Xbox 360
I think the 360 is still way ahead of the PS3 in terms of decent games at the moment, as well as value for money for the actual console. Sure, the PS3 has a Blu-ray player built in, but I still prefer the 360. Will that change with 2010's game releases? Will I be tempted to buy a PS3, will I play my 360 more than I currently do? (which is not a lot)
There are a lot of good games announced for 2010 on the big home consoles at the moment.
Mass Effect 2-I really am looking forward to this, perhaps more than FFXIII, because the first game in this trilogy really blew me away. Sure it had flaws, like the textures issues, the relatively bland planets you could explore(I still enjoyed the whole experience), perhaps the controls in battle, and the AI being stupid. A lot of these issues are apparantely being addressed in the 2nd game. They have also added an amazing cast to the game, with a lot of well known actors and actresses. I just kinda hope we don't get this boxart in the UK, I think it looks ugly and badly designed. There is always the special edition actually, I might pick that up.
Final Fantasy XIII- As a fan of the series since FFVIII came out, and since then I have gone on to play most of the games and really like them, I am definitely interested to see what the latest outing will be like. So far it has got good reviews, the controversial (?) 39/40 review from Famitsu has been much discussed online. It has sold a lot of copies so far, over 1 million copies on the first day! So that bodes well, hopefully it doesn't dissapoint because it has surely been one of the most hyped games all year.
Defintely looks amazing. Screenshots@RPGamer
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow-I am really interested in playing this one. Hopefully they don't make it too simplistic with the actiony/3rd person look. I still want a lot of the influences in there from the old school platformers and the metroidvania games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. With Hideo Kojima on board though, and a great cast of voice actors-Patrick Stewart, Robert Carlyle, I reckon this will not dissapoint.
Bayonetta-I'm not convinced this is going to be as good as people keep saying, still I do think some of the scenes look amazing, like the bit where you are fighting on a clock tower which is falling through the sky. Thats pretty freakin cool =p
Other stuff; Bioshock 2(also on PS3), Splinter Cell Conviction(also on PS3), No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise, Darksiders, Dante's Inferno(also on PS3), Fable 3(the 2nd was average, but had massive flaws and shortcomings in my opinion)
Darksiders Trailer-I reckon this, along with Bayonetta and Dante's Inferno will dissapoint me. I'm not hugely into the ol' Devil May Cry clones.
Playstation 3
I won't really say much about the PS3 titles because I don't have one and don't know an awful lot about the games that are coming out. What I do know however, is that a few of the RPGs coming out look awesome.
3D Dot Game Heroes is one of them. Man, I love the old school references in here. And look at the graphical style!
White Knight Chronicles is an RPG coming out from Level 5(who brought us the Professor Layton games and Dark Cloud games.) It came out quite a while ago in Japan and received average reviews(a 29/40 from Famitsu.) I'll want to check this one out if I ever get a PS3, some of the mecha-ish designs look really cool. See the concept art below.
Some other major PS3 titles that really need to sell well to help out the PS3 hardware/software sales: Heavy Rain, God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIV Online, Dead Space 2(also on 360), Super Street Fighter IV(also on 360), Lost Planet 2(also on 360)-I really have no desire to play the last one, I never got into the first game.
Wii
The Wii is still one system I've really not put much time into, I dunno why. Sometimes the controls in games are unresponsive and you end up failing something for no real fault of your own, sometimes the batteries die at an unconvenient time, or maybe its just the library of games that are on it that puts me off. There are a couple of games currently though that I really want to play, and just haven't really had a chance-Super Mario Galaxy, of which there is a 2nd on the way, Okami, which I've heard amazing things about(and must play before Okamiden comes out on the DS), No More Heroes(which I have), Endless Ocean, Little King's Story..I could go on to the Multitude of Virtual Console games, but I am getting sidetracked. Anyway, my point is, will there be some games released next year to really get me into the Wii, thats what I am wondering.
So what is coming out for the Wii?
The major titles from what I can tell are Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M, I haven't played the first Galaxy (maybe like 5 or 10 mins at most), but really want to play more of it, it looks amazing. I don't know an awful lot about Metroid: Other M, but for Metroid fans, its another good thing after the collection released on the Wii this year.
For me, there are a couple games that I am most looking forward to on the Wii. Arc Rise Fantasia is an RPG coming from imageepoch and Marvelous entertainment, with quite a lot of guests helping develop the game, like the game's director Kenichi Yoshida, who worked on some amazing series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Turn A Gundam, Wolf's Rain, Planetes and quite a few movies like Princess Mononoke. A few of the staff from the Namco Tales studio as well are working on this game. It looks amazing visually
So what else is there? Red Steel 2? Hm, my expectations for this one certaintly aren't too great based on the first one. Extremely linear levels and unresponsive controls plagued the first game in my opinion. And what the hell was with the holding your gun upside down? =/
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle-should be good if they don't screw up too much, I've heard amazing things about the first game, and I will get around to playing it before the 2nd is released hopefully.
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon-a postapocalyptic RPG outing from Tri-Crescendo, of Eternal Sonata, Baten Kaitos. This one looks to me like it could be hit or miss, it seems they are going to be mashing a couple of influences from survival horror, with flashlight controls and adventure into an rpg. The producer does state that it won't be a survival horror, but this one definitely intrigues me, I am looking forward to it.
Nintendo DS
My favourite console so far in this generation has a great deal of awesome looking games coming out this year.
Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver- Woot! I am obsessed about pokemon games and always seem to pick up the newest releases. I haven't played Platinum that much seeing as how it is so similar to Diamond(which I played the hell out of) and have quite a lot of other games to get through, but Pokemon Silver, Gold and Crystal were many people's favourite Pokemon games and these remakes should definitely go down well.
Ninokuni: The Another World-this one is pencilled in for a Japanese release in 2010, but so far nothing has been announced for the US or PAL regions. One can hope though, as this is a Studio Ghibli-Level 5 collaboration and has a lot of people seriously wanting this to get translated.
Golden Sun DS-I really enjoyed the GBA games all those years ago, and it seems our prayers for a sequel have been answered. This one might not make it over here in 2010, but all the same, I thought I'd include it as it's one of my most anticipated DS games. It will feature characters that are descended from those in the original games apparantely. And I've heard some things about GBA game support. Maybe transferring of data? Or maybe just some bonuses when you have a game in your GBA slot while playing like in the Pokemon 3rd/4th gen games and Knights in the Knightmare with Yggdra Union.
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Sky-I'm not entirely sure of the name we will be getting, but Square Enix have been working on this one so it can come out some time around FFXIII's release in 2010. Its already out in Japan and sold a HUGE amount of copies, as DQ games always seem to over there. It will have 4 player multiplayer options, but it had no Wi-Fi multiplayer option when released in Japan. It will be interesting to see if anything is changed as it gets localised for optimised success in our western culture.
Okamiden-This one looks pretty cool, the very first time I saw gameplay footage of Okami a few years ago, I thought "I hope this is on DS", in fact I thought it was on DS, which surely would have been the perfect platform. Or the Wii. This second game will bring the franchise to the DS and I'm definitely intrigued to see what it will be like. I must play the first game before this one hits, I've heard so many good things about it. Just need to shell out for it when I see the Wii version.
Final Fantasy Gaiden: Four Warriors of Light-I kinda doubt that this one will make it over here in 2010, but who knows. I really like the cute Final Fantasy III DS-esque graphics, and the class system looks unusual. It looks like they are trying something new, but with the roots and influences clearly in the early Final Fantasy games.
Infinite Space-I don't know much at all about this game, it has kinda gone unnoticed on my radar for some reason, but if the cutscenes shown in the trailer are anything to go by, this should be rather cool. It will fit a bit of a niche on the DS, there aren't enough sci-fi style RPGs in my opinion.
Some other games to come out next year: Phantasy Star Zero, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, and I'm hoping some of the American releases from the past year come over here, some of the RPGs I was looking to get: The Dark Spire, Hero's Saga Laevatein Tactics, A Witch's Tale, Nostalgia (despite the latter two receiving poor-average reviews)
PSP
Valkyria Chronicles II-This is much anticipated by fans of the PS3 game, I can't say much about it other than it will be out some time in 2010. The first game is apparantely amazing, having got a lot of attention from RPG gamers this year. Its one I must play if, or when I do get a PS3.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker-this one has a lot of people interested, as a sequel to MGS 3, and with multiplayer options apparantely. I amn't hugely experienced when it comes to the series, so I can't really comment on it too much.
Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake-I thought the PS3 downloadable title looked awesome, who knows what this one will be like. Hopefully good.
Pocketgamer's 10 most anticipated 2010 PSP releases
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