Games

New Game Releases 08/04/26 – 08/10/26

Top Releases:

  • Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls (PC/PS5) – Releases Aug. 6th
  • Beast of Reincarnation (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Aug. 4th
  • Big Walk (PC/PS5/Switch 2) – Releases Aug. 4th
  • Montabi (PC/Switch/Switch 2/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Aug. 6th

Two major releases and two indies? Oh yeah, video games are back! Our top title this week is Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, a fighting game from the good people at Arc System Works. While Capcom’s Marvel fighting games have set a high bar, producer Takeshi Yamanake and his team seem to be up for the challenge of creating a brand new tag-team brawler featuring the world’s mightiest heroes. Thankfully, Yamanake is well versed in tag-team brawlers, having produced both BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle and Dragon Ball FighterZ; we’re in good hands. I know that Sony is doing its best to leave a bad taste in our mouth with their recent announcement that all of their games will be digital-only starting in 2028, but Marvel Tōkon looks way too cool to ignore. I guess that’s how they’re gonna get us.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls (PC/PS5) – Releases Aug. 6th

Developed by: Arc System Works
Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment

If you’re a die-hard “No Sony” person now (which I understand) you can pick up Beast of Reincarnation on the Series X instead, the latest non-Pokémon game from developer Game Freak. As an added bonus of really “sticking it to the industry”, Beast of Reincarnation is a wholly single player experience, you know, the kind of games we’re all supposedly begging for but most developers/publishers seem to be betting against. Set two thousand years in the future, players explore a post-apocalyptic Japan with their trusty dog companion, killing monsters and looking for…stuff? The gameplay is similar to Dark Souls, Sekiro, Nioh, etc., which may sway your opinion of it, one way or the other.

Our other two top releases are indie games but, like, on the opposite ends of the “indie” spectrum. First up, we have Big Walk, the highly anticipated game from developer House House, creators of Untitled Goose Game. In their latest, players will group up with their friends to just, well, walk around. There’s more to it than that, of course, as players will need to work together to solve a series of puzzles. However, like Untitled Goose Game, it appears that the greatest joy to be found in the game is probably going to come from just screwing around. Our other indie title, Montabi, is the debut game from Mankibo, a small studio founded in 2022. Will their tactical rouge-like deckbuilding game be the next indie sensation? I guess we’ll find out.

Beast of Reincarnation (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Aug. 4th

Developed by: Game Freak
Published by: Fictions

Big Walk (PC/PS5/Switch 2) – Releases Aug. 4th

Developed by: House House
Published by: Panic

Montabi (PC/Switch/Switch 2/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Aug. 6th

Developed by: Mankibo
Published by: Akupara Games

Ports and Expansions:

  • Pokémon Pokopia: Bubbly Basin (Switch 2) – Releases Aug. 5th
  • Final Fantasy XIV (Switch 2) – Releases Aug. 4th
  • Lies of P: Complete Edition (Switch 2) – Releases Aug. 6th

In the world of ports & expansions, the big release this week is Bubbly Basin, the highly anticipated DLC for Pokémon Pokopia (Game Freak is sure busy). In this expansion, players will be able to unlock a brand new area, leading them to a town that is completely underwater. New Pokémon, new blocks, new moves, and new food items will also be available, growing this already massive game to even bigger proportions.

It wouldn’t be a week of new releases without some Switch 2 ports, either. With Beast of Reincarnation skipping Switch 2, souls-like fans will have to be content with Lies of P: Complete Edition. The biggest port, though, has to be Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix’s long running MMO (nearly 15 years). While the game is probably past its prime, having it available on yet another platform should help its player base grow. What I’m most curious about, though, is how it will manage to fit itself onto the Switch 2’s incredibly limited storage. I suppose this game will necessitate the purchase of a Micro SD card, so keep that in mind if you want to jump in.

Everything else:

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 (and sometimes 40) years ago:

Games:

In notable games, 2016 gave us the hectic multiplayer title, Overcooked. While not the first zany, frantic multiplayer title, it certainly became one of the most popular and, thus, one of the most ripped off/copied by other developers. In Overcooked, players work together to fulfill food orders sent to their kitchen. It sounds easy enough, but the random, almost maze-like layout of players’ kitchens (which change every level) make it difficult to get around. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the time-limit imposed by each order, as well as the time-limits of preparing the food dishes properly. Exact timing, precise movement, and solid communication are key to success in Overcooked, one missed step can have a major chain reaction and lead to your group’s demise.

Overcooked was well received by critics, calling it one of the best party games to come out in years. While it had some performance issues across the various platforms it would release on over the years, the prevailing consensus was that Overcooked gave players multiple hours of gleeful joy with their friends; a true return to the glory days of couch co-op. At the end of the year awards shows, Overcooked would receive multiple nominations, mostly in the “Best Multiplayer” category, winning “Best Debut” at the TIGA Awards, as well as “Best Family Game” & “Best British Game” at the British Academy Games Awards.

A sequel, Overcooked 2, would arrive in 2018, with a bundle of both games (called the All You Can Eat edition) in 2020. In 2026, All You Can Eat came to the Netflix gaming platform, which added characters from Stranger Things and K-Pop Demon Hunters, and is supposed to coincide with a live action reality competition show that is, bizarrely, produced by A24. In regards to a third entry, developer Ghost Town Games don’t seem to be in a rush to get one out, having announced a new multiplayer title called Stage Fright, but that doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen.

From 2006, we have the game Dead Rising, for the Xbox 360. Developed by Capcom Production Studio 1, and led by producer Keiji Inafune (of Mega Man fame), Dead Rising is an action-adventure game in which players explore a mall overrun with zombies, rescuing survivors and uncovering the reason for this outbreak. Taking on the role of photojournalist Frank West, players are given a strict 72 hour time limit which translates to, approximately, 6 to 7 real-time hours, before the game ends.

One the time limit is reached, players must restart the game, though any upgrades received will carry over, thew game map remains the same, and all events will reset, making your subsequent runs (presumably) easier. One other item tied to the time limit is the story, with players needing to accomplish certain missions/goals before a certain time. Along with this, there are branching pathways, meaning you will need to play through the game more than once to see the entire, full story.

Dead Rising was a hit with both critics and players when it launched, going to sell almost 2 million copies and earning positive reviews. Critics praised the game’s unique shopping mall setting, finding it fun to explore, and were very impressed with the large amount of enemies seen on screen and the myriad ways you could dispatch of them. The game was not without its criticisms, however, with players and critics lamenting the 72 hour time limit (which seemed to kill exploration), as well as its adherence to an antiquated save system, which was only available in specific locations (in this case, bathrooms). Other small issues, such as an annoying quest giving system (done via an in-game walkie talkie), odd bugs, and various cumbersome game systems made Dead Rising a little more frustrating than it should have.

Despite the issues, they were minor, overall, to the full game. Dead Rising was listed among the best games of 2006 by multiple outlets, and won several awards, such as “Most Innovative Design” from IGN, “Best Adventure Game” from GameSpot, “Best Original Game” from XPlay, and “Best Action Game” from the Spike VGA’s. The success of Dead Rising lead to three sequels in 2010, 2013, and 2016, a spin-off (Dead Rising 2: Off the Record), and a port of the game to Wii (Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop), and a complete remake in 2024. New entries in the series have been dormant for ten years now and, sadly, it seems like it may stay that way.

From 1996, we have the game Tetris Attack for the Super NES and Game Boy. Initially released in Japan in 1995 as Panel de Pon, Tetris Attack came to North America bearing the Tetris name, despite not having any relation to the game Tetris. Reception to the game was overwhelmingly positive, with many outlets in 1996 calling it one of the greatest puzzle games of all-time. The (kinda/sorta) new gameplay style, in which players matched tiles to destroy them, was found to be highly addicting and made even more so when playing head to head against another player.

At the end of the year, EGM magazine gave Tetris Attack three awards, “SNES Game of the Year”, “Handheld Game of the Year”, and “Puzzle Game of the Year”. The next year, in 1997, EGM would also name Tetris Attack the 16th greatest console video game of all-time. The game’s reputation has endured, as well, being named among the greatest games of all-time by multiple outlets over the last 30 years. Further releases would arrive in the ensuing years, with the franchise now being referred to as Puzzle League in North America, with titles like Pokémon Puzzle League and Puzzle League Express.

From 1986, we’ve got another puzzle-ish game, Taito’s arcade classic, Arkanoid. Heavily influenced by earlier brick breaking titles, specifically Atari’s Breakout, Arkanoid looked to expand on the genre by adding more difficult bricks to break, as well as a slew of powerups that would help make the game feel a little deeper and more strategic. The main goal is, however, exactly the same, with players needing to guide a paddle or, in the case of Arkanoid, their paddle shaped ship, to hit a ball that will break all of the bricks on the screen. Once this task is completed, the player moves on to the next level, ending at level 33 where they face the evil alien mastermind, DOH.

Arkanoid was a massive hit for Taito, becoming the company’s most profitable arcade title at the time. The game was the highest grossing cabinet in Japan, and was the highest grossing arcade-conversion title in North America. Critics loved Arkanoid, calling it as simple and addicting as Pong and Space Invaders. Like our previous notable titles, Arkanoid did very well at the end of the year award seasons, earning “Game of the Year” from Compute! magazine and “Best Arcade Game” from the Entertainment Software Trade Awards.

The success of Arkanoid led to multiple ports to home consoles and PC, all of which seemed to receive just as much praise as the arcade version. In fact, many of these ports would win awards as well, often in the “Best Arcade Translation” category (and the like). Fun fact, in the same 1997 EGM list that called Tetris Attack the 16th best console game of all-time, it also listed the NES version of Arkanoid as the 41st best console game of all-time. Over the next 40 years, Arkanoid would see multiple sequels, remasters, and re-releases, with the most recent being 2022’s Arkanoid: Eternal Battle.

Movies:

In notable films, 2016 gave us Jason Bourne, the (so far) final entry in the Bourne series of films. Following 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum, which starred Matt Damon, the series would get a 2012 entry called The Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner. It wasn’t quite a critical darling, though it did manage to make over $250 million at the worldwide box office. Still, the idea of continuing the series with Renner seemed to be a no-go at Universal, the franchise’s distributor, so it was back to Damon.

Critically, Jason Bourne did about as well as Legacy, though it made a heck of a lot more money, over $400 million worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing films of the year. While the film failed to earn any Academy Awards nominations, it did receive accolades from several other awards shows, mostly in technical and stunt circles. Empire Magazine did name it “Best Thriller”, its only win from 12 nominations across the industry.

From 2006, we have Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the second film collaboration between star Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay. Following the surprise success of their 2004 film Anchorman, and with Ferrell’s star rising on the success of two other films, Elf and Old School, the anticipation for his next film was at a near fever pitch from both audiences and studios, all looking to cash in on Ferrell’s next big, dumb, man-child flick.

Set in the world of NASCAR, Ferrell plays Ricky Bobby, an idiotic man-child who is considered one of the best race car drivers in the world. When his reign at the top is threatened by a European driver, played by Sacha Baron Cohen (who was still about two months away from his film Borat taking over the world), Ricky Bobby starts to unravel, losing races which leads to a nervous breakdown that ultimately costs him his wife, children, and best friend.

That description above makes the movie sound like it has a coherent plot and solid story structure; it does not. That doesn’t mean the film is hard to follow or doesn’t make sense, it just means that there is barely enough plot there to give you a vehicle to make the dumbest jokes possible. While the jokes may have been dumb, that didn’t stop critics from praising the film, calling it an improvement over Anchorman and contained a stronger, more “zesty” film thanks to the inclusion of some excellent camera work and almost documentary style directing from McKay.

Audiences also flocked to the film in higher numbers than they did for Anchorman, with Talladega Nights earning $163 million to Anchorman’s $90 million. The film became instantly quotable, giving us classics like “Dear baby Jesus…”, “I’m gonna came at you like a spider monkey”, “Shut up, Chip!”, “If you’re not first, you’re last” and, of course, “Shake ‘n bake”. Who doesn’t love a quotable film! NASCAR, for its part, seems to love the film, with many nods to it over the years, including replica cars being featured in various pre-race shows.

While it was a hit with critics, Talladega Nights did not receive any Oscar nominations, but did pick up trophies from the Teen Choice Awards and the MTV Movie Awards. It also received “honors” from the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for “Worst Movie Title”, and “Most Annoying Fake Accent (Male)” for Sacha Baron Cohen’s over the top French accent. A sequel was in the works to Talladega Nights but, after being exhausted by the rigors of filming the race scenes, the duo opted to make a smaller film next, 2008’s Step Brothers. Ferrell and McKay would go on to make an additional two films, The Other Guys, and Anchorman 2 before separating professionally.

From 1996, we have the family film Matilda, from the novel by Roald Dahl. Directed by Danny DeVito who also stars in the film with his wife, Rhea Pearlman, and Mara Wilson (as Matilda), the film is a 1990’s classic that likely holds a special place in many 90’s kid’s hearts. You would assume, then, that Matilda was a box office smash; it was not. In fact, Matilda was a flop when it released, earning only $47 million on a budget of $36 million. While it would appear to be a profitable film, savvy film buffs know that there are often hidden costs when making a film, including the infamous “marketing costs” which are often not part of the estimated budget.

I couldn’t tell you just how badly Matilda underperformed, but it likely cost the studio a few million bucks. However, Matilda took on a second life in the home video market, where its target kid audience could finally see the film where they were hanging out the most, in their living rooms, and was, I would imagine, a big hit in classrooms where many teachers likely showed the film to their students so that they could grade papers or nurse a hangover.

While audiences initially ignored the film, critics knew that Matilda was something special. While the idea of handing DeVito a children’s film seemed like an odd choice, his off-kilter sensibilities matched Dahl’s own skewed take on humor, finding they were a match made in heaven. The over the top acting of the villains (Matilda’s parents and the imposing Miss Trunchbull, “Why are all of these women MARRIED!“) helped keep them just silly enough as to not completely scare children.

Matilda is a charming, excellent kids film that is just as enjoyable as an adult. I used to watch this all the time on VHS when I was a teenager, putting it on for my younger brothers but, in reality, I was the one who wanted to watch it more than they did.

From 1986, we have the film Aliens, one of my all-time personal favorites and, I imagine, many of yours as well. Written & Directed by James Cameron, Aliens was a far more action oriented film than Ridley Scott’s more tense, almost slasher film-esque Alien which, in hindsight, seems like both a blessing and a curse. Fox, the film’s distributor, didn’t have high expectations for the film as it was coming from an unknown writer/director, was a sequel to an underperforming film the the 1970’s, and was heading off against some of the biggest movies of the Summer, like The Karate Kid Part II, Top Gun, and Back to School. Fox thought that, at best, Aliens would be a sleeper hit, based on test screening reactions.

Well, to their surprise, Aliens absolutely dominated the box office, opening up in first place with a sold $10 million dollar haul (about $30 million today but, with far lower ticket prices). It would easily beat other films opening after it, including Friday the 13th Part VI and Howard the Duck, not losing the first place spot until its fifth week, when David Cronenberg’s The Fly would release.

While Aliens would fail to beat the final grosses of other Summer blockbusters, it would still reach a respectable $86 million domestic, with another $50-$95 million worldwide. At the Academy Awards, Aliens would receive seven nominations, the most high profile being “Best Actress” for Sigourney Weaver (losing to Marlee Matlin), and the other being in technical categories, “Best Music”, “Best Sound”, “Best Art Direction”, “Best Film Editing”, winning “Best Sound Effects Editing” & “Best Visual Effects”.

The success of Aliens turned the property into a full-blown media franchise, with tie-in video games, novels, comic books, and even a toy line in the early 1990’s. It would take six years for a follow-up film to release, 1992’s Alien 3, which would controversially kill off two characters from Aliens, keeping only Ripley as the single throughline between each film. As such, while Alien 3 was a financial success, it seems to be difficult for the franchise to maintain the same level of critical acclaim and fan enthusiasm.

In the years following its release, Aliens has gone on to become a true cultural touchstone, having major influence over, not just films, but pop culture in general; I mean, how many movies, video games, novels, etc. containing “space marines” can you name? The film would make James Cameron one of the most sought after directors in Hollywood and someone who’s work that, I personally, will ALWAYS see, no matter the subject. Much of the film’s supporting cast would go on to have roles in Cameron’s films, as well as films produced by Gale Anne Hurd, and almost any “genre” picture you can think of. Aliens is, undoubtedly, one of the most important science fiction films of all-time, period. Its influence, good or bad, has been felt across all of pop culture for the last 40 years. I think I’ll go watch it right now.

Albums:

In notable albums, 2016 gave us Hypercaffium Spazzinate from the punk rock band Descendents. This was the groups first album in 12 years, following 2004’s Cool To Be You, and is, to date, their highest charting release, reaching #20 on the Billboard Top 200. Lyrically, the album is not far off from most Descendents songs, with musings on relationships, getting older, and feeling too smart for your own good. Personally, my favorite tracks are “Good on Paper” and “No Fat Burger”. Overall, this is a solid Descendents album but I believe falls just short of Cool To Be You and Everything Sucks.

From 2006, we’ve got the album Port of Miami from rapper Rick Ross. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and had a hit single called “Hustlin'”; I don’t care about this album. Moving on, to 1996, we have Sublime from the band Sublime. A seminal album of the 1990’s, Sublime helped to usher in the late 90’s ska/reggae resurgence, picking up where bands like No Doubt, Goldfinger, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones had begun to lay the groundwork.

The album, which went beyond just ska and reggae to also include elements of punk rock, hip-hop, dancehall, and dub music. It was a true crossover album with songs that appealed to a wide audience of alternative music lovers. Sublime would spawn four hit singles, “Santeria”, “Wrong Way”, “Doin Time”, which was the only single to hit the Billboard Hot 100, and what is arguably their most popular song, worldwide, “What I Got”. These tracks dominated rock radio through the late 90’s and, you could probably say” still dominate them today; at least on “classic rock” stations.

While Sublime would put the band into the stratosphere, it was bittersweet as lead singer and main songwriter, Bradley Nowell, would die of a heroin overdose in May of 1996, two months before the album’s release. Sublime was not an instant hit, it would take time to build an audience, growing organically through heavy rotation on both radio & MTV, word of mouth, and a growing interest in the ska & punk music scene. The interest in Sublime would eventually see the album peak at #13 on the Billboard Top 200 in April of 1997.

Following Nowell’s death, Sublime as a band was pretty much over. However, the two remaining members, Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh, would form a group called the Long Beach Bub Allstars in 1997, which contained a slew of musicians that would often appear with Sublime on stage and in their recordings. Over time, two more versions of Sublime would appear, Long Beach Shortbus and Sublime with Rome, before returning to just the name Sublime when Nowell’s son, Jakob, would take over as guitarist and vocalist.

Like Aliens, Sublime was a cultural touchstone for many, becoming a revered classic and influencing many artists in its wake. The rise of groups like 311, Slightly Stoopid, Dirty Heads, and even the rise of Ziggy Marley, can likely be attributed to the success of Sublime. As a San Diego native, I can certainly say that Sublime has influenced our fair city, as can most Southern California beach cities, where weed flows freely and you’re never too far from a nice, cold beer. Growing up, I kind of viewed fans of the band with some disdain but, as I got older, I found that any animosity I had was unfounded and that, when I actually listened to it, I enjoyed the music; imagine that.

Closing things out this week, from 1986, we have the album Dancing on the Ceiling from singer Lionel Richie. Having won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1983, anticipation for Dancing on the Ceiling was already high. However, following an Oscar win for the song “Say You, Say Me” in 1985, that anticipation only grew higher. In popular music, at the time, it felt like there was no bigger star than Lionel Richie.

Debuting at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, the album would reach triple platinum in one day, selling over three million copies, eventually reaching four million copies sold in just the US (don’t ask me for worldwide numbers, possibly 5 to 10 million). The album had five singles, the aforementioned “Say You, Say Me”, “Dancing on the Ceiling”, “Love Will Conquer All”, “Ballerina Girl”, and “Se La”. All five would hit the Billboard Hot 100, with “Say You, Say Me” peaking at #1.

Despite the massive success of his three solo albums in the early 1980’s, Richie would step away from music for nearly a decade, only making sporadic live appearances in that time. Why did he leave? Well, he was already enormously wealthy, so maybe he just wanted to chill out and enjoy his money for a bit, but he was also a father at the time, raising his adopted daughter, Nicole Richie. Since his return to music and touring in 1996, Richie has maintained a solid, but still fairly sporadic, music career (his last album was released in 2012), and is currently a judge on the singing competition show American Idol.

Overcooked (PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Released Aug. 2nd, 2016

Notable Film Release: Jason Bourne – Starring Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Julia Stiles, and Riz Ahmed
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Descendents – Hypercaffium Spazzinate
Click here to listen to the album

Dead Rising (Xbox 360) – Released Aug. 8th, 2006

Notable Film Release: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby – Starring Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Amy Adams, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, and Jane Lynch
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Rick Ross – Port of Miami
Click here to listen to the album

Tetris Attack (SNES/Game Boy) – Released Aug. 1996

Notable Film Release: Matilda – Starring Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, and Pam Ferris
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Sublime – Sublime
Click here to listen to album

Arkanoid (Arcade) – Released Aug. 1986

Notable Film Release: Aliens – Starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, and Bill Paxton
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Lionel Richie – Dancing on the Ceiling
Click here to listen to album

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