PlayStation announced Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered with a first-reveal t??railer on September 24, showcasing the visual improvements made over the originals and introducing story beats and key players in the games like Raziel and Kain.

Crystal Dynamics returns as deve?loper, while Aspy??r Games takes over publishing duties from the now-defunct Eidos Interactive.

Despite the critical and commercial success of the series, Legacy of Kain hasn't gotten a new installment since Defiance in 2003. In that time, the franchise went mostly forgotten and ignored, also failing to receive any ports to newer consoles. But the Soul Reaver remaster means big things are likely in the future for Legacy of Kain.

Studios typically use smaller, less-expensive projects as a tool to test the waters of the market, and gauge interest in a specific intellectual property. If the "feeler" product sells well, or exceeds expectations by other parameters, the publisher moves forward with a new title in the series. Capcom utilized this strategy with the Marvel vs Capcom Collection. And with the announcement of the Legacy of Kain graphic novel in August, Aspyr is probably doing the same with the Soul Reaver remaster.

Soul Reaver is part of the wider Legacy of Kain mythos, which also includes Blood Omen, Blood Omen 2, and Defiance. The series chronicles the vampire Kain's rise to power in the land of Nosgoth, and his lieutenant, Raziel's attempts to topple the overlord and restore balance to the world. The franchise as a whole received mostly positive reviews, with the Soul Reaver titles being the standouts. Aspyr Games recently worked on another remaster of a turn-of-the-century franchise in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. C?rystal Dynamics developed Tomb Raid??er games in the past, so perhaps a working relationship between the companies may herald another revival.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered is available now for preorder. It is se??t to release on December 10 on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC for $29.99.

The post Legacy of Kain Sou??l Reaver remaster spark??s the revival of a forgotten franchise appeared first on Destructoid.

The Professor Layton games are an absolut?ely stunning example of the puzzle genre, with some crime-fighting thrown in for good measure. With the next installment in the series coming in 2025, let’s take a look back at the previous releases. 

If yo?u want to play all of the Professor Layton games, you’re likely wondering whether you should do it chronologically or in order of release. Well, the good news is that either o??ption is entirely open to you. It just depends on whether you can handle some differences in gameplay. 

How to play all Professor Layton games in release order

Within the community, it’s commonly believed that this is the preferable way to play through the series of games. Although the story will be a bit disjointed, as the chronological order of the ga??mes is different from the release order, it can be hard to overcome gameplay differences.

?Many of ?the later games implemented quality-of-life upgrades, which would have made the earlier games much nicer to play, so losing them can make it hard to stomach the older games.

Here’s how to play all of the Professor Layton games in order of release:

How to play all Professor Layton games in chronological order

If you’re able to accept that gameplay might be a little inconsistent, then y?ou can play the games in chronological order. It’s like watching the Star Wars movies in chronological order and having to accept that the older movies, while more recent in the in-universe timeline, have more dated effects. 

Based on the Prime Minister’s speech during the prologue of Unwound Future, the Professor Layton games mostly take place in the 1960s, although? the exact time?? setting for each game is unknown. 

Here’s the chronological order of all Professor Layton games so far:

1. Professor Layton and the Last Specter
2. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask
3. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy
4. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
5. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
6. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
7. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
8. Layton Brothers: Mystery Room
9. Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires�?Conspiracy

When is the next Professor Layton game going to be released?

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam is set to release on Nintendo Switch at some point during 2025. The events we've yet to see in the upcoming addition to the Layton universe take place one year after the events of Unwound Future, which would place New World of Steam as the eighth game in the chronological order of Layton games.

The post How to play the Professor Layton Games in order appeared first on Destructoid.

About a billion and six years ago, I played an indie puzzle game about connecting and stacking little balls of goo in order to reach an end goal. I realize I'm probably not selling that idea well, but it's exciting to know that the sequel �?the aptly named World of Goo 2 �?will be releasing at the end of this week.

Scheduled to come out on August 2, the follow-up to 2008's World of Goo? has been in the pipeline for almost 16 years. So much has changed since then, but 2D Boy's upcoming game looks as though it's retaining what ma??de the original such a charming experience.

According to Tomorrow Corporation �?which is collaborating on the pr??oject �?the sequel will be "bursting with undiscovere?d new species of Goo," adding that we'll be able to explore a "new story spanning hundreds of thousands of years and watch the world change."

More like World of Two...amirite?

One thing about World of Goo 2 is that �?accordin?g to the studio �?while you'll be able to buy it off the official website completely DRM-free, it's also going to be available on the Epic Games Store and the Nintendo Switch eShop??. Doesn't look like it's coming to Steam or any other platform. Whether this will change cannot be said at this stage.

Personally, I am looking forward to this one. The original had lashings of character, a unique style that blended colorful landscapes with cutsc?enes that look like they wouldn't be out of place in a Tim Burton animation. Plus all that Goo, innit.

It is a shame the new game won't be on Steam, as the first World of Goo is on there. I would definitely urge anyone who's interested in physics-based? puzzle games to give it a go. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You might even goo a bit.

The post World of Goo 2 drops this Frida??y, 16 years after ?the original appeared first on Destructoid.

After a decade-long hiatus, we finally have a new mainline Pikmin mainline entry in our hands. The adorable plant creatures are back, and this time they are joined by Oatchi the lovable rescue pup. Though the series has struggled a bit in the past, Pikmin 4 has made quite a ???splash since its launch, managing to reach the top of the Japan sales charts.

[caption id="attachment_394079" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid.[/caption]

Pikmin 4 has a successful launch

As revealed by Gemastu, Pikmin 4 has sold 401,853 physical copies in its first week. This strong opening surpasses the first-week sales of all three prior games combined. Nintendo has been doing a great job of keeping players Pikmin-crazy all year, as the Pikmin 1+2 bundle was made available on the Switch in June.

With Pikmin 4 at the number one spot, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom slides to second place on the Japan sales charts after several w?eeks at the top. Despite this, Link’s latest adventure still manages to sell exceedingly well, with 15,616 physical copies sold in Ja??pan between July 17 and 23. This brings up the lifetime physical sales in Japan to 1,775,035.

For context, you can find the complete list below. Lifeti?me sales in brackets if applicable:

1: Pikmin 4 (Switch) �?401,853
2: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) �?15,616 (1,775,035)
3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) - 10,749 (5,385,022)
4. Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening (Switch) - 10,633
5. Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening (PS4) - 10,434
6. Minecraft (Switch) - 7,512 (3,200,000)
7. Splatoon 3 (Switch) - 6,337 (4,066,350)
8. Nintendo Switch Sports (Switch) - 5,784 (1,131,645)
9. Final Fantasy 16 (PS5) - 4,904 (401,376)
10. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) - 4,844 (5,239,500)

As usual, the Nintendo Switch dominates the sales charts. Though some are ??eager for a successor to the handheld, the charts illustrate that players are still getting ple??nty of life out of it.

The post Pikmin 4 t?o??ps Japan sales charts, dethroning Tears of the Kingdom appeared first on Destructoid.

Mastering the art of Dandori

When you’re not out collecting treasures and finding new Pikmin, you can participate in Dandori Battles which have you racing against an opponent to gather the most items. You can play them solo or with a friend. The battles are more challenging than they m?ay initially seem, and it’ll ??take a fair deal of strategizing to come out on top.

If you want to up your game, learn these tips for winning Dandori Battles in Pikmin 4.

[caption id="attachment_393179" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid.[/caption]

Don’t spread yourself too thin

A??t first, Dando??ri Battles can be overwhelming. There are several items to collect, a timer is running, and you also need to worry about hostile creatures. Things get a little easier if you have a good idea of what plates you need to keep spinning. These are the tasks that you need to complete with your Pikmin:

• Carrying items - to win Dandori Battles, you need to score the most points by collecting items and bringing them back to your base
• Defense - you need the Pikmin and Oatchi to take on any creatures that cross your path
• Overcoming obstacles - sometimes obstacles will stand in your path. Use your Pikmin to get around them.

Ensure you have enough Pikmin to delegate to each of these tasks. It may be tempting to have all your Pikmin carrying items, but you’ll soon find that it l??eaves you very vulnerable.

[caption id="attachment_393180" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid.[/caption]

Take advantage of Oatchi

You have the adorable pup Oatchi to help you out. You can use the dog as a mount, allowing you and your Pikmin to travel faster and jump over obstacles. Oatchi can also charge at enemies, which can be devastating to them. When you’re low on Pikmin, the pup can also carry items.

Cleverly using Oatchi’s abilities will allow you to increase your efficiency. Be careful when taking on enemies with the dog, as it can only handle so much abuse before its health fully depletes and it has to recover before it can be used again. Upgrade Oatchi as much as possible by speaking to Shepherd and spending???? your accumulated Pup Drive.

[caption id="attachment_393178" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid.[/caption]

Attack your opponent

You and your opponent share a battlefield, allowing you to sabotage their efforts. This can be done by throwing your Pikmin their way and stealing items they are carrying, or by dropping off Sneak Bombs at their base. Your opponents can also interfere with? you, so be prepared to defend yourself against hostile attacks.

[caption id="attachment_393181" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid.[/caption]

Go big or go home

Although playing things safe and collecting items closest to your base is a solid strategy, sometimes it pays to be daring and go for the bigger treasures. These will net you more points though you’ll nee??d lots of Pikmin to carry them, and you’ll have to bewar??e of enemies and your opponent that could both sabotage you on the way.

In addition to Dandori Battles, there are also Dandori Challenges to complete. You’ll have to accumulate a certain number of po?ints in a given time to win these challenges. Of course, this means plenty of treasure collecting and monster hunting.

The post Tips for winning Dandori Battles in Pikmin 4 appeared first on Destructoid.

One long night

2011’s Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective feels like it’s always bee?n a bit of an oddball. The DS title was Ace Attorney director Shu Takumi’s shot to create something new, a �?/span>different kind of mystery�?from the courtroom battles of Phoe?nix Wright and fri??ends.

Though received well, sales seem mixed; it was a best-selling Ninten?do DS game in Japan the week of its release, but Capcom would later note it struggled. All of this h??elped build, at least in my perception, a cult-classic vibe around it. It wasn’t the most popular DS game, ??but those in the know who dug the DS highly valued it.

So that's where we find Ghost Trick now, as it's getting a revival on modern consoles. A demo is currently available, containing the first two chapters. And alongside a chance to play that section a little early, we had the opportunity to chat with the development team behind the remaster. In correspondence with director Atsushi Maruyama, producer Shingo Izumi, and the original director Shu Takum??i, we got to learn a little bit about how this all cam?e about, what the challenges were, and what the team's hopes are for this new version of a cult classic.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=USeyaeClNhs

How did the pitch for a new Ghost Trick remaster come about? When did discussions first start, and what was the drive behind it?

Shingo Izumi: We are always discussing and considering what titles we can bring back. Within those discussions, I think talk of remastering Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective came about in the latter half of 2021. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a title that many have requested to be remastered, and many who have played it rate it very highly. We really wanted to give those who haven't been able to play it over these 13 years an opportunity to do so, and that was the reason we decided to re-release it. That's also the reason we are releasing the game on multiple platforms and have also added additional languages. 13 years have passed since Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective originally released, but it retains a universal appeal regardless of your age, country, or hardware you play it on, which is another ?large factor in ou??r decision to re-release the game.

What were your goals for remastering Ghost Trick? How faithful did you want to stay to the original when updating aspects like the resolution?

Izumi: I really wanted to preserve that universal appeal that I pr?eviously mentioned. Since we are re-releasing the game on multiple platforms, I wanted to make sure that we achieved the same level of quality regardless of which hardware you play it on.

Atsushi Maruyama: My goal was to have the game converted to high defi??nition so that a player would feel completely natural playing it today.

[caption id="attachment_386872" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Ghost Trick first launched on Nintendo DS with dual-screens, and then came to iOS, with touch-screen controls. With that in mind, were there any unexpected challenges in bringing Ghost Trick to a controller-driven platform? What kind of work did you do to adapt the gameplay, if so?

Maruyama: The biggest challenge was adjusting the user interface (UI) of the game. In this game, “where�?and ”how�?information is displayed has a large impact on the gameplay. Within that, a particularly difficult element was displaying inform?ation relating to the "trick" action. It's very important to understand whether you can?? trick an item after possessing it, and what you can do. We approached the design with the player's point of view in mind to create the UI that you see in the game.

How did it feel to go back to Ghost Trick now, 13 years after it first launched? Did anything in particular stick out to you while revisiting this work?

Shu Takumi: Of course, it was very nostalgic returning to the game 13 years later, but I still play Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective once every few years or so. Because of that, I still remember the content of the game very well. For this re-release, I supervised the rearrangement of the game's music. It was the first time I worked with Yasumasa Kitagawa since The Great Ace Attorney, and I also met again with the composer of the origi?nal game's music, Masakazu Sugimori, which was very nostalgic as well.

For the actual remaster of the game itself, I left it in the hands of the development team, and I was not directly involved. I'm looking forward to playing this refined version on a large screen alon??gside everyone else once it releases.

[caption id="attachment_386873" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

This remaster includes a new song from the original composer, Masakazu Sugimori. Why did the team want to include a new track, and what do you feel it brings to this new version of Ghost Trick?

Izumi: We wanted something that would be new even to those who've already played the Nintendo DS or iPhone version of the game, which is why we added a new son?g. The new song is titled "Ghost World" and just like the title, really captures th??e mysteriousness and atmosphere of the game. I hope you enjoy it!

Maruyama: To add to that, I think the new song does a great job of capturing the feeling of the Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective world and matches perfectly with the main art for this game. Listening to it makes you feel like you're experiencing the world of Ghost Trick even more.

[caption id="attachment_386874" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

After going back to Ghost Trick, is this something you’d be interested in continuing in the future? Do you feel like Ghost Trick is a one-off, or that it might be worth exploring more games like this?

Izumi: Right now, we are dedicating all we have to deliver Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective to as many players as possible, so we haven't had time to think about what we're going to do after that. But I hope the amount of people who? play this game is large enough t??hat it makes us want to consider a sequel!

The post Ghost Trick’s developers talk music, challenges, and how a cult classic got its revival appeared first on Destructoid.

The true test of ergonomics returns

Another pretty special release has joined the Arcade Archives release, as publisher Hamster rolls out the intensely puzzling and bizarrely titled Tetris The Absolute Grand Master 2 Plus �?now available to download on PS4 and Nintendo Switch??.

Developed by Arika and published by the last bastion of the coin-op, Psikyo, Tetris The Absolute Grand Master 2 Plus, (known in the community as simply "TGM2" or "TAP"), hit Japanese arcades in 2000, launched as a last-minute update to the original TGM2 board. Much like its predecessor, Tetris The Grand Master, TGM2 is an expert-level iteration of Alexey Pajitnov's classic block-busting puzzler, and tasks players with using ada??ptation and forward-thinking to manage a rapidly filli??ng playfield of Tetrominos.

Check out a bout of TGM2 T.A. Death in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber Masterjun3.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcjqNkiT8q0

TGM2 retains the complex gameplay of its predecessor but adds a casual player-friendly "Normal" mode, as well as an evolved edition of "Master" mode, which features huge acceleration after level 500. Also part of the update is the incredibly challenging "T.A. Death" mode, which features fixes 20G gravity settings, as well as a consistently high speed from the get-go. It is considered one of the most difficult challenges in Tetris history. The arrival of TGM2, (and previously TGM), on the Arcade Archives plugs a gap that has been in the collections of Tetris fans the world over for generations.

Well, at least in an official capacity... Now get droppin'!

Tetris The Absolute Grand Master 2 Plus is?? ??available to download now on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

The post Tetris The A??bsolute Grand Master 2 Plus drops into the Arcade Archives appeared first on Destructoid.

Enter the Abyss

Epic Games has revealed the next two titles that it will be offering up to all Epic Games Store users free of charge next week �?And it looks like deep sea diving and mythic adventure is the name of the game, with the arrival of E-Line Media's Beyond Blue and Upper One Games' cutesy platformer Never Alone.

//www.youtube.c??om/watch???v=pOAWBCXpo6k&ab_channel=BeyondBlue

Released on PC and consoles in the spring of 2020, Beyond Blue is an informative undersea adventure, inspired by the critically acclaimed BBC series The Blue Planet. As deep-sea researcher Mirai, the player will explore the fathoms of the deepest oceans, investigating the flora and fauna that dwells within this fascinating and sometimes alien universe. On release, Beyond Blue was praised by critics for its immersive atmosphere and heavenly vibes, though some were disappointed with its lack of activity and somewhat empty world. You can check out Jordan Devore's thoughts on the game right here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM_80zVzwpI

Developed by Upper One Games and released way back in 2014, Never Alone is a wholesome puzzle platformer that is also an adaptation of the legendary Iñupiat tale of "Kunuuksaayuka". The story concerns th??e odyssey of a young Iñupiat girl, Nuna, and her arctic fox companion as they attempt to identify the source of a strange blizzard that has engulfed their community.

Synergizing the abilities of the two characters, players must negotiate the world, dodging hazards and traversing the environment, while pressing ever closer to the truth about the strange snowstorm. Never Alone received divisive review?s, with many praising the title's attractive art style and informative and historical nature, while others complained about the game's controls and general mechanics.

Beyond Blue and Never Alone will be available to download from Epic Games Store from April 20 until April 27. Until then, players still have the opportunity to bag current freebies Mordhau and Second Extinction before their removal on Wednesday.

The post Beyond Blue and Never Alone are next week’s Epic Games Store freebies appeared first on Destructoid.

The rabbit hole is no more

In glum news for Gothic gaming fans everywhere, producer and screenwriter American McGee has seemingly confirmed that EA has rejected his pitch for a third title in the cult platform adventure series American McGee's Alice. The second sequel, tentatively title Alice: Asylum, wil?l no longer move forward as planned, with the series creator currently convinced that the series has come to an end.

Having built up a following via crowdfunding website Patreon, McGee took various materials to the publisher, including concept art, design documents, a narrative outline, and a development "bible", but it seems that EA simply didn't have the same interest or passion for the project as McGee and his backers. Speaking on Twitter, McGee suggests that this motion not only represents an "endpoint" for the Alice universe, but also for his own interest in the game development indus??try.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=roV8oWmL9q4&ab_??channel=AmericanMcGee

The original American McGee's Alice launched on PC in 2000 and told a particularly grim tell of Lewis Carrol's troubled young hero as she returns to a darkened take on Wonderland. This extremely cult release would be followed up in 2011 with action-heavy sequel Alice: Madness Returns. It should be noted that both titles are merely "fine" at best, but still garnered loyal, dedicated fanbases due to their curiously dark tastes, strange weapon designs, and intriguing takes on the Alice in Wonderland mythos.

McGee has attempted to get Alice: Asylum off of the drawing desk for many, many years, and it seems that this fight has taken its toll on the will and patience of the creator. McGee notes that he has no interest in developing further video games, and, should any company ever pick up the Alice license, then they will likely be making furth??er titles without his input.

Would you tell me, ple??ase, which way I ought to go from here?

Indeed.

The post American McGee’s Alice reaches ‘endpoint’ as EA rejects sequel pitch appeared first on Destructoid.

Flipping blocks and birds

Team Meat has lifted the lid on a brand new title set within the Super Meat Boy universe �?Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine is a brand new Match-4 puzzler currently in the works for P?C and console platforms, with an e??xpected launch window of 2023.

The new title, a clear pun on the 1993 Puyo Puyo reskin Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, will similarly task players with clearing out a playfield of familiar Super Meat Boy iconography against a strict time limit. As new sets of characters drop onto the playing area, the player will have to use efficient forward-playing to match up the icons with? th??e brethren, clearing out space while setting up the remaining characters for smart, chain-reaction results down the line. In addition, the playfield will feature its own set of hazards, including rockets, pendulums, and those oh-so-pesky buzzsaws.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAW?Z14r93EU&ab_channel=PlaySt??ation

Developed in cooperation with Team Meat and the original SMB artists, Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine will feature over 100 levels of "one-of-a-kind" gameplay, packed out with elements of the seminal 2010 release Super Meat Boy and the... not-so-seminal 2020 sequel Super Meat Boy Forever. A soundtrack by the returning RIDICULON will feature both new a new score as well as remi??xes of the popular and memorable soundt??racks from the original games. Of course, everything will be splattered with the grotesque humor and strange, twisted aesthetic that helped make the original game such an incredible success story.

Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine is coming to PlayStation, PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch platforms in 2023.

The post Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine is a Super Meat Boy match puzzler appeared first on Destructoid.

A witch, an alchemist, and a wrestler walk into a bar...

March 2023 is heating up with plenty of exciting game releases. Resident Evil 4 Remake will modernize the horror classic with spectacular visuals, while Atelier Ryza 3 is taking the series?????????????????????????? open world for the first time.

In addition, we'll be getting a brand-new WarGames mode in WWE 2K23 and exploring a certain witch's past in Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. H?ere's what to expect?? from the March 2023 games lineup.

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & The Secret Key (NSW, PS4, PS5, PC)

[caption id="attachment_365614" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Koei Tecmo[/caption]

Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Developer: Gust
Price: $59.99
Release Date: March 24
Trailer

Firstly, the fan-favorite Atelier series takes its introductory steps into an open world, and this will sadly be the conclusion to Ryza's story. Koei Tecmo seems to be stepping up the action with 11 playable characters, a seamless open-world design with multiple biomes, and a grand story involving the Code of the Universe. It will also have some fun alchemy mechanics, which makes the series stand out among the rest of the JRPG juggernauts, like Final Fantasy and Persona. Atelier Ryza 3 was recently delayed by a month. Hopefully, the game is technically sound and will run great when the game???? is in the players' hands.

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon (NSW)

[caption id="attachment_365612" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Nintendo[/caption]

Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: PlatinumGames
Price: $59.99
Release Date: March 17
Trailer

Coming out of nowhere in an early 2023 Nintendo Direct, Bayonetta Origins: Cereza of the Demon tells the origin story of the legendary witch. Cereza (her name before being called Bayonetta), alongside her first demon Cheshire, is on a quest to save her mother with a power found within the forest. She'll be solving puzzles and fighting faeries, even as a child. This game will likely give some fascinating backstory to the beloved witch in the Bayonetta series. There's an expectation of quality from this cult hit series, so?? hopefully, this game wi?ll deliver.

Resident Evil 4 Remake (PS5, PS4, XSX|S, PC)

[caption id="attachment_365615" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Capcom[/caption]

Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Price: $59.99
Release Date: March 24
Trailer

One of the most prolific horror games ever made, Resident Evil 4, is finally receiving a remake in March. Similarly to the two prior remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, RE4 is getting a complete reworking of its gameplay and graphics. The animation and texture quality is incredible, while the gameplay has been remade to fit more modern tastes. That means no more tank controls! In addition, the pesky quick-time events of the original have been completely removed. While Capcom's attempts to bring back Resident Evil 3 arguably disappointed fans, Resident Evil 4 Remake can hopefully pick up the slack.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX|S, PC)

[caption id="attachment_365626" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Koei Tecmo[/caption]

Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Developer: Team NINJA
Price: $59.99
Release Date: March 3
Trailer

After the tepid audience response to Wild Hearts (according to the UK charts via PlayStation Trophies), Koei Tecmo is likely hoping Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will be a hit. This action RPG pits you against mighty bosses across the Three Kingdoms. Set in a dark fantasy interpretation of the late Han Dynasty, you'll face off foes with swordplay that's based on Chinese martial arts. You'll have access to multiple weapons like dual swords, glaives, a spear, a staff, and 14 other types. You'll also be able to use magic like fire and ice-elemental abilities against your enemies. Hopefully, this Souls-like hits with Team NINJA's many fans of Nioh. There's a demo out as well if you're curious about this JRPG.

WWE 2K23 (PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX|S, PC)

[caption id="attachment_365629" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via 2K[/caption]

Publisher: 2K
Developer: Visual Concepts
Price: $59.99
Release Date: March 17
Trailer

Unlike the 2021-2022 season, WWE has been red-hot over the past year with the return of Cody Rhodes, the championship reign of the E.S.T. Bianca Belair, and the incredible storytelling from the Bloodline faction. Hopefully, WWE 2K23 takes advantage of the hype that's been building toward Wrestlemania in 2023. The game is introducing a new WarGames mode, which has two wrestling rings combined within a cage. In addition, the MyGM mode is getting a big upgrade with new managers, match types, and more show options with four people instead of just two. Wrestlers like Logan Paul and the original GOAT Bruno Sammartino are a part of the roster as well. It'??s one of the March 2023 games that diehard fans wil?l want.

Honorable Mentions

[caption id="attachment_365630" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Awaceb &?; Kepler Interactive[/caption]

Thankfully, there's a promising indie that has to be included on this list: Tchia. It's an open world that has the titular character exploring the beautiful archipelago islands and sailing the seas. A neat mechanic in this game is that you can take control of any animal in the game. You can even learn the ukelele in Tchia. It's docking onto PS?4, PS5, and the Epic Games Store on March 21.

Additionally, Crime Boss: Rockay City is making its way to consoles and PC (Epic Games Store) on March 28. Starring Hollywood talents like Chuck Norris and Michael Rooker, this crime-based first-person shooter has you planning heists, similar to Payday. The twist is it has roguelike mechanics as you take down enemy forces from rival gangs and avoid the? custody of Officer Norris. The action seems fun an?d having more co-op experiences can only be a good thing.

The post Most anticipated game releases – March 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

New blocks just dropped

Next week sees the compelling blockbuster Tetris Effect: Connected make its debut on both PS5 and the newly launched PlayStation VR 2 (PSVR 2) platform �?In addition to these new editions, a fresh update for al??l versions will be bringing a selection of new mod??es to the iconic, wall-building puzzler.

//youtu.be/BiL6U_iONN4

Available from February 22, the free update will bring four new modes to Tetris Effect: Connected. These include Classic Score Attack, (complete with PAL/NTSC speed toggles), Zone Marath??on, which, as the name suggests, adds the Zone mechanics to Marathon mode, and Endless options for both Master and Purify modes. You can check out an explainer video above, demonstrating the new modes. The video also features comments from pro-Tetris players Blink and Yoshimi.

The PS5 edition of Tetris Effect: Connected will include additional features including support for Haptic Feedback on Dual Sense, PSVR 2 Sense, and the PSVR 2 headset. as well as 4K resolution support. The PSVR2 release will also support eye tracking, and will allow players to select their zone of choice by looking ?directly at the zone and performing a hard blink. Nice touch.

Tetris Effect: Connected launches on PS5 and PSVR 2 on February 22. It is available right now on PS4, PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Lu??na, and Oculus Quest.

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Oh no, you can’t skip the tutorial

Wetrix was an easily overlooked little puzzler. Released in 1998 for the N64 before getting ported to PC and Dreamcast, it was unconventional, to say the least. While the name is probably supposed to remind you of Tetris, there’s a lot more to it than trying to wipe out a wall of tetrominoes. The goal is to wall up areas to hold water, and doing a good job rewards you with ducks. I think we can all agree that ducks are a pretty great reward. They’re like chill geese that won’t drag your child away?.

If Wetrix was easily overlooked, its 2000 sequel blended in with the carpeting. Despite enjoying the original and knowing the existence of a follow-up, I only recently got around to trying it. That’s because it’s not named Wetrix 2 in North America. It’s Aqua Aqua.

[caption id="attachment_362813" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Uppers, downers, lefters, righters

To be clear, it’s only Aqua Aqua in North America. In Europe, it was Aqua Aqua: Wetrix 2.0, which gets the point a lot clearer. On the other hand, Japan had the stylized Aquaqua, which is slightly more fun to say. “A-kwa-kwa.�?/p>

The box art was also awful in North America. If the name wasn’t unrecognizable enough, the cover looks like it belongs at the bottom of a bargain bin. The game, on the other hand, doesn’t belong there. I mean, as long as you like Wetrix, it doesn’t. And you should.

I outlined the basics above, and that largely remains accurate. In fact, I’m scouring my brain for any major differences between Wetrix and Aqua Aqua, and I’m coming up with bupkiss. You make ponds. Except for this time??, your reward varies depending on the board you’re playing on. Sometimes it's dinosaurs, and dinosaurs are nearly as awesome as ducks.

You’re given a square of land to build on, and you create your pools by setting various block shapes on it that fall from the sky. These “uppers�?aren�?�t the only things that drop on ??you, however. There are also “downers,�?bombs, fire, water, and ice. You have to manage all these various terrain movers to create the biggest, deepest pools for your dinosaurs.

[caption id="attachment_362814" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Rainbow!

Actually, saying “biggest, deepest,�?pools might be a bit inaccurate. Scoring is a bit of a mystery in Aqua Aqua, even after playing the tutorial. Essentially, points are scored for most actions you take, whether it’s fixing a hole in the landscape or dropping enough uppers. To get higher scores, you need to build your multiplier, and there’s a slew of ??ways to do this.

One of the most obvious is simply by having more lakes. While having on??e big body of water has its advantages, more lakes will increase your multiplier. Having a certain amount of depth in one of these lakes will also attract the aforementioned “lake mates�?like dinosaurs. They’re multipliers too. If you have enough water on your board, a rainbow will stretch across; that’s another multiplier. Finally, clearing water by dropping fire on it might land you with an item for your bingo board. Completing lines will do various things like�?increase you multiplier.

Aqua Aqua is more of an art than a science. It’s hard to be e??xact with it, but the main factor in deciding your success is not spilling a lot of water. As you spill water, a gauge fills, and when it’s at maximum, the round is over. The gauge also depletes, so losing a bit of liquid isn’t the end of the world.

[caption id="attachment_362815" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Ducks and Dinosaurs

One of the main new additions to Aqua Aqua is a story mode. Well, “Story�?is a little generous, but it gives you a series of levels to play through. Four to be exact, which isn’t a lot and won’t take you very long provided you know the basics of how to play. The basics are something you have to know going into the story mode because it’s not unlocked until you play through an excruciating tutorial. However, ther??e is motivation to pursue higher scores on each of the stages.

The main wrinkle here is twofold. First, the matches aren’t endless. Survive for enough tim??e, and it ends. Second, there are monsters who will occasionally bombard your landscape. By getting enough points in the time before they show up, you can block their attacks, but even if they do hit you, it isn’t the end of the match. Usually, it will just jazz up your landscape a bit.

Be careful, however, if your aquascaping gets a bit too undulating, you’ll trigger an ??earthquake. While t?hese are survivable, they’re pretty devastating. You’ll need to pop some downers to prevent your board from becoming too bumpy. It’s a pretty nice mechanic that rounds out the skill you’ll need to keep water held in.

[caption id="attachment_362817" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Another Wetrix

Aqua Aqua, and by extension, Wetrix, isn’t my favorite puzzle game, but it’s a nice deviation from block stacking and bit matching. There’s a lack of precision in a lot of its mechanics, but it’s easy-going enough to make up for these. Building ponds isn’t exactly as relaxing as it sounds, but it’s fun, especially if you have a second player to join ?in.

On the other hand, Aqua Aqua doesn’t really make much of a case for being a sequel. There were some new features planned, like the ability to expand the size of your board, but it was scrapped, and nothing was really dropped in place of it. There are these disgusting goblin things that roam around the screen, but they’re better off ignored. Instead, it’s mostly just Wetrix again, which is fine because it’s a pretty decent game. I wish there were nicer, more feature-packed modern ports, but Aqua Aqua was the last we’d see of the series.

For other retro titles you may ha??ve missed, click right here!

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The Forgotten Wall

This week is a very special one for Hamster Corporation, as the publisher celebrates 300 consecutive weeks of classic arcade game reissues �?And to celebrate this record-breaking moment, the Arcade Archives receives a little royalty: The Arika's never-before-re-released puzzler Tetris: The Grand Master.

Launching in Japanese arcades in 1998, Tetris: The Grand Master was the biggest challenge offered to block-dropping fans to date. While TGM, (as it is known by the Tetris community), follows the typical rules and methodology of Alexey Pajitnov's world-best puzzler, this particular edition offered up a marathon 999 levels to be conquered as well as the dazzling "20G" mechanic to truly push expert players to their limits. E??ssentially, this difficulty option places the incoming Tetrominos directly on top of the stack, offering a mere split-??second to place them onto the playfield.

Check out the wild action in the classic run below, courtesy of YouTuber Sega-16.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEzvyMI4I9I

This mode fast became the target for the community, eager to master the iconic title to the point that they could play it �?accurately and efficiently �?on a second-to-second basis. Ironically, despite being held in such high regard, the original TGM would never receive a home release, though it would be followed by several console sequels over the following years. This new Arcade Archives release marks the first official home version of TGM since its late-'90s debut. Thus, this is a very special week for the die-hard Tetris community.

TGM has been a staple of speedrun tournaments and global competitions for many years, and now players all over the world can finally sit and master the game in their own bedrooms... in a legal capacity, at the very least. If you want to check out the brain-melting action for yourself, then Tetris: The Grand Master is ??available to downlo?ad right now on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

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It's all about perspective

Fun news for puzzle fans: Pillow Castle Games' extraordinarily smart adventure Superliminal is now available on ninth-gen platforms PS5 and Xbox Series X, following on from its critically acclaimed 20?19 release on PC and consoles.

For those less inclined, Superliminal, (also known as Museum of Simulation Technology), is a first-person adventure title in the vein of Valve's iconic puzzler Portal, and follows a protagonist as they attempt to escape from a looping dream sequence, guided by the voice of a mysterious overseer. Superliminal's "kick" lies in the concept of optical illusions, and tasks the player with escaping a series of chambers utilizing elements? of forced perspective, object scaling, and the manipulation of the third dimension in order to craft a path to the exit.

Better demonstrated than explained, you can check out the action in the trailer below.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KY87ldajFY

The new PS5/Xbox Series X port of Superliminal supports 4K resolution with a framerate of 60 frames per second. In addition, the ports receive the recently patched "Developer mode", which includes commentary from the team at Pillow Castle, and "Challenge Mode", which limits the number of movements that the player is allowed to perform in each chamber, requiring a little more forethought before attempting each topsy-turvy situation. Best of all, these new editions are now available as free upgrades for all players who already own Superliminal on PS4 and Xbox One respectively.

Now go get your brain melted.

Superliminal is available now on PlayStation, PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch?? platforms.

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Death Decks

The atmospheric and critically acclaimed puzzler Inscryption is headed to the Nintendo Switch platform in just a matter of weeks, following on from its warmly received launch on PC and PlayStation platforms. Publisher Devolver Digital announced the news during ??yesterday's Nintendo Indie World showcase.

Developed by Daniel Mullins Games (of Pony Island and The Hex fame), Inscryption is a skin-crawling creepy puzzle game that blends elements of RPGs, roguelikes, and deckbuilding card games to create a uniquely weird and nightmarish experience. Inscryption masterfully blends these various gaming genres while unfolding its own in-game lore in smart and immersive fashion. In the vein of titles such as Doki Doki Literature Club, Inscryption is a ?game best exper?ienced, rather than explained.

Inscryption launches on ?Nintendo Swi??tch December 1. It is available now on PC and PlayStation.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EggCm5i0mY

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Craft your own narrative in early 2023

As a fan of both literature and puzzle games, Storyteller has been one of my most anticipated games of the year. The game takes place in the pages of a storybook, and requires players to combine different elements like characters, settings, and objects to create coherent stories. There are multiple ways to solve each puzzle, making for some fun, creative, and challenging gameplay. Storyteller was first announced during last year's Annapurna Interactive Showcase, which showed off the basic mechanics of the game in a short trailer. After almost a year and a half of waiting, Annapurna finally announced Storyteller's official release date for Steam and Nintendo Switch: March 23, 2023.

While indie darling factory Annapurna Interactive is publishing Storyteller, the entire game was a made by a single developer, Daniel Benmergui. It's a simple premise for a game, but after playing the demo, I can say that it's impressively crafted and polished. Storyteller is by far the mo??st quaint little puzzle game I've seen in a long time, and based on its engaging gameplay, I expect it will make a real name for itself as one of the most delightful releases of next year.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwfI0L40480

Many of Storyteller's puzzles are based on classic stories like Romeo & Juliet, Dracula, the Biblical book of Genesis, and more, much to my delight as a former literary classics-focused English major. Aside from the time-looping take on Hamlet that is the 2019 adventure game Elsinore, and I can't think of many other games that draw on classic lit, but they really should. I would give anything for a Telltale-style narrative game based on John Steinbeck's East of Eden, or a Jane Austen-inspired dating simulator. We're always talking about the intersection between games and film, but I'm much more intrigued with games that take heavily from literature, like the beloved and elegantly-written Disco Elysium.

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Finally, some good news

It feels like these days, we hear of a game's launch getting delayed at least once a week, but the developers behind the upcoming biopunk survival horror game Scorn have flipped the script. Instead of pushing back their release date, Ebb Software has announced that Scorn will be coming out on October 14 now, a ???week ahead of its previously planned October 21 date. They haven't given a reason why the game got moved up, but I certainly don't hear anyone complaining about it.

The game is inspired by the works of Swiss artist H.R. Giger, who is best known for his depictions of humans merged with machines. There's definitely plenty of creepy uncanniness going on there, which makes it the perfect title to come out right before Halloween. According to IGN, who got to play the first hour of the game, it has a big focus on puzzles, with the most apt comparison being The Witness when it comes to gameplay. I love that Scorn leans into more of a heady, intellectual spookiness that has the player explor?ing the labyrinthian corridors with little to no direction at ??all.

//twitter.com/scorn_game/status/157554??2179946237954

As the game's Steam page describes:

"Scorn takes place in an open-ended world with different interconnected regions. Each region is a maze-like structure with various rooms and paths to discover. All the storytelling happens in-game, with no cut-scenes to distract you from the grisly real??ity of the living, breathing world you’re in. But keep your eyes open �?the game won’t show you any sympathy if you miss something important on your uneasy travels."

We haven't seen a game fill the grotesque horror niche in quite a while, so here's hoping that it lives up to the hype. I can't speak for anyone else, but Scorn usually isn't m?y kind of game, yet I feel really comp??elled to try it.

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Good Fortune

Fun news for retro block-busting fans this week, as publisher Forever Entertainment has announced a return for the classic puzzle series, Magical Drop. Magical Drop VI, developed by studios Highball Games and Storm Trident, is scheduled to launch later this winter on Ni?ntendo Switch.

Magical Drop, for those less inclined, is a cute 'n' colorful arcade puzzler that first launch in 1995, at the height of the "tile-puzzler" craze. Playing from one of a number of cute avatars, all based upon the Tarot, players must cherry-pick colored orbs from a rapidly descending playfield before firing them back in an effort to match the rainbow-infused patterns together. The goal of Magical Drop is to cause a chain reaction, and thus the player is encouraged to set up several moves ahead of time, that can all be triggered with one final, scalpel-precise move, (hence the series' Japanese title "Chain Reaction").

Developed by Data East and published by SNK, several Magical Drop games were released to arcade and home platform markets throughout the mid-'90s. The series' most recent release, Magical Drop V, launched on Steam in 2012 and was an enormous disappointment, riddled with bugs and issues that often rendered it incompletable. The game was eventually pulled from sale. Thi??s new release will no doubt be looking to capture the charm and character of classic entries while delivering engaging gameplay within a variety of single and multiplayer modes.

The visual style depicted here looks a bit "Flash game," but I remain hopeful, as Magical Drop happens to be my personal favorite of all the tile-puzzle fr?anchises. My character?? of choice? Empress... But then... you knew that already, right? Shock-freakin'-horror.

Magical Drop VI is currently in development for Nintendo Switch.

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'Tis the season for more Picross

Jupiter is back to bring some more Picross action to the Switch. Picross S8 has been announced for the Nintendo Switch, a??rriving on September 29 with a cool feature: four-player co-op.

In Picross S8, up to four players will be able to co-op solve Picross puzzles on a single Switch. Each player will need their own controller, but you can?? use single Joy-Cons for each person if you'd like.

Seeing it in action can feel almost bizarre. Different colored bars and crosshairs jaunt around th?e board, and it looks like players rack up points for their correct guesses.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIBaaQajwyI

For me, Picross is often a solo exercise of light brain puzzling and the good feeling of getting a guess right. It fills the same space as logic puzzles or sudoku. But I can see how, especially with the big boards, it would be fun to get a bunch of people in. Plus, it would probably make teaching a family member or loved one how to play Picross pretty easy.

Even more puzzling

Of course, on top of the new feature in co-op, there is plenty of Picross to tackle. 300 Picross and Mega Picross puzzles are included in Picross S8. There are also 150 Clip Picross puzzles, 30 Color puzzles,?????????????????????????? and five extra puzzles. That?? total count is 485 puzzles, if you lost track.

Linking play data from Picross S4, S5, and S6 also u??nlocks three Extra puzzles. It is a? chance for even more Picross to uncover, either with friends or all by yourself.

This marks the eighth Picross S entry on the Switch for Jupiter, and the studio has become pretty good at rolling these out at a regular pace. Just like the seasons change and leaves fall, a new Picross is probably around the corner. I'm still waiting for the day we get another Picross 3D, but I'm always happy to have ??some new puzz??les on my Switch for my next long stretch of travel.

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Escaping these rooms is a good time, but I'd recommend a friend

A few weeks ago, indie puzzler Escape Academy went live. It's a new addition to a growing collection of escape room-styled puzzle games, and it's a genuinely good time. It is a bit better if you bring a friend along for the ride, ??though.

I had originally planned to play through Escape Academy with a friend. Last year's Operation: Tango or even games like A Way Out?? made co-op mandatory, and I ?found that doing puzzles together is a fun way to build teamwork. While, y'know, also competing and finding out bizarre things about each other.

So Escape Academy s?eemed like a perfect new game to co-op together. Life circumstances arose though, and while we managed ??to play some of the earliest levels together, I wound up having to solo the latter batch of puzzle rooms.

To be clear: Escape Academy is completely playable in solo or co-op. As a new student at the titular Escape Academy, you underta?ke a curriculum designed to enhance your abilities to escape increasingly dangerous situations. This includes finding the antidote for a poison, climbing a tower that's filling with water, and yes, a ticking time-bomb.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=c90ZgeKmAWI

It's all played in a wacky school-life setting, and it ??works well enough. The story is a good enough draw to keep a through-line between each of the escape rooms, and it sometimes allows for clever moments in rooms or fun character asides.

The crux of the Escape Academy is the escaping, though. And the es?caping is pretty ?good.

The room

Developer Coin Crew Games has talent spanning arcade, immersive, and VR games, which makes sense when you play Escape Academy. Ther??e's a good physica??lity to these rooms, a sense of place and purpose to each item. Puzzles feel segmented but part of a larger whole, like you're gradually unlocking the Rubik's cube of the level.

Some quality-of-life decisions the team makes rea?lly help, too. Being able to "pin" certain items to the corner of your screen makes it easy to quickly reference information. In some cases, that corn?er visual might get a little bulkier than you'd like, but it's nice to not have to hop back and forth with your inventory.

Navigation is also fairly contained and well-segmented. As large as some of these levels get, and they get pretty big as the story goes on, they never feel overwhelming. Each area often has a few focal points you're turning to, and onl?y once in a while did I overlook something that I felt could have been made clearer. The extremely lenient hint system helps a ton here, too.

One is the loneliest number

The difference between co-op and solo play can be felt, though. I??t's not overt, as every room is perfectly clearable by one person.

But say, for example, a puzzle solution requires utilizing? info from another part of the room. To use a non-spoiler, made-up scenario similar to an in-game one, imagine you need to unlock a door using a sequence of colors. And elsewhere, those colors correspond to certain jewels on display.

Playing by yourself, you might need to write down those colors and any other identifying factors, and then run back to the door. Playing co-op, however, you can communicate, decipher the connection, and read them out for each othe??r. ?A team win!

That's the most crucial difference in playing Escape Academy solo versus co-op, and why I think its best qualities shine when two people are playing. Escape Academy ventures to take? escape rooms where they can't feasibly go in real-life, both in terms of scale and potential lethality. That?'s good, but it means some rooms in solo play do feel like playing an escape room by yourself.

Towers and rivals

There are two notable exceptions to this, though. Two specific escape rooms felt enhanced by solo play in my game. The first is the aforementioned water-escape room. The mounting pressure and claustrophobic atmosphere of that le?vel vibed with me in solo play.

The other is a later room where, lightly tip-toeing into spoiler territory, you are competing against someone. While it would be easier with two p?eople, I was really glad I had to take that challenge on by myself. It was honestly my favorite room of the entire batch, and a highlight of virtual room escaping for me.

So yes, this is a recommendation: if you enjoy puzzling your way through virtual rooms, Escape Academy is a no-brainer. It's also on Game Pass, so it won't be hard to twist a p??al's ?arm into joining you for the ride. Just bring a pad and some paper if you're going about it solo, though.

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A Rough Deal

[Update: Daniel Mullins Games has confirmed that a PlayStation port of Inscryption is en route. A release date was not confirmed.]

One of our favorite spoilers, the Australian Classification ratings board, has updated its website with a new PlayStation listing for Daniel Mullins Games' deck-builder Inscryption, suggesting tha??t the spooky roguelike card game is headed to PS4 in the very near future.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPBP3kWDcNk

Released on PC in the fall of 2021, Inscryption turned plenty of heads in double-quick time with its incredibly cre?epy and disturbing aesthetic, compelling strategy gameplay, ??and fascinating "found footage" framing device. The indie hit would go on to feature in many Best of Year lists, even winning the Game of the Year award at the prestigious Game Developers Choice Award and the Seamus McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Awards.

While the title is yet to receive an announcement of any such port, this new rating all but confirms that Inscryption is headed ??to the console market. While this rating is strictly for PlayStation platforms, it is difficult to imagine that publisher Devolver Digital will not also be looking to release on Xbox and Nintendo Switch. We will be sure to give you a heads up when official confirmation is forthcoming.

Inscryption is available now on PC via Steam, GOG, an?d Epic Games Store.

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Little mouse, big adventures

The Spirit and the Mouse is an upcoming narrative puzzle platformer from Alblune Games, an indie team made up of two developers, Lucie Lescuyer and Alex Strook. Players will take on the role of a mouse named Lila who lives in a?? quaint French village, making friends with little electric spirit friends and helping out the lo?cal townspeople.

The game's trailer shows off the cozy setting, some of the characters that we'll meet, and of course, some gameplay segments of Lila running along rooftops and using electricity powers. The Spirit and the Mouse ??looks like one of those games that gives you plenty to do, but lets you go at your own pace and chill out, which is a perfect combination in my eyes.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5jpnShiiLs

I'll be interested to see what kind of narrative they have going on too, because we didn't get to see a lot of that from the trailer, but I have a feeling it's going to?? make me feel all warm and fuzzy (and not jus??t because of the electricity). Another highlight from the trailer for me is definitely the music �?I love an upbeat, jazzy score, so this might turn out to be one of those game soundtracks I have on a loop for a while.

I also never would have guessed just from looking at it that The Spirit and the Mouse was made by only two people. It looks great and well-polished �?we'll have to see what it's like in practice when it comes out later this year. Alblune promises a wholesome, heartwarming experience with this one, and based on vibes alone, The Spirit and the Mouse feels like it might be in the same vein as the highly-anticipated Stray. Either way,? we're always in need of more uplifting games out there.

The Spirit and the Mouse is set to electrify us sometime in 2022 on PC ????and Nintendo Switch, and a demo is available to play right now on Steam.

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Any time of year, you can find it here

Every so often, I jump into a could-go-either-way indie game knowing just a basic bullet point or two. In the case of Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel, a survival horror game from Brazilian studio Pulsatrix, that lack of expos?ure ended up leading to an overall pleasant surp?rise.

To quickly catch you up to speed: this game has undeniable shades of Resident Evil 7's first-person horror and inventory management, ??with a huge emphasis on solving puzzles, and there's a surprisingly deep story to unfurl as you slink around an infeste??d hotel.

I may have gotten extr?emely lost �?twice! �?but it all wor??ked out in the end.

Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel (PC, PS4, PS5 [reviewed], Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S)
Developer: Pulsatrix Studios
Publisher: Maximum Games
Released: June 28, 2022
MSRP: $29.99

A??fter finishing ??this game, I'll never look at a hotel the same way again �?probably!

That exaggeration won't stick, but after spending a few lonely late nights with Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel, I do see floor after floor of locked doors when I close my eyes. You'll play as Roberto, a journalist trying to get to the b?ottom of a series of mysteries �?missing people, weird sightings, and decades-long cult activity �?surrounding a hotel in Santa Catarina, Brazil. You've been tipped off, and now you're the new guest. Lucky you?

Early on, the hotel becomes twis?ted and fleshy, with a mysterious gas-mask-wearing girl warping in an?d out and monsters suddenly roaming the halls. It's just you, a camera that can reveal "different timelines," and whatever clues you can find and notes you can jot down in your journal. You've got a contact, Stephanie, but she's always one step ahead.

You'll need to get out alive, but ?with the hotel's sudden state of disrepair, that's easier said than done. Sometimes �?okay, more like dozens of times �?you'll need a bespoke key. Or maybe a keycard and a certain hidden code. Or maybe you'll need to bust out that camera to physically alter the room and crawl through a hole that shouldn't exist.

Your path forward is often ?juuust out of reach, and you'll end up looping all around to find an eventual way forward. If you're a pixel-hunting adventure game fan, you'll be a pr?o.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ECX1kay7T8

Heavy on puzzles and zigzagging navigation

One of my big surprises with Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel was just how puzzle-centric it would be. Most of my time was spent poking around, looking for numerous mission-critical i?tems (at one point you're literally adding buttons to an elevator to reach new floors), and trying to keep track of where I'd recently been and why �?it all starts to blur together.

There are a lot of loose ends (some optional, some mandatory) that you'll need to leave hanging until you can circle back with the right item or knowledge to proceed. When you have an a-ha moment, this feels fantastic; the game is full of them. But when you're lost for 45 minutes because you glossed ove??r a staircase you could've pulled down from the ceiling, or you forgot to re-check a computer at the right moment, it's not so fun.

It's a tricky balancing act. There are a ton of keys, and they're well-labeled. I appreciate that items like a crowbar or bolt cutter will straight-up tell you when they're no longer needed; your inventory will thank you. And when it comes to the time-bending camera, it's great that there's a visual clue (handprints) so you don't need to always have it equipped (but there are still plenty of optional items to find with it that aren't so plainly signposted). That said, certain sections of Fobia could've been smoother; less padded.

With plenty of alone time, free of monsters

Without saying too much about where the story goes, Fobia feels inspired by modern-day Resident Evil with a splash of Silent Hill madness, but it's not as good as that sounds.

There are gnarly humanoid creatures to fend off �?but they feel pretty finite if you're cautious, scour for resources, and don't waste ammo. The main threats are the bosses, though there are just a few. When it comes to creatures, Fobia feels stretched a bit thin.

The first-person shooting isn't anyth??ing special (please d?o not play this game for its combat), but it gets the job done. Clunky survival-horror shootouts fit the mood, in a way.

Of course, if you don't actively plan ahead and save �?or you're purposefully trying not to overdo it for a better end-of-?game ranking �?then t?he stakes will be considerably higher. It's only possible to save in select places, and after losing 15 minutes of progress from a death (and then 15 more because I forgot my last several "progression" steps and had to awkwardly retrace them), I made sure to save every time I did anything noteworthy.

That said, there's an unstoppable pursuer

While most of the game is set in a hotel, you'll play certain sequences in a different time period �?a nice?? change of pace �?and the last act goes... let's just say "underground."

For as many times as I got turned around by similar-looking rooms and hallways in Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel, I never got bored. I think that certain clues and objectives could be more specific without totally giving things away, to better indicate the ballpark of where to go next, but the actual physical puzzles were consistently enjoyab??le. I felt rewarded for paying attention, fully reading notes, and making connections. Your results will vary, es??pecially with guides or just the occasional Google search to lend you a hand.

The atmosphere is at its most tense when an unkillable pursuer enemy is after you, but it's worth stressing that this isn't a full-on Mr. X nightmare scenario. These portions are clearly ??defined, they don't last that long, and there aren't too many of them, so it's all manageable. If the pursuer had been more prevalent??, it ultimately would've just been frustrating, not scary. Given all of the back-and-forth wild goose chases you can go on while trying to unlock doors and find an obscure way forward, this was for the best.

That said, I could've done with more enemy types. The shambling corpses freaked me out whenever they charged me at the last second, but I had plenty of ammo to clear 'em out. Those sneaky spiders, though. The vast majority of them jumped me before I even realized they were nearby, trigg??ering an animation that would automatically kill them and result in me taking a bit of damage. They come in groups, and for me, that unfortunately often meant three "get bitten, then squish it" animations in a row. These creatures have no chill.

Another heads-up: I'd suggest swi??tching the voice-overs to Brazilian Portuguese with English subtitles, if needed �?trust me. It's a step up, and an all-around better fit.

Eight to ten hours, give or take

In the end, with a nine-and-a-half-hour playtime, 80-some saves (look, I was paranoid!), and lots of damage taken, I was awarded a C rank. I was surprised! But not that s??urprised. I thought I had explored the hotel pretty thoroughly, but ??I missed one of the weapons, got completely lost in two instances, and those nasty spider creatures really did mess me up.

The rating scale for Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel goes all the way up to S, S+, and S++, and there's a trophy for finishing the game "without taking damage," which I can't even begin to wrap my head around. I do like that the results screen tallies up the documents you discovered (I ended up with 78 percent c?ompletion) and "secondary puzzles" you solved (somehow, only 26 percent). All of a sudden?? New Game+ made a lot more sense.

Am I in a rush to play Fobia again? Not at all. It doesn't have the snowballing power-fantasy progression that Resident Evil has perfected. But I will pick it back up eventually, and by the time I do, I'll have forgotten most, if not all, of the solutions. Wish me luck. The ending's ?(kind of bonkers) revelations will add a wrinkle to that second playthrough.

Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel is worth playing for patient survival horror fans who want something lighter on combat, and can handle budget-constrained rough edges. Monsters wander around in an effort to raise the stakes, but the focus is on meticulous exploration, just-cryptic-enough puzzle-solving, and mentally mapping out the many, many hotel halls.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Not sure what it is, but it looks amazing

If you're a fan of games like Inside and Limbo, you're in luck, because Jeppe Carlsen, the gameplay designer who worked on those titles, is also heading up a new project called Cocoon. It's a colorful puzzle game that's also being published by Annapurna, which is a great seal of approval in my eyes. The game's puzzles have to deal with different colored orbs, which the player uses in different ways, like opening pathwa??ys, building bridges, and even controlling littl?e robots.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcdcCCgFrrg

Cocoon is still shrouded in a lot of mystery, but it's easy to tell how much polish it has even from this premiere trailer alone. We don't have a release window yet, but we do know that Cocoon will b??e coming to Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Xbox Game Pass.

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Arc System Works takes us on a subterranean journey

Some games getting shown off this June are still a ways off, but a few do arrive with a surprisingly soon release date. Today, Arc System Works unveiled one of those with Ground Divers, an intriguing puz??zle action game that's hitting Switch on June 30.

This new game was shown during today's IGN Expo, highlighting a bunch of different upcoming projects. Ground Divers is a bit more in the classic arcade vein, but with some cool mod?ern updates.

The game sees you piloting a little mining robot named Tsuruhashi, as you plunge the depths? for valuable rare minerals. As you plunge d?eeper, both rocks and enemies will stand in your way.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=J19CpadX-Zk

What appeals to me about Ground Divers is how it's adding some new i??deas to the standard dig-action game. The Pit Relay system loo??ks like you can set up little bases as you dive deeper, and even get little robot pals to help you out.

Dive to the mantle

It's kind of a weird genre to describe, but digging-based puzzle action games are usually a good time. From classics like Dig Dug and Mr. Driller to the excellent SteamWorld Dig ser??ies, it's consistently engaging to dive deeper and deeper in search of surprise?s.

It seems like Ground Divers is taking its own approach to the concept by adding ??some cool ideas like the relays and chee?ring on Tsuruhashi. Plus, the whole trailer has a charm to it. I dig (ha) the Saturday morning anime vibes here.

Ground Divers lands on Nintendo Switch on June 30, 2022.

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Cubic Conundrum

Hamster has returned to the back catalog of veteran publisher Taito for this week's Arcade Archives entry �?so get your brain in gear, as the classic cube-based puzzler Flipull has returned on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Released to arcades in 1989, before finding its way to a wide variety of home computers and consoles, Flipull, (or "Flipull: An Exciting Cube Game"), is a u??nique take on block-busting, tile-switching puzzlers of the time, and tasks the pla?yer with guiding a cute blob character up and down a ladder, throwing out symbol-covered cubes in order to clear out a horizontal playing field. The aim is to clear out rows of matching cubes, while then finding fresh chains for the spare cubes that are left behind. your only enemies are the clock, and some often dizzying background imagery.

This gameplay is better demonstrated in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber Retro MGV.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw3OukUwYJw

When I first saw Flipull referenced as this week's Arcade Archives release, I had no idea what it was, but once I realized that it was renamed "Plotting" in the west, the memories came flooding back. I certainly remember Plotting, (and Taito's very similar tile-matcher, Puzznic), from my early gaming years. The cute puzzler is one of those gaming?? memories that re??mains locked away in the subconscious until a familiar flyer, magazine advert, or box art image magically opens up some long-discarded file in the brain. It's good to see it again after all of these decades.

Flipull is available to download no?w on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, priced at around? $8.

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Who says political games can't be adorable?

Fans of narrative point-and-clicks have had a pretty good run of things recently. We had the gem that was NORCO earlier this year, Monkey Island is coming back, and now another beautiful-looking adventure game has been announced and subsequently landed on my Steam wishlist. It's called Phonopolis, a political narrative title developed by Czech indie collective Amanita Design, best known for Machinarium, Botanicula, and Samorost.

In Phonopolis, players will take on the role of Felix, a young man living in a dystopian city that is threatened by the imminent rule of an authoritarian ruler. As Felix seems to be the only one who is aware of the looming danger of ??the situation, he tasks himself? with stopping the leader and saving his fellow citizens.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANJSa4RFqxg

Phonopolis will take on themes of manipulation and individualism, and is "strongly influen??ced by avant-garde artistic trends of the interwar period such as constructivism, futurism, or suprematism, and their societal impact as a tool of propaganda."

It's sad that this game? feels incredibly relevant to the current state of the world, but here we are. At the very least, Amanita has promised to keep "the overall experience playful and lighthearted."

Phonopolis will also be Amanita's first game with a 3D art style, and this style is certainly one of the selling points for me. Every environment, character, and asset is made to look as though it's made of paper, and set pieces look as though they were made in miniature. It's one of the most unique art styles I've ever seen in a game, and I can't see what else they do with it. As far as gameplay goes, Phonopolis will also have? exploration and puzzle mechanics on top of its narr?ative focus.

The game is being developed on multiple platforms, ?although the developer has not disclosed just what those are yet beyond PC and Mac. We also don't have? a release date, but Amanita doesn't expect the game to be ready in the next year. Either way, this looks like a game worth waiting for.

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Be careful with that, it's expensive

If you're a PlayStation-owning Doctor of Ergonomics, then you'll be stoked to hear that one of the most compelling and engaging indie hits of 2021, Unpacking, is getting ready to move in on a console near you soon. Announced by Humble Games, Unpacking will launc??h on PS4/PS5 as soon as tomorrow, May 10.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6unR5JdqAs

For those who never checked out Witch Beam's quirky release, Unpacking tasks the player with unloading boxfuls of items within a variety of confined areas, best-fitt??ing furniture, decorations, plants, and other possessions in a snug and aesthetically pleasing fashion. As you instill your d??esign skills in each room, you'll experience an intimate and dramatic story, told through the art of relocation.

Unpacking won a bevy of plaudits from both critics and fans, who were won over by its satisfying, zen-like gameplay, fun, retro visuals, and a neat score from composer Jeff van Dyck. Players also found its underlying themes of life and the many changes that find us �?intentional or otherwise �?suitably affecting. Unpacking has much more to offer than the simple shifting of furniture. A game where the very title is ?equally as reflective of its narrative philosophy.

Unpacking launches on PlayStation tomorrow, May 10. It is available n??ow on PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Oh, and if you get a kick out of it, then be sure gimme a call, because I'm legitimately moving house this w??eek and I could use the help. Don't fret, you'll get to hear just as much life drama.

The post You can unpack?? Unpacking on PlayStat??ion platforms tomorrow appeared first on Destructoid.

Supa-dupa-liminal

Well I've got good news, and I've got bad news. The bad news is, I dropped my Switch in the pool because I'm an idiot and now it doesn't work anymore. Can Nintendo fix that? Or is it too late for me? I can't play Superliminal on Switch from Super Rare Games, as a result. Life is cruel,?? life is tough. Life is crazy, then you drop your Switch? in the pool.

The good news is, if you didn't drop your system into a relaxing body of water you can win a free copy of Superliminal! Just keep your belongings in a cool, dry place, no matter how tempting?? it may be to go swimming with them. RIP, launch-day-co??nsole. Now you're sleeping with the Switches.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYUN1IT87R8&t=3s

I won't mince words on this one, so read all about it below!

"A mind-bending first-person puzzler that challenges you to change your perspective and think outside the box. One night you find yourself falling asleep with the TV on at 3AM. All you can recall is catching a glimpse of the commercial for Dr. Pierce's Somnasculpt dream therapy program. Unbeknown to you, upon opening your eyes you've already entered this experimental program. Welcome to Superliminal!

Perception is reality �?Explore a dream world where everything is exactly as it seems. Tread carefull?y as the world slowly unravels around you and subverts your expectations. What you see isn’t always precisely what you get.

Man vs Machine – In this fully-voiced adventure, Dr Glenn Pierce is doing his questionable bes??t to guid??e you home and out of the dreamscape. His artificial intelligence assistant, however, is having trouble understanding exactly how you’re here at all and has other plans for you.

Developer commentary �?The d??evelopers have added extensive developer commentar?y throughout the game, so you can learn the secrets and history behind the game’s development.

Challenge mode – The overwhelming response from the speedrunning community to Superliminal inspired the devs to add a new Challenge M?ode, which will score yo?u per level on metrics such as time to finish, grabs, and jumps."

Hold your Switch tightly tonight, friends.

To enter to win your copy of Superliminal, u?se the contest widget below to leave your name and email address. You can enter daily. Be sure to click around for ways to earn bonus entries, and as always, tell everyone you kno??w because if I don't get enough Likes and Subscribes they're going to make me start washing the dishes again.

We have one standard edition copy of the game to give away; we'll draw winners around this time next week. Super Rare Games ships worldwide, so anyone can enter! Barring a few limited exclusions, of course. I don't think th??ey ship to Antarctica, so you folks down there are out of luck. No substitutions or CoDs allowed. They'll ship if you handle. Can I have $5 to help buy a new Switch?

Superliminal from Super Rare Games is super limited to 3,000 super copies, and once they're gone that's it! No more! C??an't buy, don't ask! Get it while you can, folks.

Contest: Win Superliminal on Switch?? from Super Ra??re Games

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