The Games to Keep an Eye on in the First Half of 2019
A new year always means new things. In this case, this is the right time to take stock of the games to keep an eye on in the year to come.
The past two years have been
nothing short of insane when it comes to game releases. 2017 and 2018 housed so
many all timers, like big games like The Legend
of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn and God of War, indie darlings like Cuphead, Celeste, The Messenger and Into the
Breach, new multiplayer sensations like PUGB and Fortnite, and so, so much more it’d be hard to write it all. These are the
best years in a console generation, and no matter if you are an owner of a PlayStation
4, an Xbox One and a Nintendo Switch, you are bound to find something cool to
play.
As 2019 solidifies its release
dates, the first half of the year has some heavy hitters ready for prime time.
Here are some of the games we believe you should keep an eye on, by order of
release:
Resident Evil 2 – January 25th, 2019 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
The first entry of the list is right
around the corner, and already raking great reviews from major outlets
for good reason. It is insane the amount of love, attention and care developer
Capcom has put into what is essentially a remake from an almost 20-year-old
game. Just on the 1-shot 30-minute demo alone, Capcom shows they understand
what makes the series so iconic, with a level of detail and dread that can potentially
make this Resident Evil 2 remake the
best survival horror game of this console generation. If you are curious, try
the 1-shot demo prior to the game’s release on January 25th.
Kingdom Hearts 3 - January 29th, 2019 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
You really have to feel sympathy for
hardcore Kingdom Hearts fans. With the release of Kingdom Hearts 3 next week, Kingdom Hearts fans will have waited
literally 13 YEARS for a mainline
sequel since Kingdom Hears 2 released
originally on PlayStation 2 in 2006. Most of the hardcore fans of the series
were in middle school since the last entry in the franchise, and a couple of
pretty vital handheld prequels and important side stories later, they will
finally see the conclusion of Sora, Donald and Goofy’s Disney-hopping adventures
pretty soon. Will it be worth the 13-year wait? We will find out on January 29th.
Crackdown 3 – February 15th, 2019 (Xbox One)
While the Xbox One can tout having the
most powerful console ever made in the Xbox One X, the truth of the matter is
that the Xbox Ecosystem has been lacking console defining exclusives that are
worth getting a console for in the last two years, which has been a pain point
when both the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch have been releasing stellar
title after stellar title. With the release of Crackdown 3 on February 15th,
the long in-development sequel will finally be released after a torturous
development cycle that has seen the game be rescoped after the Xbox One’s shift
in philosophies since the game’s unveiling at E3 2014. As the last of a batch
of exclusives announced at that E3 that hasn’t been cancelled (Rest in Peace Fable Legends, Scalebound and Phantom Dust), can Crackdown 3 prove to be a feather in the cap to the Xbox One’s slim
exclusive offerings? We’ll find out soon.
The other three February 15th releases: Far Cry: New Dawn, Jump Force,
Metro Exodus (PlayStation 4, Xbox
One)
February 15th, 2019 will
be some sort of D-Day for videogame releases, as not only Crackdown 3 will be released then, but so this other trifecta of
releases. This day will certainly feature different flavors of games for
different people. For people interested in single player open world games, there
will be the option for open world hijinks in Far Cry: New Dawn and a more narrative, survival-style open world
game in Metro: Exodus. For people
interested in anime fighting games on the heels of last year’s wonderful Dragon Ball FighterZ, the next big
thing for them will be Jump Force. No matter your
pick, your wallet may cry that day.
Anthem – February 22nd,
2019 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
It’s not always common for an
upcoming game to become the last-ditch effort for a developer, but that is certainly
the case for Anthem by developer
Bioware. The truth is Bioware, once a developer that could do no wrong with
classic titles like Star Wars: Knights of
the Old Republic, Jade Empire and the seminal Mass Effect trilogy, has lost a lot of clout as a quality developer
in recent years. While its third game in its “liked but not beloved” Dragon Age series Dragon Age: Inquisition was generally well received, their last
major release, Mass Effect Andromeda was
nothing short of a disaster, a game with a calamitous launch that basically
killed their most beloved series. With such an optics hit towards the developer (not mentioning that they’ve been between a rock and a hard place after the Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco in 2012), Bioware
needs a win, and the jury is out on whether or not their upcoming title Anthem can shift the narrative for the developer. Borrowing
heavily from the persistent online loot shooter genre that has defined games
like Bungie’s Destiny and Ubisoft’s The Division, we’ll see if Anthem can become a title worthy of the
Bioware name and if it can also launch on a good state, since games in this
genre have historically always had bad launches.
Left Alive – March 5th,
2019 (PlayStation 4)
This will be probably one of the
more niche games in the list, but one to keep an eye out if you’re a fan of
these things I’m about to say: Are you a fan of third person shooter games with
Japanese flavor? Are you a long-time fan of the old Square Enix RPG series Front Mission? Are you a fan of
the art design and character modeling of the Metal Gear Solid series? If your answer was yes to any of these questions, then Left Alive is a game to keep on your radar. This is a third person shooter game set in
the Front Mission universe with longtime
Metal Gear Solid artist Yoji Shinkawa working in this game.
Will all of that come together to provide a game worthy of that entire mix? We’ll
find out on March 5th.
Six years after the reimagining by
developer Ninja Theory and 11 years after the last mainline entry in the series,
Devil May Cry is back with Devil May Cry 5, an entry that continues
the story set in the classic, over the top series while mixing the depth and
detail seen in the Ninja Theory reimagining. In an era where we are seeing a
lot of former button mashing action games get reimagined into something deeper
and more methodical like last year’s God
of War, Devil May Cry 5 is a throwback to those action games of yesteryear,
and we’ll see how much it reinvigorates the button mashing action genre when it releases on March 8th.
The second of the persistent online
loot shooters releasing in the first half of 2019, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is a defining moment for this kind of
shooter this generation. After Bungie’s Destiny
2 went through some rough patches in its launch after seemingly ignoring a
lot of the things they fixed overtime with the original, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is the game that has to prove that it
is possible to make a sequel in this persistent online loot shooter genre that
can launch with the lessons learned from its original game. After a troubled first
game that got better over time, the developers have said all lessons learned
are carrying over, and now with the new inclusion of 8-player fireteams and the introduction of the
game’s version of Raids, all eyes will be on Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 come March 15th, especially
as it faces direct competition with Bioware’s Anthem and Bungie’s Destiny 2.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice –
March 22nd, 2019 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
Sekiro:
Shadows Die Twice is developer From Software’s latest game in the Souls-style game they popularized with
2009’s Demon’s Souls. Their first
official release in this genre since they concluded the Dark Souls series with Dark
Souls 3 in 2016, Sekiro: Shadows Die
Twice serves as a small reimagining of their popular style of game as it
frames it around a faster action game without the RPG elements. For fans of
the developers’ punishingly difficult but gratifyingly rewarding games, this
game is for you.
Yoshi’s Crafted World – March 29th, 2019 (Nintendo Switch)
The second big game for the
Nintendo Switch of 2019 following the re-release of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe in January 11th, Yoshi’s Crafted World provides Yoshi fans
the next big adventure for the beloved Mario companion since 2015’s Yoshi Wolly World. Fans of this kind of charming
platforming game have a lot to look forward to for the end of March.
Mortal Kombat 11 – April 23rd,
2019 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)
Mortal Kombat 11 continues NetherRealm Studios consistent biyearly release schedule of a franchise they have gotten down to a science with its last couple of entries, which alternates between this and the
Injustice series from DC Comics.
NetherRealm Studios has become the gold standard for fighting games packed to
the brim with content, and there is no doubt the tradition will continue this
coming April. Also, its coming day and date to the Nintendo Switch. How cool is
that?
Days Gone – April 26th, 2019 (PlayStation 4)
Sony Interactive Entertainment has
been on a hot streak with the PlayStation 4 since the release of Uncharted 4: A Thieve’s End in 2016,
starting a cadence of strong first-party exclusives that continued with Horizon: Zero Dawn, the Shadow of the Colossus remake, God of War, Detroit Become Human and Spider-Man, not to mention a lot of
Japanese exclusives like Bloodborne, Gravity Rush 2, Nioh, Persona 5 and Dragon Quest XI bolstering its portfolio to
amass a great exclusive library. While some of the console’s heaviest hitters
like The Last of Us: Part II, Ghosts of
Tsushima and Death Stranding are
still coming, fans of PlayStation 4’s exclusives get something to tide them
over with Sony Bend’s Days Gone. This
game already gets a bit of a bad rap for being another zombie game in an
exclusive portfolio that has one already. But positive impressions from the
game’s demo in PAX South earlier this year makes this one worthy of a look as
we wait for the console’s other heavy hitters to come out. Plus, this is the first big game
from Syphon Filter developer Sony
Bend in years after doing so many handheld games for a while, so it is worth
checking to see how the end product ends up.
Super Meat Boy Forever - April 2019 (Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
The only entry in the list with the most nebulous date, but still one worthy of a mention. Super Meat Boy Forever is the sequel to one of the best, most punishing but ultimately rewarding indie games ever made. The original Super Meat Boy can be considered the grand daddy of the modern indie game, getting a lot of clout for coming at a time when indie games were not the mainstay they are today (while also being a star of "Indie Game: The Movie" as a fun fact). Based on the trailer for the sequel, this sure promises to be the same nail-biting punishing game the original was famous for, but bigger. We sure can't wait for it.
Rage 2 – May 14th, 2019 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
The original Rage was one of the more promising games of the last generation of
consoles that ended up being one of that generation’s bigger disappointments. It
was a game that ended up being more of a visual showcase of the iD Tech 5 engine
from developer iD Software than as a game worthy of someone’s time. Almost 8
years later, it is interesting to see iD Software, now in conjunction with Just Cause and Mad Max developer Avalanche
Studios, making another crack at it. The good news is that the recent demos of
the game show a game that has more of a personality and identity than the run
of the mill shooter the original was. Add to that the partnership with Avalanche
Studios gives iD Software someone that made a crack at an open world game in a
desolate wasteland. Whether it lives up to its potential or not is something we
have to see come this May, especially with that month being a pretty desolate wasteland
of releases as of today.
I don’t know what we did to deserve
the Crash Bandicoot renaissance we’ve had in the last two years, but I’m all
for it. After the franchise lost a lot of clout with so many bad releases the
early 2000’s, the success of the remastered collection of the first three games
“Crash Bandicoot: The N-Sane Trilogy” shows that Crash Bandicoot still means
something to gamers worldwide. And now, we get what many say is the greatest kart
racer ever made, CTR: Crash Team Racing, getting the remastered treatment with full
online support coming this year. Life can be full of dreams fulfilled indeed.
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