Introduction
To say that 2020 has been a shit show would be an understatement. Just like the rest of the world, the video game industry didn't get away unscathed. We lost conventions by the truckload as publishers had to shut up shop in order to protect their workers from the onslaught that was COVID-19. This not only meant that conventions would need to adapt, but also the way games were worked on. Gone were big offices filled with people working on a few titles at once, replaced with people working at home with things like Zoom as their only means of communication. Due to all of this, a lot of video games that we were meant to get throughout the year got pushed back to late 2020 or even sometime in 2021, while some of those that were pushed out came out in worse state than they should have (Cough, Cyberpunk, cough), with any problems being blamed on the virus.
All of this make things though to make a decent list of games that I am excited for come the 2021 release schedule. A lot of the games that I want to be excited for have been pushed back into the "sometime in 2021" category, with anything coming out post-Christmas being either re-releases or remastering for the Xbox Series X/PlayStation 5 era of consoles. New titles are just too far away to be excited for, and I've got a lot of the re-released titles already. 2021 is looking to be a terrible first half of the season with a second half that could be worth dropping money on.
Game: Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: Xbox or PC
Something that I won't mention too often here is that I am a fan of role-playing games, not the JRPG stuff like Final Fantasy, but the good old fashioned table top, pen and paper RPG systems. During my teen years through to late twenties, I would play two different variations on the game Vampire: The Masquerade, one that is the traditional pen and paper type, and also the real world LARP version of the same system. I would love getting involved into the world of Vampire and the lore that can be created from there. What was even better was that with the LARP version of the game, I was able to take my character to another state in my country and be a visiting Vampire to that area and things would be completely different.
When it came to the video game, I loved how well the White Wolf RPG was translated into it. Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines was an interesting piece of story telling in the world that I enjoyed in other mediums. Hell, there were some things in the video game that were later adopted into the table top RPG version. Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 looks to be something that is going to be just as good, giving people from no experience with the Vampire RPG to long time players something new and interesting to do with the world.
Given the scope and detail that the Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 trailer and extended look video has shown, you're going to be best off playing this on a good PC rig. Plus with it being a first person action game, I always feel these are best played on a PC since consoles, even the new ones, might have trouble getting such a big and detailed world to load quickly.
Game: Resident Evil 8: Village
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: PlayStation 5
Surprised to see this on list after what I had to say about Resident Evil VII? Well, if anything, I'm one of those people who, when they talk shit about something, they will go out of their way to make sure that when they get their hands on something that they trashed during production, actually follows through with their ravings and make sure its all founded in the end. That's what it's like for me with Resident Evil VIII: Village. I'm not a fan of the story, visuals, and play style, but I'll make sure I play it with my own two hands to make sure I was right in my rantings. However, if its good, then I'll be the first to eat humble pie and admit I was wrong.
Game: Gotham Knights
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: PlayStation 5
I'm a huge fan of the Arkham series of Batman video games, and Gotham Knights looks to be the next chapter in that series without using the Arkham name to sell units. With Gotham Knights, there are some things I'm liking the look of, like the story since its a Rocksteady production, but there are things I'm not a fan of either, like the leveling system that was shown off in the gameplay trailer. Given that we haven't heard a thing about Gotham Knights since that game play was shown, maybe Rocksteady is listening to the fans and are working for a much better gameplay style that fans will enjoy. But like anything Batman based, I think the end product will be well worth the purchase.
Game: Back 4 Blood
Release Date: June 22, 2021
Will Probably Play On: PC
I'm going to admit, I'm a bit biased here on this one since, at the time of writing, I have played this a bit in the Alpha testing phase, plus I'm a huge Left 4 Dead fan. Back in the day, I would spend many hours taking down the undead in Left 4 Dead, the game this is based on but never got the praise it deserved thanks to Valve never wanting to count to three in anything, leaving Left 4 Dead 2 to stagnate (only being held together by the excellent modding community). Back 4 Blood is made by the same brains behind Left 4 Dead and shares a lot of the same traits, making this a really good game from the get-go.
During my time with the Alpha of Back 4 Blood, I could see that it is already a very polished game and looks ready to go now. But given that Turtle Rock Studios wants to take another six months to make sure that everything is perfect means that once the game is released, its not going to end up crashing every 5 minutes, nor the servers going down due to overload. The only thing I hope that happens between now and June is that they include Australia servers or do something that will help those of us not in the US or Europe to connect to others worldwide without having the lag, skipping frame rates, and teleporting enemies that I experienced in the Alpha.
Game: Super Mario 3D World + Bowsers Fury
Release Date: February 12, 2021
Will Probably Play On: Nintendo Switch
This one is pretty simple. Its Mario, its a game I missed due to not owning a Wii U, and I want to play it. I was a fan of the Super Mario 3D Land game on the Nintendo 3DS, so I wanted to see what this one was all about since it was on a console that could do more than the handheld could. So now that I own a Nintendo Switch, this is something I'm happy I get to experience much like I did with Super Mario Galaxy & Super Mario Sunshine with their releases on the Switch too.
Game: Deathloop
Release Date: May 21, 2021
Will Probably Play On: PC
Deathloop is one of those games that will hold a lot of promise come 2021, with its mechanic of returning to the start upon death to try and change events every time, while at the same time the AI will adapt to counter you at every turn. It's a big and lofty goal for the developers to live up to, but it could be possible that the developers could pull it off. Early game play footage has shown that Deathloop looks good, plays extremely well, and changes with everything you do. Let's just hope the final product can deliver.
Game: Bayonetta 3
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: Nintendo Switch
Yeah it might be overtly sexualized, something that is considered "wrong" in modern times, but damn Bayonetta is a great fast paced action game that is worth playing over and over again. Recently I got a chance to play the sequel on Nintendo Switch for the first time and I really enjoyed that. So when Bayonetta 3 was teased, I was ready to drop my cash on a pre-order right away. But let's see if Bayonetta 3 actually sees proper development and release in 2021, and doesn't get pushed back to 2022 or beyond.
Game: LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: PlayStation 5
Consider this a bit of a "guilty pleasure" of mine. I'm a huge fan of the LEGO games, and LEGO itself. I spent a lot of my pandemic bonus cash on buying the LEGO Super Mario sets (Only a couple of hard to get sets left from series one, before series two comes out in 2021) and playing with that. But when I don't have enough money to buy all those little plastic bricks, I'd happily jump into one of the many LEGO video games out there. One of my favorites was the LEGO Star Wars series, which retold the first 6 movies... I know they released one for The Force Awakens, but I skipped that. But now that we're getting the full 9 movie series (With maybe bonus Solo, Rogue One, or Mandalorian stages?) all in one game, I'm excited to play the series all over again through to the end of the Skywalker Saga.
Game: Evil Dead: The Game
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: PlayStation 5
Its Evil Dead, its Ash, its Bruce Fucking Campbell... What more do you need to know? After seeing Ash and co relegated to DLC content in Dead By Daylight, and also the end of the excellent Ash vs The Evil Dead TV Series, I was hanging for a new proper Evil Dead video game, which we haven't had since Evil Dead: Regeneration in 2005. Since the preview trailer showed aspects from the Ash vs The Evil Dead TV series, I can't wait to see what is to come with this game.
Game: Gran Turismo 7
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: PlayStation 5
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Game: Psychonauts 2
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: Xbox Series X/S
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Game: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: PlayStation 5
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Game: Oddworld: Soulstorm
Release Date: Sometime in 2021
Will Probably Play On: PlayStation 5
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