Weekend Announcements December 14-16th: Skyworld, Ghost of a Tale and More

By Rebecca Smith,

At the end of this week, most studios will be closing for the holiday period. This means that this is the last Weekend Announcements of the year, although we'll be returning in the new year with every title revealed over the holiday period. For now, we have 12 games that may have escaped your attention, and nearly all of them have been confirmed for the PlayStation 4. Take a look and see if there's anything you like in the list below:

A Gummy's Life

EP Games' arena brawler pits up to 16 players against each other as they bid to become to most brutal candy alive. The free-for-all fights take place in a range of wacky locations, such as a football stadium, the park, the fortress, the fair, or on top of a pie. However, the gummies aren't just trying to beat each other up — they can also alter the landscape to gain a tactical advantage over their opponents. Each of the different gummie types has different statistics, and players can unlock different colour variants as they go. You can take on your friends when the game arrives in Q1 2019 for PlayStation 4.

Broken

Praedor is a Finnish "sword and sorcery fantasy" franchise created by illustrator Petri Hiltunen. To go alongside the existing graphic novels, tabletop RPG, and novels, Rat Crew Studios' "3rd person action RPG" takes players to the world of Jaconia, where the remnants of an ancient super civilisation can be found. As a Praedor, a treasure hunter, players need to risk life and limb as they battle against the apocalyptic world's darkest secrets in the hunt for rich pickings. The game will be heading to unspecified consoles in the future

Crystal Crisis

Nicalis has two titles in the list this week. The first is a "color-matching combat game" where instead of throwing punches and kicks in a fight to the death, players instead battle to make matches out of falling gems to inflict damage instead. The game promises an all-star cast that picks characters from a variety of Nicalis titles, such as Astro Boy, Aban Hawkins (1001 Spikes), and Isaac (The Binding of Isaac). The game will be arriving on PlayStation 4 on April 23rd, 2019.

Dungreed (Asia)

The second Nicalis title of the week is a "2D side-scrolling action game with 2D Rogue-LITE elements", this time developed by Team Horay. Players must venture into a procedurally generated dungeon to defeat enemies and save a nearby town from being destroyed. Despite being termed a dungeon, players will venture through prisons, jungles, and zones filled with lava as they search for magic items and better weapons. There's even the option to train before setting off on your journey so that you're stronger and more prepared. The game will arrive on PlayStation 4 in 2019.

El Hijo - A Wild West Tale

Honig Studios' "spaghetti-western stealth game" is set in a location inspired by Sergio Leone's westerns. When bandits attack her farm and burn it to the ground, the nameless farmer decides the only way to protect her son, El Hijo, is to leave him at a secluded monastery with a group of old monks. However, when he escapes, players are the ones tasked with helping him through the desert and a crime-filled frontier town in search of his mother, all by using stealth and solving puzzles. The title will arrive on PlayStation 4 in 2019 courtesy of publisher HandyGames.

Ghost of a Tale

SeithCG's "action-RPG game" tells the tale of Tilo, a minstrel mouse who ventures into Dwindling Heights Keep in search of Merra, his true love. Humans don't exist in this world, but that doesn't mean that other animals aren't dangerous. Tilo needs to use stealth and his agility to escape confrontation, or use a disguise to bypass it altogether. There will be plenty of friends and foes to find and quests to complete if he wants their help. You'll be able to search for Merra yourself when the game is released on PlayStation 4 in February 2019.

GODS Remastered

Robot Riot has remastered Bitmap Brothers’ "classic 16 Bit platformer" with 3D graphics and a remastered soundtrack so that it fits more appropriately on PlayStation 4. Players assume the role of a nameless warrior who is tasked with defeating the Great Guardians, who have stolen the homes of the gods. If he travels the four worlds, defeats its monsters and is victorious, he'll be immortalised and earn a place in the eternal hall of fame. The game will include the option to play in the original pixel graphics as well as the remastered version when it arrives early next year.

Hazelnut Bastille

Aloft Studio took to Kickstarter to raise the funds to bring their "topdown, Zelda-like ARPG" to PlayStation 4. They were successful, and now players will be able to help a young woman as she arrives in a foreign land, looking to acquire the knowledge of long-dead ancients so she can "reclaim something which was lost to her". As she travels through the hostile country, she'll find other castouts and pariahs who have also run away from their past in search of a better life, and her life will become entangled with theirs. Things get even more complicated when she meets a stranger who can read her life story without any prior knowledge. What part does he have to play? You can find out when the game is released in late 2020.

Teamkill Studio's "first-person fantasy-horror" title places players in the world of Lunaris, a once beautiful kingdom. The king, Gulbrand, had his own ideas of how to rule, though, and he brought forth an ancient plague that laid waste to much of civilization. After that had done its damage, he then used the Resyme Catalyst, an artifact that sacrificed his entire kingdom to the world of Lorn, so that he could be immortal. Humanity is now on the verge of extinction and Hakon, the last Forerunner of Ebris, is tasked with stopping him. As Halon, players must explore the land, avoiding its horrors as he finds what he needs to achieve his goal. The title is due to arrive on PlayStation 4 in Q1 2019.

Mixed Realms has teamed up with Perp Games to bring their cyber ninja title to PlayStation VR. As a member of the Silent Ones, ordinary people who secretly practice the martial arts of ancient samurais and ninjas players, players will have to uncover the dark secrets that are threatening to tear the organisation apart. While doing so, they'll "perform somersaults, multiple jumps, side flips, wall runs, and power slides" as they take on enemies, although I'm willing to bet you won't actually be performing those actions. Things will likely get messy if you do. The title will arrive with a campaign, two challenge modes, and randomly generated side missions for 1-2 players when it arrives in 2019.

Skyworld

Vertigo Games' second PlayStation VR title sees them team up with Wolfdog Interactive to create a classic strategy game that blends "turn-based strategy, deck building and fast-paced real-time battles". Players will rule over animated fantasy worlds that will come to life around them. All of the Skyworlds must be reunited and you'll do this by managing your economy, building and leading royal armies and defeating the forces of evil. The gaming sessions and controls have been optimised for VR, as well as providing feedback to the player, and you'll get to try all of this for yourself when the game arrives in early 2019.

Spuds Unearthed (EU)

In developer Gamedust's second PlayStation VR title, players venture into a world populated by spuds, but these spuds are far from sedentary. In fact, they destroyed their own planet because they fought so many wars. Players will pick a crew of spuds to man their battleship, create weapons and other equipment, and cause chaos across the galaxy. The title is due to arrive in the first half of 2019.

Don't forget to join us after the holidays for the next batch of new titles.

Written by Rebecca Smith

Rebecca is the Newshound Manager at TrueGaming Network. She has been contributing articles since 2010, especially those that involve intimidatingly long lists. When not writing news, she works in an independent game shop so that she can spend all day talking about games too. She'll occasionally go outside.