Cyberpunk 2077, DOOM Eternal, Final Fantasy VII Remake, The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima – we had a ton of big game launches this year. However, that year is now coming to a close, so it is time to look beyond and into 2021 to see what kind of exciting games there are to look forward to. As I did the past two years, I’ve put together a list of my top 10 most-anticipated game releases for the next year. The list is in no particular order, I just kinda threw them on there randomly, so without further ado, let’s get started.
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy
If you’ve seen any of my Atelier reviews on this channel, you’d know that this was pretty much a given. I love the Atelier series and Ryza was one my favorite games released in 2019 – it even made my top 10 list that year. So of course I am excited for the sequel, a sequel that will not only provide more of the same classic Atelier gameplay, but has some cool additions of its own. The trailers have shown us new abilities like climbing, swimming, riding monsters, and even grappling around – all excellent additions that will likely make the exploration a lot more fun. That and I’m interested in seeing where the story goes given how it ended in the first game – it will be something for sure.
Earth Defense Force 6
Honestly, what is there to say about this game? It’s a straightforward third-person shooter where you’re blasting giant bugs using a variety of cool weapons and that’s pretty much it. A simple formula for sure, but one that proved to be incredibly fun, enough for EDF5 to make my top 10 the year it came out. It never gets old flying around, shooting off missiles at giant ants, and lasering UFOs out of the sky – it’s like a stress reliever of sorts, similar to the Musou games. Here’s hoping that EDF6 can continue to build on that base and maybe add some cool stuff at the same time.
Balan Wonderworld
This game was a bit of a surprise. I have always been a fan of 3D platformers, especially the Sonic and Mario ones. So having a brand new game headed by the creators behind Sonic and Nights into Dreams was definitely something I was going to be interested in. The trailers released so far look to live up to that legacy, with bright vivid graphics, nice gameplay variety, and some cool music to match. I still don’t know what exactly the game is about, but I’m for another fun 3D platformer, so I’ll definitely be checking this one out.
Guilty Gear Strive
If my past lists and reviews did not already make it obvious, I am a big fan of fighting games, including everything from Tekken to the more niche ones like Granblue Fantasy: Versus and Under Night In-Birth. I also happen to be a fan of Guilty Gear, so a new one is 100% going to be on my radar. Not only does Strive look to offer more of the fun fighting that past Guilty Gear games have, but it is also a step up in the visual department and will be really interesting to see in motion. Whatever the case, I’m excited to play my boy Faust again.
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
With Ys VIII serving as my introduction (and taking my game of the year spot for 2018), I’ve quickly become a fan of this often-overlooked JRPG series. It takes all that I love about JRPGs – the great worldbuilding, excellent music, interesting stories – and gives it an action-combat twist. It’s a fast-paced series where you’re not held back by turn-based combat and instead are given the freedom to explore this giant world and take out enemies as you please. That and the boss fights are pretty cool too – it’s an all around fun experience and Ys IX is likely to be an early contender for my 2021 game of the year.
Back 4 Blood
This is pretty much Left 4 Dead 3 and I am perfectly okay with that. I mean, it comes from Turtle Rock Studios – the original devs behind Left 4 Dead – so it technically is Left 4 Dead 3 in everything but name. Considering that those are two of my favorite shooters ever made, yeah, I’m a little bit excited to see what Back 4 Blood has to offer. I can’t wait to get back on that zombie-shooting grind and it would be even better if Back 4 Blood has something equivalent to the versus mode from Left 4 Dead – where I have spent countless hours with friends.
Humankind
And while we’re on the topic of spiritual sequels, Humankind is pretty much a new Civilization game. It’s a 4X strategy where you play through six eras of human civilization, starting from the nomadic age all the way up to present day. I am personally a huge fan of such strategy games (and Civilization V is one of my all-time favorite games ever), so when this game was revealed, I was immediately interested. It comes from the same guys that did Endless Legend, another well-received strategy game, so I have high hopes for this one. We’ll have to see how it turns out when it releases this April.
Shin Megami Tensei V
So I have a bit of a confession to make here. I have not actually played any of mainline Shin Megami Tensei games. In fact, the only experience I have with the series outside of Persona is the SNES version of Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei – before it adopted the Shin title. I did enjoy that one though and do enjoy this type of JRPG gameplay, so I’m looking forward to the fifth one. Maybe it will serve as a good starting point – and I’m sure it will be the first exposure to the mainline series for many Persona fans. There hasn’t been too much revealed about the game, but I have high hopes for it.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
As someone that never actually got to play Super Mario 3D World, I pretty much am the target audience for this enhanced port. It brings over the Wii U exclusive while also adding onto it a new “Bowser’s Fury” game mode. We still don’t know what exactly that new game mode is, but I’m always up for more 3D Mario games. They bring out the best in the genre and have yet to disappoint me. Sunshine is still the solid favorite of mine, but we’ll have to see if this one can top it.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV
Earlier this year, I powered through the first three Cold Steel games and quickly became a fan. As with what I said for the Ys series, The Legend of Heroes series brings out a lot of the strengths of the JRPG genre. However, it goes really hard at the story element. I mean, Trails of Cold Steel IV is the fourth game in the THIRD ARC of the Trails series, making it the ninth entry overall. It is also the final game of that arc, so I’m excited to see how they wrap things up and set up the story for the next arc – which has already been announced by the way.
Now before I close out the list, I’m gonna give a brief mention to some of the games I included in my 2020 list that have since been delayed into 2021 (understandable given the global pandemic and all). The first of those is Tales of Arise, which went from a 2020 release to a now unspecified date. When it was originally revealed, the graphics and general change of tone compared to past Tales of games really got me hyped, so I’m still looking forward to checking this one out whenever it decides it’s ready.
The second is Rewrite+, which should actually be launching next month barring any last-minute problems. As a visual novel from Key, this is probably going to be something I cry at, but that’s just par for the course from the studio. It’s a really long visual novel too (50+ or so hours), so it will take some time before I can actually review the game.
And the last is Sharin no Kuni: The Girl Among the Sunflowers. This visual novel has had so many problems since its English release was first announced that at this point, I’m not going to believe any potential release date announcements until I can actually see the game in my library. Currently, it is listed for a release this upcoming March, but we’ll have to wait and see if they can actually follow through on that. If so, then great, because this is one of my most-anticipated visual novels.
And that will wrap up my list. I had a hard time making it because I had this shortlist of like forty games and somehow had to turn that forty into ten, and it was really painful dropping some of those games from the final ten. So anyways, let me know what games you guys are most excited for this upcoming year. Perhaps I may have missed one or perhaps you learned of a cool game from my list, let me know your thoughts. Be sure to hit that like button and do subscribe for more cool videos. If all goes well, I should have a Top 10 WORST Games of 2020 video coming out next week, so be on the lookout for that.
cublikefoot 