There seems to be no calm before the storm, just all storm! (My thoughts on the near future through the lens of new game releases)

     There have always been games coming out, basically since the start of the whole medium, there have always been new things to look forward to. In the past few years, however, hasn't it felt like a new "killer app" has always been right around the corner, with many releases actually coming out on the very same day as other major titles? Even though we don't seem to have a definite release schedule after maybe February, there are many games that are coming out remarkably soon, and I want to take a little break after my incredibly long last two posts and just talk about those today. I think it could be fun to look forward to the near future and get excited for all that we're getting ready to play! Just so you know, this won't be a very long one, just because as of today when I'm writing this, God of War Ragnarok is coming out tomorrow and Sonic Frontiers just came out today. My writing time may be cut a bit short, but I'll try my best to be as entertaining and informative as I always aim for. I'll mainly be focusing on games that I'm excited about/ will most likely play, but I'll try my best to cover as many games as I can.

    In November, as I stated already, we have Sonic Frontiers and God of War Ragnarok one day apart, with the former coming out November 8 and the latter coming November 9th. I have stated on the record that I partially based my decision of whether to get a PS5 or a Xbox on which console would be able to play the sequel to God of War (2018), which was PS5 of course, so I'm a tiny bit excited for this release. Of course, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are coming out a little over a week after that on November 18, and on the same day, the next game in the "Dark Pictures Anthology" series, The Devil in Me, is also dropping. Talk about some tonal whiplash if you play those two games back to back! Gundam Evolution is coming out on November 30, and while I don't plan on picking it up, I feel like that's the game that they showed off earlier this year and I thought it looked just like Overwatch. I hope it's fun for Gundam fans out there!

    I have a particular soft spot for December games, mainly because of my birthday and Christmas being during this time of year, but some fantastic games have come out in the last several years during December, including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, back in 2018. This year, we have quite a few big ones, with The Callisto Protocol, the spiritual successor to Dead Space (Put a pin in that one, we're going back to it later), coming out on December 2nd, along with Marvel's Midnight Suns, their top-down XCOM-esque strategy game. Both games look super cool, though obviously very different, and I look forward to playing both at some point in the near future! I really don't know much about Dragon Quest as a whole series, but Dragon Quest Treasures (coming December 9) looks like it could be a very fun open world game to check out, though I know hardly anything about it. What I do know is that I'm very excited for the remake of Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, which is coming out on the 13th. I've never played Crisis Core, along with most Final Fantasy titles, but after loving Final Fantasy VII Remake, I am ready to get more of that world with FFVII Crisis Core Reunion, which presumably will explain Zack's storyline, which will be getting ready for the next game in the "FFVII Remake" Trilogy.

    Along with the new year comes some new fun times. January has some big releases coming out, especially some new (or remastered) looks at old RPG franchises! Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden are both hitting the shelves for PS4/5, Xbox, and Switch on January 19. The Switch is gonna be busy between those two and Fire Emblem Engage, which comes out on the next day, January 20. My brother and I have already made a deal that we're going to swap back and forth on those games, with me playing Persona, then him playing some Fire Emblem, and it's guaranteed to be a fun time! On top of these, we are also getting the PS5 exclusive adventure game, Forspoken on January 24. The gameplay looks really cool and I'm definitely into the flowing manuverability of the main character, though we will have to wait and see how the story plays out for this one. I hope it turns out well, but it's hard to tell from some of the awkward advertising that has gone out for it. On January 27, we're getting a remake of the 2008 space-horror game Dead Space, which is pretty exciting for me, as someone who missed the game the first time it was released because I was too young. Very excited to see what the deal is with that game, and I hope the remake turns out well!

    February has some really exciting games for some folks, though I'm only really interested in a handful! Dead Island 2 comes out on February 3. I wasn't impressed at all with the first Dead Island game, and I thought the consensus was that it just wasn't that great of a game, but someone must be excited for this sequel, and there is something to be said about a game that was announced so long ago that is finally coming out. Hogwarts Legacy is coming on February 10, and while I'm not super excited for really anything Harry Potter related, the game does look pretty cool and well made, especially compared with the old games that were released as movie tie ins. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Final Bar Line comes out on February 16, and I'm always excited for rhythm games, especially when related to a series with a killer soundtrack like Final Fantasy! Yakuza fans are almost certainly excited since Like A Dragon: Isshin is coming out as a samurai game in that same universe, which means that they'd better have a karaoke minigame somehow or there will be riots for sure. Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe is a remake of the 2008 Wii game, so I'm pretty happy for folks who have never played it before, though I also will most likely be picking it up since I missed that original release! I hope it'll be fun when it releases on February 24. Octopath Traveler 2 is also coming out on that day, but I'm not super interested in that one. Again, lots of fans of the first are surely excited, but it doesn't really seem like my cup of tea.

    With March, I'm really only excited for one game, so I'll pair that with May, which has the potential to have my favorite game of the whole year. The Resident Evil 4 remake is coming out on March 24, which I'm really looking forward to, but I still should probably beat the original game after so many have said that it is so incredible. Either way, very excited for that release! Finally, the big game is coming... The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is being released on May 12, and I cannot wait. Breath of the Wild was a fantastic game, and if you've seen any Youtube video on games in the last five years, you've no doubt heard just how large of an impact it has had on the adventure game landscape as a whole. I'm not sure if this new game will be that impactful, but I'm so excited to find out the answers for myself in a few months.

    I know this is basically just a listicle for today, but I just have to get down to writing sometimes in order to capture just how excited I am for new games coming out, not to mention the fact that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is supposed to come out next year from the good people at Insomniac, which I'm incredibly ecstatic about. There are always big new games coming out, and while I'm sure I'll adore God Of War Ragnarok, just like I did the previous game, I'm also very excited for whatever comes next in the future. It's always important to focus on one game at a time, and I look forward to playing this new game that came out this week many, many times.

    Thanks for reading this little post, I hope you're all doing well and I will be back next week with something a little more substantial probably! As of writing this, I've been playing God of War Ragnarok for a little while and I love it so far. Definitely worth the wait, and I'm so interested to see where this story takes Kratos and Atreus. I just wanted to spend this week to look forward to some of the awesome games coming soon, especially since I feel like some of them probably won't get talked about as heavily as others. Thanks again for reading and I hope you all have a great week. I'm Jonathan, your Self-Proclaimed games enthusiast, and I'll talk to you again soon!