It’s a slow week for new releases, as the publishers try and avoid getting lost in the sea of news from all of the “Not-E3” press conferences and showcases. Our top game of the week is Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, an enhanced and expanded version of SMT V that also marks the end of its Nintendo Switch exclusivity.

Other than that, we’ve got the console port of the 3DS game Monster Hunter Stories, Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked which is a collection of the old 16-bit series, an update to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night that adds new content, and our only brand new game this week, Love Birds, which looks…interesting.

Oh, and just recently announced at the Xbox showcase this past Sunday, Fallout 76: Skyline Valley is coming out on the heels of the successful Fallout show on Amazon Prime.

Top Releases:

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 14^th

Developed by: Atlus
Published by: Sega

Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked (PC/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 11^th

Developed by: Limited Run Games
Published by: Konami

Love Birds (PC) – Releases Jun. 13^th

Developed by: Jaxon Hill & Skyler Esterly
Published by: Monkey Love Inc.

Monster Hunter Stories (PC/PS4/Switch) – Releases Jun. 14^th

Developed by: Capcom
Published by: Capcom

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – Classic II: Dominique’s Curse (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 11^th

Fallout 76: Skyline Valley (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 12^th

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 years ago:

This week’s notable releases probably aren’t three games that will illicit a big, nostalgic response in you, but they’re each unique and interesting in their own way. Let’s take a look!

First up, we have 2014’s Valiant Hearts: The Great War from Ubisoft. Set during WWI, Valiant Hearts aimed to put a spotlight on the conflict, commemorating its 100 year anniversary. Instead of making the game an action title with lots of shooting, the team at Ubisoft Montpellier opted to make a narrative driven puzzle game that explored the human aspect of the war, from both sides.

Initially, Valiant Hearts was a solo project started by one of Ubisoft’s artists, Paul Tumerlaire, in 2011, though it quickly grew in size and scope after word spread around the Montpellier offices. Many of the developers took a personal interest in the project, as their great-grandparents had been involved in the war in some fashion.

Valiant Hearts is, at its core, a non-violent game, despite the war setting. The developers took it upon themselves to create a scenario where players could not kill anyone, nor be actively killed by an enemy. In fact, the team wanted to eliminate the idea of “good and bad”, instead showing how the tragedy of war takes a toll on all of us, despite our ideological differences.

When it released, Valiant Hearts was met with a mostly positive reception. Critics praised the game’s narrative and focus on parts of war that we rarely see. The choice to make it a point & click style adventure vs. a first person shooter was also well received by critics. However, not everyone agreed, with some critics calling the quality of the story was inconsistent, with many highs and lows throughout, while other critics didn’t think that the narrative and the gameplay mixed very well, thinking that Ubisoft should have just released an animated short, instead.

Despite the criticisms, Valiant Hearts was nominated by several outlets in multiple categories during the end of the year awards season. Its most notable wins came from the The Game Awards, where it was given Best Narrative and the Games For Change honor, as well as winning the award for Original Property at the BAFTA Game Awards. A sequel, Valiant Hearts: Coming Home was released by Netflix Games in 2023, before coming to home consoles and PC in 2024.

From 2004 we have the PS2 tactical RPG Front Mission 4, the fourth entry in the series, but the sixth overall release in the franchise. After skipping North America for its first two entries, the Front Mission franchise finally saw release in the West with the third game in the series, on PlayStation. It received a warm welcome from critics but didn’t exactly become a major financial success in North America.

Thankfully, fans of the series were treated to its PS2 sequel, which takes place between the events of Front Mission 1 and 2. The story of the game revolves around two characters, a European woman named Elsa and an American man named Darril. Their stories intertwine throughout the game as they investigate attacks on military bases in Germany.

Critics were generally happy with Front Mission 4, praising its deep gameplay and overall presentation. However, this deep gameplay was seen as a negative in the eyes of some critics, noting that players with little patience for spreadsheets, intricate number crunching, and brutal battles may be turned off by Front Mission 4. They did note, though, that these same things would be highly appreciated be other players who find these mechanics to be fun.

Like its predecessor, Front Mission 4 just couldn’t break out of its niche market, leading the next five releases to skip North America & Europe in favor of Japan, where it was very successful. The next title we’d get in the west would be 2010’s Front Mission Evolved, a third person shooter, followed by 2019’s Left Alive, a third person stealth/adventure title which is notoriously known as one of the worst video games ever made. Recent remakes of Front Mission 1 and 2 have hit modern consoles, to great acclaim, but an announced remake of the third game has yet to receive a release date, while Front Mission 4 has been forgotten entirely.

Moving to 1994, we’ve got the video game Instruments of Chaos starring Young Indiana Jones, or IoCsYIJ for short. Released for the Sega Genesis IoCsYIJ is a side scrolling, action/adventure game in which players take on the role of a young Indiana Jones from, well, the TV show The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, or TYIJC for short. Like Valiant Hearts, IoCsYIJ, based on TYIJC, is also set during World War I. However, unlike Valliant Hearts, IoCsYIJ is just STUFFED with violence, as you beat the shit out of, and sometimes shoot, German soldiers.

IoCsYIJ was poorly received by critics, probably because its name was too long to write out in their magazines, with the full title taking up an entire paragraph. It was dinged for its high difficulty and not in the fun, Front Mission 4 way, but in the so unfair/poorly designed that you want to thrown your controller through the TV screen kind of difficult. As if the difficulty wasn’t enough, critics also lambasted IoCsYIJ for its terrible sound, poor hit detection, ugly graphics, unresponsive controls, and boring level design. What a game! Oh, and at the 1:04 mark in the video above, young Indy shoots a monkey point blank in the face and it just runs away like nothing happened. Good stuff.

Moving away from games, lets talk about this week’s notable films. From 2014 we have the comedy sequel 22 Jump Street which finds Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum once again going undercover, but this time…in college…at spring break…WHAAATT??!! It’s actually a very funny film.

From 2004 we have one of the most well known movies of the 2000’s, the indie comedy Napoleon Dynamite. This absolutely brilliant, heartwarming film about a group of delusional misfits is a triumph from first time director Jared Hess. However, oversaturation of the title character, overuse of the film’s lines and character catch phrases, and an abundance of “Vote For Pedro” t-shirts all but tanked this movie in the eye of the public after only a few months.

Seeing this movie for the first time in 2004 at a small independent theatre in the San Diego neighborhood of Hillcrest was a revelation. Seeing the characters on screen, these flawed, weak, scared, but somehow over confident, men was like seeing a mirror reflection of myself. It was painful, heartbreaking, and so fucking funny. I’ll never forget the feeling of dread and embarrassment I felt for Napoleon as he goes out to dance after Pedro’s speech. I was terrified of what was going to happen next, but also on the edge of my seat. That dance, despite being so played out over the next couple of years, brought so much joy to my soul, and the smile on my face the entire time was one of absolute jubilation.

Like the 2003 Outkast song “Hey Ya!”, Napoleon Dynamite just got too much exposure, too fast. By the time it came out on DVD, where it was a hit, most people had grown tired of the constant bad impressions from their friends. With a few years gone by, and Hess putting out other films (including the also over quoted Nacho Libre…”Take it easy!”), I hope we can all look back and remember just how great Napoleon Dynamite was. I talked recently in the Summer Games Fest live chat about how the 90’s are kind of the last decade people seem to be nostalgic for, but Napoleon Dynamite certainly can make us nostalgic for the 2000’s, even if the movie itself looks like it’s also nostalgic for the 80’s & 90’s.

From 1994 we have the Mike Nichols film Wolf which asks the question, what if Jack Nicholson was a werewolf and somehow convinced Michelle Pfeiffer to have sex with him? I mean, maybe not a question the world was asking, but more like a question that Nicholson asked the universe in his diary that he writes in every night and places on his hope chest.

In music, 2014 saw the release of Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence. I couldn’t name a single song on this album, but that didn’t stop just about every outlet from putting it on their “Best of 2014” lists. 2004 gave us Hot Fuss, debut album from The Killers, a rock band that hailed from the desert city of Las Vegas. They, of course, got famous for saying their friend told them that this hot girl he saw has a boyfriend who looked like an ex-girlfriend that the singer dated in February of last year. Good stuff.

Finally, from 1994, we’ve got the hip-hop album Regulate… G Funk Era from rapper Warren G. While 1994 may be mostly known as the year that punk broke, hip-hop was still going strong after a stellar year of releases in 1993. Regulate… gave us the instant classic “Regulate”, a staple of the 90’s house party, a sure fire needle drop that will get the whole crowd singing.

A critical and commercial success, Regulate… debuted at number 2, just behind last week’s notable album Purple, by Stone Temple Pilots. It would be nominated for two Grammys, Best Rap Solo Performance for “This D.J.” (losing to “U.N.I.T.Y.” by Queen Latifah), and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Regulate” (losing to “None of Your Business” by Salt-N-Pepa).

Valiant Hearts: The Great War (PC/PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One) – Released Jun. 25^th, 2014: Wiki Link

Front Mission 4 (PS2) – Released Jun. 15^th, 2004: Wiki Link

Instruments of Chaos starring Young Indiana Jones (Genesis) – Released Jun. 1994: Wiki Link

---

This is also the sixth anniversary of New Game Releases, time sure did fly by! The depth of content and the format of this column has changed multiple times over the years as I continue to grapple with real life responsibilities and this little hobby of mine. I’m so grateful to everyone who has stuck around, and I hope my corner of The Avocado continues to thrive. I have nothing but love and respect for each of you out there reading this, you make every Tuesday worth getting up for.

If you like what I’m doing here consider supporting me on Patreon. You can also find me on X, if that sort of thing is your bag. I eat a lot of corndogs.