slateblog

Maybe I’ve hit a wall. Turning 40 next year and it’s starting to feel like a lot of the things in life I’m passionate about are all becoming…the same. I recall a few years back hearing about this TV show about zombies. A TV show about zombies?!?! Now…season five? Games, movies, TV – so many are feeling awfully predictable and ‘been there, done that’. Even the predictability of some things are predictable. I wonder. Is this normal? Is it my age showing rather than the stagnation of media?

Whatever the case, this wasn’t meant to be a gripe session. Although my expectations for games are still high, they are still realistic, knowing what I might (and might not) get. Here are some titles I’m looking forward to in 2015. Let’s see if they can live up to the hype, their predecessors or if perhaps they exceed them!

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
I didn’t get the first Uncharted right away. Who knows why…but once I did grab it, I was sold. This game (well, #2) may be my favorite game of the last generation and for good reason. It is everything I love about gaming. Rock-solid gameplay is coupled with good storytelling and a fun plot. While I feel #3 was rushed, #2 is just stellar. So…where do we go? If it’s everything I expect, it’ll be great. But…will Naughty Dog surprise us with more than just the predictable? I feel they will. They’ll keep all that I love – the shooting, jumping, climbing…but after The Last Of Us, I have a feeling they won’t settle for just more of the same. This is a pre-order, day #1 purchase. I can think of no reason for it not to be.

Psyched Level: 11/10

The Legend Of Zelda

OK, here’s all I care about: Standard Controls. I really couldn’t care less about any other element of this game because it will be classic. I just simply cannot stand swinging my goddamn hands around NOT killing that stupid spider because I’m not swinging properly. A huge, seamless world allowing us to adventure wherever with our trusty Epona? Sign me up, take my cash and don’t get too gimmicky. The Wii U screen should be a map, my TV an open adventure of joy and delight.

Bonus Perks: I can play this with my kids. In fact, they’ll probably love it.

Street Fighter V
The ’80s

That’s when I started playing both Zelda and Street Fighter. I got caught sneaking across the highway to play arcade games when the pizza place (and the Chinese-food place and the deli…) had an arcade machine and this one was Street Fighter. Fast forward a few decades and I’ve never NOT played Street Fighter. And I’m old and I’m slow and I’m no damn good at the games (well, not very) but I don’t care. SFV will have a pre-order beta program, it’s coming out on the one next-gen system I do have (eff you Tomb Raider) and I wants. My cash is waiting. So is my website.

# of SF Games That Exist: Shut Up – Don’t Care – STREET FIGHTER FIVE!!!

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

I struggle with this one. I’ve already written about the glory and perfect end of MGS4. It truly wrapped everything up and was it. Done. Perfect. Much like The Last Of Us and God Of War 3, no sequel is necessary. But here we are and I’m a sucker for MGS so I don’t know what to say. I’m keeping my expectations low. Ground Zeroes was OK. It just bothers me that we’re opening this whole can of worms and I fear anything less than perfection will mar the entire MGS mythos. Fine, that’s pompous and absurd but damnit MGS4 finished it! Ah, whatever.

Buy Or Rent??? – Grrr…See, I’m the sucker they make these games for.

No Man’s Sky
Randomly-generated worlds? Meh. I figured that’s how I’d feel when I played Rogue Legacy and I was wrong. And that’s just a simple dungeon crawler. You mean, entire worlds are unique and different and…wait for it…maybe unpredictable? Not only does that fly in the face of Uncharted #4, Zelda #200 and Street Fighter #&infin…Not only does that fly in the face of all that I complained about in my opening paragraph…No, it also looks to represent all the universe is founded on. I can’t even envision what other worlds might look like and…that’s the point! OK, way too deep there. This game has a good chance of being boring as shit. How will this run? How will it even play? Is it even really a game? *hrmph*

Chance Of Being Cool: Still Processing Mathematics

Just Cause 3

This is another title I didn’t get into initially. When JC2 was free on PS+ I tested it out. An hour in, I was hooked (heh, pun). I’ll keep this brief. JC3 could be essentially the same as #2 and I’d love it. It’s one of those titles. Latching onto helicopters and flying around with parachutes just about ruined me for other action games for six months. This one will look better and I just hope they don’t try to do anything stupid to the fun and ludicrous gameplay. I’m on board!

The Only Problem: Too Many Games – May GameFly this

Rise Of The Tomb Raider
I’m a hypocrite, I know. Street Fighter V is OK, but Tomb Raider is not? Fortunately, I’m fairly certain this title will come out on the PS4 eventually. It’s gotta suck being an Xbox fan and knowing you’ll literally never get SFV. That sucks for everyone. In any event, I won’t be playing this game in 2015 but after it was my Game Of The Year in 2013, I can’t wait for the sequel.

Can It Be Better Than UC4? Good question!

Noteworthy Titles

Mighty No. 9 – A spiritual Megaman successor? OK!
Ratchet & Clank Reboot – Don’t need to say much, I’m game!
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds – Not a 2015 game but I never played it, so a New 3DS + this sounds great!
Resident Evil / RE: Revelations 2 – Both came out already and I’m enjoying them…they count!
Final Fantasy XV – Not sure if I will even try…The hype for this one will be huge!
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Return? – We’ll see. It’ll be hard to genuinely entice me.

Well, there you have it. That’s a long article that no one will read but hey, we’ll see if my predictions were any good. Now that I’ve written this whole lot, I’m kinda excited about 2015 after all! Screw this predictability nonsense. I’m psyched!!!