So right now, the world’s being impacted by, y’know, that little-known pandemic that’s leaving just about anything and everything subject to delays or cancellations, from tax day and the Olympics to the release of movies and video games. In such a state of uncertainty, it’s possibly now more important than ever to have escapes from the real world that, well, don’t involve leaving the house.  While the future of other heavy-hitter games slated to come out later this year has come into question, the excitement of April’s big releases hasn’t been impacted much at all, starting what should’ve been the escalation of noteworthy titles getting released before the next-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles hit shelves later in the year. Yes, luckily, all this hasn’t stopped players from being able to return to Midgar or Raccoon City this month, so let’s dive in.

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Resident Evil 3 — April 3

Remakes tend to get the attention they deserve if they’re treated with care and, in some way, respect the original games from which they were developed. They’re very rarely considered in the running for the best games of their given year, though, perhaps because they are remakes and aren’t considered original pieces of work.  Resident Evil 2 broke from that last year, transforming the classic survival horror game into a modernized, intense third-person shooting experience that raked in plenty of end-of-the-year accolades, and Capcom hopes to do the same thing again with Resident Evil 3.  Remodeling series favorite Jill Valentine’s story of tearing through Raccoon City, this iteration gives the character an aesthetic overhaul edges her closer to the appearance of a hardened, capable survivor, then tosses her in equally tense and vigorous third-person shooting horror layouts to those from the RE2 remake.

Final Fantasy VII: The Remake (Part 1?) — April 10

Well, it’s finally here. Demand for some version of a remake of the legendary RPG Final Fantasy 7 – either a visual remastering or an actual gameplay overhaul with the narrative intact — has almost as long and storied of a history as the need for Half-Life 3. Despite being teased over a decade and a half prior, in the PS2 era, the folks at Square Enix have been hesitant to follow through with what’s clearly something a lot of people have wanted … likely because there’s such a wide range of opinions about what people actually wanted. They’ve thrown caution to the wind and went down the path of the “full remake”: combat has been altered into a more fluid action-based design, character models and environment layouts have been drastically updated, and everything else has essentially been rebuilt from the ground up with very careful awareness of the familiar, nostalgic touches that fans love.  That overhauling, unfortunately, also includes the story structure of Final Fantasy VII, as it has been padded out with new content and sliced up into episodes, with this being only the first chunk of the known story expanded into several dozen hours.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York — April 15

In a time where “choice and consequence” has become a buzz phrase revolving around contemporary action RPGs (Witcher, Mass Effect/Dragon Age, Deux Ex, now Assassin’s Creed), the PC game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines has maintained robust popularity with a niche, yet passionate fanbase. After the player creates their character in that one, choices made throughout the plot that’s transpiring in its gothic take on Los Angeles heavily dictates the outcome. That game’s responsiveness to divergent storytelling has become a model that RPG enthusiasts point to when others don’t meet expectations, and luckily Bloodlines 2 is finally on the way some time in 2020 … hopefully.  Until then, fans on the Xbox One will now be able to get a taste of the World of Darkness in Coteries of New York, essentially a visual novel set in that world that’s interested in the choices and diverging plot threads of its precursors.

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Gears Tactics — April 28

Funnily enough, the Final Fantasy franchise taught me never to underestimate spinoffs with the word “tactics” in its title. If the gameplay’s executed well enough, then a tactical game using familiar weapons, gear, and lore from an established franchise can be highly satisfying as an alternate way of enjoying the universe. Whether the intensity of an apocalyptic third-person cover shooter can be distilled in such an environment remains to be seen, but Gears Tactics will be giving it the old college try.  Similar in feel to the XCOM series of games, the turn-based gameplay transpires within a prequel to the first Gears of War game, featuring the father of the most recent game’s protagonist and COG soldier, Gabe Diaz.  A wide range of movement across the top-down combat spaces and a hefty amount of customization for the soldiers themselves aim to take Gears Tactics a step above their contemporaries..

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered — March 31/April 30

This is one of those times where little more than the title of this game really needs to be mentioned, both to emphasize why it’s noteworthy and where its weaknesses lie. While the original Modern Warfare may have put the franchise on the map as a household name, both due to its campaign and its rampant multiplayer experience, the refinements and improvements put into motion with the sequel, COD: Modern Warfare 2, has frequently earned it accolades for being “the best shooter ever” … some even saying it’s the best game ever, period. While that’s a topic for the hardcore fans of the franchise out there to suss out, there’s no denying its legacy and the experiences many gamers had with the game, which Infinity Ward hopes to replicate with this remastered edition.  As the title indicates, this only remakes the campaign and does not contain the multiplayer mode so beloved by its fanbase, though it does include a few extra goodies that unlock in other Call of Duty games if owned.  It’s available now on PlayStation and for Xbox and PC at the end of the month.

A few other games of note are emerging in April, notably on the 24^th with the multiplayer themed shooter Predator: Hunting Grounds and SquareEnix’s graciously cross-platform remake of Trials of Mana, but one can understand why other games are distancing from Resident Evil and FF7 in April.

April’s Video Games Ain’t Fooling With Remakes of Final Fantasy, Resident Evil

As a longtime collector of physical media – not just of the media itself, but of unique collector’s editions and exclusives – it’s almost sad to see what’s happening to the decline and future of “little shiny discs”. For CDs, it’s a freefall; for 4K and Blu-ray discs, there’s still plenty of life left there, but some products one wouldn’t think would be scarce have been running out-of-stock and out-of-print much quicker than anticipated. The market for video game limited editions seems to be caught in the middle: while there’s certainly a move to transition over to digital libraries, the collector culture tends to be a tad stronger in the gaming community and, therefore, still has a healthy audience for elaborate versions of otherwise mostly standard-edition releases of games.

There’s enough uncertainty there, though, that it’s worth the while for those interested in limited printings of video games to probably hunt them down sooner rather than later … and there are some really, really good ones coming later this year. Below, we’re going to talk about some of those potentially scarce – or, just particularly cool – limited edition packages for notable releases coming throughout the remainder of 2020.  It’s hard to predict what’s going to be in high demand or what’s going to be printed at high quantities, let alone whether these games will actually be good or not, but it’s better for these to be on the radar instead of waiting until they’re off the shelves. Let’s dive in.

Bayonetta / Vanquish: 10^th Anniversary Launch Edition

Release Date: February 18, 2020; Price: $39.99: Order @ Amazon

We’ll start the discussion off with something that’s already been released this year, and something that’s not out in the stratosphere in terms of pricing. Gamers who appreciate a challenge will likely have some familiarity with PlatinumGames, and while that might be because of the underrated Nier: Automata or their journey into the Metal Gear universe with Revengeance, it’s probably due to the iconic heroine that is Bayonetta and the challenging magic/gunplay environment that exists around her.  A remastered edition of Bayonetta has been holstered alongside the developer’s underrated, blitzed-paced sci-fi shooter Vanquish as a twofer collection for new consoles, and the Launch Edition comes with a sweet Steelbook casing featuring bold illustrations of the two games on either side. There are still some of these out in the wild, and $40 is well worth it for the pair of games and a limited collectible case prominently featuring one of last-gen’s most noteworthy new character creations.

Doom Eternal Collector’s Edition

Release Date: March 20, 2020; Price: $199.99: Order @ Best Buy

Ca we be real for a second? Yes, there’s a conversation to be had about how influential the exhilarating chaos of Doom has been on the FPS genre, as well as how splendid it is that the property has been revived again and popular enough to lead into this “sequel”, Doom Eternal. But, it’s tough to talk too much about all that when we’re leading into a discussion about a collector’s edition of a Doom game with … a wearable Doomguy Doom Slayer helmet. While no, it isn’t modeled after the helmets of nostalgia, there’s still something undeniably mesmerizing about the fact that this Doom Eternal: Collector’s Edition will come equipped with a wearable helmet that’ll be ready to wear between – or, hell, during – gaming sessions. A few extra goodies for the subtler fans are there as well: a really nice steelbook case, lossless digital soundtrack codes on a little cassette tape gadget, a lore book, lithograph, and DLC goodies. The value’s close to being justifiable, but frankly, the ability to just throw on the helmet and boot up Doom Eternal out of the box is close to priceless.

Resident Evil 3: Collector’s Edition — GameStop Exclusive

Release Date: April 3, 2020; Price: $179.99: Order @ GameStop

The remake of Resident Evil 2 took many people off-guard: while they may have expected a decent revisit to Leon and Claire’s charge through Raccoon City, most weren’t ready for it to be not-so-arguably the best horror game to come out of last year.  Resident Evil remains popular for a plethora of reasons, but that rejuvenated enthusiasm for the franchise has made it all feel fresh again, and it’s bound to do so again with this year’s Resident Evil 3 remake. Fan favorite Jill Valentine has been smartly remodeled for her standalone adventure, clearly evoking her classic look while exchanging the skirt for a few touches of tactical badassery that remind one a bit of Alice’s presence from the movie series.  This gives players a more reputable, grounded heroine to blaze through the zombie apocalypse in RE3, one who’s captured in statue form in the game’s collector edition alongside a neat double-sided poster, an art book, and a S.T.A.R.S. crate box presentation. This one’s only available at GameStop, so a pre-order might not be a bad idea.

Final Fantasy VII: Deluxe Edition

Release Date: April 10, 2020; Price: $79.99: Order @ Amazon

Perhaps it isn’t quite up there with jokes about Half-Life 3, but fans of the Final Fantasy franchise have been clamoring for a spruced-up reconstruction of FFVII for a very, very long time. After the idea of a remake was introduced in the PS2 era, many haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and discussing it, even as the developers kept a healthy distance from wanting to do so.  Finally, after much rumoring, development time, distribution paradigm changes and exclusive window decisions, a new version of Final Fantasy VII – the first part of it, at least — will be here in less than a month. To commemorate, Square Enix will be releasing a deluxe presentation of this “part” of the remake, including: a steelbook case featuring the game’s antagonist, Sephiroth; a hardback artbook; a soundtrack CD; and two pieces of “summon materia” DLC, one exclusive and the other tied to a pre-order. The book, music, and exclusive case artwork all add real fan-centric substance for a $20 premium, so this one’s worth consideration as an early buy.

Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor Expansion Collector’s Edition

Release Date: May 18, 2020; Price: $129.99: Order @ Amazon

Even after an incredibly shaky initial release, Elder Scrolls Online is still going very strong and continues to maintain a robust player base.  Like most other developers in the MMO space, Bethesda has learned from missteps and dished out extensive updates, all the while releasing new expansions that offer fresh, exciting looks at what’s possible within their fantasy landscape and game design. They’re now on the fourth of these official substantive expansions, Greymoor, in which they’re journeying back to Skyrim – the western side – for a new chilly adventure connected to vampires. “Chapter” addons like this are a strange beast when it comes to physical collectibles due to their restricted appeal, but this edition of Greymoor offers an interesting package that comes at players from two general angles: there’s a sweet vampire (lord) statue, and there are Skyrim-themed coins also included. Roll those together with the addon itself, extra DLC, a steelbook, and a map, and it’s pretty sweet.

The Last of Us: Part II – Special, Collector’s and Ellie Editions

Release Date: May 29, 2020; Price: $229.99: Order @ PS Direct

While Naughty Dog’s exhilarating action game design impressed throughout the Uncharted series, it was with the tension and emotions of The Last of Us that they likely created their very best work to date. The gaming community has obviously gone through apocalyptic zombie experiences before, yet the relationship between Joel and Ellie elevates it from being merely a strong horror game to one that strikes a deeper chord. A sequel to such an experience is dangerous territory, but it’s territory that Naughty Dog will brave with Ellie at the helm of this sequel.  Due to the return of past characters that players genuinely care about, this game will have a strong following, so making plans to pick up either the Special, Collector, or elusive Ellie Editions of The Last of Us: Part II would probably be wise. The Ellie Edition has proven to be tricky to acquire already, so if the idea of an exclusive replica of Ellie’s backpack sounds appealing, grab it when and while you can. Luckily, the other two premium versions come with the steel case, and the one-tier-down Collector’s Edition still gives fans the opportunity to get a replica of Ellie’s bracelet and a statue of the character.

Marvel’s Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Edition

Release Date: September 4, 2020; Price: $199.99: Order @ Amazon

Believe it or not, it won’t be long before Joss Whedon’s original Avengers movie will be a decade old. It’s the blockbuster that transformed a neat intersection of cinematic superhero stories into perhaps the most popular big-screen comic franchise in history, one that ensures that a healthy chunk of people will be standing in-line on day one for anything new and exciting involving the team. Square Enix and the Crystal-Eidos development team are banking on that, as they’re going all-out with a massive limited edition of Marvel’s Avengers, a new action-based adaptation – with some uniquely different-looking versions of the characters – coming in September.  Along with a pretty standard steelbook, the Earth’s Mightiest Edition comes with a whole bunch of goodies: a statue of Captain America; a Hulk bobblehead; a keychain of Thor’s hammer; a Black Widow belt buckle; blueprints of Iron Man’s suit.  Each item has been carefully and familiarly designed so they’ll still appeal to general fans of the Avengers comics and movies, not just to those who might like the game, so this could naturally be a very hot item.

Cyberpunk 2077: Collector’s Edition

Release Date: September 17, 2020; Price: $249.99: Order @ Best Buy

As the giants of role-playing video games have hit rough patches over the past couple of years, other labels have moved into the spotlight, chief among them being CD Projekt Red. While their Witcher series had already made waves with the RPG crowd, it was with The Witcher 3 that the company offered an experience that both triumphed over competitors and gave mainstream players something they’ve been yearning for on current consoles: a rich, choice-based, story-driven sandbox game in a fantasy world. Therefore, CDPR’s announcement that they’d be taking on science-fiction RPGs with Cyberpunk 2077 – a space even less crowded without Mass Effect – received big excitement. And CDPR is all about packing value into their presentations: while the standard edition comes with a world compendium, postcards, stickers and such, there’s a mega Collector’s Edition awaiting preorder status that’ll arrive with a statue, a very nice steelbook, game prop replicas, patches, etc. $250 is steep, but it’s bound to be an elusive set since CDPR’s fans are a dedicated bunch.

Video Game Limited Editions of 2020 Worth Seeking Out

Ever since the ‘90s, upon its first at-home release, Mortal Kombat has intimidated competitors in the video game business.  No matter how many years go by, it seems as if the industry operates under the assumption that as soon as gamers get the latest gory brawler in their hands, they’ll be preoccupied for quite some time and ignore just about everything else. Looking at the releases for the month of April, whether intentional or not, that mantra looks to have reemerged in full-force: aside from Mortal Kombat 11 entering the fray, there isn’t a lot of new content getting released this month.  Instead, the other releases fall into a few categories: remasters of classic Final Fantasy titles, another time-sink destined to pull attention away from anything else coming out this month; and several ports of other action-RPG time sinks on the Nintendo Switch.  The best other titles can hope for is to coexist with the rest, something that’s entirely possible with the niches — and substitutions — filled by the others.

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April 2^nd

Power Rangers: Battle For the Grid

Oftentimes, whenever some kids are getting excited about M-rated games like Mortal Kombat, it helps for there to be a more reserved, teen-slanted take on the same concept so that more conservative households can jump into it instead of the bloodier, more violent alternative.  Unfortunately, that can result in what seems like pale, restrictive, deliberately younger-audience imitations that aren’t received very well. Power Rangers: Battle For the Grid was released a week earlier on the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, and now squares off for battle on the PS4, telling a new story in the universe of colorful dino-ninjas and the mecha-vehicle “zords” that coincide with their designated colors/outfits.  The usage of vintage Power Ranger costumes – for both the heroes and the villains – meshes with standard 2D fighting design in what should tap into a mighty amount of fam-friendly nostalgia.  This one’s an inexpensive download at $20, which should curb some expectations.

April 16^th

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster

Over the past half year or so, a few titles bearing the Final Fantasy name have made their way onto the Xbox One, but none of ‘em have been those iconic experiences that folks associate with being landmark PlayStation exclusives from generations past; even the 360 didn’t get to enjoy any of the ports. Well, the time has finally come for the green gaming machine — and Nintendo’s Switch — to relish those high-fantasy Japanese RPG titles, starting with Final Fantasy X and X-2 in the oft-released HD remastered package from  Square Enix.  Tidus may not be the greatest protagonist the series has seen, but the mythical tragedy entwined in his story and the world-building involved with the atmosphere and the plot’s trajectory more than make up for a little whining.  Complimented by the series’ traditional, yet deep and refined RPG system, this remains one of the greats, drastically improved through its makeover.

World War Z

Recently, it was revealed that the planned sequel to the first World War Z film had somewhat officially been scrapped, much to the … well, apathy of many movie fans. On top of being a rough adaptation of a great book, it turned out to be little more than a passable zombie movie with mundane moral dilemmas for the genre.  Similarly to the confusion behind Telltale’s adaptation of The Walking Dead comics (instead of from the show), folks should know that this video game bearing the World War Z name serves as a loose version of the movie’s take on the story instead of from Max Brooks’ novel: a cascade of variations that probably lacks just about all of the source material’s substance.  With that out of the way? To be honest, the third-person zombie apocalypse gameplay looks hectic, somewhat referential, and possibly as engrossing as some of Resident Evil’s more vigorous moments.

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April 23^rd

Mortal Kombat 11

Ah, I remember when there were alternate releases of the original Mortal Kombat on home consoles, differentiated by the amount of violence available to each one: Nintendo’s version got the shaft with underwhelming “censored” versions of fatalities, allowing the unedited Genesis version to come out as the victor. Can you imagine if someone tried to pull that now? Regardless of the console it’s being played on, Mortal Kombat 11 will be unleashing its full violent glory across all modern systems, sporting graphics and gameplay similar to Mortal Kombat X from a few years back.  What’s different? Complimenting the seemingly more outlandish and violent Fatalities and Brutalities, accentuated by the insane reveal trailer, a series of new interim attacks and clapback gaps in combat lend it new versatility.  And, of course, there’s a roster of novel combatants both new and returning — Baraka’s beefy body and sword extensions look toothy and terrifying; Kano reminds me of his ‘90s movie appearance; Noob Saibot personifies nostalgia — that should get the blood pumping in just about any fan of the franchise.

April 30^th

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

But wait, Final Fantasy fans, there’s more! Two weeks is enough time to get through one and jump into another, right?  This one might offer something a little more substantial and inviting, though, as it’s not just a graphically-polished port of an older title.  Final Fantasy XII arrives on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in its Zodiac Age incarnation, a version of the classic game released on the PlayStation in 2017.  While everything about the tale of politics and sky pirates in the realm of Ivalice remains intact in this port –along with the other extensive improvements made to the Final Fantasy formula that included a more open-world combat interaction system, camera control, and many other character-tailoring toolbox options – this version of FFXII comes equipped with the Zodiac Job System improvements to the game.  That includes 60fps graphical overhauls, speed-up controls, New Game+ (and New Game-), and of course the replay-enhancing Zodiac Job mechanics. Sure, the changes FFXII made to the franchise’s formula are still polarizing among devotees, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from embarking on this journey.

Order FFXII: Zodiac Age on Amazon                     Order Darksiders on Amazon

Scattered throughout the month of April are a number of worthwhile ports to the Switch that should be pursued, including two personal favorites of mine.  The Warmastered Edition of the original Darksiders leaps into the fray on April 2^nd, while Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen accepts its destiny and charges forth for the first time on Nintendo’s consoles on the 23^rd.  Also, it would be a travesty to not at least mention the arrival of the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney catalog onto current-gen consoles, making its case for visual-novel dominance on April 9^th on the Xbox One, PS4, Switch, and PC.

War, Fantasy, and Kombat Power Up the Can’t-Miss Video Games of April 2019

You know how new Final Fantasy games aren’t like they used to be?  Well this one is! Bravely Default, for Nintendo 3DS, is the greatest thing to happen to old school Final Fantasy fans since the popularization of cosplay… which is funny considering that it’s technically not part of the Final Fantasy series.

But the name is the only thing that differentiates it – Bravely Default has all the elements of a classic Final Fantasy game, including the job systems, gameplay, enemies, airships… even the four crystals are back!

Bravely Default has the feel of a classic RPG, but updated to satiate the attention-deficits and need for stimulation of our modern times.  (Thanks smartphones…)

The Old: 

For starters, sprites!  Realist characters are fine… but there’s just something about sprites.

But fans of classic RPGs will appreciate the gameplay.  It follows in the footsteps of Final Fantasy V, which worked a lot like Final Fantasy Tactics, but with the classic dungeon-crawling and 2D fighting known to other Final Fantasy games.  Basically, it’s like other Final Fantasy games, except you can change between 20+ jobs at will, with each job offering its own special abilities and stat changes.

All your favorite Final Fantasy jobs are there, plus some brand new ones.  There’s the staples Black Mage, White Mage, Thief, Monk, and Knight (Warrior) that have been around since the very beginning, and on top of them there’s Valkyrie (Dragoon by another name), Performer, Ninja, Summoner, and the self-deprecating Dark Knight.  Each job gains levels with Job Points, earned at the end of battles along with Experience Points.  Every new job level unlocks a new job ability, either an action ability used in combat, or a passive support ability equipped outside of combat.

But aside from the old-fashioned RPG gameplay, the other reminiscent feature of this game is its quality storyline.  This is literally the first time in over a decade that a video game moved me and made me think.  As early as the opening movie, the story shows its dark side and lets you know it has a mature awareness.  The plot may be generic (save the world), but the individual scenes and character development, coupled with some philosophical dialogues that made me stop and go “hmmm…”, really reminded me of why I fell in love with RPGs in the first place.

The New: 

Well, it’s in 3D… that’s new…

But more importantly (and easier on the eyes), one of the reasons that RPGs changed is because the old format can’t hold the attention of new audiences.  Grinding – going around fighting random battles for experience points – just isn’t as entertaining as it used to be.  Luckily, Bravely Default reinvents the Final Fantasy fighting system to keep you interested for over 100 hours of gameplay.  They introduce the opinions of “Brave” and “Default.”  Basically, you can either credit or debit your turns!  That means you can do up to four actions in a single turn (but then you can’t act for three turns), or essentially Defend for 3 turns and then unleash a power 4-tiered assault without penalty.  This opens up endless possibilities for strategy, plus makes fights a lot more fun.

Other updates include customizations for both difficulty and random encounters.  At any point in the game, you can switch between Easy, Medium, and Hard (and believe me, Hard is hard!  Talk about appealing to classic gamers…).  You also have the option of doubling the occurrences of random encounters for gaining levels, or turning them off completely, which comes in handy if you want to face a boss with all your HP and MP.

The Final Word:

Games like this only come around once for a console.  Whether you’re a long-time lover of the Final Fantasy series to someone who’s just discovering it… this game will be sure to satisfy.

Check Bravely Default Price on Amazon

Shut Up and Take My Money: Bravely Default

Rejoice, fellow gamers. Thanks to French blogger Guiz de Pessemier, we can finally watch Donkey Kong being played the way it was always meant to played… as an intricate frame-by-frame stop-motion reenactment!

Using custom made pixel art constructed out of Perler beads, the dedicated Kong-thusiast recreated all the original 8-bit characters and backgrounds. He then painstakingly animated three levels from the game with such flawless precision that you’d think he must have been wearing a Power Glove while doing so. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself!

I’ve seen impressive high scores and speed runs and perfect games before, but even the likes of Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell, and that creepy little kid from The Wizard can’t compete with this. No, I think it’s safe to say Guiz is the real “King of Kong” now.

And it turns out, he doesn’t just stop there.

As an added bonus, here’s some Final Fantasy stop-motion for your viewing pleasure as well. Watching characters politely taking turns to attack their enemy has never been more exciting!

And be sure to check out Guiz’s website and YouTube channel for more cool video game related videos, news, and reviews. I can’t wait to see what 8-bit classic he tackles next. My suggestion: the NES version of Hudson Hawk. Why? Because, somehow, that’s a thing that exists.

Out of Quarters? Watch this Amazing Stop Motion Version of the Original Donkey Kong