5 May 2024 game releases to keep an eye on

We’re already a third of the way through the year, but game releases in 2024 still haven’t slowed down. There’s a lot still set to come out, with many more announcements likely planned in the coming months. With that in mind, here are five May 2024 game releases that you should make sure to check out.

Crow Country

Low poly horror games are actually surprisingly common (you likely know of a few if you’ve followed VTubers over the past few years), but most are first person and quite simple. Crow Country aims for something closer to the PS1-era of horror games, but in a particularly interesting way.

Environments are fully 3D, featuring way more detail than a PS1 would ever be able to output. But when combined with filters and a more PS1-appropriate player model, Crow Country manages to make them look pre-rendered. It’s a neat effect, while still giving you the ability to turn the camera freely.

Gameplay takes a lot of inspiration from games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, so expect lots of puzzles and item management as you explore the titular spooky theme park. There’s also an exploration mode, if you want to play through the story without having to deal with any enemies.

Crow Country releases May 9 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.

Nine Sols

Nine Sols feels like it’s been a long time coming, even if it was only announced back in 2022. Described as having a “Taopunk” theme (Taoism + Cyberpunk) by developer Red Candle Games, Nine Sols is a metroidvania with a beautiful aesthetic across its many interconnected areas.

Sekiro is named as a big inspiration for the game’s combat, meaning there’s lots of parrying and evasion as you deal with opponents. It’s an interesting addition to the genre, and you’ll still be doing a lot of exploring and backtracking as new abilities are unlocked.

Nine Sols releases May 29 for PC.

Touhou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT-

Dungeon crawlers are something I’ve taken a liking to in recent years, with the recent release of Shiren 6 being quite enjoyable. And, if there’s something else I’ve become aware of it’s that if a genre exists, there are likely multiple Touhou fan-games using it too.

Touhou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- is not the first Touhou dungeon crawler — in fact, it’s not even the first from developer AQUASTYLE.

FORESIGHT follows a similar gameplay loop to their previous titles, as Reimu ventures through randomly generated dungeons alongside a number of other familiar characters. Making friends with more characters will allow you to improve your basic stats (as with other roguelikes/Mystery Dungeon games, your level resets each time), making harder dungeons more manageable.

Touhou fan-games are always interesting to play — especially as someone who hasn’t actually played the main titles — since you can see how each developer tackles the series’s cast, and a wide variety of genres.

Touhou Genso Wanderer -FORESIGHT- releases May 15 for PC.

Wuthering Waves

Likely the biggest May 2024 game release on this list, Wuthering Waves is aiming to take a slice of Genshin Impact‘s large… impact on the gaming scene.

It features a lot of the same things, as you explore a large open world with a party of characters you freely switch between (most obtained via gacha, naturally). It even seems to keep the same grind for equipment, as you try and piece together a set with the right RNG stats.

What makes Wuthering Waves interesting to me specifically is the combat, which looks far more stylish that Genshin. Even just the addition of a proper dodge makes things more skill-based, with some of the battle content I’ve seen looking far less bland than HoYoverse’s ever-popular title.

Whether I’ll stick with the game remains to be seen — I often fall off gacha titles due to the excessive RNG and feeling of missing out if you don’t spend money — but I’m at least willing to give it a try. Who knows, maybe this will finally be the gacha game I stick with for more than a couple of months.

Wuthering Waves releases May 22 for PC and mobile.

SunnySide

Farming sims have exploded ever since the success of Stardew Valley (which in turn takes a lot of inspiration from Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons), and May 2024 sees the release of even more.

SunnySide is one I’ve been keeping an eye on for a little while now. Taking place in the Japanese countryside, you make use of old and new tools to manage multiple farm plots and build up your home.

I like that there are a number of options to help speed up the management of the farm, without having to wait until the late-game. The setting and overall vibe is also quite different from the other farming games coming out this year.

SunnySide releases May 24 for PC, with PS5 and Xbox Series versions following on July 10.

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And that’s five of the May 2024 game releases, though there are plenty more to check out over the coming weeks. As always, make sure to check back as we review some of the titles releasing soon!

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