New Releases: October 21st-27th, 2021

Retro gamers unite! With the dreadfully named Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, Switch owners will have access to nine Nintendo 64 titles (Dr. Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Mario Tennis, Sin & Punishment, Star Fox 64, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Win Back: Covert Operations, and Yoshi’s Story) as well as fourteen Genesis/Mega Drive titles, (Castlevania: Bloodlines, Contra: Hard Corps, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes, M.U.S.H.A., Phantasy Star 4: The End of the Millennium , Ristar, Shining Force, Shinobi 3, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2, and Strider).

Fortunately, for those indifferent to subscription-based gaming, this week bring a number of titles published in the traditional way. From Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars’ crossover to Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, there’s a number of notables.

Header: Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars, PlayStation 4

PlayStation 4
Disciples: Liberation (physical & digital, $49.99+)
Evertried (digital, $19.99)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (physical & digital, $59.99-$69.99)
Minecraft Dungeons: Ultimate Edition (physical & digital, $39.99)
My Friend Peppa Pig (digital, $39.99)
NASCAR 21: Ignition (physical & digital, $59.99)
Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars (physical & digital, $49.99)
Skul: The Hero Slayer (digital, $19.99)
Star Wars Jedi Knight Collection (physical, $29.99)
Star Wars Racer & Commando Combo (physical, $29.99)
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (physical & digital, $39.99)
Tandem: A Tale of Shadows (digtial, $24.99)
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (physical & digital, $29.99)
Toy Soldiers HD (digital, $29.99)
Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife (digital, $29.99)

PlayStation 5
6 In 1 Time Management Game Collection (physical, $29.99)
Disciples: Liberation (physical & digital, $49.99+)
Jumanji: The Video Game (physical & digital, $29.99)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (physical & digital, $59.99-$69.99)
Pumpkin Jack (digital, $29.99, Cross-generational purchase)
Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse (digital, $19.99)
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (physical & digital, $29.99)

Switch
Angry Alligator (physical, $29.99)
Cards of the Dead (digital, $14.99)
City Stunt Driver (digital, $11.99)
Crossroad crash (digital, $4.98)
Demon Hunter: Riddles of Light (digital, $14.99)
Endocrisis (digital, $6.99)
Evertried (digital, $19.99)
Hermitage: Strange Case Files (digital, $19.99)
Howling Village: Echoes (digital, $6.99)
L.O.L. Surprise! Movie Night (physical & digital, $39.99)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cloud Version ($TBA)
Minigolf Adventure (digital, $3.49)
Monomals (digital, $16.99)
Murder Diaries 2 (digital, $9.99)
My Friend Peppa Pig (physical & digital, $39.99)
Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Switch Online (via annual subscription)
Pro Flight Simulator (digital, $14.99)
Reminiscence in the Night (digital, $4.99)
Sakura Nova (digital, $14.99)
SEGA Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online (via annual subscription)
Shadow Corridor (digital, $14.99)
Skul: The Hero Slayer (digital, $19.99)
Super Fowlst (digital, $9.99)
Yumeiri (digital, $8.00)
Zombo Buster Rising (digital, $4.99)

Xbox One
Cards of the Dead (digital, $6.79)
Dadish (digital, $9.99)
Dadish 2 (digital, $9.99)
Death Park 2 (digital, $59.99)
Disciples: Liberation (physical & digital, $49.99+)
Echo Generation (digital, $24.99)
Evertried (digital, $19.99)
Mainframe Defenders (digital, $11.99)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (physical & digital, $59.99-$69.99)
Murder Diaries 2 (digital, $9.99)
My Friend Peppa Pig (digital, $39.99)
NASCAR 21: Ignition (physical & digital, $59.99)
Skul: The Hero Slayer (digital, $19.99)
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (physical & digital, $39.99)
Tandem: A Tale of Shadows (digital, $24.99)
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (physical & digital, $29.99)
Toy Soldiers HD (digital, $29.99)
Zombo Buster Rising (digital, $4.99)

PC
Adorable Witch 2 ($TBA)
Aquarium Designer ($8.99)
Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend ($19.99)
Disciples: Liberation ($35.99)
Evertried ($19.99)
Growbot ($19.99)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy ($59.99)
Moonglow Bay ($TBA)
NASCAR 21: Ignition ($59.99)
No Straight Roads: Encore Edition ($24.99)
Okinawa Rush ($16.99)
Rise of Humanity ($17.99)
Sands of Aura ($19.99)
Spire of Sorcery ($20.00)
Super Dungeon Maker – Fink`s Awakening (free)
Super Robot Wars 30 ($59.99-$104.99)
Sword and Fairy 7 ($TBA)
Tandem: A Tale of Shadows ($17.49)
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes ($29.99)
The Unliving ($TBA)

Rob’s Pick: Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars dares you to disregard it. But between Asaka’s opening power anthem, “Utae Odore, Otome Wa Tsuyoshi” (Sing and Dance, the Maidens are Strong!), Tamsoft’s dependable hack-and-slack action, and a crossover between two beloved franchises, it will be hard to feign indifference. The game’s approach is hardly revolutionary, with visual style-style dialog providing motivation for the action sequences. But this is true fan-service, bringing together the Goddesses of Gameindustri and the feuding academies depicted in Kenichiro Takaki’s series. While part of me wishes Asuka, Homura, Yumi, and Miyabi fought in Neptunia’s traditional turn-based battles, given Sony’s newfound apathy toward Japanese properties, I’ll take what I can get.

Also, I have to give a nod to Echo Generation, which offers some of the most adorable voxel-based visuals alongside Paper Mario-style combat. Toronto-based developer Cococucumber has been escalating their ambitions with each successive title. Here, the studio has reached critical mass, with a delightful sense of small-town adventure, sinister looking foes, and just enough whimsy to wrap the whole thing together. Be warned that the NPC are a bit on the needy side, so an appreciation for traditional adventure gaming errands are needed, though.

Ryan’s Pick: It’s no secret that I’m a Senran Kagura fan, as my main theme on PS4 is still my coveted Peach Beach Splash one that I received at least four years ago. Although the games are much more risqué than say a Samurai Warriors game, I feel like there’s a lot more comedy and lightheartedness to the game which is part of its appeal. I’ve always enjoyed Tamsoft’s game engine that they’ve been using in the series, and I’m equally as happy to see that they will be using it for the Neptunia x Senran Kagura: NInja Wars crossover. The only thing that’s honestly holding me back is the fact that I can’t play as Ryona, but if you don’t have your heart set on a specific SK character or prefer one of the Gamindustri crew then this should be a pretty fun RPG.

The Unliving on Steam also really grabbed my attention as I’ve always liked games where you can control massive mobs of enemies to cause mayhem and to destroy things. As a necromancer you must convert your enemies into the undead and utilize them to create a new world order, which is fitting for the Halloween season. While I don’t think the game will be groundbreaking, I really like the sprites and how the game looks visually. It for some reason reminds me a bit of Metal Slug with a lot of the color choices and explosions, so I think it will be an equally as good choice if Nep Nep is not your cup of tea this week.

Matt R’s pick (editor, Shindig): A surreal, roguelike visual novel RPG isn’t exactly the kind of thing you see every day, and that’s exactly why Yumeiri gets my attention this week. This is a remake of a doujin smartphone game that became a cult favourite in Japan, in part for its high degree of (deliberately) frustrating difficulty wrapped around the concept of “taming luck”, and in part for its moving story of reliving youth using a strange pillow that puts whoever sleeps on it into a state of wakeful dreaming. It’s the sort of game where you can have a deep heart to heart with your childhood best friend / crush before getting swept up in a battle with an angry capsicum, with dating sim-style social stats affecting your combat prowess.

This is a “full-scale remake”, but rather than the typical graphical overhaul—the hand-drawn style of the original is preserved here—the main goal here was to rethink the scenario and rewrite some episodes. This will be the first time Yumeiri is officially available in English (and Korean), having only been released in Japanese before.

I’ve also got my eye on Sword and Fairy 7, the latest in a popular Chinese RPG series that’s been on my radar for a while but I’ve never had the chance to play. After how much I enjoyed Yuan-Xuan Sword 7, Softstar will always get my attention, and I do love Sword and Fairy’s comparatively more colourful style. I’m not expecting a lot from the translation, but maybe if it proves popular enough, it can get the eastasiasoft treatment for a console release down the line?

Matt S’ pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I’ve got to admit, I am very much looking forward to digging into the N64 collection on Switch. Operation Winback is there, and if absolutely nothing else, I can’t wait to play a (legitimate) copy of Winback again. It’s one of Koei’s great forgotten ones. And of course, there’s Ocarina of Time, and the last instance of a good Mario Tennis title… I’ll get my money’s worth out of that collection.

I am looking forward to Neptunia and Senran Kagura crossing over too, of course. What fan of fanservice isn’t there for that (even if it’s going to be a bit too much oppai for my tastes, I’m guessing.

I think the thing I’m looking forward to the most this week, though, is Disciples: Liberation. I’ve never actually played one of those before, but I do love classic-style western RPGs, and Disciples looks like it’s a better than decent effort at those. As someone who was incredibly disappointed by Baldur’s Gate 3, but very happy with Pathfinder, I’m hoping that Disciples scratches more of the latter itch and less of the former.