March will be a great month for both sports and video games. As basketball fans look forward to March Madness, there are several highly anticipated video games dropping to stir up some “madness” in gamers as well.
To help readers know what's coming up and what to look for, we’ve compiled a list of the most anticipated March 2020 releases.
‘Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX,’ Mar. 6 - Nintendo Switch
In the “Pokémon” series, players typically assume the role of a human Pokémon trainer. But the “Pokémon Mystery Dungeon” subseries breaks from the usual mold by having the human character turn into a Pokémon.
In “Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX,” the player wakes up without any memories of their past before being a Pokémon, creates a rescue team and goes on a journey to rediscover their lost memories.
The game is a remake of the 2005 games “Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team,” which are the original games in this subseries. At the start of the game, the player takes a personality test to determine which Pokémon they will turn into. The game itself is a roguelike role-playing game where the player completes various jobs, fights turn-based battles and explores procedurally generated dungeons. The remake has some new game features to make it worth playing in 2020.
‘Ori and the Will of the Wisps,’ Mar. 11 - Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
In 2015, Moon Studios debuted with “Ori and the Blind Forest,” which quickly received widespread recognition and awards for its beautiful story, art style and music. This platform-adventure game focused on a white guardian spirit named Ori who goes on a journey to save the forest of Nibel. To progress, the player has to navigate obstacles and solve puzzles.
“Ori and the Will of the Wisps” is the sequel to the original game and follows Ori on another journey as the spirit explores the world outside of the forest. Along with the new story and areas, this sequel also implements some new gameplay mechanics. For fans of the old game and those into more indie games, this game is not to be missed.
‘DOOM Eternal,’ Mar. 20 - PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Microsoft Windows
The 1993 “Doom” on the MS-DOS has a special place in video-game history as one of the original first-person shooters. At the time, the game’s 3D graphics were revolutionary and thus played a role in the advancement of video game design. Although this original game is almost 30 years old, the Doom franchise continues to thrive with merchandise, novels, comics and games.
After id Software rebooted the franchise in 2016, fans of the series have been clamoring for the latest installment, “DOOM Eternal.” In the rebooted universe, the player is known as the Doom Slayer who battles against creatures from Hell. “DOOM Eternal” will introduce new gaming modes, weapons, enemies, movement mechanics and more.
‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons,’ Mar. 20 - Nintendo Switch
It’s time to pack up, move to a deserted island and create your own society in “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” “Animal Crossing,” a series of games where you run a community of animal-looking characters in real-time, sees its next installment have players move to a deserted island, meet both old and new characters and create their own island society.
Along with the new setting and characters, the game will also have new game mechanics such as new premium currency, new weather mechanics and eight-player co-op. With all this, it’s set up to be the strongest entry in the series to date.
‘Persona 5 Royal,’ Mar. 31 - PlayStation 4
“Persona 5,” which originally came out in 2016, is the most recent main installment of Atlus’ “Persona” series. The series is also a subseries of the main “Megami Tensei” franchise and is one of Atlus’s most popular properties.
While each main “Persona” game follows different characters and plots, the games typically focus on high school students having to save the world through RPG dungeon crawling.
In “Persona 5,” players take on the role of a high school male protagonist as he tries to balance school, social links, part-time jobs and being a phantom thief who steals distorted desires.
“Persona 5 Royal” is an expanded version of the original game that includes new characters, a new area, a previously skipped semester, a new story-arc and more. It’s perfect for anyone who never got the chance to play the original or wants to return to the world of Persona for a more in-depth adventure.
Anastasia Wilds is an assistant arts editor and can be reached at anastasia.wilds@ubspectrum.com and on Twitter @AnastasiaWilds
Anastasia Wilds is the senior arts editor. She has been writing for newspapers since her junior year of high school, and she has appreciated all forms of art for even longer. When she’s not writing, she is either reading, listening to music, hanging out with her friends on discord or streaming on Twitch.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
