Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s weekly catch-up news feature, the catch-up coffee. With each issue I 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)!
The Armello developer has announced a new game!
I honestly don’t remember much of DDNet pre-Armello, because it was released about six months after I joined the team. Every time it was released on a new platform, Matt wrote about it. The original PlayStation 4 release? Reviewed it. The iPad release? Gave his opinion on it. And the Switch release? You bet it was time for another review! The digital board game is just that good. Anyway, that was a roundabout way to get to my point: League of Geeks, the Armello developer, has announced a new roguelite colony simulation game called Jumplight Odyssey. It’s inspired by genre staples and classic ’70s sci-fi anime.
Lost explorers have always looked to The Forever Star to guide them home, and that’s exactly what players will do now. Lead a crew on a daring escape to the sanctuary of the Forever Star by escaping the clutches of Admiral Voltain and the warmongering Zutopans while building, repairing, promoting, defending, and growing across multiple decks of the starship. Your home planet has been destroyed, and The Forever Star really is your only hope. Players are the captain, and will have to take care of everyone’s human needs in addition to everything else going on.
Developed and published by League of Geeks, Jumplight Odyssey will be released in Early Access for PC via Steam in 2023, with a planned full launch to include PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions of the title.
That’s three for three! Three weeks, each with a Samurai Maiden character trailer
We’ve already been introduced to Iyo and Hagane, and now it’s time to meet a third character: Komimi. Komimi is a master of onmyoji magic. She wields a massive (like, massive) hammer as though it were nothing, encasing it in icy air that sends shivers down the spines of her enemies. She’s got a tail, but don’t dare try to touch it without her permission! Consent is important, even in video games.
I’ve written about this game a lot, and I’m getting a bit tired of rewriting the same premise each time, so here’s a game description I wrote up two weeks ago: “It follows Tsumugi, a young woman from the 21st century, as she is transported back to Honnoji in the Sengoku period. Specifically, she ends up at a temple in flames, with the angry shouts of soldiers surrounding her. There she meets Nobunaga Oda, and three ninja friends. The ninjas help her on a journey through the underworld, where they are constantly confronted by enraged corpses. When things get tough, Tsumugi can kiss one of the ninjas to enhance their abilities.”
Developed by Shade and published by D3 Publisher, Samurai Maiden will be released for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on December 1 in Japan. It will also be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on December 8 worldwide.
Soccer Story will be released next week
I’ve never sat down and thought hmm, I want to play a comedic open-world RPG about Soccer. But knowing it exists, well, that changes thing doesn’t it? To get this out of the way: yes, the developer knows its actually called football. While I can’t say why the choice was made to stick with “soccer,” I can honestly say I prefer it because alliteration is fun! The Calamity has torn apart the very foundations of soccer, and as a result Soccer Inc. has taken full control over the sport and now everyone is banned from even thinking about playing it.
Good thing a magical football has dropped from the sky and chosen you – the player, the Saviour of Soccer – to save the sport and bring harmony to the world. The single-player story features a cast of quirky characters, quests, rogue refs, and wacky soccer-adjacent sports. The world is filled to the brim with goals, puzzles, and secrets. Players will build their soccer career as they battle sharks (like, actual sharks), toddlers, pensioners, and ninjas. There is also four-player local multiplayer match mode with a good roster of teams and animal captains.
Developed by PanicBarn and published by No More Robots, Soccer Story will be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One in November 29. It was previously announced for Stadia; for obvious reasons, that’s not happening anymore.
The DioField Chronicle is getting a pretty big update… in like four months
I see The DioField Chronicle as a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of game. It was announced in March, then launched in September when quite honestly there was a lot coming out. The strategy RPG is described by those who worked on it as “the birth of a new simulation RPG.” That’s a pretty big boast for something many just passed over. The unique world blends fantasy, medieval, and modern-day influences with a deep, innovating real-time battle system. Players need to use a variety of skills, classes, and equipment to complete their missions.
The update will add a new scenario starring Waltaquin Redditch. Playable after chapter five, players will make their way through missions while controlling Waltaquin. Behemoth will be the final boss. In this scenario, players can equip Waltaquin’s dedicated weapon, Grimoire, which can summon units and morph into other forms. Two new skills have been added: Necromancy can summon a Skull Knight, and Necrotame can transform the player’s units into a Skull Dragon to unleash powerful skills. There will be a high-difficulty “Extra Mode” where high-level enemies start appearing in chapter one; this is a function of New Game+. There is also a new “Very Hard” difficulty level that offer more challenging battles with less fragment drops, reduce enemy skill use frequency/cooldowns, limited revival time and HP recovery, and more.
Developed by Lancarse and published by Square Enix, this free update for The DioField Chronicle will be released in March 2023. The game is currently available for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One.
