3 in Q1

The year two-thousand and eighteen is almost at its end.  I've posted my (dubious) award winner for the year, as have most video game outlets.  The "Keighleys," or if you're not familiar with the colloquialism - The Video Game Advertisement Extravaganza! - has also concluded.  Now with 2019 just around the corner, I think it's an appropriate time to take a look at next year and all the interesting games that are on their way.

Unlike previous occasions, I really only have three titles I want to mention.  That's not to say there are very few games I'm looking forward to...far from it.  The problem, rather, is I've already talked about most of my eagerly anticipated releases in previously posted lists.  Why do games I'm interested in get delayed so much?  Anyone remember a game called Routine?  How about Ghost Song?  Anyway...here's what I got; a trio of titles firmly set to debut in the first quarter of next year.

For me, the Resident Evil 2 remake announcement trailer was the most exciting thing to come out of E3 2018.  As I've already gone on record saying in a previous blogpost (link), I played the original RE2 quite a bit - unlocking everything and completing all but the tofu speedrun challenge.  The remake looks to have what made the original so great, plus a bunch of improvements - most notably in the graphics department.  Other than that, tweaks and changes to the layout and story have sparked my curiosity.  I remember the events of my PSX version playthrough of the game pretty well so anything that might catch me off-guard or defy expectations would be a welcome surprise.

As a fan of the awkwardly labeled Soulsborne collection of third-person action RPGs, it's probably no surprise that I'm really excited to play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.  I really liked the changes/improvements made to the formula in Bloodborne, and had a hard time going back to the seemingly dated mechanics of Dark Souls 3.  Since Sekiro is leaning toward innovation rather than nostalgia, it's easy to see why I'm especially looking forward to the role of a shinobi in quasi-mythical Feudal Japan.  Sure Nioh and Ghosts of Tsushima are similarly themed, but I have no doubt that Miyazaki Hidetaka and his team at From Software will pit their own distinct spin on the concept.

Last on the list is Wargroove.  I was a fan of the Advanced Wars series on the GBA and DS.  I'm also a little sad that the franchise died out after the fittingly named (in hindsight) Days of Ruin.  Tiny Metal appeared to be a spiritual successor of sorts, but ultimately fell short of the mark.  Thankfully, all is not lost because there is a fantasy spin-off in the works with the odd-sounding name Wargroove.  Originally slated for a 2018 release, this turn-based strategy game has been delayed until January for what I hope is some fine tuning and polish.  Oh...and it's for the Nintendo Switch.