Originally published on Trevor Trove on December 31, 2015
I didn’t have a formal write-up of my most anticipated games but I did have a (now-hidden) video on my most anticipated games of 2015. So I’m going to two-for-one post today: how did my Most Anticipated Games of 2015 stack up to reality and what are my Most Anticipated Games of 2016.
2015 Most Anticipated Games Revisted
#5. The Order: 1886 / The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt
Well this was interesting as these two games went drastically different directions. The Order: 1886 wound up incredibly disappointing landing at #3 on my Worst of 2015 list. And The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt landed at #3 on my Best of 2015 list. I kind of love the symmetry there. If only they had tied for #3 on my Most Anticipated list…
#4. Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
Had a great time playing this collection again on PlayStation 4 (though I never really played around with my Claptrap from the Collector’s Edition). I even bought this game for my sister and her boyfriend to play with them when they lived in Texas. Having just finished up Tales from the Borderlands, I might go back and play through this collection again in the quiet days of early 2016.
#3. Batman Arkham Knight
It squeaked onto my Top 10 list at #10. In my opinion it had the best story of any of the Arkham games but I think Arkham City found the sweet spot in terms of open world size. Arkham Knight just felt too big and spread out. I felt like I was constantly flying over or driving through filler to justify the existence of the Batmobile. Still a great game though.
#2. Shovel Knight (on PlayStation 4/Vita)
I played a bit of Shovel Knight on 3DS, said screw these controls, and waited for it to come to Vita. I played through it on Vita this year and beat it but didn’t go back when the Plague Knight DLC came out. It was a great game but it didn’t make enough of a mark to crack my Top 10 this year, which is probably for the best since it made my Top 10 last year anyway…
#1. Uncharted 4
Well that didn’t happen since it got delayed to 2016 months ago. And then got delayed past my birthday right before Christmas. Thanks Naughty Dog! Jerks.
Most Anticipated Games of 2016
#5. Severed
Having played DrinkBox Studio’s next Vita title at both PlayStation Experiences, I can’t wait to have a good new reason to sit down with my Vita again that isn’t just playing a game I can already play elsewhere. The real trick, however, will be figuring out how to protect all of the signatures I picked up at PlayStation Experience.
#4. No Man’s Sky
If this game winds up being a PlayStation VR launch title/pack-in as I suspect it will be, it will actually probably shoot to the top of my most anticipated list. But for now, as just a PlayStation 4 title, the incredible expanse of this game has me very intrigued.
#3. Fallout 4 DLC
Fallout 4 was my Game of 2015 and I loved pretty much all of the DLC that Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas received. More Fallout is always a good thing in my eyes.
#2. Persona 5
Right after I compiled my Most Anticipated of 2015 list, Atlus released a Persona 5 trailer and I gave myself some crap for not including it on that list. Fortunately, they ended up missing the 2015 window as well so here they are on my Most Anticipated of 2016 list. Persona 4 Golden is up there among my favorite games in recent years and all of the goodwill that I used to have for SquareEnix and the Final Fantasy series has shifted to Atlus and the Persona games.
#1. Uncharted 4
Let’s try this again, shall we? Having replayed through the Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection recently and after being a little bit burnt out on open world games this year, I’m very excited to experience what appears to be the final chapter in the Uncharted series: a tightly-paced, beautiful third-person action adventure shooter.