Nintendo Switch – A New Game Plus

The Ol’ Slay and Spray

No, no, I haven’t played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 yet, so stop asking me. Okay, so no one is asking me that, but I do intend on playing it soon. I ordered the Mirror Edition through a certain retailer-who-shall-not-be-named back in October and said retailer just keeps pushing back the delivery date. Because they suck. While I wait for it to arrive so that I can see what the hype is all about, I figured I would sit down and yap about what I’ve been playing. Winter blew in hard and fast this year, dumping over a foot of snow on the sleepy little Illinois town I live in. The old memories of winter game sessions past have come back to haunt me, making me want a Chrono Trigger remake more than ever, but I have plenty of games to keep me busy in the meantime. Maybe more games than I could ever play, if my newly populated Backloggd account is any indication, but I’ll talk more about that at the end of this post. For now, let’s get to the games. As often is the case, there may be spoilers in the text or screenshots below.

Ghost of Yōtei

Ghost of Yōtei was my most anticipated game of the year. Ghost of Tsushima was a really exciting surprise when it dropped in 2020. The original trailer for Tsushima looked really good, but I was skeptical about the combat. Was it a typical slash and roll game? If so, it might have been fine, but it might have also felt generic and bland. Thankfully, it ended up having some of the most satisfying combat I’ve encountered in a long time. I’m getting better at parrying in games, but I still tend to prefer dodging or blocking. I took to the parrying in Tsushima immediately, though, and loved the feeling of a perfect parry, especially when followed up with quick slashes that took down several enemies in the area. Like the Power Glove, it was So Bad™.

Yōtei refines and builds on what made Tsushima great, so of course I also love it a lot. The change in combat systems from stances to different weapons didn’t feel all that different to me. In both, I’m just pressing a button to change how I fight certain enemies, though I did like the variety in weaponry and the different combos that came with it. As with the stances in Tsushima, if you’d explained them to me before playing I might have said that it sounds too complicated for my taste, but in both cases the game introduces them at a pretty easy pace, and I picked them up quickly. Especially later in the game, when I felt very capable, it was a rush to start eliminating enemies with stealth in a camp, then making a dramatic leap down onto someone from a high platform, switching weapons to quickly take out a heavy, switching back to katana to face off against a dude trying to strike from behind, and on and on. Sure, I’d get myself in trouble every now and then, but when everything went right it felt so fluid and graceful and fun.

Much of what I loved in Tsushima is back, like the adorable foxes, platforming shrines, and the many beautifully designed katana and outfits. I will say I was a little mad about how long it takes to unlock the black dye merchant, though. I got The Armor of the Undying, my favorite set, early in the game, so I used it for most of my adventures. When I got it, I thought damn, this would so sick in black. And it did… many, many hours later when I finally unlocked the black dye right near the end of the game. Sigh. I also wished there were more bounty missions. It’s such a simple premise for a side quest, I know, but I really enjoyed tracking people down and (usually) slicing them up. The Mythic Tales were even more enjoyable, with lots of fun legends and really artistic sets to explore. I do miss Jin’s haiku, but Atsu’s sumi-e paintings were fun to do and captured a similar kind of reflective tranquility.

Speaking of Atsu, the most obvious difference between Tsushima and Yōtei is the story. I don’t know how much value there is in trying to decide which lead character was “better,” but I love them both. Jin’s quest to save his homeland, even at the expense of defying his father and the samurai tradition, was amazing, but I do love a good revenge story. Tracking down these infamous interlopers as Atsu, many of them oozing with nefarious intent, and killing them one by one as I remind them of their evil deeds, was awesome. Particularly in the state of the world at present, when it’s so easy to feel powerless to everything going on, having the ability to stand up against violent oppressors felt very cathartic. [SPOILERS ahead] I do think the narrative feints near the end, weakening its impact, when it clumsily tries to introduce a “maybe vengeance isn’t the answer” message in and after the assault on Matsumai Castle. Astu’s choice between staying to kill the Dragon and flee with Jubei and Oyuki felt forced and arbitrary, as did the finger-wagging about revenge not being the answer after. They didn’t need Atsu’s help to flee, and she (we) had done far more to topple Saito and his leaders than anyone up to that point. Yes, Atsu’s revenge was supposed to be about her family’s deaths and the argument is that she has a new family that she is failing to protect, but what about the locals who are also being slaughtered and who are also cheering on Atsu as she fights to liberate them? I wish more had been done to beef up that conflict, between family obligation and vengeful justice, because when it seemed like I was supposed to feel conflicted as a player, I was not. I wanted my revenge and to take down this bloodthirsty invader.

That relatively small quibble aside, I loved Ghost of Yōtei just about as much as I loved Ghost of Tsushima, and I’m sad that it’s not really getting its flowers this awards season. Nothing beats riding my horse (Mochizuki) through fields of drifting flower petals, racing toward a mysterious forest that holds the story of a fallen samurai or vengeful spirit. The glance of an enemy’s blade as I parry and run them through. The chitter of a gleeful fox as it leads me to an undiscovered shrine. And I can’t forget my faithful wolf companion, who I fought alongside to free her compatriots and my own. There were some emotional moments in the game, but the one that got me the most was when I parted ways with my canine companion at the very end. Tears, man. So many tears.

PowerWash Simulator 2

PowerWash Sim 2 is definitely a “more of the same” sequel, but I am 1000% okay with that. The first game was such a surprise obsession for me that shaking up the simple formula of “see dirt, spray dirt” sounded scary to me. Luckily, the changes the devs made are mostly superficial or incremental, not revolutionary. They added a home base to customize, a few parts for the power washer, cosmetics, and (most importantly) more cats. Hell yeah.

As with the first game, I found a special kind of joy in the tranquility of steadily, methodically washing various objects and environments. You start slow, unsurprisingly, with a van, then a public restroom, then a campsite. You gradually work your way up to larger areas, like the outside of a gas station, a roller disco, and an outdoor adventure park. Just like with the first game, sometimes I would load into a big level like the planetarium and feel a sense of “oh shit. This is going to take forever…” But it only made the process and outcome that much more rewarding. I like starting at the “seams,” as I think of them: borders, corners, edges. It gives me an outline and separates huge areas into smaller compartments, which I then begin washing one by one. Sometimes I might step back and observe my progress, but often I’m so caught up in the process that I’m 80% done before I even realize it.

One of my favorite podcasts, Pew Pew Bang, had their own bespoke gaming awards this (their first) year, and one of the categories was “Best Game We Stayed Up Too Late Playing.” PowerWash Sim 2 would have won this category for me hands down. I’m already a night owl, but I would very frequently find myself getting lost in the dirty, dirty sauce as I blasted away layers of grime, only to snap out of it and look at my phone: 4:30am. Cool. Cool cool cool. But I loved it. I could listen to podcasts, talk to my cat, or just spin a playlist for hours and ultimately feel accomplished when I set the controller down. Plus, the weirdly deep and quirky story is back, with little sprinkles of humor and lore to look forward to at regular intervals. Will I want revolutionary updates in future installments? Maybe. For now, though, I’m content to keep spraying the night away with whatever new vehicles, buildings, and locations they give us. Also, not for nothing, I had two dreams about power washing things while I was playing this game. It infected my dreams.

Donkey Kong Bananza

My history with Donkey Kong outside of his appearance in things like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart is mostly limited to the original arcade games and the Donkey Kong Country games. I did play the original Mario vs. Donkey Kong, but that didn’t exactly feel like a true DK game. I loved the Donkey Kong Country games, though, so I should probably get around to playing Donkey Kong 64 and the other recent-ish 3D titles. That table setting aside, I really enjoyed my time with Bananza, even if it began to feel a bit long near the end (my playtime was about “65 hours or more,” according to my Switch 2).

It dragging on near the end could be my own fault, though. If you want it to be, Bananza is a big game. There are tons of bananas to chomp up, fossils to bash in, and outfits to unlock. I wasn’t taking a completionist route by any stretch, but I see banana, I get banana, even if I didn’t end up necessarily needing some of the abilities they unlocked. So I probably could have trimmed my playtime by 15 hours and made the final stretch, filled with a few final boss fake-outs, feel much less bloated. Big picture/length aside, I had a barrel blast (get it? get it?) playing this game. Smashing through walls, floors, enemies, and more never really got stale, and transforming into a hulking zebra or elephant to cause even more destruction or solve puzzles was a ton of fun.

The game felt great to play, I really liked the relationship between DK and Paulina, and [SPOILER] the reveal of the actual final boss to be King K. Rool was very cool. There were lots of easter eggs and nods to other DK games, like the retro DKC levels (hell yeah), musical motifs spliced with the new music, returning characters, and more. Also, I think I might have to start a series of posts called “I’m not a furry, but…” because there are enough animal-based characters that I find myself strangely attracted to that it should be noted for posterity. I don’t care, Poppy has got it going on. The attitude, the hair, the enemy-to-ally of it all? I’d let her donkey my kong, if you know what I’m saying. Nope, never mind, I don’t even know what that means. Anyway, Bananza was a great game and I can see why it received so many accolades this awards season.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

I have a very clear memory about Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2) that I’ve been meaning to write a Gaming Memories post about. I’ll do that soon, but suffice to say I had a great time with the original MGS3 and was very excited when I saw the first trailer for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. I’m on the side that is happy that it’s a 99% faithful recreation and not a reconstruction, like recent Resident Evil games. As much as I love those, I think a game like MGS3 has a certain charm in its silliness and occasional jank. I have seen some people complain about the ambiance lost with the removal of the kind of fuzzy haze that the original had (partially due to graphical limitations), but I like the clear, highly defined graphics and I’m not sure a modern game would look the same with that kind of nostalgic fuzz.

Either way, it was a lot of fun playing as Naked Snake once again. Some of it seems even sillier now than when I first played it, like Snake’s obsession with the most basic features of basic firearms and Ocelot’s infamous meow (which I had somehow scrubbed from my memory despite playing the original like seven times), and the thrill of the survival mechanics isn’t quite there after all these years, but it’s still a very fun, very unique game that I have tons of fond memories with. I still loved changing camo to blend in with different environments, the challenge of doing a non-lethal run, hoarding nudie mags like I do in real life and wait what, nevermind, I also loved seeing all of these familiar characters in super high fidelity.

One new memory I’ll share before I move on: The game opens with Snake starting the Virtuous Mission, HALO jumping into a Soviet forest in spectacular fashion. When the cutscene ended, I was in awe of my surroundings. The trees, foliage, etc. looked so good. Once I gathered myself and my gear, I moved to the next area: Dremuchij Swampland. I remembered this was the first area you enter because of the very goofy but also cute gavial crocodiles that skulk about. I can’t remember if you get the Crocodile Suit and Croc Cap from a pre-order or collector’s edition bonus, but I had it to start the game which was very cool because I don’t think I’d ever had it that early before. I could just cruise through this swampy area with that suit! I pulled the suit on, put on my cap, and started sneaking my way through the swamp by lowering myself into a crawl in the shallow water. Where I drowned. Immediately. In a croc suit and three inches of water. Sweet.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

I’ve played most of the mainline Zelda games, but there are some glaring omissions in my play history, none more notable than The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Growing up an avid reader of video game magazines (and later websites), I frequently saw Link to the Past near the top of not only greatest Zelda games lists, but greatest games of all time lists. I think I missed it originally because I didn’t fall in love with Zelda games until Ocarina of Time on the N64. I liked the original The Legend of Zelda for NES and have a lot of nostalgic love for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (the title screen and music still give me chills), but by the time I was bottling fairies and riding Epona in Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past felt dusty and outdated (this was the early days of 3D games, when this wasn’t an uncommon sentiment). I did try to play it via the Virtual Console on my WiiU at one point, but for some reason the opening, uh, five minutes(?) didn’t grab me so I moved on.

Determined to scratch this historically significant giant off my backlog before I dived into my copy of Expedition 33, I made it a point to actually get into it this time. And, surprise surprise, it wasn’t hard. I do own a copy of the SNES version, but I chose to take the easy route and play it on my Switch 2 via Nintendo Switch Online. Hey, I don’t feel at all guilty about using the handy rewind and save state features. When I finally crawled out of bed as Link and started to explore Hyrule, I was… slightly underwhelmed? Maybe that sounds like I’m being a contrarian hipster, but I guess after hearing about how incredible and perfect the game was, I was expecting something more? That’s on me, not the game, of course, but I had to mention it. I was also weirdly surprised by how much like the original The Legend of Zelda it was. Link moves from screen to screen, the same enemies populate a given area, you attack them from just the top, bottom, or sides, occasionally you push or pull something. It felt very basic, and when I looked at the map and how relatively small this version of Hyrule was (unfair to compare it to 3D versions, I know, I know), I was left feeling a bit like “oh… so this is it? Huh.”

Fear not, hardcore Zelda fans, and put down the tridents. I did eventually come to see why this game is so beloved. First of all, the “small” Kingdom of Hyrule was doubled in size when I discovered the Dark World version of the map. And, yes, the gameplay is relatively simple and straightforward, but the levels and combinations of enemies/environmental dangers became increasingly more complex and challenging. I breezed through the first few dungeons in the game, but the later ones were pretty daunting. I don’t know how I would have had the patience to overcome the final dungeon without the rewind feature. I also had frequent attacks of nostalgia, despite having never played the game. I loved the animated The Legend of Zelda show as a kid, and though it’s based on the NES game, so many of the enemies and items are in Link to the Past, too. By the end of the game, I got it. It may not be my favorite Zelda game, but I did love my time with it. Besides being a great game, it ignited the warm, fuzzy memories that I associate with tossing my bookbag aside and powering up my SNES to lose myself in adventure. And I’ve finally checked it off the ol’ backlog. Phew.

Hypnospace Outlaw

I’ve written about my love of desktop sims like Emily is Away, Her Story, and Secret Little Haven, so it’s no surprise that a friend has been recommending Hypnospace Outlaw to me for years. I finally got around to it, and it really does seem like I have a weakness for games that recreate late 90s/early 2000s online environments (even with lots of creative liberties). The game takes place in 1999, which was just a couple years before I fully got online, but the fictional OS and web browser did make me think of Netscape Communicator and early Yahoo sites.

I had so much fun exploring the many unique yet familiar user pages. The conservative Christian page with a cult-like aura, the edgy, angsty teen, the chaotic group of nerds trying to maintain a shared space. The overuse of animated gifs and terrible background music was spot on, as was the tone with which some of the users wrote. It had a very “this is so new, hello world, wow, I’m really posting on The World Wide Web” vibe, which to my recollection is very accurate. It all tickled a unique brand of nostalgia for me that seems so hard to recreate in other mediums. The story was also very fun, and there were some genuinely very funny beats. My favorite was banning the use of a copyrighted image and deleting references to it on one of the more buttoned-up conservative user’s pages, and having her freak out and start rallying other like-minded people to her cause. Good times.

Gears of War: Reloaded

I played the first three Gears of War games on Xbox 360, and they were among the really great first-party series that made me heavily favor my 360 over PS3 that generation. Gears of War was violent, yes, but it was the intense cover-based shootouts and co-op experience that really drew me in. So, to honor my best memories with the game, I chose to play this remastered version co-op as well, with my friend Paul. I think we were both shocked that it took us only two play sessions to clear the story in six hours. I’m sure there was a lot more trial and error/dying in our original playthroughs those many years ago, but damn.

Like a lot of recent remasters, Gears of War: Reloaded looked and played just how we remembered (which is to say much better than it actually looked and played at release). Similar to my playthrough of the remaster of the first Mass Effect, however, one thing that stood out to me was the now-outdated level design. Massive doors, the inability to have too many enemies on screen at once, checkpointing that yoinks your co-op partner to your location, etc. Such were games at the time, though, and I still had a lot of fun replaying this game. Finding cogs, the sound of checkpoints and achievements (weirdly, it has both the Xbox achievement sound and the PlayStation trophy sound because I played it on PS5), the thrill of nailing a perfect reload, the powerful sniper rifle… all wonderful reminders of a simpler time in gaming.

Dispatch

I’m so glad I was able to fit this one in before the end of the year. Despite being a big superhero and comics fan, this game somehow slipped under my radar. I haven’t heard many people talking about it (among my friends and the podcasts I listen to, at least), but it sure seemed to garner some awards season attention. So when I was chatting with a colleague and he said it was one of his favorite surprises of the year, that sealed it. I bought it immediately and started it right after finishing Zelda. And I am in love.

It’s a short game, shorter than I’d like (only because I want more [insert meme of Kylo Ren screaming “MORE!” here]), but I was fully invested in the characters and story right from the jump. Heck yeah I was flirting with Blonde Blazer, but eventually I began to fall for Invisigal. Robert’s relationship with Chase? His rivalry with Flambae? Yes to all that and more. The writing and voice acting is top notch. It’s the kind of script where every other line may elicit a smirk or chuckle, but I genuinely found myself laughing out loud after several especially funny lines. And, yeah, tearing up a few times as well. Because it’s so heavily narrative and short, I’ll avoid any spoilers, but I will say that it ended up being one of my favorite games of the year, for sure.

Journey to Silius

As a former kid who used to browse the game aisle at Blockbuster with wide eyes and an empty wallet (and an amateur collector), I’ve seen a lot of NES cover art in my time. But when I spotted the cover for Journey to Silius at a small used game shop in Michigan, I was struck by how alien it looked. I don’t think I’d ever seen it before, but I was instantly drawn to the retro-futuristic planetscape, the eclipse, the stars, the 80s sci-fi font… I bought it without a thought and threw it on the backlog pile. I was browsing the NES games on Switch Online recently and I saw that Journey to Silius was actually in the collection! Stunned, I decided it was time to check out the game with the cool cover art.

I have to admit, it was so far from what I expected that it kind of threw me. Looking at the cover art, of this seemingly isolated world with broken down technowalls under an ominous but enchanting starfield and eclipse, when I clicked on the game icon I expected to be greeted by moody, mysterious music. Something like Metroid. Nope. The upbeat beeps and boops of 8bit sci-fi action titles hit me for a shock. The game, too, was far less atmospheric than I’d expected, playing more like Contra than Metroid. In just the first level, there are so many enemies and environmental dangers, all seemingly placed exactly where the player might jump, land, or stand, that even with Switch Online’s rewind feature I was struggling. Maybe once upon a time I might have had more patience for this kind of game. Or, hey, maybe some day in the future I will, too. For now, I’m glad I tried it and can strike it from my backlog, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for based on the enchanting cover art.

Backloggd

Speaking of backlogs, I wanted to briefly touch on one part of my motivation to revisit and start chipping away at my backlog: Backloggd, a site where you can build, organize, and track your game collection. It’s not a collector site, though, so don’t expect there to be much in the way of hardware, peripherals, condition, etc. I have a separate document that I use to track my collection, and I do note if I’ve played or beat games on there, but I really like having a place where I can add games, see cover art, write reviews, and more. If I’m being honest… it’s mostly about the cover art. I really love seeing grids of cool game covers, heh. It took me many hours to add my entire collection (like, so many hours it started feeling like work!), but it was actually a blast going through my games, revisiting titles that I haven’t played but have been meaning to for years. As I searched for each game, I found myself with conflicted emotions. On the one hand, it was fun seeing how many games I have yet to play, some of them I’m sure to love. On the other hand, I have… a lot of games I own but haven’t played, so I also felt an odd sense of guilt and dread. Like, will I ever finish them? Will that fateful day that I often dream about, where I’m totally free to just play through my entire catalog, ever actually come? Probably not anytime soon, and until then I was inspired enough to start chipping away at some of them, as noted above with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Journey to Silius. I really wanted to pop the Metroid Prime Trilogy into my Wii U and play Prime 2 and 3 before I dive into Metroid Prime 4 soon, but I just knew as soon as I did that Nintendo would announce the long/heavily rumored remasters. I did also play a couple hours of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, but I installed the new cart battery backwards and lost my save so I don’t wanna talk about it. Insert that angry emoji where it’s blowing air out of its nose here. But if all goes well, my future catch-up posts may just be littered with bits of old games I continue to scratch off my ever-growing list. For now, it’s on to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Finally.

E3 2017 Wishlist

I’ve been thinking about E3 for a few months now, particularly with Nintendo’s anemic release schedule for an otherwise successful Switch launch. E3 is not quite the spectacle it once was, but it certainly seems to have gotten some of its mojo back in recent years. So much so, in fact, that I continually find myself excited to watch the keynotes (as awkward as some of the speakers are) to see what surprises are in store. Since E3 is just a few weeks away and I have the space to ramble about the games I hope to see revealed there, I figured I’d post them here. Some of these are pie-in-the-sky wishes, I know, and I’m skipping games that have already been announced or are heavily rumored to appear (like the new Assassin’s Creed game or Super Mario Odyssey). But speculation can be fun, even if hopes are dashed or wishes go unfulfilled.

Nintendo/Switch

New and Improved (and Retroactive) Virtual Console

Okay, so I just finished saying I won’t be including obvious things on here, but it seems like there is a genuine air of mystery surrounding Nintendo’s plan for their Virtual Console service. It makes sense that Nintendo would save it for the fall, though, to add a huge bonus for holiday shoppers who might be on the fence about Nintendo’s new console. What’s less certain, it seems, is what the service will look like. Will they start from scratch? Will they include GameCube games now? Will it include handheld games, given the Switch’s ability to act as a portable system? The Virtual Console was incredible on the Wii, but it definitely dropped off early in the Wii U’s life. I suspect this might have been due to slow sales and Nintendo’s determination to introduce a radical new console successor so (relatively) soon after the Wii U’s launch. So my guess is that Nintendo saved their resources by shifting their Virtual Console development from the Wii U to the Switch much earlier than we might have thought. So, in the end, here’s my hope: they announce the entire Virtual Console back catalog will be available this summer, and new titles and platforms (including GameCube and portable systems) will start rolling out regularly in October.

Mother 3/Brand New EarthBound Game

Part of what informed my thought process for my Virtual Console prediction/hope is how Nintendo handled their release of EarthBound Beginnings (Mother) for the Wii U Virtual Console. Nintendo’s announcement that they would release the game for the first time outside of Japan came out of nowhere and reignited the rumors that Mother 3 would eventually be released here, too. Reggie Fils-Aimé was even sort of evasive when asked about the prospect of a port, saying something about not having anything to announce and waiting to see what happened with EarthBound Beginnings. Well, what happened with EarthBound Beginnings was that it was very successful for them, and it was a mainstay on the front page of their Wii U Virtual Console store for months. So all signs seemed to point to an eventual release of Mother 3, and 2016 made the most sense, being the tenth anniversary of the game’s Japanese release. A loud, widespread rumor that an announcement was imminent made the rounds that year, but nothing came of it. So why now? Well, by 2016 Nintendo was almost certainly winding down Wii U development behind the scenes, and as I said about the Virtual Console, I bet they abandoned most plans to introduce new games or console options and moved team members to the Switch team. It makes sense when you look at the Wii U’s weak Virtual Console offerings in its last year (or longer, really), and it would explain them holding off on a release of Mother 3. With the Switch and NES Classic, Nintendo is riding high on a wave of nostalgia and adoration from both casual players and hardcore Nintendo fans, so they know they need to capitalize on that this fall. Announcing Mother 3 (or, if I’m really dreaming, a whole new EarthBound game) at E3 would be something for the faithful Nintendo fans and would definitely make a splash with the gaming press. I have been disappointed many times before with regards to this series, but I’m holding out a little more hope than normal this year.

New Eternal Darkness Game

Nintendo recently renewed the trademark for Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, though that doesn’t necessarily mean a sequel is on the way. It could, sure, but it could also just be a matter of housekeeping for Nintendo, or it might mean a port of it is coming for the Switch’s upcoming Virtual Console. I’m hoping that it really does mean that a new game or a remaster is coming, though, for a couple of reasons: first, the Switch has lots of new technology that a development team could play with. The most interesting and innovative thing that Sanity’s Requiem introduced was the “sanity meter” and the weird effects that the game would employ when your sanity meter ran low, specifically the ways in which they tried to mess with the player and make them think that weird things were happening independent of the game – the console rebooting, sudden deaths, fake television volume changes, etc. The Switch’s Joy-cons have infrared sensors on them, meaning they could actually change your television’s settings (if you have it synced). Those same sensors can apparently read movement and shapes, too, and the HD rumble can produce sensations that the GameCube controller never could. Bugs crawling in your palm? Maybe. The game could also force you to switch between the handheld mode and television mode, or read your game history (like Psycho Mantis does in Metal Gear Solid). So the possibilities for fun, creative, disturbing uses for the Switch’s hardware make a sequel an exciting and not totally unlikely scenario. My second reason for hoping for a sequel is in Nintendo’s new approach to their core audience. After the relative failure of the Wii U, they seem more keen to listen to their core audience than they have been in a long time, and they seem almost giddy with unannounced secrets. Sequels to games like EarthBound and Eternal Darkness would be shocking to many, so the buzz among the hardcore audience would increase noticeably, I think. Also, the Switch is going to need some original content for mature audiences, since it seems unlikely that many of the popular shooters will make their way to the system for a while, if ever.

eternal_darkness_screen_1_small — Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

New Smash Bros.

This one might also seem like a given, but what I’m actually hoping for is a new Smash Bros. game, not a ‘deluxe’ version of the Wii U Super Smash Bros. The odds are not in my favor, though, since Nintendo could probably have a deluxe edition ready by year’s end, and with much less cost, but if they announced a brand new game that would be out by next spring or fall, I’d be excited. I know some people are hoping for a deluxe version with all of the current DLC and maybe a couple of surprise new characters or levels, but I’m worried that a precedent will have been set by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with deluxe versions of other Wii U games delaying new entries in some great series. So, yeah, sure, I’d buy Super Smash Bros. Deluxe, but I’m really hoping for a new game announcement.

Animal Crossing Switch

What worries me about the prospect of a new Animal Crossing is that there is an upcoming mobile Animal Crossing game. I’m cautiously enthused about that game. I don’t think it will be a full Animal Crossing experience, though, so what does that mean for the Switch? Will it give Nintendo an excuse to neglect the series for a while? It’s been five years since the series’ last proper installment, New Leaf for the 3DS, so it does seem like a good time to announce an Animal Crossing for the Switch. If we’re lucky enough to get that at E3, I’m hoping to see an easier way to visit people’s towns, vastly improved detail in the graphics (the simple design is fine, but Nintendo’s always seemed to use that as an excuse to be lazy with the graphics), and maybe more non-village places to visit (vacation homes, perhaps). Also, I know Nintendo abandoned the ability to collect and play classic NES games after the original Animal Crossing because they would go on to sell those same games digitally, but I think it would be kind of neat if you could buy/earn/find various consoles in a new Animal Crossing game and then access Virtual Console games directly from your Animal Crossing world (games you’ve already purchased, of course). If they threw in a free NES game (one per account) for your first birthday in the game, that would be even cooler. But now I’m really dreaming.

animal-crossing-mario-kart-8-small — Animal Crossing track in Mario Kart 8

Sony/PlayStation 4

Dragon Quest XI

Nintendo’s 3DS has gotten plenty of Dragon Quest love in recent years, but the last numbered entry in the series to be released on home consoles in America was Dragon Quest VIII. That was in 2004. From what I’ve seen, the world of Dragon Quest XI has the same colorful beauty that I loved about VIII, so I very much want it to make its way across the Pacific, and an announcement at E3 would be amazing, if not the most shocking thing to be announced. With the release of several successful remakes and spinoffs, like Dragon Quest Builders and the Dragon Quest Heroes games, it seems like Square Enix have every intent to fully invest in making the core series as successful in the US as it is in Japan. But the fact that their MMO, Dragon Quest X, never got a western release makes things a little more complicated. If that one wasn’t worth translating, manufacturing, and distributing, will XI be worth the same financial risk? We’ll see, I suppose, and hopefully at E3.

Until Dawn 2

Until Dawn was such a nice surprise when it came out. The premise and mechanics are so simple and straightforward that it would have been easy for me to overlook, but luckily I had a friend that highly recommended it to me. The game is gorgeous, the subtle (and not so subtle) nods to a myriad of horror films were fun to catch, and the game was short and exciting enough to easily invite multiple playthroughs. Some of the actors have said that they’d be willing to do a sequel, and the game’s executive producer has expressed interest in continuing the series beyond the game’s spinoff, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood. But other than that nothing has been announced or even heavily rumored. So I’m hoping for some kind of announcement at E3, even if the game itself is a couple of years away. Bonus round: What if the sequel is fully VR? Yes, please.

Multi-platform

Bully 2

Every time there is a rumor of an upcoming Rockstar announcement, or they say that they’re working on more than one project, I hope that it’s Bully 2. It’s strange, really, because it took me a while to warm up to the first game, and even still it’s not one of my favorite games. It is fun and quirky, though, and I did end up growing quite fond of the characters and the small world that they inhabited. Members of Rockstar have said that a sequel is likely inevitable, but with Grand Theft Auto V, released four years ago, we’ve seen a dedication to producing extra content for existing IPs rather than development of a number of new games or sequels. Red Dead Redemption 2 is scheduled for spring of 2018, but what beyond that? Four years of DLC and then another game? I doubt it, but I want at least a couple of non-GTA games in the next few years, and I hope that one of them is Bully 2.

bully-scholarship-edition-xbox-360-small — Bully: Scholarship Edition

New Tomb Raider

With two and a half years separating the release of Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider, the announcement of a spring 2018 release of the next installment in the series at E3 would be of little surprise to anyone, especially with the release of the rebooted movie slated for March of next year. I haven’t heard much from Crystal Dynamics or Square Enix, though, which makes me think an announcement at E3 is likely. Will it be another timed exclusive, though? Where will the game be set? Will they try something shockingly new with this one, or will it be another refinement of an already solid formula? I’m hoping for a big, flashy, informational announcement at E3.

Rise-of-the-Tomb-Raider-2-small — Rise of the Tomb Raider

Soulcalibur VI

I could swear I recently read an interview with someone at Namco Bandai where they said they have no plans to continue the Soulcalibur series, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. I can’t find very much about the future of the series either, though, so maybe that’s saying something similar. As it stands, it seems like there are no immediate plans for a Soulcalibur VI, but I would love to see something at E3. I do feel like the last couple of games have been less accessible than Soulcalibur II, but the games are always visually stunning and fun to (clumsily) play with friends. I’d love for the next entry to be a bit more casual/arcade-y, because I don’t have the time to commit to mastering fighting games like I used to, but I’ll take anything at this point.

soulcalibur-v-viola-small — Soulcalibur V

I have other hopes and dreams, like a surprise fall release date for the Final Fantasy VII remake, or a Chrono Trigger sequel, or a new Parasite Eve game, but those seem pretty unlikely, so I’ll just cross my fingers and hope I get half of my list above.

Dear Nintendo: Where is Dr. Peach?

I find myself thinking a lot about games I’d like to see made, especially when a new console or technology is released. I don’t mean “I want Nintendo to make another Mario Kart,” because that’s inevitable. I mean the sort of far-fetched, pipe dream type of games that seem unlikely candidates for development – actually, a good example would be a mobile or 3DS/Switch version of the old LucasArts game Pipe Dream, funnily enough. My time with the Nintendo Switch has spurred a flurry of these ideas. Some, like a new Eternal Darkness game, are not unique, especially given the fact that Nintendo recently renewed their trademark on that title. One of these ideas is not likely as popular, though: I want to see a new Dr. Mario game. Actually, I want to see a Dr. Peach game, to be more specific.

Dr. Mario came out for the NES and GameBoy in 1990, and I remember renting it several times from Blockbuster video because it was colorful, fun, and challenging. It was the only puzzle game that held a candle to Tetris for me, and it had an equally excellent and memorable soundtrack to boot. The game has been ported to several Nintendo consoles since, and has even received a couple of updates/sequels: Dr. Mario 64 (N64) and Dr. Mario Online Rx (Wii). Both were slightly upgraded glossy remakes, though, with a few new game modes and not much in the way of evolutionary gameplay. With Nintendo riding a new wave of nostalgia with the NES Classic Edition, and its surge in brand popularity with a strong release for the Switch, now seems like a perfect time for a new Dr. Mario game. Snipperclips has done well for Nintendo, showing that there is an audience for puzzle games on the Switch, and the genre is a popular choice for mobile gamers, who Nintendo seems to be catering to. Nintendo also seems to (finally) be fully on board with small, downloadable, indie (or indie-like) games, so all of this makes for an optimal opportunity to release a flashy new reimagining of an old classic. And the marketing would take care of itself. I mean, look at the Joy-cons, then look at the pills in Dr. Mario. You’re welcome, Nintendo marketing department.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_original/brkrlihtjphzsqo3pbnq.png

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/ssb/images/9/94/Dr._Mario_SSB3DS.png/revision/latest?cb=20141009153756

But hold on a second, Nintendo. I can see you over there in Japan, reading this and thinking “how did I come across this blog, nobody visits this site,” but then also thinking “what a great idea, let’s start production tomorrow!” Before you do that, I have one major request: make Princess Peach the doctor. Why was Mario the one with the advanced degree in the first place? Who was more likely to have the money and privilege to attend medical school: a plumber who never actually practices his current profession in the real world, or the princess of a royal family who has a title and vast wealth? I understand there were probably some 1980s-era gender norms coming into play, which is why Peach was in the game… but only as Mario’s assistant, nurse Toadstool.

Dr Mario Booklet — http://www.thegameisafootarcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Dr.-Mario-Game-Manual.pdf

The picture above is a page from the original game’s instructional manual, and as with many NES-era games, the premise of the game was presented in a short blurb in the manual. So, according to this premise, Mario ends up as a virologist in the Mushroom Kingdom’s research lab, which is already a little odd, but somehow Princess Toadstool (as she was known at that time) ends up as his assistant? The ruling monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom is letting a plumber run his research lab, and he makes his daughter, who is royalty, an assistant nurse?

DrMario5 — http://thevideogameartarchive.tumblr.com/post/115868716674/not-from-the-game-specifically-but-nintendo-power

Wait, wait, Nintendo, don’t get all defensive. I know that Dr. Mario was released a long time ago and I’m sure you’re cautious about revising the elaborate and nuanced background you so carefully introduced on that single page of an instruction booklet. So don’t do that. Just give Princess Peach her own story. Maybe she got tired of being an educated, cultured nurse for an unqualified doctor, so she went to Mushroom Medical School and got her own PhD in microbiology. Or maybe, on all of those long nights when she was captured by Bowser (in the Super Mario Bros. games, Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, etc.), she did a lot of independent studying. If you really want to get crazy, pull a Super Mario Bros. 2 ending and show us a scene where we find out that the previous Dr. Mario games were Mario’s drug-fueled hallucinations, with him strapped to a hospital bed and Peach having attended to him as the kingdom’s primary physician.

DrMario1 — http://thevideogameartarchive.tumblr.com/post/115868716674/not-from-the-game-specifically-but-nintendo-power

However you decide to develop the plot, a Dr. Peach game would be an excellent move. The Princess has long deserved a more prominent role in your games, and women’s rights are once again a hot political topic. Disney, who you have modeled yourself after in many ways, has made great strides to introduce stronger and more independent female characters in their work, so why not you? Some might argue that Peach is not smart or capable enough to be a doctor, given that she is always ‘getting herself kidnapped by Bowser’ (scare quotes to remove myself from that kind of victim blaming), but isn’t it about time she becomes strong, independent, and accomplished? It’s never too late for her to grow and mature as a character – and it’s not too late for you, either, Nintendo.

My Gaming Radar: 2017

First, I should say that this is not necessarily just a list of unreleased games that I’m excited about playing in 2017. The stack of games I’ve bought but haven’t played yet is bigger than my bank account, so my immediate gaming future will be spent catching up on some of those, and I begin my list with those that I actually plan on playing in the next few months. I couldn’t hope to get through the entire stack, even if I had several months off (sorry, copy of Secret of Evermore that I’ve had for almost twenty years!), so I’m just going with recent-ish purchases.

Aside from that, yeah, these are some games that I am very excited about and are scheduled to be released in 2017. It’s a long-ish list already, so I’m excluding games that I’m only passively interested in (sorry, Ni no Kuni II, I still have to finish your predecessor), games that I’ve already played in some form (like Final Fantasy XII or Dragon Quest VIII), games that I’ve started and am still playing (The Division, Rock Band 4, GTA V, etc.) and games that are only rumored to be coming out (like, well, half of the games for Nintendo’s Switch). I’ll conclude with games that I want to see announced this year, because if anyone reads this and gets that far they deserve to be rewarded with even more text to half-read and zero-enjoy. You’re welcome!

Final Fantasy XV

This game was in development for so long that I hadn’t even thought about it in years. Real, literal years. But when I got an email about pre-ordering it, an old familiar excitement rushed through me. Final Fantasy games have changed a lot over the years, but I haven’t hated any of them, even if some are less memorable than others. And some, like XII, are high up on my favorite-games-of-all-time list, so I am very excited to play this one. I’d been waiting for winter break to start it because playing narratively immersive games is hard for me during the busy semester, so I should get to it before I’m out of time and up to my neck in all kinds of work again. I know very little about it, because I tend to avoid reading previews and reviews on games that I am very excited about, to avoid getting too hyped or running into spoilers, but it looks gorgeous from the few screenshots and videos I’ve seen. I just hope the combat is fun, like it was in XII.

Life is Strange

This game seems pretty easy to consume in small chunks, so I will likely save this for the middle of the semester, when I can guiltily sneak in only 20-30 minutes of gaming every few days (if I’m lucky). I’ve heard lots of good things about it, and I have very much enjoyed other recent games that have more of a focus on narrative than mechanics. It also came up in a presentation I attended, about using video games in literature courses, so I am curious to play it with that in mind and see how I might fit it into my own future courses.

The Last Guardian

Okay, full disclosure: I own both Team Ico’s Ico and Shadow of the Colossus but I have yet to beat either of them. Or, well, play either of them for more than five or ten minutes. But I will! Some day. Some distant, distant day. I am determined to break that habit with The Last Guardian, which I never thought I’d see released at all. I enjoy big, mainstream games as much as the next person, but sometimes I need these smaller, quirky games to remind me of the vast spectrum of what video games have come to be. Also, that bird-dog better not fucking die, man. I’m telling you right now, Team Ico, despite the game already being complete!

Paper Mario: Color Splash

Now we’re getting into the games that I will probably have to save for summer break, but I am still very excited about games like Paper Mario: Color Splash. The Paper Mario series has followed the Nintendo tradition of refining and perfecting a solid formula rather than reworking and trying to revolutionize new entries. The upside to this is that you end up with some of the best games on any platform, but sometimes it can feel tiring after a while (lookin’ at you, Animal Crossing). It’s somewhere between the two for me, with regards to Paper Mario, so I’m both expecting a high quality, thoughtful experience with Color Splash and hoping for something different enough to make it feel like a very new and different game. But the cute style and odd humor will win me over, either way. Paper Peach is still on my list of tattoos that I might get eventually.

Dead Rising 3

The first Dead Rising game was, I thought, flawed but fun, and the second improved a bit on my main area of complaint (the whole ticking time-bomb structure). Even if I don’t get into the story or characters in this third entry, I’ve always loved exploring the detailed environments and the many ways with which to dispatch the undead. The previous entries did an impressive job with the last gen hardware, considering how good the games looked and how many objects were on screen at once, so I am excited to see how the Xbox One’s horsepower lends itself to creating an even more chaotic and inspiring world.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

I don’t have much to say about this one. I’ve enjoyed most of the Call of Duty games and I get around to playing them when I can get them for pretty cheap (I don’t play online so I never feel very rushed). I expect that this will be a solid, fun, short experience.

Halo 4

Man, I loved Halo 3. I played it online, a lot, and I had tons of fun with the video editor. I don’t know why it took me so long to get around to buying the fourth game, and I don’t expect I’ll get online with it this time around (having the right set of friends being into a game at the same time helps, I think), but I anticipate some epic, cinematic science-fiction battles.

Battlefield 1

I have a lot of FPSs to catch up on, it seems. Battlefield 1 looks gorgeous and I’m curious to see how they handle the World War I setting. Like many people, I picture that war as being very slow and bleak, but the videos of Battlefield 1 make it look very fast and flashy. For as much cynicism that this disparity had generated early in the game’s development, it sure has gotten a lot of good press post-release. So I might try and get to this before summer, if I can.

Titanfall

I never bought into the hype for this game, but it looked good enough to buy at a hefty Black Friday discount, so I’ll play it before I forget about it and it’s doomed to the probably-won’t-play-for-years pile.

Street Fighter V

Fighting games are super easy to play casually, so I’ll probably play this game (and the next entry) sporadically throughout the semester. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Street Fighter IV, so I expect this one to be at least as good.

Mortal Kombat X

I don’t remember the last time I played a Mortal Kombat game regularly, but with fairly strong buzz and a roster of DLC characters that include some of my favorite cinematic villains, I couldn’t pass this one up. Even if I don’t get into it half as much as I did with the first few MK games all those years ago, it will be nice to revisit the characters (and have a current MK game laying around for social gaming gatherings).

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past

Oh, man. Ever since Dragon Quest VIII enthralled and enchanted me over ten years ago, I have been waiting anxiously for another Dragon Quest experience like it. With no proper sequels released on home consoles, I made do with the Nintendo DS remakes, which were great, don’t get me wrong, but they didn’t have the same vastness and sense of exploration that VIII did. I don’t expect Fragments of the Forgotten Past will satisfy that sense, but I love the series so much that I will eat it up anyway. It will at least keep me satisfied until…

Dragon Quest XI

Okay, so, very little has been released about this entry in the series, leading me to doubt it will be out in 2017, but that’s what it’s listed as so I’ll hold out hope. And my hopes are high, given that this will be the first single player game in the main series to be released in the US since, well, VIII. And the few screenshots that I’ve seen look absolutely stunning. I hope they maintain the old-school RPG gameplay, which is a staple of the series, and don’t try anything too revolutionary. Still, just seeing a new Dragon Quest world rendered with the power of the PlayStation 4 is going to make waiting hard. But I will, and I’ll probably self-impose a blackout on reading any press about it, starting — now.

Resident Evil 7

Resident Evil 7 comes out just two weeks after the semester starts, which means… well, it means I’m going to have to play fast to make it through it before I get too busy. Waiting is not much of an option. Not only am I a big Resident Evil fan, but this game looks like it goes back to the series’ horror roots in the best way. I haven’t decided whether I’m going to play it in VR or not yet. The screen tearing and jaggies in the “Kitchen” demo worry me a bit, as does the fact that some VR games make me nauseous after a while. I’ll probably start out in VR and see how it feels. The graphics and lighting in the regular demo are spectacular, though, and I can’t wait to see where the biological agents come into play, as so far they’re playing the whole ‘inbred, rural serial killer’ thing up, but that is almost certainly a front. Like the mansion in the first game, I’m sure there is some underground or off-site facility where mutant/zombie stuff happens. As disappointed as I was that Silent Hills was cancelled, I like that Capcom seems to be embracing the same kind of tone and style for this new Resident Evil.

Outlast 2

Another embarrassing admission: I still haven’t beaten the first Outlast game. I died a few times in a row when I got to the basement, and I just wasn’t equipped to deal with that level of repeated tension and anxiety, so I put it aside. I’ll have to get back to it, because as a horror fan I loved the premise and atmosphere, and the sequel looks so great. The cornfield setting is especially exciting for me, because I live and go to school in a city surrounded by corn. I’m even trying to think of a way to bring it into the classroom, too, since my students will be well acquainted with corn field and their creepiness, so we can analyze setting and its effect on different audiences.

Horizon Zero Dawn

I don’t know much about the plot for Horizon Zero Dawn, other than it’s a sort of post–post-apocalyptic reclamation scenario (right? I might be remembering incorrectly). But the video they showed at E3, and the screenshots that I’ve seen have been stunning. I’m all about large, colorful, luscious landscapes, and this game looks to have that in spades. I’m all for new female lead characters, too, so I’m hoping she is cool and memorable.

Ace Combat 7

I’m cautiously optimistic about Ace Combat 7. Ace Combat 4 is one of my favorite games of all time, but since then the series has disappointed me to various degrees, with the last game I tried playing (Assault Horizon) being the worst of them. Having said that, 7 probably wouldn’t even be on my radar if it weren’t for the fact that it’s going to be fully compatible with the PlayStation VR. Will I get sick and want to have a real barf bag handy in my virtual cockpit? Maybe. But it just might be worth it. I just want the controls to return to the days of the fourth and fifth games in the series. Please. Pretty please.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar is so secretive about their games that I can’t even predict whether this will really be released this year or pushed back to spring 2018, but it seems slightly more likely that the former will actually happen. I loved Red Dead Redemption far more than I’d expected to, and Rockstar went so far above and beyond with Grand Theft Auto V that my hopes are apologetically high for the sequel. I’m hoping it’s set up like GTA V in that there is a fully fleshed-out single player campaign and then a vast and full-featured open-world multi-player mode as well. I’m ready to ride or die either way.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew

Okay, so the screenshots released for this game aren’t exactly inspiring. In fact, they look pretty generic and, well, crappy. BUT! Star Trek! In virtual reality! I won’t be too worried about the graphics being sub-par (I might even welcome it, in VR) if they get the gameplay and simulation parts right. My favorite Star Trek game is the SNES version of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – Starship Bridge Simulator. I loved being in the role of a cadet making their way through the academy and, eventually, getting my own ship and rank. This game sounds like it could potentially be a spiritual successor to that game, so I am hyped for it. I’m not sure it will start in the academy, but I hope so. Either way, I’m definitely excited to give this a shot. It might be a dud, but at the very least it will be a neat novelty game for the VR.

Mass Effect Andromeda

Is this the game I’m looking forward to most this year? Maybe. Probably. Maybe. The Mass Effect series is among my favorites, and this game looks pretty spectacular so far. The only thing keeping me from being more certain about its status is the cast of characters. The other Mass Effect sequels had the benefit of returning, beloved characters. I’m sure BioWare will conjure up yet another complex and lovable/hateable (in a good way) crew, but I don’t know anything about them at this point, so… I’m purposefully being wary. I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. Anyway, I hope away missions to planets makes a return, like the Mako missions in the first game. It would be even better if it were expanded on and you could land on any terrestrial planet. With games like No Man’s Sky and Elite: Dangerous it seems like an obvious direction to take, but once again I’m not going to get too hopeful. Regardless, I love BioWare and I love Mass Effect, so my life and free time are theirs once this comes out.

Nintendo Switch

Aside from what Nintendo showed at E3, I haven’t heard much about the gaming line-up for the Switch, so I don’t have much to go off of. There’s supposed to be a new Mario game ready for or near launch, duh. And there will eventually be a new Mario Kart, Mario Party, Metroid, etc. I’ve never been big into mobile gaming, so that part of the design is passively interesting at best for me. I am also a little disappointed (but not surprised) that the core system is not likely to be much more powerful than last-gen consoles. But, at the end of the day, it’s a new Nintendo console that will have new Nintendo games… gimme dat.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Okay, one last shameful confession before we wind things down: I bought The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess with my Wii at launch. I was super excited for the series’ return to darker and more realistic visuals. I played it for an hour or so and then didn’t touch it again for four or five years. At that point I felt dumb and guilty for never having given it a chance, especially given how much people seemed to like it. So I picked it up, played for seven or eight hours… and stopped. Again. I can’t let that happen again, so I am determined to play the shit out of Breath of the Wild, which looks colorful and fun and pretty wonderful so far.

NES Classic Edition

I have been trying to get one of these since it launched. It seems Nintendo is up to its old tricks, limiting stock and using the resulting madness to fuel sales for months. It works, of course, but I wanted one before it was the ‘it’ thing to grab. I have many of the games loaded on it, but for those that I don’t, and just to have a slightly up-res version of the NES with classic controllers, I want one. Badly.

Other Wishes

Very briefly, here are some non-obvious games I’d love to see announced or released this year. First up is Bully 2. It’s not that I loved the original more than any game ever, but I did very much enjoy the world and characters, and the fact that a sequel seems like a given and seems to constantly be rumored to be coming, I want it more and more every year. Maybe this year.

Second is Mother 3. After Nintendo’s surprise release of EarthBound Beginnings for the Virtual Console, my hopes for a US release of Mother 3 went from ‘never gonna happen’ to ‘any day now’ instantly. I was so sure they would have announced it last year, on the tenth anniversary of the Japanese version’s release. I lost some hope when it wasn’t, but it still seems like it has to happen at some point… I really hope it’s this year.

What else would be cool? A new Knights of the Old Republic game, thought it seems highly unlikely. A Star Wars VR game. A remake of Final Fantasy VIII, which seems highly likely (but not for another few years, probably). A new, real, huge Animal Crossing. A new Civilization Revolution would be nice, but is doubtful. And, of course, a Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross sequel or remake, as unlikely as it is.

Even without these dream games, 2017 is already shaping up to be a pretty decent year for video games. I look forward to E3 in the spring and how that might change things. Until then, I have an endless stack of games to get to.