Part Trois! If you didn't read the first two parts, I'm posting a quick summary of why I'm excited for 50 different video games in 2016. Today, I'll be running down ten more games. I should have the final ten by the end of the week if all things go according to plan. Again, this is a subjective list, so don't expect something popular I have no interest in to take #1 (sorry, Far Cry Primal). Hopefully this list will get you more hyped up for the games coming out this year, remind you of a few you've forgotten about, and maybe introduce you to a few new games.

This is a collection of posts from my tumblr, so a few of them might contain information that is outdated and/or are about games that have already been released.

If you didn't catch the previous posts I made, check em out here:

• My 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 - Part One (#50-#36)
• My 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 - Part Two (#35-#21)
• My 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 - Part Three (#20-#11)
• My 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 - Part Four (#10-#1)

#20 - Hyper Light Drifter

Platforms: PC, Vita, Wii U, PS4, Xbone, & Ouya

Release Date: Spring 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN9YsuJMsDg

Hyper Light Drifter took the indie game scene by storm when it launched it’s Kickstarter back in 2013, sporting slick animation, a Disasterpiece soundtrack (who was coming off of industry-wide praise for his Fez soundtrack the year prior), and action RPG gameplay hearkening back to greats like Boktai and Link to the Past. The Kickstarter raised thirty times what was asked for, understandably ballooning the game’s scope well past what was feasible by it’s promised 2014 release date. If the consistent developer updates and the trailer they released last fall (linked above) are any indication, that scope change was for the best, as everything about it just seems polished to an impeccable shine. I have misgivings about how well the game will turn out from a gameplay and story perspective (as just not enough of either has been shared), but if the rest of the package is any indication, Hyper Light Drifter is going to expand beyond the indie scene and take this whole damn industry by storm.

#19 - Cuphead

Platforms: Xbone & PC

Release Date: 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TjUPXAn2Rg

I’m a sucker for well animated video games, but Cuphead is on a whole other level. Using animation techniques that have long been replaced by computers, the developers have fully embraced the wacky, expressive, and energetic ways of classic cartoons that are damn near a century old. Hand-painted water-colour backgrounds, hand animated animation, and character designs that have a creativity rarely seen, Cuphead is a ridiculous blast from the past to the time when Disney meant Steamboat Willie and Warner Bros. meant Porky’s Duck Hunt.

The gameplay shoots for a similar nostalgia, but back to the early days of NES Run & Gun action platforming games. Taking inspiration from Contra, Metal Slug, Gunstar Heroes, and even newer gems like Alien Hominid, Cuphead is being tuned to that extra hard difficulty level people used to associate with Nintendo’s earliest consoles, though it still will have difficulty levels so those that aren’t itching for that nostalgia trip can still get in on the fun.

So far, it sounds too good to be true, but there’s still a few things that have me hemming and hawing. What has me unconvinced is just how the game feels, the pacing, and how the levels work. Boss battles are really all that have been shown and they look fantastic, but the developers are promising a game that full run & gun platforming experience without having shown really anything of it yet. Will those levels be a distraction between the boss fights, leading to pacing issues akin to the No More Heroes series? Are the boss fights going to be too frequent and, just due to the obviously high amount of work that goes into one, mechanically simple or excessively recycled? And, while it looks reassuring from the footage shown, how does the game actually feel once you get your hands on it? That’s such an important thing for games like this and dooms a lot of difficult platformers because the game feel hasn’t had enough attention.

Regardless of my worries, I’m ecstatic that this game is slated for this year. It looks like a blast, especially in co-op, and is going to be an absolute treat to soak in all that lovely animation.

#18 - Shantae: Half Genie Hero

Platform: 360, PS3, PS4, Xbone, Wii U, PC, & Vita

Release Date: 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3uhIIqTgH0

Position in 2014: #10

I love Shantae’s evolution over the past decade from a relatively unknown Game Boy Colour gem to an indie darling. A decade ago, Wayforward was struggling to get a second game out of the series after the Game Boy Colour original vanished just as quickly as it launched, likely due to it releasing a fully year after the Game Boy Advance. That second game was slated for the Game Boy Advance, but was scrapped and assets were eventually retooled into Risky’s Revenge: a fine game, but one that launched onto the ill-fated DSiWare.

Now, Shantae is finding success on Steam, both major Nintendo platforms, and mobile, there are Shantae guest characters in games like Hyper Light Drifter and Indivisible, and there even was a relatively large campaign going to try to get the half-genie heroine into Super Smash Bros. This fourth game is even be made in part due to a ¾ of a million dollar Kickstarter: not enough money to make the game, sure, but enough to get the ball rolling and indicate that Shantae has a pretty substantial group of dedicated fans. Which, as a fan rooting for the series since it’s GBC days, is mind boggling. Here’s hoping that Half Genie Hero, whenever it ends up launching, is just as good as the most recent release (Pirate’s Curse) and Wayforward continues to find success with the franchise.

However, I still find it funny that, due to where the industry was when the Kickstarter launched, Shantae will once again be launching on outdated systems: the PS3 and 360. The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh? At least it’s getting a release on the other major consoles (and Vita!) as well.

#17 - Super Hot

Platform: Xbone & PC

Release Date: February 26th, 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWJSiJsmO-A

Position in 2015: #21

This game continues to look fucking rad and is only getting more exciting as the developers share more about it. If you only have seen the original game jam version of this game, here’s a quick list of features the developers have added:

• Parkour.
• More weapons including melee weapons, different types of guns, and projectiles.
• More varied environments.
• Even more gorgeous lighting.
• Some sort of ridiculous hacking storyline?
• Real-time replays after you complete a level.
• The enemies will now procedurally shatter like crystals when you kill them and it’s fucking beautiful.
• A nifty icon & highlighting system that makes doing shit like throwing your gun at someone to knock them out, catching their gun in midair, and shooting their friend with it as easy as reading this sentence.

I cannot wait to get my hands on the final game next week.

#16 - Iconoclasts

Platform: PS4, PC, & Vita

Release Date: 2016?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvoiEiYOYfs

Position in 2014: #13

Yeah, I jumped the gun on putting this on my list back in 2014, but last year had a lot of interesting developments for this long awaited metroidvania indie title. Not only was that amazing (and incredibly polished) trailer released (linked above), but Konjak announced that he would be releasing the game on PS4 and Vita. In his own words, he’s ready to finish the story, the saga of development of bringing Iconoclasts to life. Maybe 2016 is the year, maybe not, but all the best wishes and good luck to Konjak on finishing development. I will continue eagerly awaiting it’s release.

#15 - Cosmic Star Heroine

Platform: PS4, PC, & Vita

Release Date: Early 2016

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbqtBNaVtpo

Position in 2014: #11

An indie RPG that is the closest a game has come to straight up making a late SNES era JRPG. This is more than just a love letter to Chrono Trigger though (see #22 on this list for more thoughts on that), with an already killer soundtrack from Hyperduck Studios (Dust: An Elysian Tail), a fascinating battle system concept that makes status ailments useful and forces you to change your strategy constantly, and a sci-fi/spy story, a surprisingly underutilized storytelling space for the JRPG genre. I’m a big fan of Zeboyd Games and their vision for Cosmic Star Heroine they pitched back when they launched their Kickstarter seems to be coming together better than I could have hoped.

Cosmic Star Heroine is definitely one to look out for in 2016.

P.S. Ignore the license-free music in the video linked above. THIS is what the soundtrack will sound like.

#14 - The Last Guardian

Platforms: PS4

Release Date: 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXLZvsSmBIs

It lives!

What a ridiculous press conference Sony had last year. People were crying over Shenmue 3, people were screaming about Final Fantasy VII’s remake, and after years of silence, The Last Guardian was shown to the public for the first time in six years (footage linked above). Then, almost as quickly as it came, The Last Guardian vanished from the public eye once again. Shenmue III was the talk of the industry as the Kickstarter skyrocketed to ludicrous heights. Final Fantasy VII Remake dominated talks of games coming out in the future as more details were released and a new trailer was shown at PSX. And The Last Guardian… well, that was about it. It had a 2016 released date attached to it, was shown more to some of the press behind closed doors at E3, skipped over the rest of the shows for the year beyond a cute interactive Trico display, and now it’s hard to judge what exactly is going on with it.

Fans are always anxious when a game doesn’t have a solid release date, but doubly so for games that have been in development as long as The Last Guardian. And I really can’t blame them. Shadow of the Colossus and Ico are two seminal games for this industry and while expecting The Last Guardian to be one as well may be putting too much weight on it’s shoulders (times have changed after all), fans are worried that it might never happen. And I’m sure it’s the same with the developers as well. They’ve put out two amazingly realized games and it’s a damn shame that they haven’t been able to share another game with the world in a decade.

But, even if there’s anxiety around the title, I still believe trusting in the developers is the right way to go. Maybe it won’t make the 2016 release date, maybe it will. But I trust that, regardless of when it comes out, they’ll do right by their vision for the game and that’s what matters. The Last Guardian’s journey has been harsh on the fans, but the developers are the ones that have worked for a decade on this behemoth. They deserve to see their hard work and passion be fully realized.

#13 - Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

Platforms: PS4 & Vita

Release Date: 2016?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As6LpRBkKck

It took a few decades, but Ys has finally, slowly been finding a western audience. With the quite popular releases of Ys I & II, Oath in Felghana, Ys Origin, and Ark of Naphis- Napitish- Ark of Napitism- … and Ys VI on Steam and the wonderful Memories of Celceta on the Vita, Falcom and XSEED have had a pretty healthy run with the series here in North America. So healthy that I’d argue Ys’s success is one of the biggest catalysts for so many Japanese PC releases nowadays.

But with so many games coming out, you’d think think that another new game in the series wouldn’t be that big of deal, but all of those games have been remakes and rereleases. Adol Christin hasn’t gone on a new adventure (and, subsequently, gotten a new case of amnesia) since Ys Seven was released on the PSP back in 2010. So while I’m loving the remakes XSEED are making available over here, I’m more than ready for a new chapter, especially one that looks to be building on Falcom’s recent efforts in the series (Celceta) and in the genre (Tokyo Xanadu). It looks great, has a great foundation to work off of, and, knowing Falcom’s dedication to game feel and tweaking it to perfection, I’m confident that VIII will be yet another winner in the franchise.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana does not have a western localization announced at this time.

#12 - Miegakure

Platforms: PS4 & PC

Release Date: 2016?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhbUvoxjxIg

Miegakure has been blowing minds for years. And by years, I mean XKCD had a comic about it 6 years ago. It’s perspective-breaking 4D world can be mystifying, so your first exposure to it, even in video form, can leave a lasting impression. I know that was the case for me ever since I saw it in motion at PAX a few years back. It’s a beautiful mix of easy communication of mechanics that helped popularize Fez and the drive to understand the unknown, foreign, and impossible that made Antichamber a must-play experience.

Living up to those expectations are going to be the biggest hurdle for this game to be a fantastic game and not just a brilliant idea. Pressing a button to switch perspectives of Miegakure’s 4D world and being unsure how it will graft onto the 3D world we experience is fun when you’re seeing it for the first time in an Indie Megabooth, but not so much when you’re trying to quickly and eloquently solve a puzzle an hour into the experience. Conveying how the world will change, what that means for progression and puzzle solving, and how players can use that intuitively to their advantage has got to be a helluva tall order, especially if you want to keep the magic of the mechanic fresh and interesting for the entire game.

So I have my reservations about Miegakure and whether it will stick the landing, but it’s worth noting that this is the last game on this list I have such doubts about. Of all the games I’m still hesitant about, that haven’t quite convinced me that they’re 100% going to achieve their potential, Miegakure is the one that has the most promising core, the most potential to be something special, and is the game most worth getting excited about. Miegakure is a game that is going to sneak up on a lot of people and, even if doesn’t end up perfect, it will be challenging game design conventions for decades to come.

As for Miegakure’s release in 2016, that is pure speculation on my part and has not been announced by the developer. At the risk of getting people’s hopes up and dashing them or putting more pressure on the developer than I intend (of which I do apologize for), I still felt the need to post about it anyway. For if the game does come out in the next ten and a half months and I never sang its praises, there really wouldn’t be a point to this list, now would there? I’d rather continue posting about it for the next five years as it’s polished and perfected than miss it’s release altogether.

P.S. I’d also like to point out that just because I’m skeptical that Miegakure will succeed, doesn’t mean that I don’t have faith in the developer. Reading Marc ten Boch’s blog on the game is an absolute treat and comes highly recommended and hearing him speak about it at talks and in interviews has me convinced he’s up to the task, but when you’re breaking such new ground in the field of game design you encounter new problems and challenges that you could never predict. And game designers are only human, even if Marc ten Boch is a very smart one.

#11 - The Great Ace Attorney

Platforms: 3DS

Release Date: 2016?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK7vxwo6cM4

Okay, I might be a little worried about Ace Attorney 6’s unfocused direction, but The Great Ace Attorney… now this is more like it! New fun, interesting characters to fall in love with! A brand new setting to influence events and frustrate the localizers! A new court system to mix things up! A new story filled with twists, turns, and turnabouts! This is what the Ace Attorney series is all about!

This isn’t quite as good of an idea as “let’s make a Professor Layton and Ace Attorney crossover”, but it’s damn near close. The ancestor angle is nowhere near a new storytelling gimmick, but it’s one that the series desperately needs. Everything I was complaining about with Ace Attorney 6, from it’s unfocused direction to the oversaturation of characters to the impossibility of meeting everyone’s expectations as the series continues to branch out, is solved by this approach. Hell, it even could fit nicely in the weird alternate reality Los Angeles the localizations take place, as you just have Wright’s ancestor riding a wave of more Japanese culture spreading westward, starting with England.

The Great Ace Attorney is the most excited I have been about the series proper since I finished Apollo Justice, which says a LOT about the rest of this list that this isn’t higher as my love for this series runs deep. I just hope that a localization will be announced soon, as, unlike Ace Attorney 6, The Great Ace Attorney has yet to have one announced. Which is a shame, as I am dying to meet Mr. Wright, his assistant, Sherlock Holmes, and 10 year old female Watson (WHY IS SHE ONLY TEN YEARS OLD?! JAPAAAAAAAANNNNN!)

The Great Ace Attorney does not have a western localization announced at this time.

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That's all for Part Three! Thanks for reading! I'm hoping the finale up by the end of next week, so keep your eyes peeled!