New Releases: September 17th-23rd, 2020

With notable new releases like Moero Crystal H, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, and Super Mario 3D All-Stars, this week’s offerings have the potential to offset any sense of next-gen envy. Beyond those titles, there’s also a remake of the original Crysis, as well as the addition of Halo 3: ODST to The Master Chief Collection. Most interesting is the appearance of WWE 2K Battlegrounds, which following WWE 2K20’s calamitous release, pushes the franchise in a new direction.

Header image: Moero Crystal H, Switch

PlayStation 4
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (physical & digital, $59.99)
Arcade Archives: Earth Defense Force (digital, $7.99)
Commandos 2 / Praetorians HD Remaster Double Pack (physical & digital, $39.99)
Crysis Remastered (digital, $29.99)
Dog Duty (digital, $17.99)
Exp Parasite (digital, $7.99)
Flying Soldiers (digital, $17.99)
Tennis World Tour 2 (physical & digital, $39.99)
Unrailed! (digital, $TBA)
WWE 2K Battlegrounds (physical & digital, $39.99)

Switch
CastleStorm II (digital, $17.99)
Dog Duty (digital, $17.99)
Drag Racing Rivals (digital, $7.99)
Georifters (digital, $29.99)
GORSD (digital, $16.99)
Endurance – space action (digital, $7.99)
Flying Soldiers (digital, $17.99)
Journey of the Broken Circle (digital, $8.00)
Kingdom Rush Origins (digital, $11.99)
Mini Motor Racing X (digital, $19.99)
Moero Crystal H (digital, $33.99)
Nevaeh (digital, $10.39)
Orbt XL (digital, $0.99)
Saboteur SiO (digital, $10.99)
Super Mario 3D All-Stars (physical & digital, $59.99)
Super Punch Patrol (digital, $4.99)
Tamiku (digital, $4.99)
The Secret Order: Return to the Buried Kingdom (digital, $14.99)
Unrailed! (digital, $TBA)
Vampire’s Fall: Origins (digital, $12.99)
WWE 2K Battlegrounds (physical & digital, $39.99)

Xbox One
CastleStorm II (digital, $17.99)
Commandos 2 / Praetorians HD Remaster Double Pack (physical & digital, $39.99)
Crysis Remastered (digital, $29.99)
Dog Duty (digital, $17.99)
Exp Parasite (digital, $7.99)
GORSD (digital, $16.99)
Tennis World Tour 2 (physical & digital, $39.99)
Unrailed! (digital, $TBA)
Welcome to Elk (digital, $TBA)
WWE 2K Battlegrounds (physical & digital, $39.99)

PC
Atomicrops ($14.99)
Battle Jacked ($TBA)
Crysis Remastered (Epic Game Store, $29.99)
Cyber Protocol ($TBA)
Deanswar Game (free-to-play)
ExoCorps ($TBA)
Exp Parasite ($TBA)
Fred3ric ($TBA)
GORSD ($16.99)
Halo 3: ODST (included in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, $39.99)
Story of the Green Dragon ($TBA)
TAISHO x ALICE episode 2 ($TBA)
Tennis World Tour 2 ($39.99)
Welcome to Elk ($TBA)
WWE 2K Battlegrounds ($39.99)

Robert’s Pick: My mecha-loving siblings, you’ll want to scope out 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Even if naked (they’re figuratively and literally exposed) pilots fighting waves of roving kaiju do nothing for you, Vanillaware’s stunning 2.5D artwork is an irresistible enticement. Seeing 80’s Japan rendered through the eye of Kamitani and crew is a pure treat. Half the time I was playing Aegis Rim, I just wanted to pull a reverse-Ringu, jumping through my screen to emerge on the other side.

As a platforming junky, I can’t overlook Super Mario 3D All-Stars. When Super Mario 64 I was in full “2D>3D” mode across the UseNet boards, which probably prevented young Rob from enjoying the title, despite a resounding response from critics and players. And while a more recent playthrough demonstrates that Super Mario Sunshine is more of a cool mechanic longing for a game, Super Mario Galaxy is pure bliss. Maybe between stages, I’ll drift back and remember a time when Sony would have allowed harmless fun like Moero Crystal H on their stateside consoles.

Matt S’ Pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): Your introduction to Iori in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has her running to class, late, with a piece of toast hanging out her mouth. She crashes into just the cutest boy, falls over, and in that moment of being stunned, shows off a little too much of herself. That’s when I fell in love with Iori. Not only is it the perfect homage to every school and 80’s-themed anime trope there is, but Iori is just so cute (don’t tell Miku).

Jokes aside, I should make it clear that 13 Sentinels is not an overly fanservicey adventure. It has its moment or two, but really it’s the most intelligent, subversive, deep and rich narrative experience I’ve had this side of NieR: Automata. And while I can’t talk about any of that because of spoiler fear and Robert very likely killing me if I did, absolutely nothing about this game is as it first seems. What I can say is that where most games drop “twists” and surprises on you simply to prevent you from becoming bored with what is, under the surface, a limited and shallow narrative, 13 Sentinels does its revelations and pivots to further explore some pretty intense and dare I say philosophical themes that it has going on. So, as much as I desperately want the 1/4th scale Iori figure (any fans out there willing to buy me a gift?) because she is just so pretty, I very much stayed for the plot with this one.

Now for something completely different, let’s talk about panties and Moero Crystal H. I already knew what I was getting into with this one because I had played its predecessors, and yet Moero Crystal H still managed to give me more than a few eye-opening moments, from the enemy design (condom golems, folks. They’re a thing), through to the SHMUP-themed minigame (your ship looks like male anatomy and you blast off white-coloured streams of “lasers” to strip the clothes off girls), to the girls’ costumes themselves (daringly-little stickers over bits at times). Moero Crystal H is actually a quality, albeit standard, Wizardry-style dungeon crawler. It’s just that you won’t notice that because it’s also utterly outrageous, and as long as you can chuckle along with fan service, you’re going to find this one very, very funny.

Ryan’s Pick: It’s pretty difficult for me to land on just one particular selection this week as there are actually three completely different games that I feel like would be an excellent choice. First, if I were to go for pure nostalgia, then I really can’t think of a better game than Super Mario 3D All-Stars. There is just so much great content and memories are in these proverbial gamer card games. Getting all three of them together is pretty generous for Nintendo, so I think it’s pretty much a great purchase for your library.

If you prefer indie games, then GORSD is a solid choice. It’s an arena combat game where players are able to maneuver through the maps on set paths with the ability to let players fire singular bullets at each other. It seems fairly strategic as it plays very quickly, and any wrong shots result in you doing yourself in while you’re trying to thwart up to four of your friends. The part I like most about the game is that it does have a single player portion which at times can be missing from couch multiplayer games. Lastly, the dark synth soundtrack has me sold – it just fits the art and feel for the game very well.

The third and final game that has my eye is Moero Crystal H. Chock full of shimoneta and obscure albeit lewd enemies this quirky dungeon crawler is definitely pulling at my heartstrings. This particular series has been known for some interesting mechanics such as the controversial “Loving Scratch”, and other more hands-on forms of interacting with the characters, so just be warned that it carries a M rating and that it definitely embraces fanservice. If you enjoy anime and can stomach some lecherous moments, this game will not disappoint.

Matt C’s Pick (editor, Shindig): It’s easy to get cynical about what can feel like an endless stream of remakes and remasters, but I think what often gets missed on those discussions is that every classic, no matter how popular, has people who never had the chance to play the original. That’s why Super Mario 3D All-Stars is my first pick this week: as someone who never had a N64, GameCube, or Wii, this is my first chance to play three of the most acclaimed Mario games of all time. I’m sure I’m not alone in this, and anyone who likes 3D platformers is going to want to be sure to pick this up.

My next pick is TAISHO x ALICE episode 2. I’m a sucker for any sort of re-imagining of fairy tale characters, and TAISHO x ALICE is one of the more unique approaches: an otome game that gender-swaps those well-known princesses and turns them into the charming bachelors who’ll (hopefully!) fall for you. I’m especially looking forward to episode 2—Kaguya will be one of the main love interests for this chapter, and I do love Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.

And third, I’ll go with Journey of the Broken Circle, an introspective puzzle platformer about the journey to make yourself whole. Playing as a very literal broken circle, you meet different characters who fill in the empty segment of the circle’s shape, imparting new puzzle-solving abilities in the process. But these relationships are fleeting, turning Journey of the Broken Circle into a game about the very question of what being “whole” means.