Will 2024 be a good year for video games? Several big releases like “Tekken 8” or “Skull and Bones” are announced for the first quarter, others could take a little longer like “Star Wars Outlaws” or “Dragon’s Dogma 2”. Here is a list of video games released in January and those that are most anticipated this year.
This month of January should help combat the cold by warming up consoles and PCs. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown takes a leap in time just like Alone in the Dark And The Last of Us Part II who offer remakes. Tekken 8 gives pride of place to France by poaching Vincent Cassel and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth takes us on a psychedelic trip under the Hawaiian sun. Dragon’s Dogma And Hades should both gift us a second episode this year and the release date of Star Wars Outlaws is already sought after throughout the galaxy.
“Alone in the Dark Remake”: a star cast
Released in 1992, Alone in the Dark was a source of inspiration for many horror and survival games as its quality made an impression at the time. After several attempts at remakes or not very glorious sequels, the license gradually fell into oblivion. THQ Nordic bought the rights from Atari and hopes to restore the brand’s image by starting from the original title. The game should give pride of place to exploration and puzzles in a necessarily very distressing atmosphere. The fights are advertised as being quite punishing and should encourage players to avoid them as much as possible. The studio, which is not among the richest in the sector, has offered itself a star cast: David Harbor (Stranger Things) and Jodie Comer (Free Guy, Killing Eve, The Last Duel) should help players delve into history and discover the terrifying side of Louisiana in the 1920s.
“Alone in the Dark Remake” / THQ Nordic / Released January 16 on PS5, Xbox Series and PC.
“Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown”: take your time
Here is another old license that seeks to stand the test of time. Since 1989, the series Prince of Persia has already given birth to more than ten titles and continues its journey in this year 2024 with The Lost Crown. If the story takes place in Persia, the 3D adventure style has disappeared in favor of a 2.5D platform game. The global success of Metroid Dread gave wings to fans of the genre, enough to make the developers of Ubisoft Montpellier want to rediscover the atmosphere specific to the very first Prince of Persia. But the title does not lack modernity and seeks to attract players other than those nostalgic for the 1980s. You play Sargon, a leaping hero who will have to demonstrate intelligence and tactics to escape the many traps that lie within him. ‘wait. The fights promise to be complex with a multitude of moves and the possibility of going back to get out of a bad situation or overcome impossible obstacles. There will obviously be a whole bunch of improvements to combine in order to hope to pass the inevitable boss end of levels. Several modes are offered to allow both hardcore and slow players to have a good time.
“Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown” / Ubisoft / Released January 18 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Series, Switch and PC.
“The Last of Us Part II Remastered”: already back?
Is it really necessary to remaster a game only three and a half years after its release? In June 2020, The Last of Us Part II arrives on PS4 and delights fans (not all) of Naughty Dog’s masterpiece. If PS5 owners could already play it, they are now entitled to an optimized version for only 10 euros if they purchased the PS4 version. But beyond the obvious expected visual improvements, a few surprises spice up this version.
Three new sequences are proposed but be careful, these are levels which were not retained in the final version: they are therefore unfinished and are accompanied by audio comments from the developers. The big news is a new “Rogue-lite” mode. The principle is simple: go as far as possible before dying. You have the choice at the start between ten playable characters and you must chain five random fights before facing a boss the end. Naughty Dog has apparently gone all out on this mode with a lot of possible progression and a new skill tree. You will also be able to compete against other players in daily challenges.
“The Last of Us Part II Remastered” / Naughty Dog / Released January 19 on PS5.
“Tekken 8”: French touch
After Street Fighter 6 And Mortal Kombat 1 released in 2023, it’s the turn of Tekken 8 to get into the ring. Fighting games are popular and the battle rages between these legendary licenses. Bandai Namco hopes to do well by focusing on new features and impeccable technical quality. As with its direct competitors, the title has progressed well visually and benefits from the capabilities of the latest generation consoles.
France is in the spotlight in this new opus: Vincent Cassel lends his voice to a brand new fighter, Victor Chevalier, uA secret agent who is a little crafty and obviously very elegant. Tekken 8 opens the door to new players with an “easy” mode that allows you to have fun quickly by taking advantage of the devastating combos of each character. However, more or less powerful strikes and counterattacks must be delivered with precision to be effective and the most determined players should maintain a certain advantage on the tatamis. A “Ghost” mode has also appeared: it allows you to play against an AI which mimics your technique and identifies your weak points. You will also be able to fight in this mode against the “Ghost” of the best players of the moment.
The single-player mode is still present with a scripted campaign which follows on from the previous episode. The world is in chaos and only a tournament of extreme fighters will save the planet from total destruction.
“Tekken 8” / Bandai Namco / Released January 26 on PS5, Xbox Series and PC.
“Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth”: Hawaii Madness
This is the eighth episode of the crazy series about the Japanese mafia, the Yakuzas. Here, we shamelessly mix plots and bloody fights with lighter activities like fishing, karaoke or burger delivery by bike. The turn-based combat system introduced during the last episode is renewed. You will therefore have time to prepare your moves quietly while taking advantage of the elements of the setting to improvise fatal combos. Change of archipelago for the characters who leave the Empire of the Rising Sun for Hawaii and its local mafia. Ichiban, the hairy hero, arrives in America to find his mother but, obviously, nothing is going to go as planned.
“Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth” / Sega / Released January 26 on PS5 and PS4, Xbox One and Series and on PC.
Here is now a little overview of some video games that will be in the news in 2024. You will not find “Skull and Bones” and “Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth”, although they are highly anticipated. They are both announced for February so we will talk about them next month.
“Dragon’s Dogma 2”: always further, always higher
Basic heroic fantasy with warriors, mages, thieves and archers is what we offer Dragon’s Dogma II but not only. In this game, you play a hero of your choice accompanied by a pawn: a very important secondary character that you can lend to other players so that he gains experience and becomes stronger. A more beautiful, larger game and with more combative monsters, this is what adventurers who have already traveled the lands of Dragon’s Dogma first of the name. With its titanic creatures and captivating graphics, Capcom’s action role-playing game will be particularly scrutinized by fans ofElden Ring.
“Dragon’s Dogma II” / Capcom / Released March 22 on PS5, Xbox Series and PC.
“Hades II”: the long exit from hell
After its surprise nomination in the most anticipated games of 2024 category at the latest Game Awards, Hades II may still be delayed. If early access on PC is planned for the second half of 2024, the final game, and therefore its console version, should not necessarily be released that same year. You will therefore have to be patient to discover the rest of these hellish adventures. The main hero, Zagreus, is replaced by his sister Melinoë who will have to fight hard to extricate herself from the demonic clutches which will inevitably fall on her. For those who have never heard of it, Hades is a graphic “rogue-lite” of increasing difficulty with frenetic combat and the possibility of building types of heroes with very different styles.
“Hades II” / Supergiant Games / Released in early access in early 2024 on PC, expected later on PS5, PS4, Xbox One and Series.
“Star Wars Outlaws”: playing on the dark side?
Shots of blaster, infiltration, fights against the Empire and escape in a spaceship at the last minute under a flood of lasers: the first images of Star Wars Outlaws immediately put the fans in excitement. We find the atmosphere of the first films, those which forged the legend with Han Solo at the top of his form. It’s a bit of her female version that the Massive Entertainment title offers us to embody. Key Vess is a dirty brat who is just looking for a corner of the galaxy where she can do quiet business without the Empire prying its nose. Accompanied by a space dog and a massive droid with a sinister appearance, she seems to tick all the boxes to please license addicts. The game will be action and adventure oriented, in third person view, with combat sequences on Earth and in space. Several planets should be visitable in the open world.
“Star Wars Outlaws” / Ubisoft / Release scheduled for 2024 on PS5, Xbox Series and PC.
“GTA VI”: at the center of the video game world
Even if it is only announced for 2025, Grand Theft Auto VI risks getting a lot of attention in the year 2024. At the beginning of last December, all the media announced the posting of his first video. If this one doesn’t show much, it has already caused a lot of ink to flow as the expectations around this “most anticipated game of the century” are high. The success of the previous episode, the second best-selling video game in history (behind Minecraft) with 185 million copies sold, suggests the global craze that awaits each scrap of information revealed over the coming year. . For the moment, what is certain is that we don’t know much other than that the bandit game from Rockstar Games should be released initially on PS5 and Xbox Series before landing on PC.
“GTA VI” / Rockstar Games / Release not before 2025 on PS5, Xbox series and PC.