Weekend Gaming Playlist (9-2-22)

Break out your pumpkin spice lattes, cardigans, and get your kids back in the mood for school, because it’s September 2nd, baby. We’ve managed to survive the summer just barely, as the season’s one-two punch of Live A Live and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 did all it could to soak up all of our sun and fun.

Little did we know, they were merely harbingers of the storm to come. Not only is the end of the year shaping up to be an absolute slobber knocker for RPGs, but September itself is primed to give us a run for our money/wallets. Heck, a healthy number of RPGs dropped on the Switch just now, at the beginning of the month! I’m dipping into some of these new releases after having played too much Xenoblade, so here’s my weekend playlist:

Anno:Mutationem

Though it treads a fine line between Role-Playing Game and Action Adventure, one thing about Anno:Mutationem is for sure: you need to see it to believe it. Possessing visually rich low-poly, high-pixel texture environmental art with gorgeous and eye-catching high quality pixel character art, the game is stunning to behold, and is supported by an impressive atmospheric soundtrack. Atop that, you have some over-the-top action combat and style mixed together with dense cyberpunk lore and narrative, leading to an engrossing experience in more than just one respect. Keep this release on the radar as we finish up the year, because it’s sure to be on a list of favorites.

City Wars: Tokyo Reign

If anyone is going to die on a bill for this game, it might as well be me. After receiving some unjustified criticism for the original name Chrono Faction, this title was rebranded with the one seen above. Although it lacks the punch of its former name, the gameplay looks to be entirely intact, boasting an incredibly unique timeline-based deck-building combat system with multiple phases and more slick cyberpunk aesthetics. You’ll not only draft a deck of cards with various uses, but you’ll also strategically place them on a timeline in order to trip up your opponent and deal damage where possible. Modifications to the card playing field itself can prevent a player or opponent from slapping down a powerful card, so you’ll need to make use of various resources and abilities to claim victory. Of course, they had me at “deck-building,” so I’ll have some impressions of the title as the month progresses.

Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden

With rumblings of another installment in the horizon (now confirmed for a September 13th release!), curiosity got the better of me as I ended up purchasing the more aesthetically pleasing entry of the prior two Voice of Cards titles. I’ve also heard that the narrative of The Forsaken Maiden is a bit more straightforward and less silly than the first game, though that might be up for interpretation. In any case, I’m looking for a smaller game to chew on after Xenoblade was a full course meal. Since these games all aim for concise stories about ten hours in length, I think it should prove a nice palette cleanser.

LIVE A LIVE

…It came out a week before Xenoblade! I still haven’t finished all the campaigns! That being said, similar to Voice of Cards, none of these end up long enough to overstay their welcome.

Do you like deck building roguelikes or cyberpunk dystopias? Do you think Tokyo Wars has a good title? Are you looking for bite-size RPGs that aren’t made by KEMCO? Feel free to share your weekend gaming playlist here or on any one of our multiple social media accounts. Have a great weekend!