PCs, handhelds, mobile, console, indies, triple A, free-to-play — the gaming scene gets more diverse and difficult to follow by the day, but thankfully I’m here every week to guide you through what’s happening with games.
As always, I’ll rattle off five games I think you might want to check out this week. Keep in mind, these articles aren’t meant to be comprehensive lists of everything coming out that week so much as a nice rounded tasting menu. So, here are the games you need to know about this week…
This Week’s Strategy-RPG
The Banner Saga 2 (PC & Mac, April 19)
The Banner Saga was a strategy-RPG, which put you in command of a band of Vikings forging their way through a beautifully rendered Norse fantasy world. The Banner Saga 2 is more of the same, but that’s certainly not a bad thing. The choices you made in the first game continue to have impact in The Banner Saga 2, and this time around you’ll have even deeper, more difficult decisions to make. Here’s the game’s Steam page.
This Week’s Space Exploration Game
POLLEN (PC, April 20)
POLLEN is an atmospheric adventure game, in which you explore a mysterious, abandoned space station on Saturn’s moon, Titan. Nearly everything on the station is interactive, and can be used to solve puzzles or illuminate the station’s dark history. POLLEN looks like it will be pretty absorbing on a regular computer monitor, but you can also fully immerse yourself in the game using the Oculus and HTC Vive. Here’s the game’s Steam page.
This Week’s Game For Nervous Folks
The Average Everyday Adventures of Samantha Browne (PC, Mac & Linux, April 19)
When you suffer from social anxiety, sometimes even the most mundane talks can turn into harrowing trials. Everyday Adventures of Samantha Browne is about a college student trying to make herself some instant oatmeal for dinner. It may not be as easy as you think. Samantha Browne isn’t a huge game, only about half an hour long, but it’s also free, and might make folks with social anxiety feel a little more understood. Here’s the game’s Steam page.
This Week’s Other Star Fox Game
Star Fox Guard (Wii U, Apr. 22)
Yes, Nintendo went and made a game starring Slippy Toad. Shigeru Miyamoto does what he wants, man. Essentially a Nintendo version of Five Nights at Freddy’s, Star Fox Guard tasks you with defending your base by monitoring a variety of security cameras on your Wii U GamePad. Star Fox Guard comes packaged with the physical version of Star Fox Zero, although you can purchase is separately from the Nintendo eShop.
Pick of the Week
Star Fox Zero (Wii U, Apr. 22)
After laying fallow for years, the Star Fox franchise returns in a big way with Star Fox Zero. This new game features a new, unique control scheme that makes heavy use of the Wii U GamePad, but don’t be afraid. Contrary to some previews, I found the controls easy to master, and can easily say Star Fox Zero is definitely one of the very best games in the series (I’ll have full review later this week). If you’ve been barrel-rolling since the 90s, you’re definitely going to want to check this one out.
A big week if you’re into spacey stuff! Any games you’re itching to get your hands on that I failed to mention? Hit the comments and let the world know.