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We are officially a month away from the next generation of game consoles. Personally, I’m going with the Playstation 5 and pick up an Xbox Series X later down the road. I thought it’d be fun to make a list of games I’m excited to play next gen. Now I want to make this clear that these are games I’m excited to play on my Playstation 5 so I’m going to be including games from this generation that are set to get free upgrades. Provided below each post is an Amazon link that you can use if any of the games I talk about interest you.

Honorable Mentions

Before we get into the list, I want to talk about four games that were announced but we haven’t heard about all year. Tales of Arise, Elden Ring, Granblue Fantasy: Relink and Babylon’s Fall have been no shows this year, no doubt due to the coronavirus. I’m confident that we’ll see these titles next year and upgraded for the next generation. I may make a seperate post detailing each of them.

12. Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition

Last year, I marathoned the entire Devil May Cry series in preparation for Devil May Cry 5. Unfortunately, I ended up burning myself out after playing the fourth entry. This led to me starting Devil May Cry 5 but never getting far in it. It’s good thing I stopped when I did since Capcom is set to release a special edition at launch and a physical version on December 1st. This set release is set to allow you to play as series protagonist Dante’s brother, Vergil. It’s also poised to take advantage of next generation hardware.

Release Date: Nov. 12 (Digital)/ December 1(Physical)

https://amzn.to/2SVKsiS

11. Borderlands 3

Another game that I meant to play on Playstation 4. I’ve dabbled in the Borderlands series before with both the Pre-Sequel and second entry. I enjoyed them but never really saw them through. During a free weekend of play for Borderlands 3, something finally clicked for me. It definitely is more Borderlands but I just took to it more than the other two mentioned above. Unfortunately, when I finally picked the game up this year, I was swamped with the latest releases at that time. Gearbox has promised to upgrade customers to the Playstation 5 version for free. Note: The link provided below is for the Deluxe Playstation 4 version.

Release Date: Nov. 12

https://amzn.to/2SQQq4m

10. Sackboy: A Big Adventure

Little Big Planet is another of those franchises that I found hard to get into. While platformers are near and dear to my heart, I’m just not into creating my own levels. Well for the Playstation 5, Sumo Digital is changing things up a bit. They’re gearing the adorable Sackboy up for a new franchise. Sackboy: A Big Adventure moves away from LBP’s side scrolling roots and places Sackboy in a 3D platforming adventure that looks similar to Super Mario 3D World. The whole family can join in with 4 player couch or online co op.

Release Date: Nov. 12

https://amzn.to/3lI58qT

9. Outriders

It’s very rare for Square Enix to try to put out a new i.p. It’s even rarer for them to put out a new Western i.p. Coming from People Can Fly, developers of Bulletstorm and Gears of War: Judgement, is Outriders. Outriders is an action rpg shooter not unlike Destiny. However, don’t think this will be some online game as a service. Instead, People Can Fly will be treating gamers to meaty single player campaign that you can play with other people. Gameplay looks like it borrows from Gears of War with it’s cover based gameplay and Mass Effect with it’s different powers.

Release Date: Feb. 2

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8. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War

Honestly, I’ve never been a Call of Duty guy. For so long I just wrote it off as being overrated, especially since I gave Black Ops a fair shot and didn’t care for it. Fast forward to 2019, when Activision puts out Call of Duty: Mobile. I just tried because a coworker at work kept urging me to. It’s with this entry that I was hooked and became a Call of Duty fan. I picked up Modern Warfare and played it pretty frequently. Now, the next release is on the way and man, does that campaign look action packed. It looks like the perfect action movie. Not only that, the multiplayer is sure to be of usual Call of Duty quality.

Release Date: Nov. 13

https://amzn.to/3lN3297

7. Balan Wonderworld

Earlier, I talked about Square Enix’s reluctance to put out new i.p. They also rarely step out away from churning out role playing games or action games. Balan Wonderworld is a new game from Yuji Naka and Noato Ohshima, the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, who haven’t worked together in twenty years. Tapping into their experience, Balan Wonderworld is an action platformer. The story and style of the game remind me of Nights into Dreams while the gameplay reminds me a little bit of Billy Hatcher. I can’t wait to dig into this nostalgic adventure.

Release Date: Mar. 26

https://amzn.to/2H4JrCo

6. Scarlet Nexus

One of my favorite franchises is the Tales of jrpg series. The series, I feel, does a great job of blending traditional role playing tropes with anime tropes and compelling action gameplay. Namco Bandai Studios is bringing that expertise to a new game titled, Scarlet Nexus. Scarlet Nexus is a fast paced action rpg where you play as psychic soldiers who defend humanity from beings from another world. Using parties of four, players have access to a wealth of different powers and maneuvers. The protagonists can link with and borrow the powers of their squadmates.

Release Date: TBA

https://amzn.to/3nYr5nF

5. Godfall

The first game announced for the PS5, Godfall really caught my eye. Something about the cool armor and fast combat has really stuck with me. Also, I’ve been in a real sword and shield mood for awhile now. The developers, Counterplay Games touts this game as a looter slasher. Think Borderlands but with a focus on DMC style melee combat.

Release Date: Nov. 12

https://amzn.to/3j2RrRJ

https://amzn.to/34ZkqRn

4. Demon’s Souls

For those who aren’t afraid of a hard time, Demon’s Souls comes your way. Remade from the ground up by Bluepoint Games and Sony’s Japan Studio the original Souls game is coming to Playstation 5. The Souls games have really taken the world by storm, even spawning its own genre. This version of Demon’s Souls is probably the best any of these games has ever looked.

Release Date: Nov. 12

https://amzn.to/37gLqym

3. Final Fantasy XVI

I’ve already put together a list of reasons why I’m excited to play this so go give it read here.

Release Date: TBA

2. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Marvel’s Spider-Man is a near perfect game for me. I’ve never played a super hero game that felt as good as it felt. Insomniac is looking to recreate that magic again with Miles Morales. This game is the big launch title to get.

Release Date: Nov. 12

https://amzn.to/354Uvrh

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1. God of War (2021)

God of War (2018) is a gaming masterpiece. It had fun combat and a gripping story to complement it. Not much is known about this sequel but judging by the PS4 game, I’m sure we’ll be getting another great game.

Release Date: TBA

A few weeks back Sony held its PS5 Showcase and one of it’s big surprises was none other than Final Fantasy XVI. Now, I’m a huge Final Fantasy fan, sure, but there are other reasons why this particular entry has me excited.

Naoki Yoshida, Produce

The biggest name to talk about is its producer, Naoki Yoshida a.k.a. Naoki-P. Naoki-P is best known as the producer of Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix’s famed MMORPG. The MMO was a flop when it released back in 2010. Naoki Yoshida was tasked as director and producer to save the failed project. He was able to complete this herculean task and made FFXIV into one of the most beloved entry in the franchise.

One of the main reasons why I’m excited for Final Fantasy XVI is because Naoki Yoshida is the producer. He’s very open about development and tries to adhere to a schedule. Anytime an FFXIV patch or expansion is announced, we never have to wait a long time to between announcement and release. He also has an affinity for medieval FF which is what I grew up with back in the day.

Action Combat

Ever since the PSX days, Square Enix has been making Final Fantasy into a mainstream title. It was only a matter of time until the franchise finally dipped into action combat to attract an even larger audience. While FFXIII and FFXIV kind of played with an active battle system, it wasn’t until FFXV, in 2016, that we finally got a mainline title having full on action battles. I don’t see the main franchise ever going back to turn based but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.

The combat seems to be taking some notes from the Devil May Cry series. There seems to be more of a focus on technical skill unlike in Final Fantasy XV. In the trailer, we see the protagonist do all kind of cool air combos and dodging. There’s even a battle with a dragoon that seems to be really intense and tests your dodging skills.

Medieval Settings

My love for Final Fantasy starts early on with Final Fantasy IV which was released on the SNES back in the day. In that game, it started off with a medieval setting but then went kind of bonkers towards the end. That seems to be the case for this game as well. There are knights, dragoons, crystals, and summons. This actually goes back to Naoki-P being the producer. He has said that he’s more of a fan of high fantasy.

Darker Tone

Final Fantasy XVI will be the first M rated mainline FF game. There is some surprising bloody violence displayed in the first trailer. No doubt that the tone shift will lead to a more grounded yet brutal narrative. It’s no secret that Naoki-P is fan of games from Yasumi Matsuno. Matsuno is the man behind games such as Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, and FFXII. These games are lauded for their gripping, political narratives, strong characters, and dark fantasy.

Normally, we get pretty anime characters being badass and saving the world. That doesn’t seem to be changing too much but I’m just glad we are getting a different style of story. I love my over the top, anime style FFs but I won’t say no to a more grown up tale.

We Might Not Have to Wait 5 Years For Release

Let’s just be real. During the last couple generations, it took Square Enix’s Japanese studios way too long to put out knew AAA games. The company had a habit of announcing games and having them take half a decade to come out. They realized this was an issue themselves as they went through a restructuring in 2019, decreasing their 11 business divisions to just 4. According to them, this should lead to a more efficient work flow.

Industry veteran, Jason Shreier stated that, “the game is coming faster than people think.” He also said the game has been in development in some form over the last four years.

Conclusion

I understand why the announcement trailer didn’t get some people excited. For a few years now, Final Fantasy has been more associated with it’s modern fantasy style. If you were disappointed by the medieval setting, I’d like to remind you that Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 is bound to come out at some point to satiate your taste for a modern fantasy game. You can look at this game as a companion piece to that. You can have both types of fantasy from the same franchise. I, also, hope that I was able to impart some information that you maybe didn’t know that maybe gets you more excited for the game.

Sources: Playstation Blog, Den of Geek, @Dreamboum, Venture Beat

Marvel’s The Avengers is one of the most polarizing games I’ve ever played. It’s an experience I’ve waited so long and had high expectations for. The game has had a rocky ride throughout its marketing push. There was the issue with Spider-Man being a PS4 exclusive character, confusion on the way the game was structured, and even the fact that it was a game as a service. How is the game now that it’s released? A bit uneven.

Gameplay

Marvel’s The Avengers is both a single player, narrative adventure and a multiplayer beat ’em up. In the campaign, you switch between the different adventures as you advance the story. Once you finish the campaign, you can go onto doing war zone missions. These missions feature open sandboxes that you can complete different objectives in. Most of those objectives include beating up waves of enemies. You earn loot and gain experience points in order to power your character up to take on more difficult challenges. I’m not really a fan of the copious amounts of loot as I have to stop playing the game every five minutes to clear out all of the clutter.

Combat is actually varied between each Avenger. If you throw Captain America’s shield at someone’s knees most times, they will go down. Iron Man has upgrades that can let you change his repulsor blasts to missiles and lasers. Black Widow is agile and nimble and take foes out with her guns from afar. Dispatching foes and throwing Mjolnir is a blast as Thor. Ms. Marvel has the ability to stretch out and even become giant. Of course, when you need a tank, the Incredible Hulk is there to clear everything out. One of Crystal Dynamics’ crowning achievements with this game is how each character played exactly how they should.

The Solo Experience

I’m going to be honest here and say that I really loved the campaign. If this was where all of developer Crystal Dynamics’ attention was going to, I could see it being one of my favorite games of the year. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. In the campaign for Marvel’s The Avengers, we’re presented with a compelling narrative about Ms. Marvel a.k.a. Kamala Khan. The Avengers have broken up after an accident has caused the world turn against them. It’s up to Kamala to bring them back together to combat the conspiracy that broke them apart.

Personally, I’m not a fan of the way the campaign is structured. I would have preferred to be able to switch between characters (an issues that crops up in the warzone missions). Other than that nitpick, I found the campaign well put together and well paced if not a bit short. Well, I do have another issue with the campaign but we’ll get to that. There’s something special about seeing the bonds that Kamala forms with each individual Avenger. Also, her relationship with her dad leads to some surprisingly sweet moments. Great character moments aren’t just limited to Ms. Marvel. The five year gap has left a strain on the Avengers’ relationship leading to conflict among them. This leads to some pretty poignant moments with the crew.

Nerdy Nitpick

Another issue I have is the choice of villains for this game. You will spend all of your time in this game fighting Bee Keepers and robots. Sure, there are different robots but they aren’t really interestingly designed. The adaptoids look like naked dudes and the synthoids just look like movie robots. They don’t offer a lot of visual variety. Compare that with Final Fantasy VII Remake and Trials of Mana, two other games published by Square Enix. Both games feature a variety of enemies to take on plus have multiple huge boss fights. I feel like they reach a level of spectacle over and over again that this game should have in spades. Unfortunately that isn’t that case except for a few times throughout the nine to eleven hour campaign.

Multiplayer (Except Alone)

Now that leads me to the biggest issue with this game. After you beat the game, you’re free to go play War Zone missions with your friends or with a.i. companions. I spent all of my time playing solo with my companions. To start with, they are dumb. I mean, even doing basic tasks like reviving me when I’m downed can be a herculean feat for them. Sometimes, they would leave me for the timer to run out or they’ll be trying to pick me back up and get distracted. There was this one mission where Iron Man got stuck in place for some reason. The only way to get him moving again was to have him fall in battle and then pick him back up. As a game that was being touted as being able to play alone, the computers don’t make it feasible.

Also, you can’t earn gear or experience points when you aren’t playing as them. This means you can go in to a mission severely underleveled if you have a favorite character to play as. That means that in order to take on more challenging missions you have to replay missions as other characters. This is also flawed because the war zone missions main flaw is that they lack variety. They lack variety in locations, in objectives, and in enemy types. Most missions take place in boring locations beating up the same enemies over and over again. Honestly, the repetition isn’t the issue. Again, it’s the lack of visual variety. There are missions called villain sectors that are missions that lead to boss fights. These boss fights, however, are recycled from the campaign and lose their cool factor pretty fast.

Verdict

Never in my life have I felt so conflicted about a video game. Most times I have no problem saying if I recommend a game or not. There is definitely a diamond hidden in the rough but it’s gonna take some work getting to it. Maybe by this time next year, Marvel’s The Avengers will have a ton of content released that’ll make the game a bit more compelling. For now, unless you have friends to play with, I guess I can recommend this to people who want to have a go at the campaign. Even then, I’m not sure if the content available is worth full price at this time.

I’m not a fan of playing games on my mobile phone. Mostly because I don’t like using the touch screen as a controller. Lucky for me, Steel Series has put out what I feel is the perfect controller for Apple Ecosystem.

Feel and Use

The Nimbus+ feels like an Xbox controller in your hand. In my opinion, that’s a good thing because I feel like Xbox has the best controllers on the market. The buttons use the same placement as Xbox’s controllers as well. There’s a nice weight to it, probably due to the battery. The point of contention for some people will be that the thumbsticks aren’t offset. It also comes with a clip to place your iphone in.

Setting the controller up is pretty easy. All you do is press the home button while in the bluetooth menu on your phone and just select it from the list of available devices. Charging is done with a lightning cable which is not included with this product. There’s a button in between the triggers that allows you to see the battery levels of the controller.

Nimbus+ is compatible with iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and Apple TV.

Actual Usage

The first game I wanted to try out was Call of Duty: Mobile. I’m huge Call of Duty: Modern Warfare player on PS4 and I felt this would be a good test. Playing the mobile game with the Nimbus+ felt just like the Playstation version. The controller feels so natural to the experience that I don’t know how I was playing otherwise. In order to use the menus, however, I had to use the touch screen.

My next test was Marvel Future Fight. I figured the Diablo style gameplay should play well on the controller. I found it difficult to play because I couldn’t tell what button did what. Switching characters is done with the bumpers but some times they wouldn’t switch.

My strangest test was with Shadowgun Legends, a Halo style first person shooter. As soon as you get to the main menu, the game asks you to press A. I press A, nothing happens. I continue to press all of the buttons until I decide to press the start button, then the game starts. After that you’re dropped into a Destiny style hub world. In order to talk to anyone, I had to press the left trigger to bring up a cursor. The real issue comes when you start up a mission. It’s here where the game’s real issue becomes clear. The aim down sights button is set to down on the D-Pad! The buttons are clearly mapped to the wrong actions. The game has button remapping but because the left trigger is the pause/cancel button, anytime I try to correct the ADS button it just cancels out.

Concerns

My biggest gripe with using the Nimbus+ isn’t even a problem with the Nimbus+. The issue is that a lot of mobile games don’t have controller support and there is no way to know through the app store. I love the Final Fantasy series and the only games with controller support are the ones with ports on other platforms. Of course, there are games meant to be played with a touch screen but there are others where a controller makes sense.

Another minor is issue is that a lot of the games I tested needed me to use the touch screen to use menu features. In games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Marvel Future Fight, I couldn’t use the controller until I was in game. In Dungeon Hunter 5, a cursor would appear on screen. I could never figured out how to click on anything so I just used the touch screen.

Also, as stated above with Shadowgun Legends, some games will just have the buttons mapped wrong. I’m pretty sure this is only an issue for older games but its something to be wary of.

Verdict

As much as I love the Steel Series Nimbus+, I can only recommend this controller if you intend to play games using Apple Arcade or already know the game you want has controller support. This controller is definitely worth the price but you need to be sure you can use it with your favorite game.

Giraffe and Annika is hands down the hardest game I’ve ever had to review. Not because I’m unsure of its quality or because it’s bad. It’s not a bad game but it just isn’t for me. I’m pretty sure the demographic is young kids or casual gamers. On those merits, I think it does what it’s suppose to do if not a bit unpolished. This could be a good first adventure for any kid getting into gaming.

Right off the bat we’re greeted with beautiful, hand drawn cutscenes told in a comic style. Annika wakes up in an unfamiliar land, filled with anthropomorphic denizens. She has a bit of amnesia but keeps having flashbacks to her childhood. I’m not sure why Giraffe gets top billing since he doesn’t do much except open the door to the island’s dungeons.

Gameplay is pretty simple. You traverse the island of Spica, speaking with the residents and helping them with whatever issue they have. You could be doing things like gathering wood, helping finding kid bunnies, or taking pictures of idol statues. Doing these sections of the game usher you into the game’s dungeons. While inside the dungeons, you have to navigate towards one of the game’s sacred jewels at the end. The dungeons are littered with ghosts who will get in your way of progress. There’s no combat in Giraffe and Annika so your only option is to escape them. The lack of combat doesn’t hurt the game because escaping also becomes a puzzle.

At the end of each dungeon is a boss fight. But, wait. Didn’t I say there wasn’t any combat. Well sure. These boss fights are unique in that they are basically rhythm minigames. The boss will fire an energy blast at you and you have to catch in time to send it back. I found this pretty fun, too, as each battle ups the challenge. You can also set the difficulty for individual boss fights just in case you’re having trouble with it.

The issue I have with Giraffe and Annika is in the visual department. This game is clearly a smaller indie title. The 3d models, while attractive, are rather basic. They lack animations for simple actions like climbing a ladder. One of them, the bunny mother, was extremely off putting to me. I found the music to be unremarkable. It’s just background flavor to me.

Verdict

Even though I said this game isn’t for me, I will be playing it again. I have a daughter who is a toddler. When she gets a little older, I can see Giraffe and Annika being a great way to introduce her to problem solving. For a young child, the graphics won’t be an issue so I’m still recommending this game so long as its either the pc version or digital for console. The physical edition is priced at $49.99 for both PS4 and Nintendo Switch. The physical version comes with all kinds of extra goodies but I don’t think that’s enough to justify spending fifty bucks on this game.

Dust: An Elysian Tale was one the first downloadable titles that I ever played back on Xbox 360. At the time, indie games and download only games were uncharted territory. Nowadays, you can find a slew of indie games developed by one person but back then it was unheard of.

You begin the tale of Dust as an amnesiac, anthropomorphic swordsman. He wakes up in a forest unaware of how he got there with a talking sword attached to his hip. Along with his sidekick, Fidget, Dust sets out to battle the forces of General Gaius. The narrative is told in five chapters, each with their own stories and side quests to see through. The narrative is unique and takes some fairly novel left turns.

Gameplay

Dust is a Metroidvania, much like other indie games. You traverse maps battling monsters and leveling up. Some pathways are blocked until you get the correct ability later on. Each chapter ends with a boss fight that awards you with new magic. Combat is fun with smooth animations and a bunch of combos. Fidget can also aid in combat with her own magic attacks. Dust can amplify these magic attacks by using his spin attacks. Enemy mobs can be quite difficult but leveling up can make these encounters easier. The issue with this is that boss fights can end up being too easy due to over leveling. Also, endgame equipment makes the end of the game a cakewalk.

I also found platforming at times to be difficult because of how tight jumps had to be. You do get a double jump ability that helps towards the end of the game but by then you’re off to the last level. Speaking of the last level, the final boss fight was such a pain. A few times it bugged out on me and I had to restart. My other issue with it was the fight has four phases to battle through. Each phase he has the same attack patterns with some outside forces changing.

Indie games normally have an 8-bit or 16-bit aesthetic but Dean Dodrill went for a unique hand drawn approach. The character designs remind of flash animation that I used to enjoy on the Newgrounds website. Some scenes are even fully animated so as to sell the emotion and I think they do a great job of doing so.

Verdict

Since its 2012 release on Xbox 360, Dust: An Elysian Tail has been re released on PS4. PC, Switch, and mobile. You’re truly doing yourself a disservice by not giving this wonderful game a shot. Though it may have it’s shortcomings, I can assure you that you’re in for a good time.