Fall 2014’s hectic release schedule finally slows down to give gamers a chance to catch up and play all the games that came out over the last few months while preparing for then recovering from Thanksgiving feasting. If the heavy-hitters haven’t caught your attention, though, this week brings a few indie and import oddities for gamers looking to go off the beaten path.
Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands is about as mainstream as it gets this week, which also features a few Japanese games being brought over to Western audiences. What will you be playing?
Tales from the Borderlands
PS3/PS4/Vita/Win/X360/XB1 (November 25)
Telltale Games brings its episodic adventure format to Gearbox Software’s colorful Borderlands world. Set after the events of Borderlands 2, you control Rhys, a low-level Hyperion employee, and Fiona, a con-artist, as they try to make it on Pandora in the wake of Handsome Jack’s defeat.
In addition to Telltale’s usual narrative-driven point-and-click adventuring, Tales also features some action in the spirit of Borderlands. Some gear found in the game is transferable to other entries in the series, though how that works isn’t clear.
Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed
PS4 (November 25)
Tokyo’s Akihabara shopping district has been taken over by sinister Synthisters who are vampirically draining the life force of innocent people. It falls on you to take advantage of their weakness to sunlight by violently stripping them of their clothes to expose them to the sun’s cleansing light. Yes, that’s really what happens in the game.
This titillating beat-em-up from Japan already landed on North American PlayStation 3s and PS Vitas earlier in 2014, but now you can enjoy it with sharper visuals and smoother gameplay on PlayStation 4.
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensons
PS3/PS4/Win/X360/XB1 (November 25)
Psychedelic twin-stick shooting’s premiere franchise has another entry, and this time it’s in three dimensions. Shoot your way across arenas shaped like spheres, donuts, peanuts, and more.
This is the first game launched under the newly-revived Sierra label, which was recently brought back from the dead by publisher Activision. It was developed by Lucid Games, a studio that was founded by veterans of series creator Bizarre Creations after that studio closed down.
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
3DS (November 25)
This spin-off of the Persona series (itself a spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei series) is a dungeon crawling role-playing game in the vein of Etrian Odyssey. You play as the protagonist from either Persona 3 or Persona 4, encountering characters from both games. Like other games in the series, the story changes based on your choices, starting with which protagonist you play as.
The action is split between Yasogami High School, where you can talk to other characters, heal, and buy new gear, and a mysterious labyrinth beneath the school, filled with monsters. The game topped Japanese charts when released there earlier this year.
What else is coming:
- Penguins of Madagascar (3DS, Wii U/Nov. 25) — This once direct to video spin-off of the Madagascar films has been upgraded to a theatrical release, and coinciding with that there will be this tie-in game, exclusively on Nintendo platforms.
- Raven’s Cry (Linux, Mac, PS3, PS4, Win, X360, XB1/Nov. 27) — This semi-historical action RPG is set in the gritty world of 17th century Caribbean pirates, with a bit of magic thrown in for good measure.
- Emergency 5 (Win/Nov. 28) — Deep Silver’s cult emergency management sim is back with three huge maps and a new engine for your emergency response management pleasure.
