February’s New Video Games: A Haven for Werewolves, Nightmares

By Thomas Spurlin on February 8, 2021

It’s no secret that many of the new video games from the tail end of the year, crunched to get released on both the next generation of consoles and the current ones, had their fair share of issues. While there’s little possibility in the developers changing the fundamentals of the game – looking at you, Cyberpunk 2077 and your missing role-playing features – a period of 2-3 months tends to be a good timeframe for titles to be cleaned up through patches/updates so that the digital experience is roughly the best it can be.

Therefore, counting down from the release of the PS5 and the Xbox Series systems, now’s the time when those launch titles are close to the best they’re going to be … and it’s a good time to fire up those games, whether on the old systems or new, because February is a reasonably quiet month for new games. Though, not without a little firepower. Let’s take a closer look.

Control: Ultimate Edition — PS5, Series X/S; February 2

Remedy Entertainment has this tendency of making absorbing, atmospheric games that, for one reason or another, go under the radar. In the same vein of Alan Wake, Control took some time for its audience to catch onto its thrilling concept of a Metroidvania skill-progression action game centered on paranormal investigations, psychokinetic powers, and a New York skyscraper that changes length, width, and design like something out of Inception.

Once they did discover Control, both players and critics were aboard with recognizing it as one of the best of 2019, which in turn led to it becoming one of Remedy’s most popular original creations. With that popularity also comes the expectation of a “game of the year” type of release with any additional DLC and tech improvements, yet the Control: Ultimate Edition is more than that, as the graphics have also been optimized for Xbox Series and PS5 consoles with its planned update.

Get Control: Ultimate Edition at Amazon

Haven — PS5, Switch; February 4

The Game Bakers put themselves on the map with Furi, a title like that almost seems like it’s setting up the game to be disappointing if it doesn’t deliver enough … well, fury. Luckily, it does, telegraphing both a vivid art style and an energetic, challenging third-person action fantasy experience. So, if they’re so attuned to making their titles indicative of the games within, it stands to reason that Haven will be a more tranquil, defensive experience about dealing with threats and fleeing to a safe space, and that’s certainly the case for this sci-fi RPG.

Players control a pair of flighted lovers who scour a beautiful planet for resources to take back to their ship, and when they’re confronted with threats, the game’s design shifts to a pseudo turn-based combat system. Transitions from the elegant flight across the planet to the controlled combat could seem disjointed, but Haven’s intimate story, resource collection system and generally pleasing atmosphere while traversing the planet are likely to make up for it.

Get Haven at Nintendo

Werewolf: Earthblood — PS4/5, Xbox O/S/X, PC; February 4

Last month, we talked a bit about rising popularity of the World of Darkness universe — chiefly that of Vampire: The Masquerade — and the ability for werewolf games to succeed outside of beat-‘em-up action experiences. The primal aspects of a human transforming into an overpowered man-wolf does lend itself to hack-‘n-slash gameplay, though, and that’s what Earthblood hopes to accomplish within the Werewolf: The Apocalypse universe.

Reminiscent of Dontnod’s Vampyr, this action-RPG from Cyanide Studios (Styx, Call of Cthulhu) utilizes physical transformations in expected, yet versatile ways, where the player can change from human to wolf to werewolf depending on the circumstances. Naturally, as a werewolf, it’s a more visceral experience hinged on building rage and resistance to physical damage, which results in vigorous combat scenarios. Backed by the universe’s interest in different tribes of werewolves and their agendas, Earthblood has a lot of potential as an action-RPG.

Get Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Earthblood at Amazon

Little Nightmares 2 — PS4, Xbox One, PC; February 11

The original Little Nightmares succeeds on the execution of its ominous, icky atmosphere, where a kid wearing a yellow poncho navigates puzzle-like platform stages and evades large, grotesque humanoid creatures lurking in the bowels of an underwater vessel. Tarsier Studios, who previously worked on the complex level design for the LittleBigPlanet series of games, clearly see the extended potential of this haunting universe and have delivered on a direct sequel, Little Nightmares 2.

While they’ve switched up protagonists to the paper bag-wearing young boy Mono, the developers have fully preserved the successful aesthetics from the first game as he navigates what’s called the Signal Tower, which has been broadcasting an unsettling transmission. All signs point to Little Nightmares 2 tapping into the same mixture of clever level design and uniquely disturbing environments, and could open the door for continuing installments not unlike, say, Five Nights at Freddy’s or Layers of Fear.

Get Little Nightmares 2 at Amazon

Persona 5: Strikers — PS4, Switch, PC; February 23

It’s tough to think of a more reliable franchise than Persona, no matter the genre. The folks at Atlus allow their wildly popular role-playing series bounce from turn-based battles to fighting games and straight third-person beat-‘em-ups, and the creativity of the storytelling and characters always give the games the right narrative backbone to support the gameplay flavor of the week. Strikers follows directly after the events of Persona 5, combining certain turn-based aspects integral to the franchise with the fast-paced, broad-reality action from the Dynasty Warriors series.

Developed in a collaborative effort between Omega Force and P-Studio, the folks responsible for Dynasty Warriors and Persona respectively, Strikers has been out in Japan for a while and has already earned accolades and sold quite well, but now it’ll be available internationally. Here’s hoping we’ll also receive a firm release date on the SMT: Nocturne remaster in the coming weeks, due out west in “Spring 2021” according to their website.

Get Persona 5: Strikers at Amazon

Speaking of franchises successfully bouncing between gameplay genres, the Yakuza: Like a Dragon turn-based spinoff will be getting its Xbox and PC debut on February 25. Nioh and Nioh 2 will be receiving Remastered Complete Editions on February 5, while the Wii U’s Super Mario World 3D is also getting the spruced-up port treatment for the Switch on February 12. There are also some arcade video games worth keeping an eye on: the popular, challenging roguelike dungeon crawler Curse of the Dead Gods will be vying for attention from Hades on consoles once February 23 arrives, and the ‘90s throwback sword-and-sorcery FPS Wrath: Aeon of Ruin will be casting its spell on February 25.