9 awesome new video games out this summer

Jul 25 2018, 3:36 am

With the sun blazing overhead, get some solace indoors and play of the season’s best video game offerings. For this round-up, we’re going over the summer’s biggest hits that will have you glued to the controller while that summer heat keeps your shirt sticking to your back.

Mario Tennis Aces

Image: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo
Platforms:  Switch
Release Date: June 22

Mario smashes onto the tennis courts once again in Mario Tennis Ace. As a sports title with Nintendo flair, gamers can expect fun additions like dramatic racket-breaking Special Shots that add to the kinetic experience.

Test your tennis skills in its online and offline multiplayer with a generous cast of characters that includes Mario series mainstays, to more obscure characters like the adorable Spike from Mario’s third outing.

Octopath Traveler

Image: Square Enix

Developer: Square Enix
Platforms:  Switch
Release Date: July 13

Eight characters, eight stories, and one strange title. Odd title aside, there’s plenty of JRPG greatness to be found on this portable JRPG experience that lets you choose how to progress any of the eight main stories available.

Underneath the immaculate classic presentation, the turn-based combat feels revitalized here with an emphasis on saving up your turns and exploiting enemy weaknesses. The game also lets you mix and match different classes for your party too.

Chasm

Image: Bit Kid

Developer: Bit Kid
Platforms:  PC, PlayStation 4
Release Date: July 31

Plummet to the mines below, level up, and gain new traversal abilities in this indie Metroidvania title. As another indie ode to that genre, Chasm features 32-bit era sprite work that easily evokes the time spent in Dracula’s Castle in Symphony of the Night.

Chasm does feature some new school mechanics too as its dungeons are semi-random. All the rooms are handcrafted, but the rooms you encounter and their arrangement in the dungeon map is random to keep your adventures feeling new with each playthrough.

Overcooked 2

Image: Ghost Town Games

Developer: Ghost Town Games
Platforms:  PC, Xbox One, Switch, PlayStation 4
Release Date: August 7

Jump over lava, skid across icy caverns, and dodge traffic as you race against the clock to deliver the next ingredient in Overcooked 2. The second serving of the frantic cooking party game will now let you toss ingredients and play online as well.

Any Overcooked veteran knows the secret sauce in overcoming each stage is coordinating your friends to take their stations and switch when needed. Like any kitchen at brunch hour on a Sunday afternoon, this culinary coordination typically comes from a lot of yelling.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season Episode 1

Image: Telltale

Developer: Telltale
Platforms:  PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: August 14

It’s the end of the road for Telltale’s The Walking Dead as players will get the beginning of the end for Clementine’s coming-of-age journey in a zombie-infested world.

Separate from the comics and show, the episodic adventure series began in 2012 with a harrowing story in its first season that will be remembered for years to come. Hopefully, Telltale will be able to close out the story just as strongly.

Little Dragons Cafe

Image: Aksys Games

Developer: Aksys Games
Platforms:  PlayStation 4, Switch
Release Date: August 24

What if Daenerys used her dragons to run a culinary empire? From the mind that brought you Harvest Moon, comes the tale of two siblings tasked with working in a cafe, raising a dragon, and saving their mother.

Aside from growing crops, you’ll feed your dragon, watch it grow, and eventually take to the skies to new areas on the map for all new ingredients for your cafe dishes. This game will taste especially well to fans of pet-sim and farm-sim genres.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Image: Square Enix

Developer: Square Enix
Platforms:  PlayStation 4
Release Date: September 4

Clear out summer and fall as this one’s a time stealer with Dragon Quest XI making its way to the West in September. While Final Fantasy has never been too afraid of change, Dragon Quest has famously been steadfast in holding onto old JRPG traditions.

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing new for returning fans here as there is a larger emphasis on world exploration. Players will gain access to a variety of mounts that go far beyond a horse such as an egg-like creature that can hop to the top of a nearby cliff.

Spider-Man

Image: Insomniac Games

Developer: Insomniac Games
Platforms:  PlayStation 4
Release Date: September 7

Spider-Man swings onto PlayStation 4 this summer with a title primed to do the wall-crawler justice. With a great pedigree from Insomniac Games, this AAA action game is easily the most anticipated summer video game release.

Of course, fighting with Spidey feels as agile and creative as fans would expect as you zip around foes while hitting them with a variety of webby projectiles. Most of all, the game nails how fun it is to swing between the New York neighborhoods as the iconic hero.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Image: Eidos Montreal

Developer: AP Thomson
Platforms:  PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: September 11

The globe-trotting action-ready archaeologist, Lara Croft, returns for the final entry in the recent rebooted trilogy.

One of the major new additions here is Paititi which serves as the biggest hub area in the series yet. Here, you’ll go on side quests, learn about nearby tombs, and trade with the locals in the barter-based economy.

Survive the wild and explore ancient locations once again.

Kenny ChiaKenny Chia

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