Typically, these articles begin with a fun or creative way of introducing the month, often with a seasonal bend, but there’s no use describing February’s new video game releases with anything other than getting into it, being straightforward and direct: this month’s going to rock. Hard. There’s the obvious reason lying within the open-world RPG that’s been co-written by an actual household name in dark fantasy, as well as the wildly anticipated (exclusive) sequel to one of the best new IPs to come out in a long time, yet another open-world time sink. Alongside that, however, there are other new open-world games, several monumental expansions to longstanding shooters and MMOs, a number of appealing ports and releases in the racing and fighting genres … and the next-gen, immensely improved re-release of one of 2020’s most controversial games. An outstanding month all-around; let’s just get into it.

Dying Light 2: Stay Human — February 4 (PS 4,5; Xbox O/S/X; Switch; PC)

Many games have captured the intensity of the zombie apocalypse or smaller-scale takeovers of towns or buildings – from Resident Evil to Dead Rising and Dead Island — but even after those, there remained a consistent desire for a true, versatile open-world survival horror game within that setting. The studio behind Dead Island, Techland, then took another stab at the concept with Dying Light, meshing the refinement of their gory game philosophies from the previous title with the additions of parkour movement through the environment and a dynamic day-night cycle. This all comes together into a tense horror title with a convincing-enough amount of freedom to scratch that “zombie sim” itch, enough for Dying Light to receive a sequel in pursuit of even better thrills.

One area where Dying Light 2 aims to improve upon its predecessor is with storytelling, which it does by lightly rebooting the universe, jumping ahead 30+ years to a state where the world has eradicated the zombie disease, a mutated strand again escapes a lab, and most of humanity is wiped out. The player gains control of Aiden, who sets off to a European city in search of his sister, which drops the player in a post-pandemic playground that’s roughly 4x the size of the original Dying Light’s sandbox area. Armed with parkour skills and tools like grappling hooks and gliders, the player gets thrown into conflicts with factions across the city that activate a choice and consequence system, which shapes the narrative. Whether the familiar search-and-rescue tale will add anything remains to be seen, but everything else makes it seem like Dying Light 2 is a step up.   

Get Dying Light 2 on Amazon

Cyberpunk 2077 — Next-Gen Re-Release (Xbox Series X and PS5)

At the tail end of 2020, after continuous delays and a draining year like no other, many gamers were looking to Cyberpunk 2077 as the medicine that might cure all their ailments. CD Projekt Red had built a near-flawless reputation with their Witcher role-playing series, so the concept of them reviving a classic ‘80s tabletop RPG setting for a sci-fi RPG was … well, almost hard to believe.  When it finally came out, folks were hit with a cold, hard truth: not only had CDPR delivered a game with myriad technical flaws and a lack of current-gen polish, they delivered a game packed with broken promises and missed marks in terms of the experience they were delivering. The disappointment was overwhelming, but for the most part players took the “Let’s come back to this later” approach instead of disavowing the studio.

Well, “later” is now. It might be nearly a year and a half later, but the recent update to Cyberpunk 2077 just before its official next-gen upgrade release on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 this month has dramatically overhauled the game’s systems, atmosphere, and overall experience. Those looking for a different RPG than what was there at launch might still not be satisfied; it hasn’t magically turned into a choose-your-adventure game like Cyberpunk Fallout or something. For those who feel the game would be successful if it had a world that was more filled with life and the environment and people organically reacted to in-game actions, if weapons were overhauled for balance and combat AI was improved, if the player character could occupy other living space hubs and more extensively change their appearance on the fly … ? They might be ready to jump into Night City, for the first time or as a return.

Don’t take my word for it: Check Out the Notes for Patch 1.5.

Get Cyberpunk 2077 at Amazon

Horizon: Forbidden West — February 18 (PS4,5)

There’s a special feeling that comes around when a title surprises the video game community, when a lower-key studio delivers on ambitious ideas to create something entirely new, satisfying, and iconic. Guerrilla Games – known for the Killzone series – pulled this off in grand fashion with Horizon: Zero Dawn, the PS4 exclusive that blends primal/tribal tones with advanced mech and tech across an open-world landscape. Despite being released almost exactly at the same time as Breath of the Wild, Horizon remains in people’s minds for its layered combat, strong characterization, and unique landscape, begging for Guerilla Games to deliver a sequel that’ll push the hardware of next-gen systems.

Horizon: Forbidden West is that sequel, which takes the series protagonist Aloy into the region of California, Nevada, and Utah for its new open-world explorable area within the post-apocalyptic setting, populated by dominant advanced machines and secluded human tribes. Naturally, Guerilla Games wants to preserve as much of what works from the first entry as they can while adding new features, so they’ve given Aloy new and improved methods of exploration – underwater, rock climbing – as well as tightened combat mechanics and tool implementation. They’ve also spruced up the graphics, and despite the early harsh memes about Aloy appearing … chubbier than she was in the first game, it looks absolutely stunning.

GRID Legends — February 25 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

We’re shifting gears at the end of the month into a noteworthy racing game from Codemasters, GRID Legends. It’s noteworthy for a number of reasons: it will feature over 125 routes in both real circuits and manufactured ones in hallmark cities, as well as over 100 different vehicles at their disposal; it’ll feature a race creation feature for the first time; it’ll have a documentary-inspired narrative/career mode with established actors and a mixing of real and CG people; and it’ll offer cross-platform and cross-generational online multiplayer. The arcade street racer is showcasing a lot of ambition for its fifth installment and as a longstanding predecessor to Codemasters’ other street racers.

GRID Legends is also noteworthy for being the first title in the franchise released under Codemasters’ new publishers and owners, EA, and it’s also the first title in general from Codemasters that’d potentially have substantive input from the gaming giant into its development, if they were to get involved. In general, the developers have a record of reliability with their games, ranging in quality but always being reputable and enjoyable entries in the racing genre. Here’s hoping the trend continues under the new guard and that GRID Legends lives up to its potential.

Elden Ring — February 25 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Look, it’s hard not to get hyped up about certain games. Common sense should tell players to temper expectations when it seems like something could be really, really good … but life’s short and enthusiasm can be much more fun than pragmatic calmness. One of such situations comes at the end of February when the folks at FromSoftware, responsible for the Souls line of games and for essentially creating a subgenre of challenging dungeon crawler RPGs, will be delivering another new title for both Xbox and PlayStation consoles with Hidetaka Miyazaki at the helm, Elden Ring. That by itself is exciting, but it’s the other half of the equation that really gets the blood flowing: the worldbuilding will be handled by none other than Mr. Game of Thrones himself, George R.R. Martin. Say what you will about the timeliness of his novels, but it’s hard to argue with the man’s ability to flesh out a dark fantasy world.

When it comes to the gaming innards of Elden Ring, it sounds a whole lot like a continuation of the Souls formula that’s worked so well for FromSoftware, seen in its successes outside the franchise in Bloodborne and Sekiro. On top of the merciless, tactical hack-‘n-slash fantasy combat that’s part of the DNA of the studio’s titles, they’re also incorporating stealth combat – a component of Sekiro – and mounted combat atop the character’s mount, their chief method of travel across the landscape. Customization of the third-person battle experience will be key, though, and the director has stated that it’ll be “richer” than in his previous games, from skills to weapons.  Hype’s a dangerous thing and it’s almost a certainty that Elden Ring won’t live up to it, but boy, the potential’s there for it to be great.

Get Elden Ring at Amazon

Along with a slew of heavy-hitting titles, February also comes with an impressive rush of expansions for other titles. Dynasty Warriors 9 gets its Empires expansion on February 15, and on the same day BioWare Austin and EA will be releasing their hype-up Legacy of the Sith addition to Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Perhaps more high-profile, however, is the hotly anticipated and heavily pre-ordered Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion from Bungie, the game’s sixth expansion that’s finally seeing the light of day after getting delayed by COVID-19. A number of great games are also getting appealing ports, such as the entire Life is Strange: Remastered collection for the PS4, Xbox One, PC an Stadia on February 1, as well as the Assassin’s Creed Ezio Trilogy for the Switch on February 17.  Fighting fans will also have a new King of Fighters, KOF XV, to engage on February 17.

February’s Video Game New Releases: A Legendary Month in the Making

Regardless of how extreme the video game industry’s business was throughout the month of December, typically the month of January is, at the very least, massively slowed down in terms of new releases. It’s still a numbers game after all, and heavy holiday spending typically doesn’t bode well for sales figures in the months following, where people are likely enjoying their video game gifts or recovering financially. 2022 isn’t any different; in fact, the month seems even sparser than normal. While the month does mark the awaited return of a AAA shooting franchise, the low volume and attention-grabbing nature of this January leave it feeling empty even by comparison to last year. Let’s take a closer look at what’s going on, though!

Nobody Saves the World — January 18 (Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Sometimes, games simply feel like a bunch of other titles have been thrown into a blender, thoroughly mixed, and served to its audience.  Whether that’s acceptable or not depends on the mixture of ingredients; after all, mangoes and blueberries don’t really work in all smoothies they’re thrown in. The ingredients of Nobody Saves the World seem like a delightful blend, though, beginning with a action-RPG base where the main character embraces different forms to combat different foes. Add in a retro top-down aesthetic to the dungeon crawling, a roguelike procedural generation to the underlayers of the dungeons, and a crafty sense of humor, and you’ve got the components of the latest title from Drinkbox Games, the folks behind the delightful Guacamelee.

The lead character isn’t a charismatic, dashing hero either, instead a pale and weak little human equipped with a star-topped wand that grants new forms and abilities.  As one can expect, the character starts out with limited capabilities and gains more as they progress through dungeons and battles, eventually totaling over a dozen. In a similar vein to Guacamelee, the art style is delightfully vibrant and fluid, and the hack-‘n-slash combat seems basic but fast-paced and responsive to meet the standard control’s demands. Nobody Saves the World will also launch with a co-op multiplayer function as well, so you and a buddy can tackle dungeons together on the same screen; this covers online co-op, as the state of couch co-op is currently unknown.

Get Nobody Saves the World at Microsoft

Rainbow Six: Extraction — January 20 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC; Stadia)

When Rainbow Six: Vegas came out early in the Xbox 360’s lifecycle, it became one of those must-play experiences for nearly everyone who owned the console, whether they were shooter fans or not. The smooth tactical controls, visual polish and perceived realism established the franchise’s popularity early and quickly. However, it shouldn’t require much to get the point across that the landscape of shooters changed dramatically soon after its release, especially when it comes to those aiming for precise realism.  Amid the flurry of Call of Duties and Battlefields as well as the sci-fi themed Halo and Gears of War series, interest in Rainbow Six became sloshy even through the release of the online-only Rainbow Six: Siege, which has both logged an impressive number of users and earned tepid impressions on the game itself.

Amid this strange mixture of interest and lukewarmness with the online game, Rainbow Six: Extraction arrives with the intention of shaking up the franchise’s objectives and reputation. How? It makes the bold choice of tossing the tactical shooter combat into a science-fiction setting, hinged on an alien invasion, essentially providing the alien counterpoint to Call of Duty’s popular zombie modes. Extraction has also been designed with multiplayer as its firm focus, though, using Siege as a gameplay springboard and adopting some of its “operator” characters for familiarity. A cluster of nearly 20 different operator types with various skillsets can be selected before engaging in the partly procedurally-generated “incursions”, where the players infiltrate alien spaces to collect items. It’s a bold new direction, but perhaps it’s what Rainbox Six needs to stand out in the modern era, and it’s been budget priced at $40 to get folks interested.

Order Rainbow Six: Extraction at Amazon

Pokemon Legends: Arceus — January 28 (Switch)

Sure, it has essentially always been popular, but Pokemon seems to be at a particularly high point right now. Between the rampant attention drawn to the card game market, the thriving community built around the “augmented reality” Pokemon Go mobile game, and the creation of a few fan concept trailers, the demand has never been higher for an open-world style of role-playing game set within the Pokemon universe. Therefore, when the trailer for Pokemon Legends: Arceus emerged on the scene, excitement and enthusiasm reach a particular high.  It had a visual grandeur, openness and flow akin to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, only featuring landscapes and characters from the Poke universe, so the assumptions that this would finally be “it” had some merit.

The folks at Pokemon let this perception continue unanswered up until a few months ago, where they eventually confirmed that Pokemon Legends: Arceus wouldn’t exactly be the open experience many believed it would be.  What further information and trailers have confirmed since, however, is that it’s a feature-rich, customizable RPG in the vein of the other video games in the series that instead has “open-world areas” to engage in the historical region of Hisui (Sinnoh).  The objective? To create the very first Pokedex, which should inherently get their audience excited so long as they’re game for a prequel. Whether it will satisfy beyond that remains to be seen, especially considering the perceived disappointment in this lack of open-world delivery. There’s always the real open-world Pokemon Go.

Order Pokemon Legends: Arceus at Amazon

The rest of January has been populated with ports, with the likes of Monster Hunter Rise and God of War getting PC editions on January 12 and 14, as well as the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves game bundle coming to PS5 at the end of the month. There’s also a pair of unique sports titles coming out on January 20: RPGolf Legends (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) sounds like it could be a golf role-playing game, but it’s actually more of a retro, top-down JRPG with golf as an underlying gameplay aspect; and Windjammers 2 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Stadia) brings the Pong-meets-Dodgeball quirkiness of the ‘90s Neo Geo title to the current era.

January’s New Video Games: Rainbow Six Goes Alien, Pokemon Goes Prequel

Regardless of the shortage in consoles available to purchase, 2021 has been a terrific year for new video game titles. Be sure to hop over to Ben’s Bargain’s Holiday Software Gift Guide to see a brief rundown of some of the hits, which range from novel spins on open-world games and innovations in horror and sci-fi to several celebrated rejuvenations of franchises. There are three variables clogging up the last two months in the year, though, that’d understandably scare off other developers from dropping anything too big during the period: holiday shopping in an already complicated year, the approaching release of Halo in December, and of course Call of Duty.

Even with those things in mind, the months of November ad December shaped up into a diverse, packed stretch of remasters, unique new titles, and one delayed long enough to unfortunately “compete” with CoD in the same genre during November, resulting in a nice array of titles squeezed into the last months before the holidays that could end up being worthwhile gifts. Let’s take a closer look.

Call of Duty: Vanguard – November 5 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

It’s difficult to make heads or tails over whether the gaming community really feels positive or negative about a new Call of Duty title at release, as there’s always a hefty rush of impressions and opinions before and around the big date. Ultimately, this has all but stopped mattering, as the latest COD title works off the nonstop energy of its multiplayer fanbase who’ll continue to purchase the FPS juggernaut despite any iffy thoughts about the latest campaign’s tone and longevity or the multiplayer’s sameness. Despite this, the folks at Sledgehammer, Treyarch, and Infinity Ward – and Raven Software in a support role – have continued to deliver annual titles that utilize AAA polish and ambitions to keep the series immersive, versatile, and exhilarating for both campaign and online players.

Vanguard is the latest, in which the campaign takes the audience back to the World War II and shortly after, where special ops forces are tracking down the actors involved with “Project Phoenix” and a theoretical true successor to Hitler’s place in government. Alongside the interesting single-player narrative, the multiplayer hopes to shake things up with a new “Combat Pacing” function, which allows players to select the intensity, style, and team size for the upcoming match. So far, critics have received both those core aspects of Vanguard fairly well, though there seems to be some “been there, done that” attitudes towards those things and a stronger consensus that the Zombies mode is lacking this year.    

Order Call of Duty: Vanguard at Amazon

Jurassic World Evolution 2 – November 9 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Sequels to sim games have a different set of benchmarks to hit than other genres, and they also tend to have a bit more of a forgiving player base when it comes to delivering incrementally better versions instead of drastically new entries. While enhanced features and expanded options will always be celebrated, there’s also lots of satisfaction to be found in picking up a simulator and discovering that a lot of the gameplay aspects remain the same, kind of like having a bunch of brand-new tools and upcoming projects yet the same workbench and organization area to know where everything’s at. Jurassic World Evolution delivers on the concept of, essentially, a “dinosaur zoo simulator” with callbacks to the movies and books, but critics generally felt that the sim could use more depth.

Evolution 2 has the opportunity to improve upon its middlingly reviewed first entry by improving its big draws, by deepening the business and construction aspects and refining its dinosaur interactions. It hopes to do so by widening the workspace maps – relocated to the US for more landscape variety — and placing more unique demands upon the players, such as maintaining animal diets and catering to different visitor tastes.  Improvements in those areas seem less pertinent to game-makers Frontier Developments than enhancing the authenticity of the dinosaurs themselves, though, upping the species count to 75 and ensuring that their behaviors authentically intersect on a more frequent basis. Whether that’ll amount to enough to make Evolution 2 a worthwhile upgrade remains to be seen.

Order Jurassic World Evolution 2 at Amazon

Skyrim: Anniversary Edition – November 11 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

At this point, the multiple iterations of Skyrim across several consoles have transformed into a running joke – a meme, if you will. For the most part, all the re-releases have had their purpose for showing up when they did, from lateral ports to other consoles and virtual reality accessibility to new console upgrades that’d hopefully tide players over until Elder Scrolls 6 finally arrives. The mantra’s pretty simple, according to Bethesda’s studio head: so long as players are buying and enjoying Skyrim, they’ll keep finding ways of re-releasing and upgrading the celebrated open-world RPG. Thus, when the announcement came that the studio would release an “anniversary edition” of Skyrim designed for Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles, few if any people were surprised. So, what else could possibly be added?

In essence, the Anniversary Edition of Skyrim makes it easy for players to have an up-to-date version of the complete Special Edition game – including all official DLC — that’s also beefed up with a ton of small to moderate additions through Bethesda’s Creation Club, ranging from artifacts to activities and quests. This includes brand-new content released alongside the Anniversary Edition from the Creation Club, such as fishing, a simulator-ish survival mode, and new quests. The Anniversary Edition also touches up the visuals for next-gen consoles, though those on the Xbox Series X will likely see no appreciable difference over the already optimized version of the Special Edition. There’s a $20 digital upgrade options for those who already own the Special Edition, but there’s also a complete physical copy of the Anniversary Edition for $50.

Get ESV: Skyrim Anniversary Edition at Amazon

GTA: Definitive Trilogy – November 11 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; Switch; PC)

It’s hard to overstate how influential the sequence of Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas was to the video game landscape. GTA III brought together different aspects of free-roaming action and emergent gameplay into a singular experience, Vice City took that blueprint and gave it a distinct, violent attitude … and then San Andreas upped the attitude, narrative potency, and sheer volume and variety of things to do to such a degree that it almost felt like a simulation. The ability for players to do essentially whatever they wanted in a “sandbox”, to create whatever degree of chaos they wanted, became a blueprint for other games to follow that range from revolutionary and historical assassin sims to animated show tie-ins.   They’ve aged, but their legacy exists in the bones of countless modern titles.

One would naturally assume, then, that games with such a rich legacy would receive high-quality remasters, especially during a time when remasters are hotter than normal. The recently renamed Grove Street Games, previously known as War Drum Studios, the developers behind mobile ports of this same trilogy, have undertaken the challenge with this Definitive Edition, and they showed clear inspiration early on in how to approach the project. From what aspects to preserve full stop (such as the physics engine) to which aesthetics should be cleaned up and which ones should be amplified, it sounds like worthwhile promises. The execution, however, has been polarizing, due in large part to the underwhelming visuals and a lack of editing and refinement, alongside a hefty share of technical glitches.

Order GTA Trilogy: Definitive Edition at Amazon

Shin Megami Tensei V – November 12 (Switch)

It took a bit of time, but Atlus has really grasped one fact about their Shin Megami Tensei series: the fanbase still really, really likes the third entry, Nocturne. Even as the spinoff Persona series mounts in popularity and creates its own hot spinoffs – like the fighting-based Arena line – there remained plenty of enthusiasm behind the prospect of a remastered iteration of the PS2-era Nocturne, which was finally released to critical acclaim earlier this year. Aside from the rerelease, the enthusiasm has also spread into the development philosophies of the long-awaited fifth entry in the primary numbered Shin Megami Tensei series, where the vague but somewhat telling description of its “profound charm” has been laced into the new entry alongside the more objective demon-raising aspects of SMT IV.

As one would expect, players gain control of a high-school student who ropes a few buddies into a demon search through underground tunnels. Shortly after entering the tunnels, the player gets transported to an alternate reality version of Tokyo embroiled in a war between angels and demons, where the existence of the high-schooler – and his friends — soon becomes linked with that of a god-like being so that the students can get directly involved with the battle. From there, the signature turn-based combat system of the Shin Megami Tensei series and the frequently challenging nature of its battles take hold, supported by a choice-and-consequence system that’ll help dictate the sort of ending you’ll receive.  It’s a manifestation of much enthusiasm that’s currently exclusive to the Switch.

Halo: Infinite – December 8 (Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Xbox turns 20 this year, and it’s hard to argue with the assertion that the most popular … well, thing, period, to ever come out of Microsoft’s console would be their exhilarating sci-fi shooter series, Halo. The first confidently labeled itself “Combat Evolved” and the distinction didn’t feel unmerited, providing an engaging campaign and multiplayer experience that handily dethroned previous competitors such as GoldenEye, escalating the popularity of LAN parties and shaping the PvP landscape as it’s known today. Its sequels would refine the positive aspects of that experience, even when the campaign’s storytelling or brevity would wobble and waver across both Bungie and 343’s installments. After half of a decade away from regular installments, Master Chief has decided to jump back into action for the 20^th anniversary of Xbox in Halo: Infinite.

With the creative energy of former Bungie writer and cinematics director Joseph Staten as the project lead of the campaign, Halo: Infinite aspires to bring the series back to its original glory in the modern era, tying familiar aesthetics and plot devices into a new story of alien invasion and world repair. Players once again control Master Chief for the entirety of the game as they zip across the landscape of Zeta Halo, opening up the gameplay for free roaming and emergent battles while also sticking to a firm campaign with its sights sets on Cortana. The multiplayer also has its heart in the right place by focusing on familiar modes such as capture the flag and slayer, while also incorporating new powers and designs to spice up the formula. More than anything, though, folks who’ve played Halo: Infinite have reaffirmed the expected: the gunplay is outstanding, and should make either campaign or multiplayer a blast.

Order Halo: Infinite at Amazon

The end of year has a cluster of other interesting titles worth looking into, though one of them may or may not be Battlefield 2042, which has been getting dragged through the mud by the community and certainly is up against some hefty competition in the shooter genre through here. Just Dance 2022 (November 4) gets the party moving at the end of the year with a smattering of new songs and intricate choreography, while Football Manager 2022 (November 9) keeps the pace slow, familiar, yet addictive with its updated roster simulation gameplay. Similar to Far Cry: Blood Dragon, the Borderlands-themed DLC Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon’s Keep (November 9) has received a standalone release, while Frogwares has returned to the Sherlock Holmes for something of a prequel, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One (November 16), that focuses on the detective’s career in his early twenties. There’s also a space combat game called Chorus (December 3) worth keeping an eye on, as well as a futuristic platformer Solar Ash (December 2).

Notable Video Game Releases Closing Out 2021: Call of Duty, Halo, MOAR SKYRIM

One of the somewhat cruel and unusual things about 2021 is that while it’s been incredibly difficult to obtain video game systems, notably the backwards-compatible Xbox Series X and the PS5, this has also been a particularly fantastic year for new video game releases.  While there are some exceptions, for the most part this quality stems from studios revisiting longstanding franchises for either sequels or conscientious remasters, which results in a slate of new titles that almost comes across like comfort food. From Samus and Ratchet to Commander Shepard and Link, there’s a lot of familiar territory this year.

The familiarity also comes about in surprising ways, though. An unofficial, spiritual sequel to a popular franchise stumbled into the gaming arena, while another horror series borrowed generously from one of its older, most popular installments in creation of a very overt callback game. And then, a studio answers the impassioned requests of fans for a sequel to a decade-and-a-half old property.  What’s remarkable is that barring a few expected quibbles with modern-era glitches or perhaps some features that could’ve been beefed up or done better, the wide spectrum of games have all received rampant acclaim, to a degree where it was tough leaving off games from this list instead of finding stuff to add.

Below, you’ll find a list of over a dozen video games worth giving for the holiday season, with links to each game’s page on Amazon to make purchasing easy. Be sure to pay attention to the system format for the game this year, though, as the visual differences between Xbox and PlayStation games of different console types can be somewhat minimal. You’ll know a Switch game when you see it.

For the Open World Lover With an Open Mind

Following a period where it seemed like every big game had to be a sandbox time-sink as a prerequisite, it seems like that demand for everything open-world seems to have hit a decline.  If a game has an open aspect, now it’s usually in service of novel gameplay or quirky personality to justify it. Below are a pair of games that actually make the player want to continue exploring the nooks and crannies of the world they’re in.

No More Heroes 3

• After nearly a decade away from the series proper, Travis Touchdown returns from the middling success of a spinoff title for No More Heroes 3. With this return, the series also reintroduces several popular aspects from previous titles, notably a more open world for exploration.
• No More Heroes 3 takes place two years after the spinoff game and takes the action to a grander scale, pitting Travis Touchdown against invading aliens who have established a new tier of assassins to eliminate and drawing him back to the fictional California city of Santa Destroy.
• Travis must earn enough money to move up the ladder of assassins, and he does so by traveling across 5 distinct islands completing side tasks and grinding, utilizing his “beam katana” and wrestling repertoire to get him through the brisk, amusing third-person combat scenarios and pop-culture references.

Click to Order on Amazon

Hitman 3

• IO Interactive has poured a lot of energy into making the rejuvenated Hitman franchise a satisfying mix of old-school stealth pleasures and modern polish and open-world freedom, and they’ve reached a pinnacle with Hitman 3, opting for fan-pleasing refinement over rocking the boat with changes.
• The story follows Agent 47 as he flips allegiances and works to take down Providence, a cabal of powerful political and industrial forces pulling strings from the shadows.  Expect lots of big twists and turns, which is where most of the risk-taking for the game takes place.
• While the plot makes significant moves of the espionage variety, the freedom of the gameplay and its willingness to not take itself too seriously lets Hitman 3 feel like familiar territory, allowing for a wide variety of ways to complete missions and create chaos if desired.

Click to Order on Amazon

For the Patient Gamer Awaiting the Return of Fan-Fave Franchises

It’s impressive to see the longevity and staying power of video game characters and settings, as we’ve reached a point in the culture where a property can lie dormant for a decade or two – or three! – and come back with a vengeance if there’s enough passion and demand. All three of these properties have undeniable fanbases behind them, and the resurgence of two of them isn’t exactly unexpected. However, the fact that the first game on this list exists at all is a marvel, a delightful fruition of fan requests stemming from an initial game that, while it’s built a cult following since release, didn’t sell well.

Psychonauts 2

• A devoted fanbase has been waiting patiently for a second entry in the Psychonauts narrative, continuously asking the folks at Double Fine Productions when they’ll get back there. Well, the mythical has finally turned real with the third-person action platformer Psychonauts 2.
• Players once again gain control of Raz, a wayward and agile acrobat with psychic powers, whose fascination with joining the mental-power research and regulation agency Psychonauts has landed them in their office, the  Motherlobe.  There, he uses his powers to help root out a double agent.
• In a fashion befitting the wacky personality of Double Fine, Psychonauts 2 weaves together a compelling premise with clever, bizarre puzzle-platform levels, while also striking a meaningful chord involving mental health in the process.

Click to Order on Amazon

Metroid Dread

• It’s been a while since a new Metroid game has been released, but it’s been even longer since a new 2D Metroid game – that isn’t a remake — has rolled onto the scene.  Metroid Dread goes back to the series roots and delivers a fresh side-scrolling adventure with Nintendo icon Samus Aran.
• Originally conceived as a Nintendo DS follow-up to a Game Boy title from the early 2000s, Dread follows Samus as she investigates the alien planet ZDR after parasite-killing EMMI robots fail to complete their mission. Ambushed and lacking full powers, Samus must battle local enemies and sneak past the EMMIs.
• Dread gets the Metroid formula back to its roots with 2D side-scrolling level design with a modernized feel, placing Samus in the position of both hunter and hunted through old-school skill progression through levels and new stealth components. It does everything a classic Metroid game should do, well.

Click to Order on Amazon

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

• Despite their rampant popularity during the PS2 and PS3 eras, Ratchet and Clank only showed up once during the PS4 era for a reboot/reimagining of the first game, titled Ratchet and Clank. Their devoted fans have been waiting anxiously, and now they’ve received Rift Apart on the PS5.
• Rift Apart serves as a meeting-point sequel to both 2013’s Into the Nexus, the last game produced for the PS3, and 2016’s Ratchet and Clank. During a battle with Dr. Nefarious, several dimensional rifts open and relocate the characters to alternate realities; Clank is found by Rivet, a female Lombax like Ratchet.
• Using a new device called a Rift Tether, both Ratchet and Rivet can zip between portals to realities, a new gameplay tactic introduced within the series’ signature run-‘n-gun antics and bountiful artillery. A mix of old and new weapons, locations, and combat mechanics ensure Rift Apart has something for all.

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For Those Who Enjoy (Re)Playing Beloved Games Polished in HD

Sometimes developers make remastered versions of games simply because they want to ensure fans will keep playing and remembering the same game for years, preserving legacies by essentially making archive versions of their games to keep up with the times.  Other times, however, studios take risks and get their hands dirty with improving certain titles by listening to fan feedback, and the result ends up being a noteworthy upgrade and a reason for people to revisit that goes beyond nostalgia. Both the titles below have that going for them.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

• Nearly a decade after the series reached a polarizing conclusion, the folks at BioWare have begun the process of revisiting the Mass Effect franchise with this Legendary Edition collection for newer consoles.  All three games from the original trilogy have been included, along with their respective DLCS.
• Players gain control of Commander Shepard, who can be a customized character creation or a preset, as they race against time to stop the Lovecraftian Reapers from wiping out civilization. The player makes choices – from who live and dies to brokering deals and building relationships – that’ll have degrees of impact throughout the whole series.  
• The original Mass Effect received a drastic overhaul in visuals and gameplay without fundamentally changing how it operates, while the other two games have been more subtly polished. Like this, including the extended version of the ending and all the character and story DLC, Mass Effect feels complete and still presents one of the most engrossing and adaptable sci-fi arcs in gaming.

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Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD

• Once considered the black sheep of the modern Legend of Zelda creations, Skyward Sword has enjoyed some laid-back reevaluation amid Breath of the Wild’s successful tweaking of the franchise. This HD remaster takes some voiced issues to heart and shapes it into a fresh, worthwhile adventure on Switch.
• Skyward Sword follows many of the familiar story beats of other Legend of Zelda games, yet its focus on the early aspects of the history of the Hyrule kingdom and the Skyloft setting in the clouds give it an extra dose of storytelling intrigue. Link still needs to rescue Zelda, hacking-‘n-slashing across time.
• Skyward Sword HD may not have drastically improved visuals, but other aspects of the new version make it well worth a second look, from tweaking the autosave feature to making it so the game doesn’t require motion controls (the Joy Cons can still be used this way).  Link’s still in baggy trousers and the level design and exploration show their age, but this Switch version improves the conditions to enjoy it.

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For the Nostalgic Horror Lover

Whether it’s by being stranded among zombies in a European village or teaming up with buddies to wipe out infected humans, the horror games included below rustle up memories of game past through wildly different methods.

Resident Evil Village

• Arguably the best entry in the Resident Evil series succeeded by isolating itself in a small European village invaded by a zombie-creating parasite. Capcom decided to try and recapture this magic with Resident Evil Village, taking place a few years after the last one and featuring protagonist Ethan Winters.
• From a first-person viewpoint, Village lets the player openly explore the stuck-in-the-1800s European village, allowing them to use the setting for tactical combat against the enemies. Aside from the now iconic vampire Lady Dimitrescu and her sisters, Ethan battles against werewolf like creatures in an effort to rescue his daughter.
• Resident Evil: Village brings the scale back to a stripped-down, scarier place in how Ethan explores the area and scrounges together an inventory of resources, combining iconic aspects from earlier games – there’s unsurprisingly a lot of Resident Evil 4 in here — with what’s worked in the current iterations.

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Back 4 Blood

• The folks responsible for the Left 4 Dead franchise, Turtle Rock Studios, have returned after a decade to deliver the spiritual third entry in the franchise.  Back 4 Blood is the result, and while it isn’t pound-for-pound an exact continuation of those popular games, the developers got about as close as they can.
• Somewhat differently, Back 4 Blood takes place about a year after a parasitic outbreak has claimed much of humanity, where groups of survivors known as Cleaners try to clear out post-apocalyptic surroundings. This progression makes the atmosphere a little lighter while coordinating squad attacks.
• Sure, Turtle Rock deliberately models much of the co-op gameplay off Left 4 Dead, but they’ve also incorporated modern RPG-ish aspects like deeper weapon customization and skill cards to update the gameplay.  Coupled with plentiful maps and a quality attitude, Back 4 Blood largely feels like the sequel everyone’s wanted.

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For Those Dazzled By Conceptual Sci-Fi

Whether it’s temporal anomalies, tapping into the power of human brain, or the idea of superheroes being a bunch of poor renegades traversing the galaxy for their next payday, these games latch onto unique science-fiction concepts and apply relatively conventional gaming control ideas to them. The results are thrilling entertainment against the backdrop of engrossing sci-fi atmospheres.

Deathloop

• Stealth, steampunk, and the supernatural interweave in the games of Arkane Studios, the team behind the Dishonored series. Deathloop continues that legacy, telling a story of assassinations and time loops that plays into the studio’s narrative strengths while hooking the player with novel mechanics.
• With a setting that’s more identifiable and realistic than Arkane’s previous worlds, pegged to the ‘60s or ‘70s, Deathloop follows an assassin who must eliminate 8 different targets on an island in the same time loop … or else the timeline will reset. Naturally, another assassin is also hunting the main character to thwart their progress.
• Paying attention to details and routines is one of the keys to success in Deathloop, which incorporates a familiar caliber of strategy to Arkane’s previous games, observing how obstacles move and knowing what weapons to use for different scenarios. It opts for a credible variety of solutions to endless possibilities, and that’s ideal for a concept with a bunch of moving parts already. Deathloop is a timed PS5 exclusve; Xbox users should expect to pay it next year.

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Scarlet Nexus

• Some might be quick to dismiss Scarlet Nexus based on the anime stylings of the characters and the conversation panels, but they’d be overlooking a much more engaging action-RPG experience from Bandai Namco that taps into fast-paced action, open-roam exploration, and science-fiction concepts.
• Echoing the stellar sci-fi action game Control, Scarlet Nexus focuses on agents for a supernatural defense force who also have psychokinetic abilities. The world-building differs in how society has developed around the potential of the human brain, and how citizens with elevated abilities are recruited to defend civilization from hostile aliens.
• Scarlet Nexus makes the most of its relatively standard anime-style plotting and conversational rhythm by dialing up the smooth superpower combat and chaotic battles with unique enemies. And it only grows more interesting as the player gains access to further abilities and explores the futuristic Japanese landscape.

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Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

• While the enthusiasm for Marvel’s The Avengers may have petered out much quicker than most had anticipated, that shouldn’t hold one back from jumping into  Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which has one very clear thing going for it: it’s focused on delivering an engaging single-player experience.
• In a post-galactic war environment, the story finds the Guardians of the Galaxy – Peter, Gomora, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Drax — strapped for cash and willing to go to sketchy lengths to make some. They end up pissing off the wrong person while on a mission to make a quick buck, which chains together the events that’ll shape this new raucous adventure.
• This game from Eidos and Square goes down a different path than the Avengers game by molding the story around light RPG elements, allowing the story to branch from choices made and dialogue chosen in prompts. Wrapped around serviceable, if repetitive third-person sci-fi shooting, Guardians of the Galaxy makes an effort to fill the space opera RPG void left in the absence of others like Mass Effect.

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For the Console Gamer Who Misses Out On Great PC Titles

Console players lucked out this year, as they’ve been granted the honor of being able to play two of the best PC titles to come out in recent memory, in very short order. They couldn’t be more different, either: one’s a colorfully action-based dungeon crawler with levels of difficulty, and the other’s a bleakly moody and dialogue-heavy RPG with layers of complexity.

Hades

• This roguelike dungeon crawler has amassed a strong following since its release, touting it as one of the best current games that couldn’t be played on Xbox or PlayStation. After much celebration, Hades has finally been ported over to those systems a year later, in both digital and physical formats.
• After gaining control of the Prince of the Underworld, players navigate through the beautiful, complex maze of the constantly changing realm as the Olympian gods cheer you on. The path is challenging and unpredictable, but gifts from the gods help the journey, if you can keep them. Die, and boons are reset.
• Between the ever-changing dungeon and the boons to other character-driven paths the game can take, Hades has been designed with countless runs in mind, and it generates enough excitement to do so. That also makes it worthwhile to get this physical edition for the shelf, which includes a 32-page character compendium and a digital code for the soundtrack.

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Disco Elysium: The Final Cut

• While Hades gets the adrenaline flowing through its action and unpredictability, Disco Elysium has been making a name for itself in the opposite spectrum. A dialogue-driven RPG that’s almost entirely stat-based and driven by dialogue or situational decisions, it has been celebrated as one of the best of the genre since its release.
• As a boozed-up detective, the player navigates the subtly futuristic realm of Elysium to pursue the case, which opens up a wealth of conversations and only the tools in the character’s noggin to navigate them. Skills are all about temperament, and as the character moves up in level, overdeveloped aspects of their personality can come into conflict with one another while trying to “succeed” in a conversation. Min/max isn’t effective here.
• Due to the fluid nature of the skills and the wealth of options at the player’s disposal – the game and setting originated as a tabletop RPG, after all – Disco Elysium carries heaps of replay value for the right type of player, with the Final Cut’s addition of fully voiced characters and new quests elevating that.

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2021 Gift Guide: Video Games for the Holiday Season

As the world painstakingly claws its way back to a state of normalcy amid the pandemic, there are a few constants involved with the month of August that’ll make things feel a little more normal: the beginning of school, the approach of football season, and of course the release of the latest Madden video game. For many years now regardless of the reputation of the previous year’s installment, it’s been one of the beacons for all gamers that transcends whatever other interests they may have, gaming or otherwise.

With funds being reserved for that title, sometimes the rest of the month of August can be underwhelming in terms of new games, yet there are some pretty exciting new ones this time around. From the joyous return to two of the biggest cult classics from several console generations back to the hotly anticipated console port of a popular, challenging action platformer, it’s a month to get fired up over with or without the big game. Let’s take a closer look at the titles.

Hades (PS4/5; Xbox O/S/X) — August 13

Plenty of heated discussions continue to go on about the differences between playing on PC and consoles, but there’s one position that tends to be more objective than the others when discussing the superiority of PCs: they usually get better dungeon crawlers, either permanently or as timed exclusives. For a while, the early access period of being able to play Hades offered such an experience, and for the better part of 2020 it became a wildly popular, addictive experience title that could only be taken on by the PC Master Race.  

With its reputation established, Hades eventually moved out of early release onto the Switch and now carries over to the PlayStation and Xbox consoles with rejuvenation anticipation behind it. It embraces the depth of Grecian mythology as it tells the story of Zagreus, the prince of the underworld who hopes to escape its clutches and reach Mount Olympus. Naturally, escaping hell isn’t an easy task, realized in this isometric hack-‘n-slash action puzzle game by adopting the roguelike mantra of randomizing the maze structure of Hades and the relentless enemies within.

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Madden NFL 22 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC; Stadia) — August 20

Look, it would takes some pretty aggressive and continuous negative energy for EA’s tentpole annual football game to suffer much in terms of sales and yearly anticipation. That said, this latest installment of Madden is following one of the more aggressively bashed entries in its three-generation history, even spurring a high-profile Twitter hashtag — “#FixMaddenFranchise”— when it looked like little had been done to the previous year’s game aside from updating the players. Despite ratings bombs and calls for the NFL to ditch EA, sales turned out just fine – up, even — a testament to Madden’s enduring presence.

Madden NFL 22 could benefit from a year of satisfying players, though, especially with this arriving on the newest generation of consoles, and it looks as if EA has actively listened to feedback and will be improving on key areas for this year’s iteration. Notably, franchise mode has been overhauled to allow for more freedom through “detailed staff management and skill tree progression systems”, while they’ve also added new live adjustment to stats and capabilities through the “Dynamic Gameday” integration of real-world data and new tech. If those things are coupled with the gameplay tightness that critics celebrated from last year’s title, Madden NFL 22 could end up being a needed return to form.

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Aliens: Fireteam Elite (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC) — August 24

For the most part, you can split fans of the Alien franchise down the middle, with one half preferring Ridley Scott’s original horror-centric Alien film and the other feeling as if James Cameron’s action-oriented Aliens sequel improves upon the idea. It’s a lot easier to approach a video game adaptation of those concepts, but the horror side of Alien – and arguably the franchise itself – was properly done justice with the survival horror game Alien: Isolation. This, in essence, has become the proper “horror Alien game”, and it’s probably only a matter of time before it gets an Aliens-like action companion.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite hopes to at least get close to the bullseye there by delivering a multiplayer, third-person survivor shooter experience that both takes place some 20 years after the original Alien trilogy and borrows plot aspects from those films. Players gain control of a Colonial Marine that can belong to five different classes – from shooters and beaters to techies and healers – that can utilize a slew of weapons, mods and perks that take on aliens alongside a squad of either AI-assisted or online teammates. Positive comparisons to the zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead have already been drawn, and the promise of no loot boxes or non-cosmetic microtransaction certainly helps to get hyped.

Click Here to Order Aliens: Fireteam Elite at Amazon

Psychonauts 2 (PS4; Xbox O/S/X; PC; Mac; Lin) — August 25

Over the years, Double Fine Productions has built a reputation of joy and reliability with their efforts in the Costume Quest family-friendly RPGs, several novel action-puzzle games such as Brutal Legend and Stacking, and in remastering the games that founder Tim Schafer created over at LucasArts. However, even with a decade and a half of work under their belt, many if not most gamers will forever know them as the studio responsible for the quirky, energetic, meaningful and addictive action platformer Psychonauts. Because of its cult popularity, a sequel has remained high in demand yet seemingly out of reach.

Unlike other similar titles that get swept up in development hell – looking at you, Beyond Good and Evil 2 – it’s certainly looking like Double Fine will finally be delivering Psychonauts 2 to its fanbase at the end of August. Based on preview footage, the powers of Raz the Psychonaut seems to share things in common with other psionic object-movement action games currently available, only with Tim Schafer’s delightful sense of humor and an outlandish, surreal atmosphere in the vein of Tim Burton’s animated films. With an undercurrent of symbolism about mental health, supported by an expert in the field hired by Double Fine, it’s looking like Psychonauts might be showing up at the right time for everyone.

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No More Heroes III (Switch) — August 27

While many players likely have their strongest original Nintendo Wii memories stemming from Twilight Princess, Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart or, heck, even Wii Bowling, others will fondly recall when they were introduced to the bizarre world of No More Heroes. Against cel-shade landscapes with 8-bit details, the game envelops its players in a streak of geekery that merely begins with the “otaku” lead character wielding a practical laser sword that occasionally needs a little jerking to power it back up. Generous portions of Grand Theft Auto gameplay philosophies are seasoned with anime and sci-fi culture in creating the exploits of Travis Touchdown and his climb up the ranks of an assassin guild.

Travis returns once again on the Switch in No More Heroes III, and this time he’s climbing the ranks of superheroism so that he may prove himself worthy enough to defeat an invading alien overlord. Players can traverse a series of five open-world zones with help of the hero’s new motorcycle, while the combat once again employs a mixture of hack-‘n-slashing with his beam katana and a hybrid of martial arts and professional wrestling maneuvers. Original series designer and writer Goichi Suda returns for this third entry in the No More Heroes saga, which should result in a raucous experience not unlike that first one on the OG Nintendo Wii.

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The rest of the releases for August are generally pretty lowkey, with Ghost of Tsushima: Director Cut (August 20) and The Falconeer: Warrior Edition (August 5) offering some higher-profile PS5 ports throughout the month. The arthouse gaming wing of Annapurna Interactive will also be releasing a duo of indie titles this month, a survival mystery game called I Am Dead coming on August 9 and a time-constraint mystery experience entitled 12 Minutes coming on August 19. There’s also a pretty sweet looking Metroidvania platform action game entitled Recompile coming on August 19, and  a potentially interesting action-adventure experience called Foreclosed – which seems like a hybrid of Blade Runner and Cyberpunk – worth keeping an eye on when it comes out of the shadows on August 12.

August’s Video Games: Madden, Sure, But Also Psychonauts!

While it’s nice when the season officially turns into summertime and invites people to do lots of activities outside, there comes a time for both adults and kids where the choice to go outside in the radiating heat or to stay indoors – say, with exhilarating video games – becomes much tougher. For me, over time, July gradually turned into the month of Legend of Zelda. Long hot days frequently led into quiet evenings of getting immersed in hikes across Hyrule Field or sailing across the Great Sea.  

Between still being in the scope of a pandemic and coping with a tough, prolonged heat wave, it sounds like a great time to grab up sword-‘n-shield and battle the forces of evil, and Nintendo has a semi-fresh experience featuring Link to fuel those demands.  Otherwise, July’s a pretty standard summer month with a low volume of new releases and even lower-key presence to the ones that are showing up for battle.  Let’s take a closer look.

Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD – July 16 (Switch)

The original release of Skyward Sword was a bit awkward. After the immensely successful debut of Twilight Princess as a launch title for the Wii – and the dramatic controversy that came when it didn’t get perfect review scores – expectations grew high for a follow-up. Once release date approached, it became clear that those who wanted to play Skyward Sword would have to buy a Wii MotionPlus controller or adapter, another peripheral for a rapidly declining console, and cope with amplified motion controls without a standard option. Coupled with some peculiar hoopla over Link wearing baggy pants instead of his signature leggings, it amounted to one of the lower enthusiasm releases for a Zelda game to date.

Thus, the opportunity for Nintendo to release a remastered version of Skyward Sword for the Switch also marks the ideal time for players to give it another shot, or perhaps give it their first shot if the controller aspects kept them from playing it beforehand. While the Joy-Con controllers will obviously be able to handle the motion responses, this version will also have the option for standard button controls, an appealing “downgrade” for more traditional players. Along with trimmed tutorials and new autosave functions, the game has been preserved with some quality-of-life upgrades, though those still bothered by Link’s trousers are out of luck.

Get Skyward Sword HD at Amazon

F1 2021 – July 16 (PS4/5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

While there will be some who are inherently interested in F1 2021 because of the specific racing format itself, it’s likely to generate more visceral enthusiasm by just calling it “the latest racing game from Codemasters”. For over 3 decades now, the studio has established themselves as one of the most reliable in the racing genre, to which they’ve settled into a comfortable stride by releasing two new racing games a year: one that rotates and changes between Grid, Dirt, and other ideas, and their annual F1 game.

F1 2021 marks the first installment released by Codemasters since being bought out by EA Games earlier this year, with the publishing giant affirming that the studio would maintain an independent presence underneath their umbrella. Whether that’ll stay true is unknown, of course, but F1 2021 does mark the last of the titles produced without much opportunity for outside forces to meddle with their process. This installment introduces a new two-player story mode, several classic drivers and new circuits, but aside from that F1 2021 seems to be business as usual from Codemasters.

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Cris Tales – July 20 (PS4/5; Xbox O/S/X; Switch; PC; Stadia)

After a while, a lot of current turn-based RPGs start to blur together with their art styles, largely due to so many of them being designed in Japan or with anime-leaning aesthetics. Columbian indie developer Dreams Uncorporated clearly draws inspiration from both legacy and current entries among that genre in creating Cris Tales, showcasing similarities to classic semi-3D Final Fantasy titles as well as to the modern boldness of the Persona franchise. What’s different about this one can be found in the regional flare within the art style, reminiscent of a hybrid of Paper Mario and Guacamelee in its flattened, yet enlivened graphical presence.

Cris Tales follows a fairly standard RPG storytelling path, in which a female heroine is given a mystical glimpse at future calamities, discovers her powers and takes control of a powerful sword to fight evil.  Through a turn-based combat system, the game takes on more of a distinctive presence as it uses the space of time as a tool for battle, transporting combatants to the past and future to attack enemies and launch spells. There’s something incredibly comfortable about the way Cris Tales seems to operate, existing as both a love letter to late-‘90s and early 2000s RPGs while also having a current panache that doesn’t come across as overly dated.

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The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles – July 27 (PS4; Switch; PC)

The Ace Attorney franchise stands on the other side of cult appreciation: while its premise has something of a niche audience, it has thrived on Nintendo’s handhelds for 2 decades now. Starting with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney on the Gameboy Advance, the titles have established a reputation of being one of the best examples of “visual novel” game design, where players interact with a courtroom atmosphere to investigate cases, decipher inconsistencies, and ultimately win cases based on decisions and observations.

Series creator Shu Takumi initially wanted the first couple of games to be it for the Ace Attorney franchise, but naturally popularity led into future installments for a period that didn’t directly involve the creator. He later returned to create new Ace Attorney stories, though, and this Great Ace Attorney Chronicles compilation features two of those contributions — Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and its sequel, Ace Attorney 2: Resolve – that center on a law-practicing descendent of series protagonist Phoenix Wright. The compilation will also feature both English and Japanese language tracks, all DLC and content galleries.

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Neo: The World Ends With You – July 27 (PS4; Switch)

The World Ends With You came later in the Nintendo DS’s life cycle, but still remains one of the best titles to appear on the handheld. Ported over a decade later onto the Switch, its blend of anime and music flavored storytelling and outlandish side-scrolling brawling gives it a distinctly colorful and vivacious personality, tapping into a similarly self-aware and melodic attitude as Scott Pilgrim and No More Heroes. As is so often the case with niche popular titles like this, a sequel comes to fruition when there’s a spike in interest some decade or so later, and this one’s largely the result of the port to the Switch.

Regardless of the reasons why, Neo: The World Ends With You emerges as an unexpected, yet welcome sequel that overhauls the DS’s gameplay design without compromising its original attitude. Sure, the layout now has a more expansive three-dimensional presence to both the exploration of the Shibuya shopping district in Tokyo and the versatile, multi-character combat. However, from the vivid palette and panel conversations to the wild energy of the fights throughout the streets, it conveys the same intentions of the original DS title with the pure motivation to bring it to a bigger stage.  

Fueling more nostalgic memories of sunbaked summer gaming sessions, July seems to be the month of the smaller-scale tactical and turn-based RPGs, as there are numerous entries into that genre hitting consoles and PCs. The Silver Case and its new sequel, The 25^th Ward: The Silver Case, will be coming to the Switch from Grasshopper Manufacture on July 6, while Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin swoops in on July 9 on the Switch as well. On a more action-driven front, Tribes of Midgard storms onto the PS4/PS5 and PC battlefield from Gearbox Publishing on July 27, while The Ascent risers up on Xbox Series and One systems on July 29. Rounding out this category is Fuga: Melodies of Steel, a tactical RPG featuring tanks and anthropomorphic cats and dogs, which comes on July 29 across most platforms.  A Plague Tale: Innocence will be making its next-gen port debut to PS5 and XSX on July 6, as will Microsoft Flight Simulator  when it lands on Xbox Series X on July 27.

July’s Video Games Show Lotsa Love to Switch, Led by Skyward Sword HD

As soon as the world starts getting somewhat back to normal in its post-vaccine state, the blistering sun and heat waves seem determined to drive people back inside, and thus back in front of video game systems for some cooldown relief. Turns out, this June also has a lot of gaming excitement crammed into it, which is both to be expected for prime summer months and a welcome sight considering the circumstances. Old faces and new experiences provide excellent company during the retreat, from classic adventure settings to a familiar embellishment on a sport and a collection of highly challenging action games from years past. Let’s take a closer look at the games.

Chivalry II – June 8 (PS4/5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Sure, there’s enough sword-slinging, arrow-flying, and axe-wielding combat to go around in the video game spectrum, but a lot of it naturally relies on button mashing and less on measured, tactical decisions. The cheekily-titled Chivalry: Medieval Warfare tries to fix this, creating a multiplayer environment in the Middle Ages where gravitas and flashiness are replaced with real-world heft of bladed weapons and ranged projectiles. It’s brutal, messy, and provides a starkly different multiplayer atmosphere from the rest while satisfying the demand for more realistic medieval combat.

Chivalry II took nearly a decade to storm onto the battlefield, but it does so with several improvements in tow, chief of them being the possibility for 64-player combat. The developers want players to understand that this sequel isn’t just a medieval swordplay simulator, either. Just about anything can be picked up and wielded as weapons while on the battlefield, including severed limbs, which they’ve equated to being more like a rough and tumble “bar fight” than a focused sim.

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Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection – June 10 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

Let’s be honest: few things are cooler in video games than being given control of a ninja. Do the games have to involving saving the world or rescuing someone important or just about any other game tropes? Not really, if it lands on the right balance between precise, exciting martial-arts combat and stealth while either progressing through battles with enemies or exhibiting some kind of stealth to a key destination. Ninja Gaiden has built a sturdy reputation for being a very tough, exhilarating example of the action side, in which the lead character uses ninja skills more for fierce combat than sneaking.

Collections are hot right now, of course, and Team Ninja have hopped aboard that train to release the Master Collection, which bundles Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Sigma 2, and Razor’s Edge in one presentation. Players should note that this isn’t a full remaster like some other collections being released right now; however, textures have been improved and the games run at 60fps. Those hoping for the complete intense, frustrating experience of taking on these classic games will find it here, as Team Ninja have also included the vast majority of downloadable content as well.

Get Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection at the PlayStation Store

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart – June 11 (PS5)

After taking a detour into the world of open-world superhero games with their widely celebrated Spider-Man series, Insomniac Games have returned to arguably their biggest name making franchise, Ratchet and Clank, for their first title developed specifically for the new PS5 console. Rift Apart follows the similarly frenetic third-person shooter of the previous games, following the high-personality duo of the ambitious “Lombax” Ratchet and his robot sidekick, Crank. The fabric of time and space complicates matters, spreading across realities and eventually linking them with Rivet (voiced by Jennifer Hale), a female resistance fighter and also one of the anthropomorphic Lombax.

While several games released over the past half year have showcased some of the potential of the new consoles, Rift Apart could be seen as the first substantial example of what’s capable under their hoods. It’s less about the detail, color, or viewable area and more about how much will be going on across the screen as Ratchet and his buddies tear through enemies in an insanely active and reactive third-person shooting space. Knowing Insomniac Games, they’re sure to make it as engaging and driven by personality as they can, though many of the other details about how this “standalone” entry will function remain to be seen.

Get Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart at Amazon

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance – June 22 (PS4/5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

Hack-‘n-slash dungeon crawlers tend to be some of the best games to play with both regular players and, more importantly, with those who don’t really get into video games very much. There’s something about exploring “dungeons” – caverns, towns, castles, whatever — beating up fantasy bad guys and sorting through loot alongside a seasoned “adventurer” that’s very enjoyable for all involved.  While there are better crawlers out there, and certainly better fantasy action-RPGs, one of the most enjoyable partner experiences can be found in the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance series of couch co-op games.

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance seeks to recapture some of the same attitude in the modern era, incorporating recognizable characters from the world of R. A. Salvatore’s Legend of Drizzt series and the Icewind Dale setting into a 4-person party dungeon crawler. The perspective is different, though, following directly in a third-person angle instead of the isometric design of the older games … and thus, it’s unsurprising that the experience was originally limited to the single player and online multiplayer modes that didn’t have to keep track of other characters on the screen.  However, the developers have listened to feedback and have promised to implement split-screen multiplayer in the coming months.

Get D&D: Dark Alliance at Amazon

Mario Golf: Super Rush – June 25 (Switch)

While Mario may have made appearances as a player in Nintendo’s early sports games, the “wacky golf game” subgenre only got fired up in the mid ‘90s with the likes of Hot Shots Golf (Everybody’s Golf), and it’s one of the few times where Nintendo has had to catch up to the curve. Soon came Mario Golf, a competitor featuring the Mario gang that leans into the wacky aspects of the concept, though still sticking mostly to the framework of contemporary semi-real golf games. With future titles, such as Toadstool Tour for the Gamecube, the silliness factor continues to ramp up, yet still stay reserved.

Mario Golf: Super Rush drives the concept much further into the realm of chaotic, colorful arcade-style golf, packed full of glitzy power-ups and energized visuals befitting Nintendo’s branding. There’s also a degree of interactivity with the opponent’s golf balls on the course that ensures this’ll both be a blast of a multiplayer experience and, more than likely, a little overboard for those looking for more subtly exaggerated golf sims like Hot Shots Golf and Powerstar Golf. It could still fill the hole, though.

Get Mario Golf: Super Rush at Amazon

Scarlet Nexus – June 25 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; PC)

It takes looking a little deeper to find this out, but Scarlet Nexus isn’t quite the game that it presents itself to be in promotional artwork, as it’s an anime-styled action RPG from Bandai Namco Studios. Maybe that’s intentional, because those who aren’t as into the anime lifestyle might reflexively turn away from what looks to be an absorbing, detailed science-fiction alternate reality and an highly engaging hack-‘n-slash combat design. Beyond the character models and conversation panels, there’s something more universally appealing.

Scarlet Nexus depicts a near-future urban realm, one where humans have used technology to tap into superhuman powers within the brain, and the warriors who defend it from other-worldly foes. To do so, they employ both close-ranged swordplay and mental energy control over objects that can be projected at their enemies. Like many other RPGs, the protagonists – two to choose from – will link up with companions that have their own unique powers, which in turn can be learned by the main character. Scarlet Nexus positions itself to be an anime hybrid of Mass Effect and Control, with a lot of potential.

Get Scarlet Nexus at Amazon

If those weren’t enough, there’s also a number of noteworthy ports coming out, including the upgraded Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade edition for PS5 on June 10, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on June 11, and the complete edition of Metro Exodus on PS5 and Xbox Series X on June 18. Elder Scrolls Online will also be making its grand debut on the next-gen consoles on June 15, furthering its stay as folks await the proper standalone Elder Scrolls 6. Over on the Switch, players will now have access to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 on June 25 and Destroy All Humans on June 29, while a remastered version of Legend of Mana will also be hitting on the Switch, PS4 and PC on Jun3 24. And for those interested, the uniquely delayed official video game for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be released globally on June 22.  

June’s New Video Games Beat the Heat With Swinging, Hacking, Shooting

Honestly, the past few months of covering new video game releases have been a struggle. From the impacts of development due to the pandemic to the relative “dead time” a few months after the release of new consoles, the early portion of 2021 saw a noticeably low number of heavy-hitting games and ended up being better suited for catching up on older titles. For the most part, leading into the hot months of summer, that changes with the release calendar put forth in May. From a long-awaited – and recently quite heavily memed – new installment in a beloved horror franchise to a delayed, yet anticipated science-fiction action game and a premium remastering of one of the most celebrated trilogies ever created, there’s a lot of firepower in this month’s lineup. Let’s get into it.

Resident Evil: Village – May 7 (PS4/5; Xbox O/S/X; Stadia; PC)

Excitement levels for the Resident Evil franchise took a hit after the release of RE6, which steers the franchise away from being focused on terror and more into the vigor of the action-horror subgenre.  Then, the combo of RE7 and the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3 showed that their design philosophy had returned closer to the spectrum of horror, striking a satisfying balance between shooter intensity, genuine scares, and reverence for the franchise. The success in those titles make it easier to get fired up about future installments … which is good, because this one’s a doozy.

Resident Evil 8, code-named Village, takes some cues from the enduringly popular setup of the fourth game by dropping returning character Ethan Winters near a township within the boundaries of Transylvania. There, on an emotional rescue mission, he encounters the various monstrous denizens of the village, notably the tall and imposing vampire-ish ruler Lady Dimitrescu who has taken the internet by storm. While RE8 does stay locked the first-person perspective and removed from the familiar zombie ambience, the isolation and inventory aspects look to Resident Evil 4 for heavy inspiration.

Get Resident Evil: Village on Amazon

Hood: Outlaws and Legends – May 10 (PS4/5; XBOX O/S/X; PC)

Frequently depicted in a hood and sporting an iconic bow and arrow, the character of Robin Hood possesses traits that have already become recognizable on popular video-game characters. While the hood can be seen as a signature element of Assassin’s Creed and the archery aspects found in the likes of Tomb Raider and The Last of Us, the combo befits another semi-popular video game character: Garrett of the Thief series, a close shadow of the legendary character. Between all that, it’s relatively understandable why we haven’t really seen a dedicated Robin Hood video game in the current era.

Striking while there’s a lull in all those franchises, Hood: Outlaws and Legends hopes to fill the void both of the stealth genre and of the absence of a game centered on the mythology of the character. This is a budget, online-only multiplayer title with a narrower focus, though, pitting foursomes of characters from that storyline against each other in a battle and race to pilfer goods from a fortified point before the other. Gameplay appears to be a tight hybrid of others from the stealth genre, and there’s something to be said for the game’s dependence on team-based coordination for the “merry men” to succeed.

Get Hood: Outlaws and Legends

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition – May 14 (PS4; Xbox One; PC)

It’s been almost a decade since the Mass Effect trilogy came to a thrilling, polarizing conclusion. Despite the passage of time – and despite the release of the “flawed, yet exhilarating journey” that is Andromeda — it doesn’t seem like the enthusiasm of its fans has faded much at all, which can be seen each time even a mild hint surfaced about a remastered edition of the original Mass Effect games. When it was finally confirmed that a new edition would be making the jump to newer consoles, the response was predictably charged up, even when it was unclear what exactly the Legendary Edition would be.

To be fair, we still don’t fully know exactly what the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will be, except on the surface.  Comparison footage reveals it to be a handsome upcycling of the original atmospheric visuals, improved just enough to be impressive yet not too much to make any of the games feel like different experiences, as they aren’t remakes. In terms of gameplay …? Well, that remains to be seen, as the original game has at the very least been low-level overhauled in terms of the shooting/cover controls and driving around in the iconic vehicle, the Mako. BioWare’s never short for surprises, so it’s anyone’s guess what’ll be at the other end, except they’ve insisted that fans will still feel at home in this Mass Effect.

Get Mass Effect: Legendary Edition at Amazon

Subnautica: Below Zero – May 14 (PS4,5; Xbox O,S,X; Switch; PC)

While there will always be a desire to explore space and beyond, there’s something to be said for the fact that we’ve only explored about 1/5 of the oceans on Earth, concealing plenty of mysteries. Subnautica took the enigmatic appeal of exploring other planets and oceanic depths and merged them to the fullest extent, dropping the player into the depths of water planet 4546B and forcing them to survive with advanced navigation and scuba equipment. While the discovery and immersion are easy targets for compliments in Subnautica, players often talk about being surprised by how scary it can be.

Subnautica: Below Zero hopes to capture the same sense of wonder and anxiety, but in some new and versatile ways. Taking place a year after the events of the first game, this one finds the player crashed in an even less hospitable portion of 4546B, introducing temperature gauges and extensive land aspects. Players still have the freedom to customize their Subnautica experience, though, as they can again choose from survival, freedom, and hardcore modes to fit the engulfing experience they’re hoping to have.

Get Subnautica: Below Zero at Amazon

Biomutant – May 25 (PS4; Xbox One; PC)

Early rumblings about Biomutant had it pegged as possibly being one of the more unique, trailblazing games to come out in the early years of last-gen consoles. Mostly, that boiled down to the customizations that the open-world adventure game would bequeath to the player, allowing them to create wild mammalian characters that must be mutated and manually modified in specific ways to reach unique locations and achieve goals. From a daylight/weather system to transport vehicles and deviations in the story path based on choices, the game has been propped up as having tons of potential with its freedom and responsiveness.

Then, Biomutant just drops off the grid, offering little in terms of updates and no concrete release dates for quite a while. And now, we’re in the early stages of the next generation of consoles, and Experiment 101 will finally be releasing their once hotly-anticipated debut at the end of May.  To their luck, there hasn’t been much advancement in the nature of open-world games since the peak of its hype – save the masterpiece that is the shark-RPG Maneater, of course – and if they’re able to deliver on their premise and potential, Biomutant could still leave a fresh impression on the sandbox subgenre.

Get Biomutant at Amazon

At the tail end of the month, on May 25, folks worldwide will also finally be able to get their hands on the delightful HD remastering of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne released in Japan earlier this year. On the same day, Capcom will be delivering their own retro collection with Capcom Arcade Stadium, which packages together several noteworthy games from their history, including a trio of the most popular installments in the Street Fighter franchise (original SFII, SFII Turbo: Hyper Fighting, SSFII Turbo). Also on May 25, Switch users will finally be able to see what the fuss is all about with Maneater, while the Switch, the other consoles and PC will be able to hit the high seas in another way with King of Seas, an attempt at more evenly balancing the action and management aspects of a pirate simulator.

May’s New Video Game Titles Effective at Giving Life to 2021

To certain sports fans out there, one of the most significant developments in video games will be happening in the month of April, where a longstanding series will finally be breaking free from a lengthy exclusivity deal. This is a big deal that’s been a long time coming, and with its preplanned release and the shift in seasons, it’s not surprising that the rest of the offerings throughout April aren’t that attention-grabbing.

With that being said, there are a few other solid new releases to keep other gamers occupied, from a new sci-fi shooter-RPG and a novel spinoff from the popular Yakuza series to another installment in a low-key popular racing franchise. Let’s take a closer look.

Outriders – April 1 (PS4, PS5; XBOX O/S/X; Stadia; PC)

Next month, gamers will be able to relive the original Mass Effect experience all over again, and while several aspects contribute to that franchise’s popularity, one of the key successes can be found in how the gameplay mixes shooting and spellcasting with its “biotics” abilities. Outriders taps into a similar premise, only it extrapolates much further on the potential. After a colonization mission goes south due to the emergence of the Anomaly – a life-altering energy storm – the player’s customized character awakens from cryostasis several decades later to find the environment in shambles and the human remnants embroiled in civil war.

They also awake to find that their body has been altered by the Anomaly, in a way determined by the player’s selection of 4 different classes, and that they’re not the only ones given gifts by the Anomaly: other humans now also have those almost superhero-like abilities. Either solo or with cooperative buddies along for the ride, Outriders tosses them into the harrowing, alien-populated expanses of the world, guns and spells in tow and a skill tree ready to fill up.

Get Outriders at Amazon Here

Lost Words: Beyond the Page — April 6 (PS4; XBX; Switch; PC)

Rhianna Pratchett – daughter of the late renowned fantasy author Terry Pratchett – has been, in one way or another, responsible for some of the more compelling video game narratives of the past few console generations: Heavenly Sword, Mirror’s Edge, the rebooted Tomb Raider, several others. Lost Words: Beyond the Page brings her writing focus down to a smaller, intimate scale, in which a family story is told around the gameplay mechanics of a young girl walking throughout the pages of her diary, changing in subtle ways depending on the multiple-choice word options selected by the player.

Light platforming gameplay guides the character through vibrant side-scrolling level design as it spins a tale about the heartbreak of losing someone and the importance of discovering purpose, a game largely uninterested in difficulty and more about drawing those playing into the themes being crafted.

Get Lost Words: Beyond the Page at Microsoft Store Here

MLB The Show 21 – April 20 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X)

Yup, The Show was an exclusive on PlayStation consoles for almost exactly a decade and a half, providing one of the more peculiar, yet effective console exclusives for the past 3-4 generations. Why exactly the decision was made to jump onto rival consoles this time isn’t clear, except for the obvious: a much wider audience of players will now have access to the game, which of course increases the opportunity for revenue later down the line. It’ll be part of Microsoft’s Game Pass program as a free download at launch to celebrate the happening, so Xbox players will want to keep an eye out for that … but really, the money’s still going to come through in-game purchases.

Thing is, The Show sees this opportunity and knows it should deliver something special, resulting in the inclusion of some potent new aspects such as stadium creation, additional immersion aspects in the career mode, and cross-platform play between platform types. Not only is exclusivity broken, but players on different machines can play against one another on The Show’s first step up to this plate. That’s pretty impressive.

Get the Jackie Robinson Edition of The Show 21 at Best Buy Here

MotoGP 21 – April 22 (PS4,5; Xbox O/S/X; Stadia; PC)

Racing titles – especially motorcycle racers — have a special lineage in the history of video games, as the velocity and responsiveness of flooring it through tracks was one of the earliest effective usages of realistic graphics. While the likes of Road Rash’s battle bike design established a reputation early, the more focused simulators gradually gained in popularity, especially those under the MotoGP official branding in the PS2 era.

Since, the rights to MotoGP has shifted from studio to studio, and now we’re in the middle of Italian developer Milestone’s tenure, slated to last until 2026. Also the folks behind the Ride and Monster Energy Supercross racing franchises, Milestone brings a reliable prestige to each title that comes out from them, with MotoGP 20 being a unique title that depicts the season as if COVID hadn’t happened. MotoGP 21 will likely see mild improvements to simulation and immersion aspects.

Get MotoGP 21 at the PlayStation Store Here

Get MotoGP 21 at the PlayStation Store Here

Judgment – April 23 (PS5; Xbox O/S/X; Stadia)

Yakuza is currently in a state of transformation, exploring new protagonists and gameplay styles within the same general universe created within SEGA’s popular franchise. Like a Dragon rolls the dice on both a new lead character and a turn-based battle system, and fans were surprisingly warm and welcome to the changes, something that can be tricky for even other franchises under SEGA’s umbrella; they’re the house of Sonic, after all.

With franchise mastermind Toshihiro Nagoshi at the helm, they also took another risk with Judgment, though it’s probably considered a lower risk. While the gameplay sticks to the action-based fluidity of previous installments in Yakuza, the perspective shifts to that of a private investigator, and some of the gameplay complexity branches off from that change in objective. Critics haven’t been entirely positive toward the superficiality of the investigation mechanics, but the overall shift in objectives for Judgment has been embraced, and will continue to do so with this upgraded release on PS5 and debut on Xbox consoles and Stadia.  

Get Judgment at Amazon Here

Between MotoGP and Judgment, the Stadia system isn’t having a bad month, as it’s also getting a port of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard on April 1. A remastered edition of the classic PS1 RPG Saga: Frontier will be charging into battle on April 15, while stalwart protagonist Super Meat Boy will see his adventures come to more consoles as Super Meat Boy: Forever ports over from the Switch to Xbox One and PS4 on April 16. A remastered version of the Nier: Replicant variant of the game from Cavia and Square Enix will be coming on April 23. Rounding things out for the month will be R-Type 2 Final, the first official release from the franchise in over 15 years, coming in on April 29-30.

April’s Video Game Roster: The Show 21, Outriders and Bike Racers

It’s essentially been a year since society has adopted the “lockdown” way of doing things, and we’re still in the difficult period after the launch of new video game consoles where they’re still very tough to come by. Both of those things make for a frustrating month in March, as the backlog of games to play might be running a bit dry and the inability to try out old favorite games on the new machines remains an issue. It doesn’t help that the admittedly long list of new video games hitting shelves this month remains lower key and underwhelming despite the volume, with many of them dedicated to next-generation upgrades of older titles. Best to keep digging through the backlog bin and looking out for sales on other titles, but let’s take a peek at the ones that might generate some interest.

Mortal Shell: Enhanced Edition – March 4 (Series X/S; PS5)

Leading into the release of Marvel’s Avengers and the remastered edition of Kingdoms of Amalur last year, Mortal Shell fell under the radar in the school-prep and Madden-dominated month of August. While it didn’t break any barriers, the third-person action-RPG from Cold Symmetry got many things right, blending credible battle movement, an ominous atmosphere, and a novel gameplay mechanic hinged on sporadically gaining control of several body types – “shells” – with different combat styles.

Comparisons to Dark Souls are not only merited, but intended and invited by the developers, who seek to fill the void left in the absence of further installments from the universe. Mortal Shell elicits those intended responses as it earns favorable comparisons to the Souls series, though its short length and sluggishness with enemies are a recurring critique.  The Enhanced Edition for PS5 and Xbox Series X arrives digitally in March, but with physical goodies if you wait until April, including a reversible cover and an art book.

Get Mortal Shell: Enhanced Edition at Amazon

Mundaun – March 16 (Xbox One/Series; PS4/5; Switch; PC)

Every frame of Mundaun seems like it’s been lifted straight from the pages of an old novel with illustrations, heavy on the cardboard/sepia brown aesthetic as the backdrop for hand-drawn animation.  Developers Hidden Fields utilize this vintage essence to tell a tale of horror, survival, and the chilly expanses of the Alps, applying artist sketches to 3D models of buildings, humans, and creatures alike to preserve the illusion throughout the icy landscape.

Mundaun acts like it’s wanting to tap into the same lingering sense of dread and ominous presence of the likes of Limbo and Return of the Obra Dinn, but with its own fabled lore pushing the first-person experience forward. Little is known about the game beyond its early promo footage and glimpses at the artistic process, but those are more than enough to raise the interest level in any horror, mystery, or survival gamer yearning for the next absorbing fix.

RBI Baseball 21 – March 16 (Xbox Series/One; PS4/5; Switch; PC)

The market for baseball games has been a tough one, and one of the few where a single console has held a monopoly over the official, most realistic and successful title: MLB’s The Show on PlayStation. That is, until this year when it finally debuts on the Xbox.  This also marks the end of a long gap of opportunity for any other developers to make a worthy multi-console competitor, with Super Mega Baseball essentially becoming the Hot Shots Golf of the baseball video game realm; despite the cartoon designs, it’s an exciting and deep sports experience.

Despite many attempts, RBI Baseball has never been able to fill that void, always lagging one step behind in both the simulator and arcade aspects against its competitors.  RB1 21 steps up to the plate for yet another attempt to make something happen in the space between those games, and while it doesn’t have the realistic pop of The Show or the flair of Super Mega Baseball, it does look like it has continued to take steps in the right direction by keeping its grounded gameplay tweaks and amplifying its personality with play-by-play commentary.

Get RBI Baseball 21 at Amazon

Balan Wonderworld – March 26 (Xbox Series/One; PS4/5; Switch; PC)

Yuji Naka has been involved with the creation of some of the most iconic platform games in existence with the Sonic franchise, but he also played a key role in developing the delightfully whimsical Nights Into Dreams, which had a hand in breaking people’s perceptions of where 3D gaming could go. A strong grasp on level design and a clear vision for characterization guarantee that just about project under his direction will, at the very least, have vibrance and personality laced through challenging environments.

Now under the Square Enix banner, he’s taking on his first completely new project in a while with Balan Wonderworld, in which a mythical maestro guides the player character through a musical wonderland filled with various costumes of creatures and other organisms.  While the maestro evokes memories of Nights Into Dreams, the gameplay of Balan Wonderworld seems like it fits somewhere between Sonic, 3D Mario titles and Kameo: Elements of Power in the shifting forms undertaken by the character.

Get Balan Wonderworld at Amazon

Monster Hunter: Rise – March 26 (Switch)

While many franchises tend to stick exclusively to one console or eventually make it onto all of ‘em, Monster Hunter has generous bounced around between both PlayStation and Nintendo consoles during its lifespan. The sixth proper installment in the Monster Hunter narrative, Rise, has been designed with the Switch in mind and will likely stay an exclusive on that format, though a PC version will trample onto the scene sometime next year.

As one can tell by the mere existence of the recent live-action adaptation starring Milla Jovovich – good or bad as it may be — Monster Hunter holds a lot of potential with its world-building and action-oriented extravagance, with a clear knack for the scope of strategic boss battles against huge enemies that need to be scaled to be defeated. Rise furthers the advancement of the previous installments as the Hunter pursues contracts for monsters to be slain, and players can both take the challenges on alone or get together with others online for a co-op hunt.

Get Monster Hunter: Rise at Amazon

There are a lot, and I mean a lot, of ports and upgrades being released in March. Sea of Solitude: Director’s Cut hits on March 4, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning makes it way onto the Switch on March 16, and the vast majority of Kingdom Hearts titles are making their way onto PC at the end of the month. Yakuza: Like a Dragon gets its PS5 makeover on March 2, Samurai Shodown gets a nice spit-polish for the Xbox Series consoles on March 16, and Crash Bandicoot 4 arrives on the Switch and the other next-gen consoles on March 14. Meanwhile, for those still interested, the upgraded version of Marvel’s Avengers finally lands on March 18. And, at some point during March, certain consoles will be getting the highly-anticipated Disco Elysium: Final Cut … with others coming a few months later.

March’s New Video Games: Wonderworlds, Monster Hunters, Lotsa Ports