This is admittedly not what most people were probably expecting us to start this off with, but hey, we did say this was a slow month. That might not be entirely fair to the Diesel Brothers though. Wariness of licensed games is entirely warranted given how many of them over the years have actually been any good, but this game based on Discovery's Diesel Brothers show seems to have detailed systems and solid physics to keep the truck restoration and driving gameplay expansive and engaging. Granted, it's not like there aren't already games that do exactly that, but everything we've seen suggests it will be done well here. It seems safe to say that gear heads will be able to find something special with this one. As for everyone else… well, at least there are 9 other games on this list.

We don’t hate vehicular games, we swear. The fact that all the ones represented here are in the bottom 2 is purely a coincidence. Sumo Digital’s Sonic & All-Stars games were two games that never had the mechanical strength or the star-power to escape Mario Kart’s shadow, yet brought creative racing fun in their own right, so there’s little reason to doubt that the England-based developer will be able to do the same with its third Sonic racer. Early press impressions seem to agree that the new team mechanics may very well add the complexity the previous games were lacking and the graphics and animations are just as crisp and expressive as one would expect from a kart racing game. Plus, Sega brought back Jun Senoue and his weird Sonic-looking guitar to do the soundtrack for the first time since Generations in 2011, so we’ll have some brand-new Crush 40 cheese-rock to jam to.

Of course, many fans have felt let-down by the fact the game has removed all the non-Sonic characters and settings from the game, admittedly a pretty baffling decision. We can’t really blame anyone for being upset at a sequel flat out removing what was a big selling point for its predecessors, but we’re still looking forward to hitting the road with this game.

There is no happily-ever-after in real life. That may be harsh, but there’s always going to be more that needs to be done after every victory. Take Littlewood and its protagonist—the Hero of Solemn—for example. The latter has just defeated a Dark Wizard and saved the entire world from certain peril. He has no time to rest on his laurels though, his town needs to be rebuilt.

This is where the gameplay begins, charging the player with managing a rural town as it begins an arduous rebuilding process after having been nearly destroyed by the Dark Wizard. If this sounds like something dark and depressing, it’s really not. Sure, a lot of people don’t have proper shelter, but by chopping down trees, growing vegetables, managing civic resources, socializing with the local people and inviting more to move in, you’ll be well on your way to fixing that, all the while enjoying cute art, chill beats, and a relaxing atmosphere. Fans of Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, and Stardew Valley should absolutely consider getting this game.

The fact that we’re hyped for a game in which we get to be a 14th-century French orphan who needs to take care of her 5-year-old brother during the Black Death pandemic might say something unfavorable about us, but when the game looks this good, who cares?

Not only is the game pretty, but its mix of environmental puzzles, For Honor-esque combat, and narrative-driven stealth gameplay could very well make this tale of survival against starvation, corrupt knights, and worst of all, rats (they were the ones who carried the infamous plague after all) into this month’s most balanced experience. The developers have conducted several interviews, consistently expressing their desire to replicate the horror of two children stuck alone in such a perilous situation while also highlighting the almost paradoxical beauty their love enduring through this shared nightmare reveals and we hope to enjoy playing through it just as much as they seem to have enjoyed making it.

Resident Evil—and arguably Capcom as a whole—is currently in a new golden age thanks to the one-two punch of Resident Evil 7’s innovative presentation with respect to the series’ classic design philosophy and Resident Evil 2’s remake which changed the gameplay in a way that recontextualized and reinvigorated the original’s classic scares for a new generation of players. Having two great games released a mere 2 years apart is sure to convert many among the newer generations of gamers to the franchise, and lucky for them, they won’t be lacking in opportunities to catch up with the series as the rest of its best games are set to go handheld in May.

The prequel, Resident Evil Zero, is easily the least popular part of the package for how its moments of brilliance are undermined by occasional low points just as frustrating as the highs are great. It’s certainly no must-play, even for RE fanatics, but players gifted with the patience to make it through the tedious inventory management and more frustrating level sections will find something to love in its creative enemy encounters and tense frights. There's strangely no sign of a Resident Evil 3 release though... is Capcom trying to tell us something?

Nintendo’s portable powerhouse will receive a port of the original Resident Evil’s celebrated Gamecube remake, just as it should. While it wasn’t as revolutionary as the recent Resident Evil 2 remake—even at the time—this title showed how to keep an already wonderful game fresh by tweaking every aspect of it and piling on some additional new content to boot.

There is some minor fan griping whenever this game is brought up because of how it removed the PS1 version’s hilariously bad English localization and replaced it with what was honestly some of the most on-point voice work at the time (bearing in mind that this was the early Gamecube era). The remake proved that Resident Evil is more than good enough to stand on its own without so-bad-its-good kicks, however, and we highly recommend it because of that.

The last of Capcom’s horror masterpieces to hit the Switch is much-coveted Resident Evil 4, which continues the story of Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil 2. Many love it for bringing Resident Evil into the third-person perspective with the responsive controls and tight camerawork that most recently made the Resident Evil 2 remake such a hit, some spite it for introducing action elements to the series which games like 5 and 6 would later be far too focused on, but nearly all can agree that it’s a top-notch game in its own right.

It’s worth noting that Resident Evil 4 does handle itself a lot differently than the other games mentioned here and not just because of the controls and camera. The game takes a slight detour away from the exploration and ambiance that defined games like 1 and Zero in favor of being more set-piece driven. That may not fit into everyone's personal preferences, but when the set pieces are as varied and fine-tuned as they are in this game, we wouldn't dream of complaining. This is easily the best Resident Evil game to pick up for Switch if its features sound up your alley.

The Records of the Three Kingdoms probably holds more influence over videogames than any other historical text, having spawned multiple series entirely dedicated to it (Dynasty Warriors, Romance of the Three Kingdoms etc.) and even grabbing the attention of games whose series have nothing to do with the setting (For Honor: Marching Fire, Kessen II etc.). So naturally, it was only a matter of time before Creative Assembly’s lauded Total War series dipped its foot into the proverbial pool, and that time is nearly upon us.

If you’ve somehow missed the buzz surrounding this franchise, it’s the thing tactic junkies’ dreams are made of, combining turn-based resource management and real-time strategy to test players’ warring skills both in and out of the fray. But if that’s not enough depth for you already, Three Kingdoms is poised to add some RPG elements and a social element with other characters that can help or hinder player progression depending on how good they are with them.

No, it's not some crap about a parody Sonic OC, it's the latest edition of the latest game of the Trails of Coldsteel series, which spun off from the ninth game in the Legend of Heroes series which itself spun off from the second game in the Dragonslayer series. Now that nobody is confused, we can tell you that these games are masterworks within the JRPG genre, right up there with Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Persona. They're not really the best-looking games in the genre, but if any part of that isn't made up by the slick position-based tactical combat, it's compensated by the amazing world it allows players to explore. Every aspect of the world is made to feel as organic as possible with even minor NPCs having their own personal stories going on regardless of whether or not there’s a side quest in it for the player and even the smallest cities having rich histories that are explored through the deep political beats of the story.

The original Coldsteel II has a 100% on Steam and an 80% on Metacritic and this re-release adds over 5 000 new English lines with the option to switch back to the Japanese dub, 4k support, 60 FPS framerate, the ability to speed up movement and battle speed, all the DLC from the first release, the ability to transfer save data from said release, an ouroboros emblem pin, a soundtrack CD and a steelbound artbook. If you’re feeling bummed out that Bethesda seems like it may be about to lose its throne as king of open-world games, give Coldsteel II a try to see the rightful heir.

…But if you still want to hold out hope for Bethesda, the good news is that the near future is looking bright. Rage 1 was somewhat of a cult hit when it was released, but this sequel is building itself up to be bigger, better, and more badass than any among the competition. Early trailers point to this sequel amping up the first game’s strengths, like its kinetic gunplay and technically astounding presentation up to 11 while fixing its biggest issues by doing things like adding more stuff to do in the overworld and strengthening its lore.

It’s not looking like it’s going to set the world on fire or anything, but the part-Borderlands, part-Wolfenstein gameplay under the part-Fallout, part-Mad Max art style is sure to be a winning combination for anyone craving a gritty fast-paced open-world first-person shooter.