New Game Releases: January 10th-16th, 2014

Assassin's Creed Liberation HD

This week’s roster of new releases offers a few familiar faces. From the return of Aveline de Grandpré for the high-definition, console-based reworking of Assassin’s Creed Liberation to an appearance by the perpetually assistive Chibi Robo in a new 3DS download. While many of the consoles and portables receive a new title, PC owners are especially victorious this week, receiving a number of notable titles such as The Banner Saga, Void Destroyer, and the free-to-play Estranged: Act I.

PlayStation 3
Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD (PSN, $19.99)
Double Dragon (PSN, PSOne import, $5.99)
The Raven – Legacy of a Master Thief (PSN, $29.99)

Xbox 360
Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD (XBL, $19.99)

Wii U
Cocoto Magic Circus 2 (eShop, $29.99)
Gradius (eShop, $4.99)

3DS
Chibi Robo: Photo Finder (eShop, $9.99)
Jump Trials Supreme (eShop, $3.99)

PS Vita
Age of Zombies! (PSN, $4.99)
Double Dragon (PSN, PSOne import, $5.99)
Doodle Devil (PSN, $5.99)

PC
Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD (Steam, $19.99)
Estranged: Act I (Steam, Free to Play)
Nidhogg
The Banner Saga (Steam, $19.99)
Void Destroyer (Steam, Early access)

Robert’s Pick: While Norse mythology seems like a natural fit for games, there’s a scant number of titles which actually do Odin’s warriors justice (Sorry, but Erik, Baleog, and Olaf’s exploits don’t really count). This week’s release of The Banner Saga hopes to join Volgarr, King’s Bounty: Warriors of the North, and Viking: Battle for Asgard’s in the hallowed halls of Valhalla. With development duties handled by three ex-BioWare members and a soundtrack by Journey’s Austin Wintory, this Kickstarter funded project has the proper pedigree. Hopefully, we’ll find out if the playability of the turn-based battles is on par with other superior strategy-role playing titles.

The Banner Saga Screenshot

Gonçalo’s Pick: I’ve been waiting for The Banner Saga’s release for quite a while, of course considering I love the strategy RPG genre the developers probably didn’t have to do a lot to spike my interest. However, the branching paths, large number of characters and its deep tactical gameplay coupled with the unique theme and gorgeous character art definitely proves its creators went above and beyond the line of duty. Oh and have you seen the FMV videos? If the animation were just a bit smoother it could pass for a Legend of Korra episode, very impressive considering we’re talking about an indie game here.

The Banner Saga

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.

37 comments

  1. Wow, I didn’t even know The Banner Saga existed. Didn’t even have to wait for it to come out. This is a nice surprise.

  2. What’s wrong with me? I see the word “Journey” and the first thing I think about is the band, not the game.

  3. I like Gradius, but wouldn’t pay $4.99 for it. Parodius on the other hand, I’d pay $10 to play.

  4. Did Robert “I hate PCs” just pick another PC game? What is this madness?

  5. Games where you take pictures of things in the real world (Unlike the fake world of Pokemon Snap or Fatal Frame) never seem to work. Now they stuck Chibi Robo in there? jeez.

      • Did Invizimals work? Did the Vita version ever come out? Please answer, Invizimal-master!!!!

        Seems as if Sonys US arm sent it to die. I have rarely seen the PSN games, and I shop a bit too much.

        • Invizimals: The Lost Tribes was supposed to come out in the U.S. in 2013, according to Sony. It didn’t and no announcement has been made.

        • Sorry about the late reply –

          Invisimals worked well. It was a lot of fun for what it was, and the campy FMVs between gameplay bits were great. Very Beakman’s World.

          Invizimals: The Alliance did release for the Vita in Europe, but not the US. Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom for PS3, and Invizimals: The Lost Tribe for PSP had the same fate. Shadow Zone made it to the US, but in a limited release. I have all three PSP games, thanks to one of the fine folks at SOE, and I got to play the Vita and PS3 games, which were cool (although the PS3 game was essentially an action platformer with Pokemon Stadium elements attached to it). It’s a shame we haven’t seen them here, especially since they no longer require a separate peripheral or cards.

          • The games are HUGE in Spain and Portugal. Was there for Christmas and you can find copies in every store.

          • Yea, that’s what they said at E3. They gave me a booster pack of the trading cards, and they were in Portuguese – they didn’t bring very many English sets because they didn’t think there would be as much interest.

      • I played a bit of the first Invizimals. It seemed ok and was a good idea, but I lost interest pretty quick with it.

  6. I love The Banner Saga’s Don Bleuth-style look.

    Also, agree with Deagle. We need more Viking games. To hell with Nazi, zombies, and aliens. They’ve all been done to death.

    • I’m thinking about picking up The Banner Saga. I really liked Factions, but crave a single player game when I don’t have an internet connection.

  7. 1. Make a game with grids and lolis

    2. Send a screenshot to Robert, watch him gush.

    3. Profit

    4. ???

  8. My PS4 is getting lonely. Beyond Don’t Starve, nothing is on the immediate horizon.

  9. I don’t have a Vita so I’m looking forward to Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD. Just wish there was a retail disk.

  10. King’s Bounty: Warriors of the North deserves more love. My favorite 1C game.

  11. Didn’t know about The Banner Saga until now. Read both pics and did a bit of Googling, looks like a game I’d love to play. Need to upgrade my PC first through.

  12. Are there any deal on The Banner Saga for less than $20? Maybe some site has a 20% off code…

  13. New Game Releases: January 10th-16th, 2014 | Tech-Gaming

  14. I might be down for Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD, even though it feels wierd going back to the world of 3 after playing 4 for the last month or so.

  15. Some great sales on PSN for PS3 and Vita owners. You should post the deals.

  16. Why didnt you review Chibi Robo: Photo Finder? It seems like something that would make a good article bad or good.