2019 wish list

[nocturnal YL]

It's 6 January here and still no post claiming to be the first in the year. I guess there's not much to say here, lack of notable game news and all.

Actually, I was thinking of making another review of the past (3DS post, Wii U video), but I haven't decided on the finer details, so I'll leave that for later.

Anyway, this post is about what game news will be there in 2019 and what I'm hoping for. A list of what am I interested in isn't news to those who read my stuff within the last two years, but I'd like to talk about my speculation on each item of interest.

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Nintendo

Right now, there are a bunch of already-announced games. Between those and games that are already out, I don't think I'd ask for anything more from Nintendo, in the sense that there aren't going to be omissions I deem essential. For a Nintendo system I'd want, at minimum, a Mario platformer (preferrably 3D), Kirby and Fire Emblem (which also explains why the Nintendo 64 is my second least favourite Nintendo home console).

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is obviously my primary target this year. Not much is known about this game, and its presentation in the railers both makes my curious and worries me a bit. But I said the same thing about Awakening too, so I'll just keep waiting until it comes out. If anything, the high quality of Echoes did give me confidence in Three Houses.

Luigi's Mansion 3 is another Nintendo release I'm looking forward to. Everything looks great thus far, and I have nothing to say besides I look forward to it. My worries with other series have to do with breaking series traditions in the wrong way, but for a wacky game like Luigi's Mansion, I don't feel like there's anything to be concerned about.

Yoshi's Crafted World falls outside of my radar right now, partly because it's a Good-Feel Yoshi (Woolly World interested me a bit, until they made a 3DS port with more contents and poorer quality), and partly because I don't like its apparent use of a publicly available game framework (Unreal Engine 4), because this coming from a traditional studio just feels cheap. But one thing I noticed is that while the E3 2017 trailer's copyright message shows the Unreal logo, this isnot the case in the September 2018 trailer. Did they find problems with the engine and ditched it, thus also explaining the delay?

I'm not interested in their other announced games.

For games they didn't announce but I want to see anyway, I'm not sure what to look for. From my preference alone, I'd have wanted to see a 2D Zelda, another 3D Mario (Odyssey 2?), 2D Metroid, revival of any of their puzzle games and many more, but I can't envision any of these having any real chance for a 2019 release, especially with Nintendo's big game mentality in this generation.

Publishers that aren't Nintendo

Let's get the biggest one out first. KOEI TECMO. I'm still undecided on getting Atelier Lulua and its three predecessors, but I'll leave that after I get the chance to play Nelke. I don't know if intentionally using a crossover game as a bridge would work as well as otherwise… At any rate, this is the one series I hope isn't getting new games so soon. I can't keep up!

Still not interested in other games KT makes. Maybe a followup to Warriors All-Stars that includes even newer characters?

Some of Key's visual novels are getting Switch ports. Should I try? (If I do, probably not the infamous CLANNAD.)

It's hard to think of what would I actually wish for, for series that don't come out regularly and with somewhat unpredictable publishers behind. It's not like a new Contra or Power Stone or even Crazy Taxi would have any realistic chance to come out at all. If I have to pick one, though, I'd say I want to see a new Metal Slug. SNK seems to be interested in IP revivals, so there's that.

And finally, SEGA feat. HATSUNE MIKU Project. What a tease. For the whole year of 2018, their Twitter account would remain active, and Future Tone would keep getting minor updates. But for the year, they did not actually announce anything new. The music scene behind has since grown a lot, we saw a lot of new songs that are featured in other games including SEGA's own (maimai, CHUNITHM), and I'd really hope to see some more substantial update. Maybe a new game, maybe a fully-featured DLC pack for Future Tone. There are some speculation that as the first Project DIVA is going to turn 10 in this year, they'd do something bigger for the series' anniversary. Fingers crossed…

By the way, I was kind of boycotting SEGA for that. Had this not be the case, I'd have tried Shining Resonance and
Valkyria Chronicle 4 back when those came out.

[Nester the Lark]

Due to my recent Fire Emblem kick, I suppose I'm most looking forward to Three Houses. Been a while since we've heard anything about it, though. Maybe in the next direct.

I'd also like to play Yoshi's Crafted World, but not sure if that'll be a day-one purchase. I also look forward to learning more about Daemon X Machina.

Beyond Nintendo, I'm still looking forward to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered Edition. Also, I'm still considering Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy.

And fingers are still crossed for a Switch version of the new Samurai Shodown.

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EDIT: Forgot to mention Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night!

Also, I guess Shenmue III, but I don't expect to be able to play it.

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Jan 5, 2019 16:39:22 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

If I have to pick one, though, I'd say I want to see a new Metal Slug. SNK seems to be interested in IP revivals, so there's that.

According to an interview from last year, Metal Slug is among games SNK is considering reviving, but their main concern is that the one-hit death mechanic may be too out-of-date for current players.

[nocturnal YL]

I was an awful Metal Slug player when I was a kid, but I don't think the one-hit death problem is that bad. At the easiest difficulty in home console versions, you get infinite continues and (in 5 and 6, I think) a heavy machine gun (H) with unlimited shots as the default weapon. The only remaining nuisance is when you do get hit, you'll need to go through the whole death animation, which can get annoying.

I suppose if they want to modernise it, they could try introducing an optional upgrade shop like in Mega Man 11. And I'd be fine with any effort to make it accessible; to me, the essence of Metal Slug is the unique style of the pixel graphics, and the infamously hard difficulty is second to that.

[Nester the Lark]

Well, SNK's New Year's tweet was Metal Slug artwork, so maybe they're teasing something for 2019?

I think it is a matter of updating Metal Slug to be suitable for a home platform. The arcade games were very much about credit-feeding your way to the end, but a home game would need a little more substance than that. I thought Metal Slug Advance on the GBA handled it well, adding some light exploration and collecting elements (it even had a health bar instead of lives), but at the time, a lot of fans complained that it wasn't enough like the arcade games.