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)!
Code Violet looks dark and brooding and also very good
“In the 25th Century it is said that mankind narrowly survived a cataclysm that left Earth uninhabitable and in ruins. What was left of the human race looked to the stars for a new world: Trappist 1-E, where they would rebuild and start again.”
Yeah okay, sure, this isn’t the most original premise. In fact, you could call it one of the all-time favourite cliches for game developers. But then they keep making them for a reason: People like playing them. And so we have Code Violet on the way, and it looks like a very decent take on the genre.
Code Violet is being developed by TeamKill Media, and is a third-person action horror game. You’ll need to guide Violet Sinclair to both avoid some enemies and fight some others, as she tries to escape a bioengineering facility where things have gone very, very wrong.
The game launches in July.
What if I told you that the soulslike deck builder that you’ve always dreamed of is finally happening?
Speaking of cliches, I don’t think you could utter “soulslike” or “deck builder” and not end up with someone rolling their eyes at you now, but here’s the thing: Death Howl is being published by 11 bit studios, and that’s the mob that made This War of Mine. When that publisher is touting a “soulslike deck builder” it’s probably worth giving it the benefit of the doubt.
In Death Howl you play as Ro, a “grieving mother navigating an ethereal, stone-age Nordic-inspired realm in a desperate quest to reunite with her departed son.” We’re being promised a “poignant tale of grief, healing, and resilience,” backed up with challenging turn-based combat.
The lo-fi art style is absolutely gorgeous, so if the game can back that up with the evocative atmosphere and narrative hinted to in the trailer, this could be a sleeper hit this year. There is a demo available now, so you can always give it a go for yourself and decide whether to wishlist it ahead of its launch later this year.
We see a Dead or Alive trailer, we post it
While the actual Dead or Alive fighting game seems to be in permanent limbo, Koei Tecmo knows how to make a fortune out of its fans, and we’re getting plenty of information about the upcoming dating sim Dead or Alive Venus Vacation PRISM in the lead up to its release on March 6.
This trailer shows off some of the interactions that you can have with the characters, and is dubbed “carrot and stick” because… it shows two different options for taking a break. I’m not sure what you’re taking a break from, but I guess it must be exhausting.
Anyhow, I’m still mad at this game for not having Marie Rose on the roster. I’ll play it, because of course I will, but I have words for Koei Tecmo the next time I speak to them.
Rune Factory, anyone?
The next Rune Factory game was only relatively recently announced, but we’re already getting plenty of details and a good look at it ahead of its launch on May 30.
This is an exciting title for various reasons. For one (big) one, you’ll be building and managing an entire village, rather than just the farm that is typical of the series. You get to date both Gods and mortals, and if my memory of Greek mythology is accurate nothing bad ever happened from people that got to date deities. You also play as an “Earth Dancer”, and I am always a big fan of games that make dance central to the protagonist. There should be more of those kinds of games.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma will be on both PC and Switch, and there’s not long to wait now.
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