Let’s kick the new year off with a look at the games I am most looking forward to in 2016. Funny enough, two of the games I wanted to see in 2015 aren’t out yet and may not even make a 2016 launch. I’ll go ahead and keep those on my list this year.
The Legend of Zelda Wii U (Hopefully)
The big open-world Zelda game for the Wii U is looking more and more like it won’t make it onto NIntendo’s current gen console. Everything I’m reading indicates we may see a dual launch on both the Wii U and the NX. Nintendo wasn’t happy with it the game so they went back to the drawing board which never bodes well. This time last year not much was certain about this upcoming Zelda game, and now I can’t say we’re much closer to any answers. I just have this awesome image of a Zelda game set in a world that is open and akin to an Elder Scrolls game. Do I have delusions of grandeur? Yes, absolutely.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Yeah… watch the trailer.
Easily near the top of my anticipated list.
No Man’s Sky
We have an announce date! June 2016. Exploring galaxies, planets, mountains, moons, and space all seamlessly and procedurally generated… sounds like a blast. I imagine it being something like a mix of Terraria, Rust/Ark, and Space Engineers. I haven’t spent much time researching the details, but I know that there will be 18 quintillion planets, and no NPCs.
The “game” part of NMS still eludes me. What is the point? Just explore? I think there’s enormous potential to be a disappointment if there isn’t a ‘point’ to the game.
Scalebound
I saw this announced at one of the conventions this year and thought it looked really neat. The gist is that you are bonded to a Dragon and fight big monsters. You have a dragon arm, can use melee weapons, and play with other friends to tackle big bosses. It simply looks cool.
Honorable Mentions:
- Overwatch
- Uncharted 4
- Mass Effect: Andromeda
- Gears of War 4
I think 2016 will be a great year, and thankfully I think there will be a few fewer launches to flood the second half of the year. I’m looking forward to playing all of these, as well as having a good amount of time to hunker down and enjoy some MMORPG playing (mostly EverQuest) while waiting on a few MMOs that are nowhere near 2016 — hopefully I can add Camelot Unchained to the top of my 2017 anticipated games list.
Horizon looks neat. Don’t have a PS4 yet, but that might push me over the top. Also looking forward to Torment: Tides of Numenera, Masquerada: Songs and Shadows, and Stranger of Sword City. So many RPGs, so little time… T_T
Street Fighter 5 is going to be a big one in my house.
Also pretty stoked for what is seemingly a great year for JRPGs.
I have all but given up on MMOs at the moment, hoping to one day be drawn in again. But everyone just seems to give me that immediate why bother feeling.
If only I had a PS4, my PC only roots can be limiting sometimes, real disappointment. Horizon looks like it’ll be alot of fun.
The main reason I’m interested in No Man’s Sky when I normally pay no attention at all to non-MMOs is precisely that it appears to have no “point”. As a person who plays video games because they are the nearest approximation we have to being a tourist in another reality I believe there is potentially a much larger audience for non-game virtual worlds than there ever has been or will be for game-based ones. I keep hoping that the technology that underpins gaming will spread beyond that very specific branch of the entertainment industry.
Just make the world and let me explore it. Don’t need any more than that.
Horizon Zero Dawn looks very interesting indeed. For the different experience it might provide, I’m looking forward for Detroit : Become Human. We don’t know much about the gameplay so far, but if it’s done correctly, it could tell a very good story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pelrr__9qx8
A lot of good games for every taste are scheduled for 2016 : Final Fantasy 15, a new Uncharted, Dishonored 2, a new Deus Ex, Mirror’s Edge, The Division, Kingdom Come, For Honor. Are they redoing Knights of the Old Republic also ?
Have you seen the footage for Wild yet? 🙂 It’s a neat Ps4 game that’s in the works. I’m reallllly hoping it will come out this year!
Sadly Scalebound has been delayed to 2017 :(.
Horizon looks amazing, that trailer has me pretty excited for it. I know I am looking forward to Duelyst (but then i’m really into CCG’s) which is in open beta at the moment and releasing this year, No Mans Sky, X-Com 2, FF15, Dark Souls III, and FFVII remake the most.
No mention of VR? I cant wait till its finally here! 🙂 /soon
@Drathmar: Seriously? The day after I write this they announce a delay? Bah.
@Dharkside: I am not even remotely interested in VR. =\ It’s just not affordable or capable of being implemented properly or on the consumer level.
@Miriam: Nope I hadn’t! Googled it and I really like what I see. Definitely on my list now. Thanks!
@Danath: There are going to be A LOT of PS4 exclusives this year. Definitely time to think about a PS4.
@Table: Street Fighter games just haven’t done it for me since the 90s. I feel as you do about MMOs. So I went back to the one I love most. 🙂
What about Black Desert Keen? Big pvp focus. It looks cool!
I love space sims but I am waiting for some more info on No Man’s Sky. I played some Elite Dangerous this year and it became pretty repetitive. NMS sounds pretty similar to me.
@Topauz: That’s my main concern. I love exploring. I love freedom to fly and see what’s out there. I do grow tired of repetitive play, and without much purpose of drive — even if that drive and purpose are simply to survive and build cool stuff — I can’t last.
@Cthreepo: Eastern/Asian market MMOs just aren’t my thing at all. I used to push past the character models and some of the gameplay, but I can’t anymore.