Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Games Release Roundup!
This week, ghosts, monsters and zombies.
Releasing in Early Access, Solasta II is a complex narrative RPG built on the Dungeons & Dragons SRD 5.2 ruleset. If this sounds a lot like Baldur’s Gate 3, rejoice, because some of that game’s cast show up here too, with Devora Wilde (Lae’zel) and Amelia Tyler (Narrator) joining the UK’s very own Troy Baker, Ben Starr, in a fantasy adventure about protecting your homeland from corruption. Developed by Tactical Adventures and published by Kepler Interactive.
Bubblegum Galaxy (PC, PlayStation, Switch 1, Xbox) is a game where you take on an internship with a team that develops planets. And your arrival unfortunately coincides with a server error that deleted the entire galaxy. Guess who has to rebuild it? This game is a bizarre mix of Animal Crossing and Dorfromantik where befriending your co-workers and managing the construction of biomes will take up most of your time. Developed by Smarto Club and published by Astrolabe Games.
Mythmatch (PC) is the debut game of Team Artichoke, a new studio founded by Media Molecule alumni Moo Yu. It’s a builder game set in a world inspired by Greek mythology where you can create items through match-3 mechanics. Absolutely adorable art style, which is not surprising to me as someone who played Yu’s previous game Knights & Bikes.
Rhell: Warped Worlds and Troubled Times (PC) is a cute little adventure game set in a world where people have mysteriously vanished, and a mage named Rhell, one of the remaining few, sets out to gather a collection of magical runes to figure out how to bring them all back. With 40 runes which can all be combined, there is a lot of space for experimentation and creative problem solving. Developed by Slug Glove and published by Yogscast Games.
1348: Ex Voto (PC, PS5) is a narrative driven game about a female knight heading out to save her partner in 14th century Italy. The vibe is very much A Plague Tale with sword mechanics from Hellblade. Intriguing setup but does admittedly look a little rough around the edges. Developed by Sedleo and published by Dear Villagers.
Leaving Early Access this week, Timberborn (PC) is a city builder populated by beavers in a land threatening to fall to decay. However, with your industrious dam-building, you can help stem the tide and bring beauty and life back to the world. Developed by Mechanistry.
Greedfall: The Dying World (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) emerges from Early Access. This sequel to the 2019 Eurojank RPG drawing heavily from 17th century European colonialism takes place on the Old Continent. You play a sage whose clan is threatened with destruction, and you must commandeer a ship and amass some allies to protect your people. Developed by Spiders and published by Nacon.
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is a zombie horde shooter designed for co-op play, where the zombies are numerous and the gore is excessive. As the name suggests, famed movie director John Carpenter provided the story and soundtrack. Developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection (PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox X/S) is the latest in Capcom’s Pokémon-style Monster Hunter spinoff series. In these games, you are a monster rider, who trains and bonds with the various Rathaloses (Rathali?) and other beasts instead of killing them for cool armour as is the usual series objective. This latest game sees the birth of twin Rathaloses, an event which has grand ramifications for two nations.
Game of the Week this week is Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake (PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox X/S), a reworking of Koei Tecmo’s fan favourite horror game. And that title’s not a mistake, the series is officially no longer Project Zero in the UK as of this remake.
You play as Mio, who finds herself wandering into a lost village in the woods with her twin sister Mayu. Problem is, the village is full of ghosts, and your only defence is an old camera. Oh, and your sister is showing signs of being slowly possessed, so you have that to deal with too.
Anyone who’s followed me and my work over the years will be aware of how Fatal Frame is my favourite horror series, and I will play every single game about women in dainty outfits taking pictures of ghosts to survive horrible Japanese ritual sites. So this surprise remake of Fatal Frame 2 is exciting, as that’s also my favourite game in the whole series. This remake reworks the photo-snapping combat system, moves to a third-person viewpoint and refreshes the visuals with modern tech. Also you can now hold your sister’s hand so she hopefully should complain less if you walk more than 3ft away from her.
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