The 12 Games in 2016 I'm Planning on Playing
Over the break I ended up planning out all the media I plan to interact with over the coming year - which of course means listing out the video games I'm planning on picking up day 1 to play (assuming there's nothing extremely wrong with them - always check those reviews first!)
Here's the 12 I'm keen to sit down with and dig deep into in 2016.
That Dragon, Cancer
This little indie game is one that I feel is going to be one of those “right in the feels” games. Developer Ryan Green has been working on this game about his son who was born with terminal cancer for years, and I’ve been following it’s development since it’s earliest of stages - years before even the Kickstarter went live. This comes out today.
Unravel
In what will probably win the cutest game of the year for me, Unravel is another emotionally invested type of game with what looks to be some pretty clever 2D puzzle platforming. Seeing this alongside the AAA titles announced at E3 last year was fantastic, and this is definitely the kind of thing I’d love to see the big publishers move more towards over the big budget titles.
The Witness
before I’d seen any screenshots of this game, I didn’t give a crap about it. I still to this day have not played Braid (developer Jonathan Blow’s first game, released in 2008, which started the indie revolution as it were) so I never had that hype for Blow’s next game. Post screenshots, I’m super into the idea of a massively long puzzle game that looks simply gorgeous. I can imagine this being a game that I come at bit by bit over a long period of time, chipping away at the world and it’s puzzles periodically.
Firewatch
The trailer for this game and the intrigue surrounding the story beats was enough to pull me into the idea of Firewatch. I still don’t know exactly what it is, and like with most of the games on this list, I’m deliberately avoiding anything about it until I’ve played it. As far as I can tell this game falls into first person explorer territory, with an art style I can really get behind and some sweet sounding voice acting to drive the narrative.
Fire Emblem Fates
As I’ve already said multiple times, Fire Emblem is totally my jam. While Awakening didn’t exactly blow me away, I still enjoyed it enough to see it all the way through and want more. Fates is decidedly diverging from the set formula, releasing two separate games with two sides to the one story across each, with a third separate one coming as a download a few months down the line. The more Fire Emblem that is released, the better, I say.
Zelda Twilight Princess HD
Everyone seems to hate on Twilight Princess a whole bunch, but after pushing through the initial areas and really opening up the world, I was super drawn in. As far as Zelda’s on the Wii goes, I think it was the best of the two (sorry Skyward Sword, but it’s true.) Nintendo’s announcement of a HD re-release for the Wii U was one of my favourites from any Direct last year - plus, even though I’m swearing off amiibo collecting, that Wolf Link is super fricken sweet.
No Man’s Sky
I’ve already gushed about this upcoming exploration game multiple times, so I'll just say DAMN I CAN NOT WAIT TO PLAY THIS. I’m super pumped to see how freeing this game ends up being and how much it will allow you to choose your own path. Plus, I have a super cool idea surrounding this game for something I want to do, which is going to be awesome ;)
Destiny 2
Nothing has been announced for this whatsoever, but come on - there’s going to be new Destiny in some capacity this September. I was one of those people that really took to vanilla Destiny for a couple of weeks, having a blast running through it’s areas blasting aliens, and The Taken King was an amazing upgrade. I’ll be glad to pick this up once again for a couple of weeks to pursue new story content and run through a heap of strikes.
Zelda Wii U
Come on, what kind of Zelda fan isn’t looking forward to this next instalment?! the potential here is crazy, which means expectations are running super high, so it'll be interesting to see if this game can live up to it’s reputation (then again, when aren’t expectations insanely high for a new Zelda game.) The graphical look Nintendo is going for looks vibrant and fantastic, and after their latest Zelda game (A Link Between Worlds, Triforce Heroes doesn’t count) took some new risks and wound up better for it, it should be super interesting to see how the Wii U Zelda is received.
Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4)
Even though I have an Xbox One, even though I’m super keen to support this series, even though I absolutely adored the 2013 reboot and played it on the 360… I’m waiting the full year for Rise of the Tomb Raider to come to PS4. I don’t know if it’s out of some protest against the way Microsoft handled this sequels exclusivity, but when I heard that it was a timed exclusive I defiantly decided that I would support only the PS4 version. So there you go. It sounds like a fantastic game by all accounts, and I’m looking forward to diving back in with the new and improved Lara Croft.
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Damn this game looks badass. Again, one I’ve already talked about multiple times, but hey - new IP on new hardware from a developer that wants to break away from the same old game they’ve been producing for years, a premise that hasn’t been explored before, with plenty of unique characteristics, and includes a badass looking red headed female protagonist? So in.
Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei
I still have no idea what this game is, I’ve never played an SMT before, but this game looks anime as fuck and I want in. It just looks so different from anything AAA coming this year, which makes it stand out as something quirky and cool for the under appreciated Wii U. Plus, Fire Emblem.
Bonus: Pillars of Eternity - The White March
Not really a full game, this expansion pack to Pillars of Eternity will no doubt hold my attention for quite a nice chunk of time when part 2 is finally released. I’ve held off on playing the first part so I can dedicate myself to playing through it all at once. It’s very rare that I’ll ever go back to a game I’ve finished to play it’s DLC (Bioshock Infinite was probably the exception, but I didn’t even go back and play all of Dragon Age Inquisition’s story extras) but I’m super keen to dive back into Pillars.