Well, we’ve made it. 2020 is finally gone and 2021 is here at last. Will it be any better than its predecessor? Who knows? I hope so. At the very least there are many interesting games on the horizon, and these are the ones I’m most looking forward to!

The Invincible

The first game on my list is actually the one I know the least about. I think I saw a very brief teaser trailer for The Invincible a few months ago, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. At any rate, the music sounds cool, and the idea of being an astrounaut stranded on some distant planet is intriguing. What’s more intriguing though is that there’s some strange goings-on on this planet (“Regis III”) and you’re likely going to have to get to the bottom of it in order to find your crewmates and get back home. It’s also following an “atompunk” aesthetic, meaning that its technology (and idea of things like aliens) is sourced from the “world of tomorrow” kind of stuff seen in the ’60s. All in all, very interesting and I look forward to learning more!

Atomic Heart

When I look at Atomic Heart, I’m basically seeing “russian Fallout meets Deus Ex,” and I’m all for that. This has all the elements of a GOTY for me: cool sci-fi, interesting locations, free-form exploration and combat, good music and crazy weapons. All it’ll take for it to be a slam-dunk for me is immersive-sim elements on par with Dishonored or Prey. (Oh and a good story too.)

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

While this is certainly looking all next-gen and fancy, I’m honestly just psyched for more Ratchet & Clank! With this one being all about dimensional rifts and alternate worlds, I’m kinda hoping to see a lot of easter eggs from past games (and maybe Jak & Daxter too?) along with the crazy, shooty gameplay I’ve long enjoyed in this series. It’s been a whole generation since we got a new entry, so I’m more than just pumped for this one!

Psychonauts 2

Psychonauts is one of my all-time favorite games, so it’s been very hard to be patient and let Double Fine do their thing. I backed this game all the way back in 2015, so it’s been a long wait indeed. I’m not expecting Tim Schafer and the team to deliver the moon or anything. Game makers can only do so much after all. That said, I’ve been loving what they’ve been showing in the trailers, and I really, really hope they’ll be able to stick to a 2021 release window. I need Raz back in the picture!

The Callisto Protocol

One of the biggest disappointments for me as a gamer was Dead Space. It’s not that I disliked the games (actually I LOVE them), but rather I hated EA’s handling of the series. Not only did they pull it away from its horror roots with Dead Space 3 (decent though it was), but they also used it as a testing ground for microtransactions before allowing it to end on the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers! We don’t know how things turn out for good ol’ Isaac Clark, and we probably never will. Just gotta let it go I suppose.

There is good new though: it looks like the Dead Space legacy will live on! Many members of the original team have formed a new studio and are bringing us The Callisto Protocol, something that bears a very striking resemblance to their previous project. I’ve been hungry for more Dead Space for years now, so I’m more than happy to get it in the form of a new IP (please don’t eventually sell it to EA guys! That would be so messed up!)

Haven

Technically, Haven is already out on PS5 and such I might be cheating a bit here. BUT, I don’t have a PS5, so I gotta wait! 😡 Anyway, I’m a big fan of sci-fi and romance stories, so Haven is basically made for someone like me. It’s also supposed to have fairly decent gameplay and a great musical score too. If the story is decent though, those things will just be icing on the cake. These sorts of games hinge on their story, so everything else won’t matter if it’s no good. Fortunately, reviews say it is, so all we need to do is wait patiently until it comes to current gen.

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And that’s it for Listmas 2020! Thanks for reading and sharing some lists of your own! On that note though, what games are you really looking forward to this year?

Lede image from The Invincible Steam page