Thanks, fixed.
Ahem.
I mean, it has a self unloading grape harvester!
The dice builder Astrea releases on the 21st
The big game this week, I would think, is the expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. And this is the week when I get to ask: Are Harvest Moon games still a thing? Last year I bought my first FIFA game in over a decade because it would be the last FIFA game from EA Sports. But they are coming out with a new one without the FIFA name this year. I wonder if it will be as successful? Is that a threat to people’s wallets this week? Meanwhile, Cocoon comes out (and is coming to Game Pass) this week, the new game from the lead designer of Inside and Limbo, so I’m really looking forward to that.
Any other wallet threats this week?
Monday (9/25/23):
- Project Planet - Earth Vs Humanity (PC)
- Relic Hunters Legend (PC)
- These Doomed Isles (PC)
Tuesday (9/26/23):
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
- Mineko’s Night Market (PC, Switch)
- Paleo Pines (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, XBO, Switch)
- Truck Driver: The American Dream (PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
- Harvest Moon: The Wind of Anthos (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)
Wednesday (9/27/23):
- Astronimo (PC)
- Street Fighter DLC Character A.K.I. (all platforms)
- Wo Long DLC Conqueror of Jiangdong (all platforms)
Thursday (9/28/23):
- Crowns And Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit (Switch)
- Overpass 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
- Firefighting Simulator – The Squad (Switch)
- Gothic Classic (Switch)
- Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai (PC, PS5, PS4, Switch)
- Islanders VR Edition (PC VR)
- Wildmender (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
- My Hero Ultra Rumble (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)
Friday (9/29/23):
- Cocoon (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, XBO, Switch)
- EA Sports FC 24 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, XBO, Switch)
- Park Beyond: Beyond Extreme DLC (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
- Fate/Samurai Remnant (PC, PS4/5, Switch)
Well, not full game releases, but on the 27th Street Fighter 6 gets a new character and Wo Long gets its second DLC.
I predict the lack of FIFA branding will make fuck all difference, at least on initial sales. FIFA players know what it is. The only thing that might make a difference is when it comes to Christmas and grandparents buying presents for their grandkids.
As for the wallet threat, Cocoon is the one I’m most interested in, but that’s on GamePass, so no threat.
I say yes. My Time At Sandrock is in the same genre and releasing the same day. Stardew Valley is still in the top-100 selling games on Steam and is currently #37 for concurrent players. Fae Farm is just making the top-100 selling list too.
Happy Friday to us, then! I’m still sore I couldn’t convince every single person I know to play Inside.
The answer to this is “yes, but it’s complicated”, with the specifics depending on exactly what you are referring to as “Harvest Moon games”.
“Games in the series that started with Harvest Moon on the SNES”: Yes, and still getting regular releases, with a mix of original titles and remakes of the old games. However, there was a messy breakup between the developer and publisher a few years back. The publisher got the name “Harvest Moon”, while the developer got pretty much everything else, so the new games continuing the series are released under the title “Story of Seasons”. There’s also the Rune Factory series, a spinoff that combines farming with RPG mechanics and combat. It got a new release (Rune Factory 5) last year, and there are also remasters of 3 and 4 that came out recently on modern platforms.
"Games called “Harvest Moon”: Yes. As mentioned, the publisher got the series title in the divorce. If you browse pretty much any platform there are a number of minimal-effort shovelware games called “Harvest Moon”. The one coming out this week looks like they put at least some resources into it and are attempting to compete on more than name recognition, but I have no idea if it will actually be good or not.
“Farming games in general”: Yes, and enjoying a bit of a moment in the indie zeitgeist. Stardew Valley was a massive hit modeled closely on Harvest Moon, and we’re now seeing a wave of descendants arriving. This September in particular has been referred to as “Farmageddon” – the month started off with Fae Farm (lots of magic and an emphasis on co-op) and Rune Factory 3 Special (remaster of a DS farming/adventuring game), continued with Moonstone Island (farm, explore, and collect spirits to use in card-based battles) and it ends with the new Harvest Moon (already mentioned) and Paleo Pines (befriend dinosaurs to help work your farm).
And on the original schedule, My Time at Sandrock (crafting rather than farming, but still in the same genre) was supposed to come out today, but it got bumped back to November to get out of such a crowded release window. So you can remove it from the release list for today, but also the price is going to go from $25 to $40 at release, so probably good to buy now if you want.
And not relevant to this month’s releases, but if you want to play an indie Harvest Moon descendant in active development with “very positive” ratings, you have your pick of stone age (Roots of Pacha), fantasy (Sun Haven) or tropical/mermaids (Coral Island) flavors.
Actually, do we have a thread for so-called “cozy games” (the catch-all term that gets used for farming games and their relatives)? I keep an eye on the space because my daughter is really into them, and enjoy them from time to time myself as a nice change of pace.
Wow, A+ post. Thanks!
I removed My Time at Sandrock.
I did buy Stardew Valley last year, as I figured it would be newbie friendly to the genre, but I think I messed up on where I was supposed to put my attention on the first day and I think I’ll have to restart the game because I couldn’t figure out how to go on with no money or resources or something.
I think “cozy” covers a much broader swath of games than farming/crafting sims, but regardless I wholeheartedly encourage you to start a thread!
Whoa, so that’s what’ going on with Harvest Moon! Me and my Harvest Moon cow have been confused for a while now. Thanks for laying all that out. Shame about the split. But that’s very helpful info, and as has been said, exactly the sort of thing that should be at the top of a thread. : )
Thanks. Once I think of a title, I’ll cross-post into a new thread and add Steam links to the games.
“Farmaggedon”, hah! That’s a great game title right there!
Agreed ;)
I guess the biggest releases this week are Assassin’s Creed Mirage for classic AC fans like me, and Cricket 24 and NHL 24 for sports games fans. I haven’t been keeping on the Disgaea series, is the seventh game considered a big wallet threat? Looks like Lamplighter’s League is getting mixed reviews, so that might only be a minor wallet threat (it’s also coming to Game Pass). Darktide is finally coming to Xbox this week on Game Pass as well. And finally, Detective Pikachu Returns seems to be the story straight out of the Pokemon movie I saw a couple of years ago, so maybe that’s a big wallet threat?
Monday (10/2/23):
- Trepang2 (Xbox Series X/S)
Tuesday (10/3/23):
- Battle Shapers (PC)
- Scorn (PS5)
- Silent Hope (PC, Switch)
- Station to Station (PC)
- Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)
- The Lamplighters League (Xbox Series X/S, PC)
Wednesday (10/4/23):
- The Fabulous Fear Machine (PC)
- Worldless (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, XBO, Switch)
- Hellboy: Web of Wyrd (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)
- Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S)
Thursday (10/5/23):
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, XBO)
- Asterix & Obelix: Heroes (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, XBO, Switch)
- Bang-On Balls: Chronicles (PS4, XBO, Switch)
- The Bloodline (PC)
- Cricket 24 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, XBO)
- The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope (Switch)
- Folk Hero (PC)
- Hidden Through Time 2: Myths & Magic (PC)
- Knight vs Giant: The Broken Excalibur (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch)
- Stop Dead (PC)
- Sweet Dreams Alex (PC)
- Wargroove 2 (PC, Switch)
- Forza Motorsport Early Access for Premium edition buyers (PC, Xbox Series X/S)
Friday (10/6/23):
- Detective Pikachu Returns (Switch)
- Sword Art Online Last Recollection (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, XBO)
- Borderlands 3 (Switch)
- NHL 24 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, XBO)
I want to play this, but not today. At some indeterminate point in the future though, for sure.
Reviews seem to indicate so, with some reviews saying it’s the best in the franchise, which makes me really curious to try it. I guess it will depend in regional pricing and how intrusive in-game purchases may be. We’ll see.
Ubisoft kind of lost me with Valhalla and even more after the whole “hey, you can’t access the DLC you bought on PC even though you can on console” thing. I might try Mirage one day at a deep discount, but I doubt that. Which is sad because I always loved the Assassin’s Creed games, warts and all.
Mirage is very much on my radar, as someone who misses old school AC, but I’m very interested to see what the reviews are like. In conjunction with Ubisoft’s recent travails and change of direction, it kind of screams rushed money-grab.
sigh
Against better knowledge (mostly of my own reflexes and willingness to bash my head against boss fights, mind you) I’ve pre-ordered Lords of the Fallen. (13th of October. Yes, that’s a Friday, too.)
According to the devs, you can get all the spells and weapons used by the enemies and bosses. And while I loathe being once again the shortest mob around getting roflstomped by just about everything, I dig the art direction. And the “two worlds” mechanic. So, I want to experience it myself. Watching other people play isn’t my jam, so I’m willing to suffer. Again.
Probably not enough to thoroughly enjoy it, but I will honour the devs efforts. I ended up liking Remnant 2 well enough to play through it multiple times, after all.
I also did get The Legend of Nayuta - Boundless Trails, which released a few days ago. I like Falcom’s stuff, what can I say?
And that’s it for October, barring Cyber Knights: Flashpoint (17th of October) being unexpectedly playable for an early access title that’s bound to be stuck in that state for a while. Eh, hope springs eternal.