New Releases: September 19th-25th, 2019

Increasingly, the Switch is becoming the porting platform of choice. That’s evidenced by the releases of Dead by Daylight, Devil May Cry 2, GRID Autosport, LEGO Jurassic World, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, and even Star Wars: Jedi Knight II – Jedi Outcast making their way to the system this week. For those uninterested by the reappearance of these titles, perhaps the arrival of games like The Surge 2, Contra: Rogue Corps and I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator might be pleasing.

Header image: The Flower on Christmas Eve, PC

PlayStation 4
AI: The Somnium Files (physical, $59.99)
Contra: Rogue Corps (physical and digital, $39.99)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered (physical and digital, $49.99)
Overland (digital, $24.99)
The Surge 2 (physical and digital, $59.99)

Switch
AI: The Somnium Files (physical, $59.99)
Amnesia: Collection (digital, $29.99)
Angry Bunnies: Colossal Carrot Crusade (digital, free)
Arcade Archives – Track & Field (digital, $7.99)
Contra: Rogue Corps (physical and digital, $39.99)
Dead by Daylight (physical and digital, $39.99)
Deathstate : Abyssal Edition (digital, $9.99)
Devil May Cry 2 (digital, $19.99)
Flying Girl Striker (digital, $15.00)
Golazo! (digital, $12.74)
GRID Autosport (digital, $34.99)
Hidden (digital, $9.99)
Inferno 2 (digital, $4.99)
Island Maze (digital, $1.49)
LEGO Jurassic World (physical and digital, $39.99)
Lost Castle (digital, $9.99)
Oliver’s Adventures in the Fairyland (digital, $6.99)
Overland (digital, $24.99)
Neon Drive (digital, $9.99)
Newt One (digital, $9.99)
Niffelheim (digital, $12.74)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (physical and digital, $49.99)
Paper Dolls Original (digital, $15.29)
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns (digital, $14.99)
Rebel Cops (digital, $9.99)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (digital, $12.99)
Scheming Through The Zombie Apocalypse: The Beginning (digital, $4.99)
Space War Arena (digital, $14.99)
Soul Knight (digital, $11.99)
Spellworm (digital, $1.99)
Star Wars: Jedi Knight II – Jedi Outcast (digital, $9.99)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (physical and digital, $59.99)
Tyd wag vir Niemand (digital, $7.99)
Untitled Goose Game (digital, $19.99)
Yellow Fins (digital, $4.99)
Zenith (digital, $14.99)

Xbox One
Contra: Rogue Corps (physical and digital, $39.99)
Overland (digital, $24.99)
The Surge 2 (digital, $59.99)

PC
Cat Quest II ($TBA)
Contra: Rogue Corps ($39.99)
I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator ($ Free)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered ($49.99)
Noita ($TBA)
Overland ($24.99)
Police Stories ($13.49)
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid (digital, $39.99)
Stars End ($TBA)
The Flower on Christmas Eve ($TBA)
The Surge 2 ($49.99)

Robert’s Pick: While the NES version of Contra wasn’t my inaugural home console game, it was the first one I truly feel in love with. Perceptively, my grandmother knew game with a cover that depicted two muscle-bound soldiers encircled by a cluster of spindly alien limbs might be something I’d enjoy. Two months of daily play confirmed those suspicions. As such, I’m hopelessly eager for each new iteration in the Contra franchise. But sadly, none have lived up to the enjoyment of Shigeharu Umezaki and Shinji Kitamoto’s marvelous adaption of the 1987 coin-op.

This week, Konami and Toylogic are releasing Contra: Rogue Corps, which revisits the top-down perspective of the action found in Neo Contra. The other notable difference is that Rogue Corps cranks up the franchise’s madcap elements to farcical levels. Like any rational person, I’m on board with gallant alien bugs and cyborg pandas. What worries me is the game looks suspiciously like Millennium Soldier: Expendable, the middling run and game title that launched alongside the Dreamcast. I’ll probably give it a go out of obligation for Bill, Lance, and Grandma, but if you’re seeking something that’s a sure bet, you’ll want to pick up Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.

Matt’s Pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): What a terrible week to choose just one game. I love Ni No Kuni. I love Zelda. I love Contra. I love This Is The Police. But, for the first week in a long time, I’m going to have to go with a game that has no waifu whatsoever. Baldur’s Gate. To say that without Baldur’s Gate I may have never got fully into video games would be an understatement. That game inspired me and grabbed my imagination like nothing else. I would play and replay it just to try every possible path through the game with every possible character, and the vivid, seamless way that my decisions would flow into the unfurling narrative simply blew my mind.

Having that game on my Nintendo Switch is in so many ways a dream come true. I’ve already got it on PC and iPad, of course, but I prefer playing games on console, and this is the first time I will have been able to play one of my favourite games ever made, in a way that I like to play them. And then I can also look forward to the sequel, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment? What a week for my Switch!
(Editor: Apologies, but Robert got the BioWare release dates mixed up; they arrive next week).

Ryan’s Pick: I can’t help myself. I’m going with I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator. Sure, there is a new Contra out this week, I just get the feeling that my time is better spent investigating how, and why KFC decided to create a visual novel dating game featuring Colonel Sanders. Fast food companies been venturing out to reach younger generations through alternative means, like Dominos Pizza with its Hatsune Miku app, and even Arby’s with the Spear of Longinus jammed into a sandwich. I’m not sure if it’s bringing in the intended sales, but it does get noticed.

Growing up in America I found it mindblowing that almost everyone in Japan eats KFC on Christmas. The Colonel is a rock star over there. So, I kind of see a parallel into the thought process as to why the Colonel was chosen to appear in his own VN. Visually the game art looks purposefully more westernized than a typical VN, but it still maintains some Japanese VN aesthetics. It for some reason also reminds me of Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail as it is a bit cartoony. Still, the Colonel looks great, and is substantially a bit more attractive than his Norm McDonald version as seen on television in recent years. I really don’t know what to expect from this one, but with nine characters I am very curious to see what type of flags and situations will appear during the playthrough. Will it be worth it? The best way to answer this is to quote KFC from the Steam page: “Find out in the most finger lickin’ good dating simulator ever created—a game that KFC actually made.”