2024's release schedule just got a lot brighter, starting with Pepper Grinder and Snufkin in March
Another Crab's Treasure in April! World Of Goo 2 in May! SMT 5 in June!
Yesterday's Nintendo Direct got rather overshadowed by a certain trailer for Shadow Of The Erdtree, but there were still plenty of good news nuggets to be had in there for us PC folks - which I've summarised for you below. The long and short of it is: more release dates! Loads of 'em! And they're all coming in the first half of 2024 as well. I love it when a schedule comes together.
Kicking things off, 3D platformer Penny's Big Breakaway is available right now. The new game from the creators of Sonic Mania was stealth-dropped right after Nintendo's presentation yesterday, and you can find it over on Steam. I played a chunk of this at the start of the month and came away a little befuddled by its high octane yo-yo-ing, but I'll try and bring you further thoughts on it now it's out properly.
March
- March 7th - Snufkin: Melody Of Moominvalley
- March 12th - Contra: Operation Galuga
- March 14th - Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection
- March 28th - Pepper Grinder
Next month, we've got four more games for the calendar: Pepper Grinder, Snufkin: Melody Of Moominvalley, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, and Contra: Operation Galuga. The latter is a collaboration between Konami and WayForward, and is a reimagining of the original NES and arcade version of Contra. There's a demo on Steam if you fancy it, too. At the opposite end of the spectrum, you've also got Snukin, the very chill Moomin-themed musical adventure about restoring the lush forests and jungles of Moominvalley to their former glory. Its Next Fest demo is still up on Steam, too, if you want to give it an early look.
At first, I thought the Battlefront Classic Collection was only on Switch, but it turns out this is coming to PC as well. Why, when both classic Battlefronts are already available on Steam for significantly less money? We're trying to find out. Perhaps you'll have better luck by scouring its Steam page.
Personally, I'm most looking forward to Pepper Grinder, a 2D platformer that's all about swooping through dirt with a honking great drill in your hands. Its Next Fest demo was pure joy, which is also still live on Steam if you want to give it a try for yourself.
April
- April 25th - Another Crab's Treasure
One for the Soulslikers here, Another Crab's Treasure may well end up being the first appetiser before Elden Ring's DLC comes out. I will probably still be horrendous at it, but I do like the idea of different shells bestowing you with different skills and combat abilities. Keep an eye on it on Steam.
May
- May 23rd - World Of Goo 2
Yesss, this is the stuff. World Of Goo 2 was arguably one of the biggest surprise announcements from last year's Game Awards, so it's great to see we'll be playing this sequel to 2D Boy's excellent physics puzzler so soon. The World Of Goo 2 website says it's coming to the Epic Games Store first, though it also sounds as though you'll be able to play it directly on the site itself through your web browser (on Windows, macOS or Linux, too).
June
- June 21st - Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
Finally, there's Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, which is coming to PC on the same day as the Elden Ring DLC. SMT V was previously a Switch exclusive, so it's great to see this expanded version coming to both PC and other platforms in the process. No Steam page for it just yet, though.
Summer
- Monster Hunter Stories
- Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure
These final two games are currently undated at the moment, but they do at least have Summer release windows to nudge them into the middle part of the year. Monster Hunter Stories is an HD remake of the 3DS original, but it's Arranger that I'm most intrigued about. The development team is made up of David Hellman (the artist behind Braid), Nick Suttner (the writer on Carto), and Nicolás Recabarren (the designer behind Ethereal), and looking at the trailer below, it has a little bit of Patrick's Parabox energy about it. It has instantly gone on my Steam wishlist.
