Welcome back to This Week In Games Australia, your weekly look at what you could be playing over the next seven days.
This week is quiet on the AAA front, which is good because that will give the people who only play the big-budget stuff a week to catch up. Gigachad indie enjoyers, on the other hand, continue to eat extremely well. Plus, a heap of remakes, remasters, re-releases, and spiritual successors will ensure that your nostalgia button is well-and-truly pressed.
And hey! If you’d like a preview of this piece each and every Friday, be sure to check out the latest episode of The Kotaku Australia Podcast. It’s a show where Ruby and I discuss all biggest and most interesting arriving in the next week. We go up weekly on your favourite podcasting platform, with the vodcast going up on our YouTube channel.
Without further ado, here’s what you’ll be playing this week.
March 6
Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania (PC, NS, PS4, XBO)
I’m still losing my mind about this. I’m going insane. I can’t believe that such a perfect marriage of IP exists. I can’t believe that Konami agreed to a brand partnership that isn’t a complete shambles. Classic Castlevania mashed up with one of the best roguelike sidescrollers of the last five years? Yes please.
March 7
Citizens: Far Lands – Prologue (PC)
One of a pair of cozy city builders this week, Citizens: Far Lands follows most of the standard genre conventions — build and manage you city, help it grow, construct an army, and defend it from potential invaders. I really like the low-fi look of this one — it screams “cozy, wholesome” vibes and genre fans know that city builders are usually anything but. This is a genre that often requires the player to be a bit of a cutthroat. We’ll find out this week if Citizens falls into that category too.
Final Profit (PC)
Created by Brent Arnold, a developer from Melbourne, Final Profit: A Shop RPG is a game about opening and managing your own little fantasy goods store. That, honestly, is a good enough pitch in and of itself. I know for a fact that Ruby would happily play that game for hours if you let her. But Final Profit has more on its mind than that. In addition to being a shop sim, it’s also a dedicated and savage critique of retail capitalism. Another Aussie gem, and worth a look.
Little Witch Nobeta (NS, PS4)
Hogwarts Legacy found dead in Miami.
Outlanders (PC)
The second of our two cozy city builders this week, Outlanders is making the jump from mobile to PC. When I say cozy on this one, I actually mean it. Outlanders is purely a town-builder. Establish your town, help it grow, expand, and thrive, and then keep that going. Success is managing your resources wisely and avoiding financial collapse.
The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition (PS5, XSX, PC)
For those who missed Obsidian’s Fallout-like science fiction RPG when it launched back in 2019, you can now pick it up on current-gen platforms. Better yet, the package comes with the complete set of all The Outer Worlds‘ DLC expansions. It’s a strong RPG, one that has already spawned a sequel — in production since at least 2021. If you’ve patiently waiting for Bethesda to get around to launching Starfield, then this should scratch that itch substantially
Pronty (NS)
Pronty is a challenging deep-sea Metroidvania in which you play as a little fishboy. There’s a bit going on with this one. There’s a little bit of Hollow Knight. There’s a sprinkling of shmup mechanics here. The trailer is giving Donkey Kong Country water levels, but make them incredibly dangerous. One to watch.
March 8
Metroid Fusion (NS)
Speaking of Metroidvanias, one of the best Metroid games ever made is coming to the Switch this week — just weeks after one of the other best Metroid games ever made did the same. Metroid Fusion launched on the Game Boy Advance in 2002 and instantly asserted its place in the beloved series. In a franchise considered one of the darkest and gloomiest in the Nintendo library, Metroid Fusion is one of the darkest and creepiest, pitting Samus against her own terrifying doppelganger. It’s on the Game Boy Advance app for Nintendo Switch Online later this week. If you’ve played it, fix that. Unmissable.
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of the Honjo (PC) (NS on March 9)
Paranormasight describes itself as a supernatural mystery adventure game, and that about sums it up. You play a character on a quest to bring a loved one back from the dead — problem is, they’re surrounded by the dead all the time. One for the horror fans, for sure, particularly those that enjoy Japanese horror.
Steelborn (PC)
One for fans of old-school sidescrolling shooters like Metal Slug and Contra. For some of you, that will be all you need to hear. Enjoy.
March 9
Caverns of Mars: Recharged (PS5, XSX, PC, NS, PS4, XBO)
The classic Atari-era top-down shooter returns for a new generation. With your ship at the top of the screen, your job is the blast your way downward through the Martian surface. Don’t let terrain or foe stand in your way. There’s also couch co-op if you want to create some real havoc. Great retro gear.
Monster Energy Supercross 6 (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO)
There is a dedicated audience for the Monster Energy Supercross games, those that love a bit of aggressive dirt bike racing. They’re still solid fun as a multiplayer experience and, though not an entirely serious sim, offer fun, hard racing.
Fatal Frame/Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (PS5, XSX, PC, NS, PS4, XBO)
A fan favourite in the Fatal Frame series (called Project Zero in Europe and here in Australia, for mid-2000’s trademark reasons), Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is the fourth game in the survival horror series and was originally released in Japan on the Wii in 2009. This 2023 remaster will be the game’s first official release in the West, though no end of fan translations exist around the web. One for the collectors, for sure.
Space Tail: Every Journey Leads Home (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO)
Dog in space. Dog in space.
The Last Spell (PC, NS)
The Last Spell is a tactical roguelite RPG about protecting the last surviving remnant of humanity from a mist that turned us all into monsters. As the monsters close in on Haven, our final stand, you’ll need to hold off their forces long enough for the city’s mages to dispel the magic that drives the mist.
March 10
DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos (PS5, XSX, PC, NS, PS4, XBO)
Dungeon crawler, but make it for nine-year-olds. This will be a great one to keep the kids occupied on the weekend. You’re welcome.
Hellscreen (PC)
Hellscreen is a classic boomer shooter with a twist — you need to use the game’s build-in rear-view mirror to properly play the game. The mirror is used to not only shoot behind you, but uncover invisible enemies as you move through the game’s blue-and-red levels. Really cool, really different, but still scratches that classic shooter itch. You may have heard me talk about this one on the podcast last week. Very keen to try this one.
Mato Anomalies (PS5, XSX, PC, NS, PS4, XBO)
Despite what the title may have made our Australian readers think, Mato Anomalies does not describe the weird shit your mate Matt gets up to when he’s had a few too many Barcardis. Mato Anomalies is a turn-based JRPG about a detective and an exorcist solving mysteries together in a near-future anime city, which is an extremely cool pitch. JRPG fans are loving life at the moment.
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