The Switch rules the roost this week, gaining not just the anticipated Deadly Premonition 2 but also Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town and Catherine: Full Body.
The original Deadly Premonition was one of our favourite games of the last generation – a low budget horror adventure close to crumbling over its own ambition – while Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town is one of our most played GBA games of all-time. This week it receives a Zelda: Link’s Awakening-style 3D remake with new features.
Catherine: Full Body, meanwhile, combines block shoving puzzles with an anime-style visual novel. It includes all DLC from the PS4 version, including Persona 5’s Joker as a playable character. Reviews went live last week, resulting in an impressive 86% Metacritic. “The Switch version of Catherine: Full Body retains all of this great content while improving upon the other modes in the game, in order to give it even longer-lasting appeal,†said Screen Rant.
CrossCode is another game getting glowing reviews. A pixel art RPG eight years (!) in the making, it received 9.5 from PSU and top marks (10/10) from God is a Geek. “CrossCode is an incredible experience from start to finish. The MMO setting is phenomenally realised, and despite being lengthy, it never wastes your time. With deep and fast paced combat, thoughtfully designed puzzles, and all the charm of the top down Zelda games it’s reminiscent of, I haven’t been so gripped by a game in years,†said the former outlet.
Sticking with the indies, there’s the 8-bit Castlevania influenced Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 – announced mere weeks ago – and Superliminal, a first-person puzzler based on optical illusions.
The Xbox One also gets a belated release of Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire – a top-down vertical shooter which we enjoyed on PS4. It’s the spiritual successor to the excellent Castle of Shikigami III.
Race fans are in for a treat too, with both F1 2020 and NASCAR Heat 5 due. This year, F1 2020 includes a new My Team management mode, spilt-screen play, a casual mode with shorter seasons, and two new tracks – Hanoi Circuit and Circuit Zandvoort. NASCAR Heat 5 is turning up with new challenge and test modes, along with eSports support.
This leaves us with virtual MMO/JRPG hybrid Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris, based on the anime’s Alicization arc. If this means anything to you, you’ll likely have it pre-ordered already.
New release showcase
SWORD ART ONLINE Alicization Lycoris
F1 2020
Deadly Premonition 2
STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town
Superliminal
CrossCode
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
Catherine: Full Body
New multiformat releases
- Superliminal
- NASCAR Heat 5
- CrossCode
- F1 2020
- Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris
- Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
- The Great Perhaps
- Overcooked 2: Suns Out Buns Out
New on PSN
- Budget Cuts
New on Xbox One Store
- Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire
- Lanternium
- Robozarro
- Distraint 2
New Switch retail releases
- Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise
- Story of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town
- MY UNIVERSE: My Baby
- Kingdom MajesticÂ
- Catherine Full Body
- Shmup Collection
- Guacamelee! One-Two Punch Collection
- Finding Teddy 2 Definitive Edition
Next week: Ghost Of Tsushima, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Collar X Malice, Warhammer 40, 000: Mechanicus Neon Abyss, void tRrLM Void Terrarium, Bounty Battle, Rocket Arena, REZ PLZ, and Radical Rabbit Stew.