New Releases: June 8th-14th, 2023

This week, Greyhill Incident pits players against an alien invasion, while Sakura Dungeon (pictured) offers mazes filled with monster girls to confront and capture. If neither of these sound appealing, Jack Jeanne offers players the chance to infiltrate an all-male opera school, vying for a chance to play the coveted lead role at an end-of-year performance.

PlayStation 4
Brave Soldier – Invasion of Cyborgs (digital, $4.99)
Dead by Daylight: End Transmission (DLC, $11.99)
Dordogne (digital, $19.99)
Farworld Pioneers (digital, $14.99)
Greyhill Incident (digital, $TBA)
MotoGP23 (digital, $39.99)
Truck Driver: Heading North (DLC, $TBA)

PlayStation 5
F1 23 (digital, $69.99, $89.99)
PowerWash Simulator (physical, $24.99)
System of Souls (physical, $29.99)
Ziggurat II (physical, $29.99)

Switch
A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 (digital, $6.99)
Angel Symphony (digital, $2.23)
Avia Corporation (digital, $16.00)
Bleak Sword DX (digital, $9.99)
Brave Soldier – Invasion of Cyborgs (digital, $4.99)
Cat Souls (digital, $4.99)
Cubic Figures 2 (digital, $0.99)
Demon Sword: Incubus (digital, $11.99)
Dogotchi: Virtual Pet (digital, $12.99)
Dordogne (digital, $19.99)
Inhabit (digital, $4.99)
Jack Jeanne (physical, $49.99 & $99.99)
Mask of the Rose (digital, $19.99)
MotoGP23 (digital, $39.99)
Outbreak Collection Part I (physical, $39.99)
Sakura Dungeon (digital, $19.99)
Speed Crew (digital, $19.99)
Sqroma (digital, $8.99)
Super Drunken Guy (digital, $6.99)
Talk to Strangers (digital, $4.99)

Xbox One
Aery – The Lost Hero (digital, $9.99)
Brave Soldier – Invasion of Cyborgs (digital, $4.99)
Dead by Daylight: End Transmission (DLC, $11.99)
Dordogne (digital, $19.99)
F1 23 (digital, $69.99, $89.99)
MotoGP23 (digital, $39.99)

PC
20 Minutes Till Dawn ($3.99)
Army of Ruin ($7.19)
Bleak Sword DX ($9.99)
Brewpub Simulator ($TBA)
Dark Rift ($6.79)
Dordogne ($14.99)
Enatus Radi ($TBA)
F1 23 ($69.99, $80.99)
Fairy Biography 4: Affair ($TBA)
Greyhill Incident ($TBA)
Harmony: The Fall of Reverie ($22.49)
Kunoichi Demon Slayers ($TBA)
Lonely Path ($5.99)
Mask of the Rose ($19.99)
MotoGP 23 ($49.99)
Oblivion Override ($TBA)
Pro Cycling Manager 2023 ($39.99)
Project Lazarus ($5.99)
Riders Republic ($15.00)
Space Reign ($TBA)
Tour de France 2023 ($39.99)
Undead Citadel ($26.99)
Voidigo ($18.99)

Rob’s Pick: A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 tells the story of a southern Tyrolian town that was flooded when two nearby lakes were merged to build a hydroelectric plant. The premise takes a modern-day painter, who while capturing the 14th-century church steeple peering out of Lake Resia, gets dragged into the water. He subsequently awakens to find himself in 1949, offering an opportunity to change history and preserve a sleepy village where German remains the dominant language. Sometimes these kinds of historical footnotes are far more insightful than accounts of larger, well-known events.

For years, Matt S. has been telling me to take a look at the Tour de France series. And I have no good reason for not following his advice. I tend to like Euro sports, bike regularly, and appreciate a good simulation. So, this week, I’ll be taking a look at Tour de France 2023 and Pro Cycling Manager 2023. It’s early still, but I’m beginning to see the allure. Finally, Brave Soldier – Invasion of Cyborgs looks like a bootleg Broforce yet I am totally OK with that.

Ryan’s pick: Dark fantasy dioramas get my attention this week with Bleak Sword DX. I never got a chance to try the original version of the game when it was released on Apple Games in 2019, but I really like the mashup of the 3D minimalistic environments against the 2D pixel action. The levels play out fairly quickly as well, so I can see myself jumping in for quick bursts. I already can tell that I don’t like those spiders though… The game also touts improvements to the gameplay and AI, so it could be worth another try if you liked the original.

One other game on Steam that’s releasing on June 13 is Oblivion Override. Visually, the game reminds me a bit of the Strider reboot that was done a few years ago, with some surprisingly pretty bright visuals and fast animations. The one part I’m unsure about is if the levels are procedurally generated from any of the descriptions of the game, but it does refer to itself as a 2D side-scrolling roguelike, so I assume that this is the case. One final mention of a game that I thought was a cool idea is the Greyhill Incident. It’s a first-person survival horror game set in the early 90’s where you must survive an alien invasion. Growing up in that time period with the The X-Files and movies like Fire in the Sky I definitely can see myself enjoying this one as well.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): Now, look, I realise that I am in such a niche demographic that I might be the only person on this planet actually in it, but as a video gamer that also does ballroom dancing, actively sponsors ballet companies and can’t think of a better night out than a trip to a Shakespeare play or opera, Jack Jeanne is a game made for me. This otome visual novel/rhythm game is all about the performing arts, and it treats the material with such reverance that it almost immediately became my favourite visual novel of all time.

Yes, Danganronpa has finally been unseated.

In fact, Jack Jeanne is so much my kind of game that I’m actually making a game just like it myself. See, about a year ago I found an artist that has an amazing eye for ballroom dance art, and that kicked off an idea for me. Now I’m actually knee-deep in production of a visual novel/rhythm game about ballroom dancing. What I have conceptualised is almost exactly what Jack Jeanne is. Am I vaguely annoyed that someone else did my idea first? Yes. But that just goes to show just how much Jack Jeanne feels like it has been made for me. It is, literally, the kind of game I want to make.

Meanwhile, I am indeed looking forward to Tour de France this year (thanks Robert for reminding me that it was coming!). It’s an odd sport to simulate, but it is also oddly compelling. And for something very different, I am looking forward to Sakura Dungeon on Switch. I played the (very) adult version on PC many years ago, and actually quite enjoyed the dungeon crawling itself. I’m assuming the Switch version is the same as the Steam release, nudity firmly removed, but that will still be a good time (and fanservicey enough anyway).