Written by Alex Castellanos

DCL ’25 – End of February

With February in our rear-view mirror, we have now completed 2 months out of the year and are well within the first big swath of game releases in 2025. I remember a time when we would have to wait for Spring to start seeing a lot of games being released in succession, but now with small indie games, huge AAA games, and everything in between, there are multiple games being released every day and several notable games releasing almost every week!

We saw fourteen games released in the DCL for the months of January and February, seven games each month. And we’ll talk more about it later, but there are TEN more games releasing in March! So, with us being in the thick of all these games right now, let’s look back at which games were released in February, how well they did, and how the standings are shaping up:

These are the games that were released in February:

  • “Kingdom Come: Deliverance II” – PixelPioneer Studios (19.4 pts)
  • “Rift of the NecroDancer” – Crystal Cross Games (10.5 pts)
  • “Sid Meier’s Civilization VII” – Agon Analytics (9.8 pts)
  • “Lost Records: Bloom & Rage” – Suladin Software Ltd (6.6 pts)
  • “Avowed” – Agon Analytics (11.6 pts)
  • “Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii” – Crystal Cross Games (10.7 pts)
  • “Monster Hunter Wilds” – Frozen Headlights Studios (19.5 pts)

Here are the League Standings as of February 28th:

The most successful game of the month belongs to Frozen Headlight Studios (Nate) with the much-anticipated High-end console follow up “Monster Hunter: Wilds” (19.5 pts).  People were hungry to hunt more monsters, and it seemed like reviewers were happy with their meal. Congrats, Nate, on a great 1st release of the year! Not to be outdone, PixelPioneer Studios (Alex) was right behind with the second highest scoring game this month, “Kingdom Come: Deliverance II” (19.4 pts). Going back to the early 15th century Bohemia has never looked or played so well apparently, or at least felt so lifelike as reviewers were mostly enthralled by the experience. Of course, some glitches, bugs, and hitching keeps this from scoring any higher than it did.

This month also saw Crystal Cross Games (Eddie) continue his early surge of game releases to stay at the very top of the DCL Standings. On Feb. 5th, “Rift of the NecroDancer” (10.5 pts) marched onto modern platforms with another solid 80+ which we know keeps you in contention all year. Then, just a couple of weeks later, Goro Majima returned as a playable character in “Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii” (10.7 pts) which garnered another 80+ score for Eddie! Right now, Eddie has 5 games released already for the year. Let’s see how far he can take his lead into the year.

Agon Analytics (Leiuna / Elizabeth) also had two games released this month. For her it was her 1st & 2nd round draft picks in “Avowed” (11.6 pts) and “Sid Meier’s: Civilization VII” (9.8 pts).  Both games scored well, with Avowed being the slightly more lauded game of the two, and it being the one that achieved that 80+ status. Civilization VII, however, with all its changes will likely keep refining the processes of the game (and maybe the ‘UI’) as the year progresses, and I’m sure that history will look more kindly on this game in the future. [Maybe even by year’s end]

Next, we should look ahead to March and the full slate of 10 more games that are scheduled to release. Not only will this greatly add to our rosters, but by the end of March we will be looking at the end of the 1st Quarter of 2025.  Here’s the list of 10 games:

  • “Two Point Museum” – Suladin Software Ltd (March 4th)
  • “Knights in Tight Spaces” – Crystal Cross Games (March 4th)
  • “Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification War” – Frozen Headlights Studios (March 6th) [FLEX PICK]
  • “Split Fiction” – Bearded Brethren (March 6th)
  • “Wanderstop” – Agon Analytics (March 11th)
  • “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” – Suladin Software Ltd (March 20th)
  • “Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition” – Crystal Cross Games (March 20th) [FLEX PICK]
  • “Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land” – PixelPioneer Studios (March 21st)
  • “The First Berserker: Khazan” – Iota Strain (March 27th)
  • “Atomfall” – Suladin Software Ltd (March 27th)

Straight off the bat we have to mention that this month will be home to some games with THE LONGEST Title/Subtitle names of this year! To my developer friends at Konami and Gust: Can we please take a look at these names? Do these subtitles even need to be here?! Of course, along with those crazy game names this month are some new games coming out with the classic / stereotypical, two-word compound name. Wander Stop. Atom Fall. Split Fiction. Maybe we can take a look at the relationship between how well these games score & how long these game titles are?

In all seriousness, I’m taking a look at a couple of things this month:

1st for me this month is Jeff’s game – “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows”. This game has been delayed several times, and most of the time when I see this game mentioned in the news it’s in a negative context. At the same time, I feel like most of us are expecting the game to showcase fairly well. The question is how well? Will reviewers like the dual protagonists? Will having Japan as a setting, light the fire of players wanting to love the Assassin’s Creed franchise again? Will the story hit with fans? Only time will tell, and I am interested to find out.

2nd for me this month is Adam’s 1st game of the year – “Split Fiction”. Hazelight Studios and their charismatic director, Josef Fares are back again with another co-op only game. After getting so much praise last time out with “It Takes Two”, will this new title live up to Geoff Keighley’s GOTY expectations that now sit on this game or with this studio? It seems almost impossible to surprise your audience as much as they did last time! Gamers know what to expect now – story sequences that lead the main cast from one set piece to another, where you and a co-op partner make your way through very codependent mini-games, leading up to an epic boss battle that tests those co-op skills, then do it again in a brand-new set piece. We’ll find out if the new setting and characters bring with them enough new ideas to keep this game formula feeling fresh.

The last thing for me this month is our FLEX PICKS.  Both Nate & Eddie have their flex pick games coming out this month with “Suikoden I & II HD Remaster…” and “Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition”. I’m personally looking forward to each of these titles – I’m a big fan of Suikoden, and I would love to check out Xenoblade Chronicles X for the 1st time. But also, as flex picks, I really would imagine that Nate & Eddie are hoping for at least a mid-80’s score from these games. It’ll be fun to see where they land and how these games are viewed in a more modern lens.

Okay, I think that’s all I got for this month. I’m excited to see what our publisher standings look like after March and our Q1 for 2025. Actually, I have a request for all of you: Why don’t you let the group know what game you are looking forward to THE MOST in March. (It doesn’t have to be one of the games that we talked about today… Anything releasing in March that you want us to know about is good!)

Alright. Until next month!

Take care & God Bless,

Alex C.

UPDATED – DCL 2025 Round 1 Draft Choices:

  1. Bearded Brethren – “Grand Theft Auto VI”
  2. Iota Strain – “Fable” DELAYED TO 2026
  3. PixelPioneer Studios – “Metroid Prime 4: Beyond”
  4. Dougsvest Digital – “Unannounced Mainline 3D Mario Platformer”
  5. Crystal Cross Games – “Ghost of Yotei”
  6. Suladin Software Ltd – “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach”
  7. Ranch Walker – “Elden Ring: Nightreign”
  8. Frozen Headlights Studios – “Untitled Next Mario Kart (Switch 2)”
  9. Agon Analytics – “Avowed” [81]

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