Video Games to Look Forward to in 2024

[excelsior]

Just hours away from the new year, so once again I ask - what is everyone looking forward to in terms of games and their own participation in the hobby for 2024. This includes of course upcoming releases, but also anything you personally plan to involve yourselves in or to play etc that are related to video games.

For me, I was pretty down on gaming this time last year. Now, I don't play quite as much as I did, say 2 years ago, but I've settled somewhere in the middle. New releases are a bit less exciting for me, and my tastes are a a bit narrower at the moment. With that said I am hoping for my interest to be further renewed this year, since I'm sure we all expect the Switch successor to finally land. There's a good amount of questions surrounding that. What will the hardware be, exactly? Assurances of backwards compatibility (though I'm pretty confident there), timings, and early lineup. So here's some unhealthy speculation....

On the timings, Nintendo usually do a formal announcement first, to inform investors of upcoming intentions, a later system unveiling and some time after that a full blow out ahead of launch. A formal announcement could be imminent, though my best guess would be it happening with the quarterly financial briefing. So either early Feb, or early May. Personally, I'm expecting the actual system launch around September.

Games that should release this year are likely to include a brand new 3D Mario adventure and a cross-generational Metroid Prime 4 from Nintendo. Third parties I can see happening this year would have to include Street Fighter VI. Something from Square Enix is likely - so perhaps that new Mana game. Probably Persona 3's remake also.

--

On the subject of actually confirmed releases for 2024, I'm looking forward to picking up Shiren 6 and Penny's Big Breakaway which I was more recently sold on with the release of new gameplay footage. I probably won't pick either up on launch however.

Oh, and of course I'm crossing my fingers once more for Silksong.

So what about you guys? Anything you're looking forward to next year? Anything you're hoping for? Any personal goals or projects? Let us know.

[Apollo Chungus]

I got a Retroid Pocket 3+ a few days ago, so I'm not really too fussed about games yet to come out so much as more easily checking out games I never played before.

But in terms of stuff coming out that piques my interest, it's not a lot:

-Those Another Code remakes, which I'm thinking I might try and cover for the website (this would also encourage me to go and play the original Wii version of Another Code R).

-Shin-Chan: Shiro of Coal Town, which seems to be a sequel to "The Endless Seven-Day Journey" which was basically a Boku no Natsuyasumi spin-off featuring the Shin-Chan gang. I loved that game, and although no localization has yet been announced for Shiro of Coal Town, I hope that'll become a thing.

-Dark Auction: Hitler’s Estate, an adventure game written by Rika Suzuki (a long-running game designer who worked on many Riverhillsoft adventure games and wrote the Another Code/Hotel Dusk games at Cing).

-Omega 6 The Video Game, an adventure game based on the manga by former Nintendo character designer Takaya Imamura (of Star Fox and F-Zero fame). Its interface is based on old command menu games, so I'm quite looking forward to it.

-Detective Instinct: Farewell, My Beloved, another adventure game of the command menu vein. Basically anything that's a Japanese adventure game of some sort'll have my attention.

-Sondro Gomez: A Sunova Story, a 2D action platformer along the lines of Castlevania that I've been casually waiting for since I first played the Sonic Amateur Games Expo demo back in 2019. A more recent demo showed off the other playable characters who all have vastly different skillsets, so this looks like it'll be a fun time.

-The Switch port of Tintin Reporter: Cigars of the Pharaoh, which looks like it could be a quite cool game going from what my friends have said about it.

-Other games I don't have much to say but wanna try: cool beat-em-up with jazz music Breeze in the Clouds, 3D platformer with a grappling hook Big Hops, the Shenmue-inspired adventure game Last Time I Saw You, and the Zelda CD-i tribute Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore.

Okay, that's more than I thought I'd be looking forward to lol.

[JDarkside]

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Warhammer 40000: Rogue Trader DLCs
Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2
Demonschool
Project Warlock: Lost Chapters
The Mermaid's Tongue (new Detective Grimoire game)
Eleanor's Handmaid (a yuri VN)
Kaiju Girls
Apollo Justice collection

All the stuff I can think of with 2024 releases on my to play list.

[JoeQ]

Elden Ring DLC
Whatever FromSoft is doing next

I think that's pretty much it.

[dsparil]

Apollo Chungus If you're going to play Another Code R in Dolphin without a proper Wii controller, I'm not sure if it's even possible to get Sensor Bar adaptors anymore, it's difficult but possible to finish the game. There's a few parts where you need to do some odd things to get the right controller motion to come out, but I managed to finish it myself.

The Another Code collection, Apollo Justice Trilogy and Princess Peach Showtime definitely. There's also Fantasy Life i, but that doesn't have a solid date yet. Ys X may or may not get localized this year.

For Switch 2, I'd be shocked if it wasn't at least announced before year's end. Cross gen. MP4 makes sense given how little info there's been, but I also wouldn't be surprised if that acts like a last hurrah for Switch maybe in the summer if the new system is out in the fall.

[Apollo Chungus]

dsparil I've got a Wii and copies of Another Code R from CeX's website are shockingly cheap for an obscure cult classic adventure game that didn't even receive an American release (€8!), so I'll prolly play the game that way. It's been ages since I last played anything proper on the Wii; I think the port of Resident Evil 1's remake was it, and that was back in 2021! I don't think I've ever beaten anything on it for the Game Finish Challenge even, so it'll be nice to give try something on it again.

[excelsior]

The new release has also given me the urge to look into to picking up the Wii/DS versions of Another Code. I generally prefer to play the original version before a rerelease like this. Hopefully I can find them at fair prices. I will also be looking to revisit the Wii this year.

[Apollo Chungus]

Just checked the UK website for CeX out of curiosity, and both games are available in their online stock. The original is £18 while Another Code R is £10, which is altogether a bit cheaper than I was expecting.

[personman]

Mostly just Indie games for me.

Anton Blast- whenever the hell that'll finally come out. Wario Land-like that is looking great.

Chronicles of the Wolf- I was real impressed with Migami's Walachia and this is going to be another stab at the Metroidvania thing with some history sprinkled in which sounds really cool. Hell I still have to check out Lecarde Chronicles 2 as well, got it running on my Steam Deck so hopefully that'll happen soon.

Hauntii- a really beautiful looking twin stick shooter of sorts that should be out Q2. Looks and sounds wonderful, enough so that I'm not bothered that twin stick shooters usually aren't my thing lol.

Then just one official one: Paper Mario Thousand Year Door remake I plan to grab. I really enjoyed the first game and had been considering starting this in emulation but now I think I'll just wait for this version since Emulation on Wii U is kinda dodgey.

Otherwise I plan to upgrade my PS4 to a 2TB pro sometime and upgrade my Steam Deck to an OLED model for the 1TB storage. Then I'm just going to be content to keep exploring the older games I've been emulating and mopping up from good indie games I've had waiting around.

[excelsior]

Apollo Chungus - Thanks

personman - Wii U runs GameCube natively though, right? Do you have issues running GameCube games on it?

[Digitalnametag]

The first half of this year is loaded with RPG goodness. Like a Dragon, Persona 3 Reload, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. All within a month of each other!

Looking forward to Ys X and the new (to us) Trails game from Falcom. Hades 2 and Eiyuden Chronicle as well. Paper Mario Thousand Year Door port too.

Curious what will be released in the later half of 2024. Not much on the schedule yet. Maybe we'll finally get that Fire Emblem port that has been rumored for the last couple years.

[JDarkside]

Persona 3 getting a remake is still kind of baffling to me. The original still holds up well, and is easily available.

Infinite Wealth I am extremely hyped for, though.

I wonder what the western RPG scene is looking like this year. I only know of Rogue Trader getting some DLC, not sure what else is in the pipe line, and the indie side of the scene is a mystery to me. Then again, Baldur's Gate 3 and Rogue Trader back to back is probably enough for awhile lol.

[personman]

excelsior It does but I'm not in the market to buy physcial games lol. I haven't checked the after markets prices but I shudder to think what they're at now besides. Biggest thing is I can't seem to control the display options with the current injection methods so Gamecubes games are displayed in a small box, hazard of getting a really big tv this year I guess. I'm thinking of moving my Gamecube emulation over to my Steam Deck to see how it handles things.

[Snake]

Ditto Eiyuden Chronicle.  That and FFVII Rebirth are likely the only big name, big budget games I'm looking towards. Especially Eiyuden, since backing it when it started crowdfunding.

I may try to pick up Street Fighter 5 and 6 when they both sell for cheaper.  I kinda fell off the Street Fighter ladder after Super Street Fighter 4.  

Beyond that, just looking to catch up on older fan-hacked sub games from the Famicom and Super Famicom era.

I did attempt a playthrough for the MSX Castlevania/Akumajo Dracula... and I'm already stuck in a loop on the first stage.  

[excelsior]

Jan 2, 2024 17:40:20 GMT -5 personman said:

excelsior It does but I'm not in the market to buy physcial games lol. I haven't checked the after markets prices but I shudder to think what they're at now besides. Biggest thing is I can't seem to control the display options with the current injection methods so Gamecubes games are displayed in a small box, hazard of getting a really big tv this year I guess. I'm thinking of moving my Gamecube emulation over to my Steam Deck to see how it handles things.

Seems to run nicely but with the odd stutter here and there for me, so how much that bothers may depend on the game. From what I've read they should improve once shaders are compiled, though that suggests to me doubling up on playtime here and there.