It’s reassuring to see that even in these times of financial uncertainty, publishers still hold back releases to coincide with monthly paydays. For reasons unknown, save perhaps for gamescom causing a backlog, there’s a bumper bounty of new releases to tie-in with the end of August.
Ubisoft has a new open-world adventure to explore. Star Wars Outlaws, developed by the team behind Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and The Division, stars scoundrel Kay Vess and her tiny companion Nix and takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Kay’s out to pull off a heist, with four different factions to tangle with – and your standing with each will alter the missions available. It may have trouble toppling EA’s Star Wars Jedi games, but at least Ubisoft’s open world adventures are generally robust.
Incidentally, Plaion’s sci-fi third-person shooter Akimbot sounds similar, involving an outlaw robot and his fledgling sidekick travelling the galaxy to stop an army. This one appears to be flying under the radar somewhat despite showing potential.
Both Microsoft and Nintendo have new first-party releases too. Age of Mythology: Retold is intended for new and returning players, featuring over 50 missions and the chance to unleash all manner of mythical beasts on the opposition. Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club meanwhile is a visual novel based on a long running series. That said, this is the first entry in the series since 1997. Nintendo’s giving it a reasonable push, with a demo available.
Square-Enix is also back with Visions of Mana, the ‘semi-open field’ JRPG series with different characters and classes, along with over 100 music tracks that skilfully blend and mix to suit the action. Then from Milestone, the publisher behind Hot Wheels Unleashed, comes Monster Jam Showdown. This looks like a step up from past Monster Jam titles, featuring spilt-screen, numerous recognisable trucks, figure-of-eight tracks, and off-road races.
Evercade owners have two new cartridges to consider as well. Tomb Raider Collection 1 and Thalamus Collection 1 have been a long time coming, but should finally be out this week. Both are looking like corkers, and there’s only a month to go until the next two releases.
We aren’t done with big name releases yet. There’s also a console release of the Unreal Engine 5 powered third-person MOBA SMITE 2, customable mech brawler Gundam Breaker 4 – with a new diorama mode – a belated Xbox release of the crafting adventure The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, and a PS4 release of the incredibly popular auto-shooter Vampire Survivors.
Also look out for the demonic unicorn hack ‘n slasher Gori: Cuddly Carnage, side-scrolling action platformer revival Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn, survival sandbox Core Keeper, 2.5D mech shooting sequel Valfaris: Mecha Therion, and the afterlife cleansing Crypt Custodian.
Lastly, and over on Xbox, two incredibly tardy titles are due. Kemco’s well regarded visual novel Raging Loop dates back to 2015, even gracing the PS Vita, while Forever’s surreal evolution sim Sparkle 2 EVO is older still, originally released on PC in 2011. Let’s hope it still sparkles.
New release trailers
Star Wars Outlaws
Age of Mythology: Retold
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
Monster Jam Showdown
SMITE 2
Visions of Mana
Gundam Breaker 4
Akimbot
Gori: Cuddly Carnage
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (Xbox)
Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn
Vampire Survivors (PS4)
Operation: Polygon Storm
Core Keeper
Crypt Custodian
Espresso Tycoon
Valfaris: Mecha Therion
Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Party Dash
Whacking Hell!
New multiformat releases
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Monster Jam Showdown
- SMITE 2
- Akimbot
- Visions of Mana
- Gori: Cuddly Carnage
- Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn
- Gundam Breaker 4
- Operation: Polygon Storm
- WitchSpring R
- Crypt Custodian
- Core Keeper
- SokoPenguin
- Not For Broadcast: The Timeloop
- Espresso Tycoon
- Snooker Blitz
- Valfaris: Mecha Therion
- 112 Operator
New on PSN
- Vampire Survivors
- Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Party Dash
- Blood Hunting
- everlasting flowers
- goHELLgo: Tsukiotoshiteko
- Memento Memoria: The Abandoned Neverland
- Super Dark Deception
New on Xbox Store
- The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
- Age of Mythology: Retold
- Wer weiß denn sowas? – Das 3. Spiel
- Blocky Farm
- Date Z
- Forests, Fields and Fortresses
- Sparkle 2 EVO
- Forklift Simulator
- Raging Loop
- Cubic 2 3 4 Player Games
- Mad Experiments 2: Escape Room
- Purrfect Rescue
- Whacking Hell!
New Switch retail releases
eShop round-up coming Thursday
- Emio – The Smiling Man Famicom Detective Club
- Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn
- Smurfs 2 in 1 Game Collection
- Leo the Firefighter Cat
- Ugly
- Ufouria: The Saga 2
- The Doinksoft Collection
- Outer Wilds: Archaeologist Edition
New for Evercade
- Tomb Raider Collection 1
- Thalamus Collection 1
Next week: Astro Bot, NBA 2K25, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, The Casting of Frank Stone, Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, Aero The Acro-Bat 2, SUNSOFT is Back! Retro Game Selection, Parcel Corps, Fitness Boxing feat. HATSUNE MIKU, Prison Architect 2, Girl Genius: Adventures In Castle Heterodyne, Star Trucker, 3XTINCTION, Elon and the Divine Proof, Billy’s Game Show, Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open, and Perennial Order.