On March 24th, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth will finally be added to the service for Ultimate, Premium and PC subscribers. Guard Crush Games’ Absolum follows on March 25th, which also marks the acclaimed rogue-lite beat ’em up’s debut on Xbox Series X/S.

Nova Roma, a city-building title from Lion Shield, will premiere in Game Preview for Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers, coinciding with its early access release. Survival crafting fans can look forward to The Long Dark becoming available on March 30th for Premium, PC, and Ultimate. Finally, Resident Evil 7: biohazard will be playable on March 31st, joining the Resident Evil Village.

But wait, there’s more. Barbie Horse Trails kicks off next month alongside Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the latter finally available to Premium subscribers. If that wasn’t enough, Square Enix’s march to include every single mainline Final Fantasy title on Game Pass seemingly continues with Final Fantasy 4 on April 7th.

Surprisingly, only two games will be leaving the service on March 31st. Check them out below:

• Peppa Pig World Adventures (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Mad Streets (Cloud, Console, PC)

This War of Mine

A game to endure rather than enjoy, This War of Mine paints a harrowing picture of survival inside a war-ravaged city. Overseeing a small band of survivors you’ll take sanctuary from the chaos outside during daytime, cooking, crafting tools, healing, and upgrading your hideout. Under the cloak of night time darkness your survivors must venture out in search of materials, resources, and medicine, encountering NPCs both friendly and hostile. Whether you choose to trade, rob, or kill those you meet depends on the desperation within your group; all morals go out the window when you’re besieged, fighting for survival. This War of Mine tells an intimate tale laced with guilt and shame, with the mental wellbeing of your survivors just as important as the food in their bellies and roof over their head.

Viewfinder 

Viewfinder comes from the masterminds at Sad Owl Studios, and it’s a puzzler with a very unique premise. The game allows you to take pictures and place the polaroids anywhere in the level, which magically meshes up with the level to open up new paths. Viewfinder does a great job of taking that core concept and exploring a vast number of possibilities with its set of puzzles, and while the story could have been better in a few aspects – Viewfinder is definitely worth your time. 

Global resources have also been refreshed, with resources now matching the theme of a region and giving it a unique feel. Starting spawns for all modes have also been updated, so expect to feel lost more often than before. Other noteworthy updates include notes under car visors that point to items or offer useful information, Fire-Hardened Arrows for scare creatures like wolves, Acorns for grinding into a stimulating drink of Flour for food, and so on.

The last part of the Hunted challenge is also coming, tasking you to “finish the job, or die trying.” Those playing on high-end PCs, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5 can also expect a “range of visual enhancements,” though some seem to require the Expansion Pass. Stay tuned for more details on that front in the coming days.

Players can expect new regions like the Far Range Branch Line and Transfer Pass and the Forsaken Airfield, a remote airfield located on a large plain. Other regions include the Industrial Mine and Mountain Pass, each with its share of secrets.

In terms of new gameplay, there’s Glimmer Fog, whose electrostatic energy can cause electronics to suddenly anime. A new risk, Insomnia Affliction, can occur when exposed to “certain influences.” You can also use the Handheld Shortwave for signals that lead to supplies and unique locations. New recipes and ingredients, a Photo Mode (with an in-game camera and dark room), and a Cougar that could become the player’s “greatest nemesis yet” are also coming.

If that weren’t enough, three narrative Tales are also being added. Each has different objectives and ties into the base game’s Wintermute storyline. Tales from the Far Territory updates will release on an 8-10 week cadence. Some are paid and exclusive to Expansion Pass owners, while others are free to base game players.

The Long Dark: Tales from the Far Territory is also coming to Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch in early 2023. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Subnautica: Below Zero (Hardcore Mode)

Like the first game, Subnautica: Below Zero has three game modes. Survival is your usual playthrough where health, food, oxygen, and water must be managed. Items are dropped on death, and given the various monstrosities in 4546B, you will die quite a bit. However, you can respawn and usually get them back.

Hardcore Mode is Survival but with only one life – when you’re dead, that’s it. To add more spice, if your Oxygen levels are low, the PDA doesn’t give a warning, so it’s easy to drown. Jumping in and trying to figure everything out is tough enough, but Hardcore will test your limits and patience.

Sony recently announced that Marvel’s Avengers and Borderlands 3 would be available for PlayStation Now starting today, allowing subscribers to play them till July 5th and September 29th respectively. With both titles having free upgrade options for PS5, it was assumed that the current gen versions were also available through the service. However, this isn’t the case according to Sony.

Speaking to IGN, the company confirmed that Marvel’s Avengers and Borderlands 3 on PlayStation Now were the PS4 versions. Prior to this, Square Enix said that save data from the PS4 version could be transferred to the PS5 version but that the latter required a separate purchase on PS Now. Furthermore, Push Square tested and confirmed that it could stream and download the PS4 versions for both titles but had to purchase their PS5 versions separately.

While frustrating, such a practice isn’t especially new for PlayStation services following the PS5’s launch. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was added to PlayStation Plus in March but Square Enix clarified that this version was not eligible for the upcoming free PS5 upgrade. Whether Sony plans to continue this for PlayStation Now or change this in the future remains to be seen.

Sony has revealed the next slate of titles that will be available on PlayStation Now tomorrow, starting with Marvel’s Avengers. The live-service action adventure has received a new update, “Operation: Hawkeye – Future Imperfect“, along with official support for the PS5. It will be available until July 5th on the service.

Next up is Borderlands 3, Gearbox’s long-awaited sequel that offers four new Vault Hunters, a new story and plenty of new loot to chase. With the Director’s Cut DLC out this week, it’s a good time to acquaint one’s self with the end-game. Borderlands 3 will be available on PlayStation Now until September 29th.

Finally, there’s The Long Dark, a survival exploration title set in a frozen wasteland. The player must struggle to survive against the harsh weather while also dealing with any wild animals that may beset them. There’s currently no time limit for the game so experience it at your own pace. Stay tuned for more details on new titles for PlayStation Now in the coming months.

Microsoft has announced several new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass for consoles in April, starting with The Long Dark releasing tomorrow. The survival title sees the player fighting against the elements in a wintery environment. It’s well worth playing for those seeking a moody story and/or brutal survival sandbox.

Other titles coming this month include Gato Roboto on April 21st, which is a Metroid-vania title starring a cat in a mech. Deliver Us The Moon arrives on April 23rd and sees players exploring an abandoned colony on the Moon for answers. April 30th brings Hyperdot and Levelhead, the latter being a platformer/level maker from the development team behind Crashlands.

Several titles will also be leaving the service this month so play them now while you can. These titles are:

• The Banner Saga 2
• Bomber Crew
• Braid
• Fallout 4
• Full Metal Furies
• Metal Slug 3
• Ruiner
• Silence: The Whispered World 2
• Smoke and Sacrifice
• Wolfenstein: The New Order

Stay tuned for more details on Xbox Game Pass titles, especially those coming to PC subscribers. The service normally costs $9.99 on PC and Xbox One. However, new subscribers can try out Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – which includes Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass for PC and console – at just $1.

Layers of Fear

Though not the most innovative horror game by any means, Bloober Team’s Layers of Fear was significant. Following the studio’s failure with Basement Crawl, Layers of Fear presented a complete shift with its mature storyline and macabre atmosphere. As such, the game showcased Unity’s power in twisted settings with excellent fidelity, creating disturbing sights at a decent clip.