TWiG 2009-02-02: In Drought, We Look to Parody

We’ve seen the summer doldrums, we’ve seen the dregs of December, but never, in almost a year of taking a look at the coming week in games, have we seen a release list so dire as the one I’m staring at right now. There are a grand total of five releases, one of them an Xbox Live Arcade downloadable title, and there is not a single retail release for any of the major consoles.

Who can we look to, to save us from the indignity of $30 burning a hole in our pocket? Why, Atlus of course.

My World My Way is right in Atlus’s wheelhouse, a turn-based role-playing game that might actually appeal to those who feel as though they’ve grown out of turn-based role-playing games. Think for a second about the prototypical protagonist of an RPG. This character is usually a teenage (or maybe early-20s) boy who sulks most of the way through the game even as women find him irresistable and important people whisper things about prophecies to him, taking him for some sort of hero. He’s utterly unlikable, yet we come to identify with him given that spending 40 hours with anyone will cause an attachment of some sort to take hold.

Well, the protagonist in My World My Way is unlikable too, but intentionally so. In fact, this particular protagonist is a princess, who can actually pout — in battle — to get her way. My World My Way takes the tropes of turn-based RPGing and mocks them mercilessly. Is it actually funny? Does it hold up for an entire game? Can you put up with an intentionally unlikable protagonist for 30 hours worth of gameplay? FIND OUT ON TUESDAY!

Otherwise, PC owners finally get to see what the fuss is about last year’s sleeper racing hit Burnout Paradise, and EA tries to go casual on the 360 with 3 on 3 NHL Arcade, which might be just what you need if you’re still trying to use the NHLPA ’93 controls on NHL 09.

…or, you could keep catching up on your backlog — it’s Tomb Raider and Lord of the Rings for me this week. How about you? Let’s hear it in the comments, and take comfort in the knowledge that it won’t be long ’til next week.

DS:

My English Coach (3 February)

My World My Way (3 February)

Phineas and Ferb (3 February)

Xbox 360:

3 on 3 NHL Arcade (4 February, Xbox Live Arcade)

PC:

Burnout Paradise (3 February)

PS2:

Nil!

PSP:

Nada!

Wii:

Nope!

PS3:

Nothing!