Gaming News Week 23

Come on in, get yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea and pull up a chair.

Pretty sure that I complained about the cold combined with the energy prices months ago. How we wished for some warmth from the sun. But as always, pleasant spring-like temperatures don’t last long, so now here I am, melting in the heat. Isn’t it always something?

Anyway, let’s take a look at the news that caught our eye this week; enjoy!

Harvest Moon Super NES on Nintendo Switch Online

With Story of Seasons: a Wonderful Life only a few weeks away, it’s nice to see the first Harvest Moon game coming to Nintendo Switch Online. Harvest Moon was first released in Japan in 1996 and made its way West a year later. The very first farming sim, and laying the groundwork for many, many Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons titles to come, not to mention all the games that were inspired by them.

If you have a Switch Online subscription, you can now play the game for free. Plus, the Switch Online program has quite an extensive catalogue now. Personally, I can’t wait until the GameCube games make their way onto this platform too!

My Time at Sandrock Release date

We have a date! My Time at Sandrock will release on the Nintendo Switch and on the Xbox and PlayStation 5 on September 28, 2023. The Playstation 4 version will release later this year.

We loved My Time at Portia back then, and this is the second game in the same vein made by Pathea. Paula looked at the Early Access version on Steam and gave us her thoughts, writing this in her conclusion:

My Time at Sandrock is a standalone game; you don’t have to have played Portia to be able to enjoy it. The game takes new characters to a new location and updates some mechanics for the better. However, if you have played the previous game, it will feel very familiar, like returning home to see an old friend.

Disney Dreamlight Valley Update

This week, an update was released for Disney Dreamlight Valley called the Remembering Update. This is the description:

For all your efforts, The Forgetting still has a foothold in the Valley, and its Darkness spreads rampantly across all biomes. In our largest story update, journey to the Forgotten Lands and beyond to uncover the source of what, and who, The Forgetting is – all with the help of someone who knows a little bit about solving problems with magic (…and pumpkins!).

There’s a lot of other stuff added, too. You can check out the specifics here. And by the way, Disney Dreamlight Valley is part of the Nintendo eShop Summer Sale with a discount of 25% till the 25th of June.

Summer Sale Nintendo eShop

Currently, wave 1 of the Summer Sales, with over 1,500 games, is active in the Nintendo eShop. Wave 2 will be added to that from June 15th, so if you wanted to add to your collection before the Summer vacation, now is the time.

There are really too many games on sale to mention, but I will pick out a few anyway:

• Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout is now 50% off! Lasts until June 12, so be quick! The same goes for Atelier Ryza: Lost Legends & The Secret Fairy. They don’t often go on sale, so this is a good deal.
• Farm Tycoon for a discount of 90% (Only in the EU)!! But it’s only until June 11, so be quick!
• Bunhouse, which only just arrived on the Switch, has a discount of 20% until July 5th in the EU and June 22nd in the US.
• LEGO Bricktales has a discount of 30% until July 2nd (only in the EU)
• Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, 50% off until June 21st (only in the EU)
• Little Dragons Café, 80% off until July 2nd (only in the EU)
• Cupid Parasite, 50% off until June 25th (only in the EU)
• A lot of Aksys Otome games are on sale too in the EU, with discounts of 30% until June 25th

Cosy Strategy Puzzle Growth

Coming to PC and Nintendo Switch later this summer, Growth invites you to explore and populate randomly generated maps by strategically utilizing the unique abilities of wildlife in the form of tiles on a hexagonal playfield, then watch the environment come to life. You can play the demo during Steam NextFest starting on June 19th. Here’s the trailer to give you an idea of the game.

Updates Arriving for Inkulinati

The second big update has been released for Inkulinati, the turn-based strategy game with a special twist. We gave it our highest rating because of its uniqueness in its visuals and illustrations, weird (nice weird), and interesting gameplay.

The new update will include many requested changes and updates, including new Beasts, new talents, a new battle type, gameplay updates, and much more.

Run, Glide and Fly in Europa

We have featured the game in the news before, but now we have some more information on Europa. On the moon Europa, a lush terraformed paradise in Jupiter’s shadow, an android named Zee sets out in search of answers. Run, glide and fly across the landscape, solve mysteries in the ruins of a fallen utopia, and discover the story of the last human alive.

Europa is coming to Steam in 2023, with consoles planned to follow later.

A Bonnie Odyssey

For puzzle lovers, this game, announced during the Guerilla Collect, might be a good one. A Bonnie Odyssey is an open-world sci-fi adventure set on a retrofuturist island in the Highlands. A tale of a father and daughter separated by time, you will explore an enigmatic abandoned island, unravel the secrets of your own past, and make odd little friends along the way.

The game is expected on Steam in late 2023.

That’s it again for this week! Thanks for reading, and join me again for a cup of coffee or tea next week!