Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Games Release Roundup!

This week, post-apocalyptic Britain, soulslikes and creepy photorealistic Sims.

Lots of stuff going on this week, but I’m kind of rapid firing all of it as I’m just coming out of the PlayStation hole I was buried in for a while. By that I mean I finished the video project where I cover every franchise referenced in Astro Bot. You can find the PS1 Edition and PS2 Edition on YouTube right now, the PS3 Edition releases tonight and the PS4 Edition is releasing Sunday.

Anyway, games! Let’s get through this massive pile of them!

Re-Releases and Ports

Announced and shadowdropped at Nintendo’s surprise Direct this week, SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Mobile) brings the classic PS1 RPG to modern systems with an enhanced look, new story events and it even throws in the previously Japan-exclusive PocketStation minigames.

Early Access

Inzoi releases into Early Access this week, with the bold ambition of attempting to dethrone The Sims. Its photorealism certainly appears to be more technically impressive, but there are too many questions about possible generative AI usage. The weird plastic sheen on everything certainly doesn’t help with this.

New Releases

Let’s start with some strategy/management games. River Towns (PC) is a city builder where you place districts like puzzle pieces, attempting to fit them into increasingly limited spaces. Dark Deity 2 (PC) looks like exactly the kind of game for Fire Emblem fans who wish it never left the GBA era. And Grit and Valor 1949 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is an RTS set in an alternate history where WW2 continues to rage on with powerful mechs.

In retro throwbacks, Bubble Ghost Remake (PC, PS5, Switch) is a remake of a French Atari ST game from 1987. You play as a ghost trying to guide a bubble through a haunted house by blowing on it. Breakout Beyond (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) is a reimagining of Atari classic Breakout developed by Bit.Trip developers Choice Provisions, where Breakout style gameplay is used to advance through a series of walls towards a goal.

In action games, Inayah: Life After Gods (PC) is a Metroidvania with hand-drawn visuals where an outcast searches for her tribe in the ruins of an advanced civilisation. Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark (PC, PlayStation, Switch) is another Metroidvania where you play as the demon sisters Kirika and Masha as they attempt to revive a demon lord by exploring a giant castle. Sonokuni (PC) is not a Metroidvania, but it does contain a lot of fast-paced top-down action, all soundtracked by the dev’s hip hop crew, Don Yasa Crew.

Two horror games about memories this week. Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) stars an amnesiac singer exploring a world behind a mirror filled with her memories, all represented as creepy dolls. And then there’s Karma: The Dark World (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S), which is set in a grim dystopian world where investigators delve into the human psyche to snoop on people’s memories.

AI Limit (PC, PS5) is the first of two fairly major Soulslikes released this week, where you play as a created lifeform known as a Blader, navigating the ruins of humanity. Your goal is to clear out the monsters now inhabiting these spaces and recovering the memories of those who came before.

The First Berserker: Khazan (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is the second major Soulslike this week. It takes place in the world of popular Korean MMO Dungeon Fighter Online. Playing as the betrayed general Khazan, you use supernatural powers and your prowess with the blade to take on the beasts of the world and seek your revenge.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week is Atomfall (PC, PlayStation, Xbox), aka the British Fallout.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world where the 1957 Windscale fire covered much of the Lake District in radioactive fallout, you play an unnamed character seeking answers within the quarantine zone, fighting off the violent inhabitants of the British countryside (plus some fictional mutants and robots).

While not necessarily something I would play (I have no interest in original flavour Fallout either), there is something aesthetically pleasing about a British take on the formula. It draws heavily from Fallout: New Vegas and Bioshock, built on the expertise of the team who made Sniper Elite. It’s also one of the most British games ever made, with the dev’s inspirations being simply a list of every influential bit of British sci-fi and horror from the last few decades.