New Releases: December 12-18, 2024

This week, Beseige brings its siege-weapon construction to the PlayStation 4, while Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes injects some roguelike qualities across its multi-tabled trek. If neither medieval-era mayhem nor bowling over the undead interest, perhaps a life of delinquency awaits in Saga Planets’ Hatsuyuki Sakura (shown). Here’s the full list of what’s arriving on PCs and consoles:

PlayStation 4

Besiege (digital, $19.99)
Botany Manor (digital, $24.99)
Fairy Tail 2 (digital, $59.99)
Ninja 1987 (digital, $4.99)
Tri Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey (digital, $9.99)

PlayStation 5

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion (digital, $39.99)
For the King II (digital, $24.99)
Masters of Light (digital, $TBA, PS VR2)
Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes (digital, $14.99)

Switch

Antonblast (digital, $19.99)
Archer Maclean’s DropZone: 40th Anniversary Edition (digital, $7.49)
Aquatic Life: Fish Simulator RPG (digital, $9.99)
Azura’s Crystals (digital, $24.99)
Border Police: Contraband Simulator 2024 (digital, $9.99)
Chernobylite Complete Edition (digital, $29.99)
Cowboys vs Zombies (digital, $9.99)
Dot Piece Puzzle (digital, $2.00)
EGGCONSOLE Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II PC-8801mkIISR (digital, $6.49)
Fading Star Melody (digital, $21.49)
Fairy Tail 2 (digital, $59.99)
Farm (digital, $9.99)
Guns And Draguns (digital, $12.99)
Hidden Cats in Santa’s Realm (digital, $3.99)
Ketsu Battler (digital, $4.99)
Maki: Paw of Fury (digital, $10.99)
Meow Moments: Celebrating Renewal & Romance (digital, $2.99)
Monkey Kong In New-York (digital, $4.99)
Neon Beats (digital, $6.29)
Ninja 1987 (digital, $4.99)
Paw Paw Destiny (digital, $11.99)
Pine: A Story of Loss (digital, $9.99)
RIKI 8Bit Game Collection (digital, $19.99)
Smile Simulation (digital, $6.99)
Smoots Summer Games II (digital, $12.49)
Snowman Story (digital, $4.49)
Sparking Beam Strike 1000 (digital, $3.59)
Spot The Difference: Classic Finding Puzzle (digital, $4.99)
Sugoroku Casino Party (digital, $12.00)
Timore Narhelma (digital, $2.99)
The Escape Room Chronicles ep2:The Old School Building (digital, $4.79)
The Zvengers -Infinity Defense-  (digital, $1.99)
Victory Heat Rally (digital, $24.99)
Warplanes: WW1 + Space Commander Bundle (digital, $14.99-$19.99)

Xbox One

Dreamless Girl (digital, $7.19)
For the King II (digital, $24.99)
Ninja 1987 (digital, $4.99)
Overtop (digital, $4.99)
Smoots Summer Games II (digital, $12.49)
Tri Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey (digital, $9.99)

Xbox Series S/X

Enotria: The Last Song (digital, $34.99)
Flint: Treasure of Oblivion (digital, $39.99)
Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes (digital, $14.99)

PC

Airport X-Ray Simulator ($13.49)
Blade of God X: Orisols (free)
Bloodshed ($7.19)
Clone Drone in the Hyperdome (VR)
Completely Stretchy ($17.09)
Creeper World IXE ($17.99)
Heat Death: Survival Train ($9.59)
Dreamless Girl ($6.29)
EXFIL ($25.49)
Fairy Tail 2 (digital, $59.99)
Ink Inside ($16.99)
Garden Trills ($13.49)
Hatsuyuki Sakura ($23.99)
MOBA Esport Manager 25
Murky Divers ($5.99)
Neko Odyssey
Night Shift Nurses
On Your Tail
Pine: A Story of Loss ($9.99)
Seedsow Lullaby
Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy ($22.49)
Taiwan Love Story⁵
The Cabin Factory
The King of Fighters XV ($29.99)
The Spirit of the Samurai ($15.99)

Rob’s pick: Snowman Story has several qualities I appreciate. It’s poignant, has an endearing visual style, and at two-to-three hours, doesn’t feel padded. Thematically similar to other OdenCat titles, it offers a tender reminder to appreciate the smaller things in life.

Building on that notion, we lost Archer Maclean two years ago. The British developer helped shape the industry when his testimony asserted that International Karate was distinct from Data East’s Karate Champ, paving the road for evolutionary design practices. This week, his inaugural title gets a release, offering an engaging variation on Defender’s side-scrolling action.

Ryan’s pick: Shin shin to… Juvia is my favorite ameonna so Fairy Tail 2 jumps to the top of the list for me this week. Like the first, the game is developed by GUST, with this time the battle sequences playing more like an action-RPG. There’s plenty of fan-favorite characters that made it into the cast for this sequel, so I think there will be a lot to like for various audiences. It sounds like playing the first game is not a prerequisite, so if you’re new to the series I think that you will still be able to enjoy the game as a JRPG as the characters are all really unique and likeable in their own ways.

It was released last week, but I’m also going to give a brief nod to Marvel: Rivals. I haven’t spent too much time in the PvP shooter realm in a long while, but I do really like the variety of the characters included so upon the suggestion of a friend I’m going to give it a go. They also included a console-only crossplay option which also sounds like a nice option for players that prefer not to be mixed in with PC players.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I’ll be busting out Luigi’s Mansion in solidarity this week.

Of the games releasing, Fairy Tail 2 is the big one for me. I might not be the world’s BIGGEST Fairy Tail fan, but I enjoy it enough, and I really like Gust and that team’s approach to JRPGs. The first Fairy Tail was a great effort, so it will be good to see how this new one stacks up.

On a smaller scale, I’m also looking forward to the Japanese release of Mercenaries Saga title. It’s the… 7th(?) title in the series of super traditional tactics JRPGs, and while none of the games in the series are in any danger of winning game of the year, they are consistently fun and easy to unwind with.