New Releases: March 9th-15, 2023

This week, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse haunts consoles and PCs, while the release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (pictured) provides closure for the Crossbell story arc. Record of Agarest War, a SRPG from the PlayStation 3 era, also makes an appearance courtesy of Nintendo Switch port.

PlayStation 4
Clash: Artifacts of Chaos (physical & digital, $39.99)
DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos (physical & digital, $49.99)
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (digital, $49.99-$69.99)
Hot Wheels: Rift Rally (physical, $129.99, $149.99)
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (physical, $34.99)
Figment 2: Creed Valley (digital, $24.99)
Mato Anomalies (digital, $39.99)
Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 6 (physical & digital, $59.99)
ONI : Road to be the Mightiest Oni (digital, $26.99)
The Last Spell (digital, $24.99)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (physical $49.99, digital, $39.99)
The Wreck (digital, $TBA)
Tiny Troopers: Global Ops (digital, $19.99)
Transport Fever 2: Console Edition (physical $39.99, digital, $49.99, $59.99)
Tricky Thief (digital, $4.99)
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem (digital, $TBA)

PlayStation 5
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (physical, $34.99)
Mato Anomalies (physical & digital, $39.99)
Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 6 (physical & digital, $59.99)
Transport Fever 2: Console Edition (physical $39.99, digital, $49.99, $59.99)

Switch
A Passive Boy at the Huntress Clinic (digital, $19.90)
Antigravity Racing (digital, $8.99)
Caverns of Mars: Recharged (digital, $9.99)
Chippy&Noppo (digital, $19.99)
DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos (physical & digital, $49.99)
Doraemon Story of Seasons: FGK DLC 3 (DLC, $5.99)
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (physical, $34.99)
Escaping a Fireworks Factory～Nyanzou&Kumakichi: Escape Game～ (digital, $3.00)
EvilUP (digital, $5.99)
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (digital, $49.99-$69.99)
Felix the Toy DX (digital, $1.99)
Figment 2: Creed Valley (digital, $24.99)
Food Truck Tycoon Multiplayer Edition (digital, $5.99)
Hike Trip (digital, $4.99)
Ib (digital, $14.99)
Island Cities (digital, $2.99)
Life of Delta (digital, $19.99)
Know by Heart… (digital, $19.99)
Mari and Bayu: The Road Home (digital, $16.99)
Mato Anomalies (physical & digital, $39.99)
Mystic Gate (digital, $9.99)
Mythology Waifus Mahjong (digital, $4.99)
Neon Blast (digital, $4.99)
ONI : Road to be the Mightiest Oni (digital, $26.99)
Package Rush (digital, $14.99)
Paranomasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (digital, $15.99)
Record of Agarest War (physical & digital, $39.99)
Session: Skate Sim (digital, $49.99-$59.99)
Ski Resort Driver (digital, $12.99)
S.N.I.P.E.R. – Hunter Scope – Extended Edition (digital, $15.49)
Super Ninja Miner (digital, $4.99)
Tents and Trees (digital, $9.99)
Terminal Velocity: Boosted Edition (digital, $11.99)
The Good Life – Behind the Secret of Rainy Woods (DLC, $9.99)
The Last Spell (digital, $24.99)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (physical $49.99, digital, $39.99)
The Wreck (digital, $19.99)
Tiny Troopers: Global Ops (digital, $19.99)
Titanium Hound (digital, $12.75)
Tricky Thief (digital, $4.99)
Vernal Edge (digital, $21.99)
Why I was Born (digital, $7.79)
Zapling Bygone (digital, $12.99)

Xbox One
Caverns of Mars: Recharged (digital, $9.99)
Clash: Artifacts of Chaos (physical & digital, $39.99)
DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos (physical & digital, $49.99)
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (digital, $49.99-$69.99)
Figment 2: Creed Valley (digital, $24.99)
Flashout 3 (digital, $19.99)
Mato Anomalies (physical & digital, $39.99)
Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 6 (physical & digital, $59.99)
SIFU (digital, $39.99)
Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism (digital, $29.99)
The Wreck (digital, $TBA)
Tiny Troopers: Global Ops (digital, $19.99)
Titanium Hound (digital, $12.75)
Transport Fever 2: Console Edition (digital, $49.99, $59.99)
Valheim (digital, $19.99)
Vernal Edge (digital, $21.99)
Volley Pals (digital, $6.49)
Tricky Thief (digital, $4.99)
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem (digital, $TBA)
Zapling Bygone (digital, $12.99)

PC
Big Ambitions ($TBA)
Bleak Faith: Forsaken ($TBA)
Clash: Artifacts of Chaos ($29.99)
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse ($49.99, $69.99)
Figment 2: Creed Valley ($24.99)
Hellscreen ($17.99)
Idea ($10.79)
Masterplan Tycoon ($8.99)
Mato Anomalies ($39.99)
Mile High Taxi ($TBA)
Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 6 ($49.99)
Mortal Sin ($TBA)
Munchkin Digital ($14.99)
Paranomasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (15.99)
Passed Out ($TBA)
Relic Space ($16.19)
RINA RhythmERROR ($TBA)
Terraformers ($15.99)
The Black Grimoire: Cursebreaker ($TBA)
The Last Speel ($22.49)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure ($39.99)
The Wreck ($TBA)
Tiny Troopers: Global Ops ($19.99)
Vernal Edge ($21.99)
WuJiDaoRen ($TBA)

Rob’s Pick: The Western release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Zero was significant. NIS America’s publishing reflected the first time the game has been officially released outside of Asia- a dozen years after the game’s debut. It’s becoming increasingly rare for worthwhile efforts to be locked to different territories. But I’m glad we’re seeing the back catalog slowly making their way out into the world. Just as importantly, the new localization demonstrated a publisher collaborating with a fan translation group, providing professional acknowledgement for their labor-intensive efforts.

This week, the second game in the duology arrives, with Trails to Azure continuing Lloyd’s exploits with Crossbell PD’s Special Support Section. Don’t expect an overhaul of Zero’s core gameplay. There are some new mechanics and a car to ride around in. But fundamentally, Azure aims to articulate the perspective of a small, demilitarized state caught between two massive superpowers. Not only is this point-of-view rarely explored in interactive form, but the context will force you to reexamine Cold Steel’s plot points, making this essential for Falcom fans.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): It’s called Fatal Frame in the US, but Project Zero in the rest of the world. Whatever you call it, however, Koei Tecmo’s very Japanese horror series is absolutely essential, and this “new” one is one of the best of them. For years now, we’ve been waiting for this particular game to get a western release. Exclusive to Japanese Wiis for so long, we’ve finally got the opportunity to play it, and it’s magnificent. True art horror, this one. Don’t let it pass you by.

Speaking of horror, Paranomasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo took me by surprise. This Square Enix death game visual novel is captivating from its very opening moments. Telling an intricate, winding, non-linear stories of people competing to curse one another (i.e. kill them), there’s some taut, clever puzzles to overcome, while also enjoying some magnificent art and a cracking music score. I wish more big publishers produced visual novels. The genre does benefit from production values like what we see in this.

Ryan’s pick: I hadn’t had much exposure to the Fatal Frame games until last fall before the holidays I got a chance to play Maiden of Black Water. I definitely felt conflicted in that I knew the game was supposed to be scary, but at the same time the moe-meter was at an all time high with the female cast. I suppose that is what makes these games so much fun is that strange juxtaposition. It’s quite apparent that they know what their fanbase likes with the series, and the plethora of costumes available for the main protagonist in the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is testament to that fact. My only gripe with the series is that during encounters with the ghosts the natural tendency to want to back up while trying to frame the shots often causes you to walk back into walls and obstacles as space is usually limited. Then, throw in an oddly attractive apparition and it’s a disorienting experience for certain.

One other game on Steam caught my eye which is a Metroidvania called Vernal Edge. Some of the animations and sprites remind me a little bit of Strider for Genesis. The spell and combo systems also look like it will give the game a bit more depth, so I think it could be worth a look. The speed alone of how it plays also got me interested in it, as I think it works pretty well with the animations and sprites. Knowing me, I’ll try to brute-force kill the bosses a few times before I attempt to master the combo system, but I have a feeling that mastering that mechanic will help make things go much smoother.

Matt R’s pick (editor, Shindig): Fatal Frame and Trails to Azure are the clear choices this week, though I don’t really have anything to add to what the others have said above—two very good, formerly Japan-only games finally get a global release, and that’s worth celebrating.

Instead, I want to give Ib a mention. “Cult favourite RPG Maker-style indie horror” is the gift that keeps on giving, and Ib‘s increasingly surreal journey through a mysterious art gallery earns a place alongside the likes of Corpse Party and Mad Father. The blend of humor and creepiness creates something genuinely unsettling, with a compelling cast to help the emotive threads together.

I’m also a little intrigued by Masterplan Tycoon—mostly just because the title caught my attention, but the idea of a minimalistic resource management sim presented in the style of an increasingly complex flowchart diagram certainly has the potential to be worthwhile.