New Releases: January 18th-24th, 2024

This week, the latest entry in the long-running Prince of Persia series arrives, alongside Bulletstorm’s VR adaptation and The Last of US Part II’s remastering. Of course, none of the titles have the audacity of Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs The Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami, which merges hauntings and hot springs.

PlayStation 4
Bansen Knights (digital, $9.99)
Lil’ Guardsman (digital, $19.99)
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (physical & digital, $49.99)
The Cub (digital, $14.99)
Witch Rise (digital, $4.99)

PlayStation 5
Bulletstorm VR (digital, $39.99, PS+ $35.99)
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (physical & digital, $49.99)
The Last of Us Part II Remastered (physical & digital, $49.99)

Switch
Another Code: Recollection (digital, $59.99)
Chess Grandmaster Royal Bundle (digital, $9.99)
Choo-Choo Charles (digital, $19.99)
Colorful Adventures Bundle (digital, $9.99)
Death Motel (digital, $2.49)
Detective – Stella Porta Case (digital, $10.49)
Downhill Driver: Extreme Racing Simulator (digital, $9.99)
DreadOut 2 (digital, $19.99)
Easy Dice for RPG/Tabletop (digital, $1.00)
Fairytale Theatre-Momotaro’s Adventure- (digital, $2.00)
Fastest Finger First! 3 Hint Quiz (digital, $6.99)
Hero of Fate (digital, $14.99)
Knights of Grayfang (digital, $13.49)
Lil’ Guardsman (digital, $19.99)
Monster Truck Freestyle (digital, $1.99)
Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters (digital, $44.99)
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (physical & digital, $49.99)
Rescue！DROPKICK ON MY DEVIL!! (digital, $6.99)
Saga of the Moon Priestess (digital, $5.99)
Shalnor Legends Double Bundle (digital, $14.99)
Sudoku – Game for Kids (digital, $9.99)
Super Sean 007 (digital, $9.99)
The Cub (digital, $14.99)
The Legend of Steel Empire (digital, $24.99)
The Pedestrian (digital, $19.99)
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (digital, $13.49)
Vigour (digital, $3.99)
Witch Rise (digital, $4.99)

Xbox One
Anomaly Agent (digital, $12.74)
Bansen Knights (digital, $9.99)
Climber: Sky is the Limit (digital, $12.49)
Knights of Grayfang (digital, $13.49)
Lil’ Guardsman (digital, $19.99)
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (physical & digital, $49.99)
Remains (digital, $9.99)
Stumble Guys (digital, $4.99)
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (digital, $13.49)
Witch Rise (digital, $4.99)

PC
Anomaly Agent ($TBA)
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy ($49.99)
Bulletstorm VR ($39.99)
Lil’ Guardsman ($19.99)
Lonestar ($8.99)
New Cycles ($26.99)
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (Ubisoft Connect, $49.99)
Super Idol
The Cub ($14.99)
Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun ($17.99)
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank ($13.49)
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes
Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs: The Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami ($26.99)

Rob’s Pick: Fukuoka-based Cing was a small development house, who crafted some remarkable adventure games across the early 2000’s (as well as 2009 Little King’s Story). This week, Another Code: Two Memories and Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories revisits two of their efforts, extended remakes with improved graphics and new voiceover. Just be aware that the target audience is probably supposed to identify with teenage protagonist Ashley Mizuki Robbins and the puzzles seem geared for adventure game beginners. So, if you know someone in that general age range, Another Code: Recollection would be a great pick up. Given my immaturity, I’m probably better suited for the mixture of Mystery Dungeon exploration and moe found in Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs.

As for me, I’ve always been a fan of French-Bread and Arc System Works collaborative fighters. Not only do I thoroughly enjoy the fluidity of the hand-drawn sprites, but there’s a captivating amount of depth to their approach. Although Under Night In Birth II only offers a trio of new characters (beyond incorporating a season pass), it’s the first time rollback code has been implemented.

Ryan’s pick: The Prince of Persia series dates way back to 1989 when it was released under Broderbund and pretty much has always delivered in terms of platforming. There were some really memorable game mechanics used in this series, such as the use of the Sands in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and satisfying wall-running in Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands. I’m curious to see how the latest installment in the series Prince of Persia The Lost Crown plays as this installment is a side-scrolling 2.5 platformer this time, which is a bit more like the original games that were 2D platformers. I really hope a lot of the fun mechanics that helped make the previously mentioned games so fun are present.

I’ve always had a penchant for fighters and have a lot of fond memories of Arc Systems Works games going way back to the PS2 era. Part of the allure of this genre is trying out all the characters and finding the moveset that fits your playstyle and for me, the character art is what gets me interested in a character first, and for Under Night In Birth II the sprites are really well done. There also seem to be a lot of player-centric improvements being added ie. rollback netcode and a casual match mode. I think this one is definitely worth a look if you like fighters or enjoy animated Japanese sprites.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I had the privilege of playing a bit of Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun at TGS last year and I was very impressed with it indeed. It was like Titan Quest, but from a more interesting period of history, and I am all for more games combining Diablo and Three Kingdoms-era China. Unless something was broken really late into development, this is a game you should be paying attention to.

Meanwhile, Another Code: Recollection is a delight. I’m sorry I couldn’t have my own review up in time for the embargo, but I’ve been enjoying a week of pampering on a Disney Cruise, so please forgive me. It’s a really, really good game, combining classic point-and-click exploration with more modern storytelling and art direction. It’s great. I thoroughly recommend it.