The first Code Vein, released in 2019 on PS4 and Xbox One, wasn’t too well received critically, yet allegedly went on to shift over 3m copies. So, if you’re wondering why Bandai Namco commissioned a sequel, there’s your answer. With six years and a console generation separating the two, it’s hoped this post-apocalyptic adventure sequel will make good on the original’s promises. The time-travelling storyline certainly sounds interesting, also featuring a new monster species.
As it’s the end of the month, ergo the first payday of the year for many, it’s quite a busy week for new releases. Also on the agenda are Rebellion’s revival of the brash sports sim Speedball – which has been in early access on PC for a while – stealthy survival horror The 9th Charnel, the arcane gunslinger-starring PvP raid shooter Highguard, and Forever’s strategic mech battler FRONT MISSION 3: Remake.
Then there’s the playdough-style prehistoric platformer Crosak, the cel-shaded mountain climbing adventure Cairn, isometric crafting-based horror I Hate This Place, the PSVR2’s physics-based cooking game Umami Grove, and a console release of the puzzle roguelike Drop Duchy: Complete Edition – which is due on Xbox Game Pass.
We can also expect the dreamy pixel-art shooter Rightfully, Beary Arms, the cartoony point and clicker Fred & Jeff: The Atomic Sulfate, eastasiasoft’s Heroes Battle Awakening – which seems uncannily similar to Plants vs. Zombies – and the crime sim American Theft 80s. That last one appears to have been a long time coming to consoles, with trailers for the PC version knocking on five years old.
[UPDATE] Limited Run’s Nickelodeon Splat Pack is out 30th Jan, featuring Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, GUTS, and Rocko’s Modern Life: Spunky’s Dangerous Day.
New release trailers
Code Vein 2
Speedball
The 9th Charnel
Cairn
Highguard
Drop Duchy: Complete Edition
Rightfully, Beary Arms
Crosak
Umami Grove
I Hate This Place
FRONT MISSION 3: Remake
Heroes Battle Awakening
Our Burial Dolls Remastered
Fred & Jeff: The Atomic Sulfate
Running Fable Petite Party
New multiformat releases
- Code Vein 2
- Speedball
- The 9th Charnel
- Cairn
- Highguard
- Drop Duchy: Complete Edition
- Rightfully, Beary Arms
- Crosak
- I Hate This Place
- FRONT MISSION 3: Remake
- Heroes Battle Awakening
- American Theft 80s
- Fred & Jeff: The Atomic Sulfate
- Running Fable Petite Party
New on PSN
- Umami Grove
- Nickelodeon Splat Pack
- Our Burial Dolls Remastered
- Dark Auction
- No longer human
- Do You Really Know?
- Deep Combat
- Vironics
- Pulse
- The Courier
New on Xbox Store
- Our Adventurer Guild
- Neon Vault Rush
- Countless Army
- Gas Ratio
- Majotori
- SUDOKU CHAMPIONS
- Heavy Duty
- Lara Returns to the castle
- Celestial Ascend
- Stable Stories – Forest and Meadow Ride
New Switch retail releases
eShop round-up coming Thursday
- Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights
Next week: Nioh 3, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, MY HERO ACADEMIA: All’s Justice, Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, Aces of Thunder, Tiny Biomes, Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, Lovish, and Dragon Spira (PS5).