01.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4): An absolute "Day One" purchase given it's part of my favorite franchise in video gaming history. Playing
Metal Gear Solid on the original PlayStation was an awe-inspiring experience and unveiled the storytelling potion of the interactive medium through cinematic presentation from my perspective. It's eccentric mixture between sturdy gameplay, minute attention to detail, and noteworthy thematic depth in narration briefly summarize the essence of this legendary saga from creative designer Hideo Kojima. Admittedly, I do believe the plot direction has been stumbling downhill after
MGS4: Guns of the Patriots and
Peace Walker showcased RPG elements that don't quite mend with story progression. Additionally, I was greatly sore with the severe lack of content in
MGSV: Ground Zeroes to warrant an actual retail release when most of the extra-ops can be described simply as padding. Despite these undeniably faults, I truly believe this installment will greatly restore the overall quality of the series akin to the original trilogy as well as surpass hype expectation.
02.
Bloodborne (PS4): Completely adorned
Demon's Souls and the subsequent
Dark Souls successors. Regardless of its low-budget roots, creative designer Hidetaka Miyazaki has always continued to build palpable, masochistic experiences and I'm quite curious to see whether the emphasis on offensive tactics will be an irreversible evolution into its harsh "trial and error" philosophy. While
Dark Souls II was still an enticing adventure, Miyazaki-san's absence was certainly felt and I'm substantially excited to see his return regardless of being under a foreign Gothic aesthetic.
03.
Persona 5 (PS4): I must confess that I've never beaten any installments in this series despite owning approximately seven
Shin Megami Tensei-related titles. However, I certainly enjoyed the plenty of bits that have been spoiled for me in regard to
Persona 4 through the anime adaptation and the Vita port. I believe
Catherine could be argued as a spin-off release which I would easily regard as amongst my favorite releases from last-generation. Developer Atlus possesses an undeniable storytelling charm and I'm excited to see what they'll do with the new technology given they're finally publishing a new installment on a platform that isn't immediately heading out of fashion.
04.
Godzilla (PS4): I would be fibbing if I didn't state this title seems destined to receive mixed-to-negative reception from critics. However, I really liked what little bit was offered in the Japanese PS3 demonstration and I'm thrilled English-speaking
dai-kaiju fans will have an opportunity to take the Big G out for a night on the town. Its low-budget values seem like an acceptable homage to the old-school special effects in the film series and the clunky controls feel intuitive for controlling Godzilla.
05.
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (PS4): It has been difficult being hyped for a franchise that was originally a juggernaut in its genre, especially with the jumbled reception for the Lightning trilogy and the development hell of
FFVX. Thankfully, I've heard plenty of praise toward this installment being one of the darkest and entertaining ventures in virtually a decade. As one of the most requested titles from Sony PlayStation's #BuildingTheList campaign and designed with Western audiences in mind, I'll gladly do my part in purchasing this wonderful remaster on consoles.
06.
Steins;Gate (PS3): I was extremely blessed to see the anime in both its native language and the sublime English dubbing this past year. It has been one of the best animated series that I've seen in a very long time and, as usual, I've heard the visual novel retains a number of significant subtleties that breath a deeper breather for the characters. Having an almost pure visual novel on American shores is a undeniable novelty and I'm thrilled to have one of the best in the genre on my shelf.
07.
Life Is Strange (PS4): Dontnod Entertainment showcased a formidable presence with their cyberpunk beat 'em up,
Remember Me. Despite its faults, I believe their latest episodic tale with continue to demonstrate their potential with minimalist art design and feminine sensibilities. Based on an interview from November 2014, I really hope they'll follow through with a physical release.
08.
Until Dawn (PS4): It appears to be an agruable spiritual successor to David Cage's work and it might have the potential to be better written and darkly humorous.
09.
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (PS4): Curious to see how Capcom handles the episodic format. I missed out on the mixed reception of
Resident Evil 6, but I thought
Revelations was satisfying enough to garner my future interest with its surprising effort to elicit some survival horror elements.
10.
Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U): Once more, I must admit I never finished the first installment on the Wii nor do I currently own a Wii U at the time of this posting. I've never been too interested in the classic Nintendo properties, but they have been gathering some interesting niche releases (as I already purchased
Bayonetta 2 well in advance on the console). This game was an alluring notion of an open-world with mechs, but the character design appears somewhat atrocious and visuals seem downgraded from the initial reveal trailer.
Honorable Mentions:
XX.
The Order: 1886 &
Assassin's Creed: Victory (PS4): I believe Ready at Dawn Studios has produced an outright impressive-looking exclusive for PlayStation, but early impressions have been accumulating a strange bit of muddled press over the shooting mechanics and quick-time events. Hopefully the developers will heed these criticisms and quickly stir this title away from being an average TPS journey. In regard to the Ubisoft franchise, I think the Victorian setting would be an interesting setting, but I doubt they'll learn from their mistakes as technical difficulties and lackluster innovation will continue to plague these tiresome, cash-grab spin-offs.
XX.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End &
Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4): These are titles that I could easily place into the aforementioned listing, but I heavily anticipate both games will be re-released in 2016 with additional episodic content. As a collector of physical/retail releases, I want to obtain the most "complete" editions of these notable, critically-acclaimed blockbusters.
XX.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt &
Whore of the Orient (PS4): Never finished any of the previous installments, but I liked what few hours I placed into
Assassins of Kings on the Xbox 360. The branching narrative riddled with late-game consequences and beautiful art design are downright awesome, but I doubt I'll make it an immediate purchase until I'm able to finish the second part for the time being. Given that I admired
L.A. Noire, I'm still curious to see what former Team Bondi members have in store with their latest piece that seems to be lingering in development hell. It hasn't received any significant updates since mid-to-late 2013, but has been projected for release this coming year.
XX.
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (PS4) &
Yakuza 5 (PS3): An obvious re-release with expanded material in the aforementioned title. I would presently rank the vanilla release in my top three for this year so I don't mind taking a double dip for the bundled DLC. Hopefully the original dynamic lighting system will return and, justifiably, garner the necessary criticism over Bandai Namco Games holding out on a current-gen release. In regard to the later, I'm posting somewhat of a cop-out as I already possess a physical copy of the Japanese version. However, I'm thrilled to see English fans have a final chance to prove financial feasibility behind the series and the excitement might just be the motivate to plow through the whole series.