This year is really promising, with great releases in all formats and the arrival of the new generation.
Whenever a year begins in the world of videogames, it is easy to get excited about the coming months and the expected projects that are coming, and it is normal to find situations in which fans point to a certain period as a throwing madness – usually when they coincide shortly Time two or three high-caliber projects. This industry moves especially on anticipation, more than any other: the developments are long and for both large releases and smaller productions, the number of reserves and the number of iterations in wish lists constitute the trunk of the financial health of many houses, so professionals and amateurs feed each other in this cycle.
Cyberpunk 2077
But there are times when, at least on paper, the one-year setup seems to be particularly exciting and 2020 is one of those years. A look at the calendar uncovers the first six months of vertigo, with several heavy weights stuck between them and other very promising projects in between. And then … nothing less than the final stretch to the new generation, with PS5 and Xbox Series X planned for the end of the year and everything that entails at the level of ads and movement in general. We don't have the crystal ball to guess if everything will convince us when it comes out, if all the games will be excellent (hopefully) and if at the end of the year we can say that our expectations have been fulfilled. But promise, of course he promises.
In this report we will try to pass over a wide variety of games, some colossi known to all, others much smaller but also worthy of attention and some projects that are not even expected for this year. A panoramic, shallow but extensive vision of the proper names that we hope will shine in the next 12 months.
I start strongly
It's been a long time since January is not that desert month in which we were given truce with the releases and 2020 is no exception. Of the whole month, perhaps the one that awakens the most illusion is Dragon Ball: Kakarot, in which many see the expected great final adventure of the saga, after many years of fighting games; the well-known ability of CyberConnect 2 to get the most out of the licenses it handles – see Naruto – and the large budget production air complete what seems like a great tribute to Goku's lovers.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
Two other returns mark the beginning of 2020, one more modest and one more ambitious. For Switch comes Tokyo Mirage Sessions, a port that offers the opportunity to discover one of the jewels of Wii U in a console with a much wider user base. For PC users and fans of Blizzard and Warcraft, comes Warcraft III: Reforged, a complete remake of one of the most important RTS in the history of the genre and the great starting point for one of the most emblematic worlds of the game, from which World of Warcraft is born directly.
February is more calm, although there is some weighty title such as the launch of Dreams, the new Media Molecule, whose editor has already made a great impression and left some impressive demonstrations in the hands of capable and dedicated users. It also seems a very interesting month for fans of the fight: Granblue Fantasy Versus by Arc System, in one of the first games that will try to expand the already imposing fan base of Granblue; and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, which needs little presentation at this point. And for the most exquisite in the genre: Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late (cl-r), a new revision of the French Bread classic that reaches PS4 and Switch.
Guilty Gear Strive
Speaking of conversions, a few arrive in February: Yakuza 5 for PS4, the tenth anniversary pack Bayonetta / Vanquish for PS4 and XBO, the Mega Man Zero / ZX compilation for PC, Switch, PS4 and Xbox One and the management title Two Point Hospital for consoles. VR lovers with Playstation glasses would do well to keep an eye on Iron Man VR, which promises well beyond the attractive concept of getting into the skin of the golden avenger.
March, the roller coaster begins
In March the temperature rises several degrees. Final Fantasy VII Remake awaits us on PS4 at the beginning of the change, the three to be more exact. Despite its long development process, that it comes to us in parts and the reasonable doubts about the transformation process of a classic of classics, the truth is that visually it seems a luxury and the nostalgia that emanates is perceived powerful. The 11 comes Ori and the Will of the Wisps for Xbox One and PC, that seeing the base from which it comes is not difficult for us to bet on it as one of the platforms of the year. Two days later Nioh 2 will arrive for PS4, whose beta seemed convincing enough to anticipate great things for action experts. And if the unrestrained action in the first person is preferred: Doom Eternal for PC, PS4, XBO and Stadia on January 20 – together with the Doom 64 remaster – which, shortly as the base of the previous Doom improves, will give us good joys. year.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Of course, if what you want is the opposite: calm, tranquility and placidity, on the same day we will have on Switch the game that many will dedicate the rest of their year: Animal Crossing: New Horizons – we do not anticipate that there is much conflict between Doom and Animal Crossing players, but surely there are more than one, will choose. The thing is not here: on the 31st of the month, Persona 5 Royal, an expanded and Spanish version of one of the best JRPGs of the last years, comes out, the opportunity that those who have been claiming the saga in Spanish for years show that they are really there. And beware, on an undetermined date and assuming that it is not delayed, at some point in March will come Half-Life: Alyx, which promises to be the next big date for those interested in VR.
Anime A go go
Before we talked about Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot as an unavoidable date for lovers of the series and anime in general, but in the first three months of the year there are also titles for a wide variety of fandoms around the shonen. On February 28 comes the fighting game One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows for PC, PS4 and XBO, on March 13 comes the second installment of the fighter arena based on My Hero Academy: One's Justice 2, with new heroes and villains, for the same platforms plus Switch. Fairy Tail, who strangely has not lavished much on video games outside the portable field, lands with an entire RPG on March 19 for the same four platforms. One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 will bring us quality musou and fanservice on March 27, again on the same four main platforms. And on May 22 we will have the new game based on SAO, Alicization Lycoris, for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. For (almost) all tastes.
Nioh 2
April-May, here you eat the loop
If March started strong with Final Fantasy VII remake, April is not far behind with the remake of Resident Evil 3, which will be released on April 3 and which is expected a lot after the excellence achieved in the remake of the second part – our Game of the year – even if it is from a different team within Capcom. And on April 16, another of the names called to lead the “GOTYs” lists arrives at the end of 2020: Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt has not noticed expenses when it comes to giving its project an air of great blockbuster -Keanu Reeves breaking the E3 with the presentation of his character, theme of Grimes and his voice in the game, etc-. But beyond that, what keeps an unwavering faith in the game is the work of the Polish studio with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and the expectation that they will overcome it. In April, the remake of Secret of Mana 3, Trials of Mana (Switch, PS4, PC) for 24 is also confirmed; the strategic-tactical game Gears Tactics on PC on 28 and, somewhere undetermined in 2020, the Minecraft: Dungeons cooperative slash hack’s, which will appear on all four major platforms.
Wasteland 3
Glow titles continue to happen in May. On May 15 we can see if the commitment of Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics for the license of The Avengers (PS4, XBO, PC) crystallizes in a game at the height of the great productions of superheroes in the video game like Batman or Spiderman. On May 19, lovers of the traditional role have an appointment with the universe from which Fallout: Wasteland was born, which comes out with a third part for PC, XBO and PS4 in which the resources and stability that Microsoft is expected to be noticed has provided Inxile with its purchase. On May 22 will appear the apparently funny sandbox Maneater, in which we will play a killer shark with a thirst for revenge. And on May 29 we have another depth charge on the calendar: The Last of Us 2, another one called to compete all this year and that will have the enviable task of raising the bar at all levels with respect to the award-winning first delivery -game of the last generation for Meristation readers-.
Delays, as normal
From the calendar it loses definition of dates. In fact, some games that had fixed dates have been moved to an undetermined date, as is the case with Ubisoft games, which will undergo a review so that what happened with Breakpoint does not happen again. Both the promising Watch Dogs: Legion and the classic adventure Gods and Monster and the Rainbox Six Quarantine shooter have left the fiscal period 2019-2020, which implies that they will arrive between April 2020 and March 2021 – although they are expected by 2020-. The French company came from a very sweet period in which it had achieved great sales and critical support with productions such as Assassin's Creed Odyssey and, with good judgment, they want to make sure not to lose that path despite the foreseeable impact on profit accounts of this year. Surely that decision will pay off.
Vampire: Bloodlines 2
They are not the only delayed games: on March 31, Vampire: Bloodlines 2 was expected, the continuation of a true classic of the genre that features the participation of key Troika people who raised a broken, imperfect and unfinished game to the heights Higher thanks to his vision, imagination and narrative talent. Now the date is undetermined, but it is expected that in the hands of Paradox, the game does not come out until it is sufficiently polished – it was also the best date given the game jam and the presence of several weight RPGs nearby.
From the country of the rising sun
That Sekiro won the category of "Best Game of the Year" in The Game Awards, and that his rivals were games like Resident Evil 2 or Death Stranding only confirms what we already knew: the relevance of Japan in the most luxurious sector of the video game It has regained the international relevance of yesteryear, and that is great news. There is a good amount of projects without a specific date that could result in bells for this year, starting with Elden Ring, Miyazaki's mysterious game with the signature of George RR Martin of which we have been waiting impatiently for news. We know that it will be released on PS4, Xbox One and PC, which is an ARPG and which is the largest volume content game that the Japanese studio has made. That will have to be worth it, for now.
Elden Rings
There are many other important Japanese titles that we do not know the exact detail of its release date. In some cases we do know the release date in Japan, but not in the West, as is the case of Persona 5 Scramble, the curious musou based on Persona 5 that leaves on February 20 in Japan for PS4 and Switch; o Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the new stage for the Yakuza saga, which leaves on January 16 on PS4 (it is confirmed for the rest of the world in 2020, but we don't know when). Also in this group we find Project Sakura Wars, the return of the strategic saga of Sega and now become ARPG, which came out in December in Japan for PS4 – yes we know at least it will arrive in spring. Nor do we know when exactly Ys IX will arrive for PS4, which came out in September in his native country.
In the category of Japanese games with no specific date in 2020 there are several examples such as Tales of Arise, the promising return of the Tales saga with an impressive technological update for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Nor do we have clues about the launch of the CyGames games – the creators of Granblue -: Project Awakening, which seems like a challenge to the Monster Hunter saga, and Granblue Fantasia Re: Link, both for PS4. And of course there is a lot of interest in the projects that Atlus has the oven: the JRPG Shin Megami Tensei V for Switch, of which little is known, and Project Re Fantasy, the new game of those responsible for Persona that is known even less . It is not ruled out that neither of them leaves in 2020, but we hope at least to have more solid news from them. What we hope to see this year is somehow 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, the work of Vanillaware that we actually expected to see last 2019. And, of course, there are the Platinum games: Bayonetta 3 on Switch and Babylon's Fall for PS4 and PC, whose release dates are unknown and do not necessarily have to be in 2020.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Big expected no fixed date
There are other titles of considerable weight that have not yet released. For example, neither more nor less than Halo Infinite, which right now is the only game we have seen work on an Xbox X, although it will also reach Xbox One and PC. Along the same lines is the open adventure Ghost of Tsushima, the new of the creators of Infamous, which points its katana to PS4 at some point of the year. More indeterminate is Age of Empires 4 on PC, the continuation of a colossus of strategy that Microsoft should never have abandoned. And put to talk about Dean franchises, it will be nostalgic to meet again with the flight simulator Microsoft Flight Simulator, which will also appear at some point in 2020 on PC and Xbox One.
The list of indeterminate titles but set in 2020 is long. There are renowned sequels such as the post-apocalyptic zombie adventure Dying Lights 2 on PS4, Xbox One, PC, then there is the amazing sequel to Deadly Premonition for Switch and the expected third part of No More Heroes also for the Nintendo console, such as Bravely Default 2 , the new bet of Square Enix next to the Silicon Studio that has taken the saga. We also found things like the expected continuation of the psychedelic adventure of Psychonauts for PC, Xbox One, PS4, or the new beginning of the Guilty Gear fighting saga in the form of Strive for PS4, not to mention the return of the horror platforms, Little Nightmares 2- There are not only sequels, there are also remakes such as the classic System Shock of Looking Glass, a revolutionary game in its day, or that of Oddworld: Soulstorm, which will try to give a new dimension to the idea and message of Abe's Exoddus.
Last of Us 2
In the field of strategy, apart from those already seen above, we have some proper names like Crusader Kings 3, one of the great references in the great Paradox strategy. Smaller and also Paradox is Empire of Sin, a strategy game based on the cossa nostra signed by one of Doom's creators, John Romero. For card lovers, we must be very attentive to Legends of Runeterra, Riot's commitment to assault the throne of Hearthstone and Magic with his own bet. And for those looking for something fresh and original, Iron Harvest is a classic-cut RTS in an alternative and steampunk version of the First World War. But the one that surely many will be looking forward to is Mount & Blade II: Bannerlords, the continuation of one of the great references of the independent scene, a complex and ambitious role play that will allow us to earn the fame and fortune of very different modes in a universe always in motion regardless of our steps.
Indie power
As usual, the list of independent projects before the start of the year is very long, and it is only a very small part of what will come out during the months, so it is impossible to cover everything, but we do not give up underlining some names. The sequels – or prequels – are those that have a priori with more immediate recognition: Super Meat Boy Forever and Spelunky 2 will fight to escape the elongated shadows of their classic predecessors by leaping. Hollow Knight Silksong has a hard work to live up to one of the best metroidvanias in recent years. Street of Rage 4 has the monumental task of doing justice to a name that makes many of the tears that still have the luck of having a Mega Drive in their day.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Other sequels that we will find this year are those of Freedom Planet 2, one of the best games made in the shadow of the classic Sonic; N1RV Ann-A, continuation of the fantastic conversational adventure VA-11 HALL-A; Axiom Verge 2, which will try to improve the notorious Metroidvania qualities of its predecessor; and, of course, we do not forget Shovel Knight Dig, a continuation of an indie reference, which will bet on raising its graphical presentation from 8 to 16 bits; nor of Kerbal Space Program 2, sequel to the space race simulator that impressed many almost a decade ago with its approach, physical simulation and constant development.
If what we are looking for instead is completely new proposals, this year also brings us really promising projects. Perhaps, the most visually sweeping is Sable, a game that evokes the art of Jean Giraud "Moebius" when it comes to recreating a world full of ruins and mysteries. It is not far behind, although with another style, Eastward a game that has captivated with its detailed pixelart work applied to a post apocalyptic survival story. In the section of visually attractive indies games we also find Way of the Woods, a beautiful naturist allegory; Cloudpunk, a futuristic adventure based on voxels with a noticeable atmosphere; or CrisTales, a "love letter" to JRPG with influences from Valkyrie Chronicles. And lovers of classic 2D have an appointment with Heart Forth, Alicia, a project born from Kickstarter and that takes a long development process behind them that seems to be
Saber
And there are other indies proper names that we will not want to forget in this first review of 2020. For example, 12 Minutes by the developer Luis Antonio under the seal of Annapurna, who surprised us at the E3 with a combination of thriller and “time trapped” . There's Haven, a promising project in which a couple of settlers take care of a planet. And Spiritfarer, where we will build a ship to take various spirits to the other side at the end of their days. There are games that we do not expect to arrive this year but to which we will be attentive, such as Colony Ship, the new creators of the excellent Age of Decadence. Role lovers would also do well to not take their eyes off Encased, a post-apocalyptic RPG sandbox that is currently in Early Access, with excellent reviews. And, of course, like any game under the Devolver seal, you will have to be very attentive to Carrion, the “John Carpenter Thing simulator”, in which we will control a horrifying organism in its struggle to escape from a secret laboratory . We will also follow Hades' evolution very closely, which is still in open-payment beta and has just landed on Steam, and we will also have time for curiosities such as The Procession of Cavalry, the newest of the creator of the hounding Four Last Things. And also look at Star Renegades, a space science fiction RPG with a really powerful look.
Beyond 2020
Devil IV
Finally, we could not finish this report without talking about some important names whose release dates are unknown. Some might land in 2020, but they also might not do it – or be sure they won't, but it should be kept in mind as part of the news. For example, role lovers will be very attentive to any novelty of the announced Baldur's Gate 3 of Larian, of which we have only seen a cinematic introduction, and of Dragon Age 4, of which we only know that it is under development by another cinematic trailer and not expected until 2022, at a minimum. The Bethesda: Starfield projects and later a new Elder Scrolls are also going for a long time, none of them have an approximate launch date, nor does Diablo 4, which left very good impressions on its recent release at Blizzcon.
There is more, Riot for example has a wide range of internal and associated projects to expand the world of LOL outside the borders of MOBA. Legends of Runeterra, which we talked about before, is the first step, but there are many more. We will also have the utmost interest in following the developments of the recently announced Hellblade 2 of Ninja Theory for Xbox X / PC and Rare Everwild for Xbox One / PC, two projects that are important for Microsoft Studios aspirations.
Hellblade 2
Of course, we do not forget the announcement of a sequel to Breath of the Wild, nor the announcement of the return of Metroid Prime to the hands of Retro, which should never have left: we hope that both are in the mid-term plans of the Kyoto house and know more about them during this 2020; What we do know will appear this year, although not when, is that Definitive Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles, the opportunity to play a much improved version of a true classic of the genre. And as final notes, two titles, one with a lot of media noise and another that is yet to be discovered: in the first case, we look forward to any news from Beyond Good & Evil 2, which we already know is going for long; on the other hand, much attention to the translation of the JRPG Moon Remix, a game that appeared only on PSX in 1997 but whose influence is notorious and reaches Undertale. It can become a discovery if it appears this year as announced a few months ago-
So far this review of some of the most anticipated games for 2020 and beyond. They are not all that they are, nowadays it is impossible given the volume of launches that exist, but we hope it serves to start dreaming about this 2020 that is taking its first steps.