Our Most Anticipated Games of 2016

Some of our video game writers at What’s A Geek have submitted their lists of games – mobile, console, and PC – that we truly enjoyed, and think everyone should spend their money for. This time, however, we’ve asked them to talk about the game (or games…) that they’re hyped up about!

FROM LEANDRO CHAN

What’s a Geek Section Editor, Video Games / Resident Gundam-senpai

As for my most anticipated game, I’ll be cheating a bit and list 2-3 games for mine for a reason. With that said, my most anticipated games of 2016 occupy a particular “interest” of mine. That interest, or niche even, being: the games I’m going to be playing in my local fighting game casuals. Having established that, the games I’m most looking forward to this year are: Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator, Blazblue: Central Fiction, and Street Fighter V. 

In truth, the game that I would most likely be playing in my casuals would be Revelator considering how popular Guilty Gear is in my casuals group, but I could still see myself joining in some Blazblue and Street Fighter casuals.

Both Revelator and Central Fiction share similar reasons as to why I’m looking forward to them. As I stated in my Top 10 list of 2015, I’ve played both these games extensively due to them being played during “casuals sessions” (which relates to the reason why Xrd usurped Chrono Phantasma Extend’s place in my top 10). Because of this, I’ve devoted many, MANY, hours playing both these games last year (and I’m still playing them this year, until the updates come out that is). So, what I’m most looking forward to from these 2 games are similar things: 1) First and foremost the new characters coming out and 2) the system changes the updates will be bringing to their respective games. Personally, I’m REALLY looking forward to trying Jack-O and, the returning, Dizzy in Revelator. As for Central Fiction, I’ve been REALLY itchy to play as Nine ever since I’ve since her character was introduced and we finally get to play as her in the latest installment of the franchise.

Finally, speaking of Street Fighter V, it’s freaking Street Fighter. OF COURSE every fighting game enthusiast would be looking forward to playing the newest Street Fighter game. I’m especially looking forward to playing either Laura, Karin, and/or Charlie/Nash.

So yeah, these are the 3 games I’m currently really looking forward to.

FROM MICHAEL DIZON

What’s a Geek Contributor & Editor / Resident Heartbreaker

It’s no secret that I would really rather be waiting for a sequel to Suikoden VI, but as that is obviously not happening (come on, people), I’ve shunted my anticipation and my fanboy feelings in other directions. This 2016, that means four games: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Dishonored 2, Mighty No. 9, and Tom Clancy’s The Division. (It also means Mass Effect: Andromeda, but Pietrick will be covering that below).

I’m the kind of person that gets sucked into an RPG because, almost entirely, of its plot and writing. Mankind Divided is a must-play for me because it seems to follow from the logical conclusion of the endgame of Human Revolution, which is that a form of biotechnological apartheid is inevitable when you play with human cybernetic augmentation. Not only would it be interesting to know just how protagonist Adam Jensen figures and maneuvers in that political climate, it is also intriguing to think about the role of the shadowy organization that truly runs the Deus Ex world from behind the scenes.

Plus, the gameplay looks ace, yo. Although, hopefully, the game doesn’t require a Director’s Cut to make sure that you can really finish the game on a full stealth run, unlike Human Revolution before it.

Now admittedly, we don’t know much about Dishonored 2 other than it will come out in Spring (that’s March-May for us tropical folk) and it will feature two playable characters, the original game’s bodyguard-turned-assassin Corvo Attano, and heir apparent-turned-empress-turned-deposed empress Emily Kaldwin. Both of them now possess the Outsider’s power, and yes, just thinking about how poor sweet Emily got into that situation is enough to make me jump at the first opportunity to buy this game. If that wasn’t enough, we are also told that Corvo and Emily will have different sets of powers, as well as skill trees, for more flexible sneaky assassination action. That combination of a promising story and solid gameplay is really hard to beat.

A Kickstarter that reached its main goals in only two days was the response to a game that promised to be the spiritual successor to the legendary Mega Man franchise. Keiji Inafune’s Mighty No. 9 follows the story of Beck, the ninth in a series of fighty-fighty robots, and his partner Call (good job there, Inafune-san!). Gameplay will pretty much be the same as any 2D platformer Mega Man game, which means none of the piping-hot mess that characterized Mega Man x7 and its 2D/3D hybrid. Everything that we loved from Mega Man is there, right down to the eight stages that can be done in any order, and the weapons that are acquired by beating said stages’ bosses. This game promises a lot of upside and not a lot (if any) of downside, which is awesome for a game that seeks to evoke some of our earliest and fondest video gaming memories.

Man oh man. Tom Clancy’s The Division is the one game in the entire Clancy co-op/multiplayer stable that I knew I wanted to play even before it came out. I don’t know exactly what there is about it that manufactured such hype in my head (even before the release of gameplay video), because it certainly wasn’t the early access reviews. It wasn’t that I’m a Clancy fan, either, seeing as I’ve never even played a Rainbow Six game beyond the first one. Perhaps it is the freshness of the concept behind the protagonists, an organization specifically set up to manage the post-apocalypse. In any case, this looks like a game I’ll be buying almost as soon as it comes out, and will be playing for a while afterwards. Multiplayer, especially multiplayer done right, can really add a crapload of hours to the replayability of a game.

FROM PATRICK FLORES

What’s a Geek Graphic Artist & Editor / Resident Pie King

Really, I’m just a sucker for third-person shooters, and Mass Effect is one of the franchises I found myself latching on to after finding out that the Gears of War franchise wasn’t going to get any more PC releases, and I play almost exclusively on the PC. So, it would be no surprise that my most anticipated game of 2016 is Mass Effect: Andromeda. BioWare struck gold with this foray into an original IP, and the Mass Effect trilogy has gripped me from the first time I clicked “Start New Game” in Mass Effect 1, all the way to the (admittedly still disappointing) simplistic tri-color ending of Mass Effect 3.

All we have to go on about the game right now is the first trailer (which looks absolutely gorgeous, by the way), but with the Holiday 2016 release looming, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to anticipate at least an E3 presentation this June. From what I can tell from the trailer, it’s going to start players on a clean slate, jumping into another galaxy to start the adventure. This should potentially draw in newcomers to the franchise, and possibly re-engage old fans who were burnt out after the lackluster ending of Mass Effect 3.

FROM EMILE JOSEF GARCIA

What’s A Geek Contributor / Resident Trap Master

The console version of the 7^th main entry of this venerable fighting game franchise is one of my most eagerly awaited games. It is still unknown at the time of writing if it will be released during 2016. I’m a long-time fan of the series due to the fact that it’s the arguably the most “casual-friendly” game in the genre. I can enjoy playing with newbies trying to figure out the ropes while reasonably holding my own against much more experienced players.

The real fun of Tekken comes from experimenting from with the slew of new characters. Although it seems they’ve thrown the concept of using real world martial arts to the wind, the fresh entries are still a blast to play with. During my limited experience with the arcade versions, cat cosplayer Lucky Chloe and the keffiyeh-clad Shaheen are easily my favorites to use. Despite the often misconstrued perceptions towards “Pinoy Pride,” I’m genuinely looking forward to learning how to use Josie Rizal properly in the console practice mode. I’ve never been particularly invested in Tekken’s convoluted story but the game’s second-ever guest character, Akuma, makes me excited to see the throwdown between the Demon and the Devil.  Also, I’ll also need to shake of the rust in time to use Tekken bae, Asuka Kazama!

How excited am I about Tekken 7? I’m considering buying an arcade fighting stick. I’m willing to go through the arduous task of learning hitboxes and frames as well as mastering the newfangled Rage Arts, Power Crushes, and Screw Attacks.  If buying an expensive peripheral for only one game isn’t considered hype, I don’t know what will. Cheers to the amount of salt… I mean fun I will have when Tekken 7 finally hits the Playstation 4!

Speaking of PS4, I would be terribly amiss if I don’t at least mention the game that will probably get me to buy my own next-gen console, Final Fantasy XV. I’ve learned to be cautiously optimistic regarding the output of Square Enix. However, Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy, and it’s been years since the last main game. Don’t F*** it up, SE!

FROM PAMELA PUNZALAN

What’s A Geek Administrator / Resident Academic Ditz

By merit of my (likely eternal) poverty and the fact that I have a backlog longer than the expanse of Canada, one of the only games of 2016 that I’m hyped for is Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 5. It ought to be telling, for one, that a huge part of the reason why I invested in a Playstation 4 last year was so that I could play the thing the moment it came out.

(Yes, I died a little when they pushed the release back DON’T TELL ME YOU DIDN’T.)

Based on the deets that we’ve been getting from geek news outlets and from ATLUS itself, P5 looks like it’s going to be fantastic both as a game for followers of the franchise and for new players who are hoping to know what the fuss is all about. Multiple staff members from the previous Persona games have been called in for the game’s development; Production I.G will be handing the animated sequences of the narrative, and Shoji Meguro is returning as head composer for the soundtrack. There’s also been reports that the game is going to use a “special” engine, and a lot has been said about the game’s characters and the theme that Katsuhiro Harada and Katsura Hashino – P5’s Director and Designer, respectively – appear to be going for.

On a personal level, I’m really looking forward to what they do with this one. Persona 3 was a massive Feels Trip; Persona 4 was a refreshing exploration of the good, old “teen detectives solve a murder” plot. Persona 5 will be following the story of another group of young ones, but all signs point towards another unique story within the thematics of the franchise. I doubt that I’ll be disappointed: ATLUS has proven, time and again, that it excels at making something sleek, stylish and slick that excels at providing something worth playing for just about any gamer of any generation, inclination, gender, or inclination.

As for the OTHER game that I’m looking forward to…

My excitement for X-Com 2 is, admittedly, based on nostalgia and curiosity. I LOVED the original X-Com series, and while I haven’t yet made the time to play X-Com: Enemy Unknown, I have heard beautiful things from pretty much everyone on my end of the fence. Gamers who are fresh to the series love the thing; gamers who played the old games say that all of the changes they’ve made have revitalized the series. The long and short of it is, if there is yet another game that will make me save up for a decent PC gaming rig, all the new X-Com things will be it.

For the record, I am also hyped for Mass Effect Andromeda, but that was covered quite nicely by (my apple pie dealer) Patrick!

Do you feel the same way about any of these titles? Do you have other games that you’re looking forward to in 2016? Tell us what you think!