Video Games and Related To Look Forward to in 2023

[excelsior]

I made a thread on this the last couple of years, but I was hesitant this year because honestly I don't think I'm excited for a single game at this point. That said, there were quite a few good answers in past years so I figured I'd go ahead with it. Perhaps you guys can sell me on the year ahead?

I will no doubt be picking up Zelda and Pikmin 4, but Nintendo has kept their cards closer to their chest than even usual and so I find it difficult to be excited when there's no real footage or anything to delve into. I will also pick up Fight Forever if it runs well on the Deck, because it's no doubt going to be a mess on Switch. That said, I'm only cautiously optimistic on that one.

Also I'm hoping to have something else to look forward to on the games front this year that I can hopefully share, but it's not 100%. 

Anything you guys are looking forward to in 2023?

[dsparil]

But isn't it more exciting not knowing what coming up? Really just Zelda for me right now although I'll probably get FE Engage. Maybe Theatrhythm Final Bar Line if it works well with a controller. Octopath II soonish, but I was somewhat disappointed by the first game. I might wait for a sale on that one. There's still Monolith's unannounced project that's been swirling around for years, and maybe we'll finally see a Metroid Prime Trilogy port. I doubt this is the year for MP4 though.

[excelsior]

Jan 3, 2023 11:04:43 GMT -5 dsparil said:

But isn't it more exciting not knowing what coming up? 

It can be but it doesn't really give me anything tangible to look forward to here. I think this is probably going to be a bit of a transition year with some nice ports, honestly. It's pretty tough to think where something new could come from right now. I'd be very happy if we got a nice, simple 2D platformer. For me that's an area Nintendo have been lacking in this gen, relying heavily on ports.

I'd love to be wrong but I think that Monolithsoft artwork was just for recruitment purposes. I love the Xenoblade series but let's see what else they can come up with.

I'm waiting for a demo for Theatryhthm also. I really liked the old ones.

--
Anybody else looking forward to anything for the coming year?

[dsparil]

Poking around more, the unannounced game was probably just for whatever they're doing on Tears of the Kingdom.

[spanky]

Is Breath of the Wild 2 for sure coming out this year? That's the only thing that is going to be a must-have day 1 purchase for me. I don't really follow gaming news that closely anymore so I'm not even sure what is coming out. What are the odds Nintendo comes out with a new system and does a dual release of the next Zelda like they did with Breath 1 and Twilight Princess?

Other than that...probably just more retro games for me. I kinda want to do a playthrough of a couple 16-bit RPGs that I've missed over the years, since I had so much fun with Phantasy Star IV. Maybe something off the wall like I dunno...Robotrek.

[dsparil]

It got a date of May 12th in September.

[excelsior]

Yeah, here's the latest trailer. Still only a teaser, really, but we can expect a blowout in the next month or so. As far as a new console there are no signs of one launching alongside this game, and so I'd say it's unlikely this year. I'd have to imagine a remastered 'complete' edition of Tears of the Kingdom launches on the new hardware down the line though.

[Snake]

Jan 4, 2023 9:02:55 GMT -5 spanky said:

Other than that...probably just more retro games for me. I kinda want to do a playthrough of a couple 16-bit RPGs that I've missed over the years, since I had so much fun with Phantasy Star IV. Maybe something off the wall like I dunno...Robotrek.

Robotrek is definitely off the wall!  Haven't played it in years, but it's a pity that Quintet never made a follow-up to it.

I don't have anything particularly that I'm excited for.  Like Spanky, I'll be revisiting a lot of older stuff.  I've been hanging on limb, for a hard pre-order announcement for the X68000 Mini.  Other than that, I follow a fellow by the name of Robb Alvey, who runs a Retro Games Fan page on Facebook.  Just been waiting on his updated "Retropie"  that includes playable Saturn games and the full X68000 library.  


The new Zelda will be my excuse to splurge on a Switch OLED.  I guess Genso Suikoden 1 & 2 HD Remaster, which also reminds me that Eiyuden Chronicle:Hundred Heroes is set to release this 2023. 

[dsparil]

X68k Mini actually sounds interesting, but the prices in the crowdfunding campaign were too high for my liking. It's almost like they're really selling overpriced retro keyboards and mice and throwing in a mini system too. I'd get one if the system itself ends up being available on its own. The whole set was ¥49,500 (~$375) versus ¥29,500 for the keyboard and mouse alone.

[spanky]

The Suikoden remasters are something I could be interested in. I've never played either and people absolutely rave about them (especially number 2). Along the same lines I could see myself buying some (or all) of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters once they come to the Switch. Playing through all 6 Final Fantasies could be a good year long project. I don't like to overload on RPGs but the FF games are pretty breezy for the most part.

[lurker]

The Eiyuden Chronicle game is still coming out

[Apollo Chungus]

I don't really pay much attention to games that are coming out, but going through the 2023 games wikipedia article for stuff that could be cool (and faintly recalling stuff discussed on one of those "Japanese developers talk about their plans for the year" articles on Gematsu), there's a few things.

The port for Plumbers Don't Wear Ties on basically all of the systems. This isn't a joke, I sincerely wanna play that game as an example of an American-made visual novel made yonks before that genre started to get popular, and I hope that the port will finally get released at some point during the year.

While I wouldn't say Sonic Frontiers is a game I'm all that keen on, I am curious to see the free content they're gonna be doling out during the year - especially the stuff relating to new playable characters and a new story chapter of some kind. Sonic's not done that kind of post-game story DLC before and it's been so long since it's had the likes of Tails, Knuckles and Amy as playable characters in a mainline title. Definitely interested to see how that fares.

Dunno if I'm gonna grab it for a while, but I hope the upcoming Bardock: Warrior Against Fate expansion for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will be cool (along with the other two, currently unknown, expansions also in the works). The Trunks expansion released back in 2021 adapted not just the manga and TV special material, but also included a third chapter adapting a story from the Dragon Ball Super manga, so I'm wondering if this expansion (which is primarily based on the Bardock TV special) is gonna try and incorporate any of the Bardock-related material put out in more recent years such as in the Dragon Ball Super manga or the Broly movie prologue.

Otherwise, it's a bunch of games I'm not really looking forward to but will be pleased to see out there in the world:

-Yakuza/Like A Dragon Ishin's remake, meaning some version of that game will finally be available outside of Japan after nine flipping years.

-Clive N Wrench is a throwback 3D platformer that's been in the works since 2010/11, and it has a Toy Story 2 inspired stage where you're shrunk and running around a giant house. I hope it'll be a good time.

-Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse getting a localized port to all of the systems. Never played the games, but it's so great that this game will be available to everyone after being confined to Japanese Wiis since 2008.

-Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. More Bayonetta is always a good thing, and more smaller companion games to larger efforts is also always a good thing.

-Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. Never played these either, but always awesome to see a well-liked series return after so long and for FromSoft to stretch their wings with something new after focusing on the Souls games.

-Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. I've not played any of the Suikodens, but I hope that this will be what fans of that series are looking for, and that it'll be a fun and interesting game for everyone involved.

-Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - Remastered. Heck yeah, now the whole Telltale series can be enjoyed by a new generation - and on the go for Switch owners.

-Tintin Reporter - Cigars of the Pharaoh. The first new Tintin game on consoles since the (underrated) Secret of the Unicorn game back in 2011. I've not played any of the Franco-Belgian comic games put out by Microids, so I have no idea if they're any good. But I hope this one will be.

[jorpho]

Eh. Too many old games still. Can't get excited about new games. Maybe the Riven remake – but I never got around to playing Myst, so eh.

Might get around to spinning up Majora's Mask on the Gamecube.

Jan 4, 2023 14:52:22 GMT -5 Apollo Chungus said:

The port for Plumbers Don't Wear Ties on basically all of the systems. This isn't a joke, I sincerely wanna play that game as an example of an American-made visual novel made yonks before that genre started to get popular, and I hope that the port will finally get released at some point during the year.

If being able to play it on other platforms is what's stopping you, then are you not aware it's already supported by ScummVM? (If being able to purchase it legitimately before playing it is an obstacle, then I guess that's a different matter.)

Astonishing that someone's decided there's money to be made there, but we still don't have a nice collection of the classic Sim games.

[Apollo Chungus]

Jan 4, 2023 18:02:32 GMT -5 jorpho said:

Jan 4, 2023 14:52:22 GMT -5 Apollo Chungus said:

The port for Plumbers Don't Wear Ties on basically all of the systems. This isn't a joke, I sincerely wanna play that game as an example of an American-made visual novel made yonks before that genre started to get popular, and I hope that the port will finally get released at some point during the year.

If being able to play it on other platforms is what's stopping you, then are you not aware it's already supported by ScummVM? (If being able to purchase it legitimately before playing it is an obstacle, then I guess that's a different matter.)

Astonishing that someone's decided there's money to be made there, but we still don't have a nice collection of the classic Sim games.

Dang, I had no idea the ScummVM folks had managed to get that of all things working! That's both incredibly cool and incredibly funny. (Also, since the 3DS port of ScummVM is based on version 2.6 iirc, that means I could actually play this thing on the go! Heck yeah!

It's not so much a question of wanting to purchase the game legitimately, I just really love the idea of this random visual novel getting ported to everything 25+ years later. If I want to pirate it, I easily could (and maybe I will, hmm.............). But hey, thank you for letting me know about this either way. I haven't played much on ScummVM apart from Beyond A Steel Sky, so this would be a good way of getting back into that.

[JoeQ]

The only game I care about: