<\/p>\n
\t\tApril\u2019s looking stacked (Sony\/Nintendo\/Capcom\/Metro)<\/p>\n
GameCentral looks through April\u2019s release schedules and finds a significant number of promising new games from big name publishers and indies.<\/p>\n
March wound up being more packed than expected, in terms of enticing video game releases. We got a double dose of Pok\u00e9mon with the FireRed & LeafGreen re-releases and Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia, which has proved far more popular than even Nintendo expected.<\/p>\n
Sony, meanwhile, launched its next crack at a live service success with extraction shooter Marathon, which so far is off to a strong start, even with with some head-scratching design choices.<\/p>\n
Those are the biggest examples, but it was a good month for indies too, with the hotly anticipated roguelike sequel Slay The Spire 2 launching in early access to great acclaim, as well as one of the best puzzle games in recent years, in the form of \u00d6oo.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to April, it threatens to be an even busier time for great, or at least intriguing, video games, and includes new console exclusives from both Sony and Nintendo.<\/p>\n
At least 14 have caught our eye, which we\u2019ve listed below, alongside their release dates and platforms \u2013 as well as precisely why they\u2019re worth paying attention to.<\/p>\n
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter<\/strong> for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC<\/p>\n Konami\u2019s return to traditional video games has primarily focused on its most well-known franchises \u2013 Metal Gear, Silent Hill, and now finally Castlevania \u2013 but its next release, Darwin\u2019s Paradox, is something entirely original.<\/p>\n The debut title of French indie developer ZDT Studio (so Konami is only publishing it), Darwin\u2019s Paradox is a cartoonish 2.5D stealth platformer that puts you in control of an octopus.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a free demo, with some cute Metal Gear references, and having tried it ourselves, it\u2019s made a decent first impression as Darwin\u2019s octopus skills, like sticking to walls and camouflaging himself, make for an ideal toolkit for a stealth platformer.<\/p>\n Release date: April 2<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PlayStation 5<\/p>\n After months of rumours, Microsoft and Bethesda announced a PlayStation 5 port for sci-fi roleplaying game Starfield earlier this month; a major turnaround considering Starfield was meant to be a key Xbox exclusive when it first launched.<\/p>\n With the age of Xbox exclusives over, though, it makes sense to port Starfield to Sony\u2019s machine, if only to give Bethesda fans on PlayStation 5 something until The Elder Scrolls 6 finally comes out.<\/p>\n The port also coincides with two free updates, which add a bunch of quality-of-life changes and additional content, as well as the second paid story expansion \u2013 Terran Armada \u2013 which hopefully will be an improvement over the last one.<\/p>\n Release date: April 7<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2<\/p>\n Pok\u00e9mon Winds and Waves may not be until next year, but 2026 is still treating Pok\u00e9mon fans well. Just this month, Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia launched and wound up not only being a fantastic spin-off but one of the best games in the entire franchise.<\/p>\n April, meanwhile, aims to satisfy the more competitive side of the audience with Pok\u00e9mon Champions, a free-to-play successor to the Pok\u00e9mon Stadium games focused entirely on the series\u2019 traditional turn-based battles.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a purely online experience and while you can transfer your teams from other Pok\u00e9mon games via the Pok\u00e9mon Home service, Pok\u00e9mon Champions also has the option to build teams out of rental pok\u00e9mon. It\u2019s initially Switch only but is coming to mobile later in the year.<\/p>\n Release date: April 8<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PC<\/p>\n Did you know Dan Reynolds, lead vocalist of Imagine Dragons, set up his own game studio? Well, he did, alongside his brother and band manager Mac Reyndolds, dubbing it Night Street Games.<\/p>\n Its debut title, Last Flag, is another multiplayer hero shooter, although this one at least has an interesting old school game show aesthetic and is built entirely around the capture the flag formula, something that\u2019s usually only a one-off mode in other games.<\/p>\n This concept stems from Reynolds\u2019 own love of capture the flag, as he stated in an interview with Variety that no video game truly \u2018scratches that itch of what it feels like\u2019 to play it. Reynolds is also contributing to the soundtrack, so fans of Imagine Dragon\u2019s music will be getting something out of Last Flag too. Even if that might end up putting off everyone else.<\/p>\n Release date: April 14<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n Xbox Series X\/S and PC<\/p>\n A key entry on our list of most anticipated indie games of the year, Replaced was actually meant to have launched in 2022, but with developer Sad Cat Studios based in Belarus, it was impacted by the Russia-Ukraine war and has since relocated to Cyprus.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s nice to know that the team has managed to complete its game, even if it suffered just one last delay. so they can make some final tweaks in response to feedback to its public demo, which you can still try for yourself.<\/p>\n A 2.5D action platformer with combat inspired by Batman: Arkham Asylum, Replaced is set in a dystopian 1980s America and sees you play as an AI that\u2019s been forcefully trapped inside a human body, as it investigates the corrupt corporation that created it.<\/p>\n Release date: April 14<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC<\/p>\n Another 2026 indie from our most anticipated list, Mouse: P.I. For Hire missed its previous March release date for the sake of some extra polishing and hopefully won\u2019t see any last minute delays ahead of its new April launch.<\/p>\n Aside from being a throwback to the boomer shooter genre (even borrowing some of Doom\u2019s enemy design), Mouse: P.I. For Hire is also a throwback to black and white cartoons of the 20s and 30s, particularly those starring Disney\u2019s Mickey Mouse.<\/p>\n The cartoon violence is far bloodier than any of those early cartoons, though, with detective protagonist Jack Pepper arming himself with pistols, shotguns, and even a demonic looking chainsaw.<\/p>\n Release date: April 16<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n Nintendo Switch<\/p>\n We\u2019re still waiting on a new Animal Crossing for Switch 2 but, in the interim, Nintendo\u2019s offering life sim fans an alternative with the newest entry in Tomodachi Life \u2013 a niche franchise in the West but absolutely massive in Japan.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been more than a decade since the last game and Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream promises to be far more interactive, but no less funny. It also stands to be the most unhinged Nintendo game ever based on what players have got away with in the free demo.<\/p>\n Nintendo has also, to its credit, stuck to its promise to make the sequel a far more inclusive experience, with the more detailed character creator allowing for gay Miis as well as pronoun options.<\/p>\n Release date: April 16<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC<\/p>\n After Resident Evil Requiem, Monster Hunter Stories 3, and the Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, Capcom\u2019s already got another new game on the horizon and, most intriguingly, it\u2019s an entirely original IP.<\/p>\n While it lacks the star power of established Capcom franchises, based on both of our previews Pragmata looks set to continue the company\u2019s new golden age, with a unique blend of third person shooting and hacking action that makes combat like patting your head while rubbing your tummy \u2013 but in a fun way.<\/p>\n Combined with the promise of more weapons and upgrades to indulge in as you progress, Pragmata could be the best Xbox 360 game never made, and we highly recommend you try the public demo if you haven\u2019t already.<\/p>\n Release date: April 17<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S, Nintendo Switch, PC<\/p>\n The first of multiple planned Vampire Survivors spin-offs, Vampire Crawlers trades the original game\u2019s dual-stick shooter (sort of) action for old school Wizardy era dungeon crawling.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s a very different beast to Vampire Survivors, billing itself as a deckbuilder roguelike role-playing game, it shares the same pixel art style graphics (it even reuses most of the same assets) and, based on the trailer, still allows for fast-paced action that verges on sensory overload.<\/p>\n Instead of Vampire Survivors developer poncle, Vampire Crawlers is being headed by Newcastle based studio Nosebleed Interactive, which also made 2022\u2019s nostalgic management sim Arcade Paradise.<\/p>\n Release date: April 21<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PC<\/p>\n Announced at Gamescom 2024, Masters Of Albion is the newest god game from Peter Molyneux, the man credited with pioneering the genre and famous for his habit of failing to deliver on his typically lofty promises.<\/p>\n Molyneux appears to be trying to avoid this mistake with Masters Of Albion, even describing it as something of a \u2018redemption title\u2019 for himself before he retires from game development.<\/p>\n Like past Molyneux games, Masters Of Albion certainly isn\u2019t unambitious, offering a blend of town management and tower defence that\u2019s meant to meld together Molyneux\u2019s past work on games like Black & White and Dungeon Keeper. It\u2019ll arrive via early access this month.<\/p>\n Release date: April 22<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S, PC<\/p>\n DigixArt\u2019s Road 96 was a cleverly designed road trip adventure thanks to its use of procedural generation and while the studio\u2019s next project, Tides Of Tomorrow, places more of an emphasis on multiplayer, it boasts a similarly novel premise.<\/p>\n Much like Road 96, it\u2019s a first person adventure where you explore the world around you (in this case, a flooded planet), interacting with various characters and shaping the narrative through your actions.<\/p>\n Thanks to its asynchronous multiplayer, though, your choices will leave lasting consequences for other players, with DigixArt promising that the characters you meet and areas you visit can change based on the actions of others. There is a demo available already, but only on PC.<\/p>\n Release date: April 22<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S, PC<\/p>\n Double Fine\u2019s last game only launched in October and the studio is already gearing up to release its next one, Kiln, this month, although it\u2019s far less esoteric and easier to summarise than Keeper.<\/p>\n Announced at the January Xbox showcase, Kiln is a party game where you make your own clay pot, which you take control of in 4v4 matches where teams try to carry water to and extinguish each other\u2019s kiln.<\/p>\n It\u2019s as endearingly odd as Double Fine\u2019s other work and looks to have the same chaotic energy as other party brawlers like Party Animals and Gang Beasts, though we\u2019re still confused by the lack of a Switch 2 version.<\/p>\n Release date: April 23<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S, PC<\/p>\n If Omni-Man\u2019s DLC cameo in Mortal Kombat 1 had you yearning for a dedicated Invincible fighting game, then you should be thrilled to know Invincible VS exists.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t go into it expecting it to play like Mortal Kombat, though. For starters, NetherRealm Studios isn\u2019t behind this one and it\u2019s instead in the hands of Quarter Up, a new studio comprised of staff who worked on the Killer Instinct reboot.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a tag fighter \u00e0 la Marvel Vs. Capcom where you form teams of two characters. The launch roster consists of 18 heroes and villains to choose from, including an entirely original character called Ella Mental. An open beta is scheduled to run from April 9 to April 11.<\/p>\n Release date: April 30<\/strong><\/p>\n \n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n PlayStation 5<\/p>\n Sony\u2019s next big exclusive is not just the April game we\u2019re most excited for, but perhaps our most anticipated game of the whole year, since it\u2019s the successor to Housemarque\u2019s Returnal \u2013 which remains the PlayStation 5\u2019s best exclusive.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still too early to tell how Saros will stack up against its predecessor, but it is retaining the roguelike\/bullet hell formula, just with a new protagonist and story that appears to be unrelated to Returnal.<\/p>\n That said, it sounds like Housemarque wants to make Saros more approachable, starting by letting you save the game mid-run; something Returnal didn\u2019t have at launch. Returnal\u2019s harsh difficulty spikes could put some people off so the more people playing Saros, the better.<\/p>\n Release date: April 30<\/strong><\/p>\nDarwin\u2019s Paradox<\/h2>\n
Starfield<\/h2>\n
Pok\u00e9mon Champions<\/h2>\n
Last Flag<\/h2>\n
Replaced<\/h2>\n
Mouse: P.I. For Hire<\/h2>\n
Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream<\/h2>\n
Pragmata<\/h2>\n
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard From Vampire Survivors<\/h2>\n
Masters Of Albion<\/h2>\n
Tides Of Tomorrow<\/h2>\n
Kiln<\/h2>\n
Invincible VS<\/h2>\n
Saros<\/h2>\n