[Updated] Out this week: Unravel, Firewatch, Dying Light: The Following and lots more

This week sees the release of both Unravel and Firewatch, two very different adventure games that have been eagerly awaited since their E3 reveals. Firewatch has snuck up on us – we thought it was still a few months off – while Unravel has had a hefty amount of promotion, especially on the Xbox One store.

Both have received positive reviews, including dozens of 8s, and 9s. Unravel also received 10/10 from Destructoid, while Gaming Age gave Firewatch top marks. “This game’s narrative carries more emotional heft than almost anything else I’ve ever played,” claimed their reviewer.

Praise isn’t universal though – Eurogamer and God is a Geek weren’t too impressed with EA’s Unravel, with the former calling it “money for old rope” and the latter dishing out a middling 5.5/10.

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The Metro on the other hand found Firewatch far removed from what they were expecting, resulting in a 5/10. “The actual story is terrible, once you find out what’s happening, and completely squanders everything the game had seemed to be building up to” they said.

Quarter to Three wasn’t taken by it either, giving it a lowly 2/5. Slant Magazine gave it a similar score – 2.5/5. We’ve seen a few negative first impressions on Twitter, too. The trailer suggests that it’s an open-world exploration game, but it’s allegedly linear and with a 4 hour runtime a bit on the short side. Although the £14.99 (or £13.49 with Plus) price tag isn’t bank breaking, maybe approach this one with an open mind.

Well-received co-op shooter Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (£11.99 or £8.39 with Plus) and the equally colourful twin-stick shooter We Are Doomed (£7.99) meanwhile make the jump from Xbox One to PS4, while the resolution-shifting platformer The Adventures of Pip leaps from Wii U to PS4 and Xbox One. All signs point to it being one of the better pixel-art platformers of recent times.

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The Xbox One also gets Q*bert REBOOTED: The XBOX One @!#?@! Edition (£7.99 or £5.99 with Gold – out Friday) and the robot-based puzzler Factotum 90 (£4.73 or £3.83 with Gold). Arcade Archives Cosmo Police Galivan (£5.79) and the no-doubt-thrilling Total Jigsaw (price unknown) head to PS4.

After something of a false start Gone Home: Console Edition should finally launch this Friday – it was briefly available to download on Xbox One before being yanked. We believe this was down an EU age rating issue.

We aren’t done with new downloads yet. There are another two big-name releases, in fact – Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia, which doesn’t appear to be any better or worse than the previous Chronicles games, and Dying Light: The Following – a sizeable expansion set in the countryside, with all-new vehicles. Eurogamer found it scrappy yet entertaining.

Both are also heading to retail – all three Assassin’s Creed Chronicles are being bundled together for around £20 (with a new PS Vita version to boot) while Dying Light: The Following can be had via Dying Light: Enhanced Edition, which includes all DLC for around £50. Rest assured that there’s plenty to get your teeth into. Zombie joke!

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Other retail releases for this week include PS4 JRPG Megadimension Neptunia VII, Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair on PS4, Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space on PS Vita and 3DS JRPGs Etrian Odyssey 2: Untold: The Fafnir Knight (more on that here) and Project X Zone 2. We’re still waiting on PxZ2 reviews – give the demo a go if you’re currently mulling it over. Terraria and Goosebumps: The Game head to Nintendo’s handheld likewise, at around £15 each.

If three new JRPGs wasn’t enough, the Dynasty Warriors alike Arslan The Warriors of Legend is due out on PS4 and Xbox One this Friday. So far it has received positive reviews. US Gamer gave it 4/5, stating that “If you’ve ever wanted to take up a sword and slaughter hundreds of enemies, Arslan is your game”.

God is a Geek reached a similar verdict: “It’s a great stress relief game after a tough day at work and a chance to become acquainted with one of Japan’s finest fantasy tales,” they said. Sounds a darn sight more appealing than Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 2 – a game so tedious we couldn’t even bring ourselves to review it.

UPDATE: Retro revamp D/Generation HD (£19.99) and twin-stick shooter In Space We Brawl: Full Arsenal Edition (price unknown) launched on Xbox One at the stroke of midnight. Curiously, D/Generation HD was created using the original source code. That doesn’t explain why it’s twenty ruddy quid, mind.

Next week: Street Fighter V (PS4), Pixel Piracy (PS4/Xbox One), TRON RUN/r (PS4/Xbox One), Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae (PS4/Xbox One), Rocket League (Xbox One), Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon (3DS) and physical releases of The Escapists: The Walking Dead and Ziggurat on PS4.

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