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New Game Releases 03/11/25 – 03/17/25

Top Releases:

  • WWE 2K25 (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 14th
  • Beyond the Ice Palace II (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 11th
  • Centum (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 11th
  • Wanderstop (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 11th
  • FATE: Reawakened (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 12th
  • Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes – The Chapter of Marisa/Seign (Switch…possibly PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Mar. 13th

It’s Tuesday which means it is time to talk about brand new video games! This week’s offerings are a little light, if I’m being honest, but I am personally very excited for this week’s top release, WWE 2K25. While the core gameplay is unchanged (i.e., you wrestle people), 2K25 has added a brand new mode to the series called, The Island.

WWE 2K25 (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 14th

Developed by: Visual Concepts
Published by: 2K

Now, if you’re a fan of WWE and have been watching/keeping up with the storylines over the last 3 or 4 years, then you know that Roman Reigns, AKA The Tribal Chief, AKA The GOAT, then you know that his Bloodline stable has been one of the most dominant in all of WWE, coming to a climactic conclusion at last year’s Wrestlemania when Cody Rhodes (with some help from Seth Rollins and The Undertaker) defeated Reigns and became the WWE Undisputed Champion. It was a brilliant, highly engaging story that, in my opinion, rivaled anything else on television.

Part of Reigns mystique is that he is the ruler of what his Wiseman, Paul Heyman, calls “The Island of Relevancy”, which many a wrestler wanted to be a part of, most notably Sami Zayn. For this new game mode, players will have the chance to visit “The Island”, a hub world where they will be able to compete in matches, take on quests, and complete challenges in a effort to impress The Tribal Chief. You can also learn about WWE history (with a likely heavy emphasis on the Samoan wrestlers), purchase clothes and knick knacks for your custom characters, and enjoy a multitude of mini-games.

Beyond the Ice Palace II (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 11th

Developed by: Storybird Studio
Published by: PQube/PixelHeart

That’s pretty much it, folks! Everything else coming out are small, indie titles that are sure to scratch someone’s itch. Beyond the Ice Palace II is a rad looking metroidvania, Centum is a point & click puzzle adventure, Wanderstop is a cozy shop management sim from the creator of The Stanley Parable, and FATE: Reawakened is an enhanced remake/collection of the four dungeon crawler titles in the FATE franchise (I’ve never heard of them but maybe you have and are very excited).

Centum (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 11th

Developed by: Hack The Publisher
Published by: Serenity Forge

Wanderstop (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 11th

Developed by: Ivy Road
Published by: Annapurna Interactive

FATE: Reawakened (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Mar. 12th

Developed by: gamigo US Inc./Tableflip Entertainment
Published by: gamigo US Inc./WildTangent

Rounding things out we have some DLC for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, one of them came out last month, The Chapter of Marisa, while a new entry, The Chapter of Seign, arrives this week. Eiyuden Chronicle was one of my favorite games from 2024 and it was already massive, I can’t imagine what else they could possibly have to say but I’m here for it!

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes – The Chapter of Marisa/Seign (Switch…possibly PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Mar. 13th

Developed by: Rabbit & Bear Studios
Published by: 505 Games

Everything else:

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

Welcome to everyone’s favorite article within an article, Notable Releases! (Please do not ask any one if this is their favorite article within an article, you can believe me, you need no other confirmation. I have asked everyone and they all agree, do not look into it any further.)

Games:

Kicking things off, from 2015 we’ve got the side scrolling platformer Ori and the Blind Forest, from developer Moon Studios. Initially released as an Xbox One exclusive, Ori was one of the few games that made it worth owning the ol’ XBone. With gorgeous graphics, a gripping & powerful story, and tight, easy to learn/hard to master controls, Ori received overwhelming praise from critics and players.

With so much critical praise it shouldn’t be surprising that Ori found itself earning countless nominations at the end of the year awards shows, with 19 total, including two for Game of the Year. Ori would only win Best Art Direction at The Game Awards, but cleaned up at The DICE Awards, winning Outstanding Achievement in Animation, Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, and Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition, though it would lose Game of the Year to Fallout 4.

A “definitive edition” would release in 2016, almost exactly one year later, which added new areas, gameplay mechanics, and the ability to play on easy or hard difficulties. A sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps would arrive in 2020 (again, almost exactly four years to the day of the original game’s release) and Xbox would lose console exclusivity in 2019 when the game came to the Nintendo Switch. Ori and the Blind Forest is, undoubtedly, one of the greatest games of the decade and is, arguably, one of the greatest side scrolling platformers of all time; play it today!

From 2005, Sony took a huge risk, attempting to compete with Nintendo in the handheld market, releasing the PlayStation Portable, better known as the PSP. Originally announced in 2003, the console would finally be shown publicly in 2004 at E3 with multiple games being demoed, with launch titles Metal Gear Acid and Wipeout Pure being seen as bright spots.

While the PSP was primarily a game machine, Sony wanted the device to be seen as an all-in-one media device, with the ability to play music and movies on Sony’s proprietary UMD discs. It doesn’t look like any UMD films were released on launch day, though the film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines came out on February 20th, 2005, with the next batch coming on April 19th, which included Hellboy, House of the Flying Daggers, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and the Vin Diesel action film, XXX.

For its North American launch, the PSP had 17 games to choose from. Aside from the already mentioned Metal Gear Acid and Wipeout Pure, here is what else was available:

  • Ape Escape: On the Loose
  • Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower
  • Dynasty Warriors
  • Gretzky NHL
  • Lumines
  • NBA
  • Need for Speed: Underground Rivals
  • NFL Street 2: Unleashed
  • Ridge Racer
  • Spider-Man 2
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour
  • Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 Remix
  • Twisted Metal: Head-On
  • Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade
  • World Tour Soccer: Challenge Edition

The most critically acclaimed launch title on the PSP, according to Metacritic, was the puzzle game Lumines, which has a score of 89. Following close behind, with scores of 88, were Ridge Racer & Wipeout Pure. As far as the worst reviewed titles, players could likely avoid Untold Legends, Spider-Man 2 (which paled in comparison to its PS2 counterpart), Ape Escape: On the Loose, Dynasty Warriors and, unsurprisingly, two sports titles, Gretzky NHL and the unimaginatively named NBA (which had an abysmal score of 57). Fun fact about NBA, this was the final game to be released under the 989 Sports name, before they were made defunct and absorbed by parent company SCEA.

As for the system itself, the PSP received major praise, overall, with many critics calling it a “must buy” system. In comparison to Nintendo’s then current handheld, the DS, critics felt the PSP was the superior device though it would, in the long run, fail to receive the same kind of third party support that Nintendo’s device would. The price of the PSP, $250, was an issue for many critics, particularly with the DS only retailing for $150. Still, with smartphones still about two years away, the PSP’s biggest comparison was Apple’s iPod Video, which retailed anywhere from $300 to $400.

The PSP was a decent seller over its lifespan, selling a respectable 25 million units in its first two years on the market. By the end of its run, the system had moved over 75 million units, worldwide, with the US accounting for 17 million of those (unsurprisingly, the most units were sold in Japan, at 19 million). While it would never match the sales or legacy of the Nintendo DS, Sony’s PSP was a valid competitor.

Unfortunately for Sony, their follow up device, the PS Vita, was a flop, ending the company’s dreams of taking control of the handheld market from Nintendo. I still love my PSP, though I do worry that its battery will start to swell, a common issue with the device, so I’m trying to love it as much as I can before then. Long live the PSP!

Moving on to 1995, we’ve got the puzzle game Mario’s Picross for the Game Boy. The game is a collection of nonogram’s, a logic puzzle in which players must fill in boxes based on numbers shown in the rows and columns of a grid. When completed, the puzzle will reveal an image made of of dots (or pixels in gaming terms).

While Mario’s Picross was well received by critics for its addicting nature, sales of the game in North America were far below what Nintendo was hoping for. Conversely, in Japan, the game was a HUGE hit and spawned an SNES sequel that wasn’t seen in the US until 2020 when it hit the Nintedo Switch Online program. In a nice bit of happenstance, Nintendo has just recently released Mario’s Picross on the Nintendo Switch Online program just this past week (March 7th, 2025).

Movies:

Moving to notable films, 2015 gave us one of the masterpieces of modern horror films, David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows. In this film, a young woman goes on a date with a man, ends up having sex with him and, to her horror, finds herself tied to a wheelchair. At first, she thinks this is some kind of kidnapping or torture, but she is wrong. Her date explains that he has passed on a curse to her, a deadly one, in which a figure that only she can see will stalk her day & night, without rest, until it comes to kill her. The only way she can remove the curse is to pass it on to someone else and hope that they can stay alive long enough to pass it on to another and then another, and so on, keeping the entity as far away as possible.

I absolutely LOVE this movie. It is terrifying on multiple levels, and gives horror one of its most relentless and evil antagonists. While the film didn’t make a ton of money at the box office, it was a financial success, bringing in $23 million on a $1.3 million dollar budget. Critics adored the film, with It Follows having a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I can’t sing the praises of It Follows enough, I highly recommend it.

From 2005, we’ve got the Disney film Ice Princess. While this isn’t the most “cool” film I could have picked this week (what would go to Steamboy), Ice Princess is notable due to the recent passing of its star Michelle Trachtenberg. I didn’t watch Ice Princess when it came out because I was, well, a 24 year old man at the time, but based on articles and social media posts I’ve seen in recent days, it seemed to be a very important movie to a lot of women who were coming of age in the mid 2000’s.

Ice Princess is a typical, by the numbers family sports film. Trachtenberg plays a high school student, Casey, who is a “total nerd” but discovers that she loved ice skating. The film follows her on her journey to become a professional ice skater, much to the dismay of her mother who thinks she should be pursuing higher education and becoming a, I don’t know, doctor or something; it doesn’t matter. In the end, Casey places second on the “big competition” and has a chance to make it to the Olympics. Her mother comes around to the idea and Casey makes friends with her rival. Hooray!

From 1995, we’ve got the Australian hit Muriel’s Wedding. Wow, that means all three films this week star women as the leads, it’s a very female centric group of notable movies! Anyway, Muriel’s Wedding stars Toni Colette (in her breakout performance) as a young woman named Muriel who is, how do I put this nicely, kind of a loser. Aside from being a bit brash and unsophisticated, Muriel is also lazy, selfish, and a bit of a petty criminal. After being told by her group of friends that she is not invited on their vacation, Muriel ends up stealing money from her father (a local politician who may have received the money by unscrupulous means) to go on the trip by herself.

While vacationing, Muriel meets another girl from her town and they both confront the mean girls and tell them off. With a new friend in tow, Muriel sets out to start her life over (and evade the law for the money she stole). Over the course of the film, Muriel has multiple chances to fix herself but always seems to cop out and take the easy road, including entering a marriage of convenience instead of, like, falling in love with a man and getting married.

Muriel’s Wedding was a big commercial & critical hit in Australia, and was well received in the US, leading to a string of roles for Collette in American independent films, as well as the part of the mother in The Sixth Sense, which earned her an Oscar nomination. Muriel’s Wedding would get Collette a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Comedy or Musical, but she would lose to Nicole Kidman for her turn in To Die For. While I can’t say I loved Muriel’s Wedding, it’s still a great movie that is well worth a watch if you’re a fan of Collette, Australian cinema, or independent film.

Albums:

Moving on to notable albums, 2015 saw the release of To Pimp a Butterfly, the third album from rapper Kendrick Lamar. While primarily a hip-hop record, Lamar used the album to explore and pay homage to the history of black music in America. To Pimp a Butterfly was a statement piece, a celebration, a tearing down of black oppression, a look into the lifetime of struggle that most black American’s face; in short, it was brilliant.

A critical and commercial success, To Pump a Butterfly debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, had nearly 10 million streams in the first day of release, and sold over 1 million copies, worldwide, by the end of 2015. On the end of the year lists, To Pimp a Butterfly was the most frequently seen album in critics’ top ten and was the #1 album on 51 different lists, including Rolling Stone, Billboard, Pitchfork, Spin, The Guardian, Consequence, and Vice.

At the Grammy’s, Lamar and the album would receive seven nominations, Album of the Year, Rap Album of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Song of the Year, Best Music Video, and Best Rap/Sung Performance. It would win three (Rap Album, Rap Performance, & Rap Song), losing Album of the Year to Taylor Swift’s 1989. That’s okay, ten years later he’d win a bunch of Grammy for calling Drake a pedo.

From 2005, we’ve got the album Human After All by the electro-pop duo Daft Punk. A more minimalist effort than their previous releases, critics weren’t too thrilled with Human After ALL, finding the song repetitive and a bit boring. However, Daft Punk would incorporate the songs into their 2006/2007 tour, Alive, where they were far better received.

Despite the dressing down of the album by critics, Daft Punk were still able to get a Grammy nomination in the Best Electronic/Dance Album category, losing to The Chemical Brothers (it’s okay, they’d win in 2009 for Alive).

Finally, from 1995, we’ve got another critically acclaimed album, Radiohead’s The Bends. After receiving worldwide acclaim for the song “Creep” from their 1993 debut, Pablo Honey, there was a lot of pressure put on Radiohead to put out an album that could do just as good. While touring Pablo Honey, the pressure of success weighed on lead singer Thom Yorke and led to him having a kind of breakdown, getting physically ill while also feeling immense stress and mental anguish over writing music.

However, the constant touring was also helping the band become a tighter unit, as well as helping Yorke become a better song writer. When it came time to start putting together the next album, Yorke brought their producer a demo tape called “The Benz”, to which the producer recalled that every single song on the demo was better than anything on Pablo Honey. Radiohead was poised for further success, it seemed.

In the UK, The Bends was a phenomenon, sitting on the UK Albums Chart for sixteen weeks and peaking at #4. Five singles from the album had a major presence on the UK Singles Chart throughout 1995 & 1996, showing that the band weren’t just one-hit-wonders; in the UK. You see, folks, the US music audience doesn’t really like “weird” or “artsy shit”, they want songs that “rock” and The Bends did not “rock” the youth of America.

Fearing that most of the songs on The Bends were too weird & slow, Capitol Records opted to release “Fake Plastic Trees” as the first single because it felt the least like “Creep”, which the label was trying to distance the band from. On MTV, VJ Matt Pinfield would continually promote The Bends and play videos from the album on 120 Minutes, much to the anger of other labels who wondered why Radiohead got so much attention. Pinfield’s response was that the album was great, that’s why he kept playing it. Word got back to Radiohead and they presented Pinfield with a gold record as a thank you.

The Bends was released at the height of the Britpop movement, which saw bands like Oasis and Blur breakthrough to worldwide audiences. The artistry of The Bends was not lost on post-Britpop bands, with groups like Coldplay and Muse citing the album as a major influence on them. While The Bends remains Radiohead’s lowest charting album in the US, it still sold over one million copies. Slow & Weird, that’s Radiohead in a nutshell, would we have it any other way?

Ori and the Blind Forest (PC/Xbox One) – Released Mar. 11th, 2015

Notable Film Release: It Follows – Starring Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe, and Daniel Zovatto
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
Click here to listen to the album

PlayStation Portable – Released Mar. 24th, 2005

Notable Film Release: Ice Princess – Starring Michelle Trachtenberg, Joan Cusack, Kim Cattrall, and Hayden Panettiere
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Daft Punk – Human After All
Click here to listen to the album

Mario’s Picross (Game Boy) – Released Mar. 16th, 1995

Notable Film Release: Muriel’s Wedding – Starring Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths, Jeanie Drynan, and Bill Hunter
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Radiohead – The Bends
Click here to listen to album

Slow & weird…

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