Most Anticipated of 2019.

2018 saw a slew of great games find their way to our shelves and 2019 is looking like more of the same; more great games, more fun times and less money in you wallet. It can be exciting to think about all those games you could be enjoying this year so here are five that I’m looking forward to that maybe you should be too.

Battletoads.

Killer Instinct on the XBox One not only proved Microsoft could breath new live into one of Rare’s most beloved franchises but unlike, say Perfect Dark Zero, Killer Instinct X felt like a true rebirth for the franchise & with Battletoads, Microsoft have the chance to do that all over again. It won’t be easy but the potential for a brand new, 3D Battletoads is off the scale.

Why not play while you wait…Battletoads on the NES. If you’re hard enough.

Pokémon Switch.

While the Let’s Go titles might have split the fan base, Pokémon Switch promises to deliver a classic Pokémon experience alongside the best visuals in the series to date, a companion sure to please all us veteran trainers who have waited so long to see a fully fledged Pokémon title on home consoles. Or a hybrid one as some of you prefer.

Why not play while you wait…Pokemon Crystal on the 3DS so you can transfer all the mon over to Sun/Moon when you’re done.

Resident Evil 2 Remake.

Few series have had the ups & downs of Resident Evil, shifting senselessly between master piece (Resident Evil Remake) & dumpster fire (Resident Evil 6) from iteration to iteration. Resident Evil 2 meanwhile has remained the franchise’s darling, bridging the gap between action & horror in a way no other Resident Evil has been able to since. Resident Evil 2 Remake then has its work cut-out for it, however if Capcom can get this right we’ll have a great Resident Evil game on our hands.

Why not play while you wait…Resident Evil 2 on the Nintendo 64, a game no one thought possible back in the day.   

Cyberpunk 2077.

Developers CD Projekt have done something amazing in building the Witcher series up from cult PC classic to AAA block buster, & this year they’re looking to go beyond even what Geralt of Rivia has achieved with Cyberpunk 2077, a game more than 6 year & counting in development, & with more money behind it than anything CD Projekt have ever produced. Simply put, the potential for Cyberpunk 2077 is off the scale.

Why not play while you wait…Blade Runner PC, one of the best point & clicks ever, plus it’s Cyberpunk themed.

Left Alive.

The Metal Gear series is in limbo, & realistically may never reached the heights the series saw with Metal Gear Solid or Snake Eater again, thankfully a number of the minds who made the Metal Gear series have found their way over to SquareEnix & are now working on Left Alive, a brand new franchise set in the Front Mission universe, one that looks remarkably like an MGS game, now all it needs to do is nail the story and gameplay & we’ll have a new classic on our hands.

Why not play while you wait…Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes on the GameCube, the definitive version of the the classic.

Col.

Left Alive.

The Front Mission games are a long running series from Square Enix that involves war and big robots, and Left Alive is the latest addition. I’m picking up were Col left off so I’ll keep it brief. It’s got a 5th of March release date for the PS4 and PC. It’s also got on board Mr. Toshifumi Nabeshima, whose worked on the Armored Core series, Dark souls 2, Lost Kingdoms and Tenchu Fatal Shadows (great!).

Why not play while you wait…Metal Gear Solid Acid on the PSP, a spin off based in the Metal gear universe

The Caligula Effect: Overdose.

is a content-expanded re-make of The Caligula Effect that came out for the Playstation Vita in 2016/17. Overdose was released in Japan for the PS4 in 2018 but this article is about 2019, so we want to talk about the Nintendo Switch release of Overdose that’s set for a release on the 15th of May. It’s a JRPG with a strong resemblance to the Persona series. That isn’t so surprising when you read that writer Tadashi Satomi (who has worked on previous persona titles) has played the same part for Overdose. The Caligula effect received mixed reviews, some really liking it, some really not liking it, but most slipping somewhere in the middle. Still, given the pedigree of some of the names in its development team, and the ever growing popularity of the Persona series Overdose is something worth looking forward to, especially if, like me, you missed out on the Vita game or, like me, always find interest in a good JRPG.

Why not play while you wait…Persona on the PSP to get a better look at Tadashi Satomi’s previous work. 

Judgment, formerly known as Project JUDGE, is a game that sees you take control of a detective who will use his skills to ‘uncover the secrets that lie deep within Kamurocho’s corrupt underbelly…‘ which all sounds very exciting. It’s made by the Sega team behind Yakuza, and it looks a lot like the Yakuza games, which also sounds very exciting. There’s also a voice cast of stars, that might sound very exciting to some of you but I didn’t recognise any of the names, though not knowing a celebrity or two isn’t a situation that I’m unfamiliar with (maybe seeing their faces would help). In any case, Judgement is heading to the west in Summer 2019, exclusively for the PS4, and though I’m not a fan of vague seasonal release windows its good just to know we’ll get a chance to play this latest from Sega.

Why not play while you wait…Yakuza Kiwami on the PS4, since you can never have enough street fights.

Daemon X Machina.

It’s another Nintendo Switch release and this time it’s an exclusive. Daemon X Machina is another game that has big robots in it and staff with experience on the Armored Core series, in this case Mr. Kenichiro Tsukuda and Mr. Shoji Kawamori. There’s also work from Mr. Yusuke Kozaki of Fire Emblem fame. The game itself has a sleek cel-shaded aesthetic and promises plenty of combat, customisation and both online and local multi-player action. Daemon X Machina has a 2019 release date according to the official Nintendo website, but with the capable minds behind the development it hopefully won’t be too long before we hear more concrete details.

Why not play while you wait…Any Armored Core on anything, they’re all good.

Bayonetta 3.

Bayonetta 3 is last up and it looks like Nintendo are going to provide us with another great year of games. This is partially wishful thinking as Bayonetta 3 has no official release date on the PlatinumGames website as of writing, but I’m hopeful we’ll see this Switch exclusive in 2019, even more so given it was originally revealed back in 2017 at the Game Awards alongside re-releases Bayonetta 1 and 2. I’ve yet to play a game from Platinum that I didn’t like and the Bayonetta games have been at the top of the hack and slash genre since the first released back in 2009/10. So anything that Platinum releases is worth keeping an eye on, especially Bayonetta. 

Ed.

Why not play while you wait…Bayonetta 1 & 2 on the Switch or Wii U. the latter can be yours for next to nothing these days.