No more further explanations, here’s first and foremost, my list of most anticipated games this year.(Disclaimer: This piece was written while I was doing other things, so it’s really disorganized, I suggest not reading it! reading it drunk or something.)
Top 10 Upcoming games of 2012
10. Soul Calibur V
Transcanding history and world, this fighting game series was what got me back into the fighting genre, first with Soul Edge back in the mid 90s, and then with Soul Calibur II when it was released on Gamecube. While most people points to I or II as their favourite and III as the worst, I found myself actually liking Soul Calibur III the most so far, for multiple reasons, and while there were a few exploits, we never used those when playing back in the days. The fourth instalment added stats to armors, and that simply ruined for me. This is gone for SCV, and I’m glad it is so.
Anyway, looking forward to try the new characters, and kick asses with Maxi all over again.
9. Binary Domain
A game by the Yakuza and Monkey Balls dude, that’s neither of these titles? Count me in! The setting, while cliché at this point, seems somewhat still full of surprises, the idea that a game from a director whose second only to Hideo Kojima in terms of expansive cutscenes decides to put the story development you’d normally see in cutscenes directly into the gameplay, as me riddled and curious. In terms of gameplay, I’m digging the fact that what you shoot on an enemy gets torned off, and affects its AI/movements/abilities. In example, if you shoot the head off, the robot will start shooting indiscriminately at everything around in, including its allies. If you shoot the leg off, they’ll crawl up to you and attempt to grab you or crawl away in fear, or something.
This one is another day one buy.
8. Lollipop Chainsaw
A game with zombies in it!? Who would buy that? I actually rarely would, but the kitsch style of Suda51 has me almost sold. I love kitsch stuff, but only when it’s well executed in its cheesiness. And I doubt it’ll be the latter with the guy behind Killer 7 and No More Heroes behind it. But this has the potential to be really great, or just meh. The gameplay looks good enough, but if it’s shallow, I’ll probably end up passing or at best giving it a rental. I’m not expecting Bayonetta depth here, but I’m hoping for depth.
7. Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney
Barely played one Professor Layton game, but I loved what I played of it. Brain teasers that are designed just well enough to tease your brain into twisting it one way or another, but still let’s you solve them and make you feel smart are the best. On the other side, I’m a big fan of the Ace Attorney games, even though I was a bit disappointed with the last game released in North America, Miles Investigations, as while the story was fun, it was way too easy and I saw everything coming, and didn’t feel that despair that I could share with Nick in the other games near the end of a case where there doesn’t seem to be any way to get out of a bind.
I’m not sure what are the odds of it making it over here, it has a lot of hype surrounding it, so it could end up making it, but the latest game in the AA series never made it here and probably never will. So it’s a tough call. But if it does come over here, another day one!
6. TERA
MMOrpgs are a disease! They hook you up, drain you up, and then instead of throwing you away, they dry you up t’il the last drop. Still I keep falling for them for a reason or another, and I usually get bored when I realize I’ve been doing the same thing over and over.
Anyway, this one has something different than those other MMOs of this scale. You can’t target a monster (and then just mash your numbers on your keyboard to do damage). You need to play like you would play an action console game. Even so, if I ever get into this game, I’ll be buying myself a 360 controller just for it. It really fixes my biggest gripe about these PC games. It gets boring when all you need to do to connect an attack is having a little circle around the monster. It annoys me when most enemy attacks connect even though I should be out of their reach, and just once in a while, an attack that you can dodge occurs and at that point you’re supposed to get out of the way. Seriously, make all attacks like this, and remove as many random numbers as you can. Most of these games, it’s usually a staring contest on your screen to grasp the once in a while thing that catches you off-guard because you fell asleep of boredom.
Well, I don’t know how much TERA fixes this. I’m hoping to get in the beta to find that out. I’m not expecting Bayonetta online here, but damn would that be sweet or what? 
5. One Piece Musou
Not too fond of the Musou games (Dynasty Warriors, etc.). They were nice last generation, but I got tired of playing the same game again and again. But this time, it’s a Dynasty Warrior game in the One Piece universe, covering most of what’s been covered by the anime seemingly, and let’s you play with all the strawhats, and let’s you do a whole bunch of their moves, all with what seems to be the right feel for each character.
Anyway, I’m again not sure what are the odds here, but damn it, I’m gonna play this, in Japanese if needed.
4. Yakuza Dead Souls
For the rest of this list, I’m showing how much of a SEGA fanboy I am, it seems. As even number one has some links to SEGA in a way (more or less).
So the usual Yakuza type game is kind of taking a break this time and is replaced by another zombie game. So what does that mean? Mostly that guns play a much bigger part this time around, and most of Kamurochou is filled with zombies. There are still all the side contents and mini-games to mess around with, though. And while I didn’t like the Japanese demo’s controls last year, we’ve been promised a better control scheme for the release in the West.
Day one!
3. Anarchy Reigns
This was supposed to be out already, and then out this month, but in the end, it’s been pushed back to this summer. But I’m still not sure how the game will turn out, but if it’s Bayonetta Online, damn I might not need any other game for a while. But it being more of a Madworld online, with a few characters that seem to control more like they would be in a Kamiya game, I’m not sure how good it will turn out. I got bored of Madworld kind of fast. Still, I have high hopes!
2. Phantasy Star Online 2
This is still not announced for a release outside Japan. But I kind of doubt they’ll keep the best Phantasy Star Online so far (at least gameplay-wise) out of our hands over here for too long, considering they’ve been bringing most Phantasy Star games released in the last decade(s?) here. I just hope it keeps that lobby formula and sticks to being a non-massive, multiplayer Online RPG.
1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
The VGAs had one thing good in 2011, and that was the announcement trailer of MGR now being developed by Platinun Games. The lightning fast fighting designed by the masters of this kind of gameplay just looks too sweet to pass by, and being the big Metal Gear fan (though Kojima does not need to do Metal Gear games anymore) that I am, this is probably going to be one of my favourite games ever. Though it might only take over spot number 3, because…
0. Hideki Kamiya’s upcoming project
My favourite game of all time is Bayonetta, and Kamiya’s upcoming project is a serious contender for that spot, even though I have no clue what it’s going to be, but unless it’s a Social Media game, I’m confident I’m gonna love the hell out of whatever he’s developing.
As an extra, with a bit less dribble, here’s a top 5 of things I’m curious to see how the game will turn out and a top 3 of games that are highly anticipated but couldn’t care less.
Top 5 curious about
5. DmC: Devil May Cry
This will most likely turn out awful. Still gonna rent it though to see if Ninja Theory managed to nail the DMC feel. Highly unlikely, as the gameplay video we’ve seen so far suggests otherwise.
4. Blade and Souls
This was announced forever ago, and might or might not be for PS3 (according to Wikipedia it is), but like TERA, this is more oriented in terms of an mmorpg, but looking at videos, I’m somewhat confused as to how it works, as to how much skills, how much RGN are involved into the whole combat system. Also, I’ll be surprised if this comes out this year, as there’s still no real dates for it.
3. Dragon’s Dogma
Capcom would release some of the best games, if they wouldn’t cancel them just when they’ve teased us enough with them. Anyway, this is supposed to be a Japan take on the western RPG, more or less. I’ve seen some good and some bad in terms of previews, but I’m mostly hoping the combat is deeper than what they’ve shown so far.
2. Doctor Who: Worlds in Time
A Doctor Who game, I hope it’s made by Telltale! (Oh wait, it’s not). Ok well, I hope it’s a point and click adventure game! (Nope, it’s a platformer). Well damn. I love platformers, but from what I’ve seen, this looks as good as the average platform game inspired by a movie in the 90s. So I’m somewhat doubting the upcoming quality of this Who game playable on PS3 (and others I don’t care about). But I’ll still look it up.
1. Dragon Quest X: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online
Really, really curious how this will turn out. I’ve played some fun Dragon Quest mmorpg on some site I forgot the name, fan-made of course. So I can see the combat working. What I’m really hoping for though, is a deep story and setting, that keeps it as amazing as FFXI was. Also, I’m hoping it won’t release on Wii, or Wii U. Yeah.. That’s probably enough of a reason for me to pass it up. Doesn’t change that I’ll still look it up.
Top 3 big titles not excited for
3. Resident Evil 6
Oh it looks great from the little we’ve seen. But I never could manage playing 4 or 5 beyond a certain point. I know, I suck. But yeah, little excitement for probably one of the big legit release this year.
2. Diablo III
Click click click click click… click click click. Sorry, I really can’t dig it.
1. Call of Duty 2012 (or whatever it’ll be called)
Pow pow pow pow explosion. Millions of people will buy it. I’m not one of them.
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.
Hopefully this ends up being a bit more insightful than other posts I’ve seen like this… Where all that was said about most games was “The graphics look good!”… yeah, but what about the game itself? Give some detail about why you’re hyped about a game, dammit!
So let’s go! (and yes, I’m being incredibly cheap and lazy, not including any images here, w00!)
Multiplatform
Asura’s Wrath
Not a game I’m really that hyped about yet, because most of the gameplay footage I’ve seen has been QTEs, which is the laziest/lamest gameplay element ever. But it IS a Capcom action game in the DMC mold, so I’m willing to give it a chance. And there’s a demo coming tomorrow, so… yeah, we’ll see. What I’ve seen does have potential, but I hope it doesn’t overuse QTEs like it seemed to in the videos I’ve seen.
Street Fighter X Tekken
This actually looks like a very solid fighting game. There may be a bit too many systems in place here (cross arts, cross rush, switch cancel, cross assault, EX attacks, stat-modifying gems, pandora mode… and I’m probably missing some), but it does look like it’s going to be fun to play, and I’m interested in seeing how the Tekken characters will play in the SF universe. I’ll rent it first, but I think this has some very good potential.
Final Fantasy XIII-2
FFXIII gets mostly unwarranted hate from… just about everyone really. The sequel will hopefully fix some things people weren’t happy about (linearity, lack of towns, Hope, Sazh… 2 of those which are stupid complaints (hint: Hope and Sazh are the valid complaints)) such as not cramming all the side-quests and exploration in one part late in the game (which was actually very fun). Seems to be keeping mostly the same solid fighting system with some modifications which I hope won’t ruin it (see: QTEs), some cool new elements (monster taming!) and it fixes some things (now you can switch leaders in battle, and you only lose when all your human characters die, rather than just the leader). If the modifications are substantial enough (there’s a lot more that I didn’t mention), it could end up being a really good game, rather than a mildly flawed good game 
Ninja Gaiden 3
The latest NG entry, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, sucked ass (basically boiling down to a God of War style button masher rather than a strategic action game like the “original” Ninja Gaiden on Xbox), but I have hope that this one will actually be good again. I do find that they’re putting too much emphasis on the blood and gore when they’re talking about it, but maybe the gameplay won’t suffer from them concentrating too much on something pointless. I’m only hyped enough to rent it due to the previous game in the series being ass, but it should be an interesting rental nonetheless.
Armored Core V
The Armored Core series isn’t one I’m terribly familiar with, but I did enjoy For Answer, and this one seems quite solid from what I’ve heard so far, with tons of robot customization options and a solid new online feature, like where one player seems to play as a “commander” of sorts. Another rental for me, but AC fans will love this for sure. It’s also one I definitely want to give a try.
Devil May Cry HD Collection
Obviously this is gonna kick ass. 2 of the best action games ever (DMC and DMC3) in one package! And their adopted brother, DMC2, is also included.The graphical update seems very minor from what I’ve seen, but maybe it’s gonna be a bit more obvious once I see it for real. I’m pretty hyped for this, and hey, I’ll be able to give DMC2 a fairer chance, maybe it’s not as bad as I remember.
Borderlands 2
FUCK YEAH! I FREAKING LOVE BORDERLANDS. Seriously, it’s so much fun. The blend of FPS and Diablo just works so well. There are a few things I hope the sequel enhances, like making more weapons really strong (in the first, it seemed like, no matter what, revolvers always ended up being better than everything else for me) and maybe a bit more quest variety. New character classes is great (how can one not want to play as a “Gunzerker”?), new weapons is also really cool (specifically the chaingun that shoots rockets… seriously!) and they’re adding weapon customization (which I was disappointed when it wasn’t included in the first) so that’s awesome. Not only that but many elements are being completely revamped, like artifacts (which were a bit bland in the original). The lists of updates I’ve seen make it look like it may feel like a completely different game from the first. I cannot fucking wait!
Anarchy Reigns
A multiplayer (or so it seems) 3D beat ‘em up made by Platinum Games… That’s enough to hype me up. I’m being a bit wary of it since some gameplay vids I watched seemed rather boring (BUUUUT those particular videos were played by gaming journalists, who are frequently not terribly competent gamers… or competent ANYTHING really). I certainly hope for a demo, but it does seem like it’s going to be a fun game (I just hope it doesn’t concentrate too much on the multiplayer aspect… you know, just in case the PSN or XBL end up getting shut down for 1+ month again ).
Bioshock Infinite
I didn’t really like Bioshock. Not that it’s bad at all, I can certainly see why people loved it and I appreciate what it was going for, but it didn’t really strike a chord with me. Bioshock 2 was trash though… Bioshock Infinite, however, looks very good. There seems to be a lot of high-on-action moments, especially using those weird rail things you can travel on, and the use of a partner with supernatural powers to change the world around does have a lot of potential which I really hope will be exploited properly on a gameplay standpoint and not just in cinematics/story moments. I think this is a rental for me though, since FPS games that I’m hyped for have a tendency to be terrible. I hope not, but I’m not taking chances.
DmC: Devil May Cry (lol)
Yeah, I’m convinced this game will be bad, but I still want to play it… probably due to me being a DMC fan. It’s not that hard to figure out that it’s really likely to suck… it’s made by Ninja Theory, who have yet to make anything even close to decent, and it looks really bad in gameplay videos if you compare it to any other DMC game. The action just looks so slow, clunky and sluggish, not helped by the low framerate… it just doesn’t feel like I’m watching DMC gameplay at all (not to mention the “alternate reality” thing where Dante isn’t really Dante at all and the setting is very… not DMC-ish). So I’m pretty sure this will end up sucking, but, for the most part, I’ll be renting it just to confirm that. And, if it does end up being good somehow, I’ll just have another DMC game to buy.
Lollipop Chainsaw
I’m getting tired of zombies. Everyone is. But one thing I’m most definitely NOT tired of is cheerleaders going around killing zombies (or anything reallly) with a huge chainsaw, making them spray rainbow blood. Oh, and it’s being made by Suda51 so… I’m getting it for the crazyness factor really… As if the awesome title wasn’t enough to make me want to get it.
Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
Not really sure about that one yet since we haven’t seen much of the secretly-cancelled-and-then-secretly-taken-over-by-Platinum-Games game after Platinum Games took over (remaking the whole gameplay engine)… but the fact that Platinum Games took over at all is very interesting. I can’t wait to see/hear more about this particular project. It looks like it could be really fun, the little gameplay we’ve seen looks really solid.
Skullgirls
A fun little project by a few random gamers (and getting published by Konami). It’s a fighting game that uses anime-style graphics to display a bunch of really strange female characters, all with their own quirks either visually or gameplay-wise (like Ms. Fortune who can take off her head and control it individually from her body). This looks like it could be a really fun game, and there’s a lot of really cool systems in place to make it easy to play and as balanced as possible (for example, if someone is doing an infinite, the game recognizes that and the infinite can get ended with a single button press by the “victim”). And it’s developed by a solid competitive fighting game player, Mike Z (whom I know for having a badass Tager in BlazBlue), so I think the fighting engine will be very solid.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2
Episode 1 was fantastic. It doesn’t have the same great level design and overall polish as Sonic Generations, but it was still a very well-made game. Here they’re fixing the “not actually broken if you play the game normally but people stupidly complained about it anyways” physics from the first episode (seriously, ALL the complaints about the physics in Episode 1 are 100% impossible to find in normal gameplay, you HAVE to be looking for it),and to top it off Tails is gonna be here and Metal Sonic makes a comeback. This seems like it should be great. Yeah, probably gonna be the third good Sonic game this generation (3 great Sonic games in 1 post-Genesis generation? That’s pretty amazing ).
Zone of the Enders HD Collection
Kojima, stop making Metal Gear games already, and work on Zone of the Enders 3! Seriously, what’s the hold-up? ZOE3 has been talked about since before the PS3 came out, there’s no reason for it not to be in the works by now. Anyways… This includes the 2 PS2 ZOE games, redone in HD. I haven’t seen much about these versions, but whatever. The first game, from what I recall, probably didn’t age too well but was really fun at the time and it still has nostalgia value (as much nostalgia value as a PS2 game can have I guess). The sequel, however, made the controls a lot better, added a lot of movement/attack options and gameplay elements and should still be really fun now. This should be well worth picking up… and maybe if enough people buy it Kojima will finally drop Metal Gear get to work on ZOE3!
3DS
Kid Icarus: Uprising
This is the reason I bought the 3DS so early, since I was expecting it to come sooner (due to it being the first game announced for the system). But now it’s actually coming fairly soon. After seeing various gameplay videos, and a 3D trailer on the 3DS, I can’t wait to play this. It looks fun and fast-paced. Sure, it’s a different gameplay style from the original, but I don’t think the original’s gameplay would fare very well in modern days. Both the flying levels and the action hack n’ slash levels seem like they’re gonna be really fun.
Luigi’s Mansion 2
That was the unexpected announcement of E3 2011. Luigi’s Mansion is a very under-appreciated gamecube game, and, with the low amount of people who actually liked the original, it’s quite surprising that a sequel was announced… but it makes me and other fans of the original very happy to see Nintendo revisiting the idea, and they seem to be expanding on the original’s gameplay with more mansions, different types of ghosts to capture, revamped gameplay and a more puzzle-oriented design. Seems like a very high-potential game.
Paper Mario
A new Paper Mario! And, looking at the 3D video on the 3DS, it looks to use 3D insanely well, and the gameplay looks solid. Seems great! Not much more to say here.
PC
Diablo 3
This. Fucking. Game. It’s been in development way too long, and Blizzard has been teasing us with this for quite a while, constantly saying it would come out soon, eventually going for the DNF approved “it’s gonna come out when it’s done”. Finally it seems it will come out this year, and I can’t wait. Diablo 2 has always been a favorite within my group of friends, and it’s tremendously fun. This seems to add better graphics, a bunch of new character classes, as well as a completely different leveling philosophy than the previous game, new items, that auction house thing… The many videos I’ve seen over the years have been quite solid.
Fortune Summoners
A japanese indie game made by the dudes who made Chantelise and Recettear, and localized by the same guys who localized those 2 games (Carpe Fulgur). This game is a fast-paced side-scrolling party-based action RPG, with combo-based combat (using Street fighter-like moves), with multiple playable characters that you can switch between on-the-fly. Should be worth checking out, look for it on Steam… this month! It has a high price point for an indie game at 25$, but the game will take over 20 hours to complete (some have said around 27) and the gameplay is solid so… it should be worth it. You can check the overly cutesy demo here: DEMO! (keep in mind the demo takes over an hour to complete)
Torchlight 2
The main/only competition to Diablo 3! A lot of people who played both games at events actually preferred Torchlight 2, but this is from short bursts of gameplay, so it’s currently impossible to know if either of them will have more or less lasting power. Torchlight 2 does make a good case for itself with the modding tools being made available to everyone and easy to distribute (within the game itself, sort of like custom-made maps in Starcraft). Torchlight was fairly solid, but I found it to be way too easy, so hopefully this one fixes that. It’s one I’m very hyped to play.
Wii
Xenoblade Chronicles
A late surprise last year/month, with NOA announcing the American release of this game after months of saying they wouldn’t. Finally, through a deal with Gamestop/EBgames (I’m only assuming here, but it IS only being sold at Gamestop/EBgames, as well as Nintendo’s own website) the game is being made available and is doing quite well preorder-wise. It seems like a solid RPG with a few unique systems for battle (and otherwise… you can build/rebuild towns, go on quests and more) and a cool setting (the game takes place on a mountain-like titan giant… thing). And hey, if this does well, maybe Nintendo of America will probably be more willing to release Pandora’s Tower and The Last Story.
Rhythm Heaven Fever
Rhythm Heaven was a solid DS title, one that had fairly simple gameplay/controls but it was super fun. This is purely a rental for me tough, as I don’t know if the fun gameplay on the DS will translate well to the Wii’s motion controls, but I’m fairly convinced it’s gonna be worth trying out.
PS3
Twisted Metal
It’s been a while since a new Twisted Metal, and this seems fairly solid. There’s a variety of vehicles to choose from, and some have multiple functions (your driver can go out of a car to snipe people, for example)… and some of them seem to be transformers! Add to that classic Twisted Metal gameplay and cool boss battles… The game looks quite fun, and David Jaffe seems to know what he’s doing (I’ve been visiting his blog from time to time lately, I really like his attitude in regards to games and gaming).
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Sly Cooper… I’m still playing through the second one (very slowly… I need to actually go at it seriously again), but I actually really liked the original and what I’ve played of the second. This seems to follow the basic gameplay formula of the other games, which is fairly classic 3D platformer style with unique stealth missions and fun boss battles… Sony’s ONLY announcement for PS3 last E3 seems like it will be one of the really good exclusives on it this year.
Vita
Gravity Rush (or whatever the fuck it’s called… seriously, the game has, like, 4 working titles)
One of the only Vita games that seems… interesting to me. The controls sound a bit weird from what I’ve heard (though that’s probably just a matter of getting used to the back touch pad… I hope), but it looks really interesting, where you have to alter gravity to travel through the environment. It just looks like there’s so much potential for cool platforming segments and boss fights. One of the only games on the Vita making me think about getting it at launch. But I may need a bit more to decide that.
Ruin
The other Vita release that’s not a port that I want to check out. It’s a Diablo-like game with, from what I understand, player-customized dungeons to fight through which are generated from your base setup or something like that, which is a very nifty idea (that and the game being saved on the “cloud” being able to be played on the PS3). Well, from what I’ve seen it looks great. I have some good expectations for this.
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.
Continue to see our 3 winners!
Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten
Me loving a Disgaea game? REALLY? Yeah, not really a surprise. This features a great story, great characters, great comedy, great writing, great gameplay, insane leveling… Everything Disgaea is known to be great for. Getting to the end is tons of fun and there’s TONS of extra stuff to do if you have the patience. Overall a great game. Probably my second favorite Disgaea after the first one.
Yakuza 4
Dave’s choice (thank you for the text!):
I don’t know why the Yakuza series gets shunned and ignored as much as it does by most of the major medias when it comes to goty awards, especially with Yakuza 4, which made the series that much better and gave North America (and Europe I believe) the complete experience compared to Yakuza 3 which was butchered through translation. But anyway, the addition of three really great characters to the cast of playables (compared to only Kiryu in the previous games), the more story-oriented sidequests, with some that are quite hilarious (you get to hunt a kappa!). The deliciously well weaved story, though that might push it a bit much with the dead people not actually being dead cliche. The combat that’s still compelling and expendingly more awesome as it goes (It might look “dated” if what you’re into is combat similar to God of War where it’s the game that does it all for you) and all the minigames that are as varied as ever.
Maybe it’s because it’s the typical SEGA shun, maybe because it came out in March and people have forgotten. I dunno. But for me, Yakuza 4 stands as my favorite game this year, alongside such great games as Skyward Sword and Portal 2.
(Jo note: You get to hunt kappas? That’s kinda awesome )
inFamous 2
Originally the winner here was supposed to be Uncharted 3. But I played it and didn’t enjoy it (the QTE sequence at the start was the big red flag… that and the WAY overuse of cinematics and the fact that it’s nowhere near as fun as the other 2 games in the series just… made me not want to include it here). So… this is pretty much just me going for my backup choice, and one I actually feel is really good. It IS mostly a rehash of the original, which I actually really liked, but there were a lot of improvements to the basics of the game. Better combat, more refined and faster travelling/building climbing, a nice story (though the moral system is still shit like every other moral system), a few great new powers (and modifications on old ones)… Overall, it’s really good and even has some replay value if you want to see both endings.
Not a whole lot of good 360 exclusives came out this year, so I tried desperately to find 3 winners, and I’m kinda winging it at this point (most of the “obvious” winners (see: Gears, Halo) are games I don’t want anywhere near this list). Anyways, here’s my 2 winners and a third sort of random choice!
Otomedius Excellent
This is a fun one. Take Gradius, add anime girls, make it a whole lot fucking harder (or maybe I just suck?) and you get Otomedius Excellent. Basically an off-shoot of the Parodius series, where the basic game is Gradius but the overall look of the game is a lot different. The gameplay is solid, there’s actually a lot to do, multiple characters to choose from (with different upgrade “paths” and options). A mildly strange element here is that bosses get bored and leave if you don’t beat them fast enough, but there’s rewards such as points and new weapons if you beat them. The infinite continues do make it easy to get to the end, but you’re not really gonna do any good at the game if you only get to the end through using up continues. Overall a really fun game. And it’s cheap too, at 30$ (unless you want the special edition).
Guardian Heroes HD
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.
Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury
Finding a third winner wasn’t incredibly easy. There weren’t many good exclusives on the 360 at retail, except Otomedius and probably Forza 4 (which I haven’t played, so I can’t declare it a winner, sorry). So my plan was looking at XBLA exclusives and choosing one of those. There were actually a few good choices so it was pretty hard to choose a clear winner, and at this point it’s mostly random, but I stopped at this one. A cool sequel to the Dreamcast classic, this features a very bullet hell-like gameplay style, making the “Missile Fury” subtitle quite believable. In actuality, it feels a lot more like a puzzle game, where you have to figure out the proper paths and weapons to use/pick up in each given level. It ends up being a very fun and very challenging game.
So… let’s go for the 2 obvious choices and the only other worthwhile game. (note: I was thinking of including Fortune Street here… but I won’t… not because it’s bad, but because it’s not too fun alone and it’s not terribly easy to rally 3 people to play with you when the Wii has many better multiplayer game choices)
Mario Sports Mix
First the less obvious choice, but still fairly predictable. Mario Sports Mix features a small variety of sports (Volleyball, Dodgeball, Hockey, Basketball). Each works very similarly, with nearly identical controls and concepts (like the super moves), but each game definitely fell fun and unique. Not a terribly deep game and really only good for multiplayer, but it’s something anyone can have fun with.
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland
Obvious choice number one! Yeah, this game kicked ass. A bit easy even by Kirby standards (at least in the first playthrough), but it’s a load of fun all the way through, and it actually does get a lot more challenging in the extra mode. You have interesting level designs and boss fights, collectibles in every stage, great powers (including a couple new ones), good replay value… it’s just great fun.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Most obvious choice ever? Maybe. But this has to be here. It’s such an extraordinarily well-designed game with fun/involving gameplay, great puzzles, great game flow (making GETTING to the dungeons just as much of a fun puzzle as the actual dungeons), surprisingly good controls (though swimming is terrible), tons of stuff to do, quite refined combat (a lot of depth due to Motion+ and the highly defensive enemies) and amazingly fun boss battles… There is literally nothing to complain about here other than the swimming controls. I’m hard pressed to find a better-designed/funner game this year. It’s hard to say this early after it came out, but this may just end up being my second favorite Zelda game (after LttP, of course).