The Biggest June 2023 Video Game Releases

The Etrian Odyssey series feels like such a refined version of all those throwback RPGs that relied on first-person turn-based combat and dungeon crawls that pushed players to map out their tile exploration on pieces of paper. Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is going to breathe new life into the first three games in the series with HD remasters, touchscreen mapping functionality for the Switch version, and full mouse support for that same feature (which makes map drawing a much easier affair). Alongside a remastered soundtrack and tons of quality-of-life improvements, this three-game compilation looks to be the definitive way to play Etrian Odyssey's initial adventures.

IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE! Diablo IV got announced at BlizzCon 2019 and the wait has been excruciating for diehard fans of the undisputed king of top-down action RPGs. Patience is a virtue because now everyone will get to take off work and spend a few hours in this highly anticipated sequel. Five character classes are selectable here - The Barbarian, The Sorcerer, The Druid, The Rogue, and The Necromancer. Once you've customized the look of your chosen warrior, the dark world is your oyster as you'll embroil yourself in fast and furious battles on your own or with three other friends. Wading through dungeons, wiping out demons, collecting sweet loot, and being exposed to a plotline full of grief & despair sounds like a blast, doesn't it?

Be sure to check out our review for this game right here.

The world's biggest fighting game franchise is taking a huge swing at retaining its top spot with a sixth mainline series entry. And after playing several betas, watching tons of trailers, and taking notes from the best FGC members putting their best combos out, we're so ready to dedicate our lives to Street Fighter 6. Goated veterans such as Ryu, Chun-Li, and even Dee Jay are joined by fresh fighters that include Jamir, Kimberly, Lilly, JP, Marisa, and Manon. The biggest change coming to the series as a whole is debuting in this game and it's called "World Tour" (think NBA 2K's "The City" meets Def Jam: Fight for NY!). The new "Drive Gauge" freshens the combat mechanics up, plus rollback netcode and legacy modes mean Street Fighter 6 should be a full-fledged experience for both series vets and newcomers.

Find out more about this game right here.

Be sure to check out our review for this game right here.

Katamari Damacy, which is a bright and bubbly game that's all about rolling around a sticky ball that's meant to pick up tons of objects and turn them into the stars you see in the evening sky, got the remaster treatment via Katamari Damacy Reroll. Now that game's sequel We Love Katamari is the next up for a remaster in the form of We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie. What's being delivered with this new and improved remaster is crisper visuals, a redesigned UI, a cool selfie mode for photo mode users, and a new mode ("Royal Reverie") that lets you play a series of ball-rolling missions as a young "King of the Cosmos." If you've never given this unique franchise a shot, do it with this release and prepare to fall in love with it (ESPECIALLY ITS SOUNDTRACK!).

The Amnesia series stands side-by-side with the Outlast series as two first-person horror games that mess with your mind regularly. The fourth entry in the Amnesia franchise is sticking to that concept while adopting a new period and location where a nightmarish entity is in your midst. Amnesia: The Bunker takes place within a seemingly abandoned WWI bunker - your primary survival tools are a revolver gun, a dynamo flashlight (that makes a lot of noise and puts your life in further danger, by the way!), and whatever scavenged items you pick up along the way. It's up to you to get to the bottom of the mysteries contained within that damned bunker and steer clear of whatever's hunting you down. If you want to be spooked during the summer, then this pick on our list of June 2023 video game releases is worth a shot.

We know you're probably saying to yourself, "I played this when it dropped in 2016." But what you're seeing here is a highly improved compilation of the series that's powered by the Unreal Engine 5 development engine. Layers of Fear comes with gorgeous visuals that are compatible with Ray Tracing, HDR, and 4K resolution. Now you'll be even more terrified as you tackle this collection's upgraded offerings of Layers of Fear, Layers of Fear 2, both games' full suite of DLC, and an all-new expansion called The Writer. Fans of first-person psychological horror games that haven't checked out the original Layers of Fear games have no excuse at this point - don't pass up this video game foray into true mind-bending horror.

Another year means another F1 racing simulator is getting released! F1 23 takes the highly lauded spot of the officially licensed game for the 2023 Formula One and Formula 2 championships, so followers of the motorsport know what's coming their way here. And that's plenty of real-world circuits and grand prix, such as the Las Vegas Strip Circuit and the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. Besides your usual gamut of quality-of-life game improvements, F1 23 will mark the return of the fan-favorite story mode called "Braking Point" and an expanded rendition of F1 22's "F1 Life" feature called "F1 World." Retooled driving physics, a new UI, and "Red Flags" are also a part of this brand-new motor racing simulation.

The next pick on our list of June 2023 video game releases will appeal to everyone that poured tons of hours into RollerCoaster Tycoon back in the day. Park Beyond is what you'd expect it to be - and that's a theme park simulator that gives you a wide swath of customization options to make whatever you see fit. The rides you're used to seeing in Disney World and Six Flags can be brought to life here and thrill your parkgoers. This game's "impossification" system means you can create rides that defy physics and imagination, plus the "Amazement" currency those rides generate allows you to research new ways to make even crazier rides.

Whoa...there's an Aliens game coming out that adopts the real-time strategy vibes of XCOM? Yeah, and it looks pretty good! That game is Aliens: Dark Descent, which takes place 20 years after the events of Aliens 3 (which sucked, in our humble opinion). And you know the deal here, folks - a "Xenomorph" outbreak becomes the major threat for a crew of colonial marines as those endangered humans try to fix their downed Otago spacecraft. From a top-down perspective, you'll issue commands to your four marines as they maneuver through darkened hallways, try to maintain manageable levels of their physical & mental prowess, and engage in tense battles with vicious Xenomorphs.

Just like fans of the Aliens franchise, Crash Bandicoot fanatics are getting quite the shocker of a release this month. The orange anthropomorphic platforming hero and all his best buds & mortal enemies are coming together in a...MOBA GAME? Yeah, our jaws dropped too when we saw it in action. Crash Team Rumble is a 4v4 competitive multiplayer experience where both teams utilize their chosen character's unique abilities to collect more "Wampa Fruit" than the other team. That means you'll need to drop off all that fruit in your team's zone and fight to prevent the other team's players from successfully pulling off the same task. Dr. Neo Cortex, Coco, Tawna, and more will be playable in this wild and whacky spin on the MOBA formula.

We already mentioned how crazy this list of June 2023 video game releases was going to be. And if you haven't realized that before we've gotten to this pick, then we don't know what to tell you. Further proof of how instance this year in gaming comes in the form of the 16th mainline entry in the most popular JRPG franchise of all time. Final Fantasy XVI will entirely focus on Clive Rosfield, a battle-hardened warrior who's thrown into a conflict between six warring nations. After a series of tragic events that involve his younger brother, Joshua, Clive becomes the "First Shield of Rosaria" and embarks on a revenge-fueled quest. With an active combat system that evokes the look & feel of Devil May Cry, a gorgeous world to explore called "Valisthea," and the promise of a deeply emotional story that Game of Thrones fans will appreciate, Final Fantasy XVI promises to be a modern-day classic.

Find out more about this game right here.

Be sure to check out our review for this game right here.

The regular version of Sonic Origins disappointed many thanks to some unfortunate glitches at launch and missing games that fans have been requesting for the longest time. Now that the game is in a more stable place from a technical standpoint, Sega is looking to add even more to this package full of classic Sonic the Hedgehog 2D platformers. Sonic Origins Plus is setting itself up as the definitive "Blue Blur" compilation thanks to the addition of a playable version of Sonic CD's Amy in every game included in this collection, a playable version of Knuckles in Sonic CD, and 12 more playable games in the form of 12 Game Gear titles. And with all the content released in the version of this game that came before it, there's a lot to bask in here for hardcore Sonic fans.

Be sure to check out our review for this game right here.

If games like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley appeal to you, then you'll have plenty to look forward to with this next game. Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life places you in the warm and wonderful locale of "Forgotten Valley," which is where you'll set up your plot of land for extensive crop raising and farm animal raising. And as you grow closer to the town's friendly residents, you'll run into your one true love when you come across eight eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. As a man, woman, or non-binary farmer, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life should give you the ultimate farm life simulator that's always a comfortable experience for gamers far and wide. This Harvest Moon remake is definitely one to keep an eye on!

Did you cherish all those AKI-developed wrestling games that ruled on the N64? WCW/nWo Revenge and WWF No Mercy are the two titles from back in the day that fans still chatter about and still play religiously. And for this next pick on our list of June 2023 video game releases, All Elite Wrestling and development studio Yuke's is teaming up to present a game that plays just like those retro gems. AEW Fight Forever features top-of-the-card roster members such as CM Punk, MJF, Dr. Britt Baker, Jade Cargill, and more in the wrestling fed's first-ever home console game. This one's gonna feature blood, weapons, and well-tuned grappling mechanics that will certainly cater to gamers that have poured countless hours into AKI-developed wrestling simulators.

Be sure to check out our review for this game right here.

When the Switch first dropped, the party game that was put in place to take advantage of the Joy-Con controller was 1-2 Switch. Years later, we're now set to get a sequel called Everybody 1-2 Switch! that increases its multiplayer component to allow for up to eight players with Joy-Cons to participate and up to 100 via "Smart Device" mode. A host of fun new team minigames are being brought to Switch owners thanks to this unexpected sequel, such as trying to expand a balloon as much as possible without popping it, keeping track of your customer's ice cream orders, and playing a supersized version of Bingo where everyone can join in via their smart device. Everybody 1-2-Switch! just might be the move for those summer apartment hangouts!

Development studios Too Kyo Games and Spike Chunsoft are presenting something wholly unique on this list of June 2023 video game releases. And that's arriving in the form of Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, a fantasy-mystery adventure game that takes place in the rainy city of "Kanai Ward." As Yuma, who's a member of the "Master Detectives of the World Detective Organization," you'll be responsible for getting to the bottom of unsolved mysteries alongside your fellow crime solvers that aid you via their special abilities. And once you make your way through the game's "Mystery Labyrinths," you'll get caught up in action-packed encounters and puzzle-laden segments.