In this edition of RPGs Coming This Week: one of the most anticipated video game expansions ever, and some smaller games unfortunately releasing in the same timeframe. Granted, the audience overlap is probably not significant, so these other titles could find some degree of success. Let’s give them their due, shall we?
#BLUD – June 18th (PS4, XB1, Switch, Windows)
Who invited my man #BLUD? Me, because I grew up in the 2000s, and I feel intense nostalgia for the cartoons that inspired this game. #BLUD is an action RPG and dungeon crawler with an absolutely incredible hand-drawn aesthetic. You play as a cantankerous high schooler descended from a line of vampire hunters, and surprise, your school becomes infested by the bloodsuckers and a host of other demonic creatures. A simple premise is really all this game needs, anyway. There’s a demo up on Steam if you want to try it.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – Quest of Memories – June 20th (PS5, PS4, Switch, Windows)
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – Quest of Memories is a dungeon crawler based on the isekai anime of the same name (without the Quest of Memories bit), and it looks quite promising. Information about it is somewhat scarce, but the trailer above does clarify a few things. First, the game will retell the anime’s story, but it will also feature new scenarios, including the previously untold story of Roxy and her companions. Second, the story bits will be presented in rudimentary, visual novel-esque form, so be warned. Finally, it’s a traditional turn-based affair with a focus on fulfilling guild quests! This is an isekai, all right.
Quest of Memories will run you $44.99 USD at full price. So far, it’s up for pre-order (digitally) on Steam and the Nintendo Switch eShop.
Scars of Mars – June 20th (Windows)
If you dislike Active Time Battle combat (how dare you), you probably won’t enjoy Scars of Mars. This title’s signature feature is real-time combat on a 3×3 grid, and it’s all about continuously positioning your units to execute attacks and protect against enemies. The depth goes beyond battles too; units have some degree of class and skill customization, and you need to mind your battery level as you explore a compromised research facility on Mars.
Real ones know Acquire is an extremely creative studio. Its ideas don’t always pan out, but the games are almost always worth a shot, as Scars of Mars will assuredly be. My recommendation: check out Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault if you want a unique and memorable take on tower defense.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree – June 21st (PS5, XSX, PS4, XB1, Windows)
It’s here. After two long years, FromSoftware will finally deliver the expansion to one of 2022’s best games, and I daresay it’ll be worth the wait. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree will take place in The Land of Shadow, a realm with a mysterious connection to the Lands Between. This new map is about the size of the starting region Limgrave, but expect it to be much more grim and treacherous. Make sure you’ve made enough progress in the base game so you can actually access Shadow of the Erdtree, though.
Also worth noting is that Elden Ring just got new quality-of-life improvements ahead of the expansion. If you wished for an easy way to view new and recently acquired items, you’re in luck. Also, you can bring active Summoning Pools over to new playthroughs now. Thanks, FromSoftware!
Times & Galaxy – June 21st (PS5, XSX, PS4, XB1, Windows)
Times & Galaxy is one of the most “out there” concepts I’ve seen in a while. You play as a robot interning at a mid-sized newspaper (on a galactic scale, of course), and you get assigned to cover small-time stories like shuttle crashes, space ghost funerals, and… intersolar cat shows? Yeah, and you actually do act the part of a journalist here. Once you arrive, you’re expected to find leads, interview folks, and generally snoop around. Making conversation isn’t as simple as paging through dialogue, either; you need to ask the right questions, and you need to balance your relationships so you don’t piss anyone off.
It’s all super promising. This intense attention to detail probably comes from the fact that Times & Galaxy was written by actually former journalists — people who went on to contribute their writing talents to Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition, by the way.
Also Coming This Week
Dicefolk – June 20th (Switch)
The roguelite slash monster collector game Dicefolk is coming this week to Switch. It came out on PC via Steam in February.
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