Here are some of the big video game releases for the month of April 2017. Be sure to check out the list we put together of our most anticipated games of 2017 and subscribe to Polygon's YouTube channel for tons of gaming videos. Also, here are the games you get with your Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus subscriptions in April.
What are you looking forward to playing? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments.
Note: This is not a comprehensive list of releases and only games with specific dates are listed below. Some games are announced for April but have no firm release date.
April 4:
Persona 5 (PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4) — Persona 5 shares themes and concepts with the previous games in the Japanese role-playing series, but you do not need to have played them to understand the plot. Polygon's Phil Kollar, who gave Persona 4: Golden a 10, said this in his pre-review: "... despite going in with sky-high expectations — perhaps higher than any game I’ve reviewed previously — so far I am head over heels with the follow-up that developer Atlus has created."
Read our review.April 7:
Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition (PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One) — The remaster of the 2011 title Bulletstorm is being developed by People Can Fly, which in June of 2015 separated from Epic Games to re-form itself as a fully independent studio. The pre-order version includes the add-on Duke Nukem’s Bulletstorm Tour, and it let's you play the entire campaign as Duke Nukem, voiced by Jon St. John. Also, you'll be able to kill some di— uh, dudes in 4K on the PlayStation 4 Pro and PC versions.
April 11:
Yooka-Laylee (Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One) — "Yooka-Laylee is a love letter to your best N64 memories" Polygon's Allegra Frank wrote after spending some time with the game at Gamescom 2016. Developer Playtonic comprises several key members from Nintendo 64-era Rare Studios but they assure us that the game will not be a copy of their previous work. The Wii U version was canceled but a Nintendo Switch version is set to take its place at some point in 2017.
Read our review.
April 18:
Full Throttle Remastered (PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and Windows PC) — This trailer gives us a peek at the remastered Full Throttle, which will include "new hand-drawn and 3D high-resolution artwork, with remastered audio and music." Full Throttle Remastered will let players switch between classic and remastered modes, with the ability to mix and match audio, graphics and UI. The developer, Double Fine, will also include a concept art browser and a commentary track featuring the game’s original creators.
April 25:
Dragon Quest Heroes 2 (PlayStation 4 and Windows PC) — The action RPG will feature both single-player and co-op multiplayer jaunts through the world of Dragon Quest, where heroes will chip away at waves of monsters ad nauseam. The second Dragon Quest Heroes will include four new playable characters, as well as some that series fans will recognize. The first Dragon Quest Heroes was a surprising success; we had a great time playing it back in 2015. The Dragon Quest series has yet to find the same popularity that it’s enjoyed in Japan over the last 30 years, but side games like Dragon Quest Heroes and 2016's Dragon Quest Builders have both been critically and commercially well-received out West. No word yet on when the Nintendo Switch port is headed stateside.
Outlast 2 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One) — Polygon's Dave Tach had this to say about the game: "On the surface, Outlast 2 is about finding your wife. It's almost certainly about uncovering the mystery of the misery in the Arizona desert. It's also about staying alive, because this farm from hell isn't deserted. But above all other things and like its predecessor, Outlast 2 is about surviving while terrified."
Puyo Puyo Tetris (Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4) — Puyo Puyo Tetris brings the blob and block-dropping puzzle game franchises together for a colorful crossover with a variety of single-player and multiplayer modes. Sega promises a single-player adventure mode and an arcade mode versus the CPU, as well as five multiplayer modes.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One) — Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is set in a war-ravaged Republic of Georgia, in which the player is tasked with clearing out enemy camps, mostly using stealth, but also falling back on run-and-gun where necessary. This 10-minute gameplay video shows an early mission, in which central character Jonathan North is trying to rescue some allies, who are digging their own graves in a churchyard, under the watchful eye of armed guards. The mission offers a look at how stealth works in the game, as well as sniping and close combat.
Syberia 3 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One) — Syberia 3, the third entry in Microïds' acclaimed surreal steampunk adventure game series, brings back Benoît Sokal, the writer of the first two games. The Syberia series began with the launch of the original Syberia on PC in 2002 and continued with a sequel, Syberia 2, in 2004. Both titles were later released on PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The games concern the adventures of American lawyer Kate Walker. She travels to a village in a mountainous region of France to oversee the buyout of a toy factory, but her quest to find the rightful owner takes her across central and eastern Europe — and eventually to the land of Syberia in Russia, which is said to contain surviving remnants of the woolly mammoth species. A Nintendo Switch port is set to release sometime in 2017.
Wilson's Heart (Oculus Rift) — According to Polygon's Colin Campbell, Wilson’s Heart looks like a solid narrative adventure that merges puzzles with combat in a stylish 1940s haunted hospital world. As can be seen in our 10 minutes of spooky gameplay, Colin summarizes: "Making use of the Rift's Touch controllers, I'm able to leaf through magazines, touch intercoms, make phone calls and open cupboards as I search for clues. Movement is teleportation based, with prefixed positions that allow me to search for clues." Along with the haunted hospital setting, "the story evolves to include monsters, mysteries and special powers, as I earn abilities to best foes in set-piece action scenes."
April 28:
Little Nightmares (PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One) — Little Nightmares is being created by Tarsier Studios, a Swedish developer primarily known for much more cutesy fare, such as work on Sony’s LittleBigPlanet series. The game is an unsettling puzzle-stealth-platformer that garnered a lot of attention at Tokyo Game Show in September 2016. We released a hugely popular eight-minute gameplay video at the time, which you can watch here. Now you can experience the TGS video as a playable point-and-click browser demo, offering the main gnome character various choices as it tries to sneak past a hideous cook. Although limited in interactivity, the online marketing piece offers up a sense of the game's physics puzzles, as well as its unique and pleasing art style.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo Switch) — The deluxe version of the previously Wii U exclusive game will include new characters, items, ways to play and a revamped battle mode. Watch and read all about the new features, including the Joy-Con wheels which will be sold two for $14.99 on the same day the game is released.