What I'm Waiting For - Volume 8

With the New Year almost upon us, I felt it was time to talk some more about what I’m waiting for in 2020. As ever, I’m going to recap a few games I’d talked about in previous entries, then get into those new games. There were a few choices I could have made for this – including another look at the next LEGO game coming now that it’s seen a full announcement (except that would break the flow of addition and removal by effectively adding it twice), but the two I’ve chosen look to offer the greatest of experiences. Let’s look at the changes to the list of What I’m Waiting For.

When Jedi: Fallen Order was first announced with just a name and a brief description at E3 2018, it was the start of hoping for something greater than just a multiplayer shooter. It was the hope that after a rather bland decade for Star Wars gaming, things could finally get back on track and offer the players more options and varieties of gameplay within the world they loved.

As you might have seen from my recent first impressions post, Jedi: Fallen Order certainly delivered on giving an interesting story and lore within an interactable media. Solid gameplay and a well-told story combine to give an experience that Battlefront is unable to give to as great a degree. Even to the end, this was a great experience.

As for Daemon x Machina, it was a solid game. The gameplay was good, even if it never wowed me with any character interactions. But I didn’t get all that far into it, despite enjoying what I played. It had slipped off my radar soon after the E3 Special What I’m Waiting For, to reappear again near to release. The demo was announced but I didn’t play through it, focusing just on the gameplay alone.

That demo would have revealed something to me though. Much the same as the reason Yooka-Laylee got removed from my playlist, I discovered that while I loved the gameplay, there were no great experiences to be found within the game that were my own. I just had no personal connection I could latch onto, and it failed to keep me playing.

The two new games I’m adding to my list certainly look to offer the sort of personal connection I’m after. The first being Animal Crossing: New Horizons. That September Direct of 2018 that first announced it alongside the Smash Ultimate trailer had me looking forward to it greatly. Despite the fact we knew nothing about it other than that it was coming. The series has been a favourite of mine ever since the days of Wild World on the DS, and New Leaf on the 3DS was a great expansion of the series. With a new game, I was looking for something that could greatly expand the possibilities while remaining true to form.

Enter E3 and the true announcement for the game, where we saw that it was indeed expanding, but not in the way I expected it. The core of the series is still here, but now it gets a bit more personal as we build up an island for villagers to live and make it into a thriving community. The ability to put furniture outside for the first time in the series allows for a greater realm of possibilities in making that village your own – especially if there’s colour customisation for a greater range of furniture. It’s one I’m wanting to see more of and experience the joys of this new horizon for myself.

And speaking of E3, the second game I’m adding to my list was announced there. Discounting all the leaks that pretty much confirmed it as real beforehand, of course. Watch Dogs: Legion is taking the series to the UK and recreating London in an open setting, where the hacker group of DedSec aim to take back the freedom of the people from the government installed security firm of Albion. And unlike previous games where you only played as one person, this game opens that up to anyone you recruit to the cause.

It’s an interesting mechanic within the game, where your actions determine who will stand by you. While you are helping to liberate the people from the control of Albion, there could be collateral damage to someone’s life – whether through killing a friend or family member, or unknowingly giving them trouble – which makes them see DedSec as an annoyance or worse. Allowing actions to put an impact on the world not just through set visual changes but a natural progression of reactions and feelings of the people who inhabit the world is something I hope Ubisoft Toronto can pull off. If they do, it will be one of the greatest experiences to play.

As 2020 draws ever closer, there’s the knowledge that the gaming landscape is once again near to changing with the next generation of Playstation and Xbox machines. But that doesn’t mean Nintendo will be left behind, as they will have something to draw people in as ever. The outlook for what I’ll be waiting for next year will either be large or small depending on what new games start that generation off, but I am certainly waiting for that start to come.

What I'm Waiting For Series
Volume 1 / Volume 2 / Volume 3 / Volume 4 / Volume 5 / Volume 6 / E3 Special / Volume 7 / Volume 8

What I'm Waiting For - Volume 7

In August 2017, Volume 6 of What I’m Waiting For dealt with both The Crew 2 and Kingdom Hearts 3. Then almost a year later, I uploaded an E3 special that talked four games without dealing with those that came previously. This volume is set to offer some words on all of those games that have since released, though not including Super Mario Party.

As much as I was ready to get it, I decided to wait for when the next game arrives – which will probably include a lot more now that the restored mechanics are in place. The other three games I certainly have bought and played a lot of, and fully enjoyed. After I talk about those three, I’ve got one new addition to make.

To start with, Forza Horizon 4 brought a great rendition of the UK to a racing game. Driving around and exploring had me in love with everything I encountered, and seeing the visual distinctions between seasons is stunning. The races offered challenge and variety, and the PR Stunts also proved to be a good challenge for gaining three stars on. Stories gave new challenge lists to be gunning for, all the while offering bits of fun writing to listen to.

Changes to the game have been made since release, with new stories and new ways to play online also added, and then the first expansion released to bring a whole new map, a full set of new PR Stunts and a new type of PR Stunt, along with a whole new set of races to get stuck into. There’s been so much that has gone into Horizon 4 and so much to keep someone returning – even if just for an hour to blast around some favourite tracks – that it’s playtime has overtook the previous two games recorded on the Xbox App.

And there’s still more to come, with the second expansion still yet to be revealed, which leads me to believe it might be something big. A radical change in approach to what we’ve had before. Whenever it does get revealed, I’ll be blasting around that map just as I have the other two.

Kingdom Hearts 3 fell away from its 2018 release, but finally arrived not long after. And was it worth the wait? I’ve still yet to be fully decided. In plenty of ways, it certainly was worth the wait. The new worlds all looked great, offering plenty to be seeing while exploring them, and giving some new ways to traverse them.

The character interactions were also great, giving all of them some fun moments and some touching moments, too. Some of the stories within the worlds were well-done. Others, though… Let’s just say that those that translated a story from their world instead of having something original were the weakest of all of them.

As good as it was to see Twilight Town again, and have it feeling like a town bustling with activity, it just seemed included to have it there. It could have served a greater purpose, giving an original world its own original story, rather than just being tied into the main thread of the plot. Rescuing Remy and working the café was fun, but despite being so full of life visually, the world itself felt empty because of it – and when the original stories within the Disney worlds were so great, it really does feel like a missed opportunity.

The gameplay introduced and reworked elements to give a fun moveset to take advantage of, with the ability to use magic while moving a welcome addition. The combat felt fluid and responsive, and that’s all I was hoping for. The lack of reaction commands does get missed when facing off against certain enemy types, but otherwise what is given is a blast to use.

But was it worth the wait? As I say, I’m undecided. On the one hand, there’s a lot here that is amazing to explore, but on the other there’s a feeling of it could have been better. For every good thing, there’s something bad attached to it.

Ah, The Crew 2. I was impressed upon seeing you at E3 2017. I was impressed upon playing you on the beta during E3 2018. So why did it take almost an entire year before I bought you?

I simply forgot. E3 came, Forza Horizon 4 appeared, and The Crew 2 vanished from my mind. The recent sale and free weekend got me to remember it again, so now I have it and I’ve been enjoying it. This isn’t just a racing game. This is a jack-of-all-vehicular-sports game.

Sure, there is racing involved, with cars, boats, and planes. But there’s also destruction derby and monster trucking. There’s drift challenges, slalom challenges, aerial acrobatic challenges, and a whole lot of exploring to be done.

As I said in the beta impressions post, you can just fast travel to all these events by selecting them in the menu, but you’ll be missing out on this world. Sure, it’s large. Very large, but there’s also a lot to be exploring. Exploring means using the physics of the game, and the planes work the best. Cars are a very varied bunch, with each type reacting in a certain way to what you do. Boats are… fun, but exploring in them is more tiresome than the other vehicles.

I’m having fun with the various challenges, and even cruising around in my Mini. Next time I fire the game up, I’m certainly going to just have a long cruise. I’ve been too busy with the events, meaning the last time I actually did have such a long cruise was during the beta.

There’s plenty of games coming out through the remainder of the year, but what do I choose? Animal Crossing, one of the Game Freak projects [Town is looking perfectly nice], one of the two Dragon Quest games, the new Mario and Sonic at the Olympics. There’s a lot that’s interesting me, but for this, I think there’s a series I’m a fan of involving plastic building blocks.

Yes, the LEGO games have always given some great charm and humour whenever they release, and even if the formula changes little, I always enjoy them. Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean… There’s a lot. The original game that TT Games made – City Undercover – I herald as one of the greatest LEGO games of the lot. But then, there’s also that very large franchise crossover that just celebrated twenty years of partnership.

The next LEGO Star Wars game is coming. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but since this is the twenty year celebration, it makes total sense to release one. But… it has to be a celebration of all LEGO Star Wars. Having just the sequel trilogy isn’t really going to cut it – even if there are extra missions based on the other films. It needs to include all of them.

Since The Complete Saga game released, there have been plenty of advancements to the series, and we already got a tease of how the levels could look when The Force Awakens featured the Battle of Endor as its prologue. Hub worlds for each of the trilogies would be grand, or even allowing what The Clone Wars did with travelling to different systems on a ship of some kind.

I’m awaiting this to be announced, and even if it does just turn out to be only the sequel trilogy with extra missions based on the other two, it will be a great adventure packed with the usual LEGO wit, and as such I’ll be enjoying it.

What I'm Waiting For Series
Volume 1 / Volume 2 / Volume 3 / Volume 4 / Volume 5 / Volume 6 / E3 Special / Volume 7

What I'm Waiting For - E3 Special [Gaming]

This special E3 What I’m Waiting For is doubling up on the amount of games being covered. Usually there would just be two, but since I’m not covering thoughts from a previous version, I can afford to double up. I don’t think any of these things I’m covering will be surprise – except maybe one – so let’s take a look at the news games from E3 that I’m waiting for.

I’ll just get this one out of the way with first. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The fact we don’t have any footage doesn’t quell the want for the game, nor does it supress ideas on what it could be about. All we know – from the official site – is that it follows a surviving Padawan of Order 66 shortly after that Order first fell.

We know there are surviving Jedi of Order 66. The second-tier canon had a lot of surviving Jedi, and even a few in the primary canon are known. But each survivor has a different story to tell. Since Caleb Dume – better known as Kanan Jarrus – has already had his story told, I highly doubt we’ll be getting that story in a different piece of media. That gives us a lot of freedom to explore where this Padawan goes.

My first thought is that it could follow a similar direction to that of the story found in Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader – where a few survivors try to find other Jedi but come to realise that doing so puts themselves in greater danger. The entire plot of the novel has relevance within primary canon with the mention of Murkhana and some business that Vader handled in the Tarkin novel.

There’s plenty of other ways to handle such a story – even tying it into the Siege of Mandalore if they wanted to – and I’m not going to mention all of them. I’m just noting that the story had better be a good one. Since this is a fair way off from a release, the first we’ll probably be hearing more about it is Star Wars Celebration in April.

I’m a big fan of Forza Horizon. I bought the Xbox 360 for the original and fell in love with it, and while I passed on the second, I soon bought it and an Xbox One [specifically the Forza Motorsport version] in 2016 just for the arrival of the third.

I’m all set for the arrival of the fourth at the beginning of October, then, and this is looking to be the largest of the series. Seasons arrive to give the world some visual flair and a change of events per season means there’s plenty to experience. Drivatars are still in the game for races, but the world will be populated by real players. Not to worry though, as they cannot mess you around unless a part of your co-op lobby, and you can revert to a Drivatar-populated world easily if you want to avoid seeing the randomness of others.

And as you’ve no doubt seen, that world in this game is the UK. We’ve already seen Scotland and the Lake District, but there’s a lot more for this country to offer, and with the visuals already looking vibrant it can certainly deliver. The visuals of the world are important, but so is the things to do. The Horizon Festival is now a year round party of automotive fun, with houses able to be bought in the cities and the countryside to live during the year-round festivities. While we don’t have all the details, I suspect the idea of the Festival is being changed up yet again for the better – expanding on what the third gave us but having it all open from the start.

The radio stations of the Horizon Festival are an important part of the experience, and have expanded each game. I suspect there’s not going to be much in the way of new additions this time, with the third game only adding one new station [not counting the Groove Music station]. I’m always tuned into Horizon Pulse, and it’s introduced me to several bands now in my music lists, chief among them Chvrches. For a new station, I wouldn’t mind one catering specifically to the old British rock classics, as I quite enjoy that particular genre of music.

Super Mario Party releases a few days after Forza Horizon 4, and is set on a return to the classic formula. I’m not a super fan of the series, having only had one per console on DS, 3DS, and WiiU. The DS game had that classic formula in place, and while I’ve had fun with the other two games, I’ve felt that the board game mechanics haven’t been the same. They felt more linear and restrictive, while the DS game had a lot more variety.

There’s not much that can really be said about it, but with what we’ve already seen it looks like the boards and minigames are offering variety. We’ve only seen two of those boards and a few of the minigames, along with the new multi-Switch games. The concept here is that two Switch consoles are linked and placed together to create a wider field of play, act as puzzle pieces, and possibly other ways. It’s a concept that was hinted at from a patent that Nintendo filed, and it looks as though that is finally a reality.

As for what the game includes, there’s eighty new minigames, possibly eight to ten total boards, and a wealth of characters both playable and non-playable. You’ve got the usual lot like Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Yoshi, along with the outliers such as Boo, Koopa, Shy Guy, Dry Bones, and new additions Goomba, Monty Mole, and Pom Pom. Toad has now become board game host again, with Toadette acting as star guard, and Lakitu and Kamek as helper and hinderer respectively.

It’ll be good to get back into the Mario Party, and also see how this rebooted series progresses in new games. These games are always good fun with friends, and this has one extra feature to do so in terms of online. While it is only minigames available to be played, it could expand in later entries to have online focused modes.

While I have little to say on this one, Daemon X Machina looked fun with an action-packed trailer, with the gameplay showing off just a bit of what is available in the full game. Seemingly based on the Armoured Core series, it features mech suits and fighting and an interesting visual of red and orange for its world.

Why I’m waiting for this one is more to see what it evolves into as a full game. The teaser was enough to get me interested in the world, but I want to see exactly what it is I can do within this world. There’s the fighting against enemies and using items within the world as weapons, but what of the other mechanics? What sort of missions can we be expected to take part in and will there be any side missions to make exploration worthwhile?

There’s a lot to be wondering about this game, including whether we will be able to organise some co-op bot-beating, but there’s time for seeing more on it next year. Hopefully the next time we see this game it has another trailer, this time focusing on the world and the lore of it. Probably wouldn’t make for as exciting a trailer, but it would get deeper into the game.

And that’s four games that I’m waiting for. Each of them offers something different, and it is no contest which I’m most excited for [hint: the one releasing the soonest]. This just covers the new stuff, though, with those we already knew about getting me more excited for them.

What I'm Waiting For Series

Volume 1 / Volume 2 / Volume 3 / Volume 4 / Volume 5 / Volume 6 / E3 Special / Volume 7