Most Anticipated Games of 2020
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
If you listen to the VDGMS podcast often then you would have heard me say that one of my favorite games from last decade was Ori and the Blind Forest back in 2015. The game was a masterpiece for many reasons including art design, gameplay, difficultly but most importantly the game had heart. It also seemed like a self contained experience that wouldn’t have received a sequel but way back at E3 2017 it was teased that The Blind Forest would be getting a sequel with Will of the Wisps. During E3 of 2018 we were finally treated to some actual gameplay and a release date of 2019.
Over the last couple of years Microsoft went through a studio buying phase where it acquired great studios such as Inxile, Obsidian, Double Fine and Ninja Theory to name a few. Surprisingly, it didn’t acquire Moon Studios who seemed to be a perfect candidate to join Xbox Game Studios. Smaller scale, successful game, and originality separates it from rest of of the Xbox first party studio portfolio. They did sign a exclusivity deal with Microsoft back in 2011 but for how long we aren’t sure and with The Blind Forest released on Switch it would be nice to see the sequel make the leap too.
Without a doubt one of my most anticipated games of 2020 but probably the one that I am most cautiously optimistic about. For starters the game was originally announced for 2019 but then delayed twice since then which always adds a bit of concern to any game. Considering that The Blind Forest came out in 2015, five years does seem like a long time for a sequel. My other concern is does Ori still have a story left to tell. From what has been shown it seems like the team is doubling down on its art style by adding more layers to make the world even more beautiful. It looks to be going for increased scale to create a much grander feeling world and it looks like it is trying to incorporate boss fights.
A main concern of mine is that it’s harder to live up to the hype when people are anticipating your game like they are for The Will of the Wisps since the first game was critically acclaimed. Sequels are never easy in any entertainment medium including movies, music or games. The age old paradox is do you do more of the same or try something new. Will Ori and the Will of the Wisps do enough to generate the same critical acclaim or will it fall into the sophomore slump. Speaking with Geoff Keighly on GameSliceTV, the developers referred the sequel to the original as Super Mario 3 was to Super Mario Bros. That is a pretty drastic jump in gameplay and technology and is also a quite a large measuring stick they are choosing to measure the sequel by. From looking at some of the trailers, it does like like Ori can now glide on the back of an owl which is similar to the leaf power up Mario used in Super Mario 3, so maybe the comparison is accurate.
I wouldn’t call this date concrete since its already been delayed twice but as of now, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is due out on March 11, 2020.
Halo Infinite
You could argue that a large part of the success of the next generation of consoles from Microsoft are largely dependent on the success of Halo Infinite. I don’t think it’s a necessity but I think having a killer app does play a large part in the success of a console. Some of the most popular systems of all time either had a killer app on launch or in launch window including Breath of the Wild for Switch, Wii Sports for the Wii, Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros for the NES, Tetris for Gameboy, Super Mario World for the SNES, and most importantly Halo for the original Xbox.
It’s not hard to draw a direct correlation between the fact that Microsoft is still in the console business and the importance of launching with Halo: Combat Evolved. Back in 2001, I wasn’t a day one purchase for the Xbox like I was with almost every console since the early 90’s. A few days after it came out, a friend of mine purchased one along with Halo and invited some friends over, including me. I remember playing FFA split screen the whole day. The very next day I went out to purchase an Xbox and I’m sure Halo had this effect on many other people as well. What followed was many countless hours in countless months in basements with system link cables, 2 consoles, 8 controllers, 2 televisions and Halo. Halo changed the game for console shooters and continued to revolutionize the landscape with the release of Halo 2 alongside Xbox Live.
The road has been quite bumpy since 343 industries has taken over the Halo franchise after Bungie and Microsoft parted ways. Halo 4 was a pretty great start for the new studio and got fans excited for what 343 could do once they had their feet wet. Unfortunately, consistently great results didn’t follow. The Master Chief Collection, although vast in content was broken technically for many years and although it is in a good place now, it has taken years to right that ship. Halo Wars 2 wasn’t able to turn that series into a smash hit. Finally, Halo 5 had some of the best multiplayer the series had ever seen but was overshadowed by a shorter and unpleasing campaign. In addition to the removal of LAN and split screen play. 343 has said that both of those features will be back for the fifth instalment.
One thing that 343 has said publicly is that Halo: Infinite won’t have a Battle Royale mode as back in 2018 during a live Mixer stream with the developers a few members of the team said that the only BR that would be in Halo would be the famous battle rifle. I’m not sure quite how to feel about this as the selection of weapons in the Halo universe combined with some of its vehicles and map designs over its lifespan seem like they would pair perfectly with Battle Royale. It would certainly get some people in the door but maybe 343 sees Battle Royale as a trend rather than a genre. This was back in 2018 so Im not sure how their opinion has changed since then by seeing some massive success stories including Apex Legends which has similarities to Halo. In 2019 Bonnie Ross, Studio Head of 343 when sitting down with Ryan Mccaffrey during an interview on Unfiltered said “they have conversations all the time, whatever we do we have a sandbox that gives us the ability to have multiple different game types. Whatever we do needs to be the right thing for Halo” I will give the benefit of the doubt to the studio and the series because they have created some very innovative multiplayer modes over the years including firefight and war zone. I am very excited to see what the team can do with the power of Xbox Series X to create some amazing multiplayer experiences.
What has happened with the Halo franchise seems parallel to what happened with the God of War, the audience matured. We already know this game is going to look amazing with it new use of a brand new engine, called slipspace. As well as the benefit or running on brand new hardware with rumored double the power of the Xbox One and 5 years in development. The challenge will be can the story be relatable. We aren’t super soldiers on another planet but we aren’t God’s of War either and Santa Monica made a very grounded and relatable story. The other improvement that, based on the teasers, look to be implemented is the addition of an open world. You don’t have to make Halo Dead Redemption but as in God of war there were open world elements blended in with tighter story areas. There is a lot riding on this franchise and my hope is that Bonnie Ross and the team at 343 can deliver an impactful Halo.
Currently there is no actual release date for Halo Infinite, but there is zero chance that Halo will not make the launch of the next generation Xbox which will likely be released in November.
CyberPunk 2077
If there is a gaming sin that I am guilty of, it’s that I find it very hard to get into medieval games, especially of the RPG nature. For this very reason I was never fully able to CD Projekt Reds, The Witcher 3. I have always gravitated towards science fiction or futuristic settings when it comes to RPGs. Today, what we have are copious amount of sword swinging, horseback riding games and what we are missing is more CyberPunk, dystopian future games. Sure there have been some but not nearly enough and not nearly any at with the budget and polish of a CD Projekt Red game. Things come in waves like Zombies, Battle Royales, and other popular gaming trends. It’s pretty safe to say that in the next year or two we will be sick and tired of the CyberPunk genre but right now people are hungry for it.
There are a few reasons to look forward to CyberPunk 2077 with the main reason being that CD Projekt Red is coming off a massive success with The Witcher 3. It’s not just the main game itself but what they did with The Witcher 3 post launch including two full expansions, Hearts of Stone as well as Blood and Wine. Then there was a spin-off game, Gwent, that was a card mini game in The Witcher 3 which has carved out its own niche. This is good news if you are looking forward to CP2077 as it seems there will be plenty content to be had as this method of post launch content from CD Projekt Red seems to be the norm. The company even spoke back in the summer at one of their financial calls since they are a publicly traded company about how they currently have three CP2077 projects in the works with one being the main game and the other being the multiplayer mode that is due out some time after the release of the main game.
One of the biggest changes that the studio is making, other than the obvious setting from medieval to Cyberpunk is in the perspective. The company has said publicly that the reason for the switch was to increase player immersion. From what we have seen the game features a lot of areas with shooting or possible potential combat depending on the path you choose. These shooting sequences will feel seamless instead of switching to first person view during combat which will keep the player immersed in the story. The change to a first person view will also very easily make the game more marketable as they could try to entice people into thinking its a FPS first and secondarily an RPG which is actually what most games are doing these days already.
Another way to make the game more marketable and appealing is to include recognizable elements such as actors and music. In case you have been under a rock since E3 2019, one of the main characters that you will interact with will be played by Keanu Reeves.
The other way this game is trying to merge mainstream is by incorporating well known musical artists into the games soundtrack including Run the Jewels, Grimes and ASAP Rocky. As of right now it’s unsure if those are original songs made specifically for the soundtrack or if these are grimy remixes set to the atmosphere of night city.
As for the game, it looks to be firing on all cylinders. The visuals of the game look amazing, the audio of the game we have seen from gameplay trailers sounds immersive, and the story seems to have some depth since it is based upon existing work, which means the team can build upon that. The RPG elements begin as soon as you start the game you select one of three back stories that will affect some of the choices you will have throughout the game. The choices are corpo, nomad or street kid and after that it’s up to you how you want to augment your character. It wouldn’t be cyberpunk without body augmentation and according to the development team you will be able to augment pretty everything including the nervous system.
The only concern for this game is the question of can it live up to the hype. The hype of being the next blockbuster follow up from the team that brought you the critically and commercially acclaimed Witcher 3. The hype of Keanu Reeves on stage talking about the game and being a major character in it. The hype of being able to play this game in any style and as any character you want. There is huge hype surrounding this game and that level of expectations are hard to meet. As of right now the release date for this game is April 16, 2020 and I don’t expect it to be delayed since CD Projekt Red is a publicly traded company.
Minecraft Dungeons
One of my favorite series of all time is diablo, with an special emphasis on Diablo 3. Yes, the first two games in the series did some special things as well but outside of the lighter color palette the third entry in the series eventually became a refinement of what made the series great. Minecraft dungeons looks to offer that same dungeon crawling addictive gameplay with a few variations. First, the art style isn’t grim and dark like Diablo or many others in the genre, instead it features the blocky world you have come to know and love from Minecraft.
From what I have read it will feature a smaller campaign but instead of a set path these dungeons are procedurally generated. I do fully love the curated story and campaign experience from Diablo but on your third run through of the campaign or the hundredth run of act three you grow tired of seeing the exact same locations. With Minecraft Dungeons, Mojang is essentially building a never ending supply of dungeons to run through and loot with any area being identical. These dungeons will also be able to be pillaged through in solo mode or in co op with up to 4 players. This feature will be available online or local for those who would prefer to loot on the same couch.
Minecraft Dungeons is definitely targeting a different audience than the average ARPG with its lighter tone. It also doesn’t put so much emphasis on teams having a synergistic build due to everyone having the same class. This means you don’t have to wonder if you are min maxing the wrong way and instead can just have endless fun exploring dungeons and solving puzzles. Also everyone being able to equip the same gear might make for a more fun time playing with friends. If they find duplicate items you will be able to equip it and not have to sit and envy their class selection.
The other promising feature of this game is in its potential. Minecraft today is much different than it was when it first launched back in 2011. I think it would be safe to assume that both Mojang and Microsoft plan to support this game over time with plenty of new features, updates and patches. After all this is a big chance for Minecraft to branch out into other genres and capitalize even more on the massive product that Minecraft is. This being a first party Microsoft game you will be able to find it on GamePass. If you don’t have GamePass and don’t want the game for free then it is only around $20 for the game, which will also be available on the PS4 and the Nintendo Switch which saw some great success with the Diablo port. There isn’t an exact release date yet for the game but at XO19 they revealed that it would available in April of 2020.
Nintendo Anchor
This is more of an unknown factor at the moment but whatever Nintendo plans to anchor their holiday 2020 season around will easily make my most anticipated game of the year list. On top of needing something to continually sell the Nintendo Switch they need to be bringing the goods more than ever due to the PS5 and the Xbox Series X due out holiday 2020. Nintendo needs to give existing consumers a reason to buy more games and stay in the ecosystem rather than go and invest into Microsoft or Sony. It also needs to convince new consumers that even though there are newer, flashier systems on the market, Nintendo has better reasons to purchase a Switch. A new pro model of the switch or an addition of a retro console to their online service would help but they really need a system selling game.
Being that the game needs to be a well known IP, the list has been narrowed down to the usual suspects. Breath of the Wild 2, Mario Kart 9, Metroid Prime 4 or Metroid Prime Trilogy, and finally a new original Mario title either Odyssey 2 or something original.
I’ll start with the least likely to happen and that would be Metroid Prime 4. The reason is because early in 2019, Nintendo came out and made a public statement explaining that the development of MP4 wasn’t going as well as they had hoped and that Retro Studios would be taking over from Bandai Namco. While this is likely a better outcome for fans of the series by going back to the developer who made Metroid Prime what it is today, it most likely means that development started from square one. It would seem unlikely that Retro would want many assets if any from Bandai Namco, especially if Nintendo cancelled the project due to it not developing as they saw fit.
Keeping with Metroid, I do expect to see the trilogy released before Metroid Prime 4. However, I don’t think that a trilogy remaster has enough strength to anchor Nintendo’s holiday 2020 lineup on its own. It’s very possible that this game will be released with one of the other games mentioned on this list with the exclusion of MP4. Nintendo loves to release old games with a new coat of paint. On the Switch alone we have seen Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Pokémon Let’s Go, New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe and Links Awakening just off the top of my head. The other reason this seems likely is that you want to get the audience up to speed and generate more interest. The Metroid Prime series started back in the GameCube era and it’s likely that many potential buyers weren’t even born yet. The last time we saw Metroid Prime was with the third entry back in 2007 with Corruption.
I would say the chance of a new Mario mainline game or the sequel to Breath of the Wild are about the same with the both predecessors coming out in 2017. This means it will have been over three years since we saw an original release in either of those series. Link and Mario are both two series that carry plenty out clout so they are good options for competing with the next generation of consoles. These are also two first party games that always look much better than they have any right to be. Both Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild were absolutely stunning in their own right.
The most likely candidate to anchor Nintendo’s lineup for next holiday in my mind would be Mario Kart 9. If you look at Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as not an original game, which it’s not since it only added minor changes from the WiiU release then the last time we saw a new entry from Mario Kart would be back in 2014. Mario Kart just has that mass appeal that anyone of any age or skill can pick up. This is the main reason that Mario Kart 8 was the best selling game on the Wii U with over 8 million. This means that over 60 percent of WiiU owners bought that game. The success kept rolling in when the rerelease hit the Switch with Deluxe in 2018, as of their last financial report back in September, the game had sold over 19 million units. This is a massive game that has the best chance to hold its own against the newest from Sony and Microsoft next holiday. Not to be too optimistic but it’s also possible that we might get more than one of these games between September and December if they spread things out enough. I would lean towards a Metroid Trilogy and Mario Kart 9.