What’s new in March 2024: 7 games that should be on your radar

This March’s new games are a lot more niche than those released so far in 2024, but they are shaping up to be some of the best in their respective genres. Princess Peach is getting her first starring role in a game in over 18 years, while franchises like Alone in the Dark and Dragon’s Dogma are making a comeback after long dormancies. March 22, in particular, looks like it will be a busy day with three AAA games all launching alongside each other.

March certainly contains a diverse lineup of games you don’t want to miss, so you’ll want to keep an eye on everything coming out. Here’s what you can expect to play this month, from major releases to smaller indies.

Unicorn Overlord (March 8)

Recommended if you like: Fire Emblem Engage

Continuing 2024’s streak of amazing new RPGs from storied Japanese studios, we have Unicorn Overlord from Vanillaware and Atlus. Vanillaware is applying its trademark visual and writing skills from games like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim to a fantasy strategy game reminiscent of series like Fire Emblem. Unicorn Overlord is a game where you’ll go around recruiting new soldiers to build up your army before engaging in real-time strategy battles where players can pause to determine the best tactics needed to win the battle. With Homeworld 3 delayed until May and no announced Fire Emblem games on the horizon, Unicorn Overlord is worth a look. It launches for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on March 8, and a free demo is available across all of those platforms now.

Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (March 13)

Recommended if you like: The Making of Karateka

Digital Eclipse is trailblazing a new kind of video game remaster collection with its Gold Master Series, and the next entry in the line of titles is out this month. Following in the footsteps of Atari 50 and The Making of Karateka is Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story. As its title suggests, this collection follows the escapades of Jeff Minter, the bold game developer behind titles like Attack of the Mutant Camels and Tempest 2000, throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It even contains an all-new version of Gridrunner. Digital Eclipse’s latest is part documentary, museum exhibit, and game collection. Fans of the history of the video game industry will definitely want to check Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story out when it launches for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on March 13.

Alone in the Dark (March 20)

Recommended if you like: Resident Evil 2 (2019)

Remakes and remasters look like they’ll be almost as common as RPGs and live-service games this year. March is full of them, and while Contra: Operation Galuga and Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection will be more enticing to action game fans, those looking for a slower-paced, eerier experience will want to play Alone in the Dark. Developed by Pieces Interactive and published by THQ Nordic, this is a remake of the first two Alone in the Dark games, which set the standard for fixed-camera horror games in the 1990s. Like the recent Resident Evil remakes, Alone in the Dark shifts gameplay to a third-person perspective but still emphasizes narrative and puzzle-solving. Alone in the Dark comes to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 20.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 (March 22)

Recommended if you like: Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen

Dragon’s Dogma is a cult classic action RPG from Capcom, and it’s finally getting a sequel this month. Thankfully, it doesn’t require knowledge of the original and offers up its own story and reactive gameplay. There will be several different vocations for players to choose from, each of which offers some unique abilities to use in intense fights against a variety of monsters. Also returning is the unique Pawn system, which allows players to create their own NPC party members and use pawns that their friends created. Fans of fantasy RPGs and emergent gameplay will definitely want to check out Dragon’s Dogma 2 when it drops on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on March 22. It’s one of three AAA games to launch on that day.

Princess Peach: Showtime! (March 22)

Recommended if you like: Kirby and the Forgotten Land

On the Nintendo Switch front, players can expect the release of Princess Peach: Showtime! this month. Taking cues from platforming series like Kirby, the hook of Princess Peach’s solo game is that she can dress up in various outfits based on roles like mermaids, ninjas, and detectives, all of which come with unique gameplay abilities. The entire game is themed like it’s taking place on a stage, as Princess Peach is actually fighting to save a theater from new enemies Wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch. It looks like an approachable, kid-friendly game compared to the other titles on this list, and it may be one of the last original games we get on Nintendo Switch as its lineup is currently full of remasters, remakes, and sequels ahead of the launch of Nintendo’s next hardware. Princess Peach: Showtime! hits Switch on March 22.

Rise of the Ronin

Recommended if you like: Nioh

Fans of Soulslikes will want to give Rise of the Ronin from Team Ninja and Sony Interactive Entertainment a shot this month. This is a new open-world action game made by the developers of games like Nioh and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. It takes place during the Bakumatsu, which were the final years of the Japanese Shogunate, as it was forced to open up its borders to Western countries. Rise of the Ronin retains the difficult skill-based combat of those games but also aims to be more open-ended, like a Ghost of Tsushima or Assassin’s Creed Mirage. If Dragon’s Dogma 2’s more fantastical elements don’t pique your fancy, then Rise of the Ronin’s more historically-rooted setting may be more your speed. Rise of the Ronin launches exclusively for PS5 on March 22.

Pepper Grinder

Recommended if you like: Sonic Superstars

Plenty of great indie titles will drop throughout March, like Berserk Boy and Open Roads. We particularly want to highlight Pepper Grinder from Ahr Ech and Devolver Digital. This upcoming 2D platformer spices this storied genre up by giving players a drill and allowing them to go wild. Almost every interaction within Pepper Grinder is based around that drill, which players will use to dive quickly, maneuver, and leap from drillable surface to drillable surface, almost like it is an on-land version of Ecco the Dolphin. Those who enjoy a good momentum-based platformer like Sonic Superstars of Penny’s Big Breakaway will enjoy Pepper Grinder when it releases for PC and Nintendo Switch on March 28. A demo of it is available on both platforms.

More new games in March 2024

• Expeditions: A Mudrunner Games (March 5)
• The Outlast Trials (March 5)
• Berserk Boy (March 6)
• Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley (March 7)
• WWE 2K24 (March 8)
• Contra: Operation Galuga (March 12)
• Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection (March 14)
• MLB The Show 24 (March 19)
• South Park: Snow Day! (March 26)
• Open Roads (March 28)