This game follows best friends Zoe and Kaito. If you played Road 96, you’ll recognize Zoe as the rebellious runaway who plays a big part in taking down the despot of the fictional country of Petria. Fans of the original Road 96 will also be happy to see other familiar faces in a handful of cameos throughout the game.

"It carries the same visual DNA as Road 96, for better or worse. Itas heavily stylized so it looks great in stills, but everything feels… unrefined in motion."

Kaito, on the other hand, is probably less familiar to most people. While he’s new to Road 96 canon, he is an existing character from Lost in Harmony, DigixArt’s first game from 2016. You’d gain a fair bit of insight if you’ve played that game and are familiar with the characters and themes because Road 96: Mile 0 kind of just throws you into his narrative. The opening moments of Mile 0 have Kaito remembering his late friend Aya as if she is a person the player would have a connection to, although that wasn’t the case for me. While you can still level with a character being sad about a friend that was lost in a tragedy, I felt like I was missing something, like there was a piece of dialogue or a cutscene I had skipped, which was a little jarring.

Similarly jarring is the game’s presentation. It carries the same visual DNA as Road 96, for better or worse. Itas heavily stylized so it looks great in stills, but everything feels… unrefined in motion. There’s a lot of dialogue between characters, and the attempt at lip-synching on display unfortunately looks to be more like random lip-flapping. This is a shame because what is actually being said is strong and even powerful in some cases. Character movements and animations are also pretty far below what I would consider the standard even for this genre of game, which gets a pass in many cases due to its focus on story rather than presentation. Movements are stiff and wooden, which did a lot to keep me from being fully engaged with the game during the regular exploration/dialogue gameplay.

Thankfully, that’s not all there is to do in Road 96: Mile 0.

Whereas Road 96 made an impact with its roguelike gameplay and the many different activities and diversions you could get up to, its prequel seems more content to inject gameplay and even occasionally deliver some story through a particular style of gameplay: a rhythm-based “runner” (your character is usually on some kind of skateboard or roller blades) that feels a lot like Sayonara Wild Hearts with shades of Sonic Adventure. There are lots of cinematic pans around your character while they are on a linear path, lots of loop-the-loops paired with dramatic zoom-outs, and plenty of jumping or ducking to avoid obstacles.

I don’t think this is a suitable replacement for what constituted gameplay in Road 96, but I can’t deny that it’s pretty fun. Each of these stages has some awesome music backing it up, and the shift from reality into more fantastical, bewildering scenarios is a delight. Going from being chased through the streets of a neighborhood by Zoe’s new bodyguard to having that very same bodyguard grow into a kaiju-sized pursuer was fun to see, though I question how these scenes are actually playing out in reality.

"Each of these stages has some awesome music backing it up, and the shift from reality into more fantastical, bewildering scenarios is a delight."

These running or skating stages and their associated QTE moments can increase significantly in difficulty as you progress through the game, which is good. I never got bored with these segments. However, I also never had an instance where I died more than two or three times on any one troubling section. The intended paths and actions are pretty well-telegraphed after you mess them up the first time, and most failures can be boiled down to bad timing. Additionally, restarts are lightning fast so you never lose too much time on a failure. The overall balancing of the difficulty and handling how failures work is well-done.

There are a few other forms of gameplay throughout the game, including a pretty hilarious on-rails shooter where your bullets are newspapers, but the majority of them are these skating segments. Something else that was changed from Road 96 to Mile 0 is the “health”, or more accurately the status bar on the top left of the screen. Whereas this meter indicated a character’s stamina or restfulness in the previous game, it now represents Zoe’s certainty about the political state of Petria. This is where the best parts of Road 96: Mile 0 come into play.

The unlikely friendship between Zoe and Kaito and the politics surrounding their respective situations are the driving forces behind Mile 0. Zoe is the daughter of a powerful government employee and lives a good life in a big house, and Kaito’s family are workers who are viewed and treated poorly amongst the higher class while living in an apartment below street level.

We know Zoe’s ideological stance throughout the original Road 96, but seeing and playing through the events that got her to that point was very interesting. One skating section in particular has Kaito trying to convince Zoe that things are not great in Colton City, and that President Tyrak is basically evil. As you skate and avoid obstacles, you get to see the same city from each of their perspectives, culminating in a visual where the two interpretations are split right down the middle as Zoe is no longer sure of what she believes. It’s really powerful, and that entire segment has a track by The Midnight playing over it which only amplifies the emotion.

"We know Zoe’s ideological stance throughout the original Road 96, but seeing and playing through the events that got her to that point was very interesting."

These scenes and ones like it are what make Road 96: Mile 0 really work, even when the parts surrounding it don’t quite seem like they do. But then again, the entire game is built around making decisions that push Zoe in one way or another, but the nature of the game being a prequel means that we already know what happens to this character after these events. This makes the decision-making feel less important and maybe even a little misleading in practice, though it works for the game’s relatively short runtime. Mile 0 can be completed in roughly half of Road 96’s 8+ hour runtime.

This review covers the PS5 version of the game, and it’s worth noting that the framerate didn’t feel entirely smooth. This is of course not super important for an adventure game, but the style of the game paired with the power of the PS5 should have resulted in a smoother experience, which leads me to believe the issue is down to optimization. The strange storybook-style pop-in that appeared in the original Road 96 is also present in Mile 0, though it is less significant.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Since her father is the Minister of Oil, Zoe has all the comforts she could want. However, Kaito hails from Colton City, where things are tougher. After they become friends, Zoe learns more about Petria, eventually leading to her leaving home in the sequel.

Unlike Road 96, Zoe and Kaito have rhythm-based levels representing their inner worlds. These play a role in their growth, and based on your decisions, their beliefs can evolve differently. It’s a unique twist and provides surreal fun to break up the real-world segments.

Check out our interview with the developer to learn more about Road 96: Mile 0. Stay tuned for more updates in the meantime.

Everspace 2

In early access since January 2021, Everspace 2 is finally getting its full release for PC. Taking an open-world space combat approach compared to the original, it sees protagonist Adam Roslin returning to explore Cluster 34. It can get pretty chaotic due to rival factions and gangs, and new high-risk, high-reward areas encourage more dangerous tasks for that sweet loot.

Everspace 2 was already pretty big when early access began, but it’s grown significantly with new ships, loot, systems, missions, activities and story missions. More enemies, bosses, equipment, customisation, and the final star system, Khione, are also coming. Story-focused players dabbling in the side quests will take roughly 30 hours, but if you explore everywhere, rack up reputation bonuses and do everything, that’s about 90 hours of gameplay to look forward to. With how well received the early access version has been, we can’t wait to see how the full release performs.

EA Sports PGA Tour

Suffering a slight delay for the sake of polish, EA Sports PGA Tour is out on April 7th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. Offering 30 courses and playable golfers like Im Sung-jae, Cameron Champ and Lexi Thompson, there are 20 shot types to master, backed by features like Pure Strike, with golf swings mirroring real life. Course Dynamics ensure various environmental factors influence ball behavior and that no two courses are the same.

This is all in addition to the Career Mode, where you create a character and work up to the pro level. Will it be enough to counter the addition of John Cena to rival PGA Tour 2K23? Time will tell, but as the first PGA Tour game from EA Sports since 2015, it has much to live up to.

Minecraft Legends

What if you took Minecraft’s crafting, world design and memorable mobs, fused them with action strategy gameplay and added a story about world-ending threats? That’s Minecraft Legends, developed by Mojang and Blackbird Interactive of Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak fame. As the hero, players explore the Overworld and rally other mobs like zombies, wolves, Creepers and whatnot to fight for them against the Nether’s piglins.

Along with running around and fighting, you can issue commands to your units to attack, build structures and much more. The aesthetic and unique mob designs will appeal to long-time fans, and there looks to be a strong amount of replay value thanks to co-op and competitive multiplayer. Minecraft Legends arrives on April 18th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC, and will also be playable on day one on Game Pass.

Dead Island 2

Dead Island 2 releases on April 21st for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC, something we wouldn’t have believed a year ago. Stuck in development hell for the better part of its lifespan, the first-person action RPG focuses on six Slayers struggling to survive and escape from post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. There are famous landmarks to visit and hordes of zombies to fight, but you can craft and modify weapons to gain an edge.

What sets the sequel apart is the lack of an open world, the new Skill Deck for customizing and swapping out different builds on the fly, and the new FLESH System. Now you can slaughter zombies in ways that look and feel natural, whether it’s breaking jaws or melting skin. Even with a 20-hour or so playtime, three-player co-op, collectibles, and side quests provide enough incentive to return.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

A lot has changed in the five years for Cal Kestis. Now a full-fledged Jedi Knight, he’s fighting against the Empire at every turn with little hope of winning. However, things are taking a turn as a mysterious new Jedi emerges, an Imperial Senator seeks a “dangerous deal,” and new allies emerge. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a bigger game than Fallen Order in almost every way.

New enemies are available, from Separatist Droids to massive creatures. Five Lightsaber Stances with new abilities and new Force Powers are also available. If you enjoyed the first game even a bit, then Star Wars Jedi: Survivor should be on your radar when it releases on April 28th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Road 96: Mile 0

Some will probably remember Road 96 as a procedurally generated adventure game with alternating routes against the backdrop of unrest in Petria. Road 96: Mile 0 is a prequel that takes a more hand-crafted narrative approach, focusing on the relationship between Zoe and Kaito. Alternating back and forth between the two, players learn how they met, and their vastly different circumstances as Petria’s more harrowing side is revealed.

The biggest new feature is the musical segments, as we explore the inner worlds of both characters, dodging obstacles and traveling down a surreal path while making choices. Road 96: Mile 0 is out on April 4th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Sherlock Holmes The Awakened

A remake of Frogwares’ 2007 adventure game, Sherlock Holmes The Awakened sees the famed detective and his cohort John Watson versus the Cthulhu Mythos. While investigating mysterious disappearances, the duo will venture to locations like Switzerland, the wetlands of Louisiana and much more to discover the truth. The visuals and animations are vastly improved thanks to Unreal Engine, and there are new side missions, storyline content and much more to experience.

However, the most intriguing aspect will be how Sherlock’s sanity is affected by the events and the impact on investigations as the storyline proceeds. We’ll find out when Sherlock Holmes The Awakened arrives on April 11th for Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

Like Horizon Zero Dawn and The Frozen Wilds, Forbidden West is getting a paid expansion with Burning Shores. It takes place in an archipelago formed in the ruins of Los Angeles, where volcanic eruptions and tremors are commonplace. Aloy must investigate a new threat, with trailers confirming an encounter with an awakened Metal Devil.

Almost no gameplay has been showcased for the $20 expansion, which is out exclusively for PS5 on April 19th (due to the PS4 being unable to handle it). However, Guerrilla Games has promised new stories, characters and Machines to fight along with “highly detailed” environments. You’ll need to finish the base game’s story first, so get that out of the way before jumping in.

Stray Blade

505 Games’ Stray Blade doesn’t have tons of hype behind it, which is crazy given how smooth the combat and art-style look. The action-adventure game is set in Acrea, the Lost Valley, and how you find it, die and are somehow resurrected. Now trapped, you must explore the region and overcome powerful enemies while learning more about its mysteries.

By honing skills, unlocking new talents and gaining abilities from the entities that ruled Acrea, players can expand their combat options. Of course, you’ll discover new weapons, materials and recipes while exploring, as your choices can affect the world. Stray Blade arrives on April 20th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Bramble: The Mountain King

Inspired by Nordic folklore and fables, Bramble: The Mountain King is about Olle, who embarks on a quest to save his sister. The task is easier said than done as various entities roam the land, many hostile and larger than Olle. A special fragment called the Spark of Courage can help even the odds, but “courage without kindness” is implied to lead to a “dark path.” Bramble: The Mountain King is out on April 27th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection

Fans of the underrated Mega Man Battle Network series – the time has finally come, as it gets the Legacy Collection treatment. Releasing on April 14th for PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection consists of two volumes. The first contains Mega Man Battle Network 1, 2 and 3 (with Blue and White being separate versions). The second offers Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun and Blue Moon, Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team Protoman and Team Colonel, and Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar and Cybeast Falzar.

You can pick up both volumes as part of a package deal, but that’s not all. It also includes all 499 patch cards previously exclusive to Japan, 15 chips available from events, an art gallery with over 1000 items to view, 188 songs from the series to listen to in the music player, and even a 3D MegaMan for menu navigation. That’s not including online NetBattles and Trade, a High-Resolution Filter, and Buster Max Mode, which increases the power of Buster Shots.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox

If you’re interested in a different kind of Lovecraftian mystery, The Last Case of Benedict Fox may be worth checking out. The Metroidvania title sees detective Benedict Fox and his demon companion venturing into a mansion to investigate a couple’s murder and the fate of their missing child. Fox can venture into the minds of the deceased, exploring vivid areas formed by memories and emotions, to obtain testimonies.

However, the mansion also has its share of secrets to uncover. As you explore areas, there will be plenty of monsters, human and non-human, to fight with firearms, melee weapons and demonic powers. With a gorgeous art style and accompanying jazz score, The Last Case of Benedict Fox looks to be an intriguingly dark adventure. It’s out on April 27th for PC and Xbox Series X/S, along with Game Pass.

TRON: Identity

Bithell Games’ latest visual novel-style narrative adventure is set in the TRON universe, more specifically in a brand new Grid where a strange crime has occurred. Something has been taken, and as a detective program Query, it’s your job to find out who’s responsible. Speak to different programs to learn more about them, defrag Identity Discs to complete puzzles and learn the truth, and make decisions that could lead to various endings. Who you choose to doubt, trust or derezz is all up to you when TRON: Identity launches on April 11th for PC and Nintendo Switch.

Ghostwire: Tokyo (Xbox Series X/S)

Tango Gameworks has found success with Hi-Fi Rush on Xbox Series X/S, and on April 12th, it brings first-person action-adventure Ghostwire: Tokyo to the platform. Also available for Game Pass at launch, it’s set in Tokyo, which has undergone a supernatural transformation rendering most of its population into Spirits. As Akito, possessed by the spirit K.K., players must take down the hostile Visitors and stop the mysterious Hanya.

A new big update, The Spider’s Thread, is out on the same day for all platforms. It adds a new rogue-lite mode, tasking players with fighting through a 30-stage gauntlet. There are also new areas, quests and story scenes, along with new Visitors to battle and new skills, like dodging and Charged Strike.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

As someone with a love-hate relationship with Monster Hunter, Sunbreak is essential for any fan of Monster Hunter Rise. It’s out on April 28th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5, and features tons of new content, as players venture to a new region and Elgado Outpost to investigate The Three Lords.

The expansion introduces Master Rank Quests, providing even tougher challenges and rewards like higher rarity armor and stronger skills. Along with brand new monsters like Malzeno, an Elder Dragon, there are returning monsters from previous games like Espinas, Seregios, Astalos, Gore Magala and Shagaru Magala. New Follower quests allow solo hunters to battle alongside NPCs and unlock some cool armor and weapons.

More than anything, the end-game is significantly expanded thanks to Anomaly Investigations. Add the extensive post-launch support, including the addition of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne’s Velkhana, and there’s more than enough to keep Xbox and PlayStation players happy (or raging) until the next Title Update.

"The idea of making a prequel was there before launch with many others, and following the incredible reception by the players, and all the questions about where those teenagers come from, we decided to focus on that aspect of the lore."

Was it always part of the plan to move on to a prequel after Road 96 had launched, or did the idea for Mile 0 only come about following the original game’s release?

The idea of making a prequel was there before launch with many others, and following the incredible reception by the players, and all the questions about where those teenagers come from, we decided to focus on that aspect of the lore.

What was behind the idea of bringing Zeo and Kaito together as the central characters for this game?

Zoe is one the most important characters of Road 96, some people love her, some people hate her, she’s very different, without spoiling the plot. So we wanted to show why she left her luxurious life for the dusty and dangerous roads of Petria. Kaito is her best friend, but he’s from a very different background, this creates a very special friendship. And this time, by switching from one point of view to another one, we could really incarnate someone with a deep backstory, that adds a lot of pressure when you make crucial choices.

Mile 0 is focusing on Zoe’s past and the events leading up to Road 96, but can someone who hasn’t played the original game jump straight in?

Yes, we paid attention by playtesting a lot that people who don’t know anything about Road 96 would understand everything, it adds of course a lot of references for those who played road before. But Mile 0 can totally be played as a first course.

What can you tell us about the game’s musical segments? How prominently will they be featured?

This is the new addition to the recipe, we keep all the fun activities and minigames, but we added some moments, very psychedelic, and frenetic and lot of action where you skate or roller over their evolving emotions. Kind of Sayonara feeling with a bit of skill required. This adds to the replayability of Mile 0.

"We paid attention by playtesting a lot that people who don’t know anything about Road 96 would understand everything, it adds of course a lot of references for those who played road before. But Mile 0 can totally be played as a first course."

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of Road 96: Mile 0 be?

Between 5 to 7 hours, it’s a short and sweet experience, I mean sweet depends on your choices and the ending you’ll get. There are really strong impacts depending on how you bend the two characters beliefs.

Can fans expect more games in the Road 96 series down the road?

I cannot say yet, but we love this dystopian universe we created, it is both crazy and fun, but also serious and impactful in a deeper layer. The fans show us every day that they love this universe, we are sensitive to that, but we love to innovate, to not repeat ourselves, so there is nothing in stone at this point.

Given that you have now worked on all the current gen consoles, I hope you don’t mind answering some questions about their hardware. Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series’ specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS. How much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

Our games are not too heavy on the hardware side, we don’t look for realism and don’t push too much on the technical side, we used Unity URP pipeline on Mile 0 and we saw no difference between those new generation machines, I would say that it makes our life more easy, and it was a very good surprise to see the game running at 60fps, that was not our intention at the beginning. For the next games we will push more on the technicality, we love challenges, but if I compare with the PS2 and GameCube when I started, it’s a totally different world. Maybe that’s why I never complain about hardware limitations.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. How can developers take advantage of this, and how does this compare to the Xbox Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?

As we didn’t create a streamed open world, we didn’t experience those technical limitations, we are really happy that Mile 0 runs 60fps on this new generation. And looking at the amazing evolution of the tools such as Unity and Unreal, I think we reached a point where hardware is not anymore a limit to our imagination. This is definitely the golden age of videogames.

Super Resolution is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. How do you think this will help game developers?

For games that are very heavy in UI and menus like RPGs it can definitely bring a good evolution, though we have to always think about accessibility, this is crucial to not exclude people from gaming.

"We love this dystopian universe we created, it is both crazy and fun, but also serious and impactful in a deeper layer. The fans show us every day that they love this universe, we are sensitive to that, but we love to innovate, to not repeat ourselves, so there is nothing in stone at this point."

What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the Switch in docked and undocked modes?
Docked 1920 – 1080

Handled mode, 1280×720. 30 FPS narrative parts, and 45 FPS average for the psychedelic Rides for both configurations.

What are your thoughts on the Steam Deck? Do you have plans for any specific optimizations for the device?

We love the Steam Deck in the team, we try all our games on it, it is amazing how smooth they run on it, the only issue is for games that are created for mouse/keyboard with lots of small menus, the UX would have to be adapted sometimes, the same kind of love you have to put on the Switch when undocked, make sure that every label is readable.  We made a special controller setting for the Steam Deck and tested a lot on it to make sure it runs perfectly. Portable devices definitely have a bright future, we need more products in this area.

The story focuses on two characters – Zoe from Road 96, who leads a rich lifestyle thanks to her father working as the Minister of Oil and Kaito from Lost in Harmony, born in the poorer Colton City. The two become close, and eventually, Zoe discovers some unpleasant details about the country and her father.

In addition to showcasing why Zoe left her home, Mile 0 will also detail events that led to Road 96. In a unique twist, Zoe and Kaito have inner worlds that manifest as rhythm-based sections (not unlike Sayonara Wild Heart) that will affect their growth.

DigixArt CEO Yoan Fanise said, “In Road 96: Mile 0, we wanted to show where Zoe is coming from and why she left her comfortable life. But we didn’t create Mile 0 in a conventional way. We went the crazy route, using metaphorical music sequences where you ride along on the beliefs and doubts of Zoe and Kaito. The funny part is that YOU choose how you want them to evolve.”

Stay tuned for more details on the prequel in the coming months.