Red's Seven Games for 2020

System

Red's Seven Games for 2020

Red Thomas discusses seven games he’ll be watching in 2020. Will it be a good year for RPG fans, or will we be facing a year of slim pickings? Red outlines his thoughts on several upcoming games and gives specific nods to those he feels will have the largest impact on the future of gaming.

Read the full story here

Theocritus

Never heard of 2077.....

Aeander

My 7 games for 2020:

Cyberpunk 2077
Marvel's Avengers
Tales of Arise
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Trials of Mana Remake
Persona 5 Royal
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition


Honorable mention:
Persona 5 Scramble

Utinni

Damn so only one of your "games for 2020" will actually come out in 2020. You cray boo.

Albatroes

Magic Legends/Torchlight Frontiers are almost an auto-out for me given that Perfect World is publishing them. Sure Neverwinter/Star Trek are "popular" but that monetization makes Activision and EA look like beacons of light.

Palebane

Looking forward to Outer Worlds and RDR2 in 2020 because thats the type of guy I am, lol.

WarEnsemble

New World is lame. Beta tested it.

Mackaveli44

@WarEnsemble, I agree BUT they did take down the alpha to implement a revamped PVE experience so we'll see what they did. I am a bit surprised that they're going from Alpha straight to launch... kind of surprising.

Arkade99

Regarding Crowfall, the next patch is scheduled to go live in February. They have been calling that the start of alpha, and have suggested that after that, they would be focused on polishing and bug/performance fixing.

When you say an "Early-Access version", what do you mean? The game has essentially been in early access for a long time now. Anyone can purchase the $50 backer pack and play immediately.

At some point there will be a free beta, which will enable anyone with a Crowfall account to try the game for free. I'm reasonably certain that won't be happening in February. They aren't going to push their biggest patch to live and then immediately invite 300k more players.

CitizenX007

I won't be buying any of these games. I was kind of excited about Cyberpunk 2077 but it looks like it'll be an SJW sludge-pool. Plus, the character creation is a joke. Hard pass on that one. I was excited about Lost Ark, too, but that MMO has lost my interest as well.

The only games I'm (tentatively) looking forward to at this point are...

Iron Harvest
Wasteland 3
Balder's Gate 3

But, I won't be buying any of them 'til I'm sure they aren't a buggy fucked up mess!

Things are not going the way I thought they would for the MMO genre; I'm playing my last one - GW2 - as we speak. The whole "microtransaction" thing has killed them for me...I'll take a monthly subscription over a cash-shop MMO any day of the week! Looks like it's gunna be single player games from here on out.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Aeander

Arterius said:

I think 80% of the gaming sphere is looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077. The other 20% dont care for FPS, the subject matter, or just don't care RPG's.

Just about everywhere I look and talk to. Online or offline is looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077.

It's just funny to me because depending on who you talk to it's either too SJW centric or the game attack SJW culture. Which is a good thing. That is what the Cyberpunk 2020 game was good at as well.

The whole SJW wars are stupid and pointless. 

A group of angry fucktards decided to get loud about not wanting left leaning politics in their games, while not similarly calling out right leaning politics. Thus was born the rallying cry of "keep politics out of games," which is ridiculous because games are art and art is often supposed to be political.

Journalists then started actively antagonizing these people for clicks, and they took the bait because they are too stupid to realize that ironic/hate traffic is just as good as legitimate traffic for the journalistic outlets. This led to a lot of regular gamers growing disillusioned with game journalism due to a drop in quality and constant air of hostility and contempt.

So now we have gamers delegitimizing games as an art form by attacking their ability to tell politically-charged stories, while we also have game journalists delegitimizing game criticism by actively giving the middle finger to their own audience.

Kyleran

Not a bad list Red, would love to see CF move forward as you suggest,  Pantheon I don't agree anything of consequence is coming this year unless.....

They are running short of funds and they  have developed in such a way they really could launch what is done so far as an early access title to try and raise more to complete the game, a la SotA.

Ginaz

The only one I'm really interested in on that list is Cyberpunk 2077. I have some mild interest in Corepunk but I'll have to see WAY more before it goes beyond that. My list of most anticipated games for 2020 are:

Cyberpunk 2077
Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2
Doom Eternal
Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord
Baldur's Gate 3
Dying Light 2
Crusader Kings 3

Aenghas

I've seen my peak internet for the day. So people were getting hyped to play a game called CYBERPUNK 2077 until it turned out it may actually contain some futuristic punk ideas?

"Damn, I was looking forward to watching the Great British Bake Off show until I found out it contained British people and baking"

Ozmodan

I am a solid pass on anything from Cryptic.  They are a well known pay-to-win developer and I want nothing to do with such a revenue model.  It will be interesting if more than one or two of the rest of the games actually releases in 2020.

Red_Thomas

Arkade99 said:

Regarding Crowfall, the next patch is scheduled to go live in February. They have been calling that the start of alpha, and have suggested that after that, they would be focused on polishing and bug/performance fixing.

When you say an "Early-Access version", what do you mean? The game has essentially been in early access for a long time now. Anyone can purchase the $50 backer pack and play immediately.

At some point there will be a free beta, which will enable anyone with a Crowfall account to try the game for free. I'm reasonably certain that won't be happening in February. They aren't going to push their biggest patch to live and then immediately invite 300k more players.

Just that.  Whatever they're calling it, the Feb patch will be a transition to the next development stage, and release should follow not long behind it.

I don't think I'd call what they've already had "Early Access," but then phrases like that, Alpha, and Beta are all pretty meaningless these days.

Red_Thomas

Kyleran said:

Not a bad list Red, would love to see CF move forward as you suggest,  Pantheon I don't agree anything of consequence is coming this year unless.....

They are running short of funds and they  have developed in such a way they really could launch what is done so far as an early access title to try and raise more to complete the game, a la SotA.

My understanding is that they've elected for a different development strategy.  I'm not close with that team because most the SOE folks I knew well went to other projects, but I think they're going for this idea where they're completing an entire game loop in a single zone first.  Then, they'll bring other zones online as the work is completed.

It's a little different and I don't know any other games that I could really look to for an idea on how successful the idea will be, but I'm interested in seeing how it plays out.  Notionally, that should mean release sooner than expected.  If they have a good direction lined out and are more in the polish stage (which MAY be true from some of what I've heard 3rd-hand), then they could be in good shape.

I don't know on any of it, though.  It's all just some guesses based on what I've heard and what I'd expect after watching other similar projects over the years.

Red_Thomas

Ozmodan said:

I am a solid pass on anything from Cryptic.  They are a well known pay-to-win developer and I want nothing to do with such a revenue model.  It will be interesting if more than one or two of the rest of the games actually releases in 2020.

I don't know that I'd call them pay to win.  That's a pretty over-used term.  I'm definitely not a fan of their revenue models, though.

To me, the real concern is that they have this unique ability to have a really great idea and stop just short of totally executing on it.   STO was a fantastic game that just felt flat because there wasn't enough dynamic content.  The use of bridge officers, different ship types, and some of the crew mechanics added later through updates was just brilliant.  They did some fantastic stuff in that game, but really missed some opportunities by not creating some open world PvP opportunities between factions.  Other mistakes too, but I see that one as really being the big miss for them.

Scot

I have to say if Cyberpunk 2077 is not the best thing since games went to floppy disks a lot of people are going to be very disappointed, that hype makes the bar it has to jump over very high. I am more from the "something will be good" school, no eggs have been placed in any baskets.

Mendel

Mackaveli44 said:

@WarEnsemble, I agree BUT they did take down the alpha to implement a revamped PVE experience so we'll see what they did. I am a bit surprised that they're going from Alpha straight to launch... kind of surprising.

I believe what we're seeing here is "rushing a product to market".  If they are adding such a major experience as PvE to a game, that should require major testing, probably more than the PvP elements do/did.

Mendel

As far as the article's list, it is depressing that many of the titles list a Beta starting in 2020.  I'm still not interested in betas of games; I'm far more interested in the finished games.  I'd really recommend referring to in-development games as "projects" and reserve "games" for finished products.  That would help avoid confusion.

Scorchien

There are 3 ill be trying on that list

New World ( friends want to)
Pantheon ( eq and vanguard fan .. have to check it out)
Magic Legends ..( love arpgs for mindless fun)


I have a list of Under the Radar indie games im looking forward to .... That some may be interested in ..

1.Astrox Imperium .. Been playtesting this for over a year now ... such a great game from a fantastic indie dev .. Anyone that ever wished for Eve single player would enjoy this game ..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/954870/Astrox_Imperium/

2.Archemage Rises ... Really immersive fun game here,Where decisions shape your game and matter (alot) .. Another fine indie dev with some unique approaches to an RPG ..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/506480/Archmage_Rises/


3.Biomutant .. some may have forgotten this one .. But its coming along really nicely and will hit retail soon ..THQ Nordic is gonna deliver with this one

https://store.steampowered.com/app/597820/BIOMUTANT/

4.Realms Beyond .. Backed this one early on .. Excellent TB party RPG .. this one gonna take people by surprise ..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/762550/Realms_Beyond_Ashes_of_the_Fallen/

5.Knights of Honor 2 .. Another gem from THQ Nordic incoming .. I played Knights of Honor till my eyes were bleary so many nights .. One more turn goodness.. Cant wait for this sequel

https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/


6.Among Trees.. Such a beautiful game to get lost in .. a Labor of Love and it shows..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/897730/Among_Trees/

7.Burden of Command .. the WW2 TB nerd in me is looking forward to this one ..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/887490/Burden_of_Command/

I have others .. but 7 for 7

Scot

Scorchien said:

There are 3 ill be trying on that list

New World ( friends want to)
Pantheon ( eq and vanguard fan .. have to check it out)
Magic Legends ..( love arpgs for mindless fun)


I have a list of Under the Radar indie games im looking forward to .... That some may be interested in ..

1.Astrox Imperium .. Been playtesting this for over a year now ... such a great game from a fantastic indie dev .. Anyone that ever wished for Eve single player would enjoy this game ..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/954870/Astrox_Imperium/

2.Archemage Rises ... Really immersive fun game here,Where decisions shape your game and matter (alot) .. Another fine indie dev with some unique approaches to an RPG ..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/506480/Archmage_Rises/


3.Biomutant .. some may have forgotten this one .. But its coming along really nicely and will hit retail soon ..THQ Nordic is gonna deliver with this one

https://store.steampowered.com/app/597820/BIOMUTANT/

4.Realms Beyond .. Backed this one early on .. Excellent TB party RPG .. this one gonna take people by surprise ..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/762550/Realms_Beyond_Ashes_of_the_Fallen/

5.Knights of Honor 2 .. Another gem from THQ Nordic incoming .. I played Knights of Honor till my eyes were bleary so many nights .. One more turn goodness.. Cant wait for this sequel

https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/


6.Among Trees.. Such a beautiful game to get lost in .. a Labor of Love and it shows..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/897730/Among_Trees/

7.Burden of Command .. the WW2 TB nerd in me is looking forward to this one ..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/887490/Burden_of_Command/

I have others .. but 7 for 7

Thanks for giving me three new games for my wishlist.

Raquis

Amazon will be very dumb to create a carp game because its their first game but game developers don't really care they work out the profit margin before they start making a game and make sure they hit it even if they have to create crap.

Kyleran

Raquis said:

Amazon will be very dumb to create a carp game because its their first game but game developers don't really care they work out the profit margin before they start making a game and make sure they hit it even if they have to create crap.

Some speculate Amazon's interest may have shifted to the new LOTR project, possibly even shifting more experienced dev resources to the next game.

Might explain why it appears the scope of NW has been cut back some and the sudden rush to get it quickly out the door.

If so, very likely not much good will come from this, at least not for those waiting on NW unless they are the traditional fans of such survival games who supported Rust, Conan Exiles, and Atlas quite vigorously despite the many flaws and limitations.

I have to be suspicious of cheap or free games...you tend to get what you pay for in life.