This month is either packed or barren depending on how much you value new IPs and niche titles over big games in popular franchises. Here is a summary of some of the ones I recognize:
The biggest game this month is Pragmata. This is a sci-fi action adventure shooter in which a man tries to escape a lunar colony with the help of an android child. It plays like a third person shooter but in order to damage enemies the android character initiates a hacking minigame that you must complete in real time. This isn't going to be for everyone but I think it will appeal to players craving a little novelty in their big budget video games.
The other major release this month is an expansion: Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred. I don't think I need to explain this one. New features include two new classes, paladin and warlock, as well as the return of the Horadric Cube, a crafting mechanic from Diablo II.
This is also the first month in quite awhile in which each major platform holder has their own exclusive.
Sony's big new release is Saros. This is from the same studio that made Returnal, which was a game that blended third person shooting, bullet hell, and roguelike gameplay elements. This game expands on the formula established with Returnal and smooths out some of the rough edges, adding more prominent permanent progression systems, interactable npcs, etc.
Microsoft platforms (Xbox and PC) are seeing the release of Replaced. This is a cyberpunk 2D action platformer that turned heads years ago thanks to its high fidelity pixel art style. In it you play as an AI that is trapped in a human body as you investigate corruption in an alternate 1980s America. It's been delayed several times but is finally coming out.
Nintendo has two new games, both fairly niche. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a quirky social simulation game and Pokemon Champions is a Pokemon spinoff that focuses purely on the combat, including competitive multiplayer
Finally, of the many, many indie games coming out this month, the one I am going to call attention to is Vampire Crawlers. This is a pseudo-sequel to Vampire Survivors, another one of those indie games that sort of created its own genre of copycats. Vampire Survivors was a sort of auto-battler roguelike in which you collected gear and discovered transmutations of that gear as you tried to survive increasingly more intense waves of enemies. Instead of just doing that again, Vampire Crawlers takes many of the same assets and puts them in a simple dungeon crawling rpg shell.
Spoiler for April releases:
PC
Replaced (April) - action platformer
Multiplatform
Pragmata (April) - action adventure
Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred (April) - action rpg expansion
Is anyone looking forward to any of this month's releases?
I think Capcom has been on a roll lately and is one of the few big publishers I still trust, but I won't be biting on Pragmata right away. Looks interesting though. Also curious about Saros but the only things I'm likely to actually play this month are Vampire Crawlers and Replaced. Vampire Crawlers is only $10, and I'm pretty sure both are coming to Game Pass. Microsoft recently massively raised the price on Game Pass on consoles, so I've been getting some value out of it before PC Game Pass gets the same (or worse) fate.
PS+
Lords of the Fallen (PS5)
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered (PS5/PS4)
Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream (PS5)
Pragmata seems to be a hit, I've seen a lot of praise and discussion in general for it this month. Haven't really seen people talking about much else, though apparently Saros is also good but only just came out today.
I played Replaced and Vampire Crawlers like I said I would. Replaced was fine, it had a cool atmosphere and premise but otherwise didn't do much for me. I've been enjoying Vampire Crawlers, but mostly because I haven't really spared the time to play anything more serious.
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