Coming This Week, 12/2/19
A new(ish) SaGa begins...
Hello, dear readers, and welcome to the latest installment of Coming This Week! Are you looking for that perfect gift for the RPG fan in your life? Well, with the Christmas season almost upon us, why not splurge on one of the latest games? These first Yuletide days include the release of the latest SaGa game, a brand-new Darksiders spinoff, and more. Let's dive in!
I honestly didn't think that SaGa: Scarlet Grace would see the light of day outside of Japan, so color me surprised on the day of its digital Western release! The Ambitions version of Scarlet Grace brings the 2016 title to greener pastures and features an expanded story with more characters. This is the first new SaGa title since the ill-fated Unlimited SaGa, so for fans of this offbeat series, it'll be exciting to see what Scarlet Grace has to offer!
Published by XSEED, Heroland is an offbeat adventure that comes from a tremendously talented team of developers from Mother 3, Fantasy Life, and other such titles. It certainly has a unique premise, with players stepping into the role of a tour guide for a theme park that sends people on their own RPG adventures. Sounds like the perfect job for me, if I'm being honest! You can embark on the tour for yourself when Heroland hits the Switch, PS4, and Windows PCs this Tuesday. There will be a review soon, but we have a preview in the meantime.
Return once more to the city of Neverwinter in this classic RPG from BioWare. One of the last classic Dungeons & Dragons CRPGs to be set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, Neverwinter Nights whisks players away to the titular city, and tasks them with curing a deadly disease. The Enhanced Edition of the game brings an improved, updated experience to consoles for the first time.
Life continues to be strange for the second time, for one more episode this Tuesday. See the conclusion to this episodic, nation-spanning coming-of-age tale. The intensity has been building over the course of the story, so let's hope there's a satisfying ending awaiting the Diaz family after all they've been through. It's always good to see a graphic adventure story completed, too. We've been following this one episode by episode, so watch for an upcoming review, or read about the previous chapter (which looks like it was all the way back in August...a while to wait for a finale).
Darksiders Genesis is the first major spinoff for the series, taking the bloody, demon slaying action from third person action-adventure to top-down dungeon-crawling in the vein of Diablo. Honestly, after Darksiders II experimented with a loot system, I'm surprised the transition didn't happen sooner! Genesis also marks the first time that Strife, the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse who made an appearance in last year's Darksiders III, will be playable. I'm cautiously optimistic as a fan of the series, but I'll be holding out for the console versions: PC players can get it on either Windows or Stadia this Thursday.
Last, but not least, let us sail unto an ocean of stars! The Star Ocean series is returning from a brief hiatus and embarking on a familiar journey with First Departure R. This is a port of the PSP remake of the original Super Famicom title, for those keeping score. I'm honestly really excited to finally give this one a go: this'll be my first time experiencing the title. And perhaps we'll get the second game's remake over here one day, as well!
...and that's a wrap! Quite an auspicious start to the month of December, I must say. Tune in next week for more of the latest games, and as always, keep an eye on RPGFan for the best RPG content out there.
