Let me put my disclaimer right here. This list isn’t exhaustive, and reflects my personal take on upcoming games. Their actual performance, release date, and other details remain to be seen/proved.

I’ve always loved video games. Like most of us here, I grew up playing some pretty great stuff, or at least stuff I thought was great. From Gran Turismo to StarCraft; from TimeSplitters to Phantom Dust, Spyro, Need for Speed, Star Wars Battlefront, RuneScape, and everything in between. A good game isn’t something you can identify right away. It usually take a couple hours to really gauge its worth.

Lately, video games are either fantastic, or absolutely terrible. To provide an example, let’s rewind a couple years and look at some of the major releases that each had to offer.

2016: Overwatch, Uncharted 4, DOOM, Dark Souls III, Firewatch, Far Cry: Primal.

also 2016: No Man’s Sky, Quantum Break, Star Fox Zero, Street Fighter V, Homefront

Again, not an exhaustive list, but it goes to show how some of the year’s most anticipated games ended up flopping. Just for fun, here is the year before:

2015: Witcher III, Rocket League, Bloodborne, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Fallout 4

also 2015: Evolve, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, Halo 5, Star Wars Battlefront, Fallout 4.

Don’t even get me started on Destiny.

The takeaway here is that I’m going to guess. Using my years as a GameStop manager coupled with lifelong knowledge and love for games, I’ll attempt to determine what games are going to be worth looking forward to. If they end up sucking, don’t get mad at me, ‘kay?

Anthem

A clear and direct response to the success(?) of Activision’s Destiny, EA has a lot riding on Anthem to be a hit. An open world, third-person, co-op oriented online adventure/ sci-fi shooter; expect Destiny elements, expect it to ask for money via DLC and micro-transactions, but DON’T expect it to fail to deliver.

FarCry 5

FarCry has always been a great series, but since FarCry 3 and it’s ending, it has generated a lot of buzz and it’s follow-ups, FarCry 4, and FarCry: Primal, have delivered beautifully. Expect more of the same in this continuation.

God of War

After a hiatus, it looks like we know what Kratos has been doing all these years -getting old. With a son in tow, and his temper still slightly out of his control, he must learn how to reel in his anger as well as be a dad. Plus c’mon, he’s got a beard! Expect this to look absolutely stunning on your PS4, and expect stellar gameplay and storytelling to boot.

Crackdown 3

I played crackdown years after it came it out, due to solely having a Playstation growing up. I must say, there is something really special about leveling an entire city in a firefight. It tugs at my heartstrings. Playing this game, it is very difficult to go back to the invisible walls and indestructible structures of other games. If this game can’t deliver beautiful destruction, I don’t know what can.

Spiderman

So this is what Insomniac is been up to. First they deliver a decent reboot of Ratchet & Clank, a couple VR games, and now this. Personally, I wanted a new Spyro but I think an open-world Spiderman game from them will be interesting to play. I’m not sure if I’m as excited about the game as I am excited about how well, compared to my expectations, it will play.

Who am kidding? I’m just excited.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Speaking of excited, the game that I never thought would happen is happening. After a 2017 delay, it should be less than 12 months until it’s finished. Words can’t explain how cool this game is going to be. I’m not worried about it flopping- it’s Rockstar. They aren’t perfect by any means, but they consistently deliver on great games. THIS IS A MUST BUY.

Ni No Kuni II

An awaited follow up to one of the best looking anime games I’ve played in a while. Thank Studio Ghibli for the inspiration on the beautiful animation style!

Monster Hunter: World

Need I say more? It’s Monster Hunter! They won’t disappoint. I mean, I bought my 3DS just for Monster Hunter 3. The premise is simple: you hunt monsters. It’s so much better than that though. Think Witcher III meets Dragon Age with the tiniest dash of Fallout 4 thrown in there, but for 3DS.

Again, Need I say more?

Darksiders 3

With both Darksiders 1 and 2 being instant classics, I expect nothing less with the follow up. In the last two games we played as War and Death, two horsemen of the apocolypse. Enter Fury; the first female protagonist in the series.  If you’ve never played Darksiders, it’s a blend of God of War and The Legend of Zelda. In other words: GET THIS.

 

I know I missed a lot more, but let me know in the comments what games you’re looking forward to. Let’s hope 2018 doesn’t fail to deliver something great no matter your preferred genre!

Cheers!