July is traditionally a slow month for new, major video game releases, but it’s not a complete desert. It’s just very genre-heavy. Spread across the midsummer month, players should find something to pique their interest, if they’re not still sunk deep into May and June’s mammoth launches.
The highlights include Capcom’s return to dino shooters, Exoprimal; Nintendo’s mirthful RTS Pikmin 4; Double Dragon taking another swing at the nostalgia side-scrolling beat-em ups have enjoyed lately; and a management simulation riding its sport’s cresting popularity.
Here’s all the good stuff on the way for Nintendo, PlayStation, PC, and Xbox next month.
July 4
Synapse
(PlayStation VR 2)
July 7
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie
(Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, Windows PC)
July 12
Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals
(Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, Windows PC)
July 13
Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg
(Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, Windows PC)
Manic Mechanics
(Nintendo Switch)
Manic Mechanics, just announced at the June 2023 Nintendo Direct, is a co-op party game where players are frantically retrieving parts and fixing cars. Think Overcooked! but with more grease. Or less. Or the same?
July 14
Exoprimal
(PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X)
Though Exoprimal definitely channels Dino Crisis, a Capcom series not seen in 20 years, this game is an all-new approach. Its main mode of play is Dino Survival, which is a PvEvP slugfest where two teams of five players try to complete objectives — or stop the other team — while both battle dinos like the Neo Tyrannosaur.
Jagged Alliance 3
(Windows PC)
July 21
Pikmin 4
(Nintendo Switch)
Fans of Nintendo’s 22-year-old puzzle-solving real-time-strategy series should feel right at home, according to Polygon’s preview. There are new types of Pikmin to to help you in battles, like the Ice Pikmin who freeze enemies, or Glow Pikmin who light up the new nighttime battles. And then there’s Oatchi, the adorable space dog who can carry the Pikmin infantry into battle and supply bite and bash attacks himself.
July 25
Remnant 2
(PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X)
July 26
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
(Windows PC)
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons
(Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
Taito’s landmark beat-’em-up ushered in a golden age for the genre 35 years ago, and returns for some more street cleaning in a side-scroller that adds roguelite elements. We’ve seen a beat-’em-up renaissance of late thanks to a couple of well done titles published by DotEmu, so it makes sense that Double Dragon would get in on the good feelings, six years after its most recent game.
July 27
The Expanse: A Telltale Series
(PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
July 28
Disney Illusion Island
(Nintendo Switch)
July 31
F1 Manager 2023
(PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
Image: Frontier Developments
A month after Codemasters’ F1 23, motorsports wonks and obsessives get F1 Manager 2023, which is anything but a spreadsheet view of the sport. The new Race Replay mode and its two events, Starting Grid and Race Moments, offer fans shorter events to whet their appetite for the full-bore experience of developing the car, managing personnel, and making tactical decisions for a Formula One team.
Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition
(Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
