{"id":40723,"date":"2021-02-08T11:33:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T19:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/?p=40723"},"modified":"2021-02-08T12:31:27","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T20:31:27","slug":"februarys-new-video-games-a-haven-for-werewolves-nightmares","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/features\/februarys-new-video-games-a-haven-for-werewolves-nightmares\/","title":{"rendered":"February’s New Video Games: A Haven for Werewolves, Nightmares"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s 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\u2019s little possibility in the developers changing the fundamentals of the game \u2013 looking at you, Cyberpunk 2077 <\/em>and your missing role-playing features \u2013 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, counting down from the release of the PS5 and the Xbox Series systems, now\u2019s the time when those launch titles are close to the best they\u2019re going to be \u2026 and it\u2019s 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.\u00a0Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Control: Ultimate Edition — PS5, Series X\/S; February 2<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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<\/em>, Control<\/em> 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<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once they did discover Control<\/em>, 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\u2019s most popular original creations. With that popularity also comes the expectation of a \u201cgame of the year\u201d type of release with any additional DLC and tech improvements, yet the Control: Ultimate Edition<\/em> is more than that, as the graphics have also been optimized for Xbox Series and PS5 consoles with its planned update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Control: Ultimate Edition at Amazon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haven — PS5, Switch; February 4<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Game Bakers put themselves on the map with Furi<\/em>, a title like that almost seems like it\u2019s setting up the game to be disappointing if it doesn\u2019t deliver enough \u2026 well, fury.\u00a0 Luckily, it does, telegraphing both a vivid art style and an energetic, challenging third-person action fantasy experience. So, if they\u2019re so attuned to making their titles indicative of the games within, it stands to reason that Haven<\/em> will be a more tranquil, defensive experience about dealing with threats and fleeing to a safe space, and that\u2019s certainly the case for this sci-fi RPG. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Players control a pair of flighted lovers who scour a beautiful planet for resources to take back to their ship, and when they\u2019re confronted with threats, the game\u2019s 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<\/em>\u2019s intimate story, resource collection system and generally pleasing atmosphere while traversing the planet are likely to make up for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Haven at Nintendo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Werewolf: Earthblood — PS4\/5, Xbox O\/S\/X, PC; February 4<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Last month, we talked a bit about rising popularity of the World of Darkness universe — chiefly that of Vampire: The Masquerade<\/em> — and the ability for werewolf games to succeed outside of beat-\u2018em-up action experiences. \u00a0The primal aspects of a human transforming into an overpowered man-wolf does lend itself to hack-\u2018n-slash gameplay, though, and that\u2019s what Earthblood<\/em> hopes to accomplish within the Werewolf: The Apocalypse<\/em> universe. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reminiscent of Dontnod\u2019s Vampyr<\/em>, this action-RPG from Cyanide Studios (Styx, Call of Cthulhu<\/em>) utilizes physical transformations in expected, yet versatile ways, where the player can change from human to wolf to werewolf depending on the circumstances.\u00a0 Naturally, as a werewolf, it\u2019s a more visceral experience hinged on building rage and resistance to physical damage, which results in vigorous combat scenarios. Backed by the universe\u2019s interest in different tribes of werewolves and their agendas, Earthblood<\/em> has a lot of potential as an action-RPG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Earthblood at Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little Nightmares 2 — PS4, Xbox One, PC; February 11<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The original Little Nightmares<\/em> 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<\/em> series of games, clearly see the extended potential of this haunting universe and have delivered on a direct sequel, Little Nightmares 2<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While they\u2019ve 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\u2019s called the Signal Tower, which has been broadcasting an unsettling transmission. All signs point to Little Nightmares 2<\/em> 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\u2019s<\/em> or Layers of Fear<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Little Nightmares 2 at Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Persona 5: Strikers — PS4, Switch, PC; February 23<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s tough to think of a more reliable franchise than Persona<\/em>, no matter the genre.\u00a0 The folks at Atlus allow their wildly popular role-playing series bounce from turn-based battles to fighting games and straight third-person beat-\u2018em-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<\/em> follows directly after the events of Persona 5<\/em>, combining certain turn-based aspects integral to the franchise with the fast-paced, broad-reality action from the Dynasty Warriors series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developed in a collaborative effort between Omega Force and P-Studio, the folks responsible for Dynasty Warriors<\/em> and Persona<\/em> respectively, Strikers<\/em> has been out in Japan for a while and has already earned accolades and sold quite well, but now it\u2019ll be available internationally. Here\u2019s hoping we\u2019ll also receive a firm release date on the SMT: Nocturne<\/em> remaster in the coming weeks, due out west in \u201cSpring 2021\u201d according to their website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Persona 5: Strikers at Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of franchises successfully bouncing between gameplay genres, the Yakuza: Like a Dragon<\/em><\/strong> turn-based spinoff will be getting its Xbox and PC debut on February 25. Nioh<\/em><\/strong> and Nioh 2 <\/em><\/strong>will be receiving Remastered Complete Editions<\/em><\/strong> on February 5, while the Wii U\u2019s Super Mario World 3D<\/em><\/strong> 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<\/em><\/strong> will be vying for attention from Hades on consoles once February 23 arrives, and the \u201890s throwback sword-and-sorcery FPS Wrath: Aeon of Ruin <\/em><\/strong>will be casting its spell on February 25. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 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\u2019s little possibility in the developers changing the fundamentals of the game \u2013 looking at you, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":40726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1416,401,2266,2080,25,378,2265],"class_list":["post-40723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-pc","tag-ps4","tag-ps5","tag-switch","tag-video-games","tag-xbox-one","tag-xbox-series-x"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40728,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40723\/revisions\/40728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}