Games

New Game Releases 02/04/25 – 02/10/25

Top Releases:

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 4th
  • Rift of the NecroDancer (PC) – Releases Feb. 5th
  • Big Helmet Heroes (PC/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 6th
  • Under Defeat (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 6th
  • Moons of Darsalon (PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 6th

There are over two dozen video games to choose from this week, which is astounding. I’m constantly in awe of how many games come out every week, with hundreds of titles a month all vying for your dollars and attention. Trust me when I say that, the 25 games listed this week are only the tip of the iceberg, as dozens of titles are released on Steam every week, and the Switch is rife with shovelware as far as the eye can see.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 4th

Developed by: Warhorse Studios
Published by: Deep Silver

Now, while we have 25 new title, frankly, none of them are doing anything for me this week. Our top game is kind of the winner by default; Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. The sequel to 2018’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance, part 2 continues the story Henry the Skalitz, the son of a blacksmith, who has become a knight in the service of Sir Radzig Kobyla. You are part of a resistance group that is trying to overthrow the usurper, King Sigismund, and reinstalling your King, Wenceslaus IV.

Kingdom Come is a first person, open world RPG that stands out from others in the field by trying to remain as faithful to real life as it can. There are no fantasy worlds, no monsters, no magic, it’s just you and your comrades running around in the Kingdom of Bohemia (known today as the Czech Republic) during the 15th century. All weapons, armors, and architecture are proposed to be period accurate so, like, if you notice something that isn’t just, you know, post about it on Blue Sky and use that smug face emoji.

Rift of the NecroDancer (PC) – Releases Feb. 5th

Developed by: Brace Yourself Games/Tic Toc Games
Published by: Klei Publishing

That’s about it, folks, everything else coming out this week are small, mostly independent titles. The creators of Crypt of the NecroDancer are back with a new title called Rift of the NecroDancer that appears to play similarly to Guitar Hero & Rock Band. The other big indie of the week is Big Helmet Heroes, a hack and slash action game published by Dear Villagers who are probably best know as the publishers of Fort Solis and A Normal Lost Phone. The developer of the game, Exalted Studio, released a multiplayer battle arena version this game on mobile devices back in 2020, with this new title being more adventure focused.

Big Helmet Heroes (PC/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 6th

Developed by: Exalted Studio
Published by: Dear Villagers

Rounding things out are a couple of ports that you may or may not have already been aware of. First is the shoot ’em up, Under Defeat, a 2005 Japanese only arcade game that was first released in North America in 2012 for the PS3. This version marks the first time that the game will be available on PC, and sees it come to modern consoles as well.

Finally, we have Moons of Darsalon, a retro inspired 2D puzzle adventure game that mixes elements of Lemmings & Pikmin with a classic side scrolling shooter. The game released on PC back in 2023 but went mostly unnoticed. Perhaps being ported to consoles will help raise the reputation of this delightful looking game that has received glowing reviews on PC.

Under Defeat (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 6th

Developed by: G.rev (original game)/City Connection/Take x Off
Published by: City Connection

Moons of Darsalon (PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 6th

Developed by: Dr. Kucho! Games
Published by: Dr. Kucho! Games/Astrolabe Games

Ports and Re-releases:

  • The Sims & The Sims 2 Legacy Collection (PC) – Released Jan. 31st

Technically, this should have been in last week’s New Game Releases but EA pulled a fast one on us and shadow dropped The Sims and The Sims 2 on January 31st for PC. These are, for better or worse, the original games, albeit with some modern updates including larger screen resolutions and crisper graphics. Some users are saying that the games are riddled with bugs and crashes on a regular basis. Maxis says they fixed the crash issues, so please buy their game. I’ll just grab my old CD-ROM version and install it.

Everything else:

Holy moly, look at all of those games coming out! I’ll be honest, a lot of these look incredible and I would strongly recommend checking out their Steam pages to see if any of them fit your fancy (simply click on the title to be taken there). I am also surprised that only, like, two of these look like they were generated by AI.

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

It’s now time for everyone’s favorite article within the article, Notable Releases! What were we all playing, watching, and listening to 10, 20, & 30 years ago? Let’s find out!

Games:

Kicking things off, from 2015, we’ve got the game Evolve, from Turtle Rock Studios, creators of the multiplayer horde shooter, Left 4 Dead. After splitting from Valve in 2010, Turtle Rock began to craft their next game. They wanted to continue working on the online multiplayer space but felt that they needed to try something new. Inspired by the hunting game Cabela’s Big Game Hunter, the team wondered what it would be like if you were the deer trying to hide from the hunters. Not only that, though, but what if the deer could suddenly turn the tables and start stalking the hunters?

The concept seemed so simple and obvious that Turtle Rock was baffled that no major studio had thought of it before. This new concept, which we now refer to as an asymmetrical multiplayer structure, was brand new to the gaming industry. While you could probably find like-minded examples in earlier titles, it wasn’t until Evolve’s release that the concept hit the mainstream.

For those unfamiliar, Evolve assigns one player the role of the monster, while four other players are assigned the hunter role. The start of the match is simple enough, the four hunters search for the monster and try to kill them in its weakest state. The monster, meanwhile, is given a 30 second head start to distance itself from the hunters. The monster must then kill local wildlife in order to grow stronger; once it reaches a certain amount of kills it can transform, “Evolve”, if you will, allowing it more easily kill the hunters. The match continues until the monster is defeated or all four hunters have been eliminated.

The pre-release hype for Evolve was high and it was expected to arrive during the 2014 holiday season but, due to technical issues, publisher 2K allowed Turtle Rock to continue polishing the game and pushed the release date to Feb. 10th, 2015. Being a live service game, Evolve had, of course, a season pass that players could purchase, granting them DLC as it arrive. However, players soon found out that there were lots of DLC items available for purchase on day one that were not included in the season pass.

Further, players who did not purchase the season pass, or individual DLC, were still allowed to download the new maps for free, granting them access to these locations while playing, but did not allow them to play as the new hunters or monsters. This further confused/angered the player base as it felt “unfair” but also gave non-purchasers FOMO, almost taunting them with content they didn’t have access to and manipulating them into buying the DLC.

While it was received moderately well at release, it failed to attract a large audience at launch and found itself bleeding players at an alarming rate. For 2K, who considered Evolve a “forever franchise” for the publisher, this was bad news. In July of 2016, the game went free-to-play and was re-dubbed Evolve: Stage 2. This F2P version would only be available on PC because, later that year, 2K announced that Evolve would be lose all support in October, with a server shutdown at a TBD date.

That server shutdown would happen in September of 2018, though the game would still allow peer-to-peer matches under what was called Legacy Evolve then, in 2022, 2K announced that they would bring back the Evolve dedicated servers, allowing the game to be played online again. Sadly, this was only temporary, as Evolve would completely shut down in July of 2023, bringing an end to the first, and arguably best, asymmetric, 4v1 online multiplayer game.

Moving to 2005, we’ve got the Nintendo game Star Fox: Assault for the GameCube. Billed as a sequel to the 2002 GameCube title, Star Fox Adventures, Assault blends the 3D adventure elements of that game with the traditional Star Fox flight simulation style it was more well known for. On top of these two modes, players would sometimes take to the ground in the Landmaster tank, first seen in Star Fox 64.

The critical reception to Star Fox: Assault was mixed, with the largest complaint being the poor controls in the “on-foot” missions. The game’s multiplayer mode was also criticized for its lack of depth and perceived simplicity. It was, however, seen as a more “mature” title for the GameCube which had been plagued by assumptions that it was the “kids” console. Sales of Assault were high and the title would eventually get a “Player’s Choice” release. The game is currently unavailable on any modern consoles and, I assume, will be lost to time.

Heading into 1995, we’ve got another Kirby title, the puzzle game Kirby’s Avalanche. After a few seconds of gameplay, keen eyed players will likely recognize that this actually a Puyo title, Super Puyo Puyo, a title only released in Japan, which was reskinned as a Kirby title for North America.

The gameplay between the two titles is exactly the same, while the story, characters, music, and some artwork are completely changed. There are cutscenes in-between stages that depict Kirby speaking, with much of the dialogue being sarcastic and “trash talky”. This is leftover dialogue from Super Puyo Puyo and goes against what we think of in terms of Kirby’s personality, which is far more demure, to the point that he pretty much never talks.

Kirby’s Avalanche was a hit with critics who cited its addictive nature and bright, colorful graphics as highlights. In the ensuing years, Kirby’s Avalanche has been cited by multiple outlets as one of the greatest games ever released for the SNES and, in 1997, was called the 84th best game of all-time by EGM on their “100 Greatest Games” list. You can easily play Avalanche today on the SNES app through the Nintendo Switch Online service.

Movies:

Moving onto notable films, 2015 gave us the the box office disappointment Jupiter Ascending, yet another film in a string of disappointments from The Wachoskis following their breakthrough hit, The Matirx in 1999. Set on modern day earth, the film follows Jupiter Jones, a fairly normal woman who, despite looking like Mila Kunis, just can’t get her life together. One day, she sells some of her ovarian eggs to a fertility clinic and, for some reason, finds herself being attacked by space aliens.

From here, Jupiter must untangle the history of her possibly royal lineage and, with the help of Caine Wise (a half-man/half-dog), discover why all these aliens want her dead. Jupiter Ascending is just terrible, folks. I’m a Speed Racer apologist despite the movie being objectively bad, but Jupiter Ascending has no redeeming value. Dull, confusing, and cheesy, I’m surprised that Jupiter Ascending made as much money as it did, frankly.

Moving on from a box office dud to a bona fide box office smash, from 2005 we’ve got the Will Smith romantic comedy Hitch. Spending three consecutive weeks in the no. 1 spot at the box office, Hitch would go on to be the 10th highest grossing film, world wide, for 2005. If people didn’t already think of Will Smith as a movie star by now, Hitch is what made them.

It showed that Smith didn’t need to be a supporting character or share top billing, it showed that he could completely carry a movie by himself and led to future lead roles in films of the 2000’s like Hancock, I Am Legend, and The Pursuit of Happyness. I was working at the video store chain Hollywood Video when this came out on DVD and man, let me tell you, I had never seen a movie so in demand in my life than I did for Hitch; people LOVED this movie. Believe it or not, I’ve never actually seen this movie. I was probably the only person in that entire store who didn’t. I could watch it tonight, but, nah.

On to 1995, we have a film that didn’t quite hit it big at the box office but would go on to have a dynamite life on home video, launching the career of one of the biggest comedians of the next 20 years, Adam Sandler’s Billy Madison. Reviled by critics, the movie gained a cult following on home video and cable thanks to Sandler’s outlandish character and the buffoons & weirdos he surrounds himself with; Norm Macdonald & Mark Beltzman as his two loser buddies, Chris Farley as a manic bus driver, and Josh Mostel as an elementary school principal who lives a secret life as a professional wrestler.

The premise, in case you weren’t between the ages of 10 and 30 in 1995, finds the titular character Billy Madison (played by Sandler) learning that, in order to take over the family hotel business, he must speed run through school, K-12, to prove that he’s not an idiot. In the process, a slimy executive at the company, played by Bradley Whitford, tries to stop Billy from succeeding so that he can take over the company instead. Wacky hijinks ensue and in the end, spoiler, Billy passes each grade and takes over the company, sort of (he puts a guy in charge who knows what he’s doing, vowing to learn the business from him, or something like that).

As I was 14 in 1995, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I loved the hell out of this movie and considered Adam Sandler to be the funniest person on he entire planet Earth. Following the success of Billy Madison, Sandler would star in a string of box office hits through the 90’s with Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, and Big Daddy, while maintaining the momentum through the 2000’s, finally kind of running out of steam somewhere around 2011 with the release of Jack & Jill.

Fun fact, according to Sandler, his first choice to play the villain was Bob Odenkirk, who Sandler worked with at SNL, but the studio didn’t think he was a “serious” actor; what a bunch of dick heads.

Albums:

Alright, let’s talk about music, shall we? 2015 gave us the Father John Misty album I Love You, Honeybear which, I’ve never listened to, never heard of and, frankly, don’t give a shit about; *fart noise*. 2005 also gave us an album that I’d rather ignore completely, Michael Bublé’s It’s Time. Reviled by critics, the album was, alas, a major commercial success; *fart noise*.

While I won’t pretend that I love 1995’s notable album, Shania Twain’s The Woman in Me, I can appreciate its place in pop culture and just how influential and groundbreaking Shania was. Featuring a whopping eight singles (nearly every song on the 12 track album), the first two are probably songs you’ve heard a million times, “Who’s Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” and “Any Man of Mine”.

I was pretty unfair to Father John Misty and Martin Bubble earlier but, like, Shania, all three have incredible voices and a real talent for the artistry of music and performance. However, Shania wipes the floor with these two jerk off’s, she’s on the country music Mount Rushmore, for sure, sitting alongside Dolly, Hank Williams and, I don’t know, Willie Nelson, maybe? No, Reba.

Anyway, The Woman in Me was a major commercial success, peaking at no. 5 on the Billboard Top 200, hitting no. 1 on the Billboard Country chart, and ended up being the 38th best selling album of the 1990’s. At the Grammy’s, “Any Man of Mine” would be nominated for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Twain herself would be nominated for Nest New Artist (losing to Hootie & the Blowfish), and the album as a whole would win Best Country Album. Twain would release her next album, Come on Over, in 1997 to even bigger critical and commercial success

Evolve (PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Released Feb. 10th, 2015

Notable Film Release: Jupiter Ascending – Starring Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Sean Bean, and Eddie Redmayne
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
Click here to listen to the album

Star Fox: Assault (GameCube) – Released Feb. 15th, 2005

Notable Film Release: Hitch – Starring Will Smith, Eva Mendes, and Kevin James
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Michael Bublé – It’s Time
Click here to listen to the album

Kirby’s Avalanche (Arcade) – Released Feb. 1995

Notable Film Release: Billy Madison – Starring Adam Sandler, Bradley Whitford, and Bridgette Wilson
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Shania Twain – The Woman in Me
Click here to listen to album

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