There’s an unspoken rule among many subscription services that newer is better. After all, Xbox Game Pass includes day one games, and that’s a BIG boost to the popularity of the service. That shouldn’t always be the case, though. As April 7’s free game selection from Epic Games Store shows, it’s not about the age of the game but how they’ve aged.
Epic Games Store users can claim City of Brass and Total War: Warhammer between now and April 7. They will then be replaced by Rogue Legacy and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, which will be available from April 7 until April 14. Rogue Legacy released in 2013, and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter released in 2014. Despite these games being roughly 9 and 8 years old, respectively, they are great additions to the service that anyone should pick up.
Obviously, this is not to say that older games never appear on services like PS Plus, Games with Gold, Epic Games Store, and so on—but that there is a disproportionate reaction, generally speaking, when it’s an older title vs. something new. No doubt, had the Epic Games Store added some game like Tiny Tina's Wonderlands as a crude example, fans would be in an uproar. It’s relatively quiet for these two games, but it shouldn’t be.
Epic Games Store Free Games – Rogue Legacy
Rogue Legacy received killer reviews at launch, currently sitting at an 84 top critic average and with 95% of critics recommending it on OpenCritic. Rogue Legacy is a platforming roguelike, which was already popular before bigger roguelike games like Hades, Returnal, Deathloop, and so on came along. In it, players must explore randomly procedurally dungeons, defeating four bosses and a final boss in said dungeon. So, it becomes more of a boss grind too.
Players have access to melee attacks, magic, and more, but when their player dies, they must choose between heirs that have unique characteristics and abilities to push on with. Players can also unlock and upgrade a manor, complete with a variety of services too. Indeed, Rogue Legacy made quite the name for itself at launch, and it’s an excellent addition to Epic Games Store’s list of 2022 games.
For those who do download it and enjoy it, it’s worth mentioning that Rogue Legacy 2 is in early access.
Epic Games Store Free Games – The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter falls a little lower on OpenCritic, sitting at an 80 top critic average, but the horror adventure game itself has built its own following in the horror game community. Indeed, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter has been praised for its open world (which doesn’t usually work in horror games too well), story, puzzles, and so on. It mostly lets players go and figure out most of the game’s mechanics for themselves.
It’s a murder mystery of sorts, as players must figure out what happened to the Carter family—recreating their deaths with in-game abilities, recreating the timeline of events, restoring the scene, and so on.
Overall, it appears Epic Games Store users are eating well from April 7 – April 14. Sometimes games given away on subscription services don’t always hit, but fans should definitely be sure to check these out. They’re oldies, but they’re goldies.
Epic Games Store users get a handful of free games every month.