It’s the end of the year, and that means it’s time for some round-ups. We published the first of them this Friday, running down best action games of the year, and what a joyful experience it was to be reminded of all the action-packed, arcadey goodness we got to enjoy this year.
And there’s even more great stuff on the horizon, including Diablo Immortal, some Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night improvements, NieR Reincarnation, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, and so much more. What a time to be alive – except for, you know, the plague.
To check out this week’s best new Android games and sales, take a look at the Saturday companion to this article.
Headlines
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night to Get Optimized Controller Support and 60fps in Update ‘Within the Month’
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night isn’t even a metroidvania. It’s a Castlevania, with a direct line of descendance with the classic Konami series thanks in the form of developer Koji Igarashi. And it works brilliantly on mobile but for one niggling problem: the controller support is fairly shoddy. Fortunately, it looks like Koji is working on that.
The 16 Best Android Action Games of 2020
It’s that time of year when we like to reflect on the games that have appeared on the Google Play Store over the last 12 months, and to corral the best of them into a series of listicles by genre. First up, action games, and there are some outstanding titles in the list – not least Bloodstained, as well as its spiritual ancestor Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Diablo Immortal Has Gone Live in Australia as a Technical Alpha Release
After months of relative silence, Blizzard this week spilled the beans big time on Diable Immortal, dishing details on all aspects of the game in a series of posts on its official website. The studio released a video explainer, too. But better than all of that, if you happen to live in Australia, is the technical alpha, allowing you to play Diablo Immortal for the first time.
The Opposing Fronts Expansion Is Coming to Company of Heroes on Android Early Next Year
Opposing Fronts, the standalone expansion for universally acclaimed WWII RTS Company of Heroes, is coming to mobile early next year. It will allow you to experience the Allies’ armored assault on Caen and the Axis counteroffensive to prevent the Allies crossing the Rhine. It’ll be available as an IAP costing $3.99.
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Is Holding a Winter Holiday Event Until January 5th
The latest Gwent: The Witcher Card Game event revives three fan-favorite modes, including Plus One, Momentum, and Battle Rush, with each one showing up for a week at a time. You’ll also be able to earn bonus Meteorite Powder for logging in every day, right the way up to January 5th. Merry Christmas!
NieR Reincarnation’s Japanese Launch Has Been Pushed into Next Year
While Square Enix never officially gave a release date for NieR Reincarnation, it was generally rumored to be coming at the end of this year. Squeenix apparently confirmed this rumor while profusely apologizing for the game’s delay. It’ll now be available some times in early 2021 – we don’t think you’ll have to wait long.
Updates
CUE Cards
The award-winning educational card-battler has just added a bunch of new cards for Christmas. Naturally, they’re Christmas-themed, and educational, providing insights into festive traditions from around the world. Did you know, for example, that Norwegians hide their brooms at Christmas to prevent witches from stealing them? Weird.
Injustice 2 Mobile
Injustice 2 Mobile may be a deep, graphically sophisticated mobile fighting game, but it’s also an opportunity for brand amplification and vertical synergy. That’s why the latest update adds a new Golden Armor Wonder Woman, to coincide with the movie that’s playing in cinemas right now.
Human Fall Flat
Human Fall Flat’s latest update is both a gift to its players and a gift from them, in the form of two community-made levels. They’re called Thermal and Factory, and they’re both the product of competitions aimed specifically at rewarding excellent level design. That can’t be bad.
