Things are heating up in the world of Xbox and PlayStation with the universally acclaimed Street Fighter 6 and Diablo 4 arriving mere days apart. Over on Switch there’s a trio of anticipated RPGs to mull over, albeit with the caveat that they’re part of the same trilogy.
The Etrain Odyssey trilogy, published by SEGA and developed by Atlus, entails a guild of adventurers, searching for elusive treasures – a journey that takes them into dungeons and labyrinths, before selling their materials to acquire improved equipment. They’re available singularly for £35.99 each, or as the £71.99 Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection package No, this isn’t the most expensive game on the eShop – a £99.99 Assassin’s Creed collection holds that dubious accolade.
The rest of this week’s noteworthy eShop releases are all multiformat affairs. From Team17 there’s the ‘80s set comedic horror game Killer Frequency – in which a serial killer is tormenting radio callers, hence the clever title.
That’s joined by We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie – with five all-new challenges to beat – EA’s full price Super Mega Baseball 4, and the genre mixing Undead Horde 2: Necropolis from 10tons.
We can also expect eastasiasoft’s scrolling shoot’em up LASERPITIUM, the intriguing psychological horror Decarnation, story-driven adventure To Hell with the Ugly, the well-received indie survival adventure Project Nightmares Case 36: Henrietta Kedward, and the prison guard simulator Prison Simulator. Aptly named, no?
New Switch eShop releases
The year is 1987, and as the clock strikes midnight in small-town Gallows Creek, USA. Big city radio DJ Forrest Nash is live on air in what will turn out to be the graveyard shift of a lifetime..
In this horror comedy, you must solve puzzles to save callers from being hunted down by a mysterious killer. Where every call is life and death, can you save the inhabitants of Gallows Creek?
We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie – £TBA
The King of the Cosmos once accidentally destroyed all the stars in the universe. He sent his son, the Prince, to Earth and ordered him to create a large katamari.
The Prince rolled the katamari and made the katamari bigger and bigger, rolling up all the things on the earth. The katamari that he created floated in space, sparkling, and brought back the lost starry sky.
As the starry sky was restored, the King’s fans gradually grew in number all over the world. The King wanted to respond to the wishes of his fans for his success, and the Prince kept rolling the katamari to make everyone’s dreams come true.
Super Mega Baseball™ 4 Standard Edition – £54.99
Grab your glove and your bat, it’s time to go yard with the best to ever play the game because Super Mega Baseball™ 4 is here–and it’s where the Legends play. More than 200 larger-than-life versions of fan-favorite former pros like Vladimir Guerrero, Johnny Damon, Ozzie Smith, and Jason Giambi are ready to step onto the field and join the roster of beloved Super Mega League All-Stars. The series’ signature combination of arcade-inspired style and immersive gameplay depth returns and baseball becomes bigger and better than ever.
Plus, the latest title receives the series’ most Mega presentation upgrade yet, with eye-popping new visuals for everything from animations to characters to stadiums, as well as crystal-clear audio upgrades from the dugout to the bleachers. Based on community feedback, Super Mega Baseball 4 is introducing an entire lineup of new and fan-requested features that add fresh layers of depth, including an expanded trait system with Team Chemistry, Shuffle Draft, and 6 all-new stadiums. To create an even larger and more connected player base, cross-platform multiplayer has been expanded to include cross-generation matchmaking in Pennant Race and Online Leagues, so players can hit dingers with friends online across even more game systems.
In a vast and fertile land lies a small town known as Etria, a peaceful village that became famous for a startling discovery. A crack in the the vast forest opened at Etria’s edge, leading downward like a gaping maw. It all began there…
Those who hear rumors of the labyrinth of Etria begin to harbor dreams of exploring it. Riches, fame, prestige… and a promise: the true spirit of adventure on the perilous edge of death.
Build a party of explorers from nine different character classes – Create a woodland survivalist, shield-bearing protector, whip-wielding dark hunter, and more. Scour through the dungeon’s many layers and fend off the unknown to discover the truth behind the Yggdrasil Labyrinth.
When civilization sank beneath the seven seas, deep forests spread across the five remaining islands.
Only the chosen ones escaped the waters in their castle stronghold. Eventually, the waves overtook even the last five islands…And the castle was all that remained. After the passing of ages, the people of the floating castle have chosen to descend upon their mother soil.
Build your own party from twelve different classes of heroes and climb through the Yggdrasil tree to reach the clouds and uncover the truth of High Lagaard.
Etrian Odyssey III HD – £35.99
Traverse through the mysterious ruins that connect to the bottom of the sea.
South of the great continents, beyond the sea, lies the ocean city of Armoroad. Legend has it that part of the city sank without warning a century ago to the bottom of the ocean, taking with it untold technology that is now lost to mankind.
Intrigued by the legend, many explorers gathered in Armoroad, all hoping to challenge the undersea labyrinth. But so far, none have found the fabled sunken city. Set sail to Armoroad to navigate the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, find the drowned city, and win fortune and glory!
Build your own party of explorers from the all-new twelve different character classes. Descend the labyrinth that swallowed the mystery of Armoroad and the drowned city.
Powers of Hex is a heavily inspired, non-linear experience that should illicit memories of classic, 2D platformers from the 80s.
While the nostalgic visuals and sound have you feeling good, it is your task to play as Hex on a quest to obtain all 6, unique, magic powers from Elfvis. Are you really the bad guy if Elfvis is keeping your true potential from you?
Make your way from the title screen, straight into the action. Just pick your first theme and start the stage. No boring tutorial needed to hold you back!
In Aery – The Lost Hero you play as a little bird and search for a hero that is able to save your village.
On your journey you will discover unknown, giant and beautiful environments and you will be able to enjoy the feeling of flying while exploring a whole world filled with beauty and little secrets.
Within every area of the world, you have to find a certain amount of memory shards to remember the path that leads to your final destination and advance with the story. Once you have found all memory shards you are free to explore the next area.
Move The Pin: Classic Logic Puzzle – £8.99
The rules of the game are simple – you need to pull the pin and fill the glass with colored balls!
But the further you go, the harder the puzzles become. You have to color the gray balloons before filling the glass with them, otherwise you will lose. To color the gray balls, you need to combine them with colored ones, and only then you can fill the glass with them.
With each level, the number of compartments and obstacles increases, so you need to come up with a strategy – in what order to paint the balls. One wrong move and you will drop the gray balls into the glass!
Boxville is 2-in-1: an animated film and a puzzle game.
Boxville is good for playing alone to dive into the atmosphere and challenge your brain with sophisticated logic puzzles and riddles, or playing with a friend or family to share unique audio-visual experiences and solve the puzzles together.
A game where you roll through various stages and embark on an adventure.
? Operation method ?
Move by stick.
Press any button to activate needles.
That’s it!
Put out needles to destroy obstacles!
Put out needles to stop movement and prevent falling!
Harley was comfortable with his daily life,
But one day, a big adventure begins when he suddenly got lost in the labyrinth.
When Blackwing the devil left the world of fire and brimstone behind for the sunny human world, his evil shadow side also accidentally escaped with him. Soon chaos ensued!
Blackwing must team up with a local office lady Kureha Kurono and her friends to defeat the evil shadow. A 120,000 word visual novel with over 50 original songs, dozens of high-quality art pieces, a unique cast, and a heartwarming story await you!
GyroGunner is Omni-directional scrolling twin-stick shooter.
The purpose is to control the enemy base by operating a combat helicopter equipped with a Vulcan cannon and lock-on missiles.
There is an arcade mode where you clear areas in order from area 1, and a free mode where you can play the cleared areas.
Some Bunny’s friends hid and Bunny cannot find them. Help Bunny to find all the friends! Search everywhere – some of them can hide in strange places.
You can also find new friends or new items.
Japanese NEKOSAMA Escape The Sweets Shop – £7.49
The 18th “Japanese Escape Games” series!
?SYSTEM
?THE GAME SYSTEM
This game is an escape-the-room game (mystery-adventure game).
*Point the screen with a cursor to solve riddles, and story goes on.
Project Nightmares Case 36: Henrietta Kedward – £17.99
Get thrown into a living nightmare and explore the past of Henrietta Kedward in this terrifying and ever-changing survival horror filled with bone-chilling visuals.
Project Nightmares is a group of scientists who dedicated themselves to studying the paranormal. As the regular means of analysis proved too limited to properly investigate the nature of these extra-natural phenomena, they devised a new means of examination. Using a device of their design, they are able to induce telepathically-gifted patients into a dream state, and connect their minds to a cursed or malignant object, allowing them to investigate their history and put a stop to the evil they embody. You are one of those patients.
In the first instalment of the game, you will play through the case of Henrietta Kedward. You’ll be able to connect with this malicious old woman through a malignant toy with a dark past and soon you’ll find yourself in a nightmare set during her lifetime, surrounded by terror and mystery.
When inside the nightmare, you’ll never know what’s going to happen next, even on multiple playthroughs as the game constantly shifts, taking advantage of its procedurally generated elements.
To Hell With The Ugly – £17.99
Play as Rock Bailey, a blond and handsome young man who systematically refuses all advances made to him. To the dismay of everybody around him, he stubbornly saves himself until the day he turns 20.
Everything changes when he is drugged and kidnapped outside the Zooty Slammer jazz club and wakes up in a strange hospital. They stole something from him, something very personal, and he wants revenge. Help Rocky get to the bottom of this mystery and find out the truth behind it.
To Hell with the Ugly is an adventure game with a focus on narration. Rocky has already lost part of his pride, he won’t shy away from combat if it takes him closer to the revenge he seeks. With his journalist partner Gary, they will have to gather clues from crime scenes and use them to make assumptions and solve puzzles, explore all the nooks and crannies of 1950s LA and let their fists do the talking in turn-based combat.
Mythargia is a 2D side scrolling retro adventure with emphasis on discovering the island’s story.
As you search for information you will come face to face with the unnatural present on the island. Find tools and items to help you on your journey further inland.
Leave no stone unturned as you travel deeper into the island. Solve puzzles to find all the clues you can find to get a full picture of what has happened on the island.
Decarnation mixes traditional survival horror elements (cryptic puzzle to solve, inhospitable environments to explore, lethal predators to avoid, terrifying boss to defeat, etc.) with a wide variety of symbolic minigames (puzzles, reflexes, rhythm, etc.) accounting for real life situations (performing a cabaret show on stage) or metaphorical ones.
Once uncovered, key elements of Gloria’s life aid her in defeating monsters in her dreams in unique battles that marry the grotesque and the sublime to represent her struggle for survival. Overcoming challenges in her dreams strengthens Gloria against real life difficulties, and her real life issues create new challenges in her dreams.
In 2357, leaders of the galaxy S-08G signed a peace and cooperation treaty. In order to optimize the management of goods, the control of military forces and the well-being of the population, the computer program EVA was created on the artificial planet HELOS. A few years later, the EVA program’s governance caused social unrest across the galaxy. Military forces, now fully automated, directly attacked any attempt at rebellion.
Now a group of resistance fighters aims to restore freedom to the planets. Their mission is to attack EVA’s military bases and annihilate HELOS. LASERPITIUM is a side-scrolling 2D shoot’em up with multi-directional scrolling and parallax presented in hand-drawn HD graphics. Take control of one of three ships, each with a unique playstyle, and blast through enemy swarms across 10 cosmic stages of arcade-inspired action!
Constellations is a meditative, minimalist puzzle game about finding patterns in the stars. Increase mindfulness, concentration and focus through a conversation with the stars. Evade yourself from everyday life as you build constellations in the sky.
In each level, connect the stars without the lines crossing and slowly fill the sky with constellations. Explore a starmap full of carefully designed levels with diverse mechanics, or go to the black hole to play endless puzzles.
Undead Horde 2: Necropolis – £15.29
The living have razed your home: The Necropolis. Become a necromancer king and raise undead warriors from the remains of your enemies. With each victory, your army will grow stronger and your city will become more powerful, allowing you to take on even tougher challenges. Take back your land, free the undead souls and secure a future for the undead. Undead Horde 2 is a necromantic action game with elements from RPG, strategy and hack’n’slash.
The last thing Alex Young remembers is being at home alone in her apartment… so why has she suddenly woken up in this strange mansion? All the doors are locked by bizarre puzzles and traps, there are cameras following her every move, and she keeps thinking she sees… things… out of the corner of her eye. If she wants to escape alive, along with the other captives she discovers, she’ll need to use her wits in this adventure thriller.
Inspired by the look and feel of classic horror games, The Tartarus Key serves up a mystery filled with twists and turns, and more than a few deadly surprises. Rely on brains over brawn to help Alex survive, but beware – not everyone might make it out alive.
Johnny Trigger: Sniper – £4.49
Johnny Trigger returns in a sequel that shakes up the sniper game genre. All the action, no lurking, tedious waiting or stress: pick a target, take aim, shoot and pick another target.
You play as a professional assassin with style, guts and an awesome rifle. Your opponents aren’t beaten in the dark either and they can bite back, but you’ve got enough bullets in your magazine: pick a target, aim, headshot! Way to go!
Earn money for missions to unlock new guns, rocket launchers and even assault rifles. Collect keys to open mysterious suitcases. Shoot exploding barrels, defeat mafia bosses and make sure innocent civilians don’t get hurt.
Become the best sniper and show everyone that you deserve your name!
Release its inhabitants from the grasp of a mysterious villain.
FRIENDSHIP IS KEY!
Jelly and his friends are no pushovers. Use their unique powers and quirks to their fullest potential. Jump over your enemies, sneak around, or shoot them from any angle. Bring down the evil corporation before Mesalia turns into a barren wasteland.
JUMP OR SHOOT?
Choose your approach to saving the planet. Will you disintegrate anything that moves? Or maybe try avoiding combat at all costs? Remember! Shooting down some of your foes makes them…more dangerous.
COLLECTOR’S DREAM
Anything you find can be used to help your mission. Use the gems you find to upgrade your weapons or make your heroes more bulky. Collecting everything may require multiple attempts, but HEROES DON’T GIVE UP! Join Jelly and his friends in their quest to save Mesalia!
In a land full of challenges, jumps, secret areas and meows. Play with a very special kitten. To win, break blocks, jump over other little animals, dodge dangerous spikes, and progress to the next level, all while traversing through diverse landscapes ranging from lush forests to icy glaciers and scorching deserts.
Prison Simulator is a first-person simulation game in which you play the role of a prison service officer a month before your desired promotion. You have to perform increasingly complex tasks in prison, balancing the administration’s assessment and inmates’ satisfaction. In the game, you play the role of a prison guard and it is only up to you whether you decide to obey the law or let this place and people corrupt you completely. After all, who said you had to be an exemplary ranger? Maybe you prefer to trade with prisoners, help them smuggle, and bet on the outcome of fights in prison instead?
After all, everyone likes to have fun sometimes. Especially in a sad place like this, where you are also the boss. Or at least you think so. So how? Will you choose to follow the rules, intercept contraband, count prisoners, send them to work, take care of their basic needs and keep prison gangs under control? Will you go to the dark side? Whatever you decide, remember that your actions will affect both the facility itself and the inmates, and above all, the further course of your career.
Next week: MotoGP 23, Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX, Avia corporation, Loop8: Summer of Gods, Dreamy Trail, SENSEs: Midnight, Inhabit, Nocturnal, Angel Symphony, Brain Show, Mask of the Rose, Speed Crew, Demon Sword: Incubus, and Cat Souls.