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

This week, Redfall, Star Wars and Honkai Star Rail lead the releases.

This week’s roundup of the Gaming Roundup is a new beginning. For starters, it’s not going to be called the Gaming Roundup, instead it’s the Games Release Roundup. As you can probably tell from the name, this is because we will be focusing on the newest releases, and not the latest games news.

The reason is simple. Over the past few months, my schedule has become busier. I’ve had to re-prioritise a lot of stuff in my life, and this is one of those things. Recently I have been struggling to cover the news in any meaningful way, often finding myself scrambling on a Thursday to find something notable quickly. It’s not a good way of doing things.

Last week was especially bad, where I failed to write most of the roundup due to other priorities, leading to burn out and a last minute decision to cancel it for the week. This was shortly followed by a realisation that I’ve become much more cynical about covering the news in these roundups. However, I still love writing about new releases and keeping everyone informed of new games, and I intend to keep doing that.

So, here we are. A new Gaming Roundup, the Games Release Roundup, focused on bringing you the latest releases every week. From the big to the small, hopefully this new way of doing things will allow me to give each game the space it deserves, instead of writing about them frantically after spending hours trying to find news I want to cover. Effectively, it’s just like Keith’s Pull List, but for video games now. Simple as that.

This week is quite a quiet week, but because I didn’t cover last week’s fairly notable selection, I’m bringing both weeks together. Everything this week released between 24th April and 5th May.

For a short summary, this week sees a lot of indie releases, including a few that are drawing quite a buzz. It also saw the release of both Star Wars: Jedi Survivor and Xbox’s Redfall, two big releases that have received some negative press for the state of their respective launches. We also got the new game from Genshin Impact developers MiHoYo, Honkai Star Rail.

Aside from my Game of the Week, The Last Case of Benedict Fox, some of my personal highlights for games I think might be worth checking out this week – Shadows of Doubt, Bramble: The Mountain King, Ravenlok, Cassette Beasts, Trinity Trigger and Honkai Star Rail. Want to know more? Just keep reading!

New Releases

In Early Access, Remnants of the Rift (PC) is a sci-fi tactical RPG with a 70s retro-future aesthetic. You play as a mercenary diving through dimensions for her clients.

Also in Early Access, Shadows of Doubt (PC) is a procedurally generated detective game. You play as a private investigator taking on jobs that lead towards capturing a serial killer. I have no idea how well procedural generation would work for a detective game, but it’s certainly going to maintain the mystery on subsequent playthroughs. One I’m definitely curious about.

Lichenvale (PC) is a first-person action game inspired by 90s shooters, except in this one you have a sword and magic.

Unwording (PC) is a game about negative self-talk. This narrative puzzle adventure sees you solving word puzzles to help a young man overcome his self-esteem issues thanks to a mischievous bird.

Propagation: Paradise Hotel (PC) is a spooky VR horror game. You play as a woman trying to find her missing sister instead a horror hotel full of the undead.

Roots of Pacha (PC) is a life sim all about building a thriving stone age community.

ArcRunner (PC) is a roguelite third-person shooter set in a cyberpunk world.

Desta: The Memories Between (PC, Switch) is a tactical dodgeball-based RPG all about unlocking memories in a world of dreams.

Mail Time (PC) is a cute little life sim about a mushroom girl delivering mail for her friends in a world much smaller than ours.

Afterimage (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) is a stylish Metroidvania with gorgeous artwork. You play as a girl named Renee as she tries to tackle supernatural forces attacking the world’s remaining human settlements in a ravaged fantasy land.

Strayed Lights (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) is a combat focused action-adventure where you play as a creature of light seeking to grow their strength. Has a soundtrack by Journey composer Austin Wintory too, which is neat.

Bramble: The Mountain King (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) is a spooky adventure game about a small boy looking for his sister who’s been captured by a troll

Ravenlok (PC, Xbox) is an action adventure set in a whimsical fantasy land that takes more than a little influence from Lewis Carroll. The Alice in Wonderland vibes are strong throughout this voxel-based action game which has some stunning visuals from everything I’ve seen.

Cassette Beasts (PC) is an indie take on the Pokémon formula, where monsters are recorded onto tapes like it’s the top 40 in 1984. It’s also set in a place called New Wirral, which I find very funny for some reason. PC version is out now, but a version for Switch and Xbox releases on 25 May.

Trinity Trigger (PC) is an action RPG drawing on old school design, right down to the staff, a few of whom came from the Mana games. I played it for a review, and it’s a neat little comfort RPG, one that feels familiar and doesn’t outstay its welcome, but is full of charm and fun. It’s also on PlayStation and Switch in the US, but we don’t get those versions until 16 May for some reason.

Age of Wonders 4 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is the latest in the Age of Wonders series, which asks what happens if you set a Civilization game in a magical fantasy land.

Honkai: Star Rail (PC) is the latest game from Genshin Impact developers MiHoYo and is sort of what you’d expect if you’ve played that game. It’s an anime-styled RPG with gacha mechanics. As the title suggests, it’s set on and around a train in space. It also stars a disaster zone of a protagonist who collects trash and it’s glorious. I’ve been playing a bit of this and it’s excellent so far. PC and mobile right now, but there is a PlayStation version on the way at some point.

Redfall (PC, Xbox X/S) is the latest game from Arkane, best known for Dishonored and Prey. In a departure from their previous titles, it’s designed to be played in co-op as four people go head-to-head with a clan of vampires. While it looks like there’s a lot of fun to be had, it’s also kind of a buggy mess right now.

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S), which inexplicably released last week and didn’t wait for May the 4th, is the sequel to 2019’s Jedi Fallen Order. Much like Redfall, however, while the game does seem great, there are some fundamental problems with its launch. Console players might be generally okay here, but PC players may be facing a terrible time.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week for this week (and last week!) is The Last Case of Benedict Fox (PC, Xbox X/S), a side-scrolling horror mystery game.

You play as a supernatural investigator bound to a demon, investigating a missing child. You delve into memories of the family as you face their demons, both literal and figurative. You also get to use your demon bond to gain a bunch of new abilities that allow you to fight off the horrors.

This caught my attention on its reveal a while ago. The setting and visual style is exactly the thing I go for, so I will definitely be checking it out as soon as I’m done with all the massive RPGs I’ve apparently latched myself to lately.