Come on in, get yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea and pull up a chair.
I like my coffee with lots of whipped cream and cookie sprinkles, but it’s time to try and loose some pounds. So just black for me!
Is it just me, or are there a lot of good games coming in March? Anyway, let me give you the news that caught my eye this week. I hope you enjoy it!
Sales in Steam in 2023
With life getting more and more expensive, sales are a great way to feed your gaming passion without breaking the bank. If you play games on Steam, you may want to jot down these dates in 2023, so you might get the game you had your eye on for a low price.
- Mystery Fest: February 20 – 27
- Spring Sale: March 16 – 23 (major seasonal sale)
- Puzzle Fest: April 24 – May 1
- Sports Fest: May 15 – 22
- Next Fest: June 19 – 26
- Summer Sale: June 29 – July 13 (major seasonal sale)
- Stealth Fest: July 24 – 31
- Visual Novel Fest: August 7 – 14
- Strategy Fest: August 28 – September 4
- SHMUP Fest: September 25 – October 2
- Next Fest: October 9 – 16
- Return of Steam Scream Fest (Halloween): October 26 – November 2
- Autumn Sale: November 21 – 28 (major seasonal sale)
Different Covers Octopath Traveler II
Do you have a MyNintendo account with Nintendo of America? If you are thoroughly enjoying your journey in Octopath Traveler II, it might interest you that you can now download 8 different covers of the game based on each of the game’s main characters. No news about the games coming to the European MyNintendo space yet.
Harvest Moon: the Winds of Anthos is Coming
The breakup between Marvelous Games and Natsume years ago left us with two great farming gaming series: Story of Seasons and Harvest Moon. Harvest Moon will be celebratings its 25th birthday this summer with a new game: Harvest Moon: the Winds of Anthos.
In the game, you find yourself in a destroyed village after a volcanic eruption that happened 20 years ago. It forced the Harvest Godess and her Harvest Sprites to use all of their powers to protect the people. They were saved alright, but all the villages were cut off from each other. The Harvest Goddess sent a bottle into the ocean with a letter and a magic key, and of course you are the one to find it. Up to you to connect the many different towns again. Of course, it’s up to you to reconnect the villagers and help return the region to its former glory. It’s coming to Steam, Switch and other consoles this summer, and this is the 6th game that is created entirely by Natsume.
Fire Emblem Icons for Platinum Points
Every once in a while I get an email from Nintendo telling me I have platinum points to spend on MyNintendo. I often just let them go, but this news I was reminded that there are ways to spend them that are actually nice. You can use them to get icons for on your Switch! And if your a fan of Fire Emblem Engage, you might find it interesting that there are new custom icons for FE available.
A new batch of #FireEmblem Engage custom icons are now available for #NintendoSwitchOnline members to collect by redeeming #MyNintendo Platinum Points.
Learn more: https://t.co/dMPI324eI7 pic.twitter.com/vpiXYpl0fZ
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 24, 2023
LEGO Bricktales gets a Free Easter Update
Remember LEGO Bricktales? Paula reviewed the game and gave it our highest rating of Two Thumbs Up. In the game you journey across 5 beautiful LEGO brick-themed biomes, taking you to the green foliage of the deepest jungles, the scorching sand of sun-drenched deserts, the hustle and bustle of a city corner, the epic sight of a towering medieval castle and the paradise of tropical Caribbean islands.
With an intuitive brick-by-brick building mechanic you need to solve the many fun puzzles you encounter on this adventure and bring your creative solutions to life. Now the game is getting a free Easter update that includes:
- A beautifully crafted Easter diorama
- A storyline where you have to help the Easter bunny save Easter
- 5 new construction puzzles. Four with a specific challenges and one being an open area where you can build more freely
- 1 collection quest – Easter eggs will be hidden in the other existing worlds that you can find and use to purchase items
- 3 new wardrobe items (purchasable with eggs players have found in the world)
- 1 new music track
- A new menu entry to notify you of ongoing updates
And really, it looks beautiful.
This world becomes accessible if the player has cleared the first world (Jungle). On completion, an entrance will appear in the park leading you to the new diorama where you’ll meet the friendly Easter bunny who has a problem with making eggs for this year’s Easter celebration. Disgruntled chickens and snow damage keep them from reaching their goals, so you will need to use your quick thinking and puzzle-solving abilities to help them save Easter.
Next Great Thing in Yokai World
A couple of weeks ago, when I wrote about the new Professor Layton, I also mentioned Level-5 is going to publish in the West again. A game I enjoyed very much on my 3DS back then was Yokai Watch, so this tweet of the CEO of Level 5, Akihiro Hino, is welcome news. The Japanese game developer is currently working on the “next great thing” in the Yokai Watch series of video games. That should be interesting!
テレビの妖怪ウォッチはいったんお休みしますが、妖怪ウォッチの流れをくむ、次なるすげえのを考えているので、妖怪好きな人はちょっと待ってて！ pic.twitter.com/DWZ4kRWJjG
— 日野晃博 (@AkihiroHino) February 24, 2023
The translation reads: I’m going to take a break from the TV Yokai Watch, but I’m thinking about the next amazing thing that follows the flow of Yokai Watch, so if you like Yokai, please wait a moment!
Physical Edition Lord Winklebottom Investigates
CaveMonsters and Funstock just announced that their mystery point-and-click adventure, Lord Winklebottom Investigates, is coming soon to physical format on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4! We gave the game a Two Thumbs Up in our review! Want to know what it’s about?
It’s the 1920s and the world’s foremost detective is about to embark on his most challenging case yet – he also just so happens to be a giraffe.
A mysterious invitation to an isolated island results in a grisly death and a race against time to track down the killer. With the help of your steadfast hippopotamus companion, Doctor Frumple, it’s up to you to uncover vital clues, interview suspects and solve puzzles to crack the case.
Power Wash Simulator Free Midgar Special Pack
James took to cleaning a while back, and thoroughly enjoyed it with Power Wash Simulator (his review is here). Now, the fans of Final Fantasy can also clean their most iconic locations, as the free Midgar Special Pack is out now!
Players will take up their tools and tackle five new levels for PowerWash Simulator, featuring iconic locations, such as the charming Seventh Heaven bar and the breathtaking Mako Energy Exhibit, as well as vehicles and mechs both famed and feared, including the Hardy Daytona and Shinra Hauler, the Scorpion Sentinel and the Airbuster.
Midgar, the city of Mako was designed in 1997. Of course, after 25 years there will be lots of oil and dirt to wash from these iconic iron buildings!
Europa Looks Stunning
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 through the remains of a ruined utopia, and discover the story of the last human alive.
Europa is a peaceful game of adventure, exploration and meditation. As you travel you’ll gradually upgrade the capabilities of your Zephyr jetpack, boosting yourself further through the air until you can flow freely into the sky.
This video game, made by Helder Pinto and published by Future Friends Games, is set to release in 2023, first to Steam and eventually to consoles too. Looks enticing!
River Tails Stronger Together Early Access
River Tails tells the story of two unlikely friends, a cat called Furple and a fish called Finn. Journeying through beautiful natural-world environments, Furple and Finn will have to learn to work together if they don’t want to lose the things they love most. And it’s coming to Early Access on Steam on March 16.
The concept for River Tails was born a long time ago, when Gabriele Gangemi and Francesco Mazza were growing up in Sicily. They loved playing videogames together, although they never quite found the perfect co-op adventure. Then, after almost a decade of pursuing separate careers – Francesco as an art director for children’s cartoons and Gabriele as a maths teacher and commercial video director – they decided to take the plunge and create their own co-op game. After a successful Kickstarter and two years of production, the Early Access of River Tails is now in sight.
We sure are looking forward to this game!
Space Tail Gets New DLC on Switch
