New Releases: February 23rd – March 1st, 2023

From the pigskin pugnacious of Blood Bowl III to the sumptuous, 2D sprite work of Octopath Traveler II and Grim Guardians: Demon Purge, this week’s new releases offer plenty of variety. Beyond the dystopian dungeon crawling of void* tRrLM2(); //Void Terrarium 2, there’s also a few visual novels worth noting, from Red List Girls. -Andean Flamingo- (pictured), Grisaia Phantom Trigger 08, and The Crimson Flower that Divides: Lunar Coupling all arriving this week.

PlayStation 4
Bendy and the Dark Revival (digital, $29.99)
Blood Bowl III (digital, $29.99-$49.99)
BROK the InvestiGator (digital, $19.99)
CATAN: Console Edition (digital, $19.99)
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator (digital, $39.99)
Destiny 2: Lightfall (digital, $49.99)
Grim Guardians: Demon Purge (digital, $22.49)
HUNT Showdown: Limited Bounty Hunter Edition (physical, $39.99)
LEAP (digital, $TBA)
Lootbox Lyfe+ (digital, $9.99)
Octopath Traveler II (physical & digital, $59.99)
Scars Above (physical & digital, $39.99)
void* tRrLM2(); //Void Terrarium 2 (digital, $39.99)

PlayStation 5
Blood Bowl 3: Brutal Edition (physical, $49.99)
Scars Above (physical & digital, $39.99)

Switch
A Fox and His Robot (digital, $59.99)
Afterthought (digital, $15.99)
BIT.TRIP Collection (digital, $9.99)
BROK the InvestiGator (digital, $19.99)
Choice of Life: Middle Ages 2 (digital, $6.99)
Clive ‘N’ Wrench (physical, $39.99, digital, $25.49)
Dyadic (digital, $5.94)
Endless Dungeon (digital, $TBA)
Green Soldiers Heroes (digital, $20.00)
Grim Guardians: Demon Purge (digital, $22.49)
Grisaia Phantom Trigger 08 (digital, $29.99)
Hike Isle (digital, $3.39)
Horror Tale 1: Kidnapper (digital, $19.99)
Ink & Paper: DoodleCut (digital, $4.99)
Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth (digital, $19.99)
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe (physical & digital, $59.99)
Lootbox Lyfe+ (digital, $9.99)
Loot Box Simulator – Crimson Fire (digital, $2.99)
Lucy Dreaming (digital, $18.99)
Midnight is Lost (digital, $3.99)
Neodori Forever (digital, $4.99)
Octopath Traveler II (physical & digital, $59.99)
Planet Cube: Edge (digital, $14.99)
Redemption Reapers (digital, $49.99)
Remains (digital, $6.99)
Remorse: The List (digital, $19.99)
Road Stones (digital, $4.99)
Roniu’s Tale (digital, $7.99)
Rumble Sus (digital, $4.49)
Rytmos (digital, $15.00)
Sakura Magical Girls (digital, $9.99)
Sentry Paragon (digital, $5.99)
Snake Core (digital, $8.99)
The Crimson Flower that Divides: Lunar Coupling (digital, $42.20)
Twice Reborn: A Vampire Visual Novel
Tyrant’s Blessing (digital, $19.99)
Undead Darlings: No Cure For Love (physical, $39.99)
void* tRrLM2(); //Void Terrarium 2 (physical, $49.99, digital, $39.99)
Warplanes Bundle (digital, $2.99)
Yonesawara Hospital (digital, $18.00)

Xbox One
Bendy and the Dark Revival (digital, $29.99)
Blood Bowl III (digital, $29.99-$49.99)
CATAN: Console Edition (digital, $19.99)
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator (digital, $39.99)
Destiny 2: Lightfall (digital, $49.99)
Grim Guardians: Demon Purge (digital, $22.49)
LEAP (digital, $TBA)
Lootbox Lyfe+ (digital, $9.99)
Remorse: The List (digital, $19.99)
Scars Above (physical & digital, $39.99)

PC
Aces & Adventures ($15.99)
Asterigos: Call of the Paragons (DLC, $11.99)
Blood Bowl III ($29.99-$49.99)
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator ($29.99)
Clive ‘N’ Wrench ($25.49)
Company of Heroes 3 (physical premium $89.99, digital, $59.99)
Destiny 2: Lightfall ($49.99)
Dreadful River ($TBA)
Dungeons of Aether ($TBA)
Grim Guardians: Demon Purge ($22.49)
I Am Your President ($TBA)
Kerbal Space Program 2 ($TBA)
Limbus Company (free)
LOUD: MY Road to Fame ($7.49)
Octopath Traveler II ($59.99)
Phantom Brigade ($TBA)
Pocky & Rocky Reshrined ($TBA)
Red List Girls. -Andean Flamingo- ($10.39)
Scars Above ($39.99)
Sons of the Forest ($29.99)
Sun Down ($TBA)
The Ouroboros King ($TBA)
The Pale Beyond ($TBA)
Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire ($TBA)

Rob’s pick: The original Octopath Traveler demonstrated that there’s still plenty of life in fantasy tropes. But instead of contrasting their personalities against the usual archetypes, Team Asano delivered an anthology of stories. We probably all expected an Iñárritu-style crossover, but aside from short vignettes, the game defied expectations, keeping the focus on each Traveler’s personal tale. For Octopath Traveler II, the team makes a few concessions, with Crossed Paths storylines allowing for more interaction between the leads. There’s also full voice acting this time around, adding to the richness of each storyline. Like a gourmet meal filled with subtle seasonings, this is an RPG to savor rather than consume.

I think much of my appreciation for the Metroidvania genre is a futile attempt to recreate the thrill of playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the first time. I haven’t had any hands-on time with Grim Guardians: Demon Purge, but I’m naively optimistic for this one. Sure, Demon Purge looks like it leans on hardware more than Toru Hagihara and Koji Igarashi’s opus. But I’ll take some lock-on missiles over a whip given Inti Creates’ tradition of merciless bosses. And if I reach an impasse, there’s always Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Pink never frustrates.

Ryan’s pick: Break and Boost are the themes this week, so Octopath Traveler 2 is the clear choice this week. The part I like most about this series is the battle system, so I am eager to see what is in store outside of what has been revealed so far in the demo. One other fact is that I’m pretty interested in playing this on my Steam Deck, as with the previous Octopath Traveler it was originally launched on the Switch first, and then was ported to other consoles later. As of late my time has been mostly invested in Sumeru and tirelessly farming artifacts for my newly procured Yelan in Genshin Impact, so I think it’s time to pivot and enjoy some tabibito in a different universe.

For years, I had waged an ongoing cold war with a friend when we would play Mutant League Football on the Genesis. The game played a lot like the early version of Madden but involved undead characters, explosions, and killing other players. It was a blast, and Blood Bowl III reminds me a whole lot of this game. Granted the gameplay is slightly different as it puts you in a fantasy league instead of actually putting you in control of each player in real time, but I think that there’s plenty to like and enjoy as you cheat and attack your way through. There is also much more strategy involved compared to the Genesis days, so I think those that either enjoy fantasy football or card games could easily get into this one.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): Just to be a little different this week, I’m going to go with Blood Bowl III. The first two were, by no means, perfect, but they were a more than admirable effort to take the classic tabletop board game, and turn it into a crunching, entertaining video game. The developers behind the series, Cyanide, are never going to be blockbuster AAA-quality developers, however, what they do get right is capturing the soul of whatever they’re working on. They’re a passionate team, and if Blood Bowl III captures that passion, then it will be a good time indeed.

I’m also very much looking forward to CATAN: Console Edition. I have versions of Catan on just about everything, from my phone to my Switch, but perhaps the version of Catan I played the most was actually the PS3 one from many years ago. There is something about sitting down with a board game, rather than playing it on the go or in short bursts, and I do wish there were more digital board games for my PS5. This one looks nice and as long as there are people to play online against, it’ll be a good time. I love my board games, and this is one of the most recognisable and famous of them all, so it’s my second pick for this week.