Boy, 2016 sure was eventful, wasn’t it? We’re talking political drama (too many examples to count, most of which belong to a certain D. Trump, whoever that is), celebrity drama (whatever happened to Taylor Swift dating Tom Hiddleston, anyway?), movie drama (also known as Jared Leto’s intense desire to be Heath Ledger) and, of course, how can we forget one of the most heartwrenching tragedies that have befallen Western society? I am, of course, talking about the untimely death of Harambe, may he rest in peace. But anyway, it’s crazy to think that despite all that, the year still isn’t over, and we’ve got so much more to look forward to, in both the casino world and the videogame world (and presumably all the other areas of life – something about an Olympics happening? I don’t know, I don’t leave the house). Can you believe the fact that despite the newest casinos of 2022 already dominating the charts in terms of profits and players, we’re still getting more launches in Europe by year’s end? That’s crazy! The same could be said for the world of videogames, which has enjoyed similar success with games like “No Man’s Sky” and “Overwatch” despite the fact that some of the most anticipated releases have yet to grace us with their presence! Here are three games that are coming out before this year’s end that I can’t WAIT to get my dirty paws on!
1. Final Fantasy XV
How could I not start out with this one? We haven’t had a truly phenomenally great “Final Fantasy” game since, eh… Well, since 1997 and “Final Fantasy VII”! Afterwards VIII was garbage, IX and X were good, but not spectacular, and the series has been on a steady decline ever since, culminating with the absolute barf-show that was the “Final Fantasy XIII” trilogy, and I only use “barf” because I’m not allowed to use the s word on my family friendly blog that also happens to be talking about gambling. “Final Fantasy XV” has been in development for over 10 years now, originally starting life as another XIII spinoff known as “Final Fantasy Versus-XIII” before the developers decided to spin it off into its own thing. Thus far, we’ve received two demos of the game, as well as numerous trailers and animated shorts, and honestly? It’s looking great! Like, really, really good! The world building is impeccable, the characters are fun (even if it’s a bit of a sausage party), the battle system is AMAZING, and best of all, it looks and feels like a “Final Fantasy” game released in 2016 ought to feel! So I’m optimistic, despite the fact that the game was recently delayed all the way into November. Who knows, the extra months might make it even better? And besides, it’s not like I’m complaining – I’ll instead simply save up my money for…
2. Robinson
Alright, alright, I admit it – I wasn’t entirely on board with the whole “VR revolution” thing. I mean, sure, it was a novel concept at the time, but I – as a mostly console gamer – didn’t really feel comfortable buying a $700 PC (that is assuming that I build it myself – double that if it’s pre-built) and an $800 VR headset just to experience VR. However, a $400 headset that I can hook up to my PS4 sounds like an awesome idea, even if the picture quality won’t be as good as it will be on Oculus or Vive. Honestly, I was never a real sucker for quality. I mean, hell, I can’t even tell the difference between 720p and 1080p in most cases, so the PSVR being slightly worse than the Vive, but also being twice as cheap, isn’t bothering me. And besides, the PSVR has Oculus as an exclusive, and that’s what ultimately sold me! I mean, come on, it’s a game by Crytek (the guys who made the Crysis, “Ryse” and the first “Far Cry”, and it’s a real wonder Robinson isn’t named Robincry or something) that sets you on an island full of dinosaurs, with a robot companion that helps you navigate and a gravity gun like the one from “Half-Life 2”, but better. And it’s in VR. I don’t know about you, but I was sold numerous times over the course of this sentence!
3. South Park: The Shattered But Whole
It’s truly quite surprising that, until 2014, the best “South Park” game that existed was a slot machine, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not like the games that came before that were bad, but… Yeah, no, they were… They were pretty terrible, overall. And trust me, I played, like, all of them, I was hardcore into “South Park” at the time. But then “The Stick of Truth” came out, and all of a sudden we learned two things – one, that a good “South Park” game was not only possible, but fully achievable and within our grasp; and two, that we no longer need a new “South Park” movie because what we got is better. “The Stick of Truth” was about as perfect as a videogame could possibly get, and I have no idea how they did it, Matt, Trey, Obsidian and Ubisoft somehow made it even better. How? Well, they added more character classes, more customization options (you can play as a girl, for example), more sidequests, oh, and yes – SUPERHEROES! Naturally, throughout the entire thing that wonderful brand of “South Park” humor is right there, as shown in the trailers that reveal your character’s tragic superhero backstory (spoiler: he/she caught his parents having sex one night). Oh, and the game gives you the mother of all pre-order bonuses by bundling in a free copy of “The Stick of Truth” with every pre-order of “The Shattered But Whole”, which I personally take as an apology from Ubisoft for “Assassin’s Creed Unity” and the pre-order pants.