)
Mothergunship (physical and digital, $29.99)
Sonic Mania – Encore Pack (DLC, $4.99)
Sonic Mania Plus (retail, $29.99)
Tempest 4000 (physical and digital, $29.99)
Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded (physical and digital, 49.99)

Switch
ACA NeoGeo: The Super Spy (digital, $7.99)
Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion (physical and digital, $39.99)
Assault Gunners HD Edition (digital, $9.99)
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (physical and digital, $39.99)
Darts Up (digital, $TBA)
Epic Loon (digital, $14.99)
Fill-a-Pix: Phil’s Epic Adventure (digital, $7.99)
Hand of Fate 2 (digital, $29.99)
Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! (digital, $14.99)
Hunting Simulator (physical and digital, $39.99)
Let’s Sing 2018 (digital, $39.99)
Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Express Raider (digital, $7.99)
Mugsters (digital, $TBA)
Octopath Traveler (physical and digital, $59.99)
Radio Hammer Station (digital, $6.99)
Red Hot Ricochet (digital, $9.99)
Sonic Mania – Encore Pack (DLC, $4.99)
Sonic Mania Plus (retail, $29.99)
Star Story: The Horizon Escape (digital, $9.99)
Super Destronaut DX (digital, $TBA)
Super Volley Blast (digital, $9.99)
Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded (physical and digital, 49.99)
The Mooseman (digital, $6.29)
Ultra Space Battle Brawl (digital, $14.99)
Vertical Strike: Endless Challenge (digital, $4.49)

Xbox One
Earthfall: Deluxe Edition (retail, $39.99)
Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion (physical and digital, $39.99)
Far Cry 5 – Lost on Mars (DLC, $11.99)
Mothergunship (physical and digital, $29.99)
Sonic Mania – Encore Pack (DLC, $4.99)
Sonic Mania Plus (retail, $29.99)
Tempest 4000 (physical and digital, $29.99)

3DS
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (physical and digital, $39.99)

PC
Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion ($39.99)
Chicken Assassin Reloaded ($4.99)
Far Cry 5 – Lost on Mars (DLC, $11.99)
Icons: Combat Arena ($TBA)
Mothergunship ($29.99)
Sonic Mania – Encore Pack (DLC, $4.99)
Tempest 4000 ($29.99)
Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity ($13.49)

Robert’s Pick: Selection is never an easy ask when you have two Touhou titles coming out within a seven-day span. But that said, this is the week I finally get to delve into Octopath Traveler. When screenshots of the title were first shown, I was immediately enamored by the unique visual approach, with rendered two-dimensional sprite in a soft-focus manner, creating a diorama-like effect. The idea of a SaGa-esque non-linear approach to plot was another pleasing perk, although I do wish there was some interaction between the game’s eight principals across the early chapters. Bolstered by an engaging combat system, Octopath is the rare role-playing game that feels a bit experimental. It might not have the polish of a game that’s built using a traditional blueprint, but this week, I’m looking forward to a gentle tweak to tradition. Just make sure you thoroughly consider your starter, because they’ll be with you for the duration of the game. (team H’aanit here!)

Zack’s Pick (Senior Editor, RPG Site): Being someone who grew up absolutely adoring the Sonic series (to the point I own a Chevrolet Sonic in part because of that fandom though it’s also a solid car), I was beyond excited to finally check out Sonic Mania last year. And it turned out to be one of the best Sonic games ever made.

Go figure, when you consider the franchise has been having some serious creativity problems for a while. Sega made the right choice to allow Christian Whitehead the opportunity to make the Sonic game he always wanted to make. While I would have loved it if they gave him a larger budget considering how Sonic Forces turned out, I was happy with the final product nonetheless.

Now we have Sonic Mania Plus about to be released, featuring the addition of Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel from SegaSonic the Hedgehog, remixed levels, four-player multiplayer, and more. This is certainly the definitive edition of the entire experience, and one no platforming fan should go without. That’s why it earns my easy recommendation for the week (also because I’m still super weary about Octopath Traveler)!

Ryan’s Pick: Allowing me, the player, to create my own weapons to blast off all sorts of fancy-crazy in an FPS built on the Unreal Engine definitely gets my vote for the week. Mothergunship’s development team Grip Digital/Terrible Posture Games were one of the teams chosen for last year’s Unreal Dev Grant to bring this chaotic bullet hell FPS shooter to fruition.  The visual aesthetic is extremely polished, and everything you would expect from an FPS game built on the Unreal Engine. The hook for me though, is the fact that I can make my own weapons. I pray that I can name them as well. Letting me name things really helps make them more special to me. I spent a ton of money in Sega GT to build this one car (named something terrible that Robert would bonk me on the noggin for writing in here) to drag race, and ended up selling it to the computer. The computer, then raced the same car with the same name against me after selling it, and it was unbeatable. Absolutely unbeatable. I ended up rueing its terrible name. The computer was laughing at me – I just know it. Thanks Dreamcast. Back to the FPS: The development team is planning co-op in a future free update, so it could be pretty fun to jump into the fray of bullets with a friend. I’m curious how they incorporate the bullet hell portion into the gameplay, as I feel like that will be one of the predominant mechanics of the game. Like every gamer out there, I do love large epic boss fights, so definitely sign me up.

Matt’s Pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): AND YOU THOUGHT I’D HAVE GONE WITH OCTOPATH TRAVELLER!

Nope. I’m going to recommend Hand of Fate 2 on the Nintendo Switch, because Hand of Fate is one of the most delightful things that you’ll ever play, if you’ve ever been a fan of deck-building card games, choose-your-own-adventure, board games or RPGs. Yes, it has all four… and then some on top of that!

This is one of the finest Aussie games that has ever been developed, with tight action, brilliant difficulty curve, and stunningly evocative art design. It’s also the kind of game that lends itself well to pick-up and play portable action, which means the Nintendo Switch version, barring any technical disasters, will be the superior way to go.

About Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

11 comments

  1. Shine Maidens or cat girls always seem to get the honor.

  2. “I spent a ton of money in Sega GT to build this one car (named something terrible that Robert would bonk me on the noggin for writing in here) to drag race”

    At first I thought Lolimobile, Pantsuspeedster, but I figured he’d be all right with these names.

  3. Is Lost on Mars part of Far Cry 5’s season pass?

  4. Only one pick for Octopath Traveler?!?

    Well, we all knew Robert would pick that one right?

    • Zack seems to know something. I’m waiting until I read some reviews from sites I trust.

  5. Mothergunship looks wonderfully crazy.

  6. How much content does the Sonic Mania Encore pack have?

  7. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever for Octopath Traveler. I can’t wait until tomorrow.

  8. I wonder what is Reloaded in Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded. Will you be reviewing?

  9. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker today, yes!!!

  10. Sonic Mania looks great.