Editorial Review for April | Zing

Martin is closed

April of this year was a month where they pretty much dominated games in early access – given the increasingly complex and expensive development of medium and large video games, it seems that this way of publishing them will become a kind of new standard. In the games that began to be sold in this mode this month, the Polish strategy Manor Lords clearly dominated with a record number of “wishlists” for many years, but of course Frostpunk 2, a peculiar mix of “devils” and souls like No Rest. for Wicked, the Czech War in the Gray Zone or the Slovak “Vivat Slovakia”. In the traditional “boxed games” in April, the Stellar Blade event for PlayStation 5 predictably dominated, which managed to pleasantly surprise even long-time fans of the genre, and after last year’s Lies of P is further proof that the Korean game Developers deserve attention.

May will also bring us some interesting games, and Hellblade II will undoubtedly be one of the most anticipated. In addition, PC gamers will get a conversion of one of the most popular PlayStation games of recent years, the samurai action game Ghost of Tsushima. But there will also be an (old) new Mario in the form of a remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. And as unlikely as it may sound to some, Diablo IV may well be headed for a successful return to prominence, as the upcoming fourth season is expected to bring long-awaited and promising changes to the fundamental mechanics of the game, from loot to endgame. Publishers are already announcing specific dates for their June showcases (the former “E3 period”), so it’s unlikely that they will offer any of them in May, but perhaps one of them will surprise.

Daniel Jarocki

Last month I was particularly pleased with the announcement of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 from the workshops of the Czech studio Warhorse. The presentation of the second part, combined with the announced release date this year, was enough motivation for me to play the original game from 2018 again after a long time. I want to gradually dose the whole experience and tune in to the expected sequel. I must say that even from today’s point of view, the game definitely does not look outdated. In terms of atmosphere, environment and especially setting, even from today’s point of view, it is a complex and somewhat unique game. Among other games, I also played the recently released strategy Manor Lords via Game Pass, which perfectly complements Kingdom Come. At the end of the month, I also entered a new year of the MotoGP racing series, which I will soon tell you about in a review.

In addition to the already mentioned MotoGP 24, I am also looking forward to other highly anticipated racing titles in the form of the New Year’s F1 series from Codemasters, which will be released at the very end of the month. But I will definitely not miss the highly anticipated action adventure Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II from Ninja Theory. Among other games, I would like to note the upcoming PC version of the previous PlayStation exclusive Ghost of Tsushima and a new game from the Czech studio Charles Games called Playing Kafka.

Jan Urbanczyk

April was another successful month in a busy gaming year. I finally finished Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden from the start. I really enjoyed the game, despite the rather repetitive combat, and completing all the side quests for the emotional finale was definitely worth it. It’s a shame that this Don’t Nod game fell a bit behind other, bigger games that came out at the time.

I also spent a fair amount of time in the Frostpunk 2 beta, which received mixed reviews from players, but I really enjoyed it. It’s a significant departure from the first game, but the new unique elements, including a strong focus on politics, work brilliantly. You can read my full impressions here.

That’s it for April, but I’ve been playing a lot. I’m almost 30 hours into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, still doing my best, and still having a ton of fun. I’m a little daunted by how long it’s going to take, though. I also had to put Rebirth on hold a few days ago because I was playing the excellent sci-fi action game Starblade, which I was incredibly hooked on, as well as the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake (which I’m reviewing), and the Metroidvania Tales of Kenzera: Zau. We discussed all three games in the last podcast.

In May, in addition to the games I’ve already played, I plan to finish the first Hellblade again to fully prepare for the sequel, which will finally be released at the end of the month, my most anticipated game of the year. I’m also curious to see how Nixxes’ next PC port will turn out, this time Ghost of Tsushima.

Philip Svoboda

In early April, I played The Final Draft, aka New Game + Alana Waka 2, and was reminded of how great Remedy’s sequel to a mystery action game — this time a survival horror — is. I spent a lot of time with the Metro trilogy, which so far has passed me by and which captivated me mainly for its atmosphere and narrative. I finished 2033 and Last Light and played the latest Exodus.

I played Harold Turbot from the new games, which I still have rather ambivalent feelings about. On the one hand, the incredible audiovisual treatment, unparalleled in the gaming world, the atmosphere and mood of space, but the submarine Fedora, on the other hand, the more cumbersome narrative and not very lively activity.

There have been a number of games in April, and I am proud to be part of the target group. On the one hand, there is the unconventional adventure game Indika, starring a nun accompanied by the voice of the devil himself. I am looking forward to Hellblade 2, one of my most anticipated games of the year, and I am also looking forward to the release of Ghost of Tsushima on PC.

Ondrej Zeman

April is upon us. And I must say, it was once again a worthwhile ride. I spent most of the month just playing Dragon’s Dogma 2. It was a thrilling experience, so I definitely didn’t regret the time spent. I also really enjoyed building a medieval manor in the strategy game Manor Lords. In the end, I put that aside too because the new expansion for Total War: Warhammer 3 arrived on my disc, which was really worth it, so I’ll probably spend some more time with it in my free time.

There’s a colorful constellation of games coming up in May, so it was hard to pick the ones I’m most looking forward to. I’m really looking forward to the visually interesting strategy game FABLEDOM, as well as Reus 2, which is a sequel to the interesting god simulator. Of course, that’s not all I want to miss. I’ll definitely be spending many hours playing Songs of Conquest, as well as Homeworld 3, but I’m a little worried that the developers won’t be able to customize it. To make sure I’m not just playing it in between conquering worlds, I’d like to include Roman Kodet’s A Samurai’s Tale, so hopefully I’ll have time for that.