The gaming industry is back up to full speed, with this week offering a bountiful amount of new releases. If you’re into horror games and simulators, you’re particularly well catered for.
Before diving into those two genres, the week’s biggest releases deserve limelight. The Switch 2 is about to gain an enhanced version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons with improved visuals, mouse support, an increased online player count, and more social options – including a new megaphone item to yell for attention. NiS America’s RPG The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon comes to PS5, PS4, PC and both Switches, meanwhile, boasting a hybrid turn-based/real-time action combat system. Reviews have been positive so far.
The Xbox sees a belated release of the third person supernatural horror DreadOut Remastered Collection – which launched on Switch exactly a year ago – and the slightly newer 1940s set investigative horror The Last Case of John Morley – which is allegedly short and linear, but suitably moody and atmospheric. Apartment No 129 is a new horror coming to all formats, set in 2009 and involving two young girls performing a satanic ritual, while the more psychological BrokenLore: Unfollow is looking visually slick and is based around the dark side of social media.
Loan Shark appears to have a slight horror theme as well, involving the pursuit of horrors of the deep in order to pay off a huge debt. The clue was in the title.
Not everything is gloomy this week as Big Hops – a cutesy stylised 3D platformer starring a frog with a stretchy tongue and the ability to grow veggies – is due. This leads us on nicely to Super Farming Boy – a comical puzzler with Cuphead style visuals. Not to be outdone, there’s the perspective altering puzzle action RPG Cassette Boy. Environmental platform puzzler Kejora should be worth a look too, featuring hand-drawn animation.
Simulator fans may want to investigate the nightclub running Disco Simulator. That’s joined by a self explanatory trio of Bus Driving Simulator: EVO, SimRail – The Railway Simulator, and Tavern Manager Simulator. What we wouldn’t give for a roaring fire.
New release trailers
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon
BrokenLore: Unfollow
Apartment No 129
DreadOut Remastered Collection (Xbox)
The Last Case of John Morley (Xbox)
Big Hops
Kejora
Super Farming Boy
Loan Shark
God bless, or Goddess
Cassette Boy
Disco Simulator
Direction Quad
New multiformat releases
- BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW
- God bless, or Goddess
- Direction Quad
- KEJORA
- Cats Around Us: Giant Cat
- Super Farming Boy
- CASSETTE BOY
New on PSN
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon
- Big Hops
- Nibiru Voyage
- Beetle Shock
- Lantern Push
- Crabwave
- Only Down
- Mole Cart Mining
New on Xbox Store
- DreadOut Remastered Collection
- The Last Case of John Morley
- Disco Simulator
- Dreamscapes – Nightmare’s Heir
- Bus Driving Simulator : EVO
- Loan Shark
- SimRail – The Railway Simulator
- Tavern Manager Simulator
- Bob The Brick Breaker
- Ninja Nightfall
- Mel The Space Cat
- Baking Time
- Battle Puzzle 2048 – Queens of the Abyss
- Grimoire of Domance
- Milo’s Dream
- Neural Requiem
New Switch retail releases
eShop round-up coming Thursday
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons- Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon
- Sonic Wings Reunion
Next week: FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE, MIO: Memories in Orbit, SEGA Football Club Champions, Hextreme Void, Horror Tale 1: 4k Remaster, I’m in Love With Your Dead Grandmother, GrassGames Hearts, 2XKO, The Last Faith: Awakened Ancients, Arknights: Endfield,Look Mum No Computer, MAVRIX by Matt Jones, and Escape from Ever After.