Gaming round-up: Fantasy, apocalypse and spirit animals

From a much-awaited expansion of an iconic fantasy game to a cosy casual one involving spirit animal companions, here are some video and mobile games being released in the coming weeks:

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is the upcoming fifth expansion pack to Final Fantasy XIV, a massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) set in the fantastical land of Eorzea, a few years after the devastating Seventh Umbral Calamity, an apocalyptic event that devastated the realm. In Dawntrail, players travel to Tural, a continent across the sea, to participate in a rite of succession. The developers say Dawntrail was designed as a “summer vacation” for the player’s character, the Warrior of Light, and initiates the game’s first major graphical overhaul since its relaunch in 2013.

Release date: 2 July

Platforms: Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S

Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit

This cosy life simulator game with adorable graphics (everyone compares it to the iconic Animal Crossing) is about camping on a haunted, ever-changing island. The player is a Spirit Scout wandering the island’s forests, finding secrets and helping the local ghosts and animals rebuild the island. The gameplay includes making Cozy Grove more detailed by finishing tasks, all of it set to soothing music, and the sequel unlocks a new location.

Release date: 25 June

Platforms: Android/iOs

Frostpunk 2

You guessed it—this features an apocalyptic future of eternal winter, so if you’re fans of the film and TV show Snowpiercer, Frostpunk might be your jam. Set 30 years after a climate event that wiped out most of humanity in this universe, the game tasks players to take on the role of a leader who has to build and manage a city while making difficult moral, ethical and political choices. In the upcoming sequel, civilisation faces a new threat in the form of fresh adversaries. Be warned: critics have called the game “cruel and brutal”.

Release date: 25 July

Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

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