February marks the release of a new console! Yay! Otherwise there are: 5 3DS releases, 1 standard DS release, 1 Wii release, 4 PS3 releases and 6 Mutliplatform releases. No 360, PC or PSP exclusives on the list, surprising no one.
So read on and see what’s coming out!
Note: this doesn’t include shovelware or games that we all known will suck, but rather gamse I think are noteworthy for whatever reason, may it be because they’ll be popular, or that I’m personally interested in.
PLAYSTATION VITA
(02/15 for the “first edition” package and 02/22 for the “boring package that only has the system and power cable”)
Sony is starting up on the next generation of gaming with their answer to Nintendo’s “currently kicking all sorts of ass worldwide” 3DS, the Playstation Vita (which is currently selling worse and worse every week in Japan, but I do hope that changes). It’s basically a HUGE upgrade to the PSP. Better graphics and processing, beautiful badass screen of awesome awesomeness, second analog stick, touch screen, back touch pad (I’m currently not convinced about it, but trying it out could change my mind… and yes, it’s a touch PAD, not a touch SCREEN as so many people have been saying), better standard media (carts/cards > discs, especially for handhelds)… The only big downfalls so far is the overpriced memory cards (I see no reason for Sony not using SD other than “we wanna make slightly more money”), the lack of a memory card coming standard with the console (some games REQUIRE a memory card to even play at all, why the heck isn’t there a 256MB card included or something just for saving?), and the high-ish price of the console… but, then again, I paid 250$ for a launch 3DS so… it could have been worse. This seems like a console with a LOT of potential, and I hope that potential is reached, rather than completely squandered like the PSP was.
As for games… there aren’t a lot of launch games worth mentioning really… Seriously, the launch lineup is almost as good as the 3DS’, there’s barely anything there. The only title I want at launch is Gravity Rush, and that’s STILL not clear if it’s actually a launch title (it seems not even Sony knows, despite the game coming out on Feb. 9 in japan and at launch in Europe… what’s the hold up on a release date guys?)… and maybe Army Corps of Hell. Here’s the currently known launch title list (that I can find…), which I hope Gravity Rush will join:
Escape Plan (PSN Only) (hopefully there’s a demo, that has potential, maybe)
Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
Hustle Kings (PSN Only)
Little Deviants (only game I’m 100% sure of getting in here… since it comes with the first edition package… otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten it)
ModNation Racers: Road Trip (a modern racing game with no online racing… epic fail, especially for a game that should thrive so much on community involvement)
Super StarDust Delta (PSN only)
UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss (it’s gonna be a dumbed-down version of a sub-par cover-based TPS… interest=zero)
wipEout 2048
Army Corps of Hell (potentially interesting, kinda like Pikmin meets DMC meets Brutal Legends)
Asphalt Injection
BEN10 GALACTIC RACING
Blazblue: Continuum Shift EXTEND
Dungeon Hunter Alliance
Dynasty Warriors Next
F1 2011
EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer
Lumines Electronic Symphony
Michael Jackson The Experience
Plants vs. Zombies (PSN Only) (you HAVE to have a version of this on something already, right?)
Rayman Origins (the console version was bad (it looked nice though so that’s…. something), so my expectations are low on this one)
Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen
Tales of Space: Mutant Blobs (PSN Only)
Touch My Katamari
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (rather pointless due to it being the same price as the console version… kinda like SSFIV3D)
Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition
MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES
The Darkness 2 02/07 (PC, PS3, 360)
The first “The Darkness” sucked. Yeah they tried something new with the Darkness, a weird creature that attached itself to the main character or whatever, but in the end it was just a sub-standard FPS. I’m expecting much of the same here, though I will give the demo a try.
Shank 2 02/07 (PC(?), PS3, 360)
The first Shank was a very solid game. Some things weren’t that great, like the “parkour”-like segments which were just boring, but the combat was fun and fast paced, and the boss battles were pretty entertaining (and especially fun when you managed to kill a boss without getting hit). I think Shank 2 will be just as good, but less “wow factor” unless they add a lot of new gameplay elements.
Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning 02/07 (PC, PS3, 360)
The demo felt a bit boring, but maybe the part the demo showed was the boring part of the game… It seems to have potential, but it feels quite button-mashy (like, as soon as you hit an enemy and make it fall down, just mash the attack button and win). Might be interesting for Western RPG fans, but not one I’m looking forward to myself.
Asura’s Wrath 02/21 (PS3, 360)
This game sucks. Why? QTEs! Seriously, the demo was basically QTE-only, any other gameplay actually has QTEs embedded into it (blocking/returning missiles, for example) and was only meant to build up a meter to get to QTEs. The gameplay, as far as the demo goes, is fricken boring, since QTEs just plain suck no matter what (it’s lazy on the dev’s side and not fun for the player). But I still really want to rent it, because the cinematics are completely crazy and awesome… Seriously, the second part of the demo is so crazy awesome, I want to rent it just to see how much more crazy it gets, that just looked so cool. If only the gameplay lived up to the awesome cinematics and visuals…
Syndicate 02/21 (PC, PS3, 360)
I’ve only seen videos for this a few minutes ago, wondering what all the hype was about (at least on news sites like Kotaku). And… well, it’s an FPS with nothing special (as far as I can tell)… I may be wrong, but what I’ve seen looks very sub-standard. The gameplay videos I just watch make it look really boring, like most modern FPS. “You can increase certain meters with adrenaline, by going in the middle of the action!!” the guy said, and then the meters went up while he was behind cover not going anywhere near the action… fail. (NOTE: I’m not familiar with the original Syndicate so that may not help… but it’s a completely different genre so… whatever, I’m guessing fans of the original are PISSED, just like X-com fans)
SSX 02/28 (PS3, 360)
It’s SSX…. The graphics look great and the gameplay will probably be pretty good. It’s not a series I ever really played, but I’m sure this is gonna be an enjoyable one nonetheless… Heck, I’ve seen videos and it actually looks really cool. A rental for me (at least for now), but this should be good.
Binary Domain 02/28 (PS3, 360)
I have no idea what this is, it’s just on there because Dave asked me to put it here. The only video I’ve seen it looked like a fairly standard TPS… Not really sure about this, but I’ll check it out when Dave buys it.
NINTENDO 3DS RELEASES
Resident Evil Revelations 02/07
RE isn’t a series I’m very interested in. Basically a series of games I have more fun watching someone play through than play myself. I’ve seen a couple videos and information about this game, and it looks like it could actually be very solid. The plot sounds interesting (as far as RE plots go) and the gameplay looks solid. Not a game I’m terribly interested in, but one I think fans will enjoy.
Demo impressions: Okay, I played the demo, and it’s actually really good. I mean, DAMN good. It looks really fun. It feels a lot like the original series, with the shooting/movement mechanics from RE4. Seems great really. Potentially a must have for the RE fan I’ll say.
Tales of the Abyss 02/14
I haven’t played much of the PS2 version of this, but I do remember not enjoying it much. Maybe I was just stupid at the time, I wouldn’t know, but I am interested at giving it another chance… Eventually, when I’m playing fewer RPGs.
Tekken 3D: Prime Edition 02/14
Prime Edition? What does that even mean? Anyways…. it’s Tekken. Not a fighting game series I’m particularly fond of. I just can’t get into it at all… I think it’s the whole “3D fighter” genre that doesn’t work for me, as I’m also not a fan DoA and Virtua Fighter (with the only exception being SoulCalibur). So yeah, this is gonna be Tekken, and it’s gonna come with a 3D Tekken movie. Not much more to say here, if you’re a fan of the series you’ll probably enjoy it.
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D 02/21
I don’t even see a point to this… wasn’t there recently an HD version released in a package? Might as well get that for probably the same price since there’s more games… Unless there’s something really different here minus the fairly pointless 3D visuals… I’d say don’t bother. Heck, if you want to play it on a handheld… the Vita is gonna get its own version of the HD remake so… yeah.
Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure 02/28
Some weird rhythm game that… looks sort of fun actually. The basic gameplay seems pretty simple, where you press buttons/tap the touch screen/move the system around when prompted, QTE-style, but the visuals are really interesting (almost Ouendan-like), and there’s multiple gameplay styles… it seems like it could be pretty cool. It’s just a rental for me though, since it’s largely QTE-like.
PLAYSTATION 3 RELEASES
Jak and Daxter Collection 02/07
I’ve actually never played a Jak and Daxter game.. I did play Daxter on the PSP (and only a little bit of it), but that’s really it, and I barely remember it… so I have no idea what this particular collection will be like… So yeah, nothing for me to say here.
The House of the Dead III 02/07
(not finding a boxart for this)
Didn’t the Wii get a version of this? … Yeah, it did, and it was in a package that had 2 as well… Not sure why this particular release doesn’t… Anyways… it’s House of the Dead, so obviously it’s gonna be entertaining. Just not sure how worthwhile this is since the Wii has a version with an extra game…
Twisted Metal 02/14
This looks pretty cool. It’s been a while since the last console Twisted Metal game, and this seems to add a few things to the formula and it looks quite fun to play overall. I’ll rent it since I’m not too sure about it, but it does seem very interesting.
Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 02/28
Wait what? Already? huh…. Maybe I should finish the first one (which is a very solid and fun RPG, by the way) some time soon before getting to this one… The original was a fun but repetitive and rather easy RPG, but it gave me good laughs and could pretty easily be really good if a few modifications are made to the base gameplay.
Actually, this one seems to completely change the gameplay, seeming to have similar to Phantom Brave and Makai Kingdom rather thanHyperdimension Neptunia… Interesting.
NINTENDO DS RELEASES
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 02/28
Not a sub-series I’m familiar with, since I missed the original DS game AND the 3DS remake of the original, so there’s not much I can say here… Yeah, I’ll stop here.
WII RELEASES
Rhythm Heaven Fever 02/13
The DS game, Rhythm Heaven, was fantastic. The gameplay was simple with 3 actions (touch the screen, DON’T touch the screen and swipe the screen) which affected the animations on the top screen, where you basically had to mimic something or follow a certain rhythm or do different things depending on instructions given by the characters. The gameplay was actually very fun and quite exciting, especially as the rhythm went faster and faster and the patterns mixed became more complicated… But I’m not too sure how well this will work on Wii… I’ll rent it.
Really not a whole lot coming up for January so here we have… 5 (*Edit* 3) Multiplatform games! That’s… it really. No good/interesting/popular exclusives for anything.
So let’s go at this quickly!
MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES
Final Fantasy XIII-2 01/31 (PS3, 360)
I’m one of the 3 people who actually enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII. It had a fine leveling system, good characters (ignoring Hope and Sazh), an okay-ish story and a really good battle system. This one seems very similar, though I hope some elements are ironed out (such as a few minor things in the fighting system), but I have good hopes for this, as long as the QTEs I’ve seen in some videos aren’t as annoying as they could end up being. I’ll be picking this up.
NeverDead 01/31 (PS3, 360)
This looks potentially interesting. It’s a third-person shooter action game where you play as an immortal character. You seem to have guns and melee weapons, and you can lose or remove body parts as you want and you can retrieve them by rolling over them or something like that. Not sure how dying/challenge will work with a character that can’t die even if he removes his head, but the gameplay videos I’ve seen actually don’t seem THAT bad… I’ll rent it.
SoulCalibur V 01/31 (PS3, 360)
I’ve never been really good at Soul Calibur, nor do I enjoy them that much. Not that I think they’re bad of course, I think Soul Calibur is probably the best 3D-style fighter out there… just not my style of fighting game. I’ll definitely give this a try when Dave gets it though 
. Things I’ve seen about this game do seem quite interesting.
PC RELEASES
Fortune Summoners 01/17
An insanely cutesy action-RPG with crazy combos and on-the-fly character change. It’s a bit steeply priced compared to other games that were localized by Carpe Fulgur, but with a 20+ hours long game that has quite good gameplay (I can tell from the demo, which was well over an hour long just for the prologue), the 25$ price tag isn’t that unwarranted. And how often to japanese indie games get officially localized over here? I think it’s something that may be worth encouraging, especially if the game ends up being really good… DEMO!
I haven’t made “Biggest Surprises” and “Biggest Disappointments” posts yet, not sure if I will… So here’s what we have right now! Again, no overall GotY post, but I don’t think it’s really needed, I think all the posts as a whole display a large variety of awesome games we got this year. Sadly we had to skip over a bunch of great games, otherwise we would have had 5-15 winners per category (other than Wii and 360), and I just decided to highlight my personal favorites. I’m sure other people/everyone else have different winners, and that’s obviously fine too.
So here it is:
2011 DS winners
2011 3DS winners
2011 Wii winners
2011 Xbox 360 winners
2011 PS3 winners
2011 Downloadable winners
2011 Multiplatform winners
So let’s go right at it… Here I’ll go for 4 winners due to the high number of candidates. As a precision, 2 of the choices are mine, one is Dave’s and the other is some british guy’s. Heck, even with 4 winners, we’re missing a couple games I wanted to highlight.
Bulletstorm
Most unexpected choice ever? Seems like it at first glance. I mean… Way too brown FPS that relies on dick jokes to make the kiddies laugh… It sounds like the furthest thing from what I’d usually enjoy. But if you actually look at the gameplay, it’s quite impressive. You have a bunch of really fun and unique weapons (it just sucks that you can only carry 2 at once… damn you Halo) with multiple shooting styles each, you can use the kick and the “leash” to manipulate enemies and send them flying into holes/explosives/other traps/in the air. Depending on how the enemies are killed, you actually get points, with unique and fun ways to get higher amounts of points (some unique to the particular environment you’re in). In the story points count as currency (for ammo and upgrades), but points become really fun in the Echo mode, where you just play through the levels as fast and effectively as possible and try to get higher in the leaderboards. Bulletstorm very quickly establishes itself as a unique and fun FPS after the lame intro levels, proving that modern FPS don’t HAVE to be terrible (see: Halo, CoD and anything that looks and plays like those).
Sonic Generations
!!!!!!
Seriously, what happened Sega? This is not only a good Sonic game, it’s an amazing one. To be completely honest, I really liked Sonic 4 and hated Sonic Colors (which was basically a show of everything that sucks about modern Sonic, with most of the levels feeling like they played themselves… I mean… you could button mash through the bosses, it was that bad). Thinking they’d make this more like Sonic Colors, I set my expectations stupidly low, but thought “hey, if the classic levels all end up being as good as in the demo, at least the game will be half good”. Well, not only were the classic levels amazing, but the modern levels too! It’s crazy, it’s like the guys at Sonic Team ended up getting actual talent out of nowhere. Well designed levels, great controls (the homing attack actually works well compared to Sonic Colors where it was just horrible), great graphics, great music (it’s actually awesome that you can use any music you want in any level… my preference being the first level music from Sonic Spinball), some unlockables, lots to do, good boss battles (minus the final boss)… There’s actually not a whole lot to complain about here. It’s more than good enough to make the list.
Portal 2
Dave’s choice (thank you again for the text!):
We stepped into Portal 1, not knowing what to expect, at least if you played it when it first came out, before the hype, before the memes. Portal 2,
we knew what we were getting into the second the game started, yet, Valve still managed to throw surprise after surprise, throughout both the single
player and multiplayer experiences, and again with the DLC (Oh, you clever!). The mix of perfectly blended puzzles, not too easy but not hard to the
point were you just wanna quit, the characters that are as charismatic as they are hilarious and the actual story development of the series and its
further incrustation into the Half-Life universe (hello Borealis), makes this charming game a gem and also one of our games of the year.
Dark Souls
So… some time last month I was talking with Wintrale about random stuff, and the conversation went to Dark Souls:
“Hmm… Dark Souls! (happy smiley with arms in the air)”
“It’s really not as frustrating as people make it out to be, y’know.”
“It’s actually a very well designed game.”
“There are a few questionable things, but overall everything that kills you was designed solely for that purpose. Unlike most games now where stuff is only put there for you to kill. Y’know, fodder.”
“Plus you’ll feel like a badass quite a lot. Y’know, when you actually manage to kill that boss you thought was impossible or waaaay too cheap. I’d say the only flaw in the entire game… are the invasions. Other players can invade your game and they’re always jerks that just use the same one-hit-kill spell.”
“Of course, there’s something incredibly fun about killing invaders. Y’know, when they spam that same one-hit-kill spell and you just dodge it like a ninja before flattening them with a really, really, really, really, REALLY big hammer.”
So yeah… there’s that! Thanks for the… hum… random MSN conversation Wintrale! (and the fact that you chose this winner and all )
To highlight the high variety of great downloadable games and genres that it represents, I’ll go with 5 winners (seriously, I had, like, twice the number of candidates than Multiplatform… so the extra winner is warranted )
Yar’s Revenge
This is an excellent Star Fox/Sin & Punishment style shooter. You get multiple weapons for different situations, fun boss battles, and very fun score-based gameplay. The basic goal is to survive to the end, but, to get high placement on the leaderboards, you have to get high combos and know when to kill enemies to extend your combos and which weapons to use at what time. It gets pretty fun and interesting. It kinda helps that it’s a sequel to Yars’ Revenge (note the difference in the title), which is actually my favorite Atari 2600 game, but it’s completely different gameplay-wise so that barely counts (though it DOES actually continue the story of the original and expand on that world’s mythos). Definitely the best Atari revival in the last couple years (compared to the terrible Haunted House and the passable Star Raiders).
Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls
Here’s an interesting one. It’s a classic style dungeon-crawling first-person Computer/Western-RPG, as with older Wizardry games. You get multiple character classes and races with different skills and capabilities, quests to complete in multiple dungeons, simple turn-based battles, big dungeons to explore. It’s a challenging game, with slightly hard to figure out dungeons and really tough enemies, making grinding quite needed. It IS quite streamlined compared to the older Wizardry titles, but it does have that classic feel. It might not be for everyone, but it’s a solid classic Computer RPG.
Guardian Heroes HD
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Guardian Heroes is a great Beat ‘em Up on the Sega Saturn which has quite a cult following, but is fairly unknown outside of said following… partly due to the fact that it’s insanely expensive and rare on the Sega Saturn, costing over 100$ on Ebay and… well… everywhere else I’ve seen it (unless you get the japanese version). So the ability to get the game for less than a hundred dollars is already a great thing, but then there’s the fact that it’s a great game. The 360 version adds a new control option (with air dashes and a few other things), great HD graphics and removal of all lag from the Saturn version. The gameplay is fast and frantic, it features leveling, magic and a variety of moves for each character. Overall a very fun game.
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The Binding of Isaac
This is a weird one. Ignoring the “trollface” style of graphics which I just don’t enjoy at all, this is a surprising game. The game works similarly to a dungeon-crawler mixed with a twin-stick shooter (only 4 directions of fire though) mixed with original Zelda. The room placements are randomly generated, each actual room is randomly generated (with random rock/obstacle placements and random enemies) and the treasures you can find are also randomly generated, with each floor featuring a random boss. Isaac (and the few unlockable characters) can upgrade his stats with items he finds, in addition to changing his attacks (such as changing them from tears to lasers), and various other power-ups. You can use bombs to blow up walls and enemies (ALA Zelda), and various items can be found and used to varying effects. It’s a simple game with simple gameplay, but it IS challenging and fun. The randomness of it all does end up making each playthrough different (since the strategies change depending on which items you’ll pick up). In the end, The Binding of Isaac is a VERY replayable game (since playthroughs are fast, as you restart from the beginning when you die), and a fun one too.
Chantelise
Here’s one I really want to highlight. This is a japanese indie game, made by the same people who made the super-fun Recettear, and localized by the people who localized Recettear. This one features a third-person hack n’ slash gameplay style, but it uses sprites rather than 3D models. The controls start up a bit confusing, but quickly enough controlling the character and camera at the same time become second nature. You can use a variety of melee moves, jump and you can use magic by picking up and using gems (basic spells costs 1 colored gem, and you can mix gems for stronger spells and effects). There’s interesting boss battles, all with different strategies and weak points, and the plot isn’t bad at all either (helped by the excellent localization by Carpe Fulgur). There’s no actual leveling system, but you can get equipment and HP upgrades. This is a really fun game, though I don’t expect everyone to like it.
So here we have: 1 Wii release, 2 3DS releases and 2 PC releases. Nothing multiplatform and nothing for PS3 and 360 (unless something good pops up on the downloadable side of things).
Let’s do this quickly! Read on!
WII RELEASES
Fortune Street 12/05
This is a cool one. Fortune Street is the first time Itadaki Street gets an official english localization. Itadaki Street is actually a long-running video game board game franchise in Japan, starting with the Famicom. It was made by Yuji Hori, the creator of Dragon Quest, and came to include characters from Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and Mario in the multiple sequels. The gameplay is sort of reminiscent of Monopoly (you buy property and stocks, and try to make other players bankrupt), but I haven’t played any of the japanese versions, so I’m pretty interested in at least trying it out. I’m not really sure if this will really catch on here, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
3DS RELEASES
Mario Kart 7 12/04
It’s Mario Kart, so it’s pretty sure to be good. Considering how good Mario Kart DS was (arguably the best in the series), I’m expecting awesomeness here.
Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights 12/06
Not really sure what this is about. I vaguely remember seeing videos with puzzles and RPG turn-based battles… It might be good, but it didn’t really catch my interest. I may rent it someday.
PC RELEASES
Trine 2 12/06
The first Trine was interesting. The concept was cool, having on-the-fly character change to adapt to different situations and challenges. I found it a bit meh overall (too easy, to short), but the concept was interesting. I hope the sequel takes advantage of it a bit better. Should be interesting, but I’m not paying full price.
Star Wars: The Old Republic 12/20
It’s an MMORPG… Not interested. But it’s a big release and I know there’s tons of people interested in playing it. Check it out if you’re into Star Wars and MMOs!
Ah the Sonic cylce: see the game’s reveal trailer, get excited thinking “finally, THIS is the game that will make Sonic be good again”, see some gameplay videos and think “this doesn’t look too bad!” and then play the game and realize it’s terrible as always. It happened with every Sonic game. EVEN Black Knight where they gave Sonic a sword had a lot of people thinking that it would be the game to revive Sonic.
Well, before actually playing the game, I was planning on coming into this review saying “Hey guys, this new Sonic games is bad as usual, don’t buy it, ‘k?”. But somehow I can’t do that, because then I’d be lying.
Read on and see what Generations did right with the Sonic franchise… FINALLY!
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Date of Release: November 1st 2011 (November 3rd for Steam)
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC (Steam version reviewed)
Genre: Side-scrolling platformer
Rated E for Everyone
Overall feel
So the story goes as follow: some beast is blasting through time and space destroying everything in its path and taking Sonic’s friends prisoner in time. So Sonic has to save them. At the same time Sonic is dealing with that same monster that’s ravaging space and time… Oh, and by that I mean Sonic from the Genesis day. So you have 2 Sonics from different time periods fighting for a common goal, each with his own levels and gameplay style. The actual plot is actually NOT completely cringe-worthy like in other modern Sonic games. I couldn’t survive a whole Sonic Colors cinematic for example, while the cinematics here were at least bearable, and even really good in some cases (see: the cinematics before Metal Sonic and Shadow).
Generations is a game that pays tribute to everything Sonic. And I truly mean everything. This not only has levels from (well, more like “inspired by”, since they’re not exactly the same) Sonic 1, 2, 3&K, Adventure, Adventure 2, Heroes, 2006, Unleashed and Colors, but references to just about every Sonic game. There’s the kickass Toxic Caves music from Sonic Spinball and probably music from most Sonic games overall, the Chaotix are here (sadly no Chaotix-insipired level…. they have 2 Sonics to work with, so why not?), Blaze is here, Silver is here, you have Metal Sonic and Shadow… Not much of Sonic video game lore was forgotten here (seemingly no cartoon/comic references though, so no Princess Sally), though I will say Big the Cat seems to be missing… not that anyone really cares about him.
If you’re a Sonic fan, you’re gonna be in for a cool trip. But even then, this whole tribute to Sonic wouldn’t be any good if the gameplay sucked so…. There are 2 gameplay styles here. Fully side-scrolling levels with old-school Sonic in the style of the Genesis games, and levels that play like more recent Sonic games with some side-scrolling segments and some exploration/3D moments, so let’s talk about that!
Retro Sonic gameplay
Remember Sonic 2 on the Genesis? Yeah, this is just about what you’re getting here. As I and many other people have said for a long time, Sonic is not about speed, it’s about momentum and trying to maintain that momentum through properly timed jumps and spin dashes to avoid slower-moving segments of a level. This game pretty much nails this idea when it comes to the retro Sonic levels, with different paths depending on your performance. As far as I’ve seen, the physics are pretty much spot-on here, it really feels like Genesis Sonic (though, again, I just play the game, unlike the people who, instead of playing Sonic 4, tried to find problems with the physics that don’t exists in normal play… but from my experience there doesn’t seem to be the imaginary problems people had with Sonic 4). What’s cool is that all the levels truly have that retro Sonic feel to them, even the ones that take place in levels from modern Sonic games. City Escape has these cool segments with a truck trying to stomp you, Crisis City uses firestorms to change the horizontal momentum… it’s all well thought out. One enhancement that I quite enjoy here is the fact that the spin dash is now assigned to its own button (you can do it by crouching and using the jump button, but you don’t need to), making spin dashing a lot faster and easy to do at a moment’s notice.
Long story short: Retro Sonic levels=really good.
Modern Sonic gameplay
I’ll be brutally honest here: Sonic games on console have SUCKED since Adventure 2 (other than Sonic 4 which kicked ass), and the major culprit is the fact that is just feels like it plays itself without you really needing to do too much to finish levels. It’s just “Hold forward, win”. It reached its worst with Sonic Colors, where you could literally button-mash the homing attack to beat bosses.
Here, it keeps a similar gameplay style, with some side-scrolling segments and some “behind Sonic” segments. It actually plays a lot like Colors in general… But, for some reason, it doesn’t suck! Yeah, it just feels a lot less “I’m playing myself” than Colors did. There’s honest to goodness obstacles this time around, the jumps and boosts and homing attacks feel like you’re more in control (though movement when you’re not running is still a bit of a hassle, it’s not much of a problem when you’re going full-speed, which should be ALL THE TIME anyways). It’s not like in Colors when you can just keep the boost on and finish a level, here you actually have to do some platforming of your own. Crazy I know. It’s like they actually DESIGNED LEVELS, which is something modern devs tend to not really do anymore. It helps that the jumping in side-scrolling segments is a bit less floaty than in Colors and more precise.
It’s also super-exciting. I won’t spoil it, but the “modern” version of City Escape, while it does have some parts that are taken straight out of Adventure 2, is mostly original, and features an insanely awesome bit at the end that always has me go “OHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT… WTF WAS THAT”. The levels have some parts that just get the adrenaline pumping not just because of the action on-screen, but because the game isn’t just playing itself though those parts, it actually requires YOU to do the awesome things you see on screen without relying on something stupid like QTEs or just plain watching.
My only complaint here is that drifting is super-tough to control properly, and doing a homing attack in side-scrolling segments pretty much stops your horizontal movement altogether (they should have implemented the homing attack from Sonic 4 instead).
Long story short: they took the basic of Colors, and made it not suck. These levels are actually FUN, differently from my expectations.
Content
There’s 9 levels, each with 2 acts (one for each Sonic). Each act has 5 or so red rings which unlock extra stuff like music and artwork. There’s 7 boss battles (4 story-based battles inspired by old bosses, but with new gimmicks and 3 boss battles featuring “Sonic clones” Metal Sonic, Shadow and Silver) strewn within that (you HAVE to do the 6 first to get to the final boss)… Not sure why some reviewers said that there’s only 2 boss battles when that’s clearly false though… Each level has 5 challenge levels for each Sonic, so that’s 90 challenge levels total. And each of those unlocks a bell, which will unleash a music note which you must catch to get either artwork or music. Each of those boss battles and acts and challenge levels rank you for time, or time+ring number+performance, with a maximum ranking of S. So, basically, there’s a shitload of content (as in I’m over 10 hours into the game and I’m only halfway through the content, and that’s without S-ranking everything).
I especially enjoy the challenge stages. A few of them are just time trials, but some will add stuff to the level, like more platform or blocks to make you take certain paths, or tons of enemies to make the way to the goal tougher, or just different layouts overall. Some will give you skills (such as shields for retro Sonic or boost-increases for modern Sonic), others will make you have to work with/against one of Sonic’s friends (sadly you cannot murder Cream the Rabbit). These levels are REALLY fun (with a couple exceptions).
Also, just a quick mention of Skills. Basically, you get 100 points, and you can use those points to equip skills (which you buy from the Skill shop). For example, you can get better underwater movement for both Sonics, increased speed for modern Sonic or shields for Retro Sonic (including bubble, flame and lightning shields from the Genesis games, which you get a few that you can activate when you want), and some other stuff. It’s not required, but it can make some levels easier, or make certain gameplay elements more forgiving (like making the rings stay longer when you get hit).
Difficulty
Okay, not really a “bad stuff” part, but this game is rather easy. You can buy lives, which are super cheap, and losing them all just makes you restart the level you’re at, with 5 lives. This game DOES have honestly hard parts and it will kill you from time to time, but I think the difficulty is a little bit on the low side overall. There’s a few cheap deaths on modern Sonic levels due to the controls going all herp derp on you, but not enough so that it makes the game worse. There are also times where you’ll spin dash or boost at the wrong time, making you miss a spring or jump you HAVE to use to go further, but that’s your fault if you do that, so I really don’t mind that at all.
One thing I DO appreciate is that the first thing the game does is ask if you want the retarded tutorial thingies popping up all the time. So you can have the game telling you how to jump or whatever, and tell you “hey, there’s a hole there” OR you can just remove that stuff and figure out how to do things yourself like normal people. I think it’s considerate of Sega to realize that not all gamers are idiots that need to have everything told to them.
Bad stuff
Not much to mention here actually. I’m serious. So the final boss is kinda lame. The rendition of the City Escape song on the retro Sonic side is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard (but the fact that you can change the music to anything in the game that you’ve unlocked mostly negates that problem. My other problem is Planet Wisp… The level is fine, no problem here, but the implementation of the Wisps here STILL sucks. Not as much as in Colors, and that’s mostly because there’s only 2 Wisps (the rocket, which was the only one that wasn’t completely terrible in Colors, and the spiky ball wisp which is super hard to control properly). Oh, and there’s minor glitches, like getting stuck in moments where the game is supposed to be taking control for a moment (there’s this one spiral ramp in Green Hill Zone where sometimes Sonic will just get stuck and you’ll have to restart the level). Not a big problem.
Another minor issue I had is just something on my end… I’m playing the Steam version (using my PS3 controller configured as a 360 controller, which controls SUPER well by the way, I suggest it since the Steam version is uber cheap), and there’s a few moments when I get major slowdown even though I have a good computer (Chemical Plant when there’s certain water effects, and Speed Highway when multiple of those police enemies sound off at the same time), not sure if it’s something in the configs, but it’s not a HUGE problem.
Overall
Sonic Generations is great. There, I said it. It’s super fun to play, there’s tons of content, it has the kickass Toxic Caves song from Sonic Spinball (I love Sonic Spinball……. what?), it’s a badass tribute to everything Sonic and it just feels great. I didn’t think it would surpass Sonic 4 (the only other good Sonic game of this generation), but it did by FAR. Declaring it the best Sonic game yet might be a bit much, but I will say that it’s stiff competition at the very least.
It’s a well-designed game with some actual thought put behind it and…. well… fuck, it’s great. And the Steam version is only 30$, so… yeah, pick it up and stuff! And if you’re European, get the Collectors Edition, it looks amazing!
(Note: You may have realized that I didn’t talk about the graphics. That would be because I forgot about it, and now I don’t really care about writing a blurb about them… I’ll just say “they look great” and leave it at that *thumbs up*)
]]>So here we have: over 9000 Wii releases, 13 multiplatform releases, 4 3DS releases, 2 PS3 releases and 2 Xbox 360 releases… OH and 1 PC release (almost forgot that, silly me). Don’t forget this only includes games that will probably be good, or popular games. No shovelware here (other than Call of Duty), and no/very few downloadable games (since release dates rarely pop up early for these).
Read on and tell us what you’re getting!
WII RELEASES
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword 11/20
Ah yes, a new Zelda, and holy shit does it look glorious. Nothing more to say here, buy it!
MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES
Goldeneye 007: Reloaded 11/01 (PS3, 360)
The Goldeneye remake on Wii was complete shit… by which I mean it was Call of Duty with the Goldeneye story with some messed up details and random stupid changes. This is looking to be the same thing… IN HD! Shit in HD is still shit though.
Sonic Generations 11/01 (PS3, 360, 3DS)
Ah Sonic, coming back with what might possibly be the second good Sonic game this generation! (note: Sonic 4 Episode 1 was the first) I’m not entirely sure what to think of this one yet. The demo that was set in the classic style of gameplay was really well done, though that can change if the level design starts sucking later on, and I’m not totally hyped up for the “new” gameplay style, but the demo at least convinced me that it’s at least not AS shitty as the terrible Sonic Colors. I’m picking it up, but I’m still very unsure if that’s a good idea or not. Good thing it’s so cheap on Steam.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North 11/01 (PC, PS3, 360)
Just saw it on some release lists, figured it might interest some people…. I have no idea what this game is like, and I don’t care.
Burgertime World Tour 11/02 on Xbox 360 (Also coming to PSN, PC and WiiWare later in the month, date currently unknown)
I rarely put downloadable games on here, but this one is worth it. How long has it been since a NEW Burgertime game anyways? And this actually looks really good from what I’ve seen. It keeps the classic gameplay philosophy but adds some new gameplay elements and level design gimmicks. Should be worth checking out.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 11/08 (Pc, PS3, 360)
Activision is once again releasing this game. This is the EIGHTH time they’ve release the same game this generation (ninth if you want to count “Call of Duty Classic” which is downloadable)… This is getting completely crazy guys (who am I kidding, it was already crazy at the third re-release)… Bah, who am I kidding, this will sell the inevitable undeserved millions and will make Actvision huge wads… of cash. Maybe soon people will realize they’re buying the same crappy game over and over… *looks at Madden*… Yeah, that’s not happening.
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection 11/08 (Ps3, 360)
Strangely enough, this doesn’t contain MGS1… may I ask why? Instead it’s Peace Walker (unless you’re in japan, in which case you’re getting MGS1 (on PSN, so not in HD) but not Peace Walker)… just a bit weird. Either way, this is an interesting pack for people who didn’t get the same collection (minus HD, minus Peace Walker, plus MGS1) on PS2 a few years back.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 11/11 (PC, PS3, 360)
One of the most hyped game this year. I’m personally not too interested (I’ll just rent it), but it doesn’t look terrible by any means. I’m gonna say this is one to watch out for, it’s probably gonna have hundreds of hours of gameplay if you want do to everything/if you don’t get bored of it before doing everything.
Rayman Origins 11/15 (PS3, X360, Wii, 3DS)
Seems to be really cool. Graphically it’s beautiful, but it also looks really fun to play. And a new Rayman game that’s actually about Rayman himself and not those fucking rabbits? CRAZY!
Need for Speed: The Run 11/15 (PC, PS3, X360, Wii, 3DS)
A seemingly standard Need for Speed game… with completely stupid and random “parkour” segments which are controlled by QTEs (at least in the original trailer I saw, the demo didn’t feature any of that)… not interested, the demo was very unimpressive.
Saints Row: The Third 11/15 (PC, PS3, 360)
Why hello there weird GTA clone. I actually haven’t played any of these, and I won’t start here, but at least I can say the devs of SR seem to take the game less seriously than the GTA series of late, so this is full of wacky weirdness, making it at least more imaginative than what GTA.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 11/15 (Ps3, 360)
A bit of a kick in the balls to release a much better version of the game (12 more characters, bunch of new stages, a couple new modes, spectator mode, complete rebalance, etc.) for 40$ only 8 months after the original which cost 60$, BUT at least this is looking really awesome. The new characters (other than Nemesis and Frank West) look really cool (my favorites so far being Firebrand and Mr top tier…. I mean Phoenix Wright), the Heroes and Heralds mode looks interesting and there’s tons of rebalancing done too.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations 11/15 (PC, PS3, 360)
It’s Assassin’s Creed. And again it’s milking Ezio for all he’s worth, instead of going to a new setting or something. Anyways, you already know if you want this or not. I personally don’t like this series with it’s 100% mindless “platforming” (hold a button and a direction and the game will do everything on its own!) and button-mashy combat with no real strategy/fun… But a lot of other people clearly do (or at least enjoy the plot enough to suffer through the gameplay), so if you do, check it out!
The King of Fighters XIII 11/22 (PC, PS3, 360)
Didn’t really enjoy KoFXII… Not sure what it was about it, I just couldn’t get into it (though KOF as never my fighting game series of choice). Not planning on trying this one.
PLAYSTATION 3 RELEASES
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception 11/01
The Uncharted games, despite having rather uninspired gameplay (standard cover-based TPS with nothing that sets it apart from any other game in the genre), remains interesting due to being actually really good action movies in the vein of Indiana Jones. I’m sure this will continue the tradition of “fairly boring gameplay, good story/cutscenes”. I’m gonna rent it for sure.
Tekken Hybrid 11/22
Not a big Tekken fan myself, but for people who are, this includes the Tekken 3D movie, Tekken Tag Tournament HD and Tekken Tag 2 Prologue, so it should be a nice package for fans.
3DS RELEASES
Cave Story 3D 11/08
The original Cave Story is a very fun Metroid-style platformer. This looks… pretty much identical from what I’ve seen, but with 3D graphics (that do look quite good from what I’ve seen). Probably not a bad buy, but I question if 40$ is a good price point for it since you can still get the original for free… maybe if there’s enough new content…
Super Mario 3D Land 11/13
This will kick ass. Nothing more to say.
Shinobi 11/15
Not really sure about this one yet, but I’m pretty sure I’ll at least rent it. It’s been a while since the last side-scrolling Shinobi game (I’d say Saturn off the top of my head (Shinobi Legions) but I might be wrong), so this is interesting on that premise alone, and the gameplay looks okay from what I’ve seen.
Nano Assault 11/22
The third in the not-acclaimed-but-still-really-good Nanostray series by Shi’nen. This one takes on various gameplay styles. The ones I’ve seen were twin-stick shooter and a star fox-style “space” shooter, but I’m guessing there’s going to be regular side-scrolling shooter levels as well. Looks very solid.
PC RELEASES
Serious Sam 3: BFE 11/22
Another FPS this year that I’m interested in, partly because it takes on an “oldschool” style of gameplay in FPS, with some exploration for secrets but, most of all, badass fast-moving action and awesome weapons. Looks like this could be really good… hopefully.
XBOX 360 RELEASES
Otomedius Excellent 11/01
It was delayed again? Seriously? Come on guys, just release the damn thing… there’s already DLC available for it, so why is the game not out yet? *insert blurb about how it looks to be a kickass gradius game*
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary 11/15
It’s Halo.
Let’s see… for October 2011 we have: 9 multiplatform releases, 3 PS3 releases, 3 3DS releases, 2 Xbox 360 releases, 2 PC releases and the first truly great Wii release of the year (note: yes Mario Sports Mix was good, but definitely not GREAT)! Don’t forget this only includes interesting or potentially popular games, and it maybe be missing a couple hidden gems (and downloadable games, these rarely get release dates this fast). I try to not include shovelware in these lists.
So read on and see what you’ll be buying!
MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES
Dark Souls 10/04 (PS3, 360)
A spiritual successor to the highly popular Demon’s Souls on PS3. This time it’s a multiplatform title, but it seems to retain the gameplay style and difficulty-type of the original. I’ll only be renting this, but it’s looking mighty fine from what I’ve seen.
Spider-Man: Edge of Time 10/04 (PS3, 360, Wii, 3DS, DS)
Seems very similar to Shattered Dimensions. Not too sure about that one. Shattered Dimensions was… okay… but it was definitely not worth a purchase. I’m expecting the same here.
Rage 10/04 (PC, PS3, 360)
I always look reluctantly at FPS. This may have been made by id, and some things I’ve seen looked interesting (especially since it reminded me of Borderlands a little bit), but… I don’t know, FPS tend to disappoint me most of the time, so I’ll not get any hype for this. I’ll probably check it out eventually though.
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record 10/11 (PS3, 360, PC)
The first Dead Rising was boring, the second one was pretty much the same but with a few added gameplay elements so it wasn’t AS bad… This seems like it’s just gonna be DR2 with Frank West… meh (and no, I don’t care that he’s covered wars, you know).
Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure 10/16 (PS3, 360, PC, Wii, 3DS)
I don’t know about this one… You can collect figurines, and get them scanned into the game somehow. It seems to be a fairly standard 3D platformer, but here you have access to 32 characters…. as long as you have the figurines. I’ll be honest, I’m not expecting this to really catch on.
Batman: Arkham City 10/18 (PC, PS3, 360)
Arkham Asylum was a very solid puzzle-y brawler/stealth game, and ended up being one of the very few modern licensed games to not be terrible. I haven’t actually seen anything in regards to its sequel, but I am still excited to check it out (had it pre-ordered for months now). I only hope a few things are modified here, to make it even better than the first. I’m pretty hyped.
Battlefield 3 10/25 (PC, PS3, 360)
This has been played up to be the competition for MW3, with both the advertisers, gamers and overall press talking about how much greater it’s gonna be… but from what I’ve seen it’s just another bland military FPS with no defining elements, it might as well be called “MW3 with more vehicles and better graphics”. The non-vehicle moments are 100% identical to any CoD game… Even the box art has the exact same lack of originality/fun as the CoD series’ box art… Get Serious Sam 3 instead!
The King of Fighters XIII 10/25 (PS3, 360)
King of Fighters XII kinda disappointed me… I can’t say why though, it just didn’t get me like older KoF games. I’m not even sure I’ll try this one. We’ll see.
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi 10/25 (PS3, 360)
DBZ fighting games always kinda failed to really impress me. This seem very much the same as previous Tenkaichi games.
3DS RELEASES
Tetris: Axis 10/07
Looks like Tetris! Not really much to say here…
Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns 10/11 (also coming to DS, but I decided to ignore that)
To be completely honest, I haven’t played a Harvest Moon game since the SNES… I have no idea if the series has done any changing since then. Maybe I’ll have to check a newer one soon…
Pokemon Rumble Blast 10/24
I played the demo for the original Pokemon Rumble on Wiiware, and it SUCKED. You’d think a Pokemon action game like this would have the potential to be great but… Yeah, my expectations for this are super-low.
PC RELEASES
Dungeons & Dragons: Neverwinter 10/04
I have no idea what that’s gonna be like. So I won’t comment on it! *thumbs up*
Might & Magic: Heroes VI 10/11
The Heroes of Might and Magic series is a very cool Strategy-RPG series. By building up your city and conquering other cities, you can build an army and take over the rest of the land. As of now my favorite in the series remains the third, but I’ll probably end up checking this one out eventually. Should be good.
PLAYSTATION 3 RELEASES
Twisted Metal 10/04
(Haven’t found the official box art, will update when I do)
The videos I’ve seen look very… Twisted Metal-like (duh). You have access to more vehicles, and you even have sniper rifles to take out enemies from far away… I’m not really convinced about this game though, I might rent it.
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One 10/18
Ratchet & Clank with 4 players! It looks like a simplified and super-linear version of Ratchet & Clank. It DOES look fun though, but it’s probably not terribly interesting to play alone.
The House of the Dead: Overkill – Extended Cut 10/25
House of the Dead Overkill was an amazingly fun on-rails shooter on the Wii. I don’t know what kind of extra content this is getting, but it’s probably gonna be awesome. Sadly, I don’t have a Move to check it out.
NINTENDO WII RELEASES
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland 10/24
The first really good Wii release of the year! This was a very long time coming. This is the first real Kirby game on a console since Crystal Shards on the N64. And it looks AMAZING. No offense to Epic Yarn, I quite liked it (despite the slow gameplay and total lack of challenge), but THIS is what a Kirby game should be like. And a 4-player option kicks ass here too, it’s probably gonna be a fun game to play while hanging out with friends (since all the playable characters look to play differently).
XBOX 360 RELEASES
Forza Motorsport 4 10/11
Forza 3 was solid. I’m expecting the same amount of solid-ness from this one. Not sure what Kinect really does in regards to the gameplay here though, seems kinda pointless to me.
Dance Central 2 10/25
It’s Dance Central… If you liked the first one, this seems to be identical beyond having new dance moves and new songs.
September sees a good amount of interesting/popular games: 7 multiplatform (Wii, PC, PS3, 360) releases, 8 PS3 releases, 3 3DS releases, 3 DS releases, 1 PSP release and 2 Xbox 360 releases. Don’t forget this only includes interesting or potentially popular games, and it maybe be missing what will be hidden gems. We never know.
So read on and see what you’ll be buying!
MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES
Dead Island 9/06 (PC, PS3, 360)
As far as I’ve seen, it just looks like L4D with slower gameplay and maybe a deeper plot (or at least some character development). Not interested.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 9/06 (PC, PS3, 360)
Seems like a God of War rip-off with a space marine and orks… I’ll keep an eye out just in case it ends up being a competent action game, but I’m not keeping my hopes up.
(Note/correction/whatever: The demo was very unimpressive… it’s a clumsy hack n’ slasher with the controls of Gears of War which just doesn’t work for action like this… BUT the jetpack level in the demo was fun… I guess jetpacks DO make everything better… it’s a rental)
NHL 12 9/13 (PS3, 360)
*insert same text as madden release from last month*
Resident Evil 4 HD 9/20 (PS3, 360)
It’s RE4… I shouldn’t need to say much more, because you already know if you want an HD version of that.
Resident Evil Code: Veronica X HD 9/27 (PS3, 360)
I’ve never played Code Veronica… So I don’t have much to say here.
X-Men: Destiny 9/27 (PS3, 360, Wii, DS)
Haven’t seen much of this… it seems like a possibly interesting beat ‘em up with RPG elements. Doesn’t look too bad, but it’s a rental for me.
Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny 9/27 (PS3, Wii)
I had no idea this was even coming. But I’m also not terribly familiar with Rune Factory so I have nothing to say about it.
PLAYSTATION 3 RELEASES
Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten 9/06
Disgaea always kicks ass. Nothing more to say. Buy this!
Resistance 3 9/06
First sucked, second sucked but had fun online, this one will probably also suck (don’t know about the online, don’t care). I’ll rate this game a “boringfps/10″
God of War Origins Collection 9/13
Portable lameness, redone in HD!
White Knight Chronicles II 9/13
Includes the first game with the modified engine from the sequel, so, if you don’t get bored of this fast, you have a LOT of content to go through here.
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland 9/27
The Atelier series is generally great. I’m pretty hyped for this one
ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection 9/27
Ico looked boring to play (haven’t played it myself, just judging from the boring-looking gameplay videos I’ve seen), Shadow of the Colossus was stupidly boring (a game where you spend most of the time basically doing nothing isn’t terribly exciting), not hyped for this at all.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Classic Trilogy HD 9/27
Despite having all the old splinter cell games, I haven’t played them…. May be worth it, I wouldn’t know… yet.
Child of Eden 9/27
Wasn’t interested in the 360 release, not interested in this one.
3DS RELEASES
Star Fox 64 3D 9/09
This is my favorite N64 game, by far. I must have completed it over 100 times as a kid, and I still replay it from time to time. I’m pretty hyped to see it with even better graphics and 3D, should be quite interesting.
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection 9/13
This game is great. It features amazing pinball tables like Funhouse and Pinbot and Taxi, and is overall really fun to play. One drawback on the 3DS version though… as far as I can tell, it’s missing 5 tables that are in the PS3/360 version: Tales of the Arabian Nights, Medieval Madness, No Good Gofers, as well as MAYBE Jive Time and Sorcerer that are in all the other versions…. If you have a PS3/360, get those versions, Wii if you don’t have a PS3 or 360… This is a nice alternative, but the HD versions kick its ass.
Frogger 3D 9/20
This actually looks really interesting. It’s classic Frogger gameplay, but in various environments, featuring a lot of new gameplay elements… I may check it out.
DS RELEASES
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 9/19
Loved the first one, and the other games in the previous Monster sub-series. This should also be great.
Kirby Mass Attack 9/19
The videos I’ve seen make it seem like a Kirby/Pikmin hybrid… looks pretty fun.
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter 9/27
Random Action-RPG, actually looks cool.
PSP RELEASES
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2 – Innocent Sin 9/20
Oh, this is actually the first time this comes out in the US. I know people will point me to Persona 2: Eternal Punishment on the PS1, I will point out that it’s actually a different game from the first Persona 2, one that takes place in a parallel world. So yeah, this could be interesting.
XBOX 360 RELEASES
Otomedius Excellent 9/01
It better not get delayed AGAIN. Well, I don’t have a 360 anymore, but, if I did, I would be all over this. It actually looks like a solid Gradius game.
Gears of War 3 9/20
It’s Gears of War. You’ve played one of the 2 before it, you’ve played this one.