Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Games Release Roundup!
This week, the angry Japanese men are fighting again.
New Releases
In re-releases, the Apollo Justice Ace Attorney Trilogy brings together three Ace Attorney games from the DS/3DS into one collection. Featuring Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, this collection focuses on newbie lawyer Apollo Justice as he’s mentored by original series protagonist Phoenix Wright. If you’re unaware of the series, these visual novels see you solving mysteries and defending the falsely accused in court using your evidence. I imagine there’s no objection to this collection, yes? Yes? Never mind.
There are a few notable Early Access games this week, so here’s a quick rundown of them all. Roots of Yggdrasil is a card-based city builder set in the Nine Realms where you have to build a society to survive Ragnarok. Unforetold: Witchstone is an ambitious open RPG set in a land that you can shape to your will. Finally, Enshrouded is a bit open world survival game that has the misfortune of launching right after fellow survival game Palworld, but is still doing pretty decently for itself.
Lil Guardsman (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) is Papers Please for people who find Papers Please too miserable. You play as the daughter of a gate guard in a pseudo-medieval fantasy world. As gate guard you must interrogate anyone trying to enter the city, using tools and calling important figures to help you make your assessment. The whole thing is very silly though, and the demo I played included characters such as a cyclops ranting about her ex-husband and the decision to decide who gets sent to save a princess being presented as a game show.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is the latest in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series. It’s the third game in the series released in the past twelve months but the first mainline entry since 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It stars new series protagonist Ichiban Kasuga as he travels to Hawaii and get himself embroiled in the gang warfare shenanigans. Also there’s an entire Animal Crossing clone in here, because of course there is. It wouldn’t be a Yakuza game without ridiculous side activities.
Game of the Week
Game of the Week this week is Tekken 8 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S), the latest entry in Bandai Namco’s long-running fighting game franchise. It also completes the trifecta of major fighting game releases in the last twelve months after Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1.
Tekken is the only traditional fighting game series I’ve ever really clicked with, and oh boy have I clicked with this latest one. I was lucky enough to get into the Network Test and Beta a few months back, and I’ve also played the demo that’s doing the rounds. And what I discovered is that Tekken 8 is looking amazing.
The fighting mechanics have been overhauled, with a Heat system that pushes players into a more aggressive style. I’ve played the Closed Network Test and Closed Beta Test and can safely say this new system is a lot of fun.
On top of that, an extensive amount of single player content is back after the lacklustre selection in Tekken 7. A story mode! A new Arcade Quest mode where you ascend the ranks of a Tekken tournament! Character episodes that are more than a single fight! Plus Ghost Battles and an improved Replay mode offer more opportunities to improve your fighting skills, which is never a bad thing.
I am incredibly excited for Tekken 8, so it’s unsurprising that it’s my Game of the Week.
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