August 2017 New PC Games To Watch For

August is completely opposite compared to July in terms of games. As July was very poor as per content August is very very rich. And some of this I just can't wait to try out.

Tacoma

Tacoma is an exploration game set aboard a seemingly-empty space station in 2088. The player-character, Amy, has an augmented reality (AR) device that allows her to review actions and conversations of the non-player characters that were part of crew that had been aboard the station; these can be manipulated like a recording, fast-forwarding or rewinding as necessary. This allows the player to either watch as characters move in and out of rooms, or to even follow a character through the station. This is used to help identify clues to proceed further in the game, such as to identify the key code for a locked door. The AR device also has a fictional email system where additional information is relayed to the player. It was released on Steam on August 2, 2017.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, or simply Hellblade, is a cinematic dark fantasy/psychological horror action-adventure video game developed and published by Ninja Theory, Described by Ninja Theory as an "independent AAA game", it was developed by a team of approximately twenty developers led by the game's writer and director Tameem Antoniades, who had previously directed Kung Fu Chaos and DmC: Devil May Cry, with additional writing by Dr. Elizabeth Ashman Rowe, a university lecturer specialized in Scandinavian culture. Inspired by Norse mythology and Celtic culture, Hellblade follows Senua (played by actress Melina Juergens), a Pict warrior who must make her way to Helheim by defeating otherworldly entities and facing their challenges, in order to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela. It was released worldwide independently on Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on August 8, 2017.

StarCraft: Remastered

StarCraft: Remastered is a remastered edition of the 1998 real-time strategy video game StarCraft and its expansion Brood War, which was released on August 14, 2017. It retains the gameplay of the original game, but features ultra-high-definition graphics, re-recorded audio, and Blizzard's modern online feature suite. The remaster was developed over a year and included playtesting from professional StarCraft players.

Observer

Observer is a survival horror video game played from a first-person perspective. It is set in 2084 Poland following a "digital plague" that cost the lives of thousands, resulting in war and rampant drug use. The player controls Daniel Lazarski, a Cracovian detective of the Observers police unit tasked with hacking their targets' memories and fears with a device known as the Dream Eater. It was developed by the Polish company Bloober Team and published by Aspyr for release on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 15 August 2017.

Sonic Mania

Sonic Mania is a side-scrolling platform game published by Sega. An installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the story follows Sonic the Hedgehog and his companions Tails and Knuckles as they venture to defeat their nemesis Doctor Eggman and his robotic henchmen, the Hard-Boiled Heavies. The game commemorates the original Sonic games released for the Sega Genesis, and features redesigned versions of stages from previous games alongside original ones. Sonic Mania was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows in August 29, 2017.

Absolver

Absolver is a martial arts-focused action role-playing video game developed by Sloclap and published by Devolver Digital for PlayStation 4 and Windows. In the game, players control warrior characters who fight other players and computer-controlled characters across the fictional land of Adal to prove their worthiness of joining the Absolver peacekeepers. The game's story is focused on the human development of the characters as they fight to find their place in the collapsed empire. The character's fighting moves are customized in a "combat deck" of cards, with each card assigned to a move. Players earn cards, equipment, and weapons by progressing through the game. Sloclap, a Parisian indie game developer composed of former Ubisoft Paris employees, began work on Absolver in May 2015. Their core game concept was to have fluid, dynamic movement, similar to dance. The game debuted a year later at the 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo and was released in August 29, 2017.

Ys Seven

Ys Seven is an action role-playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom and the seventh installment in the Ys video game series. It was released in Japan during 2009 for the Sony PlayStation Portable and was released by XSEED Games in North America on August 17, 2010, in Europe on November 3, 2010 and in Australia on February 20, 2013. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in China on June 20, 2012, and worldwide on Steam in August 30, 2017.

Warriors All-Stars

Warriors All-Stars, is a hack and slash game by Koei Tecmo. It is a crossover based on the long-running Warriors series, featuring an array of cast taken from various titles owned by the company, similar to the Warriors Orochi series. It was released on March 30, 2017 in Japan. The PC version was released on August 29, 2017 in the US and on September 1, 2017 in Europe.

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is an episodic graphic adventure video game developed by Deck Nine and published by Square Enix. The first of three episodes was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 31 August 2017. It is the second entry in the Life Is Strange series, set as a prequel to the first game, focusing on sixteen-year-old Chloe Price and her relationship with schoolmate Rachel Amber. Gameplay concerns itself mostly with the use of branching dialogues.

[ Some of these promise lengthy fun to be had for sure. To me, specially intriguing among these are 'Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice', 'Ys Seven' & 'Life is Strange: Before the Storm'. ]

Promising Sci-fi, Horror & Fantasy - August 2017

Well, I have quite a lot of free time now, no reason for not getting to work on the monthly lists. August seems like a specially interesting month for fantasy while there is a distinct lack of anything catching my attention in terms of sci-fi. But nevertheless let's get on with it.

"Age of Assassins (The Wounded Kingdom #1)" by R.J. Barker from Orbit

To catch an assassin, use an assassin...
Girton Club-foot, apprentice to the land's best assassin, still has much to learn about the art of taking lives. But his latest mission tasks him and his master with a far more difficult challenge: to save a life. Someone, or many someones, is trying to kill the heir to the throne, and it is up to Girton and his master to uncover the traitor and prevent the prince's murder.
In a kingdom on the brink of civil war and a castle thick with lies Girton finds friends he never expected, responsibilities he never wanted, and a conspiracy that could destroy an entire kingdom.

[ I read a lot of god things about this debut fantasy all over the internet. And it seems to have a promising synopsis as well. ]

"The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3)" by N.K. Jemisin from Orbit

THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS... FOR THE LAST TIME.
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.
Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.
For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.
The remarkable conclusion to the post-apocalyptic and highly acclaimed trilogy that began with the multi-award-nominated The Fifth Season.

[ The end of N.K. Jemisin's newest trilogy. Man, I need to start reading stuff from her. ]

"The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion (Danielle Cain #1)" by Margaret Killjoy from Tor.com Publishing

Danielle Cain is a queer punk rock traveller, jaded from a decade on the road. Searching for clues about her best friend’s mysterious and sudden suicide, she ventures to the squatter, utopian town of Freedom, Iowa. All is not well in Freedom, however: things went awry after the town’s residents summoned a protector spirit to serve as their judge and executioner.
Danielle shows up in time to witness the spirit—a blood-red, three-antlered deer—begin to turn on its summoners. Danielle and her new friends have to act fast if they’re going to save the town—or get out alive.

[ Yet another promising novella from Tor.com. Hopefully this one will live up to the expectation. ]

"The Dinosaur Princess (Dinosaur Lords #3)" by Victor Milan from Tor Books

With The Dinosaur Princess, we return to Paradise, Victor Milan’s fabulous alternate fantasy universe where humans from Earth were transported to a world where dinosaurs never became extinct.
It is a marvelous but dangerous place, a realm where knights ride these beasts in order to fight epic medieval battles, a place where magic is real.
The ancient gods who brought mankind to Paradise have returned to judge their human experiment. The Grey Angels, fabled ancient weapons of the gods, have come to rid the world of sin.
And if humans are deemed unworthy, they will be scourged from the face of Paradise.  

[ Third book in the 'Dinosaur Lords' series, should be a fun read as the book has dinosaurs, enough said. ]

"Swarm and Steel" by Michael R. Fletcher from Talos

To escape the hell she created, a woman must team up with a novice warrior and return to her homeland in this gritty epic fantasy where delusions are literally made real.
Zerfall awakens in an alley, wounded and unable to remember her past. Chased by an assassin out into the endless wastes of the desert, she is caught, disfigured, and left for dead. Her scabbard is empty, but the need for answers—and the pull of her sword—will draw her back to the city-states.
When Jateko, a naïve youth, accidentally kills a member of his own tribe, he finds himself outcast and pursued across the desert for his crimes. Crazed from dehydration, dying of thirst and hunger, he stumbles across Zerfall.
Hunted by assassins and bound by mutual need, both Zerfall and Jateko will confront the Täuschung, an ancient and deranged religion ruled by a broken fragment of Zerfall’s mind. Swarm, the Täuschung hell, seethes with imprisoned souls, but where gods—real or imagined—meddle in the affairs of man, the cost is high.
In Swarm and Steel, the power of belief can manifest and shape reality, and for political and religious leaders, faith becomes a powerful tool. But the insane are capable of twisting reality with their delusions as well, turning increasingly dangerous as their sanity crumbles. It is here that a long prophesied evil will be born, an endless hunger. The All Consuming will rise. 

[ The setting seems interesting, and I think I am going to like the character chemistry also. ] 

"An Echo of Things to Come (Licanus #2)" by James Islington from Orbit

The second book in a glorious new fantasy trilogy by the next major force in commercial epic fantasy.
In the wake of the devastating attack on Ilin Illan, an amnesty has been declared for all Augurs - finally allowing them to emerge from hiding and openly oppose the dark forces massing against Andarra. However as Davian and his new allies hurry north toward the ever-weakening Boundary, fresh horrors along their path suggest that their reprieve may have come far too late.
In the capital, Wirr is forced to contend with assassins and an increasingly hostile Administration as he controversially assumes the mantle of Northwarden, uncovering a mystery that draws into question everything commonly believed about the rebellion his father led twenty years ago. Meanwhile, Asha begins a secret investigation into the disappearance of the Shadows, determined to discover not only where they went but the origin of the Vessels that created them - and, ultimately, a cure.
And with time against him as he races to fulfill the treacherous bargain with the Lyth, Caeden continues to wrestle with the impossibly heavy burdens of his past. Yet as more and more of his memories return, he begins to realise that the motivations of the two sides in this ancient war may not be as clear-cut as they first seemed... 

[ I don't know how but I somehow missed the first book of this series. This one seems to have the quality of being a very good epic fantasy with an interesting setting, I can't wait to enter this world. ]

"An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors (The Risen Kingdoms #1)" by Curtis Craddock from Tor Books

A delightful and engrossing fantasy debut featuring a brilliant heroine and her singular guardian, a royal musketeer.
In a world of soaring continents and bottomless skies, where a burgeoning new science lifts skyships into the cloud-strewn heights and ancient blood-borne sorceries cling to a fading glory, Princess Isabelle des Zephyrs is about to be married to a man she has barely heard of, the second son of a dying king in an empire collapsing into civil war.
Born without the sorcery that is her birthright but with a perspicacious intellect, Isabelle believes her marriage will stave off disastrous conflict and bring her opportunity and influence. But the last two women betrothed to this prince were murdered, and a sorcerer-assassin is bent on making Isabelle the third. Aided and defended by her loyal musketeer, Jean-Claude, Isabelle plunges into a great maze of prophecy, intrigue, and betrayal, where everyone wears masks of glamour and lies. Step by dangerous step, she unravels the lies of her enemies and discovers a truth more perilous than any deception. 

[ Though I am not quite sure what this book is going to turn out to be like, I am quite certainly intrigued a lot by the synopsis. ]

"A Song for Quiet (Persons non Grata #2)" by Cassandra Khaw from Tor.com Publishing

Cassandra Khaw returns with A Song for Quiet, a new standalone Persons Non Grata novella from the world of Hammers on Bone, finalist for the British Fantasy Award and the Locus Award, and which Kameron Hurley called "a long leap into the gory, the weird, and the fantastic."
Deacon James is a rambling bluesman straight from Georgia, a black man with troubles that he can't escape, and music that won't let him go. On a train to Arkham, he meets trouble -- visions of nightmares, gaping mouths and grasping tendrils, and a madman who calls himself John Persons. According to the stranger, Deacon is carrying a seed in his head, a thing that will destroy the world if he lets it hatch.
The mad ravings chase Deacon to his next gig. His saxophone doesn't call up his audience from their seats, it calls up monstrosities from across dimensions. As Deacon flees, chased by horrors and cultists, he stumbles upon a runaway girl, who is trying to escape the destiny awaiting her. Like Deacon, she carries something deep inside her, something twisted and dangerous. Together, they seek to leave Arkham, only to find the Thousand Young lurking in the woods.
The song in Deacon's head is growing stronger, and soon he won't be able to ignore it any more. 

[ Ah, a Lovecraftian horror from Tor.com. Though I have not checked out even the first book of this series, I have no doubt this would be a treat indeed. ]   

July 2017 New Comics To Watch For

And now I am doing the list for July. Slowly I am getting close to finishing my monthly lists while trying to catch up to the present month.

SPIDER-MEN II #1 (of 5)
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Sara Pichelli

THIS IS IT, TRUE BELIEVERS!
The moment five years in the making is finally here! The first time Peter Parker and Miles Morales met ended with a question - WHO IS THE MILES MORALES OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE?! Now that the Miles you know and love is with Peter in the Marvel Universe, you're finally going to get that answer to who the OTHER Miles Morales is! And that's just the tip of the iceberg as Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli bring you the next heart-stopping adventure for both Peter Parker and Miles Morales!

ASTONISHING X-MEN #1
Written by Charles Soule
Art and Cover by Jim Cheung

ONLY THE X-MEN CAN SAVE US!
An ancient evil is attacking the world's most powerful minds. It will have them by the time you finish this sentence, and a moment later, it will have us all. A band of X-MEN discovers the truth behind the threat, but there is no time left. PSYLOCKE, OLD MAN LOGAN, BISHOP, ARCHANGEL, FANTOMEX, ROGUE and GAMBIT will attempt to save a world that hates and fears them. Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE THE X-MEN.
From blockbuster writer CHARLES SOULE and joined by a roster of superstar artists beginning with JIM CHEUNG. ASTONISHING X-MEN. It's the X-book you need.

MOONSTRUCK #1
Written by Grace Ellis
Art by Kate Leth

A NEW ONGOING SERIES from Lumberjanes creator GRACE ELLIS and talented newcomer SHAE BEAGLE that tells a story of monsters, romance, and magical hijinks! The first arc also includes an additional short story with artist KATE LETH!
Fantasy creatures are living typical, unremarkable lives alongside humans, and barista Julie strives to be the most unremarkable of all. Normal job, normal almost-girlfriend, normal...werewolf transformations that happen when she gets upset? Yikes!
But all bets are off when she and her centaur best friend Chet find themselves in the middle of a magical conspiracy. Will Julie and Chet be able to save their friends? Is Julie's dogged determination to be normal a lost cause? Who's going to watch the coffee shop while our heroes are out saving the world?? These questions and more will be answered in MOONSTRUCK.

GENERATION GONE #1
Written by Ales Knot, André Lima Araújo
Art by André Lima Araújo

America, 2020. Three young hackers with nothing to lose. A secretive scientist with a plan. One final job.
What happens when you're poor, angry, and get superpowers you never asked for? Skins + Unbreakable = GENERATION GONE, sort of- if you also include multiple trips to the sun, weird black goo, a breakup fight inside a nuclear factory, love, hate, anger, loss...and survival. GENERATION GONE is for every kid struggling out there. It's about what it means to be young in the USA, 2017.

FAITH AND THE FUTURE FORCE #1 (of 4)
Written by Jody Houser
Art by Stephen Segovia and Barry Kitson

A SPECTACULAR SUMMER EVENT! This summer, every second counts when acclaimed writer Jody Houser (Mother Panic, Star Wars: Rogue One), explosive artist Stephen Segovia (Ninjak, Action Comics), comics legend Barry Kitson (Fantastic Four), and special surprise guests push Faith into a centuries-spanning fight for existence alongside the greatest heroes of the Valiant Universe...past, present, and future!
Faith "Zephyr" Herbert - former member of Unity, current Harbinger Renegade, and Los Angeles' #1 superhero - is the universe's last, best chance at survival! Centuries from today, a devious artificial intelligence has unleashed a blistering attack on the very foundations of time ...one that is unwriting history from beginning to end! Now, with her options exhausted, Neela Sethi, Timewalker - the self-appointed protector of what is and will be - has returned to the 21st century to recruit Earth's greatest champions of today and tomorrow to oppose this existential threat...and she needs Faith to lead them! But why Faith? And why now?
This July, fly to the farthest edges of the future in a death-defying race to save time itself as Faith leads the charge alongside Valiant's greatest heroes...and becomes a new legend for the ages!

UNHOLY GRAIL #1
Written by Cullen Bunn
Art and Cover by Mirko Colak

Arthur Pendragon was the king of all Britain. His story is legendary. Merlin. The Lady of the Lake. Excalibur. Camelot. The Knights of the Round Table. But these stories are bright lies painted over the truth. Here is presented the gospel of Arthur's bloody rise to power and his unholy reign. The legend of King Arthur is not the stuff of legends, but the fuel of nightmares.
As Arthur descends into darkness, is there any lingering hope that he still might do something good?
From writer Cullen Bunn (Uncanny X-Men, Deadpool) and artist Mirko Colak (Punisher) comes a Lovecraftian take on the Arthurian legend that HAD to be told at AfterShock Comics.

B.P.R.D.: THE DEVIL YOU KNOW #1
Written by Mike Mignolia, Scott Allie
Art by Laurence Campbell

Before they were vanquished by the BPRD, Lovecraftian monsters created a Hell on Earth. Now Liz Sherman leads a crew through monster-infested ruins on the most important rescue mission of her life. As society tries to rebuild, strange cults vie for influence, and a demon emerges to lead the way . . .

GO GO POWER RANGERS #1
Written by Ryan Parrott
Art and Cover by Dan Mora

The untold, personal story of what happens to Jason, Kim, Trini, Zack, and Billy following in the days after they first became Power Rangers.
Fighting evil is hard, but surviving high school may be even harder-welcome to real life in Angel Grove.











[ A month full of interesting new releases from the lesser known comic publishers. This is a rather refreshing thing to see and hopefully some gems can be found among these. ]