New Releases: September 7th-13th, 2023

ANONYMOUS;CODE, the sixth mainline entry in the Science Adventure isn’t the only notable new release. This week, Super Bomberman R 2 explodes onto console, Fae Farm tests your agriculture abilities, and Eternights (pictured) will task you with surviving both the imminent apocalypse as well as a succession of dates.

PlayStation 4
ANONYMOUS;CODE (digital, $59.99)
Autobahn Police Simulator 3: Off-Road (digital, $12.99)
Eternights (digital, $29.99)
Gravity Oddity (digital, $14.99)
Mystic Gate (digital, $9.99)
MythForce (digital, $29.99)
NBA 2K24 (physical & digital, $69.99)
Nour: Play With Your Food (digital, $14.99)
Super Bomberman R 2 (physical & digital, $49.99)
The Crew Motorfest (physical & digital. $59.99)
The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo (digital, $19.99)
The Isle Tide Hotel (digital, $17.99)
Touhou: New World (digital, $24.99)

PlayStation 5
NBA 2K24 (physical & digital, $69.99)
Runner Heroes: Enhanced Edition (physical, $24.99)
Super Bomberman R 2 (physical & digital, $49.99)
The Crew Motorfest (physical & digital. $69.99)

Switch
A Beginner’s Guide to Earth Simulator (digital, $TBA)
Adventures of Ben: Rabbit Run (digital, $16.74)
Alchemy Garden (digital, $12.99)
ANONYMOUS;CODE (digital, $53.99)
Colorful Boi (digital, $3.99)
Color Sense Challenge (digital, $1.99)
Crowd City (digital, $4.99)
Dark Theme Bundle (digital, $19.99)
Escape Academy: The Complete Edition (digital, $29.99)
Fae Farm (digital, $59.99)
Full Void (digital, $11.99)
Gas Station Simulator and Barn Finders Bundle (digital, $29.99)
Gravity Oddity (digital, $14.99)
Gunbrella (digital, $14.99)
Hentai Project (digital, $2.79)
Into the Sky (digital, $6.99)
MythForce (digital, $29.99)
Night at the Gates of Hell (digital, $14.99)
Old School (digital, $14.99)
Pipe Line Puzzle (digital, $1.99)
Redeemer’s Run (digital, $4.99)
Seduce Me – The Complete Story (digital, $9.99)
Shepherd’s Crossing (digital, $25.49)
Sprout Valley (digital, $17.99)
Strike Force 3 (digital, $19.99)
Super Bomberman R 2 (digital, $49.99)
The Dragoness: Command of the Flame (digital, $17.99)
The Isle Tide Hotel (digital, $17.99)
The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo (digital, $19.99)
Thunder War Rabbit Alien Fight (digital, $4.99)
Troopers (digital, $9.99)
Truck Simulator & World of Machines Bundle (digital, $14.99)
Whitestone (digital, $19.99)

Xbox One
Alchemy Garden (digital, $12.99)
Autobahn Police Simulator 3: Off-Road (digital, $12.99)
Full Void (digital, $11.99)
Into the Sky (digital, $6.99)
Mystic Gate (digital, $9.99)
NBA 2K24 (physical & digital, $69.99)
Super Bomberman R 2 (digital, $49.99)
The Crew Motorfest (physical & digital. $59.99)
The Isle Tide Hotel (digital, $17.99)
The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo (digital, $19.99)

Xbox Series S/X
The Crew Motorfest (physical & digital. $69.99)

PC
Conquistadorio: Prologue (free)
Dokapon Kingdom: Connect ($42.49)
Eternights ($26.99)
Fae Farm (digital, $39.99)
God Of Weapons ($TBA)
Gunbrella ($14.99)
Lempo ($17.99)
Mary Skelter Finale ($TBA)
Microvolts: Recharged (free)
MythForce ($29.99)
NBA 2K24 ($59.99)
Paradiso Guardian ($TBA)
Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX ($26.99)
Sprout Valley ($17.99)
Super Bomberman R 2 ($49.99)
Synced (free)
Tavernacle! ($TBA)
The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo ($19.99)
Urbo ($TBA)
Void Crew ($17.59)

Rob’s pick: Habitually, science fiction is so obsessed with technology, that the stories neglect to explore the personalities of its users. Take out the high-tech novelty and you’re often left with a bland set of archetypes who aren’t strong enough to stand on their own. But largely, that hasn’t been the case with the Science Adventure series. Each visual novel has introduced some new innovation, whether it was time travel in Steins;Gate’s or cybernetics and the augmentation of the human body in Robotics;Notes.

This week, ANONYMOUS;CODE centers on a group of hackers, navigating through a world where true reality is unknowable, thanks to the technological toolset unleashed upon us. (Think of today’s social media filters and goofy celebrity AI raps and continue down that precarious path). And while CODE’s taut pacing doesn’t allow us to venture too deeply into the heads of its cast, it’s still a vast improvement over Hollywood’s efforts. Instead of signaling alienation via a barren apartment and a conversation with an AI companion, there’s a sense of loneliness in ANONYMOUS;CODE that’s palpable. And that feels like the forewarning that sci-fi is supposed to provide.

Ryan’s pick: MAGES, Inc. is a top tier visual novel game developer for me so I am going to suggest ANONYMOUS;CODE for my pick this week. I’ve always been a fan of Steins;Gate, and with Chiyomaru Shikura being the creator of this story as well I am confident there will be some really interesting storytelling and time manipulation mechanics like Reading Steiner. Japanese audio is also included for the game for those that prefer Japanese voice acting, so overall this one checks all the boxes for me and I think will be worthwhile for VN afficionados.

One series that I’m notoriously bad at but still have a lot of fun playing is the Bomberman series. Normally the mayhem is just too much sensory input for me, but when things work out, it’s extremely satisfying. Maybe it’s time I get over my trepidation for this series with Super Bomberman R 2. Single player is going to be more than enough to get me to put my head in my hands, so I don’t think I’ll be venturing into multiplayer in this one until I feel like I won’t embarrass myself. The Story Mode also caught my eye, as even though I’m pretty bad at the game’s basic mechanics, I always have room in my stomach for boss fights. It’s a classic series, so it’s time to get back to basics.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): Anonymous;Code is a masterpiece and may well become my favourite game of that particular series – and, yes, I do love Steins;Gate that much. It’s just that the way that Anonymous;Code dips into and out of philosophies about the intersection between reality and the digital is such a nuanced, interesting, and relevant one. I loved this game. So, so much.

Elsewhere, I love Bomberman. Always have. I did come late to the party with the little guy (my first Bomberman was Bomberman 64), but since then I have had a ravenous hunger for the series. It is high on the “go to” list for multiplayer hijinks, and I also really enjoyed the first one of this little sub-series on Switch.

So I’m looking forward into grabbing some friends and settling in for some hardcore multiplayer all over again. At its best Bomberman is the most entertaining form of chaos, and I have every expectation that Bomberman R 2 will was away the bad taste from Starlink and get me enjoying games again.