I didn’t have tons to talk about this week, as I slowly whittle away at the four different games I am currently playing, so it was the perfect time for a mailbag post. Thanks to all of those who sent in questions!
“Been a year of amazing games so far, what else are you looking forward to that’s on the way later this year?”, @AndyKurosaki on twitter.
After an amazing 2023, I think most of us thought that 2024 would be a major step back in the world of video games. Instead, the first three months of 2024 might have been better than any three month stretch in 2023. If 2024 stays at this pace, I’d say it will surpass 2023 in game quality.
However, looking at the release schedule, I feel like things are about to get a fair bit slower. Despite that, there is still more than enough that I am excited to play the rest of this year. Here are four for you.
–Metaphor: ReFantazio was my most anticipated game coming into the year. It will have a tough journey to being my game of the year after Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, but I am still very pumped for this one. Persona 5 was one of my favorite games ever, and I like the idea of more adult protagonists and a mix-up from the school formula. They seem to be doing some innovative things with combat, too, with a mix of action and turn based elements. I think this has a slight chance of surpassing anything from the Persona series, and that is something to be excited about.
–Star Wars: Outlaws looked fantastic in its gameplay demo last year. It showed off a seamless mix of gunfighting, stealth, and space travel. My only hesitancy with this one is that the eight minute demo almost looked too good to be true. Either way, if this is even close to as fun as it looks, this should be a certified banger.
–Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes is essentially the next Suikoden game, which is super exciting. As much as I love traditional JRPGs, they can often get repetitive and start to feel like a grind. The Suikoden series has always overcame this by adding in recruiting, base building, and war elements that are both satisfying and really break things up. This is an addictive formula, and anything going for that is something I am going to be excited about.
–Hyper Light Breaker looks like an incredible sequel to Hyper Light Drifter. It is being advertised as an open world game with roguelite elements, and the bits of gameplay shown so far look top-tier. The last game received an 84 on OpenCritic, and this might be a lot better. It at least looks much more ambitious. They are swinging for the fences, and I can’t wait to see how it goes.
“PlayStation and Xbox showcase rumors have cropped up again. What do you think will be the biggest 3 games shown from each platform if this does happen?”, @GrittyGamingGG on twitter.
I’m not very good at prognosticating these things, but I will give you the three games I’d most like to see at a summer showcase for each system.
For Xbox, Gears 6 rumors have started to pop up, and I am absolutely here for it. I skipped the last few games in the series, but I loved the original three games, and that itch for a new Gears experience is starting to come back. With the rumors we have seen, odds are this is coming.
After getting teased years ago, we somehow haven’t seen any additional info on the new Fable game. It feels like we are about due for that. I always thought the Fable games were solid 8/10 type games, with the potential to do better. I’m wondering if, with more next-gen technology, some of the original promises can finally be realized. Obviously, with the series history, I imagine they won’t want to overpromise too much, though.
While we have started to see a lot of this one, I’d still like to see more from Avowed. I’m mostly sold on it, but I don’t feel like they have done a great job of going into a lot of details on the world itself and how choices will affect it. I imagine this one will get a lot of screen time in a summer showcase since the full release won’t be far behind.
For Playstation, I can easily say the biggest thing I want to see is the Knights of the Old Republic Remake. KOTOR is one of my favorite games ever, and I think it has a lot of potential to be taken to the next level with a remake, much like Final Fantasy 7 was. There has been a whirlwind of rumors with this game, and I’d love to see something that shows it exists.
I imagine we aren’t far from getting some reveals on Wolverine, with all the leaks that have happened at Insomniac. This game is almost guaranteed to be excellent, and I’d love to see more from it.
Finally, I’ll say Ghost of Tsushima 2. It has been long enough where I feel like they should be ready to show something for it. I’m having a blast with Rise of the Ronin, and I’d love more samurai action. Getting a similar game to the first but with deeper combat and those same top-tier production values could produce a game of the year contender.
“Do you prefer games with main stories over or under 30 hours?” @gamersthumb on Twitter.
This is a fun question! I guess my main answer is that it depends, but in general, I’d prefer over 30 hours for any game at a full $70 price point. I’d also say that I don’t really like way more than that. I feel like my general sweet spot for most video games is 40-50 hours, and I don’t really care to do much more than that unless the game is truly special. But obviously, a game like Persona 5 might be a bit disappointingly short if it “only” clocked at 40 hours, so context is everything.
It seems like almost every major release this year ends up clocking at least 70 hours. With all the games I am juggling, it is literally taking me months to finish them. Many of these games are certified bangers, like Infinite Wealth, but there is no way I could have played them start to finish with nothing else in between. I do feel like most games have more content than is worth playing in the game, which is why so many gamers seem to get frustrated with open world games these days, because they have a hard time not 100%ing all of the activities in it.
I think, in general, my ideal state is to be rotating between about 3 games, with one of them being a shorter indie title. Instead, I’ve mostly been jumping between a lot of massive games, and after a week, I usually feel like I didn’t “accomplish” anything.
I guess in the end, there are worse problems to have!
Big Nerd Gaming 
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