Your most anticipated games of 2019

[Jushida]

Hello! I'm a very rare poster but a long time listener to Cane and Rinse and a New Years Resolution is to get more involved in the community because I feel like I have a lot to contribute to the community but little time to actually do so. Anyway, my question is; what podcasts are you looking forward to this year and what games would you recommend playing for the podcast. From what I can gather, I've played Virginia, Hitman, Dark Souls, 3 Zelda, Wolfenstein, Nier Automata and I've also bought Superhot and Persona 5. Are there any others you're excited for and what else should I play. Cheers, Josh x

[Magical_Isopod]

In terms of what YOU should play, I honestly recommend maybe watching a brief review of each title. I can't really tell you what you'll like, because tastes are so personal, y'know? There's a full list in the Volume 8 thread, so give 'er a perusal and pick a few that seem fun. The vast majority of them are pretty hekkin gosh darn inexpensive. Breath of the Wild is the only one off-hand that still costs top dollar.

As for what *I'm* excited for? Definitely FF12 and Evil Within 2, because those are on my backlog, and both are pretty much blind plays on cheap pickups.

I'm also majorly hyped for Observer and FF8, because those will make super good conversations. Might use the Dino Crisis and DKC streams to go back and replay those.

I'm excited for Breath of the Wild, even though I absolutely loathe that game. There's a lot to be said about what it specifically did wrong in apeing western open world games and cramming in as many dumb gimmicks as possible. (Like, breakable weapons? This is bad game design!)

And there's a handful of other ones I'll have a few sentences to contribute. I know Vinny Vinesauce is streaming FF9, so I'll watch that one and forego playing a looooooooong, drawn-out game. Wanted to play FFX-2 this year too, so maybe I'll cram Blitzball '02 in there too.

[dezm0nd]

From my perspective, I'm really excited to replay Donkey Kong 64 to talk about at the end of the year. I've never even gone near it since my full 101% completion at launch and im very dubious about how well its held up.

[Magical_Isopod]

From my perspective, I'm really excited to replay Donkey Kong 64 to talk about at the end of the year. I've never even gone near it since my full 101% completion at launch and im very dubious about how well its held up.

THEY'RE FINALLY HERE
PERFORMING FOR YOU
IF YOU KNOW THE WORDS YOU CAN JOIN IN TOO

[Michiel K]

my full 101% completion at launch

...

I need a moment.

[ratsoalbion]

I. MISSED. ONE. FUCKING. BANANA.

[Magical_Isopod]

I. MISSED. ONE. FUCKING. BANANA.

I feel your pain. I am one blast shard short of a Platinum on inFamous because of a glitch in that game where a certain blast shard in the lake just won't spawn for no reason at all. Probably patched now, but I doubt I'd ever go back to replay it.

[DomsBeard]

Resi 2 Remake
Mortal Kombat XI (I am off to the launch event in London next Thursday)
Shenmue 3.

Older games

Dino Crisis
Breath Of The Wild. Have tried 3 times to get into it and I am a massive Zelda fan so I will give it one last go.
Nier Automata


I think The Last Of Us 2 will not be out this year. I think it will be out as a PSV launch title with the FFVII remake in 2020.

[James]

There's so many Issues I'm looking forward to! Most of the Issues below are ones I'm on, which is not very magnanimous of me. I'm excited for many others, of course, but I've been planning my play schedule through Volume 8, and these are at the forefront of my mind...

If not for Hitman 2, Hitman would've (kinda jokingly, but mostly seriously) been my favourite game of 2016, 2017 and 2018, so as you can imagine I have a lot to say about it. It's also the first time we've talked Agent 47 since Blood Money way back in Issue 131, so it's been a hot minute.

Street Fighter IV is now more or less as old as SFIII was when IV was released. What I mean to say by that is this Issue has been a long time coming, and we've allowed SFIV a good, long while to develop, breathe, and be superceded. Given it pretty much kickstarted a second wind for fighting games, for me it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the most (capital 'I') Important games being covered in Volume 8.

One that I'm not on. Yay! I might not have time to play Nier: Automata before that recording, but I'd dearly love to. Nier is one of my favourite games of all time, and that recording back in Issue 111 was a personal fave too, so it's ludicrous that I haven't carved out time for Automata yet.

Furi, Prey (2017), Superhot... lots of games I'm thrilled to be covering, but none more so than Batman: Arkham Origins. I can't wait to see how I feel about a game that I had a lot of affection and admiration for back at release. I also think that it'll be interesting to explore the behind-the-scenes development story behind Arkham Origins, because I have feelings, and maybe some opinions.

[KSubzero1000]

I'm looking forward to Dark Souls 3, DOOM, MGSV and Batman: Arkham Origins, but I don't think I'll be replaying them specifically for the podcast. I still remember pretty clearly how I feel about these.

I'll make sure to spend some more time with Hitman, Furi, Dino Crisis, Superhot, and The Evil Within 1 & 2 before commenting on them. Some of those I haven't completed, and my memory is a bit hazy on the others.

Jury's still out on Prey and Monkey Island 2. Maybe.

Breath of the Wild... I don't think I'll have the time to finish it before the podcast, and besides, I'm sure it'll get a truckload of more informed correspondence. But I'll try to start it at some point this year.

I only played Nier Automata once, which is widely considered to only represent a fraction of the overall experience. Ideally, I'd prefer to explore all narrative branches before commenting but I'm not sure I feel motivated enough to commit to it, especially since my initial playthrough left me a bit cold. Dunno. We'll see.

I was looking forward to playing Gravity Rush 1 and 2 for a while, but they look to be more open world time sinks, so I'll probably have to pass on those as well.

[Magical_Isopod]

RE: Nier Automata...

For those who haven't finished Ending E but would like to, the game timesink more or less breaks down to this:
A - 51%
B - 30%
C - 15%
D - 2%
E - 2%

So if you've only beaten A, you're pretty much there. Just keep hammering away.

[DomsBeard]

RE: Nier Automata...

For those who haven't finished Ending E but would like to, the game timesink more or less breaks down to this:
A - 51%
B - 30%
C - 15%
D - 2%
E - 2%

So if you've only beaten A, you're pretty much there. Just keep hammering away.

Really helpful that as it has put me off playing it

[dezm0nd]

I. MISSED. ONE. FUCKING. BANANA.

Its ok, its not like there's a lot of em to collect

.....

[duskvstweak]

As the title says, what's your most anticipated games of 2019?

Offhand, I think mine are Rage 2, Doom Eternal, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and The Outer Worlds. I'm probably forgetting a bunch of games I want to play, not counting expansions like Civilization VI: Gathering Storm.

[Jushida]

In terms of what YOU should play, I honestly recommend maybe watching a brief review of each title. I can't really tell you what you'll like, because tastes are so personal, y'know? There's a full list in the Volume 8 thread, so give 'er a perusal and pick a few that seem fun. The vast majority of them are pretty hekkin gosh darn inexpensive. Breath of the Wild is the only one off-hand that still costs top dollar.

I've had a good look through, played quite a few previously that are going to be covered this year, and got a few from the PSN sale to play through for the podcast. Persona 5 for 20 quid feels like a steal, but finishing it time for the podcast may be a stretch. Very excited for the BoTW, Nier Automata and Hitman podcasts. Considering revisiting Viginia too while it's a short one and I think by playing it once I may have missed a lot of subtle touches.

My PS4 is now off-limits until after my spring exams. But I've just found out that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is scheduled to be released on March 22, the day of my last exam and the day on which I'll be taking back possession of my console. Perfect timing. It's going to be a long wait but, if Eurogamer's recent article is any indication, it'll be worth it.

Mate I feel you. I'm a final year Speech and Language Therapy student and I've got my final placement coming up. No Sekiro or DMC5 until June at the earliest unfortunately

[KSubzero1000]

In hyping order:

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - If this is somehow on the level of Path of Radiance or even Radiant Dawn, then this could easily be an all-time great for me. Can't wait. Keep the 3DS-era influence to a minimum and I'll be a happy little tactician.

2. Devil May Cry V - Trailers look DOPE. I hope they will have learned from what did and didn't work in DMC4 and are striving towards something with the fine-tuned polish and replayability of DMC3. Even DMC needs more than just a great combat system.

3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - An unknown quantity, but I like that FROM are trying to move on from the Souls formula with this new universe / series. Miyazaki has earned my trust.

4. RE2make - Skeptical as I may be of some of its aspects, it's hard to deny the raw appeal of diving into this new rendition of the R.P.D.. with Claire & Co.

5. Doom Eternal - Love the 2016 reboot which reinvigorated my interest in gameplay-centric singleplayer FPSs after what felt like an eternity of CoD clones. Even if this is just more of the same, I'll be satisfied.

Plus a handful of upcoming games without any official release window (Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3, Death Stranding and The Last of Us Part II) which have been on my radar since their initial announcement.

[James]

I'll second your list, if I may, duskvstweak.

Rage 2 is the only one I have any hesitation about, because I have no attachment to the series, and DOOM will more than likely fill my manic FPS needs. That said, I'm definitely curious about it.

Ori is right up there for me. After the Ori-ginal (sorry!), my expectations are dangerously high. Not much more to say than that, really. I'm all in for more beautiful, challenging platforming with a story that might just floor me for weeks afterwards.

The Outer Worlds being oh-so-pointedly pitched as from the creators of Fallout is pure James-nip. More than a few people have teasingly referred to it as 'New Vegas in space'. As reductive as that is, I'd go for that in a big way.

I'll also throw a nod to Metro: Exodus. I know the bullets and gas masks and stealth aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I really liked the pace, tone and atmosphere of the previous games, and this one adds (at the very least) colour. If I expect DOOM Eternal to be my fast and furious shooter, then Metro: Exodus is my post-apocalyptic one. That really doesn't leave much room for Rage 2, sadly.

Mortal Kombat is a series that I tended to shirk due to its stilted animations, grimy/gory aesthetic and muted colour palette, and not being Street Fighter. Injustice 2 captured my attention for a good few months after release in 2017, and I started to really enjoy that style of fighter. I can't say for sure that I'll get on board with MK's character design, but I'm looking forward to giving it a good go in April.

Okay, let's not drag this out. There are a bunch of indie games I'm eager for. In no particular order:
Glorious graffiti generator, Concrete Genie
Isometric Soulslike, EITR
Inkle's follow-up to 80 Days, Heaven's Vault
Long-awaited from Lab Zero, Indivisible
Firewatch follow-up, In The Valley Of Gods

Last, and far from least (perhaps even most) is Sekiro. I'm equal parts excited and nervous at how insistent FROM are at distancing this from the Souls games and Bloodborne. On the one hand, I do think it's time for a change, and on the other, I can't help but notice similarities in everything I've seen of it. Can't wait to see what a tighter, more action-focussed FROM game is.

Loads I've omitted, intentionally or otherwise. And I'm sure plenty that I don't even know are coming yet. Exciting times!

[James]

Didn't actually mention that it's Mortal Kombat 11 which is coming in April. D'oh!

[duskvstweak]

Whoops! While I am looking forward to Shadows Die Twice, the samurai game I meant to put was Ghost of Tsushima! That and Nioh 2...

[fieldy]

Shadows die twice looks incredible, I'm very interested to to see the difference to the this and Bloodborne.

Also very keen to see if Mr.Kojima gets Death Stranding out this year - very, very, very excited about this one