Prime Gaming- April 2023 | Phenixx Gaming

Thanks Jeffrey for making me look like a pair of boobs! I’d look pretty good if that were the case, and I wouldn’t have to stop eating all the pizza as I can stay big and round. What was I on about? We aren’t getting the expected follow-up to Baldur’s Gate from last month’s headliner, though more on that later. Many of your favorite live-service titles are once again offering in-game tripe. Fans of whatever Riot Games makes will be happy, as their in-game tripe will return throughout 2023.

Starting the month’s offerings on Thursday the 6th, we have another first in a series. I’ve learned not to predict next month’s follow-up, so I doubt it will be Wolfenstein: The New Colossus next time. This month’s big hitter is about hitting Nazis, because as we can all (mostly) agree, it is more than okay to hit an actual Nazi in Wolfenstein: New Order. The only thing I have to say about the Wolfenstein games is that you need to play them on PC so you can change the FOV and not feel sick. Plus you get 60FPS.

Moving on a week to a double-bill starting with The Beast Inside. It is an indie survival horror game from 2019, which means it follows the Bloober Team, Outlast, and hell even Dead Space blueprint of flinging a bunch of pots and pans down the stairs when something happens. Though as I made clear when reviewing the brilliant DREDGE, (which is more psychological horror) I’m not a big fan of oggity-boogity horror. I think you need to go back to RE4 (original) and Silent Hill 2 for my survival horror. At least it isn’t another SingStar-like.

Also available on the 13th of April and the actual sequential continuation from Baldur’s Gate last month we have Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition. Unlike Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale was developed by Fallout developer Black Isle Studios. Enhanced by Beamdog, the developer of Baldur’s Gate’s remake, the setting of Icewind Dale is based on the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign. It is obvious to me now why we’re seeing these classic transmogrifications of the tabletop/pen & paper RPGs, as the film adaptation written by Sweets from Bones (of all people) is all over the place.

Now we go from fantasy CRPGs to dystopian point-and-click adventures. No, it isn’t Tory Britain Simulator, for the 20th you’ll be able to pick up Beholder 2. We’ve previously seen Beholder (1) back in May of 2021. This time, instead of being a side-on political-sim based around listening to your neighbors and reporting to the state, you go to work.

Visually with a bit more depth (and maybe death), I’m more interested in this sequel than I was in its earlier iteration. Still about as black and white as the silent film era, you’ll either support the state for your own means or expose corruption.

I want to quickly jump in with a note for those that may be reading in the UK, as there’s a change to your Amazon Prime subscription. Not a bad one, just something gaming. You can now access Amazon Luna, Amazon’s cloud gaming platform that is meant to rival Google Stadia, GeForce Now, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. This month’s additions for Luna+ include: Arkham Knight, LEGO DC Super-Villains, Batora: Lost Haven, Endzone: A World Apart, and Kingdoms of Amalur‘s remake. For Prime subscribers, it is Yakuza Kiwami 2, Horizon Chase Turbo, Jackbox Party Pack 3, and The Adventure Pals.

We have a triple Bill to end the month and nothing exciting just before my birthday, the 27th might be highlighted by Clover Bite’s 2021 title, Grime. You know how these steam tags/game descriptors go: it is viewed as a Metroidvania, Souls-like, and action-RPG. Grime is a lovely looking game that we’ve seen wearing many other skins, including Hollow Knight, Ender Lilies, Dead Cells, and so on. A little colorful in places, Grime (sometimes subtitled “Colors of Rot”) stands out differently by using purples, yellows, reds, and so on to stand out against a murky background.

I don’t know what to say about Looking for Aliens, as it is a Wimmelbilderbuch like Where’s Wally. I’m not having this fight Americans, it is a British series made by an English bloke! Waldo is the backwards spelling of the villain of the series Odlaw (the bloke in yellow). With my rant over, Yustas Games Studio’s monotonal 2021 title looks like a reasonably busy hidden object title but nothing in games will rival Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective if we’re honest. I’m interested in Looking for Aliens but I need more chaos for my liking.

Finally, the last thing on our list for the 27th of April and for all of April is something I’ve covered before: Terraformers. A pretty sci-fi-based city builder/Rogue-like deck builder. I think the title that was finally released fully last month will be exciting for many. I’ve stated my opinion before and I think very little changes with the refinement through early access and into a full release. It isn’t the highlight of the month, that’s for sure, but not a bad finish to the month either.