Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Persona 5, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3, and Other Games Releasing This April

After a busy March that saw a slew of games hitting the shelves both digital and physical, as well as the Nintendo Switch, April appears to be low key in comparison. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to play though. Here are the games you should look forward to in April.

Persona 5
Attend high school by day, slay demons by night, and befriend an assortment of intriguing characters in between. Persona 5 follows a template set by previous entries in the series, particularly Persona 3 and 4, but it refines them to the point where you have a title that’s highly addictive and an absolute joy to play. So much so that it ended up with a perfect score in our Persona 5 review.

Persona 5 release date: April 4
Persona 5 platforms: PS3 and PS4
Persona 5 price: Rs. 3,999 ($60 in the US)

Yooka-Laylee
Yooka-Laylee is the spiritual successor to classic 3D platformers such as Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, which were developed by legendary developer Rare before it was acquired by Microsoft. It’s the result of a successful Kickstarter from Playtonic — a studio consisting of ex-Rare developers, and at the time became the fastest video game in Kickstarter history to reach $1 million (approximately Rs. 65 crore). Our initial impressions of this colourful platformer are promising. Check out our full review when it lands early next month.

Yooka-Laylee release date: April 11
Yooka-Laylee platforms: PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch (no release date announced)
Yooka-Laylee price: Rs. 1,999 (PC), Rs. 2,375 (PS4), Rs. 2,200 (Xbox One), $40 in the US.

Puyo Puyo Tetris
Puyo Puyo Tetris is, as the name suggests, a crossover between Tetris and Puyo Puyo. While the former is well-known to even non-gamers, the latter is a puzzle franchise that hasn’t seen a release outside of Japan since 2004. Publisher Sega promises a single-player adventure mode (which would be interesting to see in a puzzle game), an arcade mode and five multiplayer modes.

Puyo Puyo Tetris release date: April 25 (US), April 28 (Europe and India)
Puyo Puyo Tetris platforms: PS4 and Nintendo Switch
Puyo Puyo Tetris price: Rs. 2,000 ($29.99 in the US)

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3
Developed by Polish studio CI Games, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is dubbed as the studio’s first AAA production effort. Set in the war-torn Republic of Georgia, you’ll use stealth, close combat, and sniping (in case the title didn’t give it away) to get by. Prior entries in the series were positioned as budget titles and were linear in terms of design and gameplay. Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 on the other hand, promises to allow more freedom, featuring an open-world - a first for the series.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 release date: April 25
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 platforms: PC (Windows), PS4, and Xbox One
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 price: Rs. 3,999 (consoles, $60 in the US), Rs. 1,899 (PC, $60 in the US).

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
One of the better games on the Wii U, Mario Kart 8 sees an enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch. Not only will it be visually spruced up, but it will also include all previously released content such as new karts. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also allows players to carry two items at once, which could make races a whole lot more frantic. New characters such as Bowser Jr and the Inklings from Splatoon 2 are in this version of the game as well.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe release date: April 28
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe platform: Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe price: $60 in the US, roughly Rs. 4,000

That’s not all though, there are other notable releases such as real-time strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III out for Windows PC on April 27 and preschool art project-inspired Drawn to Death, by God of War Creator David Jaffe, on April 4 for the PS4.

What are you playing this month? Let us know via the comments.