What are you looking forward to playing? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments.
Note: This is not a comprehensive list of releases and only games with specific dates are listed below. Some games are announced for January but have no firm release date.
Jan. 17:
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star (PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita) — Set after the events in the 2010 PSP dungeon crawler, this single-player action game puts you in the role of a “master” and lets you team up with a spirit “servant” to battle various enemies. The servants will be divided into eight classes, each featuring a different fighting style, including melee and magic abilities.
Jan. 20:
Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King (Nintendo 3DS) — This 3DS port of the PlayStation 2 classic will include updates like more story content, full voice acting, two additional playable characters, new side quests, StreetPass functionality and an alternate ending. There’s also a fast-forward feature to cut down on time spent in random battles, as well as a quick save option.
Gravity Rush 2 (PlayStation 4) — For fans of the the original Gravity Rush, the biggest change in the sequel is the introduction of new gravity modes that shift how main character Kat controls and what combat moves she has access to. Check out our glowing preview, the demo, 15 minutes of gameplay and the 17-minute animation which fills in the story between the two games.
Jan. 24:
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (PlayStation 4) — This is a collection of three games that each take place during different parts of the overall story. There’s Dream Drop Distance, originally released for Nintendo 3DS; that one comes right before the still-unscheduled Kingdom Hearts 3. Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover is a series of cutscenes culled from the eponymous mobile game, set far before the first Kingdom Hearts. Finally, the compilation’s unique new inclusion, 0.2: Birth By Sleep — A Fragmentary Passage, also takes place before Kingdom Hearts 3, although, in our interview, Tai Yasue didn’t specify whether that meant after Dream Drop Distance or parallel to it. (It’s after.) Check out the trailer which features Kingdom Hearts 3 footage.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One) — Resident Evil 7 Biohazard is something of a departure for the series. It’s in first-person perspective but Capcom has promised that familiar Resident Evil gameplay tropes — green herbs, for example — will return in the new game as found in one of a 10-part video tease. Check out the $179.99 deluxe edition and play the final demo, out now for PlayStation 4.
Tales of Berseria (PlayStation 4 and Windows PC) — At the 2016 Tokyo Game Show we were able to play through the first-ever English demo of the game and see how the localization is shaping up. The demo focused on Berseria’s battle system, which follows the series’ standard of being fast-paced and action-packed. In our eight minutes with the game, we learned some combos, smashed some monsters in the face and took on a powerful boss.
Yakuza 0 (PlayStation 4) — Yakuza 0 takes the player to the decadence of Tokyo in the late 1980s and is set up as a prequel to Sega’s action-brawler gangster franchise. Check out the E3 2016 trailer and the “Business Edition” of the game.
Jan. 30:
Disgaea 2 (Linux, MacOS and Windows PC) — This second entry in the Disgaea franchise joins the original, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, which was ported to Steam in February. Similar to that release, the Steam version of Disgaea 2 has been retitled Disgaea 2 PC. Unlike the first game, though, Disgaea 2 PC will also be compatible with Mac and Steam Machines.
Double Dragon 4 (PlayStation 4 and Windows PC) — In observance of the 30th anniversary of Double Dragon‘s arcade launch, the first numbered sequel in 27 years will be released. The original development staff from the arcade version is on this project, including producer Takaomi Kaneko, director Yoshihisa Kishimoto, character designer Koji Ogata, composer Kazunaka Yamane, and programmer Kei Oyama. Check out our feature on Kishimoto and the Double Dragon series.
Jan. 31:
Digimon World: Next Order (PlayStation 4) — Digimon World: Next Order, a console port of the Japan-only PlayStation Vita title, begins when players are sucked into the Digital World to discover it is under siege by Machinedramons. Rescued by two Digimon from impending doom, players must forge forward with their Digimon partners and journey through the Digital World to discover the origins of the Machinedramon scourge and find a way back to the real world. Check out the announcement trailer.
In retrospect, one of the biggest downsides of The Last Guardian’s 10-year development cycle is that people knew about it.
Not for those who worked on the game, of course. I’m sure they dealt with political and organizational hurdles that make player expectations seem tame. But for those of us on the sidelines, watching the game pop its head up every few years then disappear for long stretches, the past decade led to lots of speculation and questions about what happened behind the scenes — most of which Sony and GenDesign reps haven’t yet been willing to answer, and journalists haven’t yet been able to uncover the answers to.
For me, at least, that cloud of confusion hung over the game as I played it.
“Were those framerate issues because of long-standing dev struggles?” “Does the game keep showing button prompts because of creative arguments behind the scenes?” “I wonder what the graphics would look like if the game had started development on PS4.”
I didn’t want to think this way, but I’d heard so much chatter about the lengthy process that it was hard not to.
When I got out of my head and enjoyed what was on the screen, though, The Last Guardian presented one of the year’s best experiences. It’s a rare case of creative restraint that simultaneously feels intimate and expansive. It doesn’t feel like an adventure game; it feels like an adventure.
I’ll call special attention to Trico, the massive bird/cat/dog who accompanies you on your trip. Despite the design challenges of putting a creature that large in a series of small rooms, the developers built an animal that acts naturally in nearly every situation, and animates more like something out of an animated film than a game. Whenever I saw Trico leap too far and struggle to pull up on a ledge, I felt like I was playing inside a cutscene.
Certainly, the game isn’t without technical flaws, and they may sour your experience at times. It’s not like you’ll dislike the camera issues enough that you’ll go play other similar games instead, though. There are no other analogous games of this scale. In recent years, a number of games have nailed a similar tone, but none have come anywhere close to building a creature as elaborate and impressive as Trico.
And Trico, more than anything else, helped me forget about all the discussions of the game’s development and focus on the game itself. Thanks to how well the developers nailed that character, the game feels fresh despite the practical proof otherwise.
People often talk about it being hard to predict the market for a game that takes two or three years to develop, because the game industry changes so quickly that it’s hard to catch the waves as trends and tastes change. And with The Last Guardian, Sony and GenDesign made something that feels right at home despite taking 10 years.
This Bundle supports The Pablove Foundation, which invests in education and research on childhood cancer, and CéKeDuBonheur which is another organization benefiting hospitalized children.
The base bundle, AKA the “pay what you want” tier, includes the Chronicles games and the original Assassin’s Creed.
Paying over the average will net you Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD, Assassin’s Creed 3 and the first chapter of its Tyranny of King Washington DLC, as well as Assassin’s Creed 2.
The $15 tier adds on Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. The games are made available to download through Ubisoft’s UPlay client for Windows PC.
As of this writing, the Humble Bundle has pulled in almost $500,000. It will be available for 13 more days.
Correction: Only the first chapter of The Tyranny of King Washington is included with Assassin’s Creed 3, rather than the entire DLC.
As stressful and difficult as 2016 was for the real world, it was an incredible year for video games. Some of the most anticipated games of the decade — Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian — finally saw the light of day, Nintendo changed mobile gaming forever with the release of Pokemon Go and Super Mario Run, and life simulator Stardew Valley provided the perfect escape from reality.
Rather than just list the games 1-100, Valve has separated the list into four tiers: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. There’s no indication as to whether or not the games in each of those tiers are listed in order of their gross revenue, or even any indications as to where the cut off point was for each tier.
Nevertheless, it’s an interesting list, with plenty of familiar titles clogging up the top tiers. The Division, Fallout 4, Grand Theft Auto V and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive all managed to climb into the platinum tier, along with the free to play Dota 2 and the most controversial game of the year: No Man’s Sky.
Dota 2 was one of several free to play games to make the list, alongside Team Fortress 2, Warframe, Smite and a few others. If you thought that microtransactions were reserved for mobile games, PC gaming wants to have a word with you. Gamers clearly love cosmetic upgrades, and are willing to pay for them.
Best of all, virtually every game on the list (save for a few new releases) is on sale as part of the Steam Winter Sale, so be sure to check and see if anything on the list interests you before the sale ends.
Game releases throughout the first couple of months of the year can be a bit sparse, but if you’re looking to pick up a bunch of games for a discounted price, the Humble Assassin’s Creed Bundle is worth a look.
On Tuesday, Ubisoft partnered up with Humble Bundle to give gamers a chance to buy up to nine Assassin’s Creed games for the incredibly low price of $15. Altogether, these nine titles would typically cost $177, but as long as you pick up the bundle before January 17th, you can get them for a fraction of that price.
As always, there are different tiers to the bundle, depending on what you’re willing to pay. Spending at least $1.00 will give you access to Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia and the original Assassin’s Creed from 2007.
Beating the average payment (which is currently sitting at $7.34 at the time of writing) will unlock three additional titles: Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD, Assassin’s Creed II: Deluxe Edition and Assassin’s Creed III (along with the first episode of the Tyranny of King Washington DLC).
Finally, if you’re willing to pay $15, you’ll receive all seven games listed above as well as Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. Once you’ve decided how much you’re willing to spend, Humble Bundle will send you Uplay keys for all of the games within the tiers you unlocked.
