Our personal picks for the year ahead
Happy New Year, folks!
Crikey, there are a lot of games coming out this year, aren’t there?
So let’s dive in.
Why so many games this year?
And these are just the games we know about right now, too.
It also has dozens of cats you could pet and name around town.
Honestly, what’s not to love?
Get it in my veins this instant.
Rachel:Very excited about this Indonesian adventure from Mojiken.
Dead Space
Liam:Does a game from 2008 need a remake?
The original was a thoroughly enjoyable sci-fi survival horror that featured a distinct sense of place.
Birth
Alice Bee:Quoting the Steam page will save me a lot of time here.
How are younotlooking forward to this game?
What are you, a big weirdo?
Birth, Im sorry, but Im going to steal your wholevibeto make my D&D stuff cooler.
Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1
Alice0:Explore sprawling unearthly versions of mundane places?
Swimming pools and shopping malls and offices and schools stretched out into dreadful empty nightmares?
Yes, hey, thank you.
Mostly I’m here for the dream versions of all-too-familiar generic spaces.
I cannot wait.
Monster Hunter, to be precise.
Or, at the very least, slices off its tail before making itself a very fetching hat.
With its focus on tools and gadgets, Wild Hearts seems very promising indeed.
Ed:BIG PIG.
Sometimes its the general ‘Soviet mad science’ aesthetic.
Sometimes its just an old woman with a ladle.
Why is she here?
God knows, but Im intrigued to bits to find out.
The combat looks like a riot too.
The two-handed gun/superpower setup naturally invites comparisons to the later BioShock instalments, but BioShock was never thisfast.
And even if its not an out-and-out movement shooter, I do enjoy a shooter with good movement.
All of which I will invest more time into than the story itself.
Absolutely sign me up.
System Shock
Katharine:Admission time.
I’ve never played the original System Shock.
That might be blasphemous, but hey, I’m all about convenience these days.
Sekiro fans, you may want to keep an eye on this one.
Wait, where am I?
And Fallen Order was decent!
What’s not to like when a sequel is announced?
Ollie:I played through Fallen Order three times.
But mostly Im just looking forward to another compelling Star Wars story about a Jedi on the run.
Fortunately, Survivor seems set to improve exploration, with mounts hopefully making traversal feel faster and more exciting.
Of all the big AAA bonanzas coming out this year, Jedi: Survivor is my most anticipated.
When Storyteller is mentioned I’m like, “Oh, I thought that came out already?”
But no, gentle reader, it didn’t!
But you’ve got the option to change that story depending on where you put everything.
Maybe the damsel in distress becomes the vampire.
Maybe the evil king accidentally poisons himself.
And so something that seemed simple becomes delightfully complex.
As Rock Paper Shotgunsresident (hah!)
Ed:I’m terrible with older games, so I bounced off the original Resi 4 hard.
The stakes are high.
Yet it feels so fresh and clever for Suffer The Night to combine the two.
Do not let him in.
But… maybe do play the cursed texture adventure he delivers?
it’s possible for you to even right-click to look behind you while sitting at your in-game computer.
There are rats, bats, and demons alongside urchins and police constables.
So in other words, it is a perfect setting for a dating sim.
There are complex storybuilding sections where it’s possible for you to weave your own tales in real time.
After Us
Release date:Spring 2023From:Steam
James:We broke the planet, folks.
The animal spirits Gaia rescues exist on a scale from majestic to cute (ghost dachshund!
), and lush green grass sprouts from her very footsteps.
Theres also an enticing surrealness to this particular post-apocalypse, with skyscraper graveyards and floating trains in the sky.
Man, we really did a number on ol Earthy, didnt we?
Will it also explain the first game’s unexpected cliffhanger twist?
Spring can’t come soon enough.
Rachel:The coffee making mini-game in the first Coffee Talk wasso gooood.
I just want more of that, plus more laid-back chats.
Finally, a fighting game that I can play and actually look vaguely cool doing it.
Capcom have truly knocked it out the park with this one.
(No need to comment below to tell me that dinosaurs probably had feathers, by the way.)
In all seriousness, there’s plenty to recommend this game to someone with my interests.
And it stars Lachlan Watson, them off of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina!
Why, it could only be… Nope, not the game directly below this one.
It’s Homeworld 3!
Will it be an interplanetary masterstroke?
Will it shit the bed?
Can one even shit the bed in zero gravity?
One thing’s for sure: there will be plenty of crash zooms on bloated faces.
I both anticipate and dread the takes.
But that ship creator looked hella good in the trailer.
And who doesnt love a great big sci-fi open world to get lost in for a while?
Theres a sense of sadness within these quiet periods of isolation thats uniquely Bethesda.
Perfect for a game set in the cold expanse of space.
And set everything on fire.
Hayden:Oh wait no, I take it back.
I think about it like a giddy kid tucking themselves into bed on Christmas Eve.
Hell, we can all play together in co-op!
I am already hooked by the premise of this side-scrolling explore-o-shooter.
The violence looks slick, with good dodges and blasting, and the game looks dead pretty too.
Anger Foot
Liam:Anger Foot is a game about kicking weird dog men in the head.
And shooting lizards wearing sports coats with an Uzi.
Very much looking forward to this one.
There were far fewer Origins/Odyssey/Valhalla-style expansive countrysides and sweeping deserts to explore back then.
That sounds much more assassin-y than anything weve had in recent years, so colour me excited.
Gimme creative ways to kill rich fucks while looking like a badass and Ill be happy.
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
Rachel:kindly let Bomb Rush Cyberfunk come out this year.
The tricks and grinds and cool outfits and music that absolutely slaps.
If the actual OST is anything like thisconcept soundtrack, my god, Im going to lose it.
Except these are, you know, theoriginalfairytales, so things get real dark, real fast.
There’s a lot of cool stuff going on underneath the hood (deck?)
Cocoon
Katharine:Forget Starfield.
If I had to be stuck inside a dark, warm(?)
insect coffin with one game this year, this would definitely be it.
Specifically, a new district which seems to house a spy-thriller starring Idris Elba and a returning Keanu Reeves.
Not that it’s the celebrities I care about in Phantom Liberty.
I can’t wait to jack back in.
Demonschool
Rebecca:Demonschool was my top pick when we discussedour favourite games of Not-E3 last summer.
That’d make it pretty much perfect.
Rachel:I loved the Demonschool demo that I played at PAX West.
I am so down for a supernatural teen adventure with scooby-doo shenanigans.
Its very Persona, but character-wise its less annoying.
I particularly like sass-pot red head Faye whose solution for every problem is to kick everyone.
Vibe on, girl.
Dordogne
Hayden:Dordogne was on my list last year, and on the list it remains.
Alice0:It is very pretty, isn’t it.
Rachel:I want to live inside this game.
Dreamsettler
Liam:I am properly excited to play Dreamsettler.
I watch its announcement trailer every other week like an actual child.
I hum the sax solo from it to myself while Im peeling carrots.
Is that normal behaviour?
But listen: I really loved Hypnospace Outlaw, so forgive me for being pleased its receiving a sequel.
Presumably one stuffed full of warped music, bizarre brands and relatable, lovable people.
If you havent played the demo for that yet, I would really recommend you give it a try.
Its properly daft in all the right ways.
Just don’t do it at night, because that’s when things get real gnarly.
Unsettling, thoughtful, and compassionate as they explore AI, identity, simulation, and other such cyberthings.
These games look and sound so striking too, the good retro analogue stuff.
You’re some weird guy in some weird land on the hunt for some weird video game console?
Don’t tell me anything more; I want to be surprised.
Will it be a ‘wait until it’s finished’ game?
Or can it keep the momentum going over its proposed year of early access?
Either way, I’m itching to find out.
Thats one way to rage quit with style.
Frostpunk 2
Ollie:I adore Frostpunk.
What I’m hoping this means is that the game getsharder.
It’s human nature, isn’t it?
I want that Rimworld-esque feel of things spiralling out of your control with each new event or decision.
I’mhopingthat might be the case here, and I’m very eager to try it out.
If the age of steam is over and Earth is still royally fucked, whats next?
My heart is completely encased in ice, so Im ready for whatever it is.
Gossamer Matrix
Alice0:One obvious comparison point for thisFPSis GoldenEye 007.
The other is maybe WarioWare?
There you are, shooting baddies and then, when oops!
I’ve been following Gossamer Matrix throughScreenshot Saturdaysfor a while, and I’m delighted by it.
Gunbrella
Rachel:Its a GUNBRELLA.
That alone is enough to make it onto this list.
But that’s more than enough to get me very excited indeed.
Himbo Harem Homicide sees you in a happy domestic set-up alongside your ten lovable roommates-slash-boyfriends.
This transparent ploy is absolutely going to work on me because I bloody love Danganronpa.
I often enjoy virtual photography, and I do like a chunky camera.
Little do you know that its sunny shores harbor a terrible secret and a fanatical cult.
Perhaps my favourite thing is its battles which hit you with minigames unique to the baddie you’re facing.
I’m all in.
Katharine:I can also vouch for the absolutely magnificent Steam demo.
Liam:You both had me at WarioWare.
This looks fantastic, and is now at the top of my list as well.
But I sure am keen to find out.
I’ll just come out and say it - all I know about Pinnochio comes from Shrek.
I and practically everyone else - thought that it was his last swing of the bicycle.
I’m all up for in Yakuza terms, anyway - a nippy reunion with my favourite beefcake.
If you haven’t already, try the demo on Steam right now.
No colourful Italian coastal villages here, no sir.
As for the Minecraft spin?
I’m excited to see if it’s the twist on Minecraft that will finally hook me in.
Disclosure: occasional RPS contributor Malindy Hetfeld is the writer on Mythwrecked.
I really enjoyedthe Steam Next Fest demoand am keen to see more of these waters.
It’s about damn time that someone made a video game about my life.
Nightingale
Ollie:Sorry, Starfield.
Nightingale is absolutely the game I’m most excited to play this year.
Mostly though, I’m just looking forward to exploring its dazzling world.
The world is made of paper, and you fold it to solve puzzles?
ALSO, it’s very pretty.
If you liked Carto, this is definitely one to watch.
I also just love that you’re called Pepper and your drill’s called Grinder.
Rachel:Go to thedevs twitter profileand look at the gifs for this gem.
Since then, a couple more delightfully crafted trailers have dropped, and my excitement has only grown.
That’s why Planet Of Lana is so exciting.
It’s not about fighting.
Replaced
Katharine:I will never not be pumped for Replaced.
In this neon-drenched cyberpunk adventure, you play a sentient AI stuck inside a human body against its will.
What colour are the elemental power-up gems again?
And I get to try hacking or breaking into so many places on my hunt for the truth?
And interviewing people and checking CCTV footage and phone call histories?
AND I get to pin evidence to a board with red string connecting items?
I am very excited by so much of what Shadows Of Doubt is talking about.
Maybe even pay the modders who’ve kept them playable.
No idea what it’s about.
No idea when it’s coming.
It looks very human, a great contrast to how otherworldly the rest is.
But hear me out on this one: it’s like A Short Hike, but with Moomins!
Alice0:I love the laughter, and I do love the living.
Rachel:I just wanna make a quick note here that some people think Moomins are creepy.
Moomins are NOT CREEPY and whoever says they are will be fed to The Groke.
Silent Hill meets Killer7 meets Paradise Killer?
I do not know, and am keen to find out.
Still, A Wonderful Life was always my favourite of the farming sims earlier entries.
Its a little more muted.
A bit more grounded.
Other than, you know.
All those elves that help you milk cows and whatnot.
Sounds super on-the-level and not at all menacing.
Theres plenty more going on, obviously, but thats the very cool bottom line.
I think they work better as a duo, actually.
And by done I mean gone.
Like, Oh shit we ruined the planet and now its little more than a desert covered husk gone.
Then, its time to pack up your things and leave it all behind.
After all, havent we all done enough damage as it is?
The 22nd Is Serda.
Some sort of surreal first-person RPG, maybe?
What I have seen is beautiful and delicate and fretful.
What a name for a villain!
If you enjoyed Tinykin last year, this is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Who knows, but Im ready to find out.
Those skies are stunning!
hey let me into them soon.
Fingers crossed for a 2023 release.
Very excited about this one!
Either way, I’m all in.
The sight of pixelated firearms is enough to get me on board, but pixelated Boltguns?
Those are the best guns!
Its no wonder the whole game is named after one.
Once again, then, I would kindly like to play as the big stompy murder monk.
I hope were not exclusively stomping out bugs, though.
Oh, and its also very cute.
The card designs are adorable.
There are too many to name, but I always come back to Big Berry.
I want them in my life.
I imagine more time spent with Big Berry this year will undoubtedly make me much happier.
