New Releases: May 23-29, 2024

This week, a pair of MAGES Inc-developed Quintessential Quintuplets visual novels arrive (Five Memories Spent With You is pictured), offering players plenty of time with Ichika, Itsuki, Miku, Nino, and Yotsuba. If the contest over determining ‘best girl’ proves too much to handle, then TEVI’s arrival on PlayStation might interest you. In a year filled with Metroidvanias, this one delivers action and adorability.

PlayStation 4
Capes (digital, $35.99)
C.A.R.D.S. RPG: The Misty Battlefield  (digital, $39.99)
Eternal Threads (digital, $19.99)
MultiVersus (digital, free-to-play)
Seed of Life (physical, & digital, $49.99)
TEVI (digital, $34.99)
The Glass Staircase (digital, $9.99)
The Quintessential Quintuplets Double Pack (digital, $59.99)
The Quintessential Quintuplets – Five Memories Spent With You (digital, $34.99)
The Quintessential Quintuplets – Memories of a Quintessential Summer (digital, $34.99)
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (digital, $35.99)

PlayStation 5
Crown Wars: The Black Prince (digital, $39.99)
Galacticare (digital, $26.99)
Hauntii (digital, $19.99)
Morbid: The Lords of Ire (digital, $29.99)
Rocket Rumble (digital, $23.99)
Until Then (digital, $TBA)

Switch
Adventure Horror Bundle (digital, $14.99)
Airplane Delivery Simulator 2024: Realistic Geographical (digital, $7.99)
Blade Jumper (digital, $4.99)
Bread & Fred (digital, $14.99)
Capes (digital, $35.99)
Cat Warrior (digital, $3.99)
Chocolate Factory Tycoon (digital, $4.99)
Claws & Feathers 3 (digital, $5.99)
Coffee Simulator Tycoon (digital, $4.99)
Construction Simulator 4 (digital, $31.49)
Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling (physical & digital, $49.99)
Crazy Stunt Driver: Extreme Racing Simulator (digital, $4.99)
Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling
Dish Puzzle (digital, $7.99)
Duck Detective – The Secret Salami (digital, $9.99)
Echoes (digital, $9.99)
Eggconsole: Shin Maou Golvellius MSX2 (digital, $6.49)
Eternal Threads (digital, $19.99)
Evidence Destroyer (digital, $2.99)
Hauntii (digital, $19.99)
Helicopter Battle Arena Simulator (digital, $11.99)
Highlaundry Overwashed – Play with your friends! (digital, $7.99)
I am Titan (digital, $0.99)
NecroBouncer (digital, $13.99)
Ninja Shadow Quest (digital, $4.99)
Paper Dash – Invasion of Greed (digital, $6.99)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (physical & digital, $59.99)
Pine Hearts (digital, $19.99)
Restaurant Tycoon Simulator (digital, $4.99)
Scarlet Tower (digital, $4.99)
SlidePuzzle (digital, $3.59)
Soul Link (digital, $5.39)
Summer and Winter Sports Games Bundle (digital, $39.99)
Tales From The Under-Realm: After Midnight (digital, $11.99)
Terminal 81 (digital, $7.99)
Terror Mansion (digital, $13.99)
The Glass Staircase (digital, $9.99)
The Quintessential Quintuplets Double Pack (digital, $59.99)
The Quintessential Quintuplets – Five Memories Spent With You (digital, $34.99)
The Quintessential Quintuplets – Memories of a Quintessential Summer (digital, $34.99)
Tip Top Table Tennis (digital, $19.99)
TP Bullet (digital, $4.99)
Ultra Foodmess 2 (digital, $4.99)
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (digital, $35.99)
You Adorable! Elfin Clay 2 (digital, free)

Xbox One
Capes (digital, $35.99)
Eternal Threads (digital, $19.99)
Hand in Hand (digital, $11.99)
Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game (digital, $39.99)
MultiVersus (digital, free-to-play)
Paper Dash – City Hustle (digital, $9.99)
The Glass Staircase (digital, $9.99)
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (digital, $35.99)

PC
Capes ($35.99)
Cowboy 3030 ($TBA)
Crown Wars: The Black Prince ($39.99)
Devil Blade Reboot ($13.59)
Duck Detective – The Secret Salami (digital, $9.99)
Elegy of Fate ($TBA)
Esports Godfather ($TBA)
Galacticare ($26.99)
Hauntii ($19.99)
Nine Sols ($TBA)
Pine Hearts ($17.99)
Quest Master ($TBA)
Rack and Slay ($TBA)
Reus 2 ($TBA)
Serum ($19.99)
Shinjuku Soumei ($TBA)
Ships at Sea ($22.49)
Stellar Initiative ($TBA)
The Quintessential Quintuplets – Five Memories Spent With You ($31.49)
The Quintessential Quintuplets – Memories of a Quintessential Summer ($31.49)
The Rogue Prince of Persia ($TBA)
Trash of the Titans ($TBA)
Valiant Hearts: Coming Home ($TBA)
Zet Zillions ($8.99)

Rob’s pick: Before Shigatake became an illustrator for Vanillaware, he crafted a vertically scrolling STG that confirmed his artistic competence. 28 years later, that game is receiving both a renovation and an international release, with Devil Blade Reboot arriving on Steam this week. Largely, the game shirky flashy innovations, relying on a risk/reward system to get things interesting. With the Berserk System, your score multiplier increases when you shoot down adjacent enemies. Sometimes, a knack of the fundamentals is better than a gimmick. It’s also remarkably accessible, I got to the fourth boss on my first playthrough.

As a dedicated Dead Cells player, I’m eager to play developer Evil Empire’s follow-up, which was delayed when Hades 2 became the object of everyone’s attention for a few days. Hopefully, we’ll get to see if The Rogue Prince of Persia can merge the combat and navigation of Jordan Mechner’s title with a steady influx of ability-boosting perks.

Ryan’s pick: I missed the original release when it debuted on Gamecube so Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the winner this week. I actually missed all of the Paper Mario games, so I have plenty to catch up on. Luckily there have been a lot of really great Nintendo re-releases and remasters being produced as of late, so I have the ability to play a lot of the games I had missed from that era. Plus, Super Mario Odyssey continues to make regular appearances on the tv at my house, so it will be good to finally shake things up with a different version of him.

My honorable mention this week goes to Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game. While it technically is a horror game, I get the feeling that the game is taking notes from the original movie and isn’t taking itself too seriously. I like the fact that it’s a multiplayer game and I can see how it could be a lot of fun if played with the right group of friends. They did a great job of capturing the same feel and odd overtones from the movie with the klowns and their finishing moves, and the music is also spot on. This one may not be for everyone, but if you are a fan of the original movie this could be one to try.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I’ve been playing the remake of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord – a game older than I am! – since it was released in Early Access last year, and I’ve got to say, it continues to deliver. Now it’s finally coming out of EA and into full release (and on the Nintendo Switch, no less!), and I can’t recommend it highly enough. The art is stunning, the ambience is great, and it’s very much the dungeon crawler that almost single-handedly kickstarted and popularised the entire genre, made relevant again in 2024.

For something significantly less grim, I also highly recommend Duck Detective. This little satire of noir crime fiction is a silly, playful, joyful little game that will have you hooked from start to finish. It’s also nice and brief at about 2-3 hours to play through, and you’d definitely be left wanting more – not because the game is incomplete (it’s not, it’s exactly as long as it needed to be), but more because you were that entertained that you’ll want to see more of the Ducky Marlowe character, addition to bread and all.

Finally, The Quintessential Quintuplets Double Pack. It’s a game of pretty girls and plenty of fan service (both swimsuits AND bridal gowns!). What else do you need to know?