Q&AmeCola: Most Anticipated Games for 2013

With the new year comes a new set of videogames, and we, the GameCola staff, will of course welcome it with open arms and open wallets like the rubes we are. Here’s a few of the ones we’re most excited to hurl our hard-earned cash at.

This year has taught me not to get too exited about upcoming games, since pretty much everything I anticipated these last 12 months disappointed me in one way or another (suffice it to say that I’m not pre-ordering anything again!).

While there are a few games that I’ll be looking forward to next year, the newest Tomb Raider reboot is the one that intrigues me the most. I’m not saying that it’s going to be good, or interesting; I’m just saying that I’m curious about the final product.

In this era of tried-and-tested regurgitated franchises, it’s really refreshing to see a game (as old as the iconic Tomb Raider series) trying to become something actually new. And any game that strives for innovation is a game that I’ll definitely get close to.

Come on, somebody; we want more of this hideous trash. Where else can we get our fill of ladies and gore? (And I mean besides from going outside and doing nasty things.) I haven’t seen any sign that the latest Onechanbara will sleuth its way out of Japan, so I’m hoping someone decides to publish it. D3 Publisher, you’re usually good for this; what will it take to convince you this time? Want me to go back and edit my previous Onechanbara reviews to have higher scores? I’ll do it. I’m shallow like that.

I know it’s coming. If Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon can get a release, then really it’s only a matter of time before I’m holding Kagura in my sticky hands again.

Sticky with blood, that is.

My most-anticipated game of 2013 comes out in January, so pardon my short-sightedness… But I am just too excited about this game. Ni No Kuni is an RPG about a boy who follows a little creature (“Mr. Drippy”) into another world where he has to fight evil things to try to save his mother, who recently died. There’s magic, and cute quirky characters, and little monster friends who help you in battle (and who you can train and evolve, I’m guessing). I have high hopes for this game, coming as it does from Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, etc.) and Level-5 (Professor Layton, Dragon Quest VIII)—the game is absolutely gorgeous from what I’ve seen so far (visuals and music both), and I’m keeping my fingers crossed about the story, as well. I played the demo for Ni No Kuni in December, and now all I want to do is hunker down under a cozy blanket and play the whole thing!

When I am able to pull myself out of my fantasy world where The Last Guardian has the faintest wisp of a possibility of being anything other than beautiful, beautiful vaporware, I find myself reminiscing of all the good times I had on the Dreamcast, and later the GameCube and PC, with Phantasy Star Online, and looking more and more forward to PSO2. The free-to-play model appears to be done right, offering game enhancements rather than locking away all the fun parts under pay walls, and the fact that it’s free makes it all the more likely that your friends will join you in exploring beautiful alien worlds and eviscerating chubby little yellow penguins.

The roman numeral V is very intriguing. I guess this one will be all about the dollar bills, yo.

*ahem* Well…yes, I’ve been a huge fan of GTA since I first laid eyes on GTA2. It’s a very entertaining series. The single-player mode has very entertaining stories, and the multiplayer is ripe with fast cars, fast women, and racial slurs. It’s fun for all, and all for fun. Actually, I’m not sure what else is coming out in 2013, perhaps because I’m so focused on GTAV. It’s a bit surprising that they’re already going up to “V” without crossing a major threshold like 4D graphics or 4K resolution. Still, the multiple character mode should freshen things up, and I’m hoping they bring in a lot of the tiered multiplayer features of Red Dead Redemption (not to mention that horses would be cool).

Ask me this a week ago and I would’ve said TEARAWAY, TEARAWAY, can someone please buy me a Vita so I can play TEARAWAY; but then just yesterday I caught up with the industry’s dialog from six months ago and watched some gameplay footage of BioShock: Infinite, and…holy s***. I’ve (of course) always wanted to shoot birds out of my hands, but more importantly, the game really speaks to my long-held belief that if you sent all the nation’s political extremists to their own private floating island in the sky, then it would be a lot of fun to watch them explode.

I do have my reservations—most notably, the main hero appears to be a total dudebro who’s quick to demean his female (electricity-spewing, time-and-space bending) companion as a little girl who needs his constant protecting; at best, I think we could be heading to a tropey and in its own way offensive “spunky girl proves she can hold her own in a man’s world” sort of storyline, which would be a low-hanging fruit for an episode of Tiny Toons, let alone the developers of BioShock. But I’m rooting for a nice surprise and an easy Game of the Year candidate for a year where most of our attention’s probably going to be drawn to the next generation of consoles, anyway.

Not sure if it will actually make it out next year or not, but Watch Dogs is looking pretty cool. I’d say I was more excited about Sly Cooper 4, except I don’t have a PS3 or a Vita. 😛

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