New Releases: August 21-27, 2025

This week, Gears of War: Reloaded storms back onto modern platforms, introducing the iconic Xbox’s shooter to a new generation of players. Meanwhile, Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening reinvigorates the 70’s-era manga with a stylish adaptation, while Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar (pictured) delivers engaging farming and mercantilism to Switch, Switch 2, and PC. Here’s the full list of games launching across PC and consoles for the week of August 21st through the 27th:

PlayStation 4

Boulder Dash 40^th Anniversary (digital, $19.99)
Discounty (digital, $19.99)
Machick 2 (digital, $TBA)
Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening (digital, $39.99)
Vlad Circus: Curse of Asmodeus (digital, $19.99)
Zoochosis (digital, $24.99)

PlayStation 5

Chip ‘N Clawz vs. The Brainioids (digital, $TBA)
Gears of War: Reloaded (digital, $39.99)
Grit and Valor – 1949 (digital, $19.99)
Herdling (digital, $19.99)
Particle Hearts (digital, $TBA)
Sengoku Dynasty (digital, $29.99)

Switch

Antarctica 88: Remaster (digital, $4.19)
Around the World Puzzle (digital, $2.99)
Boned Again: Survivors (digital, $4.99)
Burger Shot (digital, $5.00)
Cross Pix (digital, $2.99)
Dragon Detective: A Friend from the Shadows (digital, $9.99)
EGGCONSOLE Diable de Laplace PC-8801mkIISR (digital, $6.49)
Grit and Valor – 1949 (digital, $19.99)
Heart of Ice by Dave Morris (digital, $3.99)
HeistGeist (digital, $17.91)
Herdling (digital, $19.99)
Lost in Loss (digital, $14.99)
Knightica (digital, $11.99)
Korean Drone Flying Tour Byeongpung Bawi (digital, $1.00)
MechCrisis (digital, $9.99)
Picture the Difference! 2 (digital, $2.99)
Quisisana (digital, $19.99)
Roadwarden (digital, $8.79)
SF3RA (digital, $9.99)
Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening (digital, $39.99)
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar (digital, $49.99)
Sumorbit (digital, $7.99)
The Echo (digital, $2.99)
The Long Desert Drive (digital, $9.99)
Trippy Trader : Schedule & Sell (digital, $9.99)
Varlet (digital, $59.99)
Vlad Circus: Curse of Asmodeus (digital, $19.99)

Switch 2

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar (digital, $59.99, or $10.00 upgrade)

Xbox One

Discounty (digital, $19.99)
Knightica (digital, $11.99)
Pocket Mini Golf 2 (digital, $3.99)
Recycling Center Simulator (digital, $24.99)
WitchSpring R (digital, $39.99)
Vlad Circus: Curse of Asmodeus (digital, $19.99)

Xbox Series S/X

Antarctica 88: Remaster (digital, $4.19)
Boulder Dash 40th Anniversary (digital, $19.99)
Chip ‘N Clawz vs. The Brainioids (digital, $29.99)
Gears of War: Reloaded (digital, $39.99)
Grit and Valor – 1949 (digital, $19.99)
Helldivers 2 (digital, $39.99)
Herdling (digital, $19.99)
Knightica (digital, $11.99)
Particle Hearts (digital, $TBA)
Sengoku Dynasty (digital, $29.99)
Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening (digital, $39.99)

PC

AI-deal-Rays ($4.79)
Altheia: The Wrath of Aferi ($17.99)
Bean Beasts ($11.89)
Beyond the Map ($TBA)
Big Loot ($9.59)
Caput Mortum ($TBA)
Chip ‘N Clawz vs. The Brainioids ($TBA)
Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken ($17.31)
Discounty ($15.99)
Gears of War: Reloaded ($39.99)
Herdling ($17.99)
Kill the Music ($TBA)
Knightica ($11.99)
Particle Hearts ($TBA)
Pastel☆Parade ($TBA)
Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening ($39.99)
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar ($59.99)
The Girl from Arkanya ($17.99)
Waterpark Simulator ($TBA)

Rob’s pick: Recently, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma injected innovation into the somewhat stagnant series. Save for the inexcusable act of making a few of the romance routes DLC, it was one of the best entries for the nearly twenty-old old franchise. And while Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar isn’t quite as inventive, it gives the 2008 Nintendo DS game a comprehensive renovation. I’ve been playing it nightly and have been thoroughly enjoying the update. If you’re a fan of the genre, I think you’ll be pleased.

One of the most noticeable changes is the visual makeover, that adds lushness to the community. This isn’t just a simple upscale, but a full remodeling that makes the game’s spacious interiors look comfy and all the pastures pretty. Better yet, animations have been redone and there’s an option for either character portraits or 3D models during dialog. The best part is that visual improvements have been made with performance in mind, so you can rest easily knowing that Grand Bazaar runs smoothly on Steam Deck. Wind power is picturesque power!

Ryan’s pick: Kill the Music gets the official pick this week, bringing an interesting mix of rhythm-based tap timing with roguelike mechanics. I have been looking for a new Steam Deck game lately and rhythm games really seem to work well for me on this type of console. Looking at the gameplay I think that maneuvering your character plus keeping track of the beat and tap timing will have a learning curve, but typically most rhythm games do at first. From what I’ve heard so far the soundtrack also sounds more rock-based with plenty of guitar, so count me in. There’s a demo for the game as well, so give it a try if you are into rhythm games.

The honorable mention this week goes to Gears of War: Reloaded. It’s been a very long time so I played the original, and being able to play it on a Playstation this time is also a pretty attractive feature. Nostalgia is completely fueling this secondary pick for me but with my original copy on Xbox long gone, it would be good to own it again and experience it with updated graphics.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I am a Story of Seasons fanboy. I’ll even go out there and defend the lesser entries in the series because I love the twee wholesomeness of them. With the recent Lord of the Rings: Tales of the Shire being a disappointing effort to twee up Tolkien’s fantasy, I need some good twee again. Am I saying “twee” too much? It’s one of my favourite words and I don’t get to use it that much with video games, so please indulge me. Point is, though, Grand Bazaar was a delightful DS release and this remake/remaster/re-whatever has been handled with love.

Additionally, don’t overlook Boulder Dash 40th Anniversary. It might not be the world’s best-known retro game now, but Boulder Dash is excellent and this effort to reboot the IP gets a lot right. A massive range of levels are backed by some fresh ideas, while still providing a welcome balance between twitch-action and subterranean puzzling.