While I’m glad 2020 is over, it’s hard to look forward to 2021 since just because it’s a new year, it doesn’t mean all of our problems just instantly go away.  COVID is still around, as well as other crap from 2020.  But every year I like to write a blog about the games I’m looking forward to in the coming year, so we’ll do that now.  At least it gives us something to look forward to.  And I imagine some of these games will get delayed, and there will be new games announced that we don’t know about just yet.  Will we get Metroid Prime 4 or Breath of the Wild 2 this year?  Maybe not, but you never know what the new year will bring.  This time last year, we had no idea we’d be spending most of the year in quarantine either!  OK let’s begin!

Ys 9: Monstrum Nox

I think this is one that’s coming out very soon, early February in fact.  I didn’t even request a review copy because I wanted to buy a physical version of it.  Still on the fence if I want a special edition version or not.  Anyway, while the theme of Ys 9 doesn’t interest me as much as Ys 8 did, it still looks like a fun action adventure game, and Ys 8 turned out so well that I’m sure this one will be fun also.  Can’t wait to try it anyway.  I’ve always been interested in the Ys series, but never really got a chance to play them until they started re-releasing them in the US on consoles like the DS and PSP.  My favorite is still Ys Seven, but 8 was pretty darn fun, too.  Can’t wait to see how the next one turns out.

Psychonauts 2

I really liked the first Psychonauts game, and even named it my Game of the Year in 2005.  So I’m really looking forward to the sequel.  I got to see it at PAX West back in 2019, and they said it would be out in 2020 but I guess it got delayed.  Not sure if it was just regular game delays or COVID that caused it, but it really doesn’t surprise me that it got delayed anyway, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it got delayed again.

Cris Tales

Here’s another one that got delayed last year.  It’s an RPG where you play as a girl who has time travel powers.  You can view the screen in three parts: past, present and future.  What you do in one time frame may affect another, which you must do to move the story along.  It also works in battle, too.  Send trolls to the future and they’ll be older and weaker, but more proficient in magic.  I played a demo of this game (I think you can still download it), and one boss you fight has impenetrable armor.  But if you use a water spell on the armor and send the boss to the future, the armor will rust and the boss can take damage.  But the boss will also be older and stronger so you have to watch out for that!  Anyway, it looks pretty interesting and charming, and I’m on their press list so I hope I get to review it this year!

Balan Wonderworld

This is a 3-D platformer published by Square Enix and developed by Yuji Naka, the Sonic and NiGHTS guy.  Looks a lot like that latter game, too.  3-D platformers used to be a dime a dozen, but now they’re kind of scarce.  So if this one is good, it will be very welcomed.

PlayDate

Hey did you know a new console is coming out this year?  And it’s a handheld no less?  Forget the PS5 and whatever the new Xbox is called!  PlayDate is a little black and white handheld with a crank on the side.  Yes, really.  I talked about it in one of my PAX articles from a couple of years ago.  And one of the games for it is by the same guy who made Katamari Damacy.  I’m still not completely sold on the thing as it’s kind of expensive, but this past year I spent more money on things I normally wouldn’t buy, since I couldn’t go anywhere as much.  So we’ll see with this one.  It’s supposed to come out this year anyway, but that’s what they said two years ago!

New Pokémon Snap

All right, pretty much every game on the rest of this list is a reboot of something, or a sequel of something that already exists.  Nothing wrong with that, I just noticed a significant amount of that this year.  Anyway, I’ve been wanting a Pokémon Snap sequel since I finished the first one.  I have a lot of special memories with that one, as it’s one of the first games I got a front page tagline for on The Dallas Morning News when I reviewed it!  Nintendo already has had two consoles come out with motion controls AND a camera, which would be perfect for a game like this, so I don’t know why it took so long for this to come out.  Especially since I know I’m not the only one who wanted this.  The title makes it really unclear if this is a reboot or full on sequel, though.

Super Mario 3-D World + Bowser’s Fury

There have been a lot of Wii U ports on the Switch.  And I haven’t gotten a single one of them.  Why should I pay full price for the same game twice?  I didn’t even rebuy Captain Toad, and I loved that game!  But I dunno, I might do it for this one.  For one thing, even though I did beat it on the Wii U, I wouldn’t mind spending more time with this one.  It was a fun game!  And I’m really curious as to what that Bowser’s Fury add on is.  If it’s significant enough, I might just get it.

Capcom Arcade Stadium

There have been Capcom arcade collections in the past, so I don’t know why I’m so excited for this one.  But I really do like a lot of Capcom’s arcade games. I hope they don’t pull a stunt where you have to buy each game separately.

Ghosts N Goblins Resurrection

I don’t even know why I’m excited for this.  I don’t even like playing Ghosts N Goblins games that much.  Just way too hard and clunky.  And yet I always get this way with new ones in the series.  I just like how they combine spooky with silly (come on, Arthur runs around in his boxers when he gets hit), and I also like the fact that the character artist also does the cover art for one of Japan’s most famous video game magazines: Famitsu.  This artist also did the illustrations for the Maximo spin-off games, so that’s cool.  I know someone who worked on Maximo and other games like Pac-Man World, and I still keep in touch with him on Facebook, so I think that’s cool, too!

Windjammers 2

The original game was a NEO GEO title that was like a combination of Pong and Dodgeball, but you used frisbees!  And it was awesome!  They brought it back recently and I reviewed it.  The sequel was supposed to come out last year, but I don’t know if COVID delayed it or if they didn’t want it to steal thunder from Streets of Rage 4, since they’re published by the same folks.  Either way, I hope it comes out this year.

Cotton Reboot

Cotton was a cutesy shooter starring a girl witch riding a broom.  And they’re bringing it back apparently.  So I’m interested.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World Reboot

I never really understood the draw of Alex Kidd.  Never liked the games I’ve played, and the one friend I knew who had a SEGA Master System, when I’d go over to his house to play it, I was always like, “This is better than Super Mario Bros….HOW?!?”  But you know what?  Everyone deserves a second chance, including Alex Kidd, so I might check this one out.

Monster World IV Remake

Oh man, Monster World IV was so awesome.  It was a very late Genesis title that never came out to the States until a few years ago as a downloadable re-release.  And I loved it.  It plays a lot like Shantae.  The folks who made Shantae said they’ve never played Monster World IV before, but I call BS on that one.  They’re just too similar.  Anyway, this remake looks to be built from the ground up, with new 3-D graphics and such.

Alien Hominid Invasion

Even though it was way too hard, I liked the cartoony art style of the original Alien Hominid game.  This looks like a more multiplayer centric competitive version of the original game.  I used to be on pretty good terms with The Behemoth and reviewed a lot of their games.  Hopefully I can review this one, too!

Darius Cozmic Revelation

This is just a collection of Darius games that should’ve been on the compilations that were released that year.  But it has G Darius so I may cave in and get it anyway.

Shovel Knight Dig

I love Shovel Knight, but one of my criticisms of the DLC stuff is it reuses way too much content from the original game!  I want a 16-bit Super Shovel Knight sequel!  And then a 3-D Shovel Knight 64!  At least the gameplay looks a little different in this one, as it seems to combine Shovel Knight with…Dig Dug or Mr. Driller maybe?  I hope I can review it!

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

It’s actually been a while since we’ve gotten a new LEGO game.  I’m surprised they’re not making a LEGO Mandalorian title, seeing how popular The Baby Yoda Show is.

Guilty Gear Strive

While they’re high quality fighting games, I don’t really follow the Guilty Gear franchise very closely.  But I am on pretty good terms with Arc System Works and have reviewed a lot of their games in the past, so I might try to review this as well.  Who are your favorite Guilty Gear characters?  Some of mine include Faust, Jam, May, Dizzy, and I-No.

And those are all the games coming out in 2021 that I’m looking forward to that I can think of!  If there are any other games you think I would like that I might’ve missed, please let me know in the comments section. And tell me which 2021 games you’re looking forward to as well!  Later!  –Cary

Tags: Misc