As the weather turns ever bleaker, colder and, well, wintry, let’s cheer ourselves up by looking ahead to 25 of the most exciting upcoming releases of the next year and beyond. It no specific order, let’s delve into some upcoming titles that will quickly increase your PS4 games catalogue.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
The action-adventure genre doesn’t get much better than what the Uncharted series delivers, and that’s why we should be receiving yet another award winning experience from this stellar franchise. Expected to be the best in the series, Drake will bring more drama, thrills and action within a new and exciting plot. It’s hard not to imagine this game becoming one of the real highlights of 2016.
Project Setsuna
Project Setsuna or Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna – whatever the final title is (although it is likely to be the latter), this new release from Square Enix looks set to live up to the makers’ promise that it will be a classic RPG with charm and quality in spades. It may look traditional in setup, but the story is completely new rather than rehashing an old one and this also makes it an exciting one to watch.
What Remains Of Edith Finch
This next one sounds interesting. Built on a short-story type format, each of those stories is focussed on the death of a different member of the Finch family. As each story is different, the gameplay will therefore vary for each one which greatly adds to the interest of this release. Playing as Edith, you begin in the Finch family home which is a soup made up of generations of Finches and their interests and peculiarities. It’s intriguing, and certainly worth a look when it’s released.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
This release will be the fifth in the Star Ocean series and follows much the same format as the previous versions. It is an action RPG, and will take place in a time and setting between Star Ocean: The Second Story and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – or Space Date 537, to be even more precise. Although humanity in general is on the verge of peace (how nice does that sound?), there are rumblings of conflict on the planet of Faycreed. Well, damn those Faycreedians, there’s always one.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Harking back to a game which was released in 1997, a remake of Final Fantasy VII has long been called for. The original was ground-breaking and so there are high hopes for its remake. With nearly 20 years to think about it, surely the developers won’t just stop at improving the graphics? Much is still to be revealed, but it appears that there will be some new story content to look forward to. The wait is nearly over, FFVII fans, just hang in there a wee bit longer!
Shenmue 3
The creator of this franchise, Yu Suzuki, has always relied on Kickstarter funding for his projects, which naturally makes him stand out from the crowd. A recent update on Shenmue 3 has been provided for his Kickstarter backers and we have learned that the complete Shenmue story is comprised of 11 chapters; the third instalment picks up around chapters 4-5. Given his reliance on crowdfunding, Suzuki has created his product to be scalable as it is so dependent on the level of backing he receives. There’s a way to go with this one – a December 2017 release date is currently being advertised.
GT Sport
The racing genre hasn’t exploded on the PS4 yet, however, sometimes it’s not a matter of quantity, but rather, quality. Sony’s GT franchise has never failed to excite, and GT Sport is expected to continue this impressive trend. From stunning weather effects, visuals and gameplay – GT Sport is ready to be one of the best racing games ever released. It’s set to take full advantage of the PlayStation 4’s power, ultimately offering a racing experience that you can’t find else where.
Drawn to Death
The idea that this game will be set inside the pages of a teenager’s notebook is interesting – obviously it depends on the personality of the teenager in question as to what style of game we’ll get. However, given that we also know that it will be a third-person shooter multiplayer game, they probably haven’t chosen the teenager who lives in the library as their muse. The visuals are likely to reflect the hand-drawn nature of the teenager’s notebook, and so adult violence will mix with juvenile illustrations – what’s not to love?
The Tomorrow Children
The human race needs to be rebuilt as a horrendously disastrous experiment melted humanity’s consciousness – is this based on real life? Anyway, only you, dear player, can enter the Void and begin the weighty rebuilding process. You will toil, you will struggle, but you are the pioneer who must surely prevail? Well, if you don’t the first time I imagine you could just start the game again and give it another shot.
The Witness
While some of the games in this list are a long way off, The Witness is due for release next month. It’s a 3D puzzle video game and developers name Myst as one of their inspirations. It is open world, and you will progress by solving enough of the 650 puzzles to emerge victorious. Instruction and guidance are being kept to a minimum so this game will either draw you in with its mystery or leave you tearing your hair out in frustration. Still, not long to wait until you find out which camp you’ll fall into.
Rime
An open world action adventure and puzzle game being developed by Tequila Works. Not a huge amount is known at this stage, but the story involves a boy who needs to escape an island and a curse – double whammy. Players take on the role of the boy and must solve puzzles to progress.
Dreams
In Dreams, players can first create an ‘imp’ character which will act as a guide through the game. They are then placed in surreal environments consisting of different ‘dreams’; puzzles must be solved and obstacles must be overcome before progress (also known as escaping from each particular dream) can be made. A beta version is scheduled for release sometime next year, with the full version being scheduled for sale very soon after.
Street Fighter 5
When I played the original Street Fighter on my SNES I used to like playing as Chun-Li. There you go, who cares? The 5th incarnation of this hugely successful game carries on the traditions of its predecessors but with new characters to familiarise yourself with. It is scheduled for release in February of next year.
No Man’s Sky
The galaxy featured in this game is seemingly infinite. Infinite? Really? Well, it reportedly consists of around 18 quintillion worlds… The easiest retort to this is ‘prove it’, but that might get dull rather quickly so let’s just go with that and believe the makers, Hello Games. So, a game on this scale is sure to impress, no? Best to start young with this one – it is estimated it will take one gamer 584 billion years to discover every planet…
Hellblade
Touted as an independent AAA title by the developer, Hellblade will be an action, hacker and slasher. The gameplay is expected to take the player on a journey through the eyes of Senua, the main character. It’s the hellish world which bring on her psychotic developments. Expect brutal combat. Only time will tell as to how big this title might become – however, it certainly looks interesting.
Ratchet and Clank
Coming in Spring 2016, the latest in the franchise which has been with us since 2002 is eagerly anticipated by fans. It is based both on the first game in the series, but also on the recent film release. There will be changes too, however, so it is sure to feel fresh and different.
Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood
If you love horror games, then you’ll feel right at home, as the PlayStation 4 has continued to expand its catalogue. Until Dawn is one of those titles which provided something special and unique. It’s had fans crying out for a squeal at the earliest opportunity. Rush of Blood will bring a VR experience to the franchise, which involves travelling around the ultra-scary world on rails, theme park style. If you’re wondering whether this will be some kind of DLC, then you’d be wrong – it’s actually the real deal and a full standalone game. For those opting to get PS VR, this has to be an exciting announcement – after all, the spooky land of Until Dawn is about to get personal and even more realistic.
Horizon Zero Dawn
This action role-playing game will see you take on the character of Aloy as she (yes, she) works her way through a post-apocalyptic, robotic-dinosaur ruled planet, killing and hunting whatever she can find. Run of the mill methods such as tripwires and shooting can be used, but what I like the sound of most is the silent takedown. Scheduled for release sometime in 2016.
Amplitude
This is another Kickstarter funded project, and could soon be yours as it’s scheduled for release at the beginning of January (although a PS3 release date hasn’t yet been given). If you pledged more than $40 in the funding campaign, you will get it even earlier, in time for Christmas in fact; 23 December. The game has been described as a wonderful blend of rhythm gaming and sci-fi spaceship action – I don’t even know what that might begin to look like but it sounds so intriguing I’m tempted to get it for the description alone. There are more than 30 songs in the playlist and all in all this sounds like a worthy recomposition of the 2003 cult classic.
Let It Die
This was formerly known as Lily Bergamo and is a 2016 hack and slash action game being developed by Grasshopper Manufacture. There have been many changes in this game, not least the name and so what remains in the final version is as yet unknown. One intriguing concept however, is that if one player dies in the game he will reappear in another’s game and so the importance of death is paramount.
Dragon Quest Builders
There is an emphasis on construction and crafting here, but it is perhaps unfair to write it off as a Minecraft doppelganger. There is a charm present with this game which is unique to these builders and so it should be judged on its own merits. Once again there is not too long to wait to get started on this, quite frankly rather cute construction concept as it is scheduled for release at the end of January 2016.
The Last Guardian
This game has been in development for a long time but it is finally coming and fans, who have been instrumental in ensuring this project was finished, are going to have very high expectations of its quality. The story revolves around a boy and his developing friendship with a giant creature resembling a griffin. Stop singing Puff the Magic Dragon, come on now.
Ray’s the Dead
Play as Ray, a newly arisen zombie. This one is described as an action stealth puzzler and is set, for some unexplained reason, in the 1980s. Join Ray and his army of fellow zombies as he attempts to find out how he was killed, why he was resurrected and also why there is a lightbulb sticking out of his head… It all sounds rather quirky to be honest, but fun nonetheless.
Persona 5
It’s been long awaited by JRPG fans, however, 2016 will bring to light Persona 5. For those who love RPG, you’ll probably already be excited by this title. Featuring an engaging plot centred on the life of a high school boy, expect plenty of battles, which is delivered using a turd-based attacking system. If you aren’t already hyped about it, then now is the time to get excited.
Detroit: Become Human
Expected to have similarities to that of award winning title Heavy Rain, this upcoming science fiction game should impress. Featuring a character named Kara, who is an Android with an artificial conscience, and begins to learn how to integrate with society. Detroit is renowned for gangs and mayhem, and should bring an interesting twist to the plot which we are still to learn more about.
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