The new year is poised to be an excellent year for video games. If all goes according to plan, we’ll get a new Nintendo console, Grand Theft Auto VI, and other new games in beloved series like Borderlands, Doom, Fatal Fury, Mafia, Metroid Prime, Monster Hunter, and Assassin’s Creed. While the first month of the year doesn’t have many heavy hitters, January does establish a feeling that 2025 will be a year full of beloved series making comebacks. We’re getting remasters of beloved games like Freedom Wars and Donkey Kong Country Returns in addition to Dynasty Warriors: Origins, which will reinvent the Musou formula.
While you’re probably still recovering from working through your gaming backlog over the holiday, video game releases aren’t slowing down. To help you get a better idea of which particular games you should be keeping an eye on, I’ve rounded up seven of the most tantalizing games set to launch sometime during January 2025.
Freedom Wars Remastered (January 10)
Recommended if you like: Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet
Freedom Wars has a reputation for being one of the best games ever released for the PlayStation Vita. It’s a cooperative action game where, as part of serving a 1,000,000-year prison sentence, players fight monsters called Abductors. Freedom Wars’ interesting take on a postapocalyptic world and creative ideas such as the grappling hook-like “Thorn” and programmable cyborg “Accessories” that fight alongside players resonated with a lot of people, but not much has been done with this IP since the original game’s launch on the PS Vita. Now, Dimps and Bandai Namco are trying to reinvigorate interest in the series with this remaster, which updates textures, adds 4K support, and overhauls the game’s weapon crafting and difficulty systems.
Freedom Wars Remastered launches for PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch on January 10.
Hyper Light Breaker (January 14)
Recommended if you like: Solar Ash
Heart Machine and Arc Games’ successor to Hyper Light Drifter is a lot more ambitious. It’s a 3D roguelike action game where players explore a procedurally generated open world looking for bosses to fight. If players die enough, the whole world will reset, and players will have to restart their quest in a place that looks totally different. With that procedural generation system and co-op, it’s certainly the biggest game that Heart Machine has made yet. The game enters early access this month, so it’ll be worth keeping an eye on Hyper Light Breaker’s journey throughout the whole year.
Hyper Light Breaker enters early access on PC on January 14.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (January 16)
Recommended if you like: Nikoderiko: The Magical World
As we wait for Nintendo to announce and release the successor to the Nintendo Switch, we’re getting some Switch remasters to kick off 2025. The first is Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, a high-definition port of the Retro Studios platformer. Donkey Kong Country Returns was originally released for Wii in 2010 before coming to 3DS with additional levels in 2023. This Switch release will be the first console version of the game to feature the 3DS levels and not require motion controls. On top of that, a new modern mode will make the adventure easier for first-time players. The original Donkey Kong Country Returns was one of the best games on the Wii, so it’s great that a new generation of gamers can check it out on Nintendo Switch.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on January 16.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins (January 17)
Recommended if you like: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Koei Tecmo’s Musou games, most of which include the word “Warriors” somewhere in the title, are some of the most exhilarating action games out there. Previous Dynasty Warriors games have been all about feeling like an overpowered hero as you hack and slash through thousands of enemies on a vast battlefield. Dynasty Warriors: Origins plays into that formula, but it also branches out by incorporating more elements from character action games. Learning how to dodge and parry is more important than ever before, especially in the tough boss fights that cap off the game’s levels. I highly recommend checking out the demo for this game to see if you enjoy the distinct flair of this long-running Koei Tecmo series.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins launches for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on January 17.
Eternal Strands (January 28)
Recommended if you like: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Many former Bioware devs have tried to spin up their own studios, but not all of those have succeeded. Thankfully, former Dragon Age director Mike Laidlaw’s Yellow Brick Games was successful and is launching its first game this month. It’s Eternal Strands, a fantasy action game that emphasizes the player’s magical powers and environmental interactions. Players have to fight and ultimately take down fantastical enemies like dragons or giant golems using these gameplay systems. Eternal Stands looks like it could live up to Bioware’s legacy by offering up some pure fantasy fun, so I’m excited to check the game out later this month.
Eternal Strands launches for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on January 28.
Sniper Elite Resistance (January 30)
Recommended if you like: Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2
Rebellion has had the Sniper Elite series’ formula nailed down for a long time, but it’s switching some things up for Sniper Elite Resistance. The glorious X-ray kill cams and intricate gunplay the series is known for are still here, but Resistance stars a Special Operation Executive agent named Harry Hawker rather than the series’ typical protagonist, Karl Fairburne. It’s also set in France, as Hawker fights alongside the French Resistance to take down the Nazis. It has notable multiplayer elements, too, as players can work together to complete missions, invade other players’ worlds as Axis soldiers, or fight in 16-player PvP battles.
Sniper Elite Resistance launches for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on January 30. It will be part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate catalog from day one.
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (January 31)
Recommended if you like: Disco Elysium
The original Citizen Sleeper was a surprise indie hit in 2022. Players were impressed with how it fused the choice-driven feel of tabletop RPGs with a dystopic sci-fi fi world. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector once again puts players in control of a Sleeper who has an artificial body, but the mind of a human. Players are on the run in Starward Vector, so a lot of time has to be spent maintaining a ship, finding crew members to help man it, and completing contracts. Of course, dialogue choices and dice rolls will impact the narrative along the way, which should keep things fresh even for those who’ve played the original a lot.
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector will be released for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on January 31.
More new games in January 2025
- Wuthering Waves for PS5 (January 2)
- Sea Fantasy (January 7)
- Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana (January 7)
- Airborne Empire (January 13)
- Aloft (January 15)
- Assetto Corsa EVO (January 16)
- Blade Chimera (January 16)
- Morkull Ragast’s Rage (January 16)
- Tales of Graces f Remastered (January 17)
- Magic Inn (January 20)
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for PC (January 23)
- Guilty Gear Strive for Nintendo Switch (January 23)
- Ravenswatch (January 23)
- Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles (January 23)
- Synduality: Echo of Ada (January 23)
- Space Engineers 2 (January 27)
- Neptunia Riders vs. Dogoos (January 28)
- Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap (January 28)
- The Stone of Madness (January 28)
- Tails of Iron II: Whiskers of Winter (January 28)
- Virtua Fighter 5: R.E.V.O. (January 28)
- Warside (January 28)
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure for PC and Nintendo Switch (January 30)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for PC (January 30)
- Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero (January 30)
- Genso Manege (January 31)
