Games of 2013 I'm Hype to Play

(Wrote for fun and because some personal stuff going on recently I want to talk about but don't feel like getting into just yet. So.... yeah... wait til maybe next week probably?)

So 2013 is six months in and while game releases have been MOSTLY slow for a while, we can expect them to start picking up soon OR to start getting announced in spades for a holiday release (along with some new consoles). And rather than talk about anything personal, because I’m still working all that out in my head right now as to what I want and if anything I’m involved with now will pan out to anything I want, I want to talk about games again. Today will be what I’m looking forward to in gaming for 2013.

Before we begin, I’m going to start by saying the following games: Anarchy Reigns, Fire Emblem Awakening, Trials Evolution Gold, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, and Slender: The Arrival will not make my list because I already bought them. But other games that have been released that I’ve missed out on are eligible for the list. But seeing as how they’ve been released, reviewed, and many have Let’s Plays I’ve seen already, I’m going to try to focus  on games that have yet to be released or covered in great detail. Also, no consoles. I’m looking forward to the SteamBox and the unlikely announcement of Dreamcast 2, but being excited about those isn’t the same as being excited about games. Something that Microsoft doesn’t seem to fully grasp which is why they’re trying to sell us an entertainment hub with the deceiving name of XboxOne. Okay, no particular order, here we go:

Remember Me didn’t release with stellar reviews, not horrible, but not bad. But I’ve seen the gameplay looks interesting, using moves from fighting games like Street Fighter for combat. I don’t know a lot of details, but I’m intrigued. Plus, female protagonist and an interesting looking aesthetic help sell this game to me. Not one I intend to rush out and get, but I might get on a Steam Sale or used later this year.

Game & Wario is another title I’m excited for because I’ve loved the WarioWare games for their fun microgame-local multiplayer shenanigans in previous titles. Plus, a new WiiU game is always welcome, especially when there aren’t a lot coming out for a while still. Going on other WiiU titles coming later this year, we have Watch Dogs (which is actually multi-platform) but I intend to buy the WiiU version in the end if I get it. Watch Dogs was impressive last year as being the only game to show off gameplay at E3, BUT the gameplay itself didn’t wow me to the degree it wowed some people I know. But we’ll see when it gets released. The Wonderful 101 looks alright as well, but I know little about it. I’m hoping for more details in the coming weeks (e3 2013). Arkham Origins, another multiplatform game, will also get a WiiU buy for me because I want to get whatever games I can for the WiiU since I would much rather use that than my PS3 (which isn’t bad, but not my favorite). But do I need to explain why I want Arkham Origins? It just looks good and fun. It’s more Batman. No Rocksteady, sure, but everything I’ve seen and read so far seems promising. As for WiiU exclusives, while I won’t add Pikmin 3 to my list (for lack of playing the first two), I do have a few coming later this year that I know are getting released prior to E3 I can’t wait to play. Shovel Knight, Sonic Lost Worlds, and the Virtual Console release of Earthbound. All three of which have been talked about a lot and I’m excited for all three. Guys who gave us Megaman are making a Megaman style game with Shovel Knight. Sonic is getting a new console release, and it looks amazing already. And I’ve never been able to play Earthbound (those who know me know why) so I’m looking forward to seeing if I’ll enjoy this as much as I enjoyed Chrono Trigger or other SNES titles.

While the number is smaller, the 3DS has a few titles I’m excited for as well. Project X Zone, a game I’ve only heard a little about, is coming soon. It mixes up Namco, Sega, and Capcom awesomeness all into one title. It looks like a fighter/action game and I’m okay with that. Won’t buy right away, but I’ll certainly look into getting it soon. Shin Megami Tensei IV is coming to 3DS, and if you know anything about the Shin Megami Tensei series OR about Atlus in general, then you know this will be worth a look. Plus I think it’d be nice to play this in preparation for the Fire Emblem crossover with Shin Megami Tensei (coming later this year or early next year I hope). And while I’m still on the fence about it, Pokemon X/Y has my attention. If they manage to bring back what made generations 1 through 4 great while improving the graphics and HOPEFULLY adding something NEW to the game, then I’m in. But if ends up being a retread of generation 5 or watering down the series MORE, then I suppose Pokemon will die here for me. Fingers crossed that Pokemon gets back to basics for me. Also Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons comes out (I can’t remember if it is 3DS or WiiU or both) on Virtual Console. Having never played the originals (because of a lack of interest in Zelda) I’m somewhat excited to give this retro games a try.

I’ve been skeptical for a while, but I’m excited to see exactly what the new Deadpool game brings to the table in a few weeks. From what I hear, it’s like Devil May Cry, but with Deadpool. Color me interested, but skeptical. I won’t pre-order, but once I see reviews, I’ll make up my mind for sure. That said, I’m likely going to get this during the first week it’s out. Last of Us also comes out soon. It’s some kind of zombie game, but apparently it takes the Walking Dead (Telltale) approach of giving us a good story and good characters to make it less monotonous. It’s getting near perfect scores everywhere, so, yeah, I’ll try it out. We’ll see if I can dig it.

July looks to be a barren month for games, but Pay Day 2 will fix that in August and I know at least three other people to play with. I don’t normally like online games, but Pay Day (much like Left 4 Dead) makes co-op feel necessary and fun. Plus, what’s not to like about robbing banks. It’s that rare online game that makes a unique online experience. It’s not just death match or horde mode. You are given a mission to rob banks, take hostages, and all sorts of other mechanics I don’t see in too many other games. Put this one in the buying-day-one column. Along with that, Saints Row 4 has my attention because I’ve loved Saints Row 2 and 3 so much. That said, it looks even goofier, easier, and the marketing for it (with a heavy focus on dubstep for some reason) is rubbing me the wrong way thus far. So, I’ll wait and see where it goes. GTA V is much the same way, but that’s mostly because I’ve never played a GTA game before (wasn’t my cup of the tea for the longest time). But I might give GTA V a shot if the buzz is good.

David Cage brings us Beyond Two Souls later this year as well. It’s likely to be full of EMOTIONS and POLYGONS. Also, it has Willem Dafoe and Ellen Page, so that means it has to be good, right? That said, if it is anything like Heavy Rain, the story will be shit. The gameplay will be non-existent, and the whole ordeal will play like David Cage is stroking his ego again. But… Willem Dafoe… it could only be better if they had cast Robert Downey Jr instead.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, is the ONLY indie survival horror game I’ve found coming out this year (so far). Thus, it makes the list simply for being unique. Also, Amnesia was that game that I was literally scared of to not finish (which I should really correct soon). So the sequel is very much welcome to come out and make me shit myself. Going on to other PC releases, Elder Scrolls Online looks promising, as I’ve lost a lot of time to Skyrim. But being an MMO, I doubt it’ll be something I want to actually jump into. If the combat is anything like Elder Scrolls, count me on. Otherwise, fuck it.

Killer is Dead has been holding my attention for some time now, and I want to blame my frustrated libido for being too interested in the “Gigolo missions” for its own good. But it looks stylish. It looks fun. It looks perverted. And I’m down for another Suda51 joint after playing some Shadows of the Damned and soon to try out Lollypop Chainsaw. Another unique title I’m excited for is Paradox Interactive’s Knights of Pen and Paper +1, which is an RPG but you play as a group of D&D players (essentially) on their quest and it looks pretty close to the D&D level action I’ve been wanting for MONTHS (the only thing I’ve wanted this bad for the past few months OTHER than sex). I already pre-ordered it because it looks unique and fun enough where I won’t be disappointed by the loss of $15 dollars, even if it ends up being bad. Though, if I could get laid in addition to this, then my week would be complete (but that’s unlikely to happen).

Rain is another title coming soon that looks unique. You play an invisible kid who can only be seen when the rain hits his/her invisible body. You explore the world, solve puzzles, do a little platforming, and save the world (or something). The game looks very stylized and beautiful and I can’t wait to see how it turns out in the end. The Metal Gear series gave us Revengeance earlier this year, which I aim to go back and try out at some point because it does look fun, but I also intend to give MGS5: Phantom Pain a shot as well because that is shaping up to be interesting as well. We’ll see once more details are released. After many delays, South Park: The Stick of Truth will finally come out later this year. With THQ dying, we all grew worried that the South Park game would be lost too. Luckily, it was saved (by Ubisoft I think) and we’ll be getting it soon enough. But the one game yet to come I’m most excited for is the sequel to last year’s best game, The Walking Dead… Season 2. If the first season was a good indicator as to what to expect from TellTale, I can only imagine the sequel will exceed whatever expectations I have for it. I know Lee will be gone, but we can all agree Clementine was really the focus of the story while Lee was more of the guy pushing that story along. Now that we just have Clementine, who has learned all she can from Lee, it’s time to see where things go from here. I, for one, am excited to see what TellTale will give us to work with in the next installment.

As for titles already released, I would like to go back and play that Devil May Cry reboot as well as the Tomb Raider reboot, but neither of them are high on my list. I already mentioned Revengeance (still a stupid name). Retro City Rampage has been talked about for ages and it looks fun, I just have to actually get it. Being a Naruto fan, Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 looks great, but I’m holding off because it looks a lot like Ninja Storm Generations, which I didn’t really play much of once I beat it and I don’t see a reason to spend $60 on a new title when the old one is still just as good. Bioshock Infinite is still on my list, but not having played the first, I’m not as inclined to get it that quick. Injustice: Gods Among Us is a game I rented and had fun with. I’ll likely get it at a discount later this year or next year. But for $60? Probably not. Pandora’s Tower (along with the Last Story and Xenoblade Chronicles) is one of the three Operation Rainfall success stories and I’ve been wanting to pick it up for some time now. A good JRPG for the Wii sounds like it might be fun right about now. SMT: Devil Summoner Soul Hackers for the 3DS looks entertaining. Metro Last Light just got released and I’m interested in trying that out eventually. And, of course, Donkey Kong Country Returns for the 3DS has my attention because Donkey Kong Country was one of the best SNES games I’ve played yet.

That’s my list of games I’m excited for so far for 2013. There will likely be more announced next week at E3 and I’m sure I’ll have something to say after that is said and done. Here’s hoping Bayonetta 2 will get a 2013 release date. Here’s hoping Retro Studios will give us something this year as well. Also, Smash Bros 4 is getting something to show us at E3. If we’re lucky, we’ll know more details about who is in it and how the game will be played (the same as before or something with a Namco twist). All-in-all, I’m fairly excited for this crop of games coming soon.