New Releases: October 12th-18th, 2023

Plenty of familiar franchises fill this week’s schedule of new releases, with everything from Haunted House, Sonic, to Lords of the Fallen making reappearances. Meanwhile, those seeking an experience that’s otherworldly might want to look at Sakura Alien (pictured), which tells the tale of an extraterrestrial waifu who claims to be on the run from her home planet.

PlayStation 4
A Boy and His Blob: Retro Collection (digital, $9.99)
Alphadia I & II (digital, $17.99)
Haunted House (digital, $19.99)
Hellboy Web of Wyrd (digital, $24.99)
Kona II: Brume (digital, $TBA)
River City: Rival Showdown (digital, $24.99)
Skull Island: Rise of Kong (digital, $31.99)
Sonic Superstars (physical & digital, $59.99)
The Grinch: Christmas Adventures (digital, $39.99)
Transformers: Earthspark Expedition (digital, $39.99)
Vampire: The Masquerade – The New York Bundle (physical & digital, $69.99)

PlayStation 5
Lords of the Fallen (physical & digital, $69.99)
Sonic Superstars (physical & digital, $59.99)
The Caligula Effect 2 (physical & digital, $49.99)

Switch
A Boy and His Blob: Retro Collection (digital, $9.99)
Alphadia I & II (digital, $17.99)
Ancient Relics – Egypt (digital, $19.99)
Astebros (digital, $10.39)
Astrosmash (digital, $14.99)
Ball laB II (digital, $4.99)
Batman: Arkham Trilogy (digital, $59.99)
Big Vehicle Simulator Games Bundle (digital, $19.99)
Break the Glass Cup: Breaking Physics Puzzle (digital, $9.99)
Chemically Bonded (digital, $9.99)
Car Games Bundle (digital, $19.99)
Company of Heroes Collection
Cook, Serve, Delicious! (digital, $12.99)
The Love – Date Simulator with Girls
Dementium: The Ward (digital, $19.99)
Dino Ranch – Ride to the Rescue (digital, $39.99)
Dwerve (digital, $19.99)
Eventide 3: Legacy of Legends (digital, $14.99)
Haunted House (digital, $19.99)
Hellboy Web of Wyrd (digital, $24.99)
Ironsmith Medieval Simulator (digital, $9.99)
Kingdom Eighties (digital, $11.99)
Kittengumi: The Sakabato’s Thief (digital, $9.99)
Need for Spirit Drink & Drive Simulator (digital, $6.99)
Only Way Up! Parkour Jump Simulator (digital, $4.99)
Pillars of Dust (digital, $6.99)
Re.Surs (digital, $7.99)
River City: Rival Showdown (digital, $24.99)
Saltsea Chronicles (digital, $24.99)
Sakura Alien (digital, $9.99)
Subpar Pool (digital, $9.99)
Silent Paws: Winter Quest (digital, $4.99)
Skull Island: Rise of Kong (digital, $31.99)
Sonic Superstars (digital, $59.99)
Submersible Simulator – Discover the Titanic into Ocean (digital, $12.99)
Taxi Driver Simulator 2024 (digital, $5.99)
The Grinch: Christmas Adventures (digital, $39.99)
The Love – Date Simulator with Girls (digital, $9.99)
ToyBox Puzzle (digital, $3.99)
Transformers: Earthspark Expedition (digital, $39.99)
Traumatarium (digital, $2.54)
Trapped in The Tricky Prison (digital, $4.99)
Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness (digital, $19.99)
Whitestone (digital, $15.99)
Z Escape (digital, $4.99)
Zombie Defense (digital, $4.99)
Zombie Raft (digital, $4.99)

Xbox One
Alphadia I & II (digital, $17.99)
From Space (digital, $14.99)
Haunted House (digital, $19.99)
Hellboy Web of Wyrd (digital, $24.99)
Kona II: Brume (digital, $TBA)
Skull Island: Rise of Kong (digital, $31.99)
Sonic Superstars (physical & digital, $59.99)
The Grinch: Christmas Adventures (digital, $39.99)
Transformers: Earthspark Expedition (digital, $39.99)

Xbox Series S/X
Lords of the Fallen (physical & digital, $69.99)

PC
Alchemist: The Potion Monger ($TBA)
Café Master Story ($TBA)
Dreadhunter ($TBA)
Dungeon’s Legion ($TBA)
Empty Shell ($TBA)
Growth ($TBA)
Hellboy Web of Wyrd ($24.99)
Hotel: A Resort Simulator ($17.99)
Kona II: Brume ($TBA)
Night Loops ($TBA)
Nope Nope Nope Nope Nurses ($TBA)
Lords of the Fallen ($59.99)
Pandemic Train ($TBA)
Railgrade ($TBA)
Rungore ($13.49)
Saltsea Chronicles ($19.99)
Sonic Superstars ($59.99)
Star Trek Infinite ($29.99)
The Coffin of Andy and Leyley ($TBA)
The Jackbox Party Pack 10 ($29.99)
Tribe: Primitive Builder ($17.98)
Wizard with a Gun ($24.99)

Rob’s Pick: Both the original The Caligula Effect and its remake underwhelmed audiences, who might have been expecting a Persona clone. And that expectation is reasonable given that writer Tadashi Satomi has previously penned the first three entries in Atlus’ beloved sub-series. But much like Eternights, The Caligula Effect used the basic framework to reach out in new directions. Peer past the plodding combat and the game had much to say about the fixation of escapism and how society norms are preserved.

The Caligula Effect 2 is no less brainy, referencing everything from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave to Jungian’s analytical psychology. Pleasingly, the game makes no expectations of your familiarity with these subjects. But if you’ve been acquainted with these ideas, the storyline is really engaging. Either way, it’s rather cathartic to learn about each cast member’s regrets or traumas and help them move past these quandaries.

And yes, I’ll probably eventually pick up Sonic Superstars at some point. But honestly, I’m more excited about next week’s release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder given Nintendo EPD’s flexibility with development speed and willingness to inject new ideas into the game.

Ryan’s pick: This week’s pick is not typically a genre that I gravitate towards but I think the mash-up of mechanics made me look twice. Rungore is a card battle game that is played in real-time, which at first seems to be an odd juxtaposition, but in practice looks like a lot of fun. It’s clear that the game doesn’t take itself too seriously, and its fast pace and sprites help to make it look pretty unique. I’ve recently been dabbling with Genshin Impact’s TCG which was added to the game a while back, so perhaps that’s why I’m on a bit of a card kick lately.

Sticking with the action motif, one other Steam game that is releasing this week that may be worth a look is the isometric action RPG Dreadhunter. The part that immediately drew me to the game was its speed and animation. While it is a bit more gruesome, the fluidity of the attacks and enemies definitely helps this one to stand out a bit more in comparison to some of the isometric shooters that have been coming out. There is some clear Aliens series influence here with the enemies and environments, so I think thematically the game fits in pretty well for Halloween. In general, I think it’s worth a quick look if you like isometric shooters or are looking for a faster-paced action RPG.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I gotta say that I’m looking forward to Lords of the Fallen. The first Lords of the Fallen (really, they couldn’t come up with ANYTHING to distinguish those two games?) was one of the very first Soulslikes that FromSoftware didn’t produce, and while it wasn’t great, it was interesting. Fast forward a decade, and there’s a much deeper understanding of how this genre works now, so this new one will hopefully represent the culmination of that understanding. This is the first project of Ci Games’ internal development unit, so all the best to them.

I must also echo Robert with regards to The Caligula Effect 2. That game’s an out-and-out masterpiece, and the mini-series of two are perhaps the smartest games that never really got a decent shake. I don’t expect the game’s going to suddenly set the sales charts alight this time, but just, if you haven’t yet… give it a go. Take a risk. You may just discover something wonderful that you almost missed.