I hope all of you are nice and awake after your Christmas food comas, or at least playing some of the great new games you got from Santa. But now that Christmas has come and gone, it’s time to look forward, and you already know what I thought about the games that came out in 2016, so now it’s time to look into the future and see what games that are possibly coming out in 2017 that will take up my downtime, be reviewed or just sit in my pile of shame over the next 12 months. I’ll try and stick to games that have been confirmed for release in 2017, but remember that video game releases are more fluid than people’s gender on Tumblr, so the dates might change and some games might not come out in 2017 at all. Also please note that all release dates are done in Australian format as I’m Australian and that’s where I get my games, so sometimes we get games before the USA, sometimes after the USA.
Honorable Mention. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 & Kingdom Hearts HD Remix
Release Date: January 24, 2017 & March 31, 2017.
God damn it, as much as I’ve played Kingdom Hearts 1, Kingdom Hearts 2, Dream Drop Distance, and pretty much every other Kingdom Hearts distraction from the fact that we still do not have Kingdom Hearts 3; I’m still going to buy these games AGAIN. Why? Because the storytelling and characters are some of the best written and amusing in gaming PERIOD. The combination of Square-Enix and Disney characters is one of those magical combinations that you thought would not work when on paper but makes for a couple of the most enjoyable experiences ever made. Plus, getting these collections will tide you over till Kingdom Hearts 3… If they don’t push it back again. What is it with game publishers and the number 3?
10. South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Release Date: To Be Announced 2017
Technically opening the list is South Park: The Fractured But Whole. While this game does look good and the whole thing is a great idea after the sleeper hit South Park: The Stick of Truth; the reason South Park: The Fractured But Whole is so low on this list is because of the Australian classification board. For those of you who do not know, South Park: The Stick of Truth was heavily censored in order to pass rating standards here in Australia, leading to the amusing but sad “Koala of Censorship“. The creators of South Park have already stated that they are going to go to even further extremes in The Fractured But Whole, which makes me very worried that we’re going to get another censored mess of a game instead of the proper adult game that it’s intended to be.
9. Death Standing
Release Date: To Be Announced 2017
God damn you Kojima! Every time I try and get away from your games you produce something that just drags me back in. Death Standing is going to be one of those games that’ll have us talking and guessing all the way up to the launch of the game and then we’ll talk about how the game itself is nothing like the trailers that were released in 2016 & 2017. We currently know NOTHING about Death Standing and it’s got people hyped up. Sure, it’s no Silent Hills, but all the parts are there and knowing Kojima, he’s going to give us something that we will never understand but love none the less.
8. Final Fantasy VII Remake
Release Date: To Be Announced 2017
There’s no doubt that people are excited about Final Fantasy VII coming out on more modern consoles with a remade modern look. I on the other hand, am worried about how they are going about it. Final Fantasy VII Remake is going to be a BIG game, but it’s going to be released in episodic style, which is never a good thing when it comes to big games. This means each episode is going to be priced somewhere in the $50 to $80 range (Australian Dollar) because Square-Enix doesn’t like putting games out on anything without overpricing it to hell (See any of the older Final Fantasy games, dating back to FF1, on PC and mobile). I’m excited to see Cloud and friends again, but I’m not looking forward to taking out a loan from the bank to afford it.
7. Kingdom Hearts 3
Release Date: To Be Announced 2017
Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite game series ever made, probably top 3, but to be honest Kingdom Hearts 3 is going to be one of those “I’ll believe it when I see it” game releases. I’m excited to see Sora, Donald & Goofy again and see where their adventures to find King Mickey & Kairi take them next. Will the worlds be full Disney based? Will Pixar worlds finally happen? Maybe we’ll head to a Final Fantasy world in 2D sprites? Who the hell knows. The good thing will be that all the teasing will be done, the game will finally be out and I’ll finally be playing the damn thing after so long.
6. Injustice 2
Release Date: To Be Announced 2017
I love fighting games, they are a good weekend killer and Injustice: Gods Among Us was one of the best Superhero fighting games since… Well DC’s Justice League fighter by Blizzard in the 90s. Since the first game ended, I’ve been reading the excellent digital comic book series that followed from DC Comics, which covers from the time Joker had Superman kill a pregnant Lois Lane, to the rise of Superman’s Regime, Batman’s rebellion, and everything else leading to the arrival of the “Earth Prime” characters that appear in Injustice: Gods Among Us video game. So this gets me curious as to what the next game is going to work with. We’ve seen that armor is going to play a key role in the game, complete with that armor being used in online matches (something the Fighting Game Community is very annoyed about). So I’m going to sit back and wait to see what new things Injustice 2 will bring and who is going to guest star in the Season Pass.
5. Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy
Release Date: To Be Announced 2017
Believe it or not, I never played the Crash Bandicoot games on the original Playstation. I was still a Super Mario loyalist when it came to my platforming games and I didn’t like the leap to 3D that happened in that era. The addition of field depth in a vertical sense just did not click with me and I found myself more frustrated with the mechanic than enjoying it. I did attempt to play the Crash games many years later through getting not-so-legal copies to use on my re-bought Playstation unit, but the graphics are so dated and the controls were so sloppy that I didn’t bother with it beyond the first 2 minutes. I’m hoping that this remastering of the game has fixed the issues and is enjoyable enough to warrant the money spent on it.
4. Marvel vs Capcom Infinite
Release Date: To Be Announced 2017
IT’S MARVEL BAY-BEH!!! How could you not want more of the over the top action that only Marvel vs Capcom games can provide? The reveal got people hyped, the “gameplay” reveal got people even more hyped, and the Captain America & Morrigan reveal trailer got a resounding “…meh” from people as we knew they’d be in the game. However, it doesn’t matter. We’re getting more Marvel vs Capcom, a game that works for both casual and competition players. A nice bonus was that if you lived anywhere but Australia, you got a chance to buy Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 on Playstation 4 the night Marvel vs Capcom Infinite was announced. As for me… I’ve got to wait till sometime in January 2017 to catch up to the rest of the world. But hey, I’m loving me some more Marvel vs Capcom action.
3. Tekken 7
Release Date: To Be Announced 2017
Tekken has been one of my favorite fighting game series. Sure, I’m not going to be playing on a professional level like I hope to with Street Fighter V in 2017, but I’m just going to enjoy playing this with Keith & Clinton during our Outerhaven Fight Nights. Even if Tekken 7 didn’t include my favorite fighting game character ever, Akuma, (Which you can watch me fail at using here) I’d still be playing this game. Tekken as a game series has gone from strength to strength, from it’s days as an experimental 3D fighter to the juggle heavy competitive fighter it is today, Tekken 7 continues to be one of the most anticipated games to be released… Unless you live in Japan where the game has been out for nearly 2 years… Lucky bastards.
2. Red Dead Redemption 2
Release Date: To Be Announced 2017
Who ever thought that a “Grand Theft Auto game set in the Wild West era” game would be something that people would be cheering the announcement for like the second coming of Jesus himself (or whatever fictional deity you believe in). We’re left to wonder if this will be the son of John Marsden’s adventures after the events of the first Red Dead Redemption, or if we’ll get a completely different character all together. The promotional image looks to suggest that we might be seeing several characters take the main roles in this game. All we do know is that if GTA V’s HUGE landscape is anything to go by, then Red Dead Redemption 2 has the chance to be bigger, wilder and more adventurous than any other open world game ever.
1. Horizon: Zero Dawn
Release Date: March 1, 2017
Talk about a game that looks amazing! From the first trailer Horizon: Zero Dawn has captivated people like no other game has. A huge world that includes robotic animals the size of Dinosaurs at every turn and you have to take them down with a low-tech bow and arrow? AMAZING!! What really sold me on this game was seeing a gameplay demo at PAX Aus 2016, where the person in control tamed a huge Giraffe looking thing while switching between the 3 viewing modes that can be done with a Playstation 4 Pro unit. Seeing the game in UHD & 4K was amazing, and the standard 1080p version did look dated compared to the other modes, but the game was still looking like a real blast to play. I think that if Sony does not hype the game up too much around release, we might see a potential Game of the Year candidate in the opening of 2017.
So that’s my list of games I want to play in 2017. Sure, a lot of them don’t even have a release date announced yet and could all be pushed back to 2018, but that can’t be helped at this stage. With a bit of luck and a lot of long hours, all of these games will come out and as usual, we here at The Outerhaven will have them reviewed and streamed throughout the year. I’d like to hear what YOU would like to play in 2017, so please tweet me your lists via @themasething on Twitter or email me at this address. From me to you, have a happy and safe entry into 2017 and I’ll see you next year.
