Games

Top 5 Video Game Releases in SA this Week

We take a look at what games are hitting local stores and online retailers this week.

Published

8 years ago

November 28, 2016

As November comes to an end this week and December rolls in, there are some big games touching down to mark the conclusion of the month. The Final Fantasy series makes its long-awaited return, Ubisoft’s new snow-covered sports game enters the fray, and a familiar mustachioed plumber is back, albeit in a smaller format.

Here are the games releasing 28 November – 2 December 2016:

Final Fantasy XV

Release date: 29 November 2016 (Xbox One, PS4)

It’s been a long time coming, but Final Fantasy XV finally sees its release this week. Final Fantasy XV marks a huge departure for the long-running RPG series. Not only does it change the setting from a more linear affair to a sprawling open-world, but combat gets a complete overhaul. No longer are battles fought randomly or turn-based. Now players can see the enemy coming and enjoy action-RPG combat complete with multiple weapon styles and parrying. Enemy AI is also more complex with different faction of enemies able to come into conflict during battles.

Fans of the franchise will already be on the waiting list for this one, but newcomers should also give it a look if they’re up for something huge in scale, gorgeous to the eye, and innovative in the gameplay department.

Steep

Release date: 2 December 2016 (Xbox One, PS4, PC)

It’s been quite a long time since we’ve had a new extreme sports game, which is unfortunate because it is a niche that has a passionate following. Steep fills that void, giving fans a number of different activities and challenges in four different disciplines: skiing, snowboarding, paragliding, and wingsuit flying.

While the game is open world, players can switch to mountain mode to access “drop zones” that act as fast travel spots, or cut your own path by traveling around the mountainous terrain to find new challenges. Steep also focuses on online gameplay with players sharing the same game world and competing in activities at the same time through seamless multiplayer. You can compete in races and challenges against other players or group up with friends to pull off wild stunts.

Super Mario Maker for 3DS

Release date: 2 December 2016 (3DS)

Super Mario Maker was a hit on the Wii U giving players the tools to create their own Mario levels. The robust level creation tools helped reinvent what it means to play a Super Mario game, and allowed players to create levels themed after New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario World. Now it is coming to the 3DS allowing players to create and play on the go.

Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS won’t be the exact same as its console counterpart, though. Naturally being on the 3DS means it loses significant power. With that comes a less feature-rich game because the game will be unable to share courses online, use mystery mushroom costumes (or play levels with those costumes), and a slightly less powerful level creation tools.

That doesn’t means the 3DS version won’t be worth checking out, though. Players can connect online to download select courses from the Wii U version to give players access to a near-unlimited amount of courses to play. The game also includes 100 Nintendo-designed levels with new challenges to conquer. The most significant feature is the ability to collaborate via local wi-fi with other Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS owners on levels designs before completing a level.

Watch Dogs 2

Release date: 29 November (PC)

After a rather successful launch on Xbox One and PS4, Ubisoft’s hack-’em-up sequel comes to PC this week.

Watch Dogs 2 moves the action to San Francisco with a new hacker Marcus, who, while enjoys causing chaos with his smartphone skills, also has a pension for parkour. Marcus finds himself joining notorious hacking gorup DedSec in an effort to clear his name and cripple a city ripe with corruption. Watch Dogs 2 is faster, prettier, and features more gameplay variety that should please fans of the first game. Look out for our full Watch Dogs 2 review this week.

Darksiders: Warmastered Edition

Release date: 29 November 2016 (PC)

If you missed out on 2010’s excellent apocalyptic hack-‘n-slash Darksiders (or perhaps you just want to give it another playthrough), the award-winning action adventure game got a remastered edition for PS4 and Xbox One last week, and it arrives on PC this week. The PC version of Darksiders: Warmastered Edition includes improved graphics, support for 4K resolutions and “additional visual options”. Darksiders was one of our favourite games of the last generation, with fun, creative gameplay, a gorgeous art-style and a compelling fantasy story. Definitely worth checking out when the Warmasterededition arrives later this month.