Super Bomberman R

Your first thought is probably, “Konami is making a game that people actually want?!” Yes but it’s surprising to see it be Super Bomberman R and that too exclusive (currently at least) to the Nintendo Switch. Regardless, our favourite bomb-thrower is back in his 2D grid-based domain with a 50 stage story campaign. Multiplayer is the main appeal of the series though. Super Bomberman R features eight player competitive play for the old-school masses who simply want to blow up their friends. Look out for it launching with the Switch on March 3^rd.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Arguably the most hotly anticipated Zelda title of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is Nintendo Switch’s flagship launch game. Link returns in a Hyrule far larger than anything seen till now and will once again face the forces of evil. How is everything connected to the Ocarina of Time, if they’re indeed connected at all? Dynamic weather, wide-ranging landscapes, looting mechanics and a new Zelda are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Breath of the Wild which releases on March 3^rd for the Switch and Wii U.

Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey

The Atelier story may be unfamiliar to most at this point and Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey won’t really change that. However, if you’re looking for a solid JRPG series with enough alchemy to make Edward Elric’s head spin, you’ve come to the right place. Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey will feature a time limit like the previous game and you’ll be gathering items and synthesizing them together with Catalysts changing up their bonuses. Those interested in combat can take four party members into battles and see abilities and tactics change depending on the weather and time of day. Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey will arrive for on PC, PS4 and PS Vita on March 7^th.

Lego Worlds

The sandbox exploration title featuring the lovable Lego art-style is finally out in March for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Lego Worlds has actually been in Steam Early Access for a while and impressed us with its sheer variety of worlds, vehicles, NPCs and more. Plus you can ride dragons, encounter Bigfoot (and incinerate him accordingly) or just cross the sea in a grand pirate adventure. It releases on March 7^th with a Nintendo Switch release also coming in the future.

Nier: Automata

Break-neck hack and slash action, open exploration, side-scrolling platforming, overhead bullet-hell battles – Platinum’s Nier: Automata nearly has it all. The explosive action RPG turned heads with its demo in December and the awesome combo-ridden combat and expansive locales have us salivating. You can even venture out into the world to find your previous corpse and animate it to fight for you. Don’t even get us started on the boss battles. It’s out on March 7^th for PS4 in North America.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands

The recent open beta presented a new region and challenges but the consensus is clear – this isn’t your average Ghost Recon. Set in Bolivia, Ghost Recon: Wildlands features an open world to explore with vehicles and multiple tactical approaches to completing objectives. Go it alone with AI teammates or rope in three friends to bungle missions together. Partake in higher difficulties and prove your mettle as a Ghost, ideally after the open beta when Ubisoft tweaks the AI some more. The possibilities are endless when Ghost Recon: Wildlands arrives on March 7^th.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew

The oft-delayed virtual reality title from Ubisoft sees you (and your friends) occupying the eyes and ears of the USS Aegis. A story campaign is included, taking place after Star Trek (2009) but players can also engage in randomly generated missions as well. The main hook of Star Trek: Bridge Crew is that each player of a total four can take on a different role. You could occupy the Captain’s chair while someone else serves as engineer. Star Trek: Bridge Crew finally arrives on March 14^th for PS4.

Styx: Shards of Darkness

Cyanide’s fantasy stealth sequel sees the return of Styx as he infiltrates Körangar to find out more about the alliance between Dark Elves and Dwarves. Cloning, traps and invisibility return along with ropes and grappling hooks for traversing to higher areas. Co-op support has also been added, allowing you and a friend to sneak together. With a new engine and higher production values, Styx: Shards of Darkness could a decent time-waster for stealth fans when it arrives on March 14^th for Xbox One, PC and PS4.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Shepard is gone but the intergalactic journey of exploration continues. Mass Effect: Andromeda follows a new crew helmed by Pathfinder Alec Ryder with the player assuming control over either Scott or Sarah Ryder. Conflicts with new enemies called the Ket, an improved Mako, larger levels and open world activities to partake in, improved movement, revamped combat mechanics for switching classes and load-outs on the fly – the only real criticism at this stage is how long we have to wait. Mass Effect: Andromeda releases on March 21^st for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Toukiden 2

There’s a new Toukiden out in March and no, it’s not Age of Demons. Taking place two years after the events of Toukiden Kiwami, the Slayers return to do battle against the demons. With a focus on open world exploration, you’ll now engage in battles seamlessly, identifying which regions to assault based on their hazard levels. Hunting Grounds also make a return along with a new day and night system, customization options. Those suffering from a Monster Hunter hangover take note – Toukiden 2 arrives on March 24^th for PS3, PS4, PS Vita and PC.

Vikings: Wolves of Midgard

Gauntlet meets Norse mythology in Vikings: Wolves of Midgard. Travel the world as a hulking male warrior or a nimble shield maiden, battling ice demons and growing your Viking village with rescued survivors. Combat is complex with different abilities like projectiles, charging attacks and much more. Each character has their own unique attacks and the sheer beauty of this frozen wasteland makes it worth a look for its co-op. Vikings: Wolves of Midgard is out on March 24^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix/Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix

Okay, so Final Chapter Prologue may have been a venerable mixed bag of sorts for the Kingdom Hearts faithful on PS4. But with the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5/2.5 Remix this March, you get a lot more Kingdom Hearts goodness for your buck. Along with Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix as playable games, you get 358/2 Days and        Re:coded as cinematic retellings. Will they help you understand the whole convoluted mess of a story? Probably not but both HD remaster collections arrive on March 28^th for PS4.

MLB The Show 17

Have you seen those hair textures? You must have seen those hair textures but regardless, there are plenty of other reasons to check out SCE San Diego’s MLB The Show 17. There’s the Retro Mode which throws the action back to the two-button controls of yore and Road to Show, a branching storyline mode packed with excitement. Want a team of Legends and All-Stars? Diamond Dynasty’s got you covered and we can’t wait to see how this all looks when MLB The Show 17 releases on March 28^th for PS4.

Strafe

Old-school Doom/Quake action meets rogue-like mechanics in Strafe. This pixelated first person shooter from Pixel Titans pays homage to the granddaddy of all shooters while featuring randomly generated levels, gore that constantly remains in your surroundings and tons of replay value. Strafe also supports Oculus Rift for those who want to frag out in virtual reality – it’s out on March 28^th for PC, Mac OS X and PlayStation 4. Now if only Glory Kills could be patched in post-launch…

Has-Been Heroes

Frozenbyte’s rogue-like RTS/turn-based strategy hybrid is something different. It follows a team of heroes as they escort some princesses to school. Baddies lie in the way and along with collecting tons of epic loot to vanquish them; you’ll need to think on your toes amidst the constantly approaching enemies. It’s an interesting mix of strategy and action, one that we didn’t expect given the studio’s last major release Shadwen. Has-Been Heroes releases on March 28^th Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

GamingBolt spoke to Frozenbyte marketing manager Kai Tuovinen about the game along with the experience of working on Nintendo’s upcoming Switch.

"Has-Been Heroes is a pretty challenging game with lots of strategy involved, so it’s quite different from our usual titles and we are embracing that."

What inspired the concept for Has Been Heroes, especially after the dark fantasy stealth adventure Shadwen?

We started out with a team-first approach for Has-Been Heroes. We had small team who wanted to make a challenging roguelike game, and they made some designs and a few prototypes for this type of project.  At one point we had something that got everyone at the office hooked, so we knew we were onto something and have been going at it ever since.

The humorous setting and storyline fell into place after an initial idea of having a group of heroes escorting two princesses to a faraway school. The heroes we first designed looked quite old and worn-out and that’s when we came up with the Has-Been Heroes name.

Has-Been Heroes is a pretty challenging game with lots of strategy involved, so it’s quite different from our usual titles and we are embracing that. We’ve been able to fulfil our creative vision thanks to our partnership with GameTrust.

How many characters can players choose from? We know about the Bard, the Wrestler, Sheikh and more but what else can be expected?

There will be 12 different characters in total, as well as additional skins for those. Expect to see a fierce tiger and a gentlerobot among them, and we might reveal more of them a bit later on!

What powers will each hero possess and how can these be upgraded as the game progresses?

Each hero you unlock starts out with a unique item and spell.  Your heroes grow in power by acquiring additional items and spells, which are all from a random pool on each run. Naturally if you die in the game, you start from scratch and all your items and spells are wiped…but you’ll quickly find new ones on your next attempt.

"the pool of random items, spells and enemies grows over time the more you die and the further you get in the game, so the “unlock” pool is bigger and every game is more random."

What kinds of items can players find to boost their chances of success?

Potatoes, scissors, old socks…all kinds of items – there are 200 different ones! They all have different bonuses e.g. some give you attack damage or increased critical hit chance, others may boost your spell powers and some even have completely unique effects e.g. lane freezing or burning.

How long do you estimate each “run” to last for the average player? Are there different kinds of runs that players can engage using modifiers?

The length of one run varies how far you are in the game.  When you first start the game, the length of the world is two regions. Each region has a few fights and a few random crossroads (Which can be e.g. spell vendors, item merchants, altars, camps etc.) so a region probably take around 20-40 minutes to beat (depending on experience).

At the end of each region is a regional boss fight, and the final region of your run has a boss fight that is against your main adversary, the evil Ghoul. Once you complete the two region world map by beating the boss fight, you will have completed the game for the first time. The next run, however, will have three regions, the one after that has four and so on.

On average though, especially early on when you’re still learning the game the runs last much less because you die a lot more.

Are there permanent unlocks of some kind that players can grind towards and unlock to give some kind of advantage in future runs?

Yes, you unlock more characters, they each start with a unique item and different spell. Other than that, no items or spells persist after death.

However, the pool of random items, spells and enemies grows over time the more you die and the further you get in the game, so the “unlock” pool is bigger and every game is more random.

Will there be daily and weekly challenges with varying modifiers?

No.

"We don’t have plans to make Has-Been Heroes for mobile devices at this point…"

What Switch-exclusive features will Has Been Heroes implement? How has the experience of developing on the Switch been for the team?

We have support for HD Rumble on the Switch and the console itself has the unique ability to switch to a portable handheld device or back to a TV when you want, which is really cool.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on the Switch, no issues getting the game running and the work that Nintendo has put in to make it easier for developers to make games is nothing short of amazing.

Given the game’s easily accessible but complex nature, is there a chance it releases on mobiles in the coming days? Have mobile versions been considered at any point?

We don’t have plans to make Has-Been Heroes for mobile devices at this point, it’s a game that’s very well suited to be played on a controller so we’re aiming for consoles + PC first and foremost.

Could we see more Has Been Heroes in the future (either with additional DLC or sequels)?

We’ll see how it goes, can’t make any promises yet.

With the PS4 Pro, we now know the machine’s specs. What do you foresee being the biggest bottleneck to game development on the improved console? Would it be the CPU, which was always hamstrung even on the original PS4, but is even more so now, relative to the rest of the machine?

Not sure yet, we’ll have to have more experience with it to be able to answer.

"I still think Scorpio will be a good purchase or upgrade for a lot of consumers if they are looking to play at a bigger resolution for example."

Do you think Nintendo Switch being less powerful than PS4 and Xbox One matters?

I don’t think it matters, it’s a pretty powerful machine and it has a much wider target audience due to the hybrid nature of the device and that will be the main selling point.

For me it’s going to be great since I always play PC at home, but would love to have a powerful portable gaming device with real buttons, and the hybrid nature of the Switch makes that possible.

6 TFLOPs naturally means that the Xbox One Scorpio has an extremely powerful GPU. Assuming that the rest of the specs also see similar or comparable bumps, what are the kinds of graphical improvements developers will be able to deliver on Scorpio?

I suppose that means 4k resolution and/or higher framerates than before. Not sure yet.

The Xbox One Scorpio is being touted as the most powerful console ever made. And yet, given Microsoft’s diktat that all games have maintain parity with standard Xbox One systems, and that there can be no Scorpio exclusives, do you really think that the Scorpio’s power will be able to be put to any meaningful use?

Tough question – I’m sure there are developers that have games they would love to be Scorpio exclusives because it will be easier to get them to run, but at the same time the main install base will be on the standard Xbox One, so developers would have to make a difficult choice either way.

I still think Scorpio will be a good purchase or upgrade for a lot of consumers if they are looking to play at a bigger resolution for example.

The Xbox One Scorpio is being touted as the most powerful console ever made. And yet, given Microsoft’s diktat that all games have maintain parity with standard Xbox One systems, and that there can be no Scorpio exclusives, the question of whether or not all that power will ever be able to put to meaningful use is one that persistently remains with us.

So when we got a chance to talk to Kai Tuovinen from Frozenbyte, the developers of Trine who are currently working on Has Been Heroes, we posed this question: would the Scorpio’s excess power go to waste given the parity mandate? “Tough question – I’m sure there are developers that have games they would love to be Scorpio exclusives because it will be easier to get them to run, but at the same time the main install base will be on the standard Xbox One, so developers would have to make a difficult choice either way,” Kai said. “I still think Scorpio will be a good purchase or upgrade for a lot of consumers if they are looking to play at a bigger resolution for example.”

That is ultimately a good point- while Scorpio exclusivity may be an alluring prospect, a lot of developers will still choose to make games also for the Xbox One simply because the majority of the install base will be there. Just look at how long we continued to get Xbox 360-PS3 cross gen games, well into the current generation. Functionally, then, even the mandate not being there really wouldn’t change much in the end.