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 Farming JRPG
Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale (3DS, Mar. 1)
And the award for most belabored Japanese video game title of 2016 (so far) goes to Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale. This one requires a bit of explanation – it’s a crossover between PopoloCrois, an obscure JRPG series based on an ’80s manga, and Story of Seasons, which is what the original Harvest Moon series is now called after switching to a new publisher. What that basically means is the game is a Harvest Moon farming sim with some more elaborate RPG questing and storytelling. Looks interesting, and more polished than most recent Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games.
This Week’s Point-and-Click Adventure Game
Deponia Doomsday (PC, Mac & Linux, Mar. 1)
If you’re into classic-style adventure games, the Deponia titles are definitely worth your time. The underrated series features nice, comic-style art and animation, a wacky sense of humor and some pretty solid production values. Deponia Doomsday, the fourth entry in the series, should deliver more of the same good thing. Here’s the game’s Steam page.
This Week’s Horrifying Retro Adventure
The Count Lucanor (PC, Mar. 3)
At first glance, The Count Lucanor seems like another nice-looking, but unremarkable retro pixel art ode to The Legend of Zelda, but it’s actually much darker and more disturbing. The game’s enemies are all Silent Hill-esque abominations and the world is packed with all sorts of strange, grotesque sights to see. The Count Lucanor also lets you choose your own path, arriving at one of five different endings. Here’s the game’s Steam page.
This Week’s Party Game
Ultimate Chicken Horse (PC, Mac & Linux, Mar. 4)
Ultimate Chicken Horse is a fun-looking new party game concept. Basically, you and your friends take turns trying to beat difficult platforming challenges, but the catch is, you build the stages. Everybody takes turns adding elements to level, trying to make it hard enough to thwart your friends, but not so hard that you can’t make it through. It’s definitely a clever idea. Here’s the game’s Steam page.
Pick of the Week
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U, Mar. 4)
One of the more underappreciated Zelda games returns this week. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, of course, looks better than before, but it also features tweaked level design, Amiibo support and even an all-new dungeon. If you missed Twilight Princess, you should definitely give this remake a look, as it really is one of the better entries in the venerable series.
A bit a light this week, but there’s some interesting stuff if you’re willing to take a chance on something obscure. Any games you’re itching to get your hands on that I failed to mention? Hit the comments and let the world know.