Do Jack o'Lanterns count as undead creatures?
So we've got an absolutely stacked cast this week, and we're kicking it off with nothing less than the first thing I saw listed; Dawnfolk, which has nothing at all to do with the critters-themed Dungeon and Draggler, Sunderfolk that came out earlier this year. Though I keep assuming it does. Instead this appears to be a fantasy themed Civilize-em-up. Or a 4X game, if you insist on not using terms I just made up.
And I don't know why you wouldn't, I worked hard on that.
Anyway, you're the ruler of a small town that got a mite bit too close to a ceaseless netherworld storm that's killed everything and now you've got to rebuild your castle with the help of a little spectral eyeball-fireguy that can dissipate the storm of darkness that's rendered the world uninhabitable. So... explore, expand, Exploit and Exterminate your way to being the only local ruler worth tlaking about, why don't you?
Speaking of surviving and thriving in a murky netherworld, we've also got Disgaea 7, which is a re-release, so it should have gone lower on the list, as per how I format these things, but I needed a segue so what are ya gonna do. This is the Samurai themed Disgaea, which I believe was *kinda busted and janky* when it originally came out on Switch, but this is a Switch 2 port so I assume that's been straightened out; plus all the DLC is included with it now.
Go on down to the themepark version of Hell and diss a guy, eh?
Speaking of SRPGs... a whole damn lot came out this week, and the one that appeals to me on a bone-deep spiritual level, is definitely Battle Suit Aces; a deckbuilding roguelite RPG where your command a team of giant mecha on missions to destroy alien monsters and enemy mobile suits; from the same peeps as what made Battle Chef Brigade.
It's almost not possible to pitch a game to me, personally, any harder.
And if that's not enouch of a deckbuilding roguelite for you, there's also Lost in Fantaland which... I would normally be all over like a pig on slop, but it had the misfortune of being released the same week as Battle Suit Aces, so... basically no chance of that, I'm afraid. This one is an isometric RPG kind of deal. The eShop description doesn't really give me a lot to go on here, but my immediate reaction si "Oh, is... is this a Falselei?" so I'm definitely going to at least put it in my wishlist based on that inference.
And speaking of SRPGs that are banking on me mistaking it for another entry in the genre I love dearly, we have Rise Eterna 2, the sequel to the dollar store version of the Fire Emblem we have at home. I dind't much care of it at the time, and now it has the likes of Dark Deity 2 and multiple actual Fire Emblems to compete with so... uh... not... super enthused.
And backing up the rear on the SRPG genre we have Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch, which is a spinoff of a game which I have... definitely seen mentioned before. This time around it's a roguelite SRPG so you can expect to die and then make your peeps sliiiiightly strounger so they can be a bit more likely to succeed the next time around.
Good on them, getting on that rise and grind mindset.
And heck, what's one more roguelite? Next up, we have Absolum which is also one. And it's... a beat-em-up?.
...and it looks kind of like Shadows over Mystara?
...And it plays like the Streets of Rage 4 DLC?
...And it's from Dotemu?
...and one of the characters is a Frog Wizard?
...Y'all, I think we've found the best possible pitch for a video game?
Speaking of multiplayer violence in an Fantasy RPG setting, we have Ys. vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga; a crossover between two of Falcoms most beloved RPG franchises that, of course, takes the form of... erm... a Power Stone themed fighting game.
Not where I thought we were going with it when I first heard of the game, I'll say that.
Now it is of course, The Witching Hour (late morning, on the seventh) and that means it's time to start cracking out the Spooky Games for that most October of Holidays, and so we've got our first big name SPOOKY GAME; Little Nightmares 3. I did not play any of the previous Little Nightmares games, so I can not speak to them in terms fo content or quality, but I know there's lots of peeps who like them a lot.
I infer they're spooky puzzle platformers where you're a little tiny guy; like Harleys Humongus Adventure, or World 4 of Mario 3.
People have always been fascinated by the small, and now YOU CAN TOO!
Speaking of spooky puzzle platformers there's also Bye, Sweet Carol which is also one of those, but this one has a bit more of a Cuphead kind of vibe. Just if, if the Cartoons looked kind of like the French kind you'd see on YTV in the early 90s instead of the kind that mean you have a Babadook or Skinamarink in the house.
And also if the game was more like Limbo than Contra.
Okay now on to re-releases ofold games; and but only technically in the case of Yooka Re-Playlee, since that came out way too recently to count as being an "Old game", but it's hard to argue that Yooka Laylee didn't need some more time in the oven before it was released. WELL NOW IT'S HAD IT. The good peeps at the... development offices where they made the original version of the game noticed everyone who said "Well, this is good, but..." and decided to actually fix things up; so there's just a ridiculous amount of tweaks and improvements in addition to the kind of things you'd expect from a remake, like looking nicer in general.
Anyway, it's Banjo Kazooie in all regards except they changed the animals and decreased the racism.
And speaking of games that I was really completely prepared to completely adore, but couldn't quite stick the landing, we have a re-release of Scurge: Hive, the isometric Troid-em-up that... was pretty much explicitly Metroid Fusion, but they tilted the camera a bit. And added in a strict time-limit in the form of an alien disease that was steadily killing you that could only be restored at save points.
This rerelease, in addition to the usual stuff like save states and rewinds options also has a bunch of Easy mode cheats you can toggle, and if one of them disables the infection mechanic then, buddy, this becomes the easiest rec in the world, because HOO NELLY did I enjoy the game otherwise.
Speaking of blasting every living thing you see becausr they're unilaterally the Bad Guys, we have Sonic Wings: Reunion, a remake of the original Sonic Wings which I know as "That Shmup where one of the planes is piloted by a dolphin". And if you need to be told more than that, then, buddy I don't know what you need to hear.
And finally, we have another Egg Console game and, as is frequently the case, it's a text heavy RPG with not an english letter to offend the eye; Haja no Fuuin, perhaps best known in English speaking countries as Miracle Warriors on the Sega Master System. Which is itself perhaps, better known for having some 8-bit pixelly exposed nippers on the final boss. It's, overall, one of the most foundational examples of the JRPG genre but I have to assume it's a hard rec in the present day; even if the localization wasn't a hurdle.
OKAY, GO TO BED
So we've got an absolutely stacked cast this week, and we're kicking it off with nothing less than the first thing I saw listed; Dawnfolk, which has nothing at all to do with the critters-themed Dungeon and Draggler, Sunderfolk that came out earlier this year. Though I keep assuming it does. Instead this appears to be a fantasy themed Civilize-em-up. Or a 4X game, if you insist on not using terms I just made up.
And I don't know why you wouldn't, I worked hard on that.
Anyway, you're the ruler of a small town that got a mite bit too close to a ceaseless netherworld storm that's killed everything and now you've got to rebuild your castle with the help of a little spectral eyeball-fireguy that can dissipate the storm of darkness that's rendered the world uninhabitable. So... explore, expand, Exploit and Exterminate your way to being the only local ruler worth tlaking about, why don't you?
Speaking of surviving and thriving in a murky netherworld, we've also got Disgaea 7, which is a re-release, so it should have gone lower on the list, as per how I format these things, but I needed a segue so what are ya gonna do. This is the Samurai themed Disgaea, which I believe was *kinda busted and janky* when it originally came out on Switch, but this is a Switch 2 port so I assume that's been straightened out; plus all the DLC is included with it now.
Go on down to the themepark version of Hell and diss a guy, eh?
Speaking of SRPGs... a whole damn lot came out this week, and the one that appeals to me on a bone-deep spiritual level, is definitely Battle Suit Aces; a deckbuilding roguelite RPG where your command a team of giant mecha on missions to destroy alien monsters and enemy mobile suits; from the same peeps as what made Battle Chef Brigade.
It's almost not possible to pitch a game to me, personally, any harder.
And if that's not enouch of a deckbuilding roguelite for you, there's also Lost in Fantaland which... I would normally be all over like a pig on slop, but it had the misfortune of being released the same week as Battle Suit Aces, so... basically no chance of that, I'm afraid. This one is an isometric RPG kind of deal. The eShop description doesn't really give me a lot to go on here, but my immediate reaction si "Oh, is... is this a Falselei?" so I'm definitely going to at least put it in my wishlist based on that inference.
And speaking of SRPGs that are banking on me mistaking it for another entry in the genre I love dearly, we have Rise Eterna 2, the sequel to the dollar store version of the Fire Emblem we have at home. I dind't much care of it at the time, and now it has the likes of Dark Deity 2 and multiple actual Fire Emblems to compete with so... uh... not... super enthused.
And backing up the rear on the SRPG genre we have Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch, which is a spinoff of a game which I have... definitely seen mentioned before. This time around it's a roguelite SRPG so you can expect to die and then make your peeps sliiiiightly strounger so they can be a bit more likely to succeed the next time around.
Good on them, getting on that rise and grind mindset.
And heck, what's one more roguelite? Next up, we have Absolum which is also one. And it's... a beat-em-up?.
...and it looks kind of like Shadows over Mystara?
...And it plays like the Streets of Rage 4 DLC?
...And it's from Dotemu?
...and one of the characters is a Frog Wizard?
...Y'all, I think we've found the best possible pitch for a video game?
Speaking of multiplayer violence in an Fantasy RPG setting, we have Ys. vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga; a crossover between two of Falcoms most beloved RPG franchises that, of course, takes the form of... erm... a Power Stone themed fighting game.
Not where I thought we were going with it when I first heard of the game, I'll say that.
Now it is of course, The Witching Hour (late morning, on the seventh) and that means it's time to start cracking out the Spooky Games for that most October of Holidays, and so we've got our first big name SPOOKY GAME; Little Nightmares 3. I did not play any of the previous Little Nightmares games, so I can not speak to them in terms fo content or quality, but I know there's lots of peeps who like them a lot.
I infer they're spooky puzzle platformers where you're a little tiny guy; like Harleys Humongus Adventure, or World 4 of Mario 3.
People have always been fascinated by the small, and now YOU CAN TOO!
Speaking of spooky puzzle platformers there's also Bye, Sweet Carol which is also one of those, but this one has a bit more of a Cuphead kind of vibe. Just if, if the Cartoons looked kind of like the French kind you'd see on YTV in the early 90s instead of the kind that mean you have a Babadook or Skinamarink in the house.
And also if the game was more like Limbo than Contra.
Okay now on to re-releases ofold games; and but only technically in the case of Yooka Re-Playlee, since that came out way too recently to count as being an "Old game", but it's hard to argue that Yooka Laylee didn't need some more time in the oven before it was released. WELL NOW IT'S HAD IT. The good peeps at the... development offices where they made the original version of the game noticed everyone who said "Well, this is good, but..." and decided to actually fix things up; so there's just a ridiculous amount of tweaks and improvements in addition to the kind of things you'd expect from a remake, like looking nicer in general.
Anyway, it's Banjo Kazooie in all regards except they changed the animals and decreased the racism.
And speaking of games that I was really completely prepared to completely adore, but couldn't quite stick the landing, we have a re-release of Scurge: Hive, the isometric Troid-em-up that... was pretty much explicitly Metroid Fusion, but they tilted the camera a bit. And added in a strict time-limit in the form of an alien disease that was steadily killing you that could only be restored at save points.
This rerelease, in addition to the usual stuff like save states and rewinds options also has a bunch of Easy mode cheats you can toggle, and if one of them disables the infection mechanic then, buddy, this becomes the easiest rec in the world, because HOO NELLY did I enjoy the game otherwise.
Speaking of blasting every living thing you see becausr they're unilaterally the Bad Guys, we have Sonic Wings: Reunion, a remake of the original Sonic Wings which I know as "That Shmup where one of the planes is piloted by a dolphin". And if you need to be told more than that, then, buddy I don't know what you need to hear.
And finally, we have another Egg Console game and, as is frequently the case, it's a text heavy RPG with not an english letter to offend the eye; Haja no Fuuin, perhaps best known in English speaking countries as Miracle Warriors on the Sega Master System. Which is itself perhaps, better known for having some 8-bit pixelly exposed nippers on the final boss. It's, overall, one of the most foundational examples of the JRPG genre but I have to assume it's a hard rec in the present day; even if the localization wasn't a hurdle.
OKAY, GO TO BED
