F1 22
Release date: Just released
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
If you are in Formula One zone at the moment, this can well be the game you need to play — this year’s iteration of the officially-licensed Formula One video game, F1 22.The global motor sport introduced new regulations this season to promote more competitive racing, which also meant teams had to redesign their cars. Based on the new regulations, the cars would have a variety of new features aimed at promoting more overtakes and closer racing. The new cars have bigger wheels and lower profile tyres, so the physics behind the models had to be worked upon by the developers, Codemasters. F1 22 includes a new mode, F1 Life, which lets you experience the lifestyle of a Formula One driver. You are given an apartment, which you can decorate and accessorise with supercars and virtual clothes from real brands.
Stray
Release date: July 19
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows
A stray cat must untangle a mystery to escape a city. Controlling an adorable orange cat, players can make full use of a cat’s natural agility to jump and make chilling moves to explore a dystopian future city where enemies come in the form of robots and there is a drone called B12 to help you on your journey. Living room sets with TVs are found through the city, allowing the cat to curl up on the couch for a rest. Or, leap into a robot’s lap for a nap. Cats like to explore and Stray is a game that rewards exploration. If you decide to stick to your main quest, the game will take you around eight hours but if you want to go deeper into the gameplay, it will take you nine to 10 hours to complete the game. Besides puzzles, there are blob-like creatures called zurks that will attack the cat, and all you can do is use animal reflexes to escape.
Loopmancer
Release date: July 13
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5
The year is 2046 and cybernetic implants and bionic prosthetics are commonplace. In Loopmancer, private eye Xiang Zixu is murdered while investigating the vanishing of a famous journalist. As Xiang awakens in his bed on the morning of his death, he discovers time resets every time he meets his death. Kill, die, and enact revenge in an oppressive Far East cyberpunk world to uncover the connections between your case, your murder and your limitless resurrection. Armed with a melee and ranged weapon, expect a lot of bloody fighting, chopping off limbs, setting fires, and sending bodies flying after grenades go off. When Xiang dies, the game restarts, and you lose all of your temporary items. Permanent upgrades and currencies remain, which let you upgrade Xiang’s skillset.
Wayward Strand
Release date: July 21
Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Go on an adventure in an airship as Casey in Wayward Strand, a single-player video game from Ghost Pattern and it comes with in-depth narratives, great visuals and a wonderful voiced cast. The narrative is set in 1978, revolving around Casey, a 14-year-old journalist. Casey boards an airship functioning as a hospital ward to join her mother, a nurse caring for the patients. While her mother works, Casey goes on an investigative journey.
As Dusk Falls
Release date: July 19
Platforms: Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S
It’s an original interactive drama from Interior/Night that explores the entangled lives of two families across 30 years. Starting in 1998 with a robbery-gone-wrong in small town Arizona, the choices you make have a powerful impact on the characters’ lives in this uncompromising story of betrayal, sacrifice and resilience. As the player and active viewer, decisions need to be made and a few quick-time events need to be executed to propel the story forward. The cinematic story is brought to life by the performance of actors that are digitally rendered into a beautiful art style, creating a unique experience that plays like a motion graphic novel.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Release date: July 29
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Set in a world ravaged by conflict between two nations — Agnus and Keves, the six main characters are initially two parties from opposing sides of this conflict, but soon realise that they share a common destiny and must work together to defeat the real enemy. Join Noah and Mio, members of the two opposing nations, on a heartfelt journey through a warring world with a dark secret. By joining together in battle via Interlinking, specific pairs of characters in your party can fuse to become a fiercely powerful creature known as an Ouroboros and forge your own path across stunning sci-fi landscapes brimming with discoveries. Scour the world to find new locations, items, treasures, and unique monsters. Besides the main characters, there is a slate of Heroes, who act as the seventh member of your party. While you can recruit a great number of heroes, only one can be in your party at any time.
Digimon Survive
Release date: July 29
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Digimon Anime, Digimon Survive has a brand-new adventure set in a mysterious world with characters designed by Uichi Ukumo, and music by the much-acclaimed Tomoki Miyoshi. Digimon Survive finds a group of teenagers, led by Takuma Momozuka, lost on a school camping trip, getting transported to a strange new world of monsters and danger. As they fight their way back home through an animated world of difficult decisions and deadly battles, players’ choices throughout the game will impact the evolution of their monster allies, and the final ending.
The game is launching after multiple delays. “The team that was originally tasked with developing the game had worked on it for around two years before it was decided that a different approach was needed. Unfortunately, the data that was handed over to the new dev team was largely unusable, which meant the game essentially needed to be remade from scratch,” producer Kazumasa Habu has told Asia One.
