Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s regular catch-up news feature. With each issue we will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!
Witchy life sim Wylde Flowers coming to PC, Switch
I adore Wylde Flowers. The magical farm/life sim has been out for a few months now, and I’ve played nearly daily. In fact, I play so much I had to restart the game because I completed the story and was starting to get bored. In the game, Tara moves to Fairhaven to look after her sick grandmother’s farm; while there, she learns there is more to the small island town. Wylde Flowers will soon be available to more players than ever, as it will be coming to PC and Nintendo Switch.
When Tara arrives to Fairhaven, she has no clue how to run the farm. The farming sim aspect of the game starts very small and hands-on then grows much larger and more automated as the seasons pass. As for the life-sim aspect, Fairhaven is filled with people to meet, befriend, and sometimes even date. These characters all have a part to play in the story, so it’s worth getting to know all of them. Aside from being a new farmer, Tara also learns she’s a witch; the coven help the town run smoothly from behind the scenes but something seems off lately.
Developed and published by Studio Drydock, Wylde Flowers will be released for PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch later this year. It is currently available via Apple Arcade, and playable on Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, and Mac.
Cozy city builder Mossfield Origins announced
Kitfox Games has quickly become one of my favourite developers/publishers: Boyfriend Dungeon was a treat, and the Sundae Month-developed Pupperazzi was just pure fun. Last week, it announced it would be publishing Mossfield Origins, a cozy city builder where buildings are all built upon the same foundation then upgraded via tech tree.
The goal of the game is to build a self-sustaining community to undo the harm by those before. There is no time pressure or external forces that need mitigating. As I mentioned, all buildings are built upon the same foundation and upgraded via tech tree. As players progress, they’ll discover more building options and technologies, and will be able to redefine the space over time. Things will get a bit tricky as the player gets to higher levels of technology, as with that the residents have higher expectations of progress.
Developed by Studio Any Percent and published by Kitfox Games, Mossfield Origins will be released for PC via Steam “when the grass turns orange.”
There’s a new trailer for The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story
Announced back in February, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story. The story is based on the ill-fated Shijima family who have experienced many strange deaths over the last century. The player takes on the roll of a detective, Haruka Kagami, who is trying to figure out the truth behind the four inexplicable murders. Part of my excitement for the game comes from it being FMV, but the other part is because of the star power behind the scenes: the director is Koichiro Ito (Metal Gear Solid V), the producer is Junichi Ehara (NieR:Automata), and the cinematographer is Yasuhito Tachibana (producer of Netflix’s The Naked Director.)
The theme song is titled Drifting Fruit English Ver. Its composed by Yukon Hayashi and sung by Jennifer Sumire. The original Japanese lyrics were written by Luna Gaomi and Koichiro Ito, with the English lyrics by Jon Underdown. As for the cast, it’s a long list! The cast includes Nanami Sakuraba, Yuta Hiraoka, Wakana Matsumoto, Sei Matobu, Motoki Fukami, Megumi Yokoyama, Mansaku Ikeuchi, Gaku Sano, Mariko Tsutsui, and Takaaki Enoki.
Developed by h.a.n.d., Inc. and published by Square Enix, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story will be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on May 12.
Beamdog announced MythForce, then gets acquired by Aspyr
It’s been a busy week for Beamdog, a developer from Alberta (Canada) who is known for its Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Editions. First, it announced first-person fantasy roguelike MythForce. It’s about courageous champions standing between Eldryth and the tyranny of Deadalus the vampire lord. The developer released two trailers to announce the game: a gameplay trailer, and an intro trailer. Then it was announced that Beamdog has been acquired by Aspyr, part of Saber Interactive.
MythForce is inspired by ’80s cartoons. A typical roguelike, each time the player is defeated they will have to start over but also be a little bit stronger than the last time. Level up, explore the always-changing dungeon, and uncover artifacts. It will be released in Early Access for PC via Epic Games on April 20. This first release includes four playable heroes for Episode 1: Bastion of the Beastlord. Further episodes will be added up until the game’s full launch (TBD).
Reasonably enough, MythForce will be published by Aspyr. Both sides of the deal seem happy, with Aspyr CEO Ted Staloch saying via press release: “Beamdog is a tremendously talented group that we’ve admired for a long time. Their development philosophy and studio vision are perfectly aligned with ours. We look forward to seeing them realize their ambition with MythForce while maximizing the long-term potential of an incredible archive of classic games.”
