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

This week, pirates, grand adventures and hazy 90s nostalgia.

It’s a quiet week this week in terms of quantity, but it makes up for it in how much of a Big Deal almost everything released this week is. Obsidian’s first AAA project for Microsoft? Check. New Life is Strange spiritual successor from the original devs? Check. Sega letting Ryu ga Gotoku Studio fully off the leash? Check and mate.

It’s a good time for all. Also, it’s so important I inform you about Yakuza pirates that I’m pushing myself to get this week’s roundup done while my back is healing from surgery instead of skipping this week. That’s dedication. You’re welcome.

New Releases

Cabernet (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) is a 2D narrative RPG about a fledgling vampire learning to deal with her new state. You help 19th century vampire Liza navigate her new world, determining whether she holds onto her humanity or succumbs to the darkness. Plus you can fly around as a bat.

Lost Records Tape 1: Bloom (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is the first half of the new game from Life is Strange developers Don’t Nod. Imagine that game crossed with Stephen King’s IT, and you’ve got some idea of this one. You play as Swann Holloway, who is heading back to her childhood town to meet with friends she hasn’t seen since one magical summer in 1995. They’ve never spoken since due to an event they can’t remember, so we experience the summer through flashbacks. I played this one and man, it’s something special. Lots of hazy 90s nostalgia that aggressively got its hooks in me. Expect a lot of Cocteau Twins. Already itching for April to hurry up for the second half. Spoilers: I’m already considering the full game for Game of the Week when the second half releases.

Avowed (PC, Xbox X/S) is the latest game from Obsidian, which has people extremely excited. You play as an envoy to the Living Lands, investigating a mysterious plague. Solid first-person combat, extensive choices to play around with and a party of oddballs at your side, this may be the next big Western RPG obsession for the gaming community. The rave reviews certainly reflect this.

Game of the Week

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is the latest and most ridiculous Yakuza game to date.

This is a game seemingly built off one idea – fan favourite character Goro Majima wears an eyepatch, so what if we ran with that and made him a pirate? He has washed up on a Hawaii beach for some reason and now has amnesia. This leads him to get involved with a colony of 16th century style pirates (because apparently they exist in Hawaii now), gaining his own ship and going on absurd adventures.

Oh I’m sorry, you need justification on why I made the game where Yakuza’s most unhinged character decides to become Jack Sparrow in modern-day Hawaii Game of the Week? Surely the premise alone should be enough to convince you, and if not, I cannot help you. Yakuza is always a solid series worth your time, and the sheer absurdity of this one is enough to sell it. Plus the fact the meme side game from Sega’s serious crime drama franchise is a pirate game people are more excited for than Ubisoft’s more expensive pirate failure last year.