Games

New Game Releases 05/20/25 – 05/26/25

Top Releases:

  • Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases May 21st
  • Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remastered (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases May 22nd
  • Game of Thrones: Kingsroad (PC) – Releases May 21st
  • Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Battle Destiny Remastered (PC/Switch) – Releases May 21st
  • Blades of Fire (PC – Epic Exclusive/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases May 22nd
  • Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping (PC/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases May 22nd
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown (PC) – Releases May 22nd

Happy Tuesday, we’ve got new games this week, can you believe it?! There’s a ton of stuff coming out to choose from, I don’t even know where to start. Do I get yet another farming RPG life sim with Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time? Do I grab another retro port with Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remastered? Do I jump into, yet another, massive open world action RPG with Game of Thrones: Kingsroad?

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases May 21st

Developed by: LEVEL5 Inc.
Published by: LEVEL5 Inc.

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remastered (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases May 22nd

Developed by: Capcom
Published by: Capcom

Game of Thrones: Kingsroad (PC) – Releases May 21st

Developed by: Netmarble Neo
Published by: Netmarble

Do I pick up our second retro remaster, which was formerly a Japan-only exclusive, with Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Battle Destiny Remastered? Do I go against my political leanings and check out right-wing Twittersphere’s latest obsession with Blades of Fire, from the studio that made Metroid Dread? Do I embrace my inner furry and play the point & click adventure Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping? Last, but not least, do I check out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown, a PC exclusive, Fire Emblem-esque tactical RPG starring the titular Ninja Turtles? What a week.

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Battle Destiny Remastered (PC/Switch) – Releases May 21st

Developed by: Bandai Namco Forge Digitals
Published by: Bandai Namco

Blades of Fire (PC – Epic Exclusive/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases May 22nd

Developed by: MercurySteam
Published by: 505 Games

Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping (PC/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases May 22nd

Developed by: Happy Broccoli Games
Published by: Happy Broccoli Games

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown (PC) – Releases May 22nd

Developed by: Strange Scaffold
Published by: Strange Scaffold

Ports, Remasters and Expansions:

Hey, remember the Chrono Trigger inspired RPG Sea of Stars that came out in 2023? Yeah you do. Anyway, there’s some new story content coming out this week called Throes of the Watchmaker, it looks incredible. We’ve also got our THIRD remaster this week with STALKER: Call of Prypiat – Enhanced Edition, an updated version of the third game in the series, originally released in 2010. Last up, we’ve got another TMNT game, the beat ’em up Splintered Fate, arriving on PlayStation consoles. This well reviewed title had previously only been available on Switch & PC. For all you Xbox-heads out there, Splintered Fate should arrive on those consoles June 24th.

  • Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases May 14th
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat – Enhanced Edition (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases May 20th
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate (PS4/PS5) – Releases May 20th

Everything else:

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

It’s time to talk about this week’s Notable Releases, aren’t you excited?! I know I am. Let’s find out which games we were playing, movies we were watching, and albums we were listening to in 2015, 2005, and 1995!

Games:

Starting things off, from 2015, we’ve got the hack & slash game Magicka 2. While the first game in the series, 2011’s Magicka, was developed by Arrowhead Game Studios (who are now known for the Helldivers series), the game’s publisher, Paradox Interactive, farmed out the sequel to a different studio, Pieces Interactive. While a bit disappointing to some fans, Pieces were not unfamiliar with the property, having developed DLC for Magicka. It seemed that the game was in good hands; right?

Despite a positive review from GameSpot, which called the game a leaner, more toned version of the first game, Magicka 2 was not well received by critics, earning mixed reviews. The game’s humor and co-op experience were major highlights. However, playing the game alone was often difficult and boring. Add to this the large amount of bugs and glitches, and Magicka 2 was not turning out to be the slam dunk hit that I’m sure Paradox wanted.

Games can sometimes survive a poor critical reception, but if you add a poor commercial reception to that, well, it’s not going to end well. With the first game selling almost 3 million copies on PC, Magicka 2’s roughly 860,000 copies sold was a steep drop. Paradox’s attempt to simplify the game’s controls and mechanics turned off fans of the original, while the constant bugs and launch issues were the nail in the game’s coffin. Any hopes for a third entry in the series seems to have died with the poor reception to Magicka 2.

From 2005, we’ve got the Xbox console exclusive, Advent Rising, the second major flop of the year for publisher Majesco (the other being Psychonauts). Developed by GlyphX, Advent Rising would the company’s first, and last, video game. Pre-release hype for the game was high, with Majesco pouring tons of money into promoting of the game, including a huge ad campaign that played the game’s trailer in movie theatres. Adding to the game’s hype was the inclusion of two high profile names, Tommy Tallarico, who worked on Advent Rising’s music, and sci-fi author Orson Scott Card, who co-wrote the game. With the benefit of hindsight, you can see how having those two names attached to your game would spell disaster.

Advent Rising was an action/adventure game played in a third person perspective. Players would use various guns and special powers in combat, as they attempt to thwart the annihilation of the human race by a group of evil aliens called the Seekers. Advent Rising was meant to be the first game in a trilogy, while also branching out into other forms of media, including comic books, potential films & television programs, as well as a series of tie-in novels from Orson Scott Card. Despite the high hopes for Advent Rising, poor reviews and sales killed the project dead in its tracks.

The critical reception to Advent Rising wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good either. Advent Rising made the cardinal sin for any type of media, it was painfully average. Not nearly good enough to be hailed as an overlooked masterpiece, nor was it bad enough to be seen as a misguided failure. In other words, Advent Rising was boring, plain & simple. A rushed production also didn’t help, as Advent Rising was plagued with bugs and glitches, making an already bad game even worse. With only 130,000 copies sold on Xbox, publisher Majesco would take the hit on the chin, pivoting to mobile games for several years, while developer GlyphX would be shut down and absorbed by another developer, Sandman Studios. One interesting piece of trivia, Advent Rising’s lead designer, Donald Mustard, is the co-creator of Fortnite, having directed the game’s wildly popular Battle Royale mode.

Our last notable game is the arcade title, Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge. This was the second game in the Darkstalkers series, a fighting game franchise created by Capcom that had players fighting against one another as classic movie monsters, such as Dracula, The Wolfman, and The Mummy. Aside from playable monsters, there are also two “Dark Hunter” characters, Donovan Baine and Hsien-Ko, who are hunting down the other characters. This the reason why the game is known as Vampire Hunters, instead of Night Warriors, in Japan.

Darkstalker’s Revenge was well received by critics, receiving high scores from various gaming outlets. Despite having a nearly identical story, Darkstalkers’ Revenge added additional context to the going’s on of the game world. Improved graphics, controls, and special attacks almost gave the game the feeling of a remaster. The new bells & whistles didn’t do a lot to make Darkstalkers’ Revenge feel like a new game, but it was the best release of the two, improving on an already successful first release.

Movies:

In notable movies, 2015 gave us the Brad Bird film Tomorrowland, starring George Clooney as a reclusive scientist who has ties to a secretive world known as, well, “Tomorrowland” and is, of course, supposed to be an inspiration for the area at Disneyland. He is confronted by a teenage girl, played by Brit Robertson, who demands to know about Tomorrowland after discovering a pin that unlocks a door into the magnificent land.

Tomorrowland was a massive flop for Disney, losing the company around $150 million dollars, and was part of a string of poorly received, original science fiction films. Critics weren’t too kind either, feeling that the script, co-written by Bird, Damon Lindelof, and former Entertainment Weekly writer Jeff Jensen, was an ambitious but uneven mess. In a fun bit of trivia, Brad Bird was offered the opportunity to direct Star Wars: Episode VII but opted to make Tomorrowland instead; yikes. Hey, David Lynch turned down Return of the Jedi to make Dune and things worked out for him.

From 2005, we’ve got the animated film Madagascar, the second multi-film franchise from DreamWorks Animation (the first being Shrek). This wacky tale of zoo animals finding themselves accidentally shipped to the jungles of Madagascar was a huge hit for DreamWorks, pulling in almost $200 million worldwide. While a major hit with audiences, critics were split, though most agreed that Madagascar was a silly romp, enjoyable for both kids & adults.

While it would not receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, Madagascar would win the award for Favorite Animated Movie at the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards, which I’m sure was not at all rigged in its favor. It probably won because it…LIKED TO MOVE IT, MOVE IT! Did you laugh?

Our last notable film, from 1995, is another family film, Casper, starring my junior high crush, Christina Ricci. Based on the famous cartoon character, Casper tells the story of a friendly ghost named Casper (duh) as he tries to make friends with someone…anyone. Despite his friendly demeanor, people run away in terror whenever they meet Casper, that is until a girl named Kat moves into his house.

While Kat’s father tries his best to send Casper and his incredibly rude uncles into the afterlife, through psychoanalysis of course, Kat and Casper begin to form a close bond, almost falling in love. At the end, when Casper is allowed to be human for just one night, he turns into my wife’s junior high crush, Devon Sawa.

Casper was a major financial success, holding on to the #1 spot at the box office for two weeks straight, and playing fantastically throughout the Summer, earning almost $300 million at the box office, worldwide. The film had some pretty big names behind it, notably Stephen Spielberg as producer, while director Brad Siberling would go on to direct the original Lemony Snicket film. Another notable name, JJ Abrams, did an uncredited re-write of the film, though it is officially written by two outstanding voice actresses and cartoon writers, Sherri Stoner, best known as Slappy Squirrel on Animaniacs, and Deanna Oliver, best known as Toaster from The Brave Little Toaster.

Albums:

Moving on to notable albums, 2015 gave us Blurryface by the band Twenty One Pilots. I don’t really have a lot of nice things to say about this band and album so I’ll just note that this was their major breakthrough into the mainstream. A generation of disaffected youth had some new voices to listen to, and to spend their parents money on. They would win a Grammy award shortly after this release, appearing on stage in their underwear in, like, the most punk rock thing to ever happen at the ceremony; weeeewww!!!

From 2005, we’ve got the album Make Believe by the band Weezer. Man, we’re just two for two in albums that I can’t really say any nice things about, huh? Well, okay, I guess I can say that the non-singles on Make Believe are the best parts of the album, even if they sound a little generic. I will go to bat for “Peace”, though, that song rules…”Perfect Situation” is okay too.

While Make Believe would not sell as many copies as The Blue Album or The Green Album, it sold over half as many copies as their previous effort, Maladroit (the last good Weezer album, in my opinion). This was driven by the album’s lead track, and first single, “Beverly Hills”, the band’s most commercially successful single to date, peaking at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Beverly Hills” is, according to an interview with Rivers Cuomo, the musical achievement he is most proud of. While we might sit and scoff at this statement, how can he not be proud of this song? It was not just a massive financial success for him, it also earned the band its first Grammy nomination, which is fucking nuts, in the the Best Rock Song category. Critics were all over the place on the album, with video game website IGN scoring it 9.3 out of 10, while music website Pitchfork gave it a 0.4 out of 10.

Despite where you fall on the Make Believe enjoyment spectrum, this was clearly a turning point from the band. It saw them go from the kings of indie rock to the boring dads of mainstream pop rock. There are times when you just have to let a band go and, for me, Make Believe was when I had to call it quits on Weezer.

I remember going to Coachella with my wife in 2005, specifically, to see Weezer. We started off by watching Keane, Snow Patrol, and Rilo Kiley, then ditched a really good set by Café Tacuba to watch Weezer play a dogshit set that was half made up of songs from Make Believe, which wasn’t even out yet! Hearing them fart their way through “Beverly Hills” and “We Are All on Drugs” was torture. I just wanted to hear “Pink Triangle” and “My Name is Jonas”, not this new stuff. Afterwards, I sat on the lawn, listening to Sage Francis rap, wondering why the fuck I wasted so much time and money to come see Weezer. Later, Nine Inch Nails played “Hand That Feeds” and I heard “woop woop WOOP WOOOP woop woop” and felt better.

Our last notable album this week is 1995’s Sparkle and Fade from the band Everclear. Hey, remember Everclear? Me too! I didn’t really get into the band until their third album, 1997’s So Much for the Afterglow, but I do vividly remember hearing “Santa Monica” play non-stop on 91X here in San Diego when I was in 8th grade. The funny think about “Santa Monica”, it wasn’t even commercially released as a single in the US, but radio disc jockey’s loved the song so much that they played it anyway.

Sparkle and Fade was well received by critics, though it felt a bit like an underdog. Everclear weren’t hitting the top of the charts, though “Santa Monica” did reach #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart (for times played on the radio, vs. the Billboard Hot 100 which is commercially sold singles). It would take the commercial success of So Much for the Afterglow it get people to go back and pay attention to Sparkle and Fade, eventually pushing the album past one million sales by the end of 2001.

Magicka 2 (PC/PS4) – Released May 26th, 2015

Notable Film Release: Tomorrowland – Starring George Clooney, Britt Robertson, and Hugh Laurie
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface
Click here to listen to the album

Advent Rising (Xbox) – Released May 31st, 2005

Notable Film Release: Madagascar – Starring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Weezer – Make Believe
Click here to listen to the album

Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge (Arcade) – Released May 1995

Notable Film Release: Casper – Starring Christina Ricci, Malachi Pearson, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle, Joe Nipote, Joe Alaskey, and Brad Garrett
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Everclear – Sparkle and Fade
Click here to listen to album

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