New Releases: January 19th-25th, 2023

This week, The Goddesses of Gamindustri return in Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters (pictures), remasters of Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden make a reappearance, and Fire Emblem Engage, the fourteenth mainline franchise entry, arrives on Switch. Below you’ll find the complete list of what’s arriving over the next seven days.

PlayStation 4
A Space for the Unbound (digital, $19.99)
Monster Hunter Rise (digital, $39.99)
Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters (physical & digital, $49.99)
Persona 3 Portable (digital, $19.99)
Persona 4 Golden (digital, $19.99)
Risen (digital, $49.99)
Tortuga – A Pirate’s Tale (digital, $29.99, $26.99 PS+)

PlayStation 5
Forspoken (physical & digital, $69.99)
Monster Hunter Rise (digital, $39.99)
Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters (physical & digital, $49.99)
World War Z: Aftermath (physical, $39.99)

Switch
A Matter of Principle (digital, $3.99)
A Space for the Unbound (digital, $19.99)
Art of Rally (physical, $34.99)
Clunky Hero (digital, $11.99)
Colossal Cave (digital, $39.99)
Counter Bottle Shooter (digital, $3.99)
Demolish & Build Classic (digital, $11.99)
Doraemon Story of Seasons: FGK – The Life of Insects (DLC, $5.99)
Drift & Drive (digital, $12.99)
Escape to the Ocean (digital, $11.50)
Fire Emblem Engage (physical & digital, $59.99)
Fire Emblem Engage Expansion Pass (digital, $29.99)
Gardenia (digital, $14.99)
Grammarian Ltd (digital, $4.99)
Graze Counter GM (digital, $14.99)
Hack and Shoot Heroes (digital, $3.99)
Harem Girl Isabella (digital, $2.99)
Midnight Runner (digital, $2.99)
Minimal Move (digital, $11.99)
Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021 (digital, $14.99)
NeverAwake (digital, $21.924)
OmegaBot (digital, $11.69)
Peachy Boy (digital, $3.99)
Persona 3 Portable (digital, $19.99)
Persona 4 Golden (digital, $19.99)
Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden Bundle (digital, $39.49)
Right and Down (digital, $9.99)
Rubber Bandits (digital, $9.99)
Rubber Bandits: Go Wild Pack (DLC, $2.99)
Rubber Bandits: Supporter Pack (DLC, $6.99)
Sissa’s Path (digital, $4.99)
Smilemo (digital, $8.99)
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow (digital, $14.99)
Trenches (digital, $9.99)
Void Prison (digital, $2.99)
Zumiman (digital, $3.00)

Xbox One
A Space for the Unbound (digital, $19.99)
Clunky Hero (digital, $11.99)
Graze Counter GM (digital, $11.99)
Kingdom Rush (digital, $9.99)
Monster Hunter Rise (digital, $39.99)
OmegaBot (digital, $11.69)
Persona 3 Portable (digital, $19.99, also on Game Pass)
Persona 4 Golden (digital, $19.99, also on Game Pass)
Risen (digital, $29.99)
Tortuga – A Pirate’s Tale (digital, $29.99)

PC
2112TD: Tower Defense Survival ($4.31)
A Bit of Tactics ($3.99)
A Matter of Principle ($3.99)
A Space for the Unbound ($17.99)
Colossal Cave ($39.99)
Demon Queen Melissa ($TBA)
Estencel ($12.59)
Forspoken ($69.99, $94.99)
Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters ($49.99)
Punch A Bunch ($TBA)
Rain World: Downpour (DLC, $13.49)
The Pioneers: Surviving Desolation ($TBA)
Warlander (free-to-play)

Robert’s Pick: Fire Emblem is like warm sourdough bread. Even the second-rate efforts are comforting. For strategy fans, there’s something satisfying about building battle-ready armies, equipping emblems, before harnessing their capabilities on the battlefield. While some outlets are reporting that the story isn’t always engaging across a reported 70-hour length, this could be a reaction to a more traditional structure following Three House’s ambitions. But as long as the tile-based conflict remains challenging, I’m OK with returning characters not stealing the spotlight.

Beyond that, the re-appearance of Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden shouldn’t be overlooked. If you missed the original releases somehow, these ports offer a convenient and affordable way to enjoy these two seminal RPGs. Enjoyment is limited to the celebrated casts of both titles, but you’ll probably discern how influential each game was. Almost every subsequent role-playing game in a contemporary setting seems to draw from these two entries. Finally, STG fans shouldn’t overlook NeverAwake and Graze Counter GM, which both deliver some sizzling shooting action.

Matt R’s pick (editor, Shindig): There are a lot of obvious choices this week (Fire Emblem, Persona, Neptunia…). With them already ably covered, I want to instead draw attention to A Space for the Unbound. A labour of love that’s been many years in use making, Mojiken’s pixel-art adventure is a beautiful snapshot of ’90s rural Indonesia. That’s a fascinating setting in its own right, and a window into a particularly turbulent period of the country’s history, but it also provides a perfect backdrop for poignant, thoughtful, deeply personal story about life, love, growing up, and figuring out your place in a changing world. With an evocative pixel art style that effortlessly blends the everyday through the surreal, clever puzzles, and a haunting soundtrack, all the pieces of A Space for the Unbound come together for something marvelous.

If you prefer your adventure games on the creepy side, don’t miss The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow as it makes its way to Switch this week. This folk horror from Cloak and Dagger Games and Wadjet Eye hits just the right spot when you need something a little unsettling.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): Like Kiwi Matt above, there’s a lot of games I could very easily recommend to you all. For the sake of variety I’ll pick one that he didn’t mention (though all of his picks look great too): Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters. It has seemed like, in recent years, Idea Factory didn’t quite know what to do with the Neptunia series. Well, Sisters Vs. Sisters brings things back around nicely. Yes, it’s an action JRPG rather than being that turn-based formula that powered the series for so long before, but it’s a well-made transition and still feels very much like a Neptunia game to play. And, of course, there’s a bit of all the good stuff in there. Excellent humour, excellent fan service. It’s great fun all around.

Putting that aside, I’m also very keen for Risen. As most people know I’m a fan of Eurotrash RPGs, and Risen 2 and 3 are two of my favourite examples of that genre. They’re janky, but they have soul and character and a creative spirit all of their own. I never did get the chance to play the original Risen, however. Apparently, it was banned in Australia back in the day. So now I’ll get to play it. Isn’t that great?!?

Ryan’s pick: Lately I’ve been on a bit of a Square Enix kick, and I’m really enjoying the latest Star Ocean release. Raymond constantly flying hands first around and then yelling “Lucky!” every time you find treasure. Forspoken looks to provide a slightly different experience than the Star Ocean franchise, but I think I’m going to enjoy it. I absolutely never opt for a magic build character in action RPGs so my hopes with this game will help ease me into being more comfortable using a magic character.

It may be hard for me to not compare the game to Elden Ring as visually my referential brain instantly gravitated towards that game when I saw the gameplay for this title. I’m not quite sure what to expect difficulty-wise, but again, being able to play with magic in an action RPG is reason enough for me to want to pick this up. Lastly, I see that a new Neptunia series game is here as well with the release of Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters. The characters in the game are the reason that the series has continued to build a fanbase, so this one could also be worth a look if you prefer anime inspired art in your action RPG over hyper-realistic art.