New Releases: February 13th-19th, 2020

Has it really been a decade since Platinum Games blessed us with a double-header of frantic action? This week’s release of Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle is here to commemorate the thrills found in two of last generation’s most intense titles. For those uninteresting in controller-clenching combat, there’s still plenty of other offerings. Senren*Banka centers around romantic liaisons in a quaint village, while Dreams delivers an energizing outlet for creative expression.

Header image: Senren*Banka, PC

PlayStation 4
Arcade Archives: Sasuke vs Commander (digital, $7.99)
Azur Lane: Crosswave (physical and digital, $49.99)
Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle (physical and digital, $39.99)
Darksiders Genesis (physical and digital, $39.99)
Dcl – Drone Championship League (physical and digital, $39.99)
Dreams (physical and digital, $39.99)
Street Fighter V: Champion Edition (physical and digital, $29.99)
Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate (physical and digital, $59.99)
Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate Upgrade Pack (digital, $39.99)

Switch
3000th Duel (digital, $10.49)
AO Tennis 2 (physical and digital, $59.99)
Black Future ’88 (physical, $29.99)
Darksiders Genesis (physical and digital, $39.99)
Florence (digital, $5.99)
Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions (digital, $11.99)
Goblin Sword (digital, $4.99)
Kitty Maestro (digital, $7.00)
Little Bit War (digital, $13.71)
Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo (physical and digital, $39.99)
Railway Empire – Nintendo Switch Edition (delayed until March 27^th)
Reed Remastered (digital, $4.99)
Rise of Insanity (digital, $8.99)
Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl – Gold (physical and digital, $49.99)
Speedway Racing (digital, $9.99)
Super Loop Drive (digital, $3.99)
The Incredible Adventures of Super Panda (digital, $6.99)
Tilt Pack (digital, $14.99)
Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate (physical and digital, $59.99)
Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate Upgrade Pack (digital, $39.99)

Xbox One
Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle (physical and digital, $39.99)
Darksiders Genesis (physical and digital, $39.99)
Spaceland (digital, $19.99)
Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate (physical and digital, $59.99)
Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate Upgrade Pack (digital, $39.99)

PC
Azur Lane: Crosswave ($49.99)
Ballistic Craft ($10.79)
Daemon X Machina ($47.99)
Necronator: Dead Wrong (Early Access, $TBA)
Nom Nom Apocalypse ($13.99)
Ramiwo ($TBA)
Senren*Banka ($TBA)
Skul: The Hero Slayer ($TBA)
Table Manners: Physics-Based Dating Game ($TBA)
The Suicide of Rachel Foster ($13.49)
Urtuk: The Desolation (Early Access, $TBA)
Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate (physical and digital, $59.99)
Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate Upgrade Pack (digital, $39.99)
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem (Early Access, $29.99)

Robert’s Pick: Attend an industry presser and you’ll undoubtedly hear buzzwords like “disruptive”, “revolutionary” and “gamechanger”. All too often, the products shown are only mildly innovative, habitually extending only morsels of novelty. But that can’t be said for Media Molecule’s output. From LittleBigPlanet’s realization of the ‘Play, Create, Share’ ideology, to Tearaway’s take on papercraft, the Guildford-based studio has created some truly innovative experiences.

This week’s release of Dreams continues that creativity. Sure, the main campaign is reportedly less than five hours, but the concept of a jazz musician ruminating on his life and making amends with his former bandmates is a narrative that has me interested. Of course, the real allure is the ability to create your own games. As LittleBigPlanet demonstrated, an outlet for your own imagination can be more thrilling than even the best boss battle. With Dreams, Media Molecule has doubled down, providing players with a toolset to create not just games, but sculpture, paintings, and music. Sure, they’ll be massive phalluses but I also expect plenty of prodigious users to demonstrate their talents.

Matt’s Pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I love a good simulator. From them early days of Sim City on the SNES, I’ve never been able to leave the genre behind for long. In recent years I’ve become quite attached to logistics simulators – rather the building the entire city, just focusing on transport and resource distribution, and watching the city build up around my great decisions.

Railway Empire is a really delightful game. I loved it on PlayStation 4, and when I saw that it was coming to Nintendo Switch I was over the moon. There’s something about the entire genre that just fits better on handheld devices – I don’t necessarily care for visual fidelity. I want to be able to unwind with the game in bed or get a bit of building done on the commute.

And so, as long as the port of Railway Empire isn’t completely broken, I’ll be adding it to the growing list of strategy and simulation titles that compete for my daily routine play. I would have put over 100 hours into the PS4 edition of Railway Empire. I can easily see myself getting hooked in all over again.

Ryan’s Pick: I can’t help myself, it’s Non-Stop ∞ Climax time. The Bayonetta / Vanquish bundle for PS4 is too good to pass up, this will be my recommendation this week. Everyone needs to buy this, so that they make a Vanquish 2, hopefully. These are two flagship Platinum Games titles that pretty much are a can’t-miss, and really are unique games in their own right. Guns, sexiness, and partial nudity makes Bayonetta an extremely memorable hack and slash game. Created by the Devil May Cry series creator Hideki Kamiya, it’s equally as fun if not even more enjoyable than DMC. It plays really fast, and some of the torture attacks are pretty off-the-wall.

Vanquish is just one of those games that may have slipped under your radar that you must play. It reminded me a lot of Gears of War but with even better gunfighting and cover mechanics. Sliding under oncoming gunfire in your augmented reaction suit from barricade to barricade is an incredible amount of fun. Add in some excellent Platinum Games visual flair and gigantic screaming bosses, and it all comes together into one big unforgettable action game. Sadists will also enjoy the Challenge modes in the game – they’re intense to say the least. And there you have it, two awesome games for $39.99 on PS4 or you can opt to get that fancy Steelbook version. Lastly, I must tip my cap towards the cast of Azure Lane: Crosswave this week. M’ladies.