My Most Anticipated Games of 2012

1:14 PM on 02.05.2012 (server time)0

Well it's been half a year since my last blog post. I said I'd intended to at the very least keep up my biannual "most anticipated games" lists and my annual "favourite games of the year" lists, and so it shall be done! It's February but that's okay. Nothing's come out so far this year that I've wanted to buy. I'm not too late.

My top 10 of 2011 will have to wait as well. After playing no console game except Skyrim for 3 months, I have some catching up to do. I'm almost done what I wanna do in Skyrim now I swear! I just have to finish the main questline! It's smooth sailing from here! Then I have to play Skyward Sword. And on the handheld side of things, I have to finish Ocarina of Time 3D so I can start Super Mario 3D Land, Cave Story 3D, and Solatorobo. Yes, this could take me a while.

So, onto my most anticipated 2012 releases! But first, some Vita games which I won't include on my actual list because I'm still not sure if I'm actually going to get a Vita. These are the games that could convince me.

6. Escape Plan

5. Gravity Daze

4. Touch My Katamari

3. Persona 4: The Golden

I have yet to experience a Persona game but I hear it's one of the best series ever. And presumably 4 is the best entry. A Persona 4 update/remake is exactly what I want to be my first experience with the franchise.

2. Little King's Story 2

Little King's Story was easily my 2009 game of the year, and hell, it's my game of the the last three years! (Seriously. Fucking buy that game.) So it's easy to see why I'd be excited about a new one. On the other hand, it didn't really need a sequel, and this new one looks kind of assy - at least art style wise. It looks way less charming than the original. So while I won't even entertain the notion that this game could match the 2009 original, I think it could still be a pretty great game, even just on the strength of the gameplay formula alone.

1. SumiOni

Take the art style of Ōkami (the greatest art style of any game ever, obviously), apply it to a really clever and fun looking 2D platformer, and add to that the fact that it's being published by XSEED (my favourite publisher), and I think we have something that could be something really special. Just typing this is making me want a Vita.

And now the real list - of games I will actually definitely be able to play if I still think they look great by the time they come out!

23. Monster Hunter 4 (3DS, TBA)

I still haven't played a Monster Hunter game. I almost got Monster Hunter Tri, but I chickened out at the last minute.

22. Rodea the Sky Hunter (3DS/Wii, TBA)

I love Prope. I have all their games (not counting their iOS stuff) except Fishing Resort which just came out in like November or something and I so badly want but can't find. Let's Catch is amazing. It's amazing that Let's Catch is amazing. Ivy the Kiwi is great. This is another game by them.

21. The Last of Us (PS3, TBA)

This game is easy for me to make fun of. It's about a beardy man who shoots some mushroom people in a destroyed and deserted city. It just seems so generic to me. But it's a Naughty Dog game, and they make some great games, with some of the highest production values and best visuals around. And after Uncharted 3, I'm thrilled they're doing something different.

20. Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney (3DS, TBA)

I hope this isn't Nintendo's answer to God of War, and is actually something fun. Even though it isn't technically, it's basically like getting a brand new IP from Nintendo, which is exciting, even if it looks somewhat iffy to me.

18. Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D (3DS, February 22)

I've only played the fourth game in the Metal Gear franchise, and I liked it well enough, but I get the impression 3 was the real peak or the series' greatness. I'm interested in playing it. Sure, I could get it as part of the MGS HD collection for PS3, but I really wouldn't play the others. I feel like this would be the ideal option for me, if the amount of handheld gaming I have ever drops off.

17. Silent Hill HD Collection (PS3, TBA)

Silent Hill 2 is another classic game that I've never played and really want to. And again, it's the only one I'd want out of this collection. Maybe if I wait, they'll release them individually on PSN.

16/15. Sine Mora / Black Night Sword (XBL / PSN, "Soon")

Sine Mora and Black Night Sword are two downloadable games by Grasshopper Manufacture, with partner company Digital Reality. The former is a schmup (and XBL exclusive, annoyingly), while the latter is a 2D platformer. Both look really good. And I'll buy anything Grasshopper makes.

14. Paper Mario 3DS (3DS, Summer)

I loved Super Paper Mario. I never finished the original Paper Mario on virtual console, but it was cool too. I'm sad they're going back to turn-based. But I'm very interested, nonetheless.

13. The Last Story (Wii, TBA)

I've heard some amazing things about this one. I'm not sure I'm going to bother with Xenoblade Chronicles, but if Nintendo localizes the Last Story (and they fucking should), I'll probably give it a try. It could be something special.

12. Retro City Rampage (WiiWare, February)

So much old school goodness... So many loving in jokes and game references... A Destructoid level... Should be great.

11. Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii, February 13)

I got the original WarioWare as one of my free 3DS "ambassador" games. After playing Skyrim for so long and then playing that - it was exactly what I needed. It's so energetic! And it made me excited for Rhythm Heaven Fever. It looks funny, insane, and so so full of energy. And just look at that screenshot. What is happening there, for god's sake?!

10. Diabolical Pitch (XBL, TBA)

I will buy a Kinect for Suda's throwing-baseballs-at-men-in-animal-masks game. I will.

9. Luigi's Mansion 2 (3DS, Q1)

I haven't played the original Luigi's Mansion, but it looks not like any other Nintendo game. This is a new Nintendo game that I don't know what to expect from, but I'm very very interested in.

8. Guild 01 (3DS, TBA)

Suda51 and 3 more of Japan's most idiosyncratic game developers are each making a small game, presumably based on the craziest idea they could come up with. The result, Guild 01, is a collection of all four. Is anyone else incredibly intrigued by this?

7. Journey (PSN, Spring)

Journey looks positively gorgeous and looks to be an unequivocally unique gaming experience. I wasn't a huge fan of thatgamecompany's previous games - flower & flOw - but they were well worth playing, so even if Journey doesn't blow those games completely out of the water - and I think it totally will - I will still be happy to play it. For sure.

6. Grand Theft Auto V (PS3, TBA)

I'm ready for another Grand Theft Auto now. I absolutely love that Rockstar applied their talents to different genres in Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire, but I don't mind them returning to GTA. They've earned it. I think they can make something far better than GTAIV now, and I'm excited to play it. Nobody makes open-world games like Rockstar does. I just hope there's more fun stuff to do than in GTAIV.

5. Pikmin 3 (WiiU, TBA)

I adore Pikmin! I do hope this finally comes out, it would make an amazing launch title for Wii U. Speaking of, how can I not talk about the Wii U? That's the most exciting gaming thing of next year, bar none. There's not much I can talk about in terms of the games themselves right now, but you can be sure I'll be playing more than my fair share of them at launch.

4. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3, Q1)

Studio Ghibli. Videogame. That is all.

3. Fez (XBL, TBA)

If you've seen any videos of Fez, and you're still not interested in it... YOU HAVE NO SOUL!!!

2. Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, TBA)

Big new Suda games always tend to top my list. Here's a game where you play as a chainsaw-wielding cheerleader with the decapitated head of her boyfriend strapped to her belt buckle, who kills zombies such that blood and rainbows shoot out of them and also one of the boss zombies yells swear words like "Vanilla Slut" at you which materialize as text and the text attack you. C'mon. Is it any wonder why they top my list, really?

1. The Last Guardian (PS3, TBA)