Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s weekly catch-up news feature, the catch-up coffee. I will bring you the best news you may have missed with each issue. 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)!
Unless a miraculous amount of news happens in the next week, this will be the final catch-up of 2024. Thanks to everyone for the reads and shares, have a very happy holiday, and I’ll see you in the new year!
Eastasiasoft already has major plans for early 2025
A few days ago, eastasiasoft shared launch dates for ten global releases for PC and consoles next month. Most titles have already been announced; for many of those, this is the first time they have heard of an official launch date. The first week of January shares a few days with December, but I’m calling it week one anyway.
Despite the shortened timeframe, three games drop from January 1 through 4. The Legend of Cyber Cowboy will be released for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and Xbox One on January 1. Learn to Play Vol. 10 – Gravity Space Walk will be released for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on January 3, as will Learn to Play Collection II.
January 8 brings Rivenaar’s Grove (trailer above), a top-down fantasy adventure spin on sliding puzzles, to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and Xbox One. During the next week, Runny Bunny will be released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and Xbox One on January 15; Montezuma’s Revenge – The 40th Anniversary Edition (and its Deluxe Edition) will be released for PC on January 16.
The number of game launches reduces significantly during the second half of the month. Popotinho’s Adventures will be released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and Xbox One on January 22. Gravitators will be released for Nintendo Switch on January 23. Finally, Agent Fall will be released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and Xbox One on January 29.
Nintendo’s Guidelines prevent more IFI content from launching.
Pre-orders for Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos are opening on January 2, but it won’t have the same content for PlayStation and Nintendo Switch players. The Swimsuit Costume Set DLC won’t launch for Nintendo Switch because it doesn’t comply with the Nintendo Guidelines. (This is ridiculous; I’ve seen worse.) Because of this, the price of all Nintendo Switch versions of the game has been reduced. It will still be released in the PlayStation versions, and Switch players will still get the other two costume sets — you just need to install a patch first.
There are two special physical editions of Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos. The Magazine Edition for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 includes the physical game, a 64-page artbook, five foldout posters, 28 stickers, a 10-song soundtrack, a download code for three costume sets, providing one new outfit for each Uzume Neptune, Noire, Blanc, and Vert (Swimsuit Costume, Apocalyptic Costume, and Race Queen Costume), a reversible cover sleeve, and a trading card. The Magazine Edition for Nintendo Switch is almost identical, but the download code is for two costume sets instead of three (Apocalyptic, Red Queen).
The Digital Deluxe versions are similar, with the only difference being the swimsuit costumes. The Deluxe Editions for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch all include a digital copy of the game, a 35-page digital artbook, and a 10-song soundtrack. The PlayStation versions will receive a download code for the three costume sets, while the Nintendo Switch version provides one code for two sets.
The Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos Costume Set will be available as standalone DLC for PlayStation at launch. The same goes for Nintendo Switch, but it still includes two sets instead of three.
Narrative-driven adventure Threefold Recital launches in January
Threefold Recital is inspired by ancient Chinese folklore and strange tales, creating a fantasy realm with humans, beastlings, and dragons. A golden age spanned thousands of years, but now the city of Bluescales is facing some difficult times. Magic and technology coexist and complicate social governance. And, not helping anything, the secret art behind ancient miracles is resurfacing despite being presumed lost.
A wolf, a fox, and a snake are the game’s heroes. They were never ordinary animals, as they were all patient and wise. They worked hard to gain human forms, and now call themselves beastlings. Triratna is the wolf, who has turned into a monk and can see (and sever) karma lines. Taiqing the fox has turned him into a priest; he has also become an expert in transmuting substances and other Daoist spells. Transia, the snake-turned-artist, can enter paintings and alter people’s appearances. You will lead this trio through a maze of curious events to bust a conspiracy. Their three separate storylines will become one. Threefold Recital does offer difficulty adjustments and puzzle-skip options.
Developed by Everscape Games and published by indienova, Threefold Recital will be released for PC via Steam on January 14.
Digital Eclipse has released a free update for Tetris Forever.
The latest update for Tetris Forever adds the MS-DOS game Welltris, tweaks Tetris Time Warp, and adds some other improvements. Digital Eclipse has also confirmed its plans going forward with the game collection. The first two bits of news are quick: Welltris, the first follow-up to Tetris created by Alexey Pajitnov, is more of a Tetris variant where shapes fall down four sides of a wall; and in Tetris Time Warp, players can individually remap their controls — it was the most requested change.
There are more customization options now, with console players now being able to remap controls in Electronika 60, MS-DOS, and Apple II games. (This was added to the PC version last month.) Nintendo Switch players, your audio should be fixed, but now you can’t rewind every game. Digital Eclipse explains the update in a press release: “A conflict with the Rewind functionality caused audio issues that could be heard while playing some classic games in the Nintendo Switch version of Tetris Forever. As a first step, the team has disabled the Rewind function in games that had audio glitches, which has fixed the issue. The team will look into the possibility of restoring Rewind in a future update.”
What’s next for Tetris Forever? Digital Eclipse wants to improve and expand it with more games and features. Tetris and Digital Eclipse are exploring adding new games and plan to address more feature requests and reported issues. The next priority is fixing an issue in some classic games that prevents players from saving or registering high scores; this fix should be available in early January. The lead designer of Tetris Time Warp is working on a bigger update for it, adding new features and modes based on player feedback.
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