Welcome to my second Video Game Round-Up! Special! The previous one looked to the past, to my top ten games of 2018, but this one looks forward, toward the games I’m most excited about in 2019. These will be in release date order, though not all of them have hard release dates. I will start with the games that everyone’s pretty sure will be released this year, and then end with a few that are unlikely to be released this year, but I really hope will be. Let’s get started!
Resident Evil 2 Remake (PS4) - 25 Jan 2019: This is actually already out, but I won’t be getting it until after the girl and I play through Resident Evil 7 (PS4), which I already have, so I will continue looking forward to it for a bit. The original Resident Evil 2 (PS1) is one of my favorite games of all time, so I was very excited when this was first announced, even though I was unhappy about losing the fixed camera perspective at first. But having seen various gameplay videos, I am sufficiently certain it’s probably going to be even scarier now.
Kingdom Hearts III (PS4) - 29 Jan 2019: This is also already out, but I won’t be getting it until after I play through Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix (PS4) and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix (PS4) (and maybe the other games on that collection? probably not). I finished the original Kingdom Hearts (PS2) way back when, but I only got through like an hour or so of Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2), and anyway the remixes have extra things and such, and anyway I have forgotten pretty much all of KH, so I need to replay them before I can play this game. I’ve already started on KH1 and have finished the Alice in Wonderland world!
Far Cry: New Dawn (PS4) - 15 Feb 2019: The first direct sequel to a Far Cry game ever, I am looking to this Mad Max-esque version of the series. As I said in the last Special, while I enjoyed Far Cry 5 (PS4), I hated the ending. However, that ending is what directly leads to this. New Dawn takes place on the same map as FC5, but 17 years after the apocalypse (with some ridiculous floral and faunal mutations that are scientifically impossible in such a short time), so it will be interesting to revisit some of the places from the first game. I know the main villain from FC5 is still alive in this world, as are some of the good NPCs, so they somehow survived the nuclear holocaust as well. I am looking forward to this.
Metro: Exodus (PS4) - 15 Feb 2019: This is the third game in the Metro series, and I haven’t played the first two, but this looks pretty dang great. The first two seemed to be a lot more horror-y (taking place underground, in the dark, with various zombie-type creatures and monsters, etc.), whereas this one is more apocalypse-y. You ride around on a train to different parts of Russia and fight people more than creatures (though those creatures are still there, and there are some underground, dark, horror bits well). The Metro games are based on a series of novels, just like The Witcher, and just like The Witcher, I am mostly interested in the third game of the series.
The LEGO Movie 2 Video Game (PS4) - 26 Feb 2019: We love LEGO games in our house, but we gotta play through the Marvel 2 DLC, and then the DC Super-Villains one before we can get to this one. We have a month :D
Yoshi’s Crafted World (Switch) - 29 Mar 2019: God, this looks so great! It looks like a great Mario platformer, but everything is crafty-looking like in Tearaway Unfolded (PS4). And that craftiness means a lot of hidden bits and bobs, and I just know I am going to love the heck out of this.
Mineko’s Night Market (Switch) - Q1 2019: This game is like a town simulator (Animal Crossing series, Stardew Valley (PC), etc.), but with cats. The girl saw a trailer for this and told me we had to get it, so we are going to get it for the Switch once it comes out :D
Sea of Solitude (PS4) - Q1 2019: I saw the trailer for this at E3, and immediately fell in love with it. It looks like a game that will deal with depression and mental health in general, which is almost like a new genre of games. Every game I have played about this topic thus far has been excellent, and has treated the subject with care, and even though this game is being published by EA (famous for microtransacting the hell out of everything), it still looks like it will continue that trend and will make me feel feelings.
Observation (PS4) - Q2 2019: I’ve only recently found out about this game, but the conceit sounds amazing. You play as a space station AI and you need to figure out what happened to your crew. It’s like you’re playing as HAL! C’mon!
Untitled Goose Game (Switch) - Q2 2019: As I said when I first saw this game (which either still doesn’t have a name, or Untitled Goose Game is its official name), “Well, I have to play this game. 'Annoying goose' is pretty much my spirit animal.” This is still true, and I can’t wait to be the most annoying goose EVER.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4) - Q4 2019: Almost nothing is know about this Star Wars game except that it’s a single-player game where you play as a Jedi, and it’s by Respawn Studios, the makers of Titanfall 2 (PS4). Assuming EA doesn’t cancel it before Q4, I will play this because it’s the first single-player, non-LEGO Star Wars game since... Force Unleashed II (PS3)? EA might still cancel it because their Star Wars rights are about to end, and it’s rumored Disney isn’t very happy with them at all after that whole Star Wars Battlefront II (PS4) loot box fiasco. Plus, EA has canceled so many Star Wars games, you’d think they were Wolverine killing ninjas.
Biomutant (PS4) - TBA 2019: This is an action RPG (that I think was supposed to come out last year?) with a fox-thing whose appearance changes depending on your starting stats. For example, if you make a very smart creature, it will have a big head. If you make a very strong creature, it will be very beefy, etc., and that is pretty cool. I don’t know anything of the story, but it looks like a very bloody Disney animated feature.
Control (PS4) - TBA 2019: This game looks awesome and creepy. You play as an agent of the Federal Bureau of Control, which is like an X-Files-type government agency, and your office (called the Oldest House because awesome) has been invaded by otherworldly entities, and you have a gun that changes shape. Also, you have telekinesis and can fly. Seriously, this game is gonna be great!
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Switch) - TBA 2019: I never played the first two games in the series, but I did play the X-Men Legends games (PS2), and the Ultimate Alliance games are the same kind of game, but with more Marvel characters. They are isometric action RPGs in which you take out teams of four and beat up bad guys. Your characters gain XP, unlock new abilities, unlock new parts of previous levels, etc. This iteration seems to be closely aligned with the latest Avengers movie, so the main baddies are Thanos and the Black Order, but Marvel is finally letting their MCU heroes play with the X-Men as Wolverine and Sentinels (at least) will be in this game alongside Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Will we see the Fantastic Four as well? One can only hope (and one can also only hope that the next LEGO Marvel game will once again feature the X-Men and that Fantastic Four, and I can once again visit the X-Mansion). Also, this is a Switch exclusive for some reason. I love me my Switch, but I would probably have preferred to play this on the PS4 (also, does this mean remasters of the earlier games in the series will be available to download in the Nintendo store? Man, I hope so, because I needs to replay those excellent X-Men Legends games).
The Outer Worlds (PS4) - TBA 2019: This game was announced during the Video Game Awards late last year, and it looks fantastic. It comes from Obsidian Entertainment, famous for making great RPGs, and looks like a cross between Fallout and Mass Effect, and I am so all the way here for sci-fi space RPGs.
Sable (PC) - TBA 2019: Another game I first saw at E3, when I described it as “an open-world exploration game that looks like a Herge comic crossed with a Ghibli cartoon, and then you play it.” It’s like Gris (Switch) in how beautiful it looks, and I almost don’t even care how good a game it is (though I do want it to be a good game). I hope this game comes to PS4 so I don’t have to play it on PC. Though I now know how to make my PS4 DualShock controller work on my PC, my PC is not at all a gaming machine.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (PS4) - TBA 2019: This is a game I’ve wanted to play for a very long time, but kept putting it off because it was only on the PC. My procrastination worked out in my favor as a super special Ultra Deluxe version is coming out on PS4 later this year. Yay for me!
Those are the games that are definitely coming out this year, that I am super excited about. But there are other games that maybe might come out this year that I am actually more excited about. I know, that’s terrible. I should be happy with what I’m getting, but I can’t. I needs more stuff. So, below are six games I’m even more excited about, that might be coming out in 2019, but are probably coming out in 2020 or 2021, which is only one and two years away, but feels like it’s actually 100 years away. I mean, 2020, you guys. That was the far future for Marvel Comics in the 80s, when I was born.
Cyberpunk 2077 (PS4) - TBA: When this game comes out, I will stop everything else and play it for like three days straight, that’s how excited I am. Now, I’m gonna lay some conspiracy theory on you that explains why I think this game is coming out this year: CD Projekt Red, the developers, took money from the Polish government to make this game in the form of a grant. The deadline for this grant is June 2019, which means CD Projekt Red has to release Cyberpunk 2077 by June 2019 or else give back the grant money. So, the game is coming out by June this year! Yay! (Of course, they’ve made so much money from The Witcher 3 (PS4), they don’t actually need the Polish government’s money and have zero compunctions about giving it back and not releasing the game until its up to their exacting standards, but I can dream, dammit!)
Death Stranding (PS4) - TBA: This is Hideo Kojima’s new game after splitting with Konami that stars Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, and Guillermo del Toro, and nobody knows what it’s about (babies in bottles and invisible ghost monsters?). The current rumor is that Kojima will just continue to release trailers for the rest of time without ever releasing the game itself. I would not put this past Kojima, that mad bastard.
Deltarune (Switch) - TBA: This game actually already came out last year, and it’s available for free on the PC, but I haven’t finished Undertale (Switch) yet, and I want to play Deltarune on the Switch anyway, so hopefully it will be ported later this year.
Ghost of Tsushima (PS4) - TBA: A PS4 exclusive that looks awesome. A samurai in feudal Japan beating up Mongol invaders. Another game I first saw at E3 for the first time, it’s got AAA graphics that look amazing. I don’t have much to say beyond it just looks incredible, and the fighting mechanics look really good. Probably won’t come out until 2020.
The Last of Us Part II (PS4) - TBA: This game probably has the biggest chance of coming out this year, as it’s been shown off for awhile now. Ellie is grown up, and quite angry. But her queerness is confirmed, and that makes me very happy.
Metroid Prime 4 (Switch) - TBA: Originally, this game was up in the “certainly coming out this year” list, but then Nintendo announced that the original developers of the game were not doing a good enough job or taking too long or something, and they were instead going to get Retro Studios, the developers of the original Metroid Prime trilogy, to restart development. That’s good, because quite frankly it should have been Retro from the beginning anyway, but it’s bad because development will literally be restarting from the beginning and now there’s no way this game is coming out this year. It probably won’t even come out in 2020. Perhaps Nintendo will instead put out a Metroid Prime Trilogy Remaster for the Switch, and then I can play those games until Metroid Prime 4 finally does come out (please do this Nintendo; help me help you take my money).
And there we go! Those are the games I’m looking forward to this year. Now, don’t let this fairly short list fool you. I am 100% certain that as the year goes on, I will discover or be told about other games that will excite me greatly, and then play those too. Sometimes, I won’t discover a game until it’s been out for most of the year, and then it will become one of the best games of the year, just like Celeste (Switch) and Return of the Obra Dinn (PC) did in 2018.
Next time you’ll see me is in about two weeks’ time for the regular column, and I’ll talk about how great Return of the Obra Dinn is in more detail, how terrible a story decision in the latest Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey DLC (PS4) was, how weird it is to be playing the first Kingdom Hearts (PS4) again with its awful, awful platforming, and a bunch of other things besides. See you soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment