July looks hotter than the PS5 consoles sat in Cash Converter’s window, with an enticing selection of titles due. The middle of the month sees a glut of indies, including Flock, Magical Delicacy, Let’s School, and SCHiM, while the month’s end sees Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, EA Sports College Football 25, Dungeons of Hinterberg, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, and TMNT Splintered Fate. The Evercade also gains Tomb Raider Collection 1, a potential best-seller.
This week is quite substantial too, with a couple of anticipated free-to-play games due. Both The First Descendant and Zenless Zone Zero appear to have had hefty investments, meaning a lot is riding on their success. The First Descendant comes from Nexon and is a four player sci-fi looter shooter powered by Unreal 5, featuring solo and co-op play, and a focus on boss battles.
Zenless Zone Zero meanwhile comes from the creators of Genshin Impact and has had a 4-year development cycle, and three closed betas. It’s a post-apocalyptic adventure set in an urban world, with a combat system said to be accessible yet complex. Expect big things from both – The First Descendant’s trailer has notched up 5m views in two weeks, while ZZZ’s trailer is currently trending on YouTube. Now that’s an unfortunate acronym.
If that wasn’t enough, there are two more RPGs due. Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail includes new classes (Viper and Pictomancer), a playable female race known as Hrothgar, a level cap increase from 90 to 100, additional dungeons, and a new eight player raid known as The Arcadion. NiS’ The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak is more traditional in comparison, first released in Japan in 2021. It appears to be worth the three year wait – the PS5 version’s Metacritic is 84% currently. “With a fresh cast of characters joined by a handful of familiar faces, it’s a welcoming point for potential new fans to jump in while also rewarding veteran players for returning,” said IGN.
Other games of note include the hospital-set first-person horror Scholar’s Mate, grim yet intriguing open world survival horror ARPG Bleak Faith Forsaken, martial-arts based RPG Fate Seeker II, theme park management sim Parkitect: Deluxe Edition, chaotic retro FPS Neckbreak, and Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero – a re-release of a late (1997) Super Famicom game, originally made for the Satellaview add-on. Quite the curio, eh?
New release trailers
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak
Zenless Zone Zero
The First Descendant
FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail
Parkitect: Deluxe Edition
Scholar’s Mate
Fate Seeker Ⅱ
Bleak Faith Forsaken
Hot Blood
Paper io 2
New on PSN
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak
- Zenless Zone Zero
- Hot Blood
- Creature Lab
- Elemental Cube
- Fate Seeker II
- Offroad Mechanic Simulator
New on Xbox Store
- Neckbreak
- Fit My Cat
- Shy Cats Hidden Orchestra
- Home Run High
- Epic Astro Story
New Switch retail releases
eShop round-up coming Thursday
- Monomals
- May’s Mysteries: The Secret of Dragonville
- Instant Sports All-Stars
- Kids VS Parents
- Garden Simulator
- Ultra Mega Xtra Party Challenge
Next week: ACE COMBAT 7: Skies Unknown (Switch,) Naheulbeuk’s Dungeon Master, Lifeless Moon, Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III, Prune & Milo, Alaskan Road Truckers: Highway Edition, TimeMelters, Hamster Playground, Infinite Inside, True Virus (PS4,) The Boys Escape, and Ogre Tale.