Upcoming Games I'm Looking Forward To.

In case you don't know, the next year is going to be AMAZING for RPG fans such as myself. Without further ado, let me list the upcoming games that make me really excited for the coming years.

EDIT: Added a couple of games to the bottom of the list!

Chrono Cross: Technically, this isn't a new game, but the ESRB recently rated this PS1 classic, meaning it will probably be re-released soon. Chrono Trigger is probably my all-time favorite game, so I'm looking forward to finally playing the sequel.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: This is probably the biggest RPG released this year. While I wasn't Oblivion's biggest fan, I enjoy a good fantasy yarn, and Skyrim's gorgeous looking open world already has my interest piqued. 11/11/11 can't come soon enough.

Final Fantasy XIII-2: I've said my piece on this before. I really enjoyed XIII, despite it's little flaws, and any opportunity to play a Final Fantasy game on a modern console is great. It looks like they've improved on XIII's biggest problem (lack of exploration), and I'm all set for the next Final Fantasy. Besides, it'll be a nice appetizer before Versus XIII.



Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning: I probably won't pick this up at launch (it's out a week after XIII-2). but Reckoning looks really cool. A more colorful art style than your typical dark fantasy, a world and lore created by R.A. Salvatore, and Zelda-Meets-Diablo gameplay? Sign me up.

Ni No Kuni- Wrath of the White Witch: I can't stress enough how BEAUTIFUL this game is. Designed by Level 5, one of my favorite developers, and animated by Studio Ghibli, this game has the look of an interactive Miyazaki film, like Spirited Away. Awesome.

Tales of Graces F: The original Tales of Graces was a mediocre, glitchy mess of a Wii title. Then, they decided to finish it, and release it on PS3. There's no set date for this game, but Namco Bandai says it'll be out in 2012. Sweet.

Final Fantasy Type 0: Square hasn't said whether this installment in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series is coming to the U.S., but there's no reason to believe it won't. The game looks great, with an interesting story of four warring kingdoms. It also has a huge cast of playable characters, and large-scale battles. Color me interested.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII: If you ask me, this is the big one. Versus XIII has been in development longer than Final Fantasy XIII. However, with Square's recent unveiling of their photo-realistic Luminous engine, which Versus is supposed to be running on, I think we'll hear more about this game shortly. What little they've shown about this Kingdom Hearts-like Fabula Nova title looks great, and Nomura has stated that he recently explored the entire world map and was very excited. So am I.

Kingdom Hearts III: This one hasn't been officially announced yet, but Nomura has said that the Kingdom Hearts spinoffs will lead to KH3 eventually. Supposedly we'll find out more once Versus is finished. I personally can't wait; as much fun as the Kingdom Hearts sequels and spinoffs are, a true console experience would be great. I'm also looking forward to Dream Drop Distance, the 3DS game, even though I don't yet have a 3DS.

Zelda: Skyward Sword: I don't personally own a Wii (ours belongs to my sister, so it goes largely unused), but the new Zelda title may be enough to convince me to buy one. Twilight Princess is one of my favorite games, and Skyward Sword not only looks like an excellent game, it also looks like a more innovative game than Twilight Princess was.

The Lord of the Rings: The War in the North: J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpieces are some of my favorite books, and the movies are great as well. When it comes to video games, though, it's been a mixed bag- some LOTR games are fun (Battle for Middle-earth), some are actually really good (Lord of the Rings Online), and some are abysmal (Conquest). I've been waiting for a true Lord of the Rings gaming expirience for a long time, and War in the North looks like a very promising title.

The Last Guardian: I don't know much about this title except for the name and premise, but Team Ico is one of the few companies to have never made a bad game. Granted, they've only made two, but when one of those games is Shadow of the Colossus, they can have the benefit of the doubt. We haven't seen much of this action-puzzle game in a while, but I'm hoping we'll find out more soon. I have understandably high expectations for it.

Well, that's it for now. As you can see, my backlog is going to be immense for a while. xD