How have we got to this point? It’s the end of the current console generation, the last year in the life of the PS4 and the Xbox One. Yet, we have a bunch of huge games releasing this spring. Games so big we’ve been thinking and waiting for them over the last few years.
So what’s coming out that will take up all our time as the days grow longer and beer gardens look more inviting. This isn’t a definitive list of games releasing just those I think I’ll spend a crazy amount of time with. Some of these dates may yet change, again, but spring 2020 is looking packed.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps – March 11
Ok, I didn’t play Ori and the blind forest. I know, shame on me. I’m looking to rectify this though with the new release. Firstly it looks beautiful. The art style combined with that lighting and it’s amazingly dark yet vibrant tone looks like a winning combination. Those big beasts look intense. I’m a bit of a sucker for Metroidvania style games so know I’ll spend time trying to find everything. Hollow Knight is a favourite but it can get brutal. I hope Ori has an easier curve to Hollow Knight or at least an option of turning down the difficulty just to help me and my time.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Moon Studio/Microsoft Game Studios
Doom Eternal – March 20
Who doesn’t like stomping, ripping through and blowing up demons? 2016s Doom is phenomenal, almost a perfect game. Eternal is shaping up to be much the same, just with a bigger arsenal and a few political undertones. This and Ori are probably the shorter games on this list and I’ll be done with Doom once I’ve finished its campaign. I shouldn’t spend too much time with it then but at the rate I get to game lately I’ll only be finished in time for a crazy April.
Doom Eternal | ID Software/Bethesda
Final Fantasy 7 Remake – April 10
Yes, it’s a cut-back version to the original game, a portion of the final product. I don’t care. I want it. I’ll take this version of FF7 in whatever I’m given. Right, I’m ruining the industry with this stance. Again, I don’t care. A cut back version only giving us the Midgard section of the game, if this is in fact what we get, suits me and the time I have. Not considering the games coming next I think a shorter version, episodic if you will, gives me much more flexibility and time to play it. I can experience the game a little more considerately. Final Fantasy 7 is one of those games I’ve played and played and played. I can see myself doing the same with the remake.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake | Square Enix
Cyberpunk 2077 – April 16
The big one. I’m not sure there are many games I’ve been more excited for. Usually, I relish the build-up a week before a release, I’m not getting that with Cyberpunk 2077 though. With FF7 remake a few days before taking up all that time Cyberpunk will suddenly appear as if I’d forgotten it was coming out. I don’t know yet if I’ll put FF7 remake aside for this and hop straight to the newest release. I’d like to be part of the conversation for Cyberpunk, something I missed out on for Death Stranding, so I will make time for it. I’m just not sure how.
Cyberpunk 2077 | CD Projekt Red
Resident Evil 3 Remake – April 30
So I skipped Resi 2 Remake, how dare I! It’s a game I want to pick up in the next month or so considering it was fellow Tanked Up host Lucy’s game of 2019. It released at an odd time of year without many other games around it and was able to build a lot of positivity before it’s release. Resi 3 is different, surrounded by huge games which command our time and has a much shorter lead-in time to Resi 2. I can see most of May being catch up on these bigger games and Resi 3 being the game left out. It’ll do very well with those who loved the Resi 2 Remake and I can see it pulling in more people. It takes the Mr X part of 2 and pulls it across a whole game with Nemesis always on the hunt. It scared me as a kid but I’m not sure I’ll have that same feeling this time around. I have to investigate how I feel about Resi 2 first.
Resident Evil 3 Remake | Capcom
The Last of Us Part 2 – May 29
It’s already moved the date a couple of times. Originally touted for 2019, then February 2020, kicking it back to the end of May makes sense. It isn’t getting out of the way so much as wanting its own space and requiring that extra polish time. Playstation are hard promoting FF7 remake so having their biggest game releasing close would be silly. I don’t need this game like I do the FF7 remake. The Last of Us was my game of the last decade but it was a tightly contained story which worked excellently as one game. It will be a very interesting character piece focusing on the switch to Ellie and combined with its tense play I’m really looking forward to it, I just don’t have that same level of anticipation for it. Additionally, I do find it an odd year for its release. With the PS5 reportedly very close, launching towards the end of 2020 I think it’ll be one of the first games to get some kind of treatment for the PS5. We don’t know what Sonys plans are yet for patching resolution/new tech implementation or rereleasing the whole game for the new system so it makes sense for me to wait until we have more firm news before ordering the game.
The Last of Us part 2 | Naughty Dog/Sony
This list, of course, does not include all the smaller titles releasing this spring. We’re going to have one hell of a year.
Well there’s another game out if the way.