Here we are again. Another year, another batch of games that are scheduled for release next year. Despite my increasing disinterest in a large chunk of the gaming industry, especially with the latest gaming consoles, there are some games that I’m really looking forward to. And by the Law of Internet Video Game Journalism, I must organize my desires in list form. Just like last year, this list is in no particular order. They’re just whatever I can think of the most.
The Broken Age Beta
Yes, the famous Tim Schafer-led crowdfunding project that started the whole KickStarter revolution. This is an old-school point-and-click adventure game being designed by Tim Schafer and having an all-star voice talent. Since the production is being led by Schafer himself, I’ve no doubt that story will be both very well written and absolutely hilarious. And, of course, the art style looks absolutely great. The game is scheduled to be released as an Early Access title through Steam in early 2014. The final version of the game hasn’t been given a firm release date, but at least I’ll get to experience the game.
Wasteland 2
This was one of the more well-known Kickstarter-backed projects from 2012 that came after Tim Schafer’s. The original Wasteland was the basis for the Fallout series, which I really like. While I never played the original Wasteland, I did get a chance to play the first couple Fallout games, which are more turn-based affairs than their modern incarnations. And given my affinity towards Fire Emblem: Awakening and X-COM: Enemy Unknown, the notion of commanding a team of survivors in a turn-based game has me all sorts of excited. My only hope is that this game doesn’t get delayed and I end up putting this in my next Anticipations piece, like I have to do with the next game.
Barkley 2
So, this game got delayed into 2014. I can’t exactly say I’m surprised, as this is becoming more and more apparent with several Kickstarter-backed projects. I’m not going to go into too much detail as to why I’m excited for this game. I already did that in my 2013 Anticipations piece. The short version is that it’s an action RPG where you can play as a gunslinging hermaphroditic dwarf-eunich. Do you really need any more explanation than that?
Tales from the Borderlands
This was one of the surprise announcements that Telltale made from The Event That Must Not Be Named. For those who don’t know, this is a joint-production between Telltale and Gearbox, having a point-and-click adventure game set in the Borderlands universe. Now I love Telltale’s games and I love Borderlands, but this doesn’t really strike me as the kind of peanut-butter-and-chocolate kinda combination you’d think it would. As much as I love Borderlands, their stories haven’t really been that great. But, Telltale typically makes some great adventure games, so I have faith that they’ll be able to deliver on this one. Well, more faith than I have for Gearbox, at this point.
Super Smash Bros. 4
Because Smash Bros., that’s why.
In all seriousness, if there was one franchise that I could point to as the predominant reason as to why I bought the Wii U, or why I’ll buy any Nintendo console at this point, it’d be Smash Bros. Melee was the first entry in the franchise that I played, and I absolutely loved it. For several years until Brawl’s release, we’d always play Melee whenever I’d hang out with my brother and my friends. Just like with Brawl, the hype train is in motion and on a gradual build up to the game’s release. There’s a lot of speculation of who might be included in this game, with the inevitable wishlists by every gaming website (including ours). There’s obviously going to be some disappointment with the final roster, especially after Sakurai said that not all the Brawl characters will return. But at the end of the day, it’s still Smash Bros. It’s still going to be crazy fun and it’ll keep me buying Nintendo consoles until the day I die.
Or until Nintendo stops making consoles, whichever comes first.
