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Games come out every week and there is no way that I could ever play every title. E3, Summer Games Fest, and more are right around the corner, and there will be loads of games that will be getting announced. So, currently with the lineup of games that have been CONFIRMED, meaning no rumors, what are my most anticipated titles at this time? There are a mixture of PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5 titles and Nintendo Switch titles. I am not in the Xbox or PC ecosystems at this time, so you will not see any games that are exclusive to Xbox or PC.
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – 2021
Growing up, I visited the arcades a few times but I didn’t get to experience them much from moving around a lot and also not having the means to get to them often. However, growing up I mostly played on the Nintendo 64, PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2, and the original Xbox. That does not mean I did not get to experience the games that the SNES has to offer, at least a small selection of the titles. One of the few titles that I did play on the SNES was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. I enjoyed playing this game and it was a blast playing with my friend when I was young. This game that is coming out in 2021, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, is basically a spiritual successor to it. I am excited to play the game on Switch where it has been confirmed to be on for this year, assuming no delays occur for it. The developer for the game definitely is bringing charm to the title as the movement and gameplay that we saw has personality and shows that they cared about the title and it is not just a cheap cash grab like some licensed IPs in the past. I am going to play it with other people since beat-em-ups are always more fun with others than by yourself.
9. Pokémon Legends: Arceus – January 28, 2022
I am super excited for the next full blown adventure in the Pokémon universe. This is a new title that is currently in development at Game Freak and I am absolutely ecstatic to see what they can do in this game. It appeared from the first trailer that it was a fully open world title with new mechanics. You could catch Pokemon outside of battles, do different mechanics like a dodge roll to avoid or sneak closer to them, and more. It looks like Game Freak are taking the idea from Sword and Shield with the wild area and expanding upon this. I wanted to have an open world Pokemon game for a long time to break from the normal formula, and we finally are getting it. We know it takes place in Sinnoh in the past, which means it is going to be a brand new story that hasn’t been told before. There is a reason why it isn’t any higher on my list, and it’s not just because we don’t have a whole lot of information on this title, but rather it is because of the footage we have seen of it. Look, I get that the Nintendo Switch isn’t as powerful as something like the other consoles or PC’s but the framerate and visuals looked rough in spots. Now, this was work in progress footage that we saw and it could have been older footage; but I seriously hope the next time we see it looks better than before.
8. Demon Slayer: The Hikonami Chronicles – 2021
Now, one of my all time favorite animes has got to be Demon Slayer. Something about the story of Tanjiro traveling with his sister to find a cure to return her from being a demon to a human is moving to me. Meeting his friends and his demon rivals is always exciting to find out what happens and how it happens. The anime and the movie are both phenomenal, and when I first found out about the game last year, I was already highly interested in the title. The title is being developed by CyberConnect2 and…I have some mixed feelings with this developer. I played the original 3 Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm titles, and part of DragonBall Z: Kakarot and the battle systems for them are fairly similar with it being a fighting style game. They work because of the type of games they have, but the overall gameplay sometimes was either buggy or the open world was lacking. We haven’t seen much of this game besides the character trailers that we have gotten here or there; but it looks good. There is a solo mode and a versus mode in the game, at least for what has been announced so far. On Monday 5/24/2021, a new trailer went live that showed that Sega was publishing the title in Asia, which hopefully means a western release is also on Sega’s docket for the year as well. I need to see more about the single player before I am officially sold on it but it looks good from the fighting sequences that have been shown.
7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Sequel – TBA
Okay, this game got a teaser trailer back at E3 2019 as the “one last thing” that Nintendo announced. That is all that we have heard in concrete detail about the game besides updates saying that development was progressing. I haven’t beaten many of The Legend of Zelda series; however, I have started or played a good amount of them. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was an amazing game that I seriously loved playing and exploring the world of Hyrule. All of the different shrines, korok seeds, side missions, the four guardians, and a lot more all throughout the land. Some of the basic gameplay concepts with weapons breaking honestly made the experience worse for me. The exploration was absolutely amazing as you could explore the world in any order and in any way that you chose, which made for a large change from the original style of gameplay. The game could improve from the original and it could come out better and play better. Hopefully we get a gameplay soon for it, as it is the 35th anniversary of the series, so there is a possibility we could get the first glimpse at a brand new game in the series.
6. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl – November 19, 2021
Chibi games are cute and very adorable, and the art style for the Sinnoh remakes is in a chibi art style. This was absolutely polarizing when they first showcased the games but I seriously think that the art style works so well for sticking to what the original games looked like, just now in HD. These games are not being developed in house with gamefreak only taking a supporting role, which I think works better since that gives them more availability to focus on Pokémon Legends Arceus. These are some of my favorite games from the DS and I am seriously glad I am going to be able to play them again on the Switch. Are these games going to have some of the content from the third game, Pokémon Platinum? I really hope so as some of those updates and additions to the overall game was amazing. All of the different side things, shiny hunting, and all of the fun of completing your Pokédex with your friends, count me in. I personally love the way the game looks and even though the game could be just the same old game that I have played before, I am extremely excited to play it all over again.
5. God of War 2018 Sequel – 2021
This might be a confusing statement, but I am both excited and nervous about what the sequel to the great game that came out in 2018. I am excited since I am very interested in what they could do with the next title. We have so little information on this game besides the words that say “Ragnarok is Coming.” The game was originally announced back in 2020 in the next generation showcases in September 2020 when they announced a few titles along with the price point of the system. We have only really gotten the logo and these words and there are so many rumors that are floating around. I just need to see more as I really enjoyed the story and plot of the 2018 game, but there are still way too many questions. Is the game actually called God of War: Ragnarok? We got a release year of 2021, but, is it really going to come out this year? I personally think a delay is inevitable and it will be launching in 2022, but I am only guessing here. Also, will this game be exclusive to the PS5, or will it be coming out on the PS4 like Spiderman Miles Morales, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and soon to be Horizon Forbidden West? There are too many questions that need answers and Sony/PlayStation are being too quiet on this project as of this publication.
4. Mario Golf: Super Rush- June 25, 2021
Nintendo has a smaller amount of titles that are announced for this year so far, but honestly, I am absolutely excited for Mario Golf: Super Rush. I have always enjoyed the Mario Golf games and every time I play them I feel like I am actually having fun. I don’t personally like playing or watching regular golf, I do like mini-golf though, but something about the Mario golf games just get me excited to go on the green and tee-off by myself and also with friends. The game has a large roster out of the gate along with a large amount of courses and gameplay modes that have been showcased. There are probably some courses that have yet to be shown off from the game, and there is always the possibility of free DLC later down the line. Back in 2018, we got Mario Tennis Aces and Nintendo supported that game with lots of additional characters over the course of a year, so I hope that Camelot and Nintendo will do the same thing with this title. There is even a single player adventure mode where you can bring your mii on the field and get practice in an RPG style where you raise different stat points. This game is calling to me to play with others, along with going on some adventures and courses on my own.
3. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart – June 11, 2021
First off, Insomniac Games are absolutely wizards. If you take what Pixar can do with different movies and visual effects, and then put them into game form, that’s what it appears Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart will be. The gameplay that we have seen has been absolutely stunning and it appears to be a fun third person action adventure platformer. I haven’t played a whole lot of the series; however, I have played some of them previously. I have completed all of the remake, platinumed it, that came out on the PS4, and I em excited for what they have shown for the next game in the series, which is exclusive to PS5. Ratchet and Clank seem to get seperated in this game and Clank ends up going with a new playable character, a female Lombax named Rivet. The gameplay is a technical showcase for what the PS5 can do with its near instant load times as dimension shifting seems to play a major role in this title. Insomniac Games are, without any contest, one of my favorite developers that Sony/PlayStation has under their belts. I am sold on the game and I seriously do not want to see any more for it, I just want it to be June 11th already so I can battling and defeating Dr. Nefarious, along his army, using all the tools and weapons I can.
2. Kena: Bridge of Spirits- August 24, 2021
What a shock this game was when it was original unveiled back in June 2020 with the PlayStation State of Play. I was in awe after this game was shown off since it takes both the beauty of a world that seems like it will feel fresh and upbeat, but then also has a lot of darkness that needs to be taken care of. In this game, you play as Kena who needs to get to a shrine in order to do something. To do this, there are situations that make use of traversal, exploration, combat, and collecting. There are many different creatures help you along during the adventure; they are called Rots, and they are just some of the cutest creatures I have ever seen. I have seen a lot of projects from Ember Lab in the past; including the very popular Majora’s Mask: Terrible Fate short film. This is their first game project that they are creating and I seriously hope that it does well enough for them to do another one in the future since from the gameplay that we have seen, its a mixture of action adventure, platformer/puzzle, and open world. I am excited for exploring the world of the game and I just cannot wait until August 24th to get here already!
1. Horizon Forbidden West– TBA 2021
Guerilla is just a surprise when they created Horizon Zero Dawn back in 2017. They surprised a lot of people since they were known mostly for the Killzone franchise in the past, which is a first person shooter series. When they took a massive change from that to an open world third person action adventure title, I was impressed. I didn’t play Horizon until long after the original release date but when I did, I was absolutely floored with how good the game was. The game was successful enough to get a sequel, which is releasing sometime in 2021 as of now. Recently, on May 27th to be exact, we got a PlayStation State of Play that showcased the game with 14 minutes of gameplay, and I got even more excited seeing it. They are adding so many different mechanics that were not in the original title that look to improve on the game. The story and visuals that were showcased as stunning and I am excited to go back and explore the story of my favorite PS4 console exclusives that takes you on an emotional rollercoaster and combines a lot of different concepts. “You always said a storm was coming. Yeah, and it’s almost here”.
Now, is this everything that I am excited for that has already been announced? Absolutely not, but there are the best of what I am excited for before the many, many gaming events take place over the next few weeks. Will we find out about some brand new game in the Xenoblade franchise, or something from Kingdom Hearts, or something from left field? What ever it may be, this list will probably be different by the end of it all. What are some people excited for? Anything I should look out for specifically? Let me know below.
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