New Releases: June 27th-July 3rd, 2019

Summertime was once a slow period for new releases, until publishers learned that releasing the bulk of their offering during the holiday window isn’t always the best strategy. That discovery means this week brings a number of notables titles, like Super Mario Maker 2, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, and F1 2019 to play during scorching afternoons and balmy nights. For those not enamored by the aforementioned titles, there’s also a wide variety of ports, with NekoPara Vol. 3 and They Are Billions bringing cat-girl confectionaries and tense tower defense action. Even Vita owners get in on the action with Furwind arriving for Sony’s forsaken portable.

Header image: Yaokai’s Poetry, PC

PlayStation 4
F1 2019 (physical and digital, $59.99)
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (physical and digital, expansion, $39.99)
Furwind (digital, $9.99, Cross-buy with Vita)
Hollow Knight (physical, $29.99)
NekoPara Vol. 3 (digital, $14.99)
The Sinking City (physical and digital, $59.99)
They Are Billions (digital, $29.99)

Switch
Another Sight (physical and digital, $39.99)
Arcade Archives – Wild Western (digital, $7.99)
Attack of the Toy Tanks (digital, $4.99)
Baobabs Mausoleum Ep.2 (digital, $6.99)
Bitlogic – A Cyberpunk Arcade Adventure (digital, $5.89)
Bus Fix 2019 (digital, $5.99)
Chiki-Chiki Boxy Pro Wrestling (digital, $14.99)
Dandy Dungeon: Legend of Brave Yamada (digital, $24.99)
Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (digital, $14.99)
Driving School Original (digital, $14.99)
Epic Astro Story (digital, $12.99)
Furwind (digital, $9.99)
God Eater 3 (physical and digital, $59.99)
Goonya Fighter (digital, $4.74)
Graveyard Keeper (digital, $19.99)
Headball Soccer Deluxe (digital, $3.74)
Home Escape (digital, $1.99)
Human Rocket Person (digital, $4.49)
Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love (digital, $19.99)
Lines X (digital, $0.74)
Lucah: Born of a Dream (digital, $14.99)
Maddening Euphoria (digital, $1.00)
MotoGP 19 (physical and digital, $49.99)
NEKOPARA Vol.3 (digital, $14.99)
OVIVO (digital, $6.29)
Q-YO Blaster (digital, $8.99)
Rain City (digital, $7.58)
Rally Rock ‘N Racing (digital, $7.99)
Real Drift Racing (digital, $3.75)
Red Faction Guerilla Re-Mars-tered (physical and digital, $29.99)
Redneck Skeet Shooting (digital, $4.99)
SCRAP Rush!! (digital, $15.00)
Sega Ages: Virtua Racing (digital, $7.99)
Sega Ages: Wonder Boy: Monster Land (digital, $7.99)
Spell Casting: Purrfectly Portable Edition (digital, $8.99)
Super Mario Maker 2 (physical and digital, $59.99)
War Tech Fighters (digital, $19.99)
Word Mesh (digital, $6.99)

Xbox One
F1 2019 (physical and digital, $59.99)
Furwind (digital, $9.99)
The Sinking City (physical and digital, $59.99)
They Are Billions (digital, $29.99)
War Tech Fighters (digital, $19.99)

3DS
Pinball Breaker 3 (digital, $6.99)

Vita
Furwind (digital, $9.99, Cross-buy with PlayStation 4)

PC
F1 2019 ($59.99)
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (expansion, $39.99)
Fort Boyard ($22.49)
Fujii ($14.99)
Lily of the Hollow ($2.79)
Pro Cycling Manager 2019 ($31.99)
Rune Girl ($TBA)
Story of the Green Dragon ($TBA)
The Sinking City ($59.99)
Yaokai’s Poetry ($TBA)

Robert’s Pick: Sony was once one of the most innovative companies on the planet, thanks to developments like early color televisions, the Walkman portable audio device, and the world’s first CD player. That culture of innovation extended through the corporation’s multitude of subdivisions, and in 2008 Sony Interactive established the “Play, Create, Share” initiative. Understanding that game creation could be just as gratification as actual play, titles like LittleBigPlanet and ModNation Racers offered experiences that couldn’t be found on other consoles. But save for the upcoming release of Media Molecule’s Dreams, Sony now seems more interested in unimaginative slogs like Days Gone.

This week, Nintendo picks up the mantle with the release of Super Mario Maker 2, which is actually the third iteration for the series. Undoubtedly, the publisher has stumbled with the franchise, locking away content for the Wii U outing and omitting the sharing ability for the 3DS version. Hopefully, the third time is a charm, with Maker 2 seemingly having everything except online play. That’s a notable omission, but not enough of a loss to skip the title. Making and testing Mario Levels feels like nothing else on the system and is an indulging diversion for anyone who values an outlet for their own creativity.

Matt’s Pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I will start by echoing boss-man Robert there: Super Mario Maker 2 is an absolute delight, and I fully approve of any effort, by any company, to encourage players to not just consume, but also create. Not only do games like Super Mario Maker help to give a new generation a chance to take their first steps in learning game design and development, but they engage the mind and encourage creativity on an active level – too many video games are far too passive and easy on the brain. It’s not healthy. Super Mario Maker 2, however, is healthy.

With that being said, Super Mario Maker 2 lacks for waifu, so my pick this week will be Nekopara 3: console edition. Yes, Nekopara on console lacks the explicit sex and nudity that’s available on PC, but being entirely honest here, the light-hearted and bright narrative and story of these games is actually better off without that stuff. On console, Nekopara is a charmingly fanservicey and almost innocent experience, and tonally that’s pitched about right for me. You can play the third, released this week, without needing a back-knowledge of the previous two titles, but you may as well just pick them all up and enjoy the full trilogy of cat girl maids with killer panties.

Azario’s Pick (Editor, Noisy Pixel): I guess this is the best opportunity to come clean: I’ve never been a fan of Super Mario Maker. There, I said it and now we can move on. This week happens to be full of ports of great games (Matt even mentioned the solid comedic visual novel Nekopara 3), but I feel like my entire life will disappear once Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers releases. Everything included in this expansion has me excited, and no, I’m not just talking about the Dancer job class. Over the years, my relationship with Final Fantasy XIV Online has had its ups and downs, but Shadowbringers seems to be doing all the right things in terms of story content and mechanic updates that I’m fully prepared to give all of my free time to the game once again. However, I’m not sure how running dungeons without Protect is going to be, but I’m still up for it.

A quick honorable mention will be War Tech Fighters on console because mecha.

Ryan’s Pick: This week is a tough one. Lots of ports and nothing really spectacular jumps out at me. I know that Super Mario Maker 2 is here and I should be amped, but I have a different take on that game. For me it’s a lot like sitting in front of my Subsequent 37. There are thousands of options and different nuances to dial in, but like any fresh canvas, it takes time and inspiration to create something coherent and “fun”. I must leave Super Mario Maker 2 to the true sadists and masochists out there. It’s definitely a game that brings those two together.

For my pick this week I actually have two. The first is pretty easy. If you haven’t played Hollow Knight and like metroidvanias, please play this game. In my opinion it’s harder than Bloodstained, but the entire game is really well done and worth your time if you missed it on PC/Switch. My second is Nekopara Vol. 3: Console Edition. If moe is your thing then you may have already picked this up, but if you have not, I don’t see any reason not to put this on the big screen and give it a play so the neighbors can see. While Matt mentioned it’s a fairly tame comedic journey, but like most VNs, there will be some ecchi. The neighbors may like it, you never know. Overall it’s very polished, with animated bust-ups, voicing, and could be a great first visual novel if you haven’t tried one yet.