The new year means new games and there are some big titles coming out in the first month of 2020. FromWarcraft 3Reforgedto a newDragon Ball Ztitle, January seems to be a light but good month.
Both of these franchises have titles coming out that widely differ in gameplay compared to previous entries in either respective series. Both are also variations of role-playing games. One notable absence from the January release calendar is anynew game from Capcom, which has released some of the best games of this generation out of the month of January. It put outResident Evil 7in January of 2017, then releasedMonster Hunter Worldexactly a year later in 2018, then the remake ofResident Evil 2exactly a year after that in 2019.
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Although Capcom has had a recent pattern of releasing hugely successful titles in January, it has decided to hold off on its next big title, the remake ofResident Evil 3,until April. Spring is Capcom’s second recent release window that it has had success in too. Close toResident Evil 3’sApril release month,Devil May Cry 5was released in March (of 2019). Instead of continuing its January blockbuster tradition though, Capcom only has DLC to release this time around. But at least there are other big games to look forward to, such as the other ones listed below.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - January 17
Bandai Namco is releasingDragon Ball Z Kakarotfor PC, PS4, and Xbox One on January 17th.Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotwill be developed by CyberConnect2, ofNaruto Shippudenand.hackfame, and is an action role-playing game which a slight departure for the series.
AlthoughDragon Ballgames have had RPGelements in the past, the series has had a consistent shift toward the fighting game genre for years. The last major game in the series wasDragon Ball Fighterzand was received much more positively than the previous series of fighting games -Dragon Ball Xenoverse.This new title retells Goku’s Z storyline from the series and has series designer Akira Toriyama returning for art and new character designs.
Warcraft 3 Reforged - January 28
Blizzard’sWarcraft 3 Reforgedwill be releasing January 28th for PC. Initially announced at BlizzCon 2018,Warcraft 3 Reforgedwas given a release window of 2019;however, Blizzard recently came out and delayed the game just out of the year. The game remasters the originalWarcraft 3by updating its visuals for modern standards and adjusting gameplay in various aspects of the game but more specifically in its multiplayer. This is ostensibly the same treatment that Blizzard gaveStarcraftwhen it updated it intoStarcraft Remastered.
Monster Hunter World Iceborne - January 9
Monster Hunter World Icebornewill launch January 9th on PC. Originally released for PS4 and Xbox One in September,Monster Hunter World Iceborneis the latest expansion to the hit 2018 title. It missed a PC release the first time around but Capcom is solving that problem by launching it on Windows. This lateness is not new for Capcom nor this game in particular;Monster Hunter Worldwas originally released to great acclaim on PS4 and Xbox One back in January of 2018 but did not see a PC release until August of that year.
PC players have a lot to look forward to;Monster Hunter World Icebornecurrently sits at an 89 on Metacritic based off of 65 reviews for the other platforms.
Other January releases
January 2020 does not seem to be as packed as previous years but at least there are a few notable titles to look forward to. Other notable titles releasing that month includeTokyo Mirage Sessions #FE EncoreandYakuza Like a Dragon.However, the newRPGYakuzawill only be available on the 16th in Japan, with a western release sometime later in the year. Though 2020 is lining up to be a great year for the current generation of consoles, developers are also focused on the PS5 and Xbox Series X, which are both due to launch in the holiday season. This could explain why there is a lighter selection of games this January. Below is a list of everything else coming out in January.
