New Releases: August 3rd-9th, 2023

This week, Broforce receives its final update- and it’s always satisfying to see developers offer free additions to their games. But if run-and-gun bedlam isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other notable titles, with Brotato and Tiny Thor arriving on Switch, as well as Baldur’s Gate 3 and White Album: Memories Like Falling Snow (pictured) appearing on PC.

PlayStation 4
Adore (digital, $14.99)
Broforce Forever (DLC, free)
Fluffy Milo (digital, $4.99)
Legend Bowl (digital, $24.99)
Sclash (digital, $TBA)
Tower of Fantasy (digital, free to play)
WrestleQuest (digital, $29.99)

PlayStation 5
Sword and Fairy: Together Forever (physical, $99.99)

Switch
A Guidebook of Babel (digital, $15.99)
Adore (digital, $14.99)
Alchemy POIPOI SS (digital, $1.00)
Anthology of Fear (digital, $8.99)
Brotato (digital, $4.99)
Brotato + Space Gladiators Bundle (digital, $17.49)
Chickenoidz Super Party (digital, $9.99)
Contraptions 3 (digital, $6.99)
Cooking Arena (digital, $4.99)
Death Becomes You (digital, $7.99)
Deltazeal (digital, $13.00)
Farm Frenzy: Refreshed (digital, $9.99)
Fluffy Milo (digital, $4.99)
Flutter Away (digital, $12.99)
GigaBash (digital, $24.99)
Legend Bowl (digital, $24.99)
Lost Egg 3: The Final (digital, $2.99)
MistWorld The After (digital, $6.98)
Puzzle Boys (digital, $5.99)
Running Fable (digital, $7.99)
Secret Summoner (digital, $7.19)
Side Decide (digital, $6.99)
Slime Girl Smoothies (digital, $14.99)
Skabma – Snowfall (digital, $24.99)
Tiny Thor (digital, $19.99)
Trapped in the Kanal (digital, $4.99)
Ultimate General: Gettysburg (digital, $14.99)
Unidentified Falling Objects (digital, $14.99)
Wash Simulator – Clean Garage, House, Cars (digital, $14.99)
Wizardry School: Escape Room (digital, $10.99)
WrestleQuest (digital, $29.99)
Would You Like to Run an Idol Café? 3 (digital, $9.99)
X-Force Under Attack (digital, $5.00)

Xbox One
Adore (digital, $14.99)
Astralojia: Season 1 (digital, $13.99)
Broforce Forever (DLC, free)
Fluffy Milo (digital, $4.99)
Legend Bowl (digital, $24.99)
Running Fable (digital, $7.99)
Sclash (digital, $TBA)
Strange Horticulture (digital, $11.99)
Whispike Survivors (digital, $2.69)
WildTrax Racing (digital, $6.39)
WrestleQuest (digital, $29.99)

PC
A Slug’s Dream ($8.99)
Baldur’s Gate 3 ($59.99)
Broforce Forever (DLC, free)
Canvas of Kings ($18.99)
Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands ($TBA)
Flutter Away ($11.04)
Greedland ($TBA)
I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival ($TBA)
Mondealy ($TBA)
Project F ($TBA)
Robin Hood – Sherwood Builders – Bandit’s Trail (free)
Sclash ($TBA)
Soul Stalker ($TBA)
Super Space Club ($TBA)
Sushi for Robots ($4.49)
Wall World: Deep Threat (DLC, $TBA)
WHITE ALBUM: Memories Like Falling Snow ($TBA)
Word Factori ($5.39)
WrestleQuest ($29.99)

Rob’s Pick: I think I’ve mentioned before that the NES version of Contra helped formed one of my first gaming memories. I happily squandered quite a few summer days running and gunning my way through the game’s eight stages, learning to not rely on continues or the Konami code. So, when Broforce was released eight years ago, I was immediately hooked. Look past the playful skewering of Hollywood darlings (I doubt anyone would consider The Boondock Saints a blockbuster), and you’ll find one of the most satisfying blends of platforming and outrageous weaponry outside the Metal Slug series.

This week, developer Free Lives offers yet another free expansion to the game with the release of Broforce Forever, adding six new bros to the lineup. There are a lot of games that attempt to recreate the testosterone-fueled excess of 80’s films, but completely destroying the landscape in Broforce really nails the zeitgeist of era. Hopefully, Chow Yun Fat’s Broquilla will make an appearance in a sequel.

Ryan’s pick: I’ve been really enjoying Remnant II which released last week, and I think I’m going to be playing it for quite some time. In all honesty I wasn’t sure about the game after playing it for a few minutes, but it quickly grew on me after giving it about an hour of gameplay. For this week’s pick however, I’m going to go with a completely different experience with the Steam visual novel game WHITE ALBUM: Memories like Falling Snow. It’s the perfect contrast against the endless string of tense moments from Remnant II. In terms of quality this VN has some really impressive visuals as well as animated bust-ups during the conversation pieces. Included as well is some voicing, so it could be a solid choice if you enjoy visual novels or if you need a change of pace from soulslike games.

One other game that could be worth a try is Project F on Steam. It’s a tactical FPS game that features 5 on 5 battles. I liked the mechanic that looked like it enabled you to move through walls and overall seems like it could be a fun alternative to some of the larger FPS multiplayer games out there. It also sounds like the maps are completely randomly generated each time, so I’m curious to see what kind of experience that creates.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I love the girls, I mean, art style, of WHITE ALBUM: Memories Like Falling Snow. I’ve had so many people talk this game up to me in recent times that I just have to check it out for myself, and I strongly suspect that I’m going to enjoy it a great deal.

For something a little more active, I’m actually looking forward to Ultimate General: Gettysburg on Switch. I grew up loving the historical RTS wargames that were once a pretty big deal – games like Fields of Glory and Napoleon 1813. These days there aren’t many that do that outside of the Total War series, and as much as I love the Total War games, they’re a bit grander in scope and complexity. What I have a hankering for is a classic-style war game about a classic battle. I might fight Gettysburg less interesting than, say, Waterloo or Sekighara, but it’s still a fascinating moment of war history, and I’m looking forward to having it on my Switch.