June 1 – We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
June 1 – Gunfire Reborn (PS5/PS4)
June 1 – Mythrealm (PC Early Access)
June 2 – Street Fighter 6 (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC)
June 5 – The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom (PC/Mac)
June 6 – Diablo IV (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC)
June 7 – Nocturnal (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
June 7 – Minecraft – Update 1.20 “Trails and Tales” (PC)
June 15 – Layers of Fear (PS5/Xbox Series X|S/PC)
June 16 – F1 23 (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC)
June 20 – Crash Team Rumble (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One)
June 20 – The Elder Scroll Online: Necrom (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One)
June 20 – Aliens: Dark Descent (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC)
June 20 – Gunfire Reborn (Xbox Series X|S)
June 22 – Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)
June 29 – Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty – Battle of Zhongyuan (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC)
June! Jesus fucking Christ. Halfway through the year already and all we have to show for it are these lousy, incredible games. As the chill of winter coils its gnarled grip around our aging bones (it’s my birthday this month, forgive the existential blip), the WellPlayed crew are keeping warm by the friction of our tight Jorts alone. The midway point of the year that sees the global seasonal axis at its most inverted also plays host to an influx of gaming releases and news. Geoff Keighley hungrily eyes his hype market share with Summer Games Fest and store shelves sigh under the weight of new titles both indie and AAA.
James
The problem with me writing the intro to Jorts now is that I use all my best month-related goofs before I even get to write my own little entry. May as well get stuck in with the sticky end then; Diablo IV looks immaculate. A grim dark fantasy throwback to the gremlin PC gaming days of my late teens replete with console support from the jump and hours of mindless co-op with the lads. What more could you want? I mean, other than the fair and safe treatment of the workers who made the thing. Anyway, speaking of being trapped in an endless nightmare of man’s making, Amnesia: The Bunker is also finally rearing its sicko head and I’m very curious as to how it will handle its “open bunker” horror. Final Fantasy XVI is also looming large, a game I think I’m more academically intrigued by than anything as a Japanese development house chases the trappings of Western action titles under the guidance of Final Fantasy XIV’s dad.
There are also a handful of smaller titles dropping this month that caught my eye. Loop8: Summer of Gods is rolling with a strange looking blend of turn-based RPG and Roguelike mechanics, two systems that will either sing or wail when couched in the game’s narrative focus. Harmony: The Fall of Reverie looks like a massive, heady swing from the folks over at Don’t Nod; in it you’ll traverse existential realms of human impulses while trying to reconnect with your lost mother and prevent the corporatisation of your local community. At least I think – it’s all looking very abstract, but I live for this stuff. Dordogne seems radically up my alley, casting you as a woman in her early 30s who returns to her grandmother’s scenic home after her passing. A stunning art direction and focus on memory and emotional healing make this the exact kind of indie for me. But also, The Greyhill Incident is out here offering alien jump scares so it’s good to have balance.
Jordan
Look, for the sake of transparency, I am still playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Building dicks and torturing tiny little dudes, what’s not to love (this is supposed to be a kid’s game, right?). There is a good chance that I don’t play any of the titles I am keen for in June, but provided that the Switch’s ergonomics, or lack thereof, eventually pull me away from Zelda, a surprising number of releases have piqued my interest.
I’m not entirely sure what Mythrealm is, but the art style is cool, and it appears to have some elements of the action RPG genre in it which is just my jam. It is an Early Access launch, however, so not everything will be there for launch on June 1. I’m still interested to see how it turns out though. Following that is Street Fighter 6. I’m garbage at fighters. Like truly garbage. That doesn’t stop me from enjoying them, and my second love in the genre is Street Fighter (nothing can overtake my love for Tekken). It looks the goods, and I can’t wait to be destroyed by all of my friends in it.
The Elder Scroll Online: Necrom is the next expansion for ESO releasing on June 5, and I just enjoy being able to walk around the different environments of Tamriel when they are added to the game.
Oh boy, here comes Diablo IV. I have a quiet but strong adoration for the Diablo series. While I never could really get that far into Diablo II, mostly due to a bug that would erase my save file, Diablo III is my jam and I even briefly found myself enjoying Diablo Immortal (until the monetisation became too aggressive to ignore). The “early access open beta” (read: closed beta) filled me with a lot of hope, though I must admit it was taken down a peg when Blizzard announced they were nerfing the Sorceress’ lightning abilities but I am still quite excited to play Diablo IV so I can have a game to turn my brain off with.
2D Action platformers rule, and I am really hoping that Nocturnal turns out to be good come June 7. Following that is Aliens: Dark Descent. My love for science fiction has been tested, especially since one of the best space exploration games is Star Citizen, but that is beside the point. Dark Descent has a really interesting gameplay loop, so I’ll be keen to take the descent into Ridley Scott’s world. Finally, we have saved the biggest for last — Final Fantasy XVI. Naoki Yoshida and Ryota Suzuki? That is a recipe for success. There’s no way that could possibly go wrong, though I guess if there were ever a developer/publisher to mess it up it would be Square Enix. While I lament the fact that I need to use the PS5 to play it, I will probably play it regardless because it looks so damn good.
Mark
Another year has passed for these old gamer bones, trigger fingers aching and eyes weary. Birthdays aren’t what they used to be, gone are the days of tearing into giant cakes and throwing shade at the other school kids who can only afford a flimsy Kmart gift card as their last-minute gift of choice … *sigh* … But wait, what’s this? A quality assortment of shenanigans to appease my appetite of escapism from dreary adulthood? Perhaps this 41st edition of Mark Isaacson might survive another trip around the sun after all.
You’re telling me someone at Square Enix watched Game of Thrones and thought, “Yeah, that’s the ticket”? They’re either brave or foolish, but let’s hope Final Fantasy XVI used the earlier seasons of the fabled TV show as inspiration, and not the insipid finale. Admittedly, I’m a tad worried the darker themes might come across less Succession and more Home and Away, but the previews have so far persuaded me to remain positive despite Square Enix’s track record for cheese.
“Clive”, though? Really?
What else do we have here, oh Street Fighter is back. That’s good, right? I mean, I didn’t exactly hear good things about the last entry in the series, so I did fall off the bandwagon for a while there. On the plus side, Capcom are on an absolute roll right now so the signs are there for another banger, but can the franchise suck me back into Zangief’s warm, cuddly arms without leaving some bruises behind?
And Diablo is back too! Look, I’m all for another run at wrecking hell, but unlike Capcom I don’t have a lot of positive things to say when the words ‘Activision’ and ‘Blizzard’ are mentioned around me. They’ve ruined enough things of late and no amount of sucking up to Xbox will change my mind unless Diablo IV really nails the landing. Even then, I have my reservations, but I truly hope I’m proven wrong.
If all else fails, at least I have Dontnod’s … sorry, Don’t Nod’s return to look forward to. Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is a stark departure from their previous, cherished work, but it could very well deliver on its promise of a different kind of narrative driven adventure within a gloriously animated world. My life is indeed strange, but Harmony is the cherry on what’s firming up to be a wonderful birthday cake of gifts from the video game industry to me. Just me. No-one else. No games for you!
Nathan
“Alexa, play the Katamari theme.”
If you’re reading this (and playing the above track in your brain box), then you will be pleased to be reminded of We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie. A mammoth port of the best game you can spend a gloomy weekend with. And that’s just the June opener.
The greatest name in roleplaying video games is dropping its…sixteenth mainline entry. Sorry Diablo IV fans, imma let you finish, but Final Fantasy XVI is looking like a cinematic blockbuster that is sure to blow our hats off. Say your prayers for Cid, you will love him and I’d hate for anything bad to befall him.
In the quieter corner of June’s roleplaying extravaganza is the quaint, hardcore and addictive Etrian Odyssey Origins HD Collection. If this gets Atlus to consider a new entry in the series or even a Persona Q, I might cry.
And why have just one super slick, pulpy Japanese detective title when the tail end of June has managed to squeeze two in the trunk? Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was perhaps the most memorably stylish and whack detective adventure on the Nintendo DS. If Professor Layton didn’t overshadow this cult classic for you, you’re no doubt similarly thrilled. In which case, you probably also have Master Detective Archive: RAIN CODE on your mind. The exciting new mystery from Danganronpa studio Too Kyo Games has the teams’ iconic anime-adjacent art with a gloomy, darkly comic edge hidden beneath the surface.
Oh and let’s not forget my obligatory monthly farming pick. Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is bringing the Gamecube classic to the post-Stardew agrarian. I never played it, but I hope now is my time to get amongst the low-poly weeds and sweep the mayor’s daughter off her feet with my thoughtfully packaged pumpkin seeds.
Adam
FIGHT FOREVER *clap, clap, clap clap clap*. Having just watched the Double or Nothing PPV and with Forbidden Door II just around the corner, my excitement for all things AEW is through the roof at the moment. It’s been a long old wait, but the arcadey wrestling fun not seen since WWF: No Mercy is almost here. Let’s just hope that it’s more Omega vs Danielson and less Cole vs Jericho.
Outside of the graps, I’ll more than likely be completely consumed by the gothic goodness that is Diablo IV. The reviews are in and things are looking overwhelmingly positive, with the game taking the addictive, smooth combat from III and mixing in the dark and disturbing themes and visuals from the original two titles. I lost hours, days, and weeks to Diablo III, so lord knows that I’m in mortal danger come June 6.
If I manage to open my curtains and pull myself away from defeating the devil’s demons, I might find time to step out of comfort zone and into a series that’s never been my jam. To say that I’m genuinely keen to play a Final Fantasy game feels weird in the mouth, but the focus on real-time action gameplay has me curious enough to dip my toe in. I can’t say the melodramatic plot will hook me, but hey, I never thought I would boot up a FF in the first place, so who knows.
Honestly, I’m not going to have any spare time outside of that. The above three games will undoubtedly keep me very busy all through June and beyond, but my eyes are bigger than my stomach, so I’ll go through some rapid-fire games that I’ll try and squeeze in. Amnesia: The Bunker has me intrigued with the setting and the whole single bullet run shtick; Nocturnal is a very pretty 2D action-adventure game that looks right up my alley; Aliens: Dark Descent threatens to be a good time with spooks and real-time strategy, and We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie is, well, it just is.
I won’t play all of these games, but dammit I will try.
What games are you keen for in June? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
