3rd Strike

If you cast your mind back to the beginning of the year, you may remember our review of Winterlight. This visual novel stood out not because it was particularly well-written, but because it made use of AI-generated illustrations. SMV Games, the developer behind Winterlight, is now back with a follow-up novel, The Fissure. Given our lukewarm response to the previous one, the central question is whether or not they did better this time.

Leave it to Nintendo to say goodbye to the original Switch in the most Nintendo way possible. Rhythm Paradise Groove (or Rhythm Heaven Groove for those of you on the other side of the ocean) is likely the last Switch 1 game published by the Big N themselves. That doesn’t mean that the little hybrid device is now dead, because there are definitely still third-party releases in the pipeline, but the writing is on the wall. Is there rhythm to the console’s swan song, or does it miss the final beat?

Have you ever wanted to get away from it all and start over? Tired of spending eternity in a dark castle, clashing fangs with your parents? Well, look no further with Moonlight Peaks! Agame developed by Little Chicken and published by XSEED Games and Marvelous, it takes a spin on the cozy farming simulator by mixing in the occult, gloomy romance, and jokes.

Described as a combo between The Forest, Outlast, P.T and Silent Hill, Where Dolls Hang is an upcoming horror game by Steelkrill Studio that has survival mechanics and a psychological thriller vibe. As the name might have you suspect, the game is set in a location that was inspired by the real-life Island of the Dolls in Mexico. And yes, it’s as creepy as it sounds. However, today’s announcement is a bit of a weird one. In Where Dolls Hang, you’ll be able to watch full-length horror movies.

Released about a year ago for PC and currently boasting very positive reviews on Steam, Dune: Awakening is an immersive open-world RPG set in the world created by Frank Herbert. Bandai Namco delivers excellent sci-fi action in both singleplayer and multiplayer formats and is now expanding that fun to consoles. The devs released a deep dive video, sharing everything you need to know about the upcoming console release on September 22nd.

Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is a music-based RPG from Five Houses LLC that has already been out on PC for a while. Now, the game is coming to consoles, and with it, a massive update for all players. Turn-based combat and real-time decision making blend seamlessly in this crazy story about a washed-up band. Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is now available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series consoles, at the affordable price of €16.99 EUR.

Shiro Games, the studio behind games like Wartales and Dune: Spice Wars, has been on quite the roll over the last few years, so when they announced that they were tackling a massive, persistent MMO space simulator, we immediately sat up and took notice. Said game, SpaceCraft, recently warped into Steam Early Access, and we’ve been dipping our toes into its massive galaxy.

Just when we thought there was nothing new to be done with Tower Defense games, indie developer Senmu Studio throws their hat into the ring with their latest title, The Gate Must Stand. On paper, it sounds like a fantastic little game, combining classic static lane defense with the chaotic, dopamine-inducing rush of Survivors-likes. But can it hold up its defenses in practice, or does it fall apart in execution?

Mix a strong heroine, Celtic mythology, and lots of sword-slashing, and you get SoulQuest! A recent addition to the iconic ‘hack and slash’ genre, painted in a beautiful, pixelated art style, developed by SoulBlade Studio LLC, and published by Indie.io. This game was made by developer Tomas Pereyra, who aspired to make a game he’d have loved to play himself, all the way back in 2019 when he first began to develop SoulQuest.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming. The previous budget puzzle game from EastAsiaSoft that we looked at, Secret Paws: Cozy Apartments, strayed away from the 50-puzzle structure of games like GluMe or 1 Catline. The latest addition to the lineup, Rat Protocol, is a return to familiar form, at least in terms of pacing. Is there a pleasant surprise hiding behind our sense of familiarity, or do we smell a rat?