Boost Vector EX, Ocarina of Time, Godzilla – Games Release Roundup

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

This week, speedy people, magical woodwinds and a big stompy boi.

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered (PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox X/S) is a remaster of the classic kaiju fighting game from the GameCube and original Xbox. You pick your favourite of 12 classic monsters, drop into a city and start beating on a fellow beast.

Loftia is an online life sim where you work together with other players to make a more sustainable world. Set on a floating archipelago, you craft, farm and decorate at home before heading down to ground level to scavenge in abandoned factories. Developed by Qloud Games.

Eternal Palace Sakura (PC, Switch 1) is a roguelike hack-and-slash set in a labyrinth of challenges, starring a cute catgirl ninja. Developed by Denneko Yuugi and published by Shochiku Games.

If you want the joy of building a game collection without the cost of actually buying the games, Cozy Game Restoration (PC) from Parasol Corp lets you experience the process of cleaning and dusting old “loved” cartridges and putting them on a shelf. But if you want a bit more than that, Replay Value (PC) from Rogue Duck Interactive not only lets you clean games and repair consoles, you also get to manage a second-hand games shop.

Abashed (PC) is a side-scrolling horror game about a man named Isaac, who is living with psychosis. One day he wakes to find his partner has gone missing and he sets out to find her. A central mechanic involves using medication to alter reality, while solving puzzles and dodging threats that may or may not be real. Developed by Supantha Paul.

Crymelight (PC, PS5, Switch 2) is the latest in Furyu Corporation’s loosely related Cry series, after Crymachina and Crystar. This is an Alice in Wonderland inspired roguelike, set in a twisted version of Wonderland where girls are forced to confront their greatest sins. It’s a mixture of anime visuals, top-down battling and deckbuilding mechanics, plus a mechanic where you turn your sins into upgrades.

Escape Academy 2: Back to School (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is a co-op puzzle game set in a school made of a series of escape rooms. It’s the sequel to the similar Escape Academy, only now the world is much more open, although I’m not entirely sure how an open world escape room game works. I assume it’s something like The Witness where puzzles can be tackled in any order, which is neat. Developed by Coin Crew Games and published by iam8bit.

Theos Cities of Myth (PC) is a city builder set in Ancient Greece with an interesting twist. Not only do you have to meet the needs of your citizens, but you also have to address the wants of your patron deity. Yes, a city builder where you’re a theological middle manager. Developed Triskell Interactive and published by Dotemu.

In Full Bloom (PC) is a cross between Tamagotchi and Katamari Damacy with a horror twist. It’s your job to feed an ever-hungry maw and with every item you feed it, it grows bigger. Developed by Obleak Games.

The first game from the new Cygames label, Edge, which aims to focus on smaller, more experimental games, is Where the Seeds Fall (PC, PS5, Switch 2). You are a soldier living in a community on the World Tree who encounters a mysterious child who you decide to assist getting down to the surface world. The game is then a perilous reverse platform game where you carefully descent down the World Tree.

Aside from briefly (and disastrously) dating a horse girl in my early 20s, I know basically nothing about horses. But one person who does know about horses is Swiss game designer Alice Ruppert, who is on a one-woman crusade to bring more quality games about horses to the market. Through her own publishing imprint, The Mane Quest, she has worked with Thogli Studios to develop Horses of Hoofprint Bay (PC), a horse management sim. Breed, care for and train up your horses to build your dream stable. Honestly, Ruppert’s dedication is enough to make me want this to succeed, since it does seem like the horse girl market is wildly underserved.

Airframe Ultra (PC) feels like a game I would find on the far reaches of the menu of an old PS1 demo disc, and I say that with great fondness. It’s a hoverbike racing game set in a dystopian future where failure often means death. It’s a lot like early WipEout crossed with Twisted Metal set in the world of Akira (but for legal reasons is not), which basically means it’s undeniably cool. Developed by Videocult and published by Akupara Games.

It’s a lovely day in Japan and you are a football-obsessed boy. Kick (PC) is a side-scrolling platformer about a boy on his way to school. But also, this boy loves football and cannot stop kicking a ball around everywhere he goes. Each level of this requires you to keep moving while staying in control of the ball. A unique game, to be sure, and one that evokes the joy of being a kid again. Developed by Nospacelost and published by Shoreline Games.

One of the few big publishers ready to challenge the GTA-shaped shadow looming over this month is unsurprisingly Nintendo, who operate in enough of their own happy little bubble that I assume they don’t even know what anyone else is doing. But then again the game they’re releasing is a juggernaut in its own right, as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake (Switch 2) is an attempt to bring the beloved N64 classic (and candidate for greatest game of all time) to a fresh audience.

It’s the adventure you remember with a fresh lick of paint, as a young Link heads out into the world to stop the threat of Ganondorf with the power of a magical woodwind instrument. Do I really need to explain this? And if it turns out to be a bad remake (unlikely based on the reviews), don’t worry, because the original is still on Switch Online anyway.

Game of the Week is Boost Vector EX (PC), a fast-paced parkour game from indie developer Blockage.

This is a racing game where you take control of your choice of cool guys and gals across various courses. You run, jump and trick your way around as you seek to take on the masters of Vector Racing and become champion.

So this one hit me by surprise. I went into this week completely unsure of what I wanted to make my main highlight, and then I watched the trailer for this and went, oh no, it has The Vibe. If you know anything about me, you’ll know what I mean by that. The same Vibe as Hi-Fi Rush, Unbeatable and Denshattack!, and, of course, Jet Set Radio. But that’s just the aesthetic, as the gameplay looks like a frenetic mix of Mirror’s Edge and the boost-based 3D Sonic games, which I am also 100% on board with. Cool, fast and stylish? Sign me right up!