2019 Games That Seem the Most Promising

2018 proved a fascinating year for games that I largely appreciated from the sidelines, as someone whose purchasing habits tend to be on the supremely budgeted side.  Smash Bros got a sequel, Red Dead Redemption got a sequel, Far Cry 5 happened, a whole lot of studios collapsed in on themselves due to mismanagement and the deeply ingrained toxicity of the games industry… to reiterate, I said “fascinating”, not “uniformly good and respectful of all involved”.

But now it’s 2019 and, despite it being three months into the new year, I’ve got things to say regarding the upcoming game slate.  There’s still a substantive number of games whose release dates are nebulous and undefined, so I figure it’s a good a time as any to spotlight the ones I feel are most promising.

Please note that this is not a confirmation that these games will, in point of fact, turn out well - just that, at present, these are the ones which based on pre-release material seem to have their affairs in order.  They’re looking good and I’m hopeful. Cautiously so, but still...

10) Battletoads

Look, yes, the amount of info on this one is slim and my enthusiasm is rooted mostly in my enjoyment of the slim number of past Battletoads games.  I cop to that - nostalgia appeal is primarily why this one’s making the list.

Goddamn, though, a Battletoads revival published by Xbox Game Studios.  If this works, it’ll be a hell of a thing to see in action.

9) The Outer Worlds

A decade ago, if you’d told me Obsidian Entertainment - makers of Knights of the Old Republic II and Fallout: New Vegas - were eventually going to turn around and develop their own spiritual successor to Fallout but with a heavier lean toward pulp science-fiction iconography and a black comedy tone, my only question would’ve been “When can I throw my money at it?”

I’m much more weary of the prospect now than in those days, and knowing more about the particular issues Obsidian’s alleged to struggle with is a major factor.  Still, these are quite talented folks and the game appears committed to its vision of Space-as-the-American-Frontier pulp aesthetic. Fingers crossed.

8) Mortal Kombat 11

2011’s Mortal Kombat reboot really was the fresh start (after a fashion) that the franchise needed, given the cluttered mess of double-crosses and escalating stakes that was the previous games’ continuity.  Mortal Kombat X, meanwhile, quite admirably ran with its “twenty years later” time jump to center a new and intriguing lineup of heroes, as well as wrapping up or progressing a number of threads in largely satisfying fashion.

Essentially, it looks like MK 11 is on track to build on past successes while continuing to take the franchise to a compelling place, narrative-wise.  I’m not in love with certain casting decisions (Rousey as Sonya Blade was not anywhere close to the best call) but the prospect of Dark Raiden and the collision of various time periods as a consequence of his, and others’, past actions has serious potential.

7) Sea of Solitude

This EA-published indie title has largely stayed off the radar since its (second) reveal at E3 2018, but I’m enamored with its visual style and I appreciate the intent to use character design as a way of personifying internal struggles and doubts.  

6) Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey

The career trajectory of ex-Ubisoft creative Patrice Desilets reads almost like a microcosm of some of the industry’s wider tendencies and issues: after working for the company for about a decade, he departed to lead a team under the THQ banner… only to end up back at Ubisoft when they bought up the THQ Montreal division after THQ’s infamous bankruptcy.  One abrupt dismissal and subsequent dispute over the rights to a still-in-development project later, he went and founded his own studio.

More recently, he and his team at Panache Digital have begun to promote Ancestors, a survival sim that opts to buck expectations by focusing on the day-to-day struggles of the great apes that would eventually evolve into, well, us.  What’s been shown so far is quite promising - even with the roughness of a lower-than-blockbuster budget, Ancestors seems appropriately tense and engaging. Plus, apes are fun - that’s just a fact. *

*It’s not actually a fact, I’m being facetious, obviously that’s an opinion.  I will, however, maintain that apes, monkeys and other non-human simians are delightful.

5) The Sinking City

So Sherlock Holmes adventure game developer Frogwares were initially to develop last year’s Call of Cthulhu - set in 1920s Massachusetts and focusing on the exploits of a private detective getting in over his head during an investigation of horrifying occurrences.  But then the publisher switched gears, another studio took over the game’s development, and that was that.

Now Frogwares is back with The Sinking City, an adventure game set in 1920s Massachusetts that focuses on the exploits of a private detective getting in over his head during an investigation of horrifying occurrences.  Yep, we’re in “Screw it, I’ll make my own” territory with this game - and given both Frogwares’ history with detective stories AND the game’s apparent embrace of Lovecraftian standbys, we may well have a solid cosmic horror fable on our hands.

4) Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

I debated putting either this game or Team Sonic Racing - after all, both are revivals/continuations of well-liked racing spin-offs to intermittently engaging platformer series, both have a cultural cachet of dubious but not insubstantial proportions, and both can’t help appearing to chase the success of the Mario Kart games.

In the end Crash Team Racing won out.  Sorry, Sonic fandom, but my hopes lie more with the 3D kart racer coming on the heels of Vicarious Visions’ solid Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Toys for Bob’s excellent Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

3) Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Speaking of going off and making something yourself, by the heavens is it satisfying to see Koji Igarashi responding to Konami’s disregard for Castlevania by developing what’s essentially a fairly brazen spiritual successor to Symphony of the Night.  Better still, its embrace of anime-influenced art design and Gothic fantasy elements not only feels appropriately Castlevania, but also just stands out as compelling in its own right.  It remains to be seen if the moment-to-moment play matches the slick visuals in quality, but the odds favour Iga and company here.

2) Rage 2

Id Software was pretty much always going to have one eye o’ mine firmly fixed on them - for reasons I hope I don’t have to clarify at this juncture - but their co-production with Avalanche Games, Rage 2, has the makings of an enjoyably eccentric endeavour.

Its conception of its post-apocalyptic setting as one part Fury Road-esque wasteland of bright contrasting colours, one part neon pop-art display is distinctive and engrossing.  Its gunplay, such that we’ve seen, seems to deliver the expected swift brutality and variety of combat options expected of an Id Software production.  And while I chafe a bit at the prospect of another open-world setting that might well be littered with busywork, Id’s support and contribution to the project leads me to suspect this’ll be among the better examples.  Maybe.

1) Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

My complicated feelings about Dark Souls aside, From Software has proven quite adept at taking that game’s action-RPG framework and running it through increasingly varied scenarios.  Bloodborne was remarkable in its embrace of Victorian-era-inspired cosmic horror trappings, and now Sekiro appears primed to do the same but for the iconography of feudal Japan.

I like the shift away from varied weapon types in favour of combat styles, I’m enamored with the idea of zipping between different points with Sekiro’s version of a grappling hook, and the focus on breaking enemies’ defenses in order to secure a quick sword kill is enticing.  Now, if they can just stick the landing.