You never know how these things are going to go. March gave us Marathon, Halo creator Bungie’s first new shooter in an age, and although critics loved it and continue to find new things to write about it, it hasn’t been a smash hit. Meanwhile Crimson Desert, an MMO-style RPG without the multiplayer that was dinged in reviews for its unwieldy complexity and general lifelessness, is a surprise success, selling four times what Marathon has despite a higher price and coming out two weeks later. Popularity never corresponds to quality, of course, and of those two games The A.V. Club readers know which one we’d easily recommend over the other. (It’s the one with guns, not swords.) But it’s all just another example of how unpredictable these things are. There’s no way of telling here on April 1 which of the month’s new games will catch on with players, and which ones will disappoint commercially. We can tell you which of April’s games we’re most excited about, though; here are five of ’em, including human-scale independent releases, another Nintendo curiosity, and a raft of Xbox 360-era action throwbacks.
Dosa Divas
Release Date: April 14 Platforms: PlayStation 5, PC, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S
Thanks to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a lot more people seem to be paying attention to how there have been heaps of great turn-based RPGs with active timing elements in recent years. Dosa Divas, the next from Outerloop Games (Thirsty Suitors, Falcon Age), has the potential to fit this trend, but with its own spice. The story centers on Samara and Amani, two sisters finally reconnecting after years of estrangement as they go on a road trip (in a mech suit) to visit their parents. To make matters complicated, they end up taking on a fast-food empire along the way. One that’s run by their sister, no less. Thankfully, this journey involves a lot of beating up dirtbag corpos, which is easy to relish thanks to a smart turn-based system that emphasizes hitting enemies’ culinary weaknesses. Between its personal story of familial reconnection and its many opportunities to mess up capitalist jerks, Dosa Divas could be cooking up something special. [Elijah Gonzalez]
Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream
Release Date: April 16 Platform: Switch
Often silly and occasionally surreal, Tomodachi Life is another social sim from Nintendo. Unlike Animal Crossing and last month’s Pokopia, which respectively focus on anthropomorphic animals and Pokémon, Tomodachi Life stars the human-shaped avatars known as Miis. Yes, the Mii has outlived the Wii, and by a good margin, serving a less prominent role as your Switch profile pic and now starring in its own game. Like the last Animal Crossing, Living The Dream gives players more direct control over the game, letting them dictate the relationships their Mii will have with their island’s other residents. The most important thing is that it still has those bizarre dream sequences that are among the most psychedelic parts of any Nintendo game. Even more bizarre than those dreams: In another one of those time-related stats that sounds fake but is all too true, this is the first Tomodachi Life in over a decade—because apparently 2014 was 12 entire years ago. If you missed that one and haven’t played Tomodachi Life before, you’re in for a treat; if you’ve been waiting patiently for a follow-up since it last graced the 3DS, hopefully you won’t be disappointed. [Garrett Martin]
Pragmata
Release Date: April 17 Platforms: PlayStation 5, PC, Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S
Given the hot-mess state of the game industry, it’s a rarity to see new big-budget games that aren’t tied to an existing “IP,” something that makes Capcom’s upcoming sci-fi shooter Pragmata all the more interesting. Set on a lunar base overrun by a rogue AI, you play as Hugh, an Isaac Clarke type in a bulky space suit, and Diane, a small android girl with hacking skills. Together, the pair needs to mess up some robots and escape. These battles against beefy wannabe Terminators are the equivalent of trying to rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time: You need to aim, shoot, and dodge with Hugh, all while tapping out a series of d-pad inputs so Diane can hack your mechanical attackers. This hacking process isn’t really optional, and you have little chance against the AI menace unless you mess with their software to lower their defenses. It’s a unique approach that gives this familiar (and unfortunately all too relevant) malicious AI setup a bit of juice. A few smaller fumbles aside, Capcom has been on a hot streak, and it will be interesting to see if they can add a rare non-sequel to those creative victories (although a few delusional Blue Bomber fans are probably still holding out the hope that Pragamata is somehow a secret Mega Man sequel). [Elijah Gonzalez]
Aphelion
Release Date: April 28 Platforms: PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox Series X|S
Before French studio Don’t Nod became known as the creators of narrative adventure Life Is Strange, it made Remember Me, a cool but flawed sci-fi action game published by Capcom late in the Xbox 360 / Playstation 3 generation. They’ve continued to balance slower-paced interactive narratives (Tell Me Why, Harmony: The Fall Of Reverie) with faster-paced action-RPGs (Vampyr, Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden) in the years since, and after last year’s story-driven Gen X tribute Lost Records: Bloom And Rage, it’s time to give the ol’ reflexes a workout again with Aphelion. Part platformer that recalls Uncharted (or Don’t Nod’s own Jusant) and part stealth game, Aphelion promises a sci-fi adventure based around our own planet’s imminent demise and the search for a new home—an evergreen sci-fi theme that sadly grows more relevant every year. Don’t Nod’s one of the more interesting developers because their games almost always have a spark of personality to them; they haven’t made a genuinely great action game yet, but Remember Me, Vampyr, and Banishers are all distinctive and with a clear level of intelligence behind them. Whether because of the studio’s size or funding, Don’t Nod’s ambitions usually seem to outstrip its capabilities, which isn’t an insult; in a medium where so many companies are content to redo what’s already worked, and where ambitions are almost exclusively confined to technical innovation, the inspired striving of Don’t Nod games remains refreshing even when they fall short of their goals. [Garrett Martin]
Saros
Release Date: April 30 Platform: PlayStation 5
With Returnal, Housemarque accomplished something that lots of other studios have struggled with. They made a modern AAA game that focused on storytelling and presentation without sacrificing arcade-inspired action shenanigans (this team previously made Resogun, Nex Machina, Super Stardust HD, and many more). Basically, instead of worrying how it would look “unrealistic” if the game’s human main character could jump eight feet in the air and invincible dash through lasers, they prioritized delivering something that was both engaging in the moment and that teased out greater questions about its enigmatic setting. While Saros seems to be more of a spiritual successor than a direct sequelto Returnal, it looks very much in the mold of the team’s previous game, wrapping its roguelike structure in a looping sci-fi mystery with heavy shades of cosmic horror. Also, you will be dodging lots of laser orbs shot at you by alien freaks. If Housemarque’s latest can once again successfully combine bullet hell gauntlets with compelling deep-space storytelling (this one seems specifically inspired by the weird fiction classic, The King In Yellow), it will be one to look out for. [Elijah Gonzalez]