Because I love buying more games than I have time to play, here’s what’s on my calender:
March 9th (PS3 – 360)
Mainline Final Fantasy games, despite always being overwrought with inane complexity, always manage to penetrate the mainstream market. People who would otherwise, especially in the current game climate, never touch a Japanese RPG are going to pick this up on day one, and I am no different. I haven’t completed a true JRPG (save three Persona games) since XII came out*, and I am eagerly anticipating dropping another 100 or so hours of my life into XIII. Every Final Fantasy since V (well, except for XI) I have beaten into the ground and completed every single quest, and I can’t wait to do it all over again. A lot has been cast aside from traditional “Final Fantasy” design (like towns, apparently), but removing the padding from the gameplay, if that’s what they did, surely must work in its favor. I don’t care if its linear, I don’t care if I’m going to miss crap I’ll never be able to go back and get, I just want to play Final Fantasy XIII (and Versus XIII, which I’m sure we’ll see in 2013).
(March 9th – PS3)
Despite some issues with release timing, I’m still really looking forward to the third entry in the series. Blasting through my old Kabukicho stomping grounds with the added beauty of current gen tech is all it takes for my sixty dollars. I know that’s sad, I know that the gameplay is going to be rehashed with minor improvements, I’m aware no one else is going to buy it, and I think it sucks that Sega is cutting culturally flavored (link) content, but, dammit, I love you, Yakuza.
(March 1st, WiiWare – March 11th, PSN – Live Arcade, March 31st)
Like anyone else born with a soul in the 80’s, Mega Man games were intrinsic to my childhood. It was through Mega Man that I learned I was never going to be good at anything, and that any time I start to feel otherwise, reality is going to be right there to punch me in the face. Overly punitive games were great real life training, especially when I somehow pulled one out my ass and actually beat a Mega Man game. I through VI all fell under my sword, as did IX in 2008. The retro-revival isn’t quite as mind blowing this time around, but it’s still a trip down memory lane that I (and my damaged brethren) would love to take any day of the week.
(March 16th – PS3)
Oh come on, who isn’t looking forward to this? Early reports indicate a focus on refinement over innovation, but Kratos’ long awaited PS3 debut won’t have to do much to knock the socks off its competition. It’s easily going to rub the shine off Dante’s Inferno and expose Bayonetta’s weakness in narrative and atmosphere while simultaneously upping the ante for gratuitous sex and violence. I’m not sure why God of War gets a pass in that department, but few other games have made the act of simply pushing a button look so awesome and feel as badass. Bloodlust aside, the sense of scale is what I expect to impress me the most.
(March 16th – 360)
Games pumped out of the eastern Europe always make me smile. They’re usually crude in their interpretation of accessible gameplay, but they’re so overwhelming different from the cookie cutter first person shooters overflowing from the West that I can’t help but remain charmed by their existence. The Stalker games have had their problems, but they’re just too damn cool to pass over. Members of that team apparently made it over to 4A Games, and then took an immensely popular Russian novel and created a (slavishly faithful to the source material) game out of it. Cool.
(March – PS3)
Finally, right? I mean how long has this one been cooking? I downloaded the HD demo in 2006, played the hell out of Prologue (and probably got ripped off) in 2008, and finally we’re rewarding with the first current gen entry of the best driving sim out there. Driving cars around a course is one of my real life hobbies, and getting to replicate that in a game produces a feeling of satisfaction not offered by any other genre (seriously, how often can you say you’ve done something in a videogame in real life). It’s about time.
Fanboy fodder: Gran Turismo 4: 02/22/05. Forza Motorsport: 05/03/05 – Forza Motorsport 2: 05/29/07 – Forza Motorsport 3: 10/29/09. Look, I’m not saying, I’m just saying…
(March 17th – Live Arcade)
The first time I ever really hung with Steve Schardein happened because Perfect Dark had just been released. He, his friends, and I shared a common interest in Goldeneye, and we were looking forward to Rare’s follow up like modern day teenagers eagerly await the next Halo. Goldeneye was the game of our high school existence, and the hype for the sequel was, at the time, unparallel. We ended up burning out pretty fast and concluding that Goldeneye was probably better, but I still enjoyed the game for what it was. Nearly ten years later, I’m quite curious how well it’s held up. Perfect Dark was a product of its era (best defined as “pre Halo,” or, “before the best FPS games were on console”), so its compromises (like the weirdass aiming system, seriously, go back and play it) may not sit well with the Halo generation. The up-res’d single player campaign will be a nice stroll down memory lane, but the area of interest lies with the multiplayer. Will it take off on Live? Will it still be any fun? Honestly I already know the answer to that question, because the addition of Goldeneye weapons and levels will send us all into nostalgia overload.
(March 22nd – WiiWare)
I know this has been available for free, in one form or another, on something called “the internet” since 2004, but I look forward to being able to play it in front of my television. Cave Story’s overt simplicity gives way to a myriad of complexity (in traditional metroidvania fashion), but the appeal arrives with the understanding that everything before you was composed from a sole vision. One guy made this game, and that sort of hard work and dedication in the current software climate is as rare as it is admirable. Apparently it’s a ton of fun to play, too.
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
(March 23rd – DS)
Yeah, go ahead and call it Shin Megami Tensei 4, because that’s basically what we’re getting. No, it doesn’t take place in post apocalyptic Tokyo, but the lack of a number lies with the taboo of retrofitting a mainline series entry into the portable market (but hey, it worked for Dragon Quest IX). Anyway, I love (love love love) SMT games. Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga 1+ 2 were some of my favorite games on Playstation 2, with Persona 3 and 4 not following too far behind. Sure, the gameplay is highly recycled and seemingly omnipresent amongst the series, but they’re all still worlds apart from traditional JRPG design. I still hope the day when Atlus finally moves up to current-gen tech, but, in the meantime, this is more than fine.
(March 23rd – PS3 – 360)
Another sequel that almost makes the original feel like a proof of concept, I expect Just Cause 2 to be the absolute pinnacle of fantasy-sandbox gaming. Logic and reason have absolutely no place here (just look at the video gametrailers posted) and tell me that isn’t going to be a load of fun. Yeah, it’s crazy and impossible but, dammit, that’s what I want. The best part? There are literally dozens of other videos of insane shit exactly like that. When it’s all strung together who knows what kind of mind blowing stunt combinations we’re going to attempt, or, best yet, do on accident. Crackdown 2 looks to exploit the same vibe, but I have yet to see any media that indicates it’s going to pull it off with the finesse of Just Cause 2. Red Faction: Guerilla and Saints Row 2 have proven absurdity has a place in the sandbox sect of action games, but it feels like JC2 might be the first one that’s fun for more than a couple hours. Can’t wait.
(April 13th – 360)
Shameful fact: I’ve never played a Splinter Cell game. Call it stupidity, or the ignorance that arrives with trying to finish my college education for most of the earlier parts of the decade, but this franchise never really hit my radar. Conviction didn’t either, at least until it resurfaced last summer at E3. For once, Sam Fisher actually appealed to me, no doubt added by the slick presentation ganked directly from Fringe. The “last known position” feature also looks to add relevance to the stealth genre, which hasn’t really had anything interesting since Metal Gear Solid 4 two years ago. Co-op sounds cool, too.
* I forgot about Lost Odyssey, and so should you.
