This week's videogame releases: Stranger Things 3, Lego Tower, Final Fantasy XIV, more

Lego Tower is effectively a sequel to 2011 mobile hit Tiny Tower. — AFP Relaxnews

A silly crocodilian waddles through detective mystery in Investi-Gator: The Case Of The Big Crime, TV series Stranger Things gets another retro-styled video game tie-in, Lego Tower converts Tiny Tower into fully branded form, and Final Fantasy XIV enters a mirror dimension in its Shadowbringers expansion, while Alternate Jake Hunter brings its own blend of photo-filtered crime solving through the PC release of Daedalus: The Awakening Of Golden Jazz.

Stranger Things 3: The Game for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC (via Steam)

A second excursion into the creepy town of Hawkins from the studio behind well-received 2017 mobile hit Stranger Things: The Game. Sticking with a retro aesthetic, this one adopts an isometric action-adventure approach, with main characters deploying special moves as they punch, swing, and shoot their way through and around the Season 3 storyline. Launching alongside the new season on July 4 as a result.

Lego Tower for iOS, Android

Design, build, and fill a mixed-use tower with apartments, fitness clubs, art studios, and happy residents who then need a hand finding their way and the occasional lost object. Winning immediate and largely favourable comparisons to Tiny Tower, it was made by the same studio, which also developed Star Wars tie-in Tiny Death Star.

Investi-Gator: The Case Of The Big Crime for PC

This crime-solving crocodilian might not be too bright, but that's where you come in, steering him from clue to clue (and pun to pun) over the course of three amiable, rather silly chapters. A short proof of concept is available from https://gamesbybees.itch.io/investigatordemo.

Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers for PlayStation 4, PC, Mac

A new era for the Final Fantasy MMO and a new twist for its storyline, given that Shadowbringers takes players into an alternate dimension where the Warrior of Light must become the Warrior of Darkness in order to save the world. That also means new careers, races, beast tribes, and level cap, while introducing replayable quests and a trust system that allows the recruitment of non-player characters in certain circumstances.

Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus The Awakening of Golden Jazz for Windows PC from July 5; previously released on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch

A prequel to the popular Jake Hunter (or Jinguji Saburo) series in which the main character has to put his deductive skills into practice, solving the murder of his detective grandfather. Hand-drawn style characters laid over filtered photographs of real-world locations. Japanese audio with full subtitles in English, Chinese, and Korean. – AFP Relaxnews