ERHMAHGERD, GAEMS FER TURTHURSNSERVERNTERN~!
2016 could be considered to be one of the most mentally taxing years in popular and political culture. The amount of deaths that took place this year, on top of other things that took place within the year, especially in the gaming/tech sphere (see Rapp, Alison, Pokemon Uranium, Mighty No. 9, THE IPHONE F*CKING 7 AND THEIR SH*TTY MACBOOK TOO,) have thrown everyone for a loop. However, 2017 is starting to look pretty amazing in terms of the gaming sphere, and I’ve never been more excited. Hell, this is the first time that I’m actually anticipating more than 3 games other than my typical yearly pickups, and that has me pleased.
That being said, let’s take a look at my ten most anticipated games for 2017!
Please note, this list is NOT in ANY specific order.
Except maybe the first two, I dunno. Enjoy!
Marvel vs Capcom Infinite
The weeks leading up to PlayStation Experience were pretty rife with Marvel vs. Capcom rumors all over the place, so when Marvel vs Capcom Infinite’s trailer revealed, people were somewhat pleased. Most of all, people’s interests were piqued as we tried to glean as much information as we could get from Capcom at the time. What makes this interesting for me is the Steam release of Marvel vs Capcom Infinite. This is the first NEW Marvel game to be released on PC (Ultimate MVC3 releases on Steam in March of 2017,) and while I’ll not get into specifics why, being able to play Marvel games on PC was something I’ve been excited to do for a long while. And yes, I’m honestly skeptical about the gem system, mostly because of Street Fighter X Tekken’s gem debacle, but here’s hoping they found a way to somewhat balance the effects. It is Marvel, of course.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle
I started watching the original series as part of my #PRProject2017, marking the 4th time that I’ve watched this series within the last decade. As a ridiculously huge Power Rangers fan, when I heard at New York Comic Con that Namco Bandai games were reviving the series in the vein of a beat-em-up, I was beyond ecstatic, especially since I personally have been begging for a good Power Rangers beat ’em up since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie released on the Super Nintendo over 2 decades ago. We haven’t gotten a good one since, and this looks extremely promising, especially since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle is supposed to recap the first 2 seasons of MMPR, the American adaptation of Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger and Gosei Sentai Dairanger. I wonder how they’ll handle the Power Transfer…
Persona 5
I didn’t really get into the Persona Series until Persona 4 Golden, and it sucked me in. Persona 5 is looking like it will take me for a ride as well. The story premise is interesting enough, and Persona tends to play into social commentary, so the timing of this could be considered apropos. Too bad the game is releasing all the way in April.
Gran Turismo Sport
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0siGVASN9PQ
It ain’t Gran Turismo 7, however, it is the first Gran Turismo game in a long time, and as a fan of the series, I’m excited. Despite the disappointment that Polyphony Digital bestowed upon me by not releasing this game on November 15th, my interest in the game hasn’t wavered one bit, and the trailer we got a PlayStation Experience solidified my purchase of the game. We don’t know exactly when this game will be releasing, however, when it does, I can honestly say that it will be a pleasant surprise.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
I’m not the biggest fan of Kingdom Hearts, but I did enjoy Birth by Sleep, which is included in what could be considered the 3rd Kingdom Hearts Mixtape. Let’s be honest, Kingdom Hearts is the Royce da 5’9″ of Video Games: released hot albums and mixtapes, then went silent for a minute. Unlike Royce, however, the PRHYME of the series hasn’t dropped yet (Kingdom Hearts 3,) and fans are still waiting. Nonetheless, the game should prove to be a nice placeholder for fans of the series waiting for the game’s 3rd official entry.
Impact Winter
This game was initially a KickStarter project, however, it didn’t meet its goal and was seemingly dead. That was until Namco Bandai announced that they would be publishing the title for PC in 2017. As we previously reported, you will take control of Jacob Solomon in a post-asteroid impacted Earth in 2018, as you work with a makeshift team of four other individuals to find supplies, craft new tools and items, in an effort to survive 30 days in a post-apocalyptic Winter. It’s strategy, it’s survival, and the gameplay looks promising enough to keep me enthralled for hours upon hours.
Tekken 7
Street Fighter and Tekken are the two most well known fighting games in history (sorry Smash weebs, Super Smash Bros is NOT a fighting game.) The seventh entry into the mainline King of the Iron Fist tournament games added a little twist in the way of Rage Arts (with Akuma getting a super combo,) as well as Rage Drives. I wasn’t too interested in Tekken 7 until Akuma got announced, but hey, any twist to an old formula would get me excited.
Windjammers
Windjammers has seen somewhat of a resurgence among the FGC as of late, and when Windjammers was announced at PlayStation Experience 2016, the hype was indeed real. This old school NeoGeo classic flying disc game saw a rerelease earlier in the decade on the Wii, but recent popularity has caused DotEmu to bring it back for the PlayStation 4, and I couldn’t be more excited. Now if they would bring back Super Dodgeball, I’d be even more hype.
MLB The Show 17
LET ME CLEAR MY THROAT! Have mercy, babe…don’t care if you don’t mind! MLB the Show is one of my yearly pickups in the sports gaming genre, despite the fact that watching the games during the regular season can be boring. Widely considered to be the BEST sports game year-over-year, Sony San Diego’s MLB the Show is consistently the best in every facet of the sports game presentation, whether it be Diamond Dynasty, which is a more refined version of EA Ultimate Team/MyTEAM, the single player Road to The Show, the career mode which sees you take a player from the minors to Cooperstown, or the overall feel of commentary and park presentation. MLB the Show 17 hopes to improve on that with the new non-linear Road to the Show, where your choices matter. As a fan of the series, I definitely cannot wait to pick this game up. I even pre-ordered the GameStop exclusive MVP Edition, even if it is for that baller ass New Era 9FIFTY snapback that I’ll be wearing EVERYWHERE.
Sonic Mania
Where do I even start? The Sega Genesis era Sonic games are still some of my favorite games of all time, so much so that every few months or so, I go back and play Sonic the Hedgehog 2 just for sh*ts and giggles. That being said, the announcement of Sonic Mania during E3 week got my inner child excited once again at the advent of a new game in the vein of the Sonic games of old. This game, in conjunction with Tee Lopes and Christian Whitehead, the latter having worked on previous remasters of the Genesis/Sega CD-era Sonic titles, is primed to be Sonic Team’s 1st volley into 2017 after the debacle that was the Sonic Boom re-branding. With the ability to play as Sonic, Tails or Knuckles in new (and some old) stages, many old school Sonic fans will definitely have something to look forward to.
