New Releases: July 19th-25th, 2018

Poultry gets some long-deserved representation with the release of both Bomb Chicken and Chicken Assassin on the Switch. But before crying, “fowl” at these two half-hatched titles, know there are plenty of other titles arriving. Mega Man seems to be the unambiguous star, with two collections of classic Blue Bomber action coming to PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, and PC. The week’s other treat are two Vita ports arriving on PC, with both Mary Skelter: Nightmares and Ys: Memories of Celceta coming to Steam.

Header image: Eternal Fantasy, PC

PlayStation 4
Detached (digital, VR, $TBA)
Gotcha Racing 2nd (digital, $9.99)
Guts and Glory (digital, $14.99)
Mega Man X Legacy Collection (digital, $19.99)
Mega Max 2 Legacy Collection 2 (digital, $19.99)
Mega Max 2 Legacy Collection 1+2 (retail and digital, $39.99)

Switch
ACA NeoGeo: League Bowling (digital, $7.99)
Animal Rivals (digital, $2.99)
Arcade Archives: City Connection (digital, $7.99)
Beat Rush (digital, $4.99)
Bomb Chicken (digital, $14.99)
Chicken Assassin: Reloaded (digital, $7.99)
Frost (digital, $12.99)
Galak-Z: Variant (digital, free)
Ghost 1.0 (digital, $9.99)
Guts and Glory (digital, $14.99)
Heroki (digital, $6.99)
Hungry Shark World (digital, $9.99)
Lost Phones Stories (digital, $9.99)
Mega Man X Legacy Collection (digital, $19.99)
Mega Max 2 Legacy Collection 2 (digital, $19.99)
Mega Max 2 Legacy Collection 1+2 (retail and digital, $39.99)
NoReload Heroes (digital, $9.99)
Pool Panic (digital, $14.99)
Semblance (digital, $9.99)
Spheroids (digital, $7.99)
Starship Avenger Operation: Take Back Earth (digital, $4.99)
Tanzia (digital, $19.99)
Voxel Shot (digital, $8.00)
VSR: Void Space Racing (digital, $7.99)
Werewolf Pinball (digital, $1.99)

Xbox One
Frost (digital, $12.99)
Guts and Glory (digital, $14.99)
Mega Man X Legacy Collection (digital, $19.99)
Mega Max 2 Legacy Collection 2 (digital, $19.99)
Mega Max 2 Legacy Collection 1+2 (retail and digital, $39.99)
Nidhogg 2 (digital, $14.99)
No Man’s Sky (digital, $49.99)

PC
Eternal Fantasy ($TBA)
Galactic Feud ($5.99)
Gotcha Racing 2nd ($9.99)
Gun*Gal 2 ($47.99)
Headsnatchers ($TBA)
Hentai Memory ($TBA)
Mary Skelter: Nightmares ($14.99)
Masked Forces 3 ($3.74)
Mega Man X Legacy Collection ($14.99)
Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 ($19.99)
Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1+2 ($29.03)
Pool Panic ($14.99)
Semblance ($9.99)
Ys: Memories of Celceta ($TBA)

Robert’s Pick: Mary Skelter: Nightmares was one of my favorite dungeon crawlers of the past few years, so if you missed the Vita version, be sure to check it out on PC this week. The same goes for my pick of Ys: Memories of Celceta, which is making the jump onto Steam.  Originally released back in 2013, it’s a heaping helping of timeless Nihon Falcom enjoyment. Sure, the plot is rather simple, but it’s hard not to appreciate the game combat system, that is nimble and accessible yet has a strategic underpinning. In the five years since the game’s release crafting has become a near-ubiquitous mechanic, but here it’s wonderfully user-friendly, and more importantly doesn’t feel like a thankless chore.

Zack’s Pick (Senior Editor, RPG Site): Much like how I went with Sonic Mania Plus last week, I want to stick with my platforming nostalgia by recommending another stalwart of the genre with the upcoming release of Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2. While it may contain the hilariously awful X7, Mega Man X8 happens to be one of my favorite entries in the entire series. Thanks to its amazing cutscenes, soundtrack, and voice acting (especially in comparison to X7), that pretty much makes this entire package more than worth the price tag.

Perhaps the part I’m most excited about is that this collection features the prequel OVA, The Day of Sigma, which follows the origins of main Mega Man X antagonist Sigma. I remember watching this on my copy of Maverick Hunter X for the PSP, so seeing it again in HD rather than what is now considered a tiny handheld would be incredibly welcome.

Matt’s Pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): Mary Skelter: Nightmares is the most creative and engaging dungeon crawler I’ve played in years. Yes, it’s by Compile Heart, and that usually means fanservice to the expense of quality (at least, in the eyes of too many people – not me though I <3 you Nep Nep), but Mary Skelter is an often surprisingly mature work from the prolific developer/ publisher. Coupled with an amazingly original approach to boss battles (where the turn-based game becomes an action hide-and-seek affair) and some really good dungeon designs, this is one that kept me enthralled from start to finish.

The sequel’s on its way, too, so the PC release of the original is the perfect chance to catch up if you missed it when it was previously exclusive to the PlayStation Vita.

Ryan’s Pick: Characters Locomoco and Farte were almost awesome, and well-named enough to be my shining rays of light for the upcoming releases this week. However, after some deliberation, Eternal Fantasy will unfortunately will not be chosen. It lacks English localization, including the UI, so I have to pass. Now let’s get to brass tacks. The platform puzzler Semblance has grabbed my attention this week for two reasons. Foremost, I really like the idea of manipulating your environment, and yourself, to be able to solve puzzles. It’s a fresh idea that brings in one more consideration for players to assess while trying to stop yourself from being maimed over and over by environmental hazards.  Secondly, I really like the contrasting colors that they have employed in the game. The art style reminds me a little bit of Samurai Jack for whatever reason, and that’s okay with me. This particular genre is definitely unique in the vast cornucopia of game types, with a subtle little lower layer of mood and of theme that always permeates the game as you play. I feel that Semblance also embodies this motif, which makes it interesting. I haven’t elected a puzzler yet since I’ve started writing my weekly picks, so I think Semblance will be a fine first choice.

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.

7 comments

  1. Odd price for Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1+2 on PC but I’ll take thirty years of great gaming for less than $30.

  2. I’m kind of rooting for the devs to turn No Man’s Sky around and make people happy.

  3. 3 Japanese games (well ones a collection of Japanese games) and one South African game.

    Interesting.

  4. I read Gotcha as Gacha. I think Gacha would have been worse.

  5. Pool Panic looks kind of fun. Don’t like the CalArts style though.

  6. Galak-Z: Variant Is really free or just a demo with pay to play options?

  7. I looked up Hentai Memory and it’s exactly what I thought it would be.