Video games to play this spring, from 'The Outlast Trials' to 'Rise of the Ronin'

Last year was a banner year for video games, delivering several big-name releases, such as "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" and "Baldurs Gate 3." So far, 2024 is shaping up to be another good year for gamers looking to add to their repertoire. Here are a few of the latest video games releasing this spring.

'The Outlast Trials' (March 5)

Horror game fans can look forward to the third installment of Red Barrels' Outlast series, "The Outlast Trials," which came out of early access in March with new maps and missions. The first-person psychological horror survival game is set during the Cold War, and players fight to survive the strange trials of the Murkoff Corporation. Players can go through the game solo or play online with up to three friends. 

As a horror game, "The Outlast Trials" more than delivers the "bloodcurdling, stomach-dropping, wince-inducing gore and violence" fans expect from Red Barrels, Jasmine Gould-Wilson said on Games Radar+. The game is a "thrilling, compulsive experience that will shatter every nerve in your body" and a "chaotic playground to run rampant in with your most steel-stomached pals." Order here.

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'Dragon's Dogma 2' (March 22)

It has been twelve years since Capcom's fantasy role-playing game Dragon's Dogma was released, and the sequel finally arrives this spring. It is an action-adventure game that continues in the spirit of the original. But it also offers newness, including a "more robust world, varying vocations for your created character and more emergent scenarios to keep the gameplay feeling fresh and intriguing," said Kotaku. 

The game's director, Hideaki Itsuno, said in a PlayStation Blog post that the sequel "incorporates ideas that were not technically feasible at the time we created the first game." He believes the game will allow players to "experience the fantasy world you've always dreamed of" and will "ultimately be the ultimate 'Dragon's Dogma.'" Order here.

'Princess Peach: Showtime!' (March 22)

Princess Peach takes the helm of Nintendo's new Mario game for Switch, "Princess Peach: Showtime!" It is only the second time that Peach has been the star since "Super Princess Peach" debuted on Nintendo DS in 2005, where she was tasked with rescuing Mario and Luigi. This time, the Mushroom Kingdom ruler takes the lead, with no Mario in sight. Unlike her previous starring role, this game is not just an inverted "Super Mario" game. "Princess Peach: Showtime" is "very much doing its own distinct thing," IGN's Brian Altano said, and it "looks and feels unique." Like its predecessors, "Showtime" is "definitely for the younger crowd, but so are many of the best Nintendo games,” said Altano. Order here.

'Rise of the Ronin' (March 22)

If "Ghost of Tsushima" is your vibe, Team Ninja's "Rise of the Ronin" might be worth adding to your list. The Playstation-exclusive game comes from the studio behind the acclaimed action role-playing games "Nioh" and "Nioh 2." The game is set during the Bakumatsu period, the end of the Edo era, "during which an undercurrent of political discord between east and west sets the scene," Joe Donnelly wrote in a preview for Games Radar+. While there are similarities to the developer's previous titles, the "latest adventure is definitely more sophisticated and, by extension, more ambitious," said Donnelly. Order here.

'Tales of Kenzera: Zau' (April 23)

Developer Surgent Studios' "Tales of Kenzera: Zau" was an "emotional breakout" of The Game Awards, Kotaku said. The game is a "stunning Metroidvania," a portmanteau of the "Metroid" and "Castlevania" series, and a subgenre of nonlinear platform games with "ability-gated exploration." The game follows a young shaman's journey to revive his dead father after he makes a deal with Kalunga, the god of death. The game was inspired by studio founder Abubakar Salim's own experience with grief, who said he "always believed that games are the most powerful way of telling a story." Pre-order here.