In looking ahead to a new year of potential in gaming, it’s a little difficult to not carry at least a little of the weight of recent games yet-to-play or those in-progress. I still have Dragon Age: The Veilguard at the ready, not to mention Starfield, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Street Fighter 6 (have to finish things with Terry and Bison), and an incessant penchant for Fallout 76 (my own fault, really). But, of all the game promised next year, there’s but one single game that I definitely want to get my hooks in at release, and that’s…

Avowed (February 18)

I am all in on Avowed when it releases on the Xbox (and PC) in February, no questions. Much like with games that I know I absolutely want to play, I’ve stayed away from most of Avowed’s current online presence, pre-reviews, social media, etc. I wan to go into it with as few expectations as possible and no preconceived notions about potential outcomes. Will it be an Obsidian masterpiece or flop? I cannot wait to find out either way!

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While my short-termed brain is almost solely focused on Avowed, there is one other title with a release date that could tempt me away from high fantasy RPGing, and that’s…

Atomfall (March 27)

Yep, the game that’s described as “Fallout, but in Britain,” I can’t deny that Atomfall looks promising. More specifically, it seems Atomfall may be more like “Fallout 76, but in Britain, if Fallout 76 was still a survival game, which it can be but really isn’t.” Still, a first-person action survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world with the potential for witty characters replete with dry humor sounds like an okay time to me. If I’m not wowed by Avowed (haha) come March, maybe I’ll take a trip into Atomfall to see what the fuss is all about.

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While gawking at the first half of this year in games doesn’t set off many fireworks for my own game library, the possibility of seeing a few promised but undated titles is always good for firing up a few cylinders. Here’s a handful of games without specific release that, even though we may not see them this year, still have my attention.

Fable

I believe it was sometime during the summer just passed that we last heard about the new Fable game, and the only news was that it might be in player’s hands in 2025. I’m quite excited for it, but I’m happy to have it whenever the devs feel like it’s done and, more importantly, done right.

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Grand Theft Auto VI

Count me among the heady masses awaiting the next offering in the GTA series! Trite as it may seem, I can’t help but hold onto hype for GTA VI. Part of this fueled by the disappointment of the Saints Row reboot, which killed an entire studio. I cannot imagine Rockstar ever meeting the same fate; I just want another world of cars, gear, and mayhem to bask in for a little while.

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The Outer Worlds 2

One game that’s been sitting in the back of my mind for some time now is The Outer Worlds. I only “just liked” my first time through that game and have wanted to return to it. It’s possible that Avowed might make me forget all about anything else for a while, or, at least until The Outer Worlds 2 hits…if/when it does, that it.

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South of Midnight

While I love the look of South of Midnight, I have a feeling that, much like with other games from the same studio – Compulsion Games, makers of We Happy Few and Contrast – I will likely enjoy watching this game over actually playing it. Whether or not that proves to be the case, the game has to come out first. For the sake of my watchlist, hopefully that’ll be this year.

Lede image taken from Avowed (© Obsidian Entertainment) igdb.com press kit.