Controller Crusade Roundtable: Most Anticipated Games of 2016

It’s a new year, which means plenty of new games are on the horizon. 2015 will be tough to top, with the release of massively successful games like The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but so far 2016 looks pretty promising. Here’s a few of the games the Controller Crusade Staff are looking forward to getting their hands on.

Josh’s Picks

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

The Mario & Luigi RPG handheld games have always been solid, each with their own unique twists and quirks. We won’t have to wait much longer for the next installment, which blends the traditional Mario & Luigi with their Paper Mario counterparts. Slated to be released on January 22nd, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is one of my can’t miss games of the new year.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End made our list last year, but unfortunately Nathan Drake’s newest adventure was victim to a few delays. While it is a bit of a disappointment to not have played it in 2015, we know Naughty Dog is trying to release the best possible product, and you can’t knock them for that. We did get a small taste of what’s to come with the Uncharted 4 multiplayer beta, and we really like what we see so far. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is scheduled for release on April 26th.

Yooka-Laylee

Playtonic Games had very little trouble funding their ambitious Kickstarter campaign that many have dubbed the spiritual successor to the Banjo-Kazooie franchise. Playtonic Games is comprised of several former Rare composers and artists, so you know they’ll do an excellent job of capturing the nostalgia that fans grew to love on the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64. Yooka the chameleon and Laylee the bat team up in Yooka-Laylee, set for release in late 2016.

Justin’s Picks

Cuphead

It was the incredible, 1930’s-inspired graphics of Cuphead that originally caught my interest, but it was actually playing it that rocketed it to the top of my list.  A brutally hard sidescrolling shooter that pulls inspiration from classics such as Gunstar Heroes and abandons traditional level design in favour of nothing but boss battles.  Amazing, screen-filling, multi-part encounters with bosses either alone or with a friend.  It’s a throwback to an older generation, and I couldn’t possibly be more excited to play it.

Fire Emblem: Fates

The 3DS may be nearly 5 years old and slowly winding down in favour of whatever comes next, but it’s still got some fight left in it.  This is especially true if you’re a fan of 2013’s Fire Emblem: Awakening.  The first Fire Emblem game on the 3DS was also the one that finally broke through to mainstream popularity outside of Japan, likely owing to it’s brilliant mix of strategy and character building.  Fire Emblem: Fates is the next step, this time going even bigger.  Three entire campaigns spread across two games (and DLC) means that this is going one massive game, and that once again I’ll get lost in the world of Fire Emblem for months at a time.

Best of all, we’ve only got a little over a month before we can play it for ourselves.

The Legend of Zelda

I’ll be the first to admit that we don’t know a lot about the upcoming Legend of Zelda game.  Outside of the few trailers that Nintendo has shown us and the fact that it’s been pushed back, Nintendo has been tight-lipped and hasn’t talked too much about the game.  In all honesty, we’re not even entirely sure it won’t be pushed back to the NX – whatever it ends up being.  Ultimately, though, it doesn’t matter;  A new Zelda is always worth getting excited over, especially one that looks as good as this.

 

Wedge’s Picks

Mighty No.9

The resurgence of retro-styled video games has rekindled my passion for gaming, having just recently discovered Shovel Knight – a bit behind, I know – along with indie company Joymasher’s Oniken, and their cool dark fantasy Odallus: The Dark Call, and lastly Axiom Verge. Keeping with the momentum, is the action-platformer Mighty No. 9, promised to be released this early year. Intended as a spiritual successor to the Mega Man series (which has horribly been neglected by Capcom as of late), and is even being developed in collaboration with the original creator, Keiji Inafune. Fighting robot badies and earning weapon power-ups in 2D designed levels promise to recapture the glory days of side-scrolling gameplay.

Dark Souls III

Another game I eagerly await, which also incorporates retro-style conventions (most infamously its difficulty) is Dark Souls III. Having thoroughly enjoyed Both prequels, and also Bloodborne last year, I expect nothing less than greatness once again. From Software has yet to fail to impress when it comes to atmosphere, intricate mechanics, nail-biting encounters, and spectacular enemy design. With new unique gameplay mechanics promised in the upcoming sequel, I’m more than ready to die once again. And again. And again…

Benjamin’s Picks

XCOM 2

The sequel to 2012’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2 follows the story of the XCOM that failed to defend earth from invasion. Taking place 20 years after the events of the first game, you play as a underground force attempting to take back earth from your alien overlords. Developer Firaxis delivered an incredibly difficult, yet supremely satisfying turn based strategy game in Enemy Unknown. I am looking forward to scratching my head trying to keep my soldiers alive, and then crying miserably when they die.

Final Fantasy XV

It has been 10 long years since it was originally announced as Final Fantasy versus XIII, and many (including myself) doubted it would ever release at all. But if Square enix is to be believed, we will finally see the long awaited JRPG. I don’t think anything can live up to 10 years to expectations, but the demo included with Type-0 gave me a very favorable impression. It’s vastly different from previous entries in the series and I am excited to see how it all comes together.

Persona 5

Persona 3 and 4 belong among my favorite games of all time. Persona 5 has been a while coming and ATLUS has been scarce with details. The most exciting thing about Persona 5 for me is that i don’t know what to expect. The few trailers have given off a different feel then P3/P4. While i expect a similar combat system, everything regarding that plot and characters has been left in the dark. Let us start the game.

What makes your list of most anticipated games of 2016? The eight games mentioned by our staff is just the tip of the iceberg, as there are many excellent titles coming this year. Let us know what games you are excited for in the comment section below.