Keeping track of all the games arriving each week on PC, handhelds, consoles and mobile is no easy track, but don’t worry, I’m here to help. Every week in Five Games, I separate the wheat from the chaff and pick the titles you need to pay attention to.
We recently freshened up the Five Games format a bit. The Pick of the Week is now listed first, and the rest of the games are filed under headings that will hopefully be more helpful for you. Looking for the latest indie hotness? Check the Steam picks. Want to download something for your Xbox One or PS4 on a Saturday night? Hit up the Console Downloads section.
We’re a day late because Monday was a holiday, but now, without further ado…
Pick of the Week
The Witcher III: Blood and Wine (PC, Xbox One & PS4, May 31)
The bloody, bawdy world of The Witcher III returns with its biggest expansion yet. Blood and Wine takes place in the colorful, seemingly untouched fairy tale world of Toussaint, but not all is as it seems on the surface. A monstrous killer is on the loose, and it’s up to Geralt to catch him, and unravel Toussaint’s dark secrets.
According to CD Projekt RED, Toussaint is bigger than any of the individual realms in the base Witcher III game, and Blood and Wine should take players at least 20 hours to play though. Toussaint may be colorful, but Blood and Wine isn’t a tale to be taken lightly.
This Week on Steam
Anima: Gate of Memories (PC, June 3)
Anima: Gate of Memories is a new action-RPG, in which you alternate between two characters, Ergo and The Bearer of Calamities. You can even switch characters in the heat of battle, combining their moves to create impressive combos. Anima looks like a stylish, well-tuned throwback to action-RPGs of the PS2 era. Here’s the game’s Steam page.
Hashtag Dungeon (PC, June 1)
At first glance, Hashtag Dungeon just looks like another stylish, pixelated dungeon hack, but this one has a twist. Players design their own dungeon rooms, then can share them via a code on Twitter. Other players can then reply to that tweet with their own rooms, and collaboratively build a dungeon. Sure, it’s a little gimmicky, but anything that makes Twitter less soul destroying is a good thing. Here’s the game’s Steam page.
This Week in Console Downloads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJir9MmfNWI
Dangerous Golf (Xbox & Playstation Stores, June 3)
Feel like writing off Dangerous Golf just because it has the word “Golf” in its title? Don’t. Dangerous Golf is being described as a combination of Burnout and NBA Jam, and in fact it was made by developers who worked on the Burnout series. Basically, Dangerous Golf is a mini-golf game that lets you play places mini-golf shouldn’t be played – kitchens, gas stations, china shops. Oh, and your ball explodes. You want to get the ball in the hole, but you also want to cause as much destruction as possible along the way. This one could very well be the next Rocket League-esque sleeper hit.
This Week in DLC
Hitman: Episode 3 – Marrakesh (PC, Xbox One & PS4)
Each new episode of the new Hitman series delivers a full-on open world with new missions and side targets, and this week Agent 47 is taking a trip to Marrakesh. While touring Morocco, your main mission is to take out a fat cat private banker who’s hiding inside the Swiss embassy. I have a feeling that won’t protect him.
A pretty big week if you’re into DLC. Otherwise, hope you like blowing things up in Dangerous Golf! Any interesting games that I missed? Feel free to shout ’em out below.