Updated on July 6th: Added new Anime Expo 2024 announcements from NIS America, Bandai Namco, Aksys, SEGA, and more.
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Steam Deck Weekly. This week has been a bit light on news, and I was busy catching up with some long Switch games I’ve been reviewing like TSUKIHIME: A piece of blue glass moon and also Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 on PS5 and Deck. Anime Expo 2024 is on right now, and in addition to news from the event, there is a notable Humble Bundle and new Steam Deck Verified games this week. Also I’m working on a few longer features and reviews so there’s just one short review in today’s article. Before the review, let’s get into the important news from the week.
News and Trailers
This week, Sukeban Games announced .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND, an active time action game, and it looks incredible. VA-11 Hall-A is one of my favorite games of all time, and I’m very excited to see more of .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND when the Steam page goes up on the 19th of this month with more to be revealed soon. Check out a screenshot from it below:
NIS America confirmed that Ys X: Nordics will be released on October 25th for PC, PS5, PS4, and Switch. I already played the Switch version, and it is an amazing action RPG when it comes to the gameplay at least. I don’t understand Japanese, but I wasn’t going to wait too long to play a new game from one of my favorite developers. The PC version of Ys X is in development at PH3. Read my interview with PH3 here. Watch the Ys X release date trailer below:
PowerWash Simulator’s newest DLC, Alice’s Adventures Special Pack, launched this week on Steam, Switch, PS5, PS4, and Xbox. I’ve been playing it for review, and it is excellent. Check out the trailer for it below ahead of my full review in the near future:
Bandai Namco Entertainment announced that SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream, a multiplayer-focused adventure game, will release globally on October 4th with pre-orders now live. Watch the SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream story trailer below:
The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case The Okhotsk Disappearance ~Memories in Ice, Tearful Figurine~ is a detective adventure game remake of the original that was released in the late 80s. It is coming to Steam on September 12th with English support. I want to play this as it not only is the first time it is being released in English, but it also has some new story content by Yuji Horii (Dragon Quest) who wrote the original.
Level-5 announced that the Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road beta test demo for PS5, PS4, and Steam will be released this month. The beta was already available on Switch, and it played quite well there. I’m interested in seeing how it feels on PS5 and Steam Deck ahead of its full release in the future.
Bandai Namco Entertainment also released a new gameplay trailer for Gundam Breaker 4, my most anticipated game of next month. I’m looking forward to playing this on multiple platforms as a fan of the first three on PS Vita and PS4.
Capcom announced that Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will launch worldwide for Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X on September 19th. Pre-orders are now live for a standard and Digital Deluxe edition. I haven’t played the original yet, but likely will try it ahead of this remake’s release.
Capcom also announced a free trial for Dragon’s Dogma 2 now live until July 18th letting players on Steam try out the first two hours of the game with save data carrying over to the full game.
Capcom’s final announcement of the week relating to Steam is a free demo for Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess now live on consoles and PC. The full game is also Steam Deck Verified. Watch the demo and collaboration trailer below:
GameStudio Inc is bringing the horror puzzle action adventure game Ao Oni to Steam and Switch on July 26th. This new version of the 2004 classic will feature English and more languages with a new Ai’s Story mode and high speed mode. I’ll be checking this one out on Steam. Watch the trailer for it below:
The final bit of news is Sekai Project’s Anime Expo 2024 announcements including Nekopara Remaster (Q4 2024 on Steam), Nekopara After – La Vraie Famillie (2025 on Steam), Amairo Chocolate 3 (Q4 2024 on Steam), Seed of Heroes (September 2024 on Steam), and more for PC and consoles. Watch the Seed of Heroes trailer below:
New Anime Expo 2024 announcements
After I published this earlier today, more announcements went up from Anime Expo 2024. I’ve included my favorite ones below:
Trails through Daybreak just launched on PC and consoles, and NIS America announced a localization for Trails through Daybreak II for early 2025 release on Steam, PS5, Switch, and more. If you do plan on checking out the Steam page, be warned for Daybreak spoilers. Watch the trailer below:
Metaphor: ReFantazio from Atlus continues to look and sound amazing. The newest trailer is an extended story one showcasing many character interactions, cut-scenes, and new music. Watch it below:
Atlus also released an Atlus Exclusive showcase video for even more information on the story. Watch it below:
Most of Aksys’ announcements were for Switch, but the 2D fighter Blazing Strike finally launches on October 17th for Steam, PS5, PS4, and Switch worldwide. I’m looking forward to finally playing it after years of waiting.
Bandai Namco Entertainment had two major announcements. The first is Gundam Breaker 4 adding a PAC-MAN collaboration with a new themed level and enemies. The decals you unlock here will be usable throughout the main game when it launches on August 29th.
Bandai Namco Entertainment’s second announcement is the Tamsoft-developed Bleach Rebirth of Souls, an arena fighter, for Steam, PS5, Xbox, and more. It includes online co-op, splitscreen co-op, and more modes. A release date or window are yet to be announced. Watch the announcement trailer below:
New Steam Deck Verified & Playable games for the week
The highlights are Kunitsu-Gami from Capcom and Kingdom Hearts III here, but I also want to point out Shikhondo Youkai Rampage which I’ve been playing and enjoying.
- Athenian Rhapsody – Playable
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – Unsupported
- Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game – Playable
- KINGDOM HEARTS III + Re Mind (DLC) – Verified
- Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess – Verified (Via TouchArcade reader Mor)
- Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure – Playable
- Shikhondo: Youkai Rampage – Verified
Steam Deck Game Reviews & Impressions
Rolling Hills Make Sushi Make Friends Steam Deck Review
Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends from Catch & Release and Humble Games is a relaxing restaurant management game that will likely be your next cozy game, but it isn’t for everyone. When I got the game for review, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed playing it in between the many long RPGs I’ve been covering recently.
Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends feels like a mix of Diner Dash with more simulation games. The core gameplay loop is simple but fun, and there are quite a few NPCs and ingredients for players. When you run your restaurant and try to serve the correct sushi to specific customers, it feels like a great podcast game where you can just dip into the action for a bit before moving to something else. Aside from this restaurant bit, you can explore the town around the restaurant. This aspect feels more like a life simulation-lite experience. It isn’t a revolutionary experience, but gets the basics right and is relaxing through and through.
Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends has display mode options (windowed, borderless, fullscreen), a v-sync toggle, anti-aliasing (off, 2x, 4x, and 8x), texture quality options, and shadow quality options. I turned shadows to low but left everything on high and could get a near perfect 60fps. A locked 90fps isn’t possible right now though. I did notice some hitching getting into new areas as well, but it wasn’t bad. Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends does support 16:10 natively on Steam Deck which is good to see alongside Steam Cloud support.
Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends is available on Xbox Game Pass, but I didn’t feel like playing it much on my Xbox. It felt like a very good handheld game, and I’ll definitely replay it on Switch assuming it releases on Nintendo’s hybrid in the future. If you do have Xbox Game Pass, I recommend trying it out there and then grabbing it on Steam to play on Deck.
Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends is a game for a very specific kind of cozy and management game fan. While some might find the gameplay simple and challenge lacking, I enjoyed dipping into Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends as a break from other games, and it feels right at home on Steam Deck with solid performance.
Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends Steam Deck Review Score: 4/5
Steam Deck Game Sales, Discounts, and Specials
The biggest deal of the week is the Muv Luv series bundle on Humble available for just over two weeks. There’s also a manga bundle, but the game bundle is incredible value. If you have any interest in the series, grab this bundle.
That’s all for this edition of the Steam Deck Weekly. As usual, you can read all our past and future Steam Deck coverage here. If you have any feedback for this feature or what else you’d like to see us do around the Steam Deck, let us know in the comments below. I hope you all have a great day, and thanks for reading.
