1. Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain : As much as people like to make fun of Kojima for still making MGS games, he simply has no equals in this industry when it comes to giving each game its own strong identity and designing around it. This is the biggest change to the mechanics of the franchise since MGS1, and despite some initial reservations (reflex, instant alerts, no real life guns/vehicles, Kiefer...) the core concept of true open world stealth seems to me like a dream finally coming to life: giving you complete freedom of approach, a huge number of moves and tools to tackle situations, and taking the best elements of Peace Walker (MB management) to the next level... this could just be one of the absolute best stealth games ever made if it fully delivers on its sandbox promise. Honestly, it could have 0 story associated with it and it's still be my most anticipated game of the year.
2. The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt : I know the're's been a number of sources saying the development of that game was more troubled than it seemed, but if there's one studio that's earned my trust over the years it's CD Project. Wild Hunt just seems to finally combine the interesting and unique writing that made 2 so great with the larger scale of 1 in a single open map that allows for discovery and a more contemplative pace.
3. Bloodborne : Crazy that we're getting this barely a year after DaS2, but I'm so glad Miyazaki's been given a completely new canvas to re-invent or slightly tweak every part of the Souls formula. Every single screen they're released just oozes personality and not being to rely on defense should do so much to change the flow of combat.
4; Persona 5 : It's weird to think we haven't gotten a fully 3D SMT game since P4, and I hope that time has allowed that team to come up with a mix of characters, combat system and universe as completely entrancing as the previous games was.
5. Zelda Wii U : This seems like such a bold and interesting direction for Nintendo to take the franchise, one that will seemingly require them to re-think almost every part of its traditional design, that I can't help being excited about it. My biggest fear right now is that, like ALBW, it'll be way too easy, but I'm sure they know the audience of that game is more their legacy fans than newcomers, and will take that into account when it comes to balancing.
6. Uncharted 4 Among Thieves : Like with Gears I honestly felt Naughty Dog had gone as far as they could with Uncharted's combat last gen, but if they treat it more like an Indiana Jones sequel to TLOU with bigger arenas and more dynamic gameplay it could be one hell of an action game.
7. Quantum Break : Glad to see Remedy go back to a straight up shooter, as I found Alan Wake's combat to be fairly underwhelming compared to MP's. What they've shown certainly looks great and stylish. I trust they'll come up with varied and demanding combat scenarios reminescent of their best work.
8. Rainbow Six Siege : Hugely promising for a SWAT 4 fan, but damn if there aren't a hundred ways this game could disappoint. Sub-par gunplay, uninteresting/repetitive maps, lack of tactical opportunities, bad network code... They're saying all the right things, but Ubisoft has a way of putting out unfinished games lately.
9. Batman Arkham Knight : I seem to be in the minority that vastly preferred City to Asylum. The open world just adds so much to combat and stealth mechanics that are solid as rocks but at the same time not that deep. The hope with Knight is that Rocksteady will put every single design idea they have left for Batman to make it compelling the whole way through.
10. The Witness : Braid was one of my absolute favorite titles of last gen, but it's been so long since we've known about this game and I'm not quite sure how much info Blow is witholding to make it that much more exciting once it actually comes out. It
is scheduled for 2015 right?
)
