The summer releases show no signs of slowing, with a few more sizzlers lined up for this week.
Survival adventure sequel Grounded 2 is about to come out the woodwork, developed by Obsidian with help from Eidos Montréal. The new public park setting is said to be far larger than the original’s suburban backyard, now requiring ‘buggy’ mounts to get around. By teaming up with others, it’s your job to find out what lies underground in this miniaturised world. Look out for it on Game Pass.
After a few delays, Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game is finally out on Tuesday. It’s a cosy adventure set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, in which you’re tasked with helping Hobbiton flourish. This involves decorating, fishing, gardening, foraging, trading with townsfolks and more – with a few familiar faces teased.
Arriving a few weeks ahead of SEGA’s Shinobi revival is NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound, created by the team behind Blasphemous. This 2D hack’ n slash sees young ninja Kenji Mozu trying to protect Hayabusa Village from a demon attack while Ryu Hayabusa travels to America. Kenji isn’t alone in his quest, however, soon join by assassin Kumori. It isn’t long until the duo’s destinies become intertwined.
Dungeon crawling RPG MADO MONOGATARI: Fia and the Wondrous Academy also comes to PS5, PS4 and Switch, being a spin-off of Compile’s Puyo Puyo series and with roots traceable to the ‘90s. Reviews went live last week and were generally positive, with a few 8/10s dished out. Fellow anime-style RPG Noctuary, featuring two protagonists and real-time combat, heads to all formats meanwhile, including Xbox. The PC original, from 2023, was well received.
Kemco’s turn based battler Astral Takers is another option for Xbox RPG fans this week. Additionally, it seems that NiS America are giving a few of their older Switch RPGs physical re-releases, which should make them far easier to find.
Then there’s the promising futuristic racer Cyber Clutch: Hot Import Nights, eastasiasoft’s side-scrolling brawler Maiden Cops, cosy Cornwall set adventure Morgan: Metal Detective, the dreamlike short story A Dream About Parking Lots, fully orchestrated Metroidvania 9 Years of Shadows, and the ‘one click, one turn’ tactical roguelike Day of the Shell.
There’s quite a bit hitting PSN too, including a handful of belated conversions. Amongst these are the tower-defence shooter Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, the retro-style point ‘n clicker Lucy Dreaming, isometric roguelike God of Weapons, and new release Time Flies – based on a fly trying to complete a bucket list, complete with MS Paint style artwork. Coming from the publisher behind Untitled Goose Game, it seems to have generated a buzz on social media.
New release trailers
Grounded 2
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Tales of the Shire
Cyber Clutch: Hot Import Nights
MADO MONOGATARI: Fia and the Wondrous Academy
Maiden Cops
Morgan: Metal Detective
9 Years of Shadows
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap
Noctuary
Lucy Dreaming
Time Flies
Cook Serve Forever
A Dream About Parking Lots
Day of the Shell
Achilles: Survivor
God of Weapons
Astral Takers
Pokettohiro
New multiformat releases
- NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound
- Tales of the Shire
- Cyber Clutch: Hot Import Nights
- Maiden Cops
- Noctuary
- Morgan: Metal Detective
- 9 Years of Shadows
- Cook Serve Forever
- A Dream About Parking Lots
- Day of the Shell
- Achilles: Survivor
- Out of Moves: Another Try
- Pokettohiro
New on PSN
- MADO MONOGATARI: Fia and the Wondrous Academy
- God of Weapons
- Buddy Garden
- Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap
- Lucy Dreaming
- Time Flies
New on Xbox Store
- Grounded 2 (Game Preview)
- Astral Takers
- (Dis)Assemble Xbox
- Dragons vs Balloons TD
- Above Snakes
- Spell Disk
- Date with Devils
- Esophaguys
New Switch retail releases
eShop round-up coming Thursday
- MADO MONOGATARI: Fia and the Wondrous Academy
- Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 2
- The Cruel King and the Great Hero
- Shin chan Shiro and the Coal Town
- Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley and Skytree Village
- Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade
Next week: Mafia: The Old Country, GRADIUS ORIGINS, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2, Battle Mythic Maidens Arena, Knowledge or know Lady, CASE RECORDS: Fear of Abduction, Slopecrashers, Alien Breakout, Money Laundering Simulator, Giant Machines 2017, and Little Helper Café.