New Releases: March 3rd-9th, 2022

This week, Gran Turismo 7 revs up to a retail and digital release, Triangle Strategy brings tactical role-playing to the Switch, while Sadako decides to haunt up Dead by Daylight. And don’t you love when a game’s title asks a rhetorical question? (Don’t answer that!) If so, Would you like to run an idol cafe? 2 arrives on Switch, although it’s more visual novel than simulation.

Header: Would you like to run an idol cafe? 2, Switch

PlayStation 4
Babylon’s Fall (physical & digital, $59.99)
Dead by Daylight: Sadako Rising (DLC, $4.99)
Ghostrunner: Project_Hel (DLC, 14.99)
Gran Turismo 7 (physical & digital, $59.99)
Gunborg: Dark Matters (digital, $14.99)
Ryan’s Rescue Squad (physical & digital, $39.99)
What Lies in the Multiverse (digital, $14.99)
WWE 2K22 (physical & digital, $59.99)

PlayStation 5
Gran Turismo 7 (physical & digital, $69.99)
WWE 2K22 (physical & digital, $69.99)

Switch
A Musical Story (digital, $14.99)
Ambition Record (digital, $13.49)
Arcade Archives- Highway Race (digital, $7.99)
Buck Bradley Comic Adventure (digital, $6.99)
Bus Driver Simulator Countryside (digital, $14.99)
CATch the Stars (digital, $2.99)
Counter Delta: The Bullet Rain (digital, $14.99)
Dead by Daylight: Sadako Rising
Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space (digital, $9.99)
Dr. Oil (digital, $4.99)
ELO 1100 Chess (digital, $3.99)
Gav-Gav Odyssey (digital, $4.99)
Ghostrunner: Project_Hel (DLC, 14.99)
Gunborg: Dark Matters (digital, $14.99)
Ink Cipher (digital, $1.99)
Knight’s Try (digital, $9.99)
LIT: Bend the Light (digital, $6.80)
Menseki Genius (digital, $5.00)
Old Coin Pusher Friends (digital, $3.99)
Operation Zeta (digital, $9.99)
Our Battle Has Just Begun! Episode 2 (digital, $9.99)
Plumber Hero (digital, $2.29)
Pretty Girls Breakers! (digital, $6.99)
Pukan, Bye-Bye! (digital, $4.99)
Quest for Infamy (digital, $9.99)
Ryan’s Rescue Squad (physical & digital, $39.99)
Shiorinokotoha – Dark Reflections – (digital, $19.99)
Street Cats Race (digital, $9.99)
The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day (digital, $14.99)
The Wild Case (digital, $8.49)
Triangle Strategy (physical & digital, $59.99)
What Lies in the Multiverse (digital, $14.99)
Will You Snail? (digital, $14.99)
What Lies in the Multiverse (digital, $14.99)
Whiskey Mafia: Leo’s Family (digital, $4.99)
Would you like to run an idol cafe? 2 (digital, $9.99)

Xbox One
A Musical Story (digital, $14.99)
Dead by Daylight: Sadako Rising (DLC, $4.99)
Ghostrunner: Project_Hel (DLC, 14.99)
Gunborg: Dark Matters (digital, $14.99)
Legend of Ixtona (digital, $14.99)
Music Racer: Ultimate (digital, $5.59)
Ryan’s Rescue Squad (physical & digital, $39.99)
What Lies in the Multiverse (digital, $14.99)
WWE 2K22 (physical & digital, $59.99)

Xbox Series X
WWE 2K22 (physical & digital, $69.99)

PC
A Musical Story ($14.99)
Animaddicts 2 ($11.99)
Ari’s Journey ($16.99)
Babylon’s Fall ($59.99)
Beholder 3 ($11.99)
Blockgeon ($5.59)
Core Keeper ($TBA)
Diamon Jones and the Amulet of the World ($8.39)
Drill Deal Oil Tycoon ($TBA)
Ghostrunner: Project_Hel (DLC, 14.99)
Idiotic: The Game ($7.99)
Ironsmith Medieval Simulator ($TBA)
Latex Dungeon ($TBA)
NeonHAT (VR, $9.89)
Soulash ($TBA)
What Lies in the Multiverse ($14.99)

Rob’s Pick: Gran Turismo has produced quite a few salient memories. By the time the second iteration was released in 1999, the franchise had already developed a fervent following. I still remember the cheers of my fellow gearheads who were all patiently standing in line at GameStop, when the shipment box finally arrived. Sure, it came two hours late, but the wait was well-spent, with spirited discussions of the merits of Mitsubishi FTOs and Acura NSXs. Since the original PlayStation wasn’t online, contact info was traded and subsequent meetups lasted for the next few years.

Over two decades later, the GT community has mostly moved online. Competitions are easily created, but the in-person social interaction, face-to-face races, and associated banter are mostly gone. Sure, I’m looking forward to all the technical advancement that Gran Turismo 7 has to offer. But I know I’ll also be focused on a figurative rear-view mirror, thinking about when games brought us together. Now, the tribal-like quarrels are growing increasingly tiresome and distract from virtues like meticulously detailed car porn and the challenge of license tests.

As for games to enjoy in solitude, I’ll be diving into Triangle Strategy. Merging “HD-2D” style visuals with turn-based, grid-fixed battles sounds like a perfect match. Also: Why the hell isn’t Ryan’s Rescue Squad a harem game? Oh, a different Ryan? Nevermind….

Ryan’s Pick: I recall a recent conversation about the Gran Turismo series where we were reminiscing on GT2’s Kickstart My Heart and Turbo Lover and how much fun that game was to play due to the soundtrack. I believe they also added rally cars into the mix as well for that version, so I absolutely loved it. The series holds a ton of nostalgia, including the obligatory multi-lap races where you could find something to hold your X button down and allow your car to just scrape against the outer wall to win the Pike’s Peak car. The game has certainly changed since then on the PS1, but it’s been really great to see the series evolve and sign on different manufacturers.

Speaking of that, the car list for GT7 equally looks really impressive, and there are even some vintage cars on there that for sure should instill some nostalgia for those that enjoy some of the 90’s Japanese cars. I have always appreciated more crash damage in racing games, as that helps keep things a bit more realistic, but I feel like we more than likely will see minimal crash damage again this time for this series. From a customization standpoint however, it has been confirmed that you will be able to import customizations from GT Sport so that should be pretty exciting for those that want to make sure their husbandos/waifus are represented properly in an itasha. Lastly, if I were making Ryan’s Rescue Squad, the premise would be that a hard case protagonist with a soft spot for abandoned middle-aged cat, fox, and cow girls starts an adventurer club. We’d all go gathering supplies in a fairly happy-go-lucky isekai world and from time-to-time get caught up in all sorts of hijinks that almost always end amicably with a well-orchestrated deus ex machina.

Matt R’s pick (editor, Shindig): I’m the furthest thing from a petrolhead, but I’ve always enjoyed Gran Turismo, even if I’ve never quite been able to put my finger on why. With Gran Turismo 7, I finally have an answer: it goes beyond just being a meticulous racing simulation, stunning technical accomplishment, and deeply engrossing game—though it certainly is all of those things—to an absolute celebration of cars, their history, and the culture that surrounds them. That’s always been an implicit part of the Gran Turismo formula, but GT7 really takes it to a new level, with Kazunori Yamauchi’s abundant passion for automobiles feeding through into every facet of the game.

It’s also a welcome return to form after Gran Turismo Sport. While I can appreciate that it was doing something different (and did it pretty well), the singular focus on online competition made me quickly lose interest. It’s the singleplayer campaigns and almost Pokemon-like emphasis on car collection that I’ve always found most appealing, and Gran Turismo 7 well and truly returns these things to their former glory. Sport mode is still there as its own game mode, Scapes returns for all the photographers out there, and the new Music Rally is a fun little mode with the feel of a time-extension arcade game—GT7 really does have something for everyone.

And when you need a break from beautiful cars, Triangle Strategy looks to put its own spin on the tactical RPG mold with a branching narrative and that beautiful HD-2D art style. With a dark, serious tale of war and political machinations, it follows in the footsteps of Final Fantasy Tactics in more ways than one. I just hope I can find time to play it, among everything else that a particularly busy March has in store.

Matt S’ pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): This is one of those rare weeks where we’re all in perfect lock step here. Gran Turismo 7 is absolutely magnificent, and it’s strange that THIS game is the one that unites petrol-heads and people that don’t usually watch racing. I know my way around Mt Panorama, but like Matt R, I’m not that invested in the sport, and yet GT7, despite being the most loving treatment of racing in video games of all, is also the most accessible and enjoyable racer to the non-hardcore as well. It’s all to do with the presentation – the cars, tracks, and general ambiance of the game will turn you into a fan of cars, guaranteed.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Triangle Strategy too, though. I think that game has wound up in a very unfortunate position, because it has come right at the end of a big wave of big RPGs and JRPGs, and the sense I get is that people are a little burned out on the genre right now. But whether you just add it to the backlog for later or push through to give one more JRPG a go, don’t overlook this. If you’ve ever loved the tactics RPG genre, you’re going to kick yourself if you miss this one.