okay, top 5 games i'm anticipating.
1. the legend of zelda wii u - well i'm a pretty big zelda fan, but i'm also really aware of a 20 year history of the zelda team being unable to realize their vision for an open-world game in 3d space. they couldn't do it with ocarina of time, leading to several compromises that comprised the final product (which would have been insane to consider as a series of compromises in 1998). they were successful in doing so in the wind waker, but only as a sort of proof of concept. they tried the land approach again in twilight princess, but i don't know if we may ever know what happened to that game with its troubled development that led to the overworld being segmented like ocarina of time.
so just knowing that they were able to accomplish this thing they set out to do 20 years ago is just really endearing. i mean more than looking forward to the game, i'm sort of rooting for them to pull the concept off. more than that, i remember when aonuma had said something regarding twilight princess having boss battles on the overworld- drawing immediate comparisons to the then-up-and-coming shadow of the colossus. well it looks like that too is finally going to come to fruition.
this game may actually realize all the ambition they were unable to deliver on since they began work on ocarina of time. it's really fucking exciting.
2. mirror's edge - when i saw the first mirror's edge, i was thrilled to see a giant playground to do all sorts of platforming in. then i learned it was a linear game and was disappointed at the news, but holy crap i loved it once i finally played it. now the news that this new game will be a giant playground to do all sorts of platforming in has me disappointed again. i have some concerns that what made mirror's edge work so well may be lost here- especially if dice can't focus on making tight platforming segments and has to connect the world in ways that dilute the level design. i'll give them a lot of the benefit of the doubt though, and i still anticipate this game's release at some point in 2016.
3. xenoblade chronicles x - another giant open-world game from nintendo. yeah, i loved xenoblade chronicles, just like everyone else, so i'm giving monolithsoft a ton of credit that the game will turn out at least as good. i have some doubts though, mostly because it may be hard for this one to live up in the expectations game. i didn't think the first xenoblade was great in its characters and side quests though, so i suppose there could be some improvement there.
4. sonic boom: rise of lyric - sonic has come a long way since an old drunk made a hedgehog out of his rabbit characters to pay off his gambling debts, and i couldn't be happier with the decision they made. sonic boom thoughtfully combines the intuitive combat systems in skylanders with the sense of speed that we've come to love in sonic games, brought to life beautifully in cryengine 3. not to mention the writing manages to balance humor with more serious elements in a way i think adults and children alike will appreciate. sonic boom: rise of lyric zooms into stores this november.
5. bayonetta 2 - the first game was amazing, and i'm thrilled it's being added to the package for the sequel. i will probably skip the remake though, and move right on through as i've already played the first and i tend to burn out on action games really quick (bayonetta not doing that for me was rare and one of the reasons i hold it in such high regard).
honorable mentions:
super smash bros. for wii u - i'm not super into the smash bros. thing anymore, but damn if the hype for this game isn't infectious. i actually played brawl quite a lot, but for some reason it was that game that kinda made me fall out of love with the series. hm.
splatoon - what a weird little game. it looks to scratch the tf2 itch i've been having lately. looking forward to additional game modes, maps, and weapons (maybe even classes... or they can save that for splatoon 2).
littlebigplanet 3 - i played a level with toggle and it harkened closer to the first game than the second (which felt like it was more trying to be a game creator game than a platformer). i'll probably pick this up when the ps4 becomes affordable.
purgatory:
half-life 3, beyond good & evil 2, the last guardian, zero escape 3 - they're all in development, and it's just a matter of time before we see them. zero escape 3 joins the list, replacing mirror's edge which was able to float on to the top 5 heavens above.
1. the legend of zelda wii u - well i'm a pretty big zelda fan, but i'm also really aware of a 20 year history of the zelda team being unable to realize their vision for an open-world game in 3d space. they couldn't do it with ocarina of time, leading to several compromises that comprised the final product (which would have been insane to consider as a series of compromises in 1998). they were successful in doing so in the wind waker, but only as a sort of proof of concept. they tried the land approach again in twilight princess, but i don't know if we may ever know what happened to that game with its troubled development that led to the overworld being segmented like ocarina of time.
so just knowing that they were able to accomplish this thing they set out to do 20 years ago is just really endearing. i mean more than looking forward to the game, i'm sort of rooting for them to pull the concept off. more than that, i remember when aonuma had said something regarding twilight princess having boss battles on the overworld- drawing immediate comparisons to the then-up-and-coming shadow of the colossus. well it looks like that too is finally going to come to fruition.
this game may actually realize all the ambition they were unable to deliver on since they began work on ocarina of time. it's really fucking exciting.
2. mirror's edge - when i saw the first mirror's edge, i was thrilled to see a giant playground to do all sorts of platforming in. then i learned it was a linear game and was disappointed at the news, but holy crap i loved it once i finally played it. now the news that this new game will be a giant playground to do all sorts of platforming in has me disappointed again. i have some concerns that what made mirror's edge work so well may be lost here- especially if dice can't focus on making tight platforming segments and has to connect the world in ways that dilute the level design. i'll give them a lot of the benefit of the doubt though, and i still anticipate this game's release at some point in 2016.
3. xenoblade chronicles x - another giant open-world game from nintendo. yeah, i loved xenoblade chronicles, just like everyone else, so i'm giving monolithsoft a ton of credit that the game will turn out at least as good. i have some doubts though, mostly because it may be hard for this one to live up in the expectations game. i didn't think the first xenoblade was great in its characters and side quests though, so i suppose there could be some improvement there.
4. sonic boom: rise of lyric - sonic has come a long way since an old drunk made a hedgehog out of his rabbit characters to pay off his gambling debts, and i couldn't be happier with the decision they made. sonic boom thoughtfully combines the intuitive combat systems in skylanders with the sense of speed that we've come to love in sonic games, brought to life beautifully in cryengine 3. not to mention the writing manages to balance humor with more serious elements in a way i think adults and children alike will appreciate. sonic boom: rise of lyric zooms into stores this november.
5. bayonetta 2 - the first game was amazing, and i'm thrilled it's being added to the package for the sequel. i will probably skip the remake though, and move right on through as i've already played the first and i tend to burn out on action games really quick (bayonetta not doing that for me was rare and one of the reasons i hold it in such high regard).
honorable mentions:
super smash bros. for wii u - i'm not super into the smash bros. thing anymore, but damn if the hype for this game isn't infectious. i actually played brawl quite a lot, but for some reason it was that game that kinda made me fall out of love with the series. hm.
splatoon - what a weird little game. it looks to scratch the tf2 itch i've been having lately. looking forward to additional game modes, maps, and weapons (maybe even classes... or they can save that for splatoon 2).
littlebigplanet 3 - i played a level with toggle and it harkened closer to the first game than the second (which felt like it was more trying to be a game creator game than a platformer). i'll probably pick this up when the ps4 becomes affordable.
purgatory:
half-life 3, beyond good & evil 2, the last guardian, zero escape 3 - they're all in development, and it's just a matter of time before we see them. zero escape 3 joins the list, replacing mirror's edge which was able to float on to the top 5 heavens above.
