With 2024 now truly underway (sometime the first week of any year feels more unreal than real), why not look into the future…our individual futures with games! Though it presently feels as though it’s going to be difficult for the industry to top the massive year in gaming that was 2023, 2024 is looking to have its own share of heavy hitters. As I’ve still got loads of gaming leftovers on my plate, my wallet isn’t exactly screaming for me to add anything to it. However, that doesn’tmean I haven’t got my eye on at least a few new titles. Here’s my list of upcoming games that I’m eyeballing very closely.
With release dates
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy (January 25)
Way back in ye olden days of 2017, I played the Phoenix Wright games for the first time, and I had an absolute blast with them. At the time, I swore that I would eventually continue with the series, as it had gone on then with Wright’s protégé, Apollo Justice. Well, well, well. It looks like that time may have finally arrived with this new trilogy of the three Apollo Justice games! It comes out across all platforms later this month, and I’m likely to obtain the Switch version. My time with Phoenix Wright was spent on-the-go, and I think I’d like to do the same with Apollo and the gang.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (February 16)
Speaking over overloading my Switch, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is looking very promising. It appears to be more of a puzzle game than a platformer, but you really can’t go wrong with these two Nintendo icons in any form. Unlike the Apollo Justice trilogy, this one probably isn’t a day-one (or -two, or -three) buy for me, but it’s been wishlisted nonetheless.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 (March 22)
I won’t bore anyone with the falling out I had with Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen; suffice to say, Dragon’s Dogma 2 looks pretty darn cool. I won’t pick it up at release (if that release date sticks), because I want to see it in the hands of the players first. I think if I had done that with DDDA, things might have gone differently with it. But, there were so many good things to like in that game that, I imagine, if the sequels builds upon them, it’ll bound to be a smash.
Without release dates
Avowed
If there’s one game that I hope comes out next year that will serve both as a bridge to Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and as a barrier to me overindulging in Fallout: New Vegas (the present temptation is so, so strong! Maybe I should just play The Outer Worlds again, instead.), it’s Obsidian’s Avowed. This deep, grand, magical, medieval adventure just looks better and better with every trailer. I’m trying very hard to keep my hype in check with with one, but it’s going to be difficult!
South Park: Snow Day!
“Oh, a new South Park game!” I exclaimed at the Game Awards’ announcement of this new South Park game. (Yes, I completely missed its actual announcement a few months back.) I really enjoyed The Stick of Truth and the Fractured but Whole, both their stories and turn-based/tactical mechanics. Bringing South Park into three dimensions as an action RPG in Snow Day! should be…interesting? I’m honestly not sure how I feel about it, but I am intrigued.
World of Goo 2
It is really possible that 2DBoy will be back this year with a sequel to the weird and wonderful physics-based construction puzzler, World of Goo? I sure hope so! I played the original some ten years ago and fell in love with its strange world and “sticky” mechanics. What has the World of Goo Corporation been up to all this time? It’s a question that may or may not be answered in the sequel, which may or may not be out this year.
The Plucky Squire
With recent “most anticipated” lists, there always seems to be at least one holdover, and this year it’s The Plucky Squire. This Devolver Digital romp through a 2D/3D storybook world was a no-show last year, and news about it has been scant since. As with any game that seems to be in limbo, hope springs eternal that it’ll see the light of day. Maybe 2024 will be the year of The Plucky Squire? We’ll see.
Lede image taken from igdb.com presskit for Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy (© Nintendo).
VIRTUAL BASTION 