Well the GotY and 2024 hype stuff is done, so back to the regular schedule. Game releases! I do have a review incoming for the japan-exclusive Mameda no Bakeru, once I’m done with it. I have been playing other stuff as well, not sure I’ll get reviews up for those. Namely Dungeons of Aether (very okay/10), 9 Years of Shadow (actually pretty good), and I bought but haven’t started Chained Echoes which I heard very good stuff about.

So here I’m highlighting: 8 multiplats, 2 Switch games, 2 PC games, and the dumbest release in history on PS5. As far as what I’m buying in those, there’s one of my most hyped games this year already so that’s one, and I have 2-3 maybes. Not a terrible start for the year.

Oh and Palworld I think is meant to come out in Early Access this month, I might have a look.

Let’s go and start 2024!

Disclaimer: I only list games that I think are worth mentioning. This includes games I’m personally interested in, games that will likely be popular, highly advertised games, some more niche stuff I may notice, and such. Not just games I care about myself, I highlight as much as I think makes sense. And of course, I can’t see the future, so I may be missing games and I may be listing games that may get delayed.

MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 01/18 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)

This is a Ubisoft game. So the likelihood of this being even a bit okay is astronomically low… But people have been hyped for it, surprisingly. And it doesn’t look completely awful, being a side-scrolling action game with what looks like pretty okay combat mechanics (and apparently it’s metroidvania, the 21 minute gameplay video didn’t look like it but it might have been just early intro stuff and it opens up after). So I’ll wait to see impressions. If it’s apparently good, I’ll then wait maybe a month or two for it to drop in price by half because this is a full-price game and I’m not spending full-price for a Ubisoft game.

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs: The Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami 01/18 (PC, Switch, PS5)

This is based on a manga/anime that was mostly fanservice, from what I recall. It was very okay, I gave up a few episodes into it. This game is an actual roguelike (as in it plays like rogue). Doesn’t look particularly impressive.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank 01/18 (Switch, PC, Xbone, Xbox X/S)

I do have Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion on my Epic Game Store account because they gave it for free at some point but I have not played it. No idea if it’s good. This looks like a fairly average twin-stick shooter. I dunno. I’ll get it for free on the Epic Game Store and also not play it, probably.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy 01/25 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone)

It’s another Ace Attorney collection. The Apollo Justice ones aren’t quite as popular or good as the Phoenix Wright ones, but they’re still pretty good. Worth checking out if you skipped out on them back in the day.

Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes] 01/25 (Switch, PC, PS4, PS5)

This is an anime fighting game that I know very little about. I saw it here and there watching tournaments, it looks pretty good.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth 01/26 (PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)

One of the hypest games this year! Much like my 2024 hype post from yesterday, don’t have too much to say about this one because I completely avoided trailers for this outside of the announcement, so I don’t quite know what to expect from it. Should be amazing though.

Tekken 8 01/26 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)

Actual current-gen exclusive let’s go! These are pretty rare because most games STILL fucking release on PS4 and Xbone even though they really shouldn’t at this point in the gen.
Well this is Tekken, basically the last bastion of 3D fighting games since it’s the only one that has really much of a competitive scene, and 3D fighting games just hardly come out anymore in the first place… Heck, even Tekken 7 itself is 8 years old, it took a long fucking time to get to this one. Either way, this looks great… I won’t play it, but it’ll be nice to see tournaments of a new fucking Tekken.

The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout Anthology 01/30 (PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)

Apparently the first Redwall story in a long time, which is cool for those fans. It looks like a fairly simple but pretty fun little stealth adventure game. Not something I’ll get but it seems cool.

SWITCH RELEASES

Another Code: Recollection 01/19

This is a collection of what was called Trace Memory in the US on the DS, and it’s sequel for the Wii which never came out in the US for some reason. The DS one was a pretty cool puzzle adventure game that made cool utilization of the then-new DS hardware. I dunno if the sequel was good but I hear good things. This is pretty cool. I feel like waiting for a sale, but it is a Nintendo-published game so who knows if that will happen.

Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters 01/23

This came out I think last year on other platforms, I really just put it here to pad out the list a little bit. I mostly skip Neptunia stuff at this point, I don’t think I’ll touch this one either… especially since it’s been out for months and I haven’t touched it.

PC RELEASES

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell 01/11

The previous game in the series, Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight, was quite good. I didn’t even know this was coming out before I dug a bit to make my 2024 list. But yeah, this looks good too. It seems pretty similar gameplay-wise though the graphics are a bit different in style, it’s basically a metroidvania with a bit more of a melee focus and dodge rolls. It will get compared to Dark Souls, as the previous one did.

Graven 01/23

This is something of a classic-style 3D first-person RPG thing. I’m not too sure how it works specifically, but it looks pretty good from what I’ve seen. It’s doing oldschool 3D graphics that give me some original Painkiller vibes, but the gameplay itself is an exploration RPG kinda deal. Might be worth checking out. It’s been in early access for a bit so you can look around to find gameplay.

PS5 RELEASE

The Last of Us Part II Remastered 01/19

Legitimately such a stupid release, might be the dumbest ever objectively. For one, it’s Last of Us 2, one of the garbagest games ever that no one should buy. Second… you can literally already play Last of Us 2 on PS5 already, so this is pointless. There is zero reason to pay 65 canadian dollars for this crap when you can buy the same crap for 20 canadian dollars (probably less if you look around). Please Sony fanboys, don’t be stupid for once in your lives.