Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Games Release Roundup!
This week, fast cars, phantom thieves, cute dinosaurs and plastic superheroes.
Rugrats: Retro Rewind (PC, PS5, Switch 1) brings together a selection of games from the 90s and 2000s based on popular baby-based Nickelodeon cartoon, Rugrats. The collection contains the PS1 games Rugrats: Search for Reptar, Rugrats Studio Tour and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, the Game Boy games The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats: Time Travelers, and the GBA game Rugrats: Castle Capers. Now available digitally, but physical console versions are currently open for pre-order on Limited Run Games.
R-Type Dimensions III (PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox X/S) is a shot-for-shot remake of R-Type III: The Third Lightning, released for modern systems. It’s the same classic shmup from 1993 but now with added quality of life features, refreshed visuals, a new soundtrack and additional co-op and challenge modes. But if you fancy a trip down memory lane, you can switch to the original visuals at the press of a button.
Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition brings the latest in Bandai Namco’s long-running JRPG series to Switch 2 this week. Originally released in 2021, Tales of Arise was a huge critical and commercial success, bringing the Tales series to a wider audience. The Switch 2 edition comes bundled with the Beyond the Dawn DLC expansion too.
This week’s big Early Access releases is Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core, which takes the beloved co-op FPS about gathering rock and stone as a team of dwarven miners and makes it a roguelike. Faster missions, permadeath and additional challenge await you here. Developed by Ghost Ship Games.
Burden Street Station (PC) is a surreal adventure game where you play a librarian looking for God. I think. There’s a lot of strange imagery here, coupled with dreamlike mechanics where your traits change the world around you. Extremely odd and barely comprehensible but fascinating. Developed by Iodine and published by Critical Reflex.
Phonopolis (PC) is the latest game from Amanita Design (Machinarium, Botanicula, Creaks) and much like their previous games it’s a quirky little puzzle game with a distinctive art style. This time you play as a man named Felix in a world of cardboard ruled by the iron fist of the Leader. And when I say the world is made of cardboard, I mean the devs literally built everything out of cardboard and digitised it to give the game a distinct look.
Thrifty Business (PC) is a cosy game about running your own thrift shop. Take in boxes of goods to find hidden treasures for sale, listen to customer requests and gradually grow bigger as you gain more success. Developed by Spellgarden Games.
Luna Abyss (PC) is a bullet hell FPS where you play a prisoner tasked with journeying to a dark moon full of forgotten tech. Also there may or may not be cosmic horrors lying in wait. As usual. Developed by Kwalee.
Starbites (PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S) is a turn-based RPG set on the desert planet of Bitter. It’s a desolate wasteland littered with the remains of an intergalactic war. You play as Lukida, a young woman who wishes to escape Bitter and forge a new life. Along the way she gathers a party of mech battling scavengers and uncovers the mysteries behind the conflict that wrecked the planet. Developed by Ikinagames and published by NIS America.
Coffee Talk Tokyo (PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox X/S) is the third instalment of the chill vibes visual novel series where you brew coffee for a rotating cast of monster-themed customers while listening to their stories and problems (I reviewed the original!). This time in Japan, as the title suggests. Developed by Chorus Worldwide Games. (https://chorusworldwide.com/coffee-talk-tokyo/)
In a move that feels vaguely like a threat, Bubsy is back in a new 3D platformer. What could pawsibly go wrong, etc. However, unlike the infamously terrible PS1 outing of the wise-cracking bobcat, Bubsy 4D (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) comes to us via Demon Tides developer Fabraz, and wisely they’ve decided to mainly build a Bubsy game on top of their previous work instead of working from what previously existed.
Zero Parades for Dead Spies (PC) is the new game from the remnants of ZA/UM, the studio behind Disco Elysium. While many of the lead creatives on that game have been messily ousted from the studio, reviews on this one suggest it’s still worth your time. You play a down-and-out spy living in the gutter and now offered the opportunity to climb back out. If you liked Disco Elysium, you should know what to expect here – dense RPG mechanics, a lot of dialogue choices and politics galore.
Because Warhammer is relentless machine, we have yet another game out this week. Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is a turn-based tactics game set in Game Workshop’s grimdark world. Control either the Necron or Omnissiah to decide the fate of the world. Developed by Bulwark Studios and published by Kasedo Games.
Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight (PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox X/S) is the latest collaboration between DC’s most popular hero and Denmark’s most beloved export, once again developed by TT Games and published by Warner Bros. You play as Lego Batman and six other characters from Gotham City as you explore the origins of Batman. Draws inspiration from a ton of Batman media, with Lego interpretations of many Hollywood portrayals. Also Matt Berry shows up as Bane, because of course he does.
After previously placing Yoshi into wool and craft forms, Good-Feel’s latest collaboration with Nintendo places everyone’s favourite dinosaur in a storybook. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (Switch 2) sees Yoshi heading out on an adventure to discover information about the creatures of the land, give them names and uncover their behaviours and tastes. Yes, tastes. It’s Yoshi. He’s 90% tongue. Come on now.
There’s a big release I want to talk about this week, which means I also need a second game so I can continue to champion an indie release.
Indie Game of the Week this week is Thick as Thieves (PC), the latest game from beloved developer Warren Spector and his newest studio, OtherSide Entertainment.
Going back to what Spector is best known for – Deus Ex and Thief – Thick as Thieves see you playing as members of a thieves’ guild tasked with infiltrating important locations in Kilcairn, a Scottish city in an alt-history 1910 where magic has allowed huge advancements in technology. Use a variety of techniques to sneak in, steal what you need and get out without being detected. Can be played solo or in co-op.
I always love a good thievery game, and sadly we don’t get that many of them, but one made by team members who worked on the classic Thief games is a solid prospect. I also really dig the aesthetics of this one, since it evokes Dishonored, which is always high praise.
The big Game of the Week is Forza Horizon 6 (PC, Xbox X/S), the latest in Playground and Xbox’s car festival franchise.
Once again, you are a driver attending the legendary Forza Horizon festival, a celebration of cars in all shapes and size. If you’ve played any other game in the series, you know what to expect here. Build up a garage of cars and blast them around an open world drawn from a real-world location. This time, that location is Japan, after many requests from fans, which means you can now live out your Initial D fantasies, drift through the Shibuya Scramble and, most importantly, race a Gundam.
I loved Forza Horizons 4 and 5, even going as far as making the latter my Game of the Year for 2021. And going to Japan? Hell yeah, give me some actual seasons again, plus the ability to gather up some kei cars. These games are always a ridiculously fun time, and I’m excited to play this one. Although, admittedly, I am waiting for the PS5 version to drop, whenever that happens.
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