New Releases: November 19th-25th, 2020

With notables like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and World of Warcraft: Shadowlands arriving this week, the holiday deluge of new release continues. With Katamari Damacy REROLL and two Bloodrayne remasters there’s a few familiar titles arriving this week. Savvy players might even recall that asymmetric action game Spacelords was originally released as Raiders of the Broken Planet three years ago.

Header image: Grisaia Phantom Trigger 05, Switch

PlayStation 4
Arcade Archives: Zero Team (digital, $7.99)
BFF or Die (digital, $7.99)
Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead (digital, $14.99)
In Celebration of Violence (digital, $TBA)
Katamari Damacy REROLL (physical & digital, $29.99)
Poker Club (digital, $24.99)
Star Renegades (digital, $24.99)
Vigor (digital, $19.99)

PlayStation 5
Just Dance 2021 (physical & digital, $49.99)
Poker Club (digital, $24.99)
Spacelords (digital, free to play)

Switch
2URVIVE (digital, $6.99)
Art Sqool (digital, $6.99)
Azurebreak Heroes (digital, $6.99)
Brawl Chess (digital, $6.99)
Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead (digital, $13.49)
Cake Bash (digital, $19.99)
Cape’s escape game (digital, $3.00)
Captain Sabertooth and the Magic Diamond (digital, $34.99)
Dreamo (digital, $13.49)
Educational Games for Kids (digital, $12.95)
Eldrador Creatures (digital, $29.99)
Fall Gummies (digital, $5.59)
Fantasy Friends (digital, $29.99)
Grisaia Phantom Trigger 05 (digital, $14.99)
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (digital, $59.99)
Karma Knight (digital, $8.99)
Micetopia (digital, $4.99)
Monster Truck Championship (digital, $39.99)
My Aunt is a Witch (digital, $7.99)
Out of Space: Couch Edition (digital, $9.99)
Outbreak (digital, $11.04)
Party Games: 15 in 1 (digital, $4.99)
Ramp Car Jumping (digital, $11.24)
S.N.I.P.E.R. – Hunter Scope (digital, $14.99)
Star Renegades (digital, $24.99)
Strike Force 2 – Terrorist Hunt (digital, $17.99)
The Casino -Roulette, Video Poker, Slot Machines, Craps, Baccarat- (digital, $9.99)
Tracks – Toybox Edition (digital, $26.99)

Xbox One
BFF or Die (digital, $7.99)
Brawl Chess (digital, $9.99)
Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead (digital, $14.99)
Katamari Damacy REROLL (physical & digital, $29.99)
My Aunt is a Witch (digital, $7.99)
Out of Space: Couch Edition (digital, $9.99)
Poker Club (digital, $24.99)
Star Renegades (digital, $24.99)
Strike Force 2 – Terrorist Hunt (digital, $17.99)

Xbox Series S/X
Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead (digital, $14.99)
Poker Club (digital, $24.99)

PC
80’s Overdrive ($8.99)|
Abyss The Forgotten Past ($TBA)
Alchemy Absorption: Melody ($TBA)
Boom Bound ($TBA)
BloodRayne: Terminal Cut ($TBA)
BloodRayne 2: Terminal Cut ($TBA)
Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead ($7.99)
Burst Planet  ($TBA)
Carnival Games ($39.99)
Dieselpunk Wars (11.24)
Football Manager 2021 ($44.99)
Hanami ($TBA)
Imposter Inside Us ($0.69)
Poker Club ($24.99)
Rockjack ($4.24)
Shenmue III ($16.99)
Slasher’s Keep ($10.49)
Sutekina Kanojo no Tsukurikata ($TBA)
The Skylia Prophecy ($TBA)
Touhou Block Fall ~ Yukari ($TBA)
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands (digital, $39.99, $59.99, and $79.99)
Zombie Derby: Pixel Survival ($3.99)

Rob’s Pick: Much of the gaming industry has changed since the original release of Katamari Damacy in 2004. In the first decade of the new millennium, quirky titles like Keita Takahashi’s creation weren’t always likely candidates for localization in the West, limiting their impact. But Katamari was championed by a handful of writers, in an era when major outlets didn’t overlook the smaller titles created in Japan.

As the title implies Katamari Damacy REROLL is a remake of the original game, rewritten in Unity. While that last phrase signals a potential for misfortune, with even a small change breaking the balance, I’m happy to report that both the PC and Switch versions were spot-on. Years later, the thrill of scanning the environment for objects small enough to roll over and add to the bulk of your ever-growing katamari remains stirring. When coupled with a playful look at everyday environments and eclectic but troublingly infectious songs, Katamari Damacy is a reminder of the value of play. Sure, we interact with a lot of on-screen objects, but rarely do these encounters feel so lively and downright imaginative.

Ryan’s Pick: To make it official, my pick this week absolutely goes to Katamari Damacy REROLL. Before I get there as a long-time WOW player I do have to say a quick blurb about The World of Warcraft: Shadowlands this week as any major expansion release is a pretty big deal in the MMO world, even more so if you actually play the game. I think that with the major level squish and the way that leveling has changed, it should make things a bit more interesting for new players or those that want to re-roll their alts for the new expansion. While I can’t personally allocate as much time needed to enjoy the game as much as I want, there is undoubtedly a lot of brand new content for those that want to farm mounts, raid, or (usually) both. I miss mount farming the most.

I originally played the Japanese version of Katamari Damacy when it was released on PS2. The absurdity of the game was only amplified by not really understanding anything about the story (not that it mattered much) because it was in Japanese, so I was immediately a fan of the game. Our Japanese friend also had to explain what the sumo wrestlers were saying as we rolled over them and joined my growing mass of carbon-based items, so in general this series provides me with plenty of nostalgia. I feel like one of the key elements of this game is not only the mechanics, but also the music and sound effects. The first level sets the scene when the cafe jazz with vocals start, and once all the sound effects kick in it literally becomes a cacophony. I think that’s what I like most about the series in general. It’s just weird, and weird my friends, is beautiful.

Matt S’ pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): Every year I do the same thing, and I know I’m going to do it this year as well; I roll my eyes at the idea of playing a spreadsheet, download Football Manager, and then end up playing it for about 100000000 hours. Football Manager 21 releases this week, so goodbye productivity (or is that a kind of “hello productivity”, given that I’ll be waist-deep in spreadsheets?).

The other one that I need to sound out this week is Poker Club. I enjoy poker a great deal, and it’s a fairly common “party” game with family and friends. Finding a good digital take on poker is difficult, since there’s no way to do the AI “right”, and when you play online there’s always the risk that you’ll end up on a table where players go “all in” immediately, throwing away the strategy and odds game of poker to troll the game into a simple matter of luck. I hate when that happens. Thankfully, Poker Club looks like it’s going to be one where serious fans of the game will be able to find like-minded communities for those hazy midnight games on a Friday night, where you’re battling the ability for alcohol to dictate your strategy as much as you’re taking on the other players. Oh, and the game is absolutely gorgeous. I like to think of it as “card porn”. As someone who has three dozen decks of playing cards, I quite like the aesthetic of them. Poker Club delivers there too.

Matt C’s pick (editor, Shindig): Warriors is one of those series’ that can perfectly fit any sort of licensed spin-off, which probably part of the reason why we’ve seen so many of them over the years. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is the latest example of that, mixing Warriors’ energetic, 1-vs-1000 action and light strategy with the world and characters of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It’s a nice match, with the Zelda influence bringing a lot of unique, interesting elements to the table, like unique combat abilities that mirror the tools found in Breath of the Wild, Divine Beast battles, and a gliding aspect to combat.

It’s not the first time Zelda got the Warriors treatment, but Age of Calamity is a very different approach than the Hyrule Warriors from a few years back. Where that one was pure and uncompromised fan-service, using whatever contrivances necessary to bring as many favourite characters from Zelda history as possible and just having fun with the whole goofy concept, Age of Calamity is a more focused, narrative-centric prequel to Breath of the Wild. Part of me still wants “the original Hyrule Warriors but now with Breath of the Wild characters, too”, but it’s hard to fault what Age of Calamity does with its premise and how it expands upon the new age of Zelda that Breath of the Wild kicked off.

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. I hope My Aunt is a Witch is one of those H games.

  2. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is physical too.

    That’s the one game I want this week and no BF sales to be found!

  3. Katamari Damacy is $9.99 on the Switch eShop. Get it!

  4. Header image means upcoming review, right?

    I need to know when I can get into the Grisaia series. Girls+guns=:)

  5. Like the artwork this week!

  6. Bridge Constructor: TWD is a lot cheaper on PC! I love these bridge building games even if they’re all a bit similar.

  7. Glad I just spend $800 to purchase a console bundle to play “Poker Club”. (rolls eyes)