Tis the season for new game announcements, and I’ve gotta say, this is the first year in a while that I’ve been pleasantly surprised! While yes, my main love Dragon Age was, yet again, lurking somewhere in the shadows with no news to offer, some titles I’ve been curious about for a while finally made their debut, and that’s cause for celebration.
As well as this, there are some indies that might have gone overshadowed by the big boys kicking up all the dust (i.e. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth and Starfield, which both look fine). So, in this roundup, I’ll be sharing some titles I’m personally excited about, big and small, that I think y’all will enjoy, too. As always, feel free to share your own sources of excitement in the comments!
Avowed
When the trailer for Avowed first debuted a couple years ago, I was incredibly curious to see how Obsidian (the studio behind beloved titles such as Fallout: New Vegas) would handle a first-person fantasy RPG. Now, I’m left with more questions than answers, but that’s mostly because I’m not familiar with the world they’re setting this game in: Eora, the setting for their isometric RPG series Pillars of Eternity.
Pillars has been met with wild acclaim, so I can imagine how hyped longtime fans are that they will be able to explore their beloved world with a directly personal perspective! On my end, I just love Obsidian and their capacity for storytelling, and I want to see how they’ve improved since their last attempt at first-person RPGs, The Outer Worlds (which was written very cleverly, yet ultimately fell short in many ways). As well as this, Avowed just looks super pretty, and as someone who prefers playing as a swordmage anyways, I love that it will be the main mechanic here.
Fable Reboot
It’s been a little over a decade since the last “proper” Fable title, leaving fans to wonder if we’d ever see our beloved, cheeky Albion ever again. And then, when we got a teaser that promised a return, but with little context, we were again left to wonder: What’s going on with our favorite heroes?
Well, while this latest trailer doesn’t give us too many story crumbs, it does give us many answers we’ve been waiting for. Yes, Albion (and Heroes!) are back, baby. Yes, the humor-infused-whimsy is still there. Yes, the world is still rife with fantasy, the likes of which filled us with wonder when we all played the first Fable title in our PJs many years ago. And yes, Richard Ayoade will be playing a giant named Dave, who cares very much about his beloved veg. As one would expect of such a game.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
When the trailer for Dragon’s Dogma 2 released, I well and truly could not shut up about it. More than Fable, this was a title I’d been really frothing at the mouth to hear about, after a similarly long period of time waiting to hear anything at all. And look, I’ll admit, the sequel doesn’t look entirely different from the original: The aesthetics and world-design are still more or less the same, just with a nicer coat of paint. And yes, with beast-people this time around.
HOWEVER. This is still Dragon’s Dogma we’re talking about, so it doesn’t matter if the finish is more glossy than matte; it’s still a damn good game. The original was wholly engrossing and very naturally encouraged one’s spirit of exploration and curiosity, and it rewarded player progression in a satisfying way that also didn’t demand the kind of patience and skill that, say, soulslike titles ask for. My one reservation with this game is concern that they won’t improve upon the lackluster storytelling from the first, but even if they don’t, I’ll be happy as long as I can still hop on a griffin and take it for a ride.
Sopa
Much of the Wholesome Direct were either Stardew Valley-likes or sidescrollers, so Sopa automatically stood out on the basis of it being a proper adventure game. In design and concept, it reminded me of some indies from years ago, like Papo & Yo: indies that take you on an abstract journey from here to there, with some kind of message in the middle. In other words, my bread and butter.
Sopa takes direct inspiration from the films of Hayao Miyazaki, as well as Pixar’s Coco and the classic Le Petit Prince. The story follows a boy named Miho, who is trying to help his Nana make some soup, yet every time he enters her cabinet for ingredients, he’s taken to a new fantastical world, where he must follow the steps of an old traveler in order to find The Next Ingredient. Yet whenever Miho returns, the kitchen is somehow different. There’s a mystery afoot, with the understanding that with each new step in life, and each new experience, you take something and leave something behind.
Fields of Mistria
For now, we’ll end on one of those aforementioned Stardew-likes. Fields of Mistria caught my attention for a very simple, perhaps banal reason: I just really love that ’90s anime art style, and I think more games should use it. Of course, that’s not the only reason it looks good to me. While the graphics are somewhat simplistic, they’re brimming with charm and a promise of diverse, interesting mechanics—such as cows giving birth to rare coat colors (i.e. STRAWBERRY-MILK PINK!!), which I absolutely adore.
Also, apparently Undertale creator Toby Fox had a hand in the music for the trailer. And look, it’s not like clout has anything to do with a game’s quality, but I’d like to think that if Toby Fox saw something promising in this game, then I can, too.
(featured image: NPC Studio, StudioBando, Obsidian Entertainment)
