Coveted Games: Early 2015’s most excellent schedule

First and foremost, Happy New Year 2015! May it be full to the brim with amazing games and glorious gaming moments. And indeed, amazing games there will be, and very soon at that. The early 2015 release schedule is at least as thrilling as the late 2014 one, if not more, with tons of appetizing games coming our way in the next four months. I won’t get a break from purchasing new games any time soon, indeed, and here’s my prospective early 2015 wishlist. Enjoy, and don’t hesitate to share your own coveted games in the comment section!

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re:Birth 2: Sisters Generation (Vita): This game with an ludicrously long name is an enhanced remake of Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, a PS3 RPG released in 2012. It’s also the sequel to Hyperdimension Neptunia Re:Birth, which was released in 2014 and was itself an enhanced remake of the original Hyperdimension Neptunia released in 2010 for the PS3. That is an awful lot of remaking, indeed; and it would definitely feel like a cheap trick to shove rehashed games down consumers’ throat, if not for the fact that the series is hence migrating from the home console landscape to the handheld one for the first time in its short history. I never owned a PS3 and probably never will, so I’m delighted to get the opportunity to explore the Hyperdimension series on my beloved Vita. 

Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart (Vita): The aforementioned remake(s) may well be the prelude to a brand-new portable branch of the Hyperdimension series, if this mouth-watering Vita exclusive is any indication. It’s technically a spin-off to the main series and features a SRPG-inspired gameplay as well as extra characters lifted from famous video game franchises. Add to this the fact that Sting had a hand in its development and you get a game that I wouldn’t miss for the life of me. 

Criminal Girls: Invite Only (Vita): A dungeon-crawler with an infamous twist to it—on which I don’t think I need to expand profusely. But twist or not, I love dungeon crawlers to pieces and I certainly won’t miss that one, especially since it seems to be pretty good once you leave aside the softcore sadistic gimmick—which NIS seems to have literally done to some extent by censoring the game a trifle. Given that the fan-service was ramped up when Criminal Girls moved to the supposedly more mature Vita, this may not be such a bad thing. Indeed, this game is not a Vita exclusive, but rather an enhanced port of an eponymous game released for the PSP in 2010. This original instalment never came to Western shores though, so it’s pretty much a brand-new game as far as we’re concerned, which is quite neat.  

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters (Vita): A visual novel that is virtually a Japanese version of Ghostbusters boasting revamped retelling of traditional ghost stories. Although this game is slated for release in April, there is little information available about it, apart from the fact that it should feature SRPG-lite gameplay segments, branching paths and several different endings. For some weird reason, Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunter is categorized as an RPG on its official NIS webpage, although it seems to lean very distinctly on the visual novel side. Well, I guess we’ll find out when it is released in April.

Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy (Vita): A first-person dungeon crawler set in a sci-fi setting yet using real-life locations—very likely lifted straight from Japan’s lively capital, if the title is to be believed. The game’s young and still little-known development studio, Experience Inc., seems to be highly specialized in first-person dungeon crawlers, having already crafted Demon Gaze for the Vita as well as other similar titles that never left Japan. Demon Gaze garnered mixed reviews upon its Western release, and we can only hope that Operation Abyss will improve the formula and be granted a warmer reception. Gee, the world needs more dungeon crawlers! Or I do, as least. 

Etrian Mystery Dungeon (3ds): And talking about much-needed dungeon crawlers, here’s another one coming our way, and a glorious one at that. This is no less than a crossover of two of the most mythical dungeon crawler series of the last twenty years: Etrian Odyssey, the series that single-handedly put first-person dungeon-crawling back on the map, and Mystery Dungeon, the series that gives a roguelike twist to anything it touches. Throw Atlus into the mix, and you get a dream game like no other. The first screen captures are gorgeous, and I really can’t wait to get my hands on that game. 

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker (3ds): As the title strongly hints, this game is an enhanced port of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2, released between 2011 and 2013 for the Nintendo DS. Now, Devil Survivor 2 is one of the very few DS RPGs that I don’t own, so I should legitimately be thrilled about this 3ds port—and I actually am, and quite thoroughly to boot. However, this also leaves a sour taste in my mouth: to release a mere port—be it enhanced—of a game released just a couple of years earlier on the former generation’s resident system reeks of laziness and complacency. This kind of offense has become all too common on the 3ds, and I really hope that the developers guilty of such practices will soon stop resting on their laurels and start crafting brand-new games. 

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (3ds): Last but not least is the latest iteration of Capcom’s immensely famous beast-slaughtering franchise. This much-awaited game has been slated for a Western release like, forever, and the whole thing is starting to look like a sick joke made at our expense. Whether we’ll get this game in late March as announced remains to be seen, but one thing is abundantly sure: I will carefully check if I can tolerate the Monster Hunter brand of 3D before considering any purchase. 

So, here are my coveted games for early 2015, and that’s quite a hefty number of them, really. Once again, they are mostly Vita games, and I’m grinding my teeth at the fact that only three 3ds RPGs are slated for release in the next four months—one of them being a port. The announcement of the upcoming Majora’s Mask 3ds port and Xenoblade Chronicles New3ds exclusive port are making my mood even fouler, and despite loving Nintendo to pieces, I’m starting to grow a trifle tired of the whole 3ds affair. First region-locking, now an endless stream of ports, and soon yet another version of the system with exclusive games? This is a little disheartening, really. I wish we could get new entries for Golden Sun, Seiken Densetsu, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles as well as brand-new innovative RPGs instead of remakes, ports and homages. Don’t get me wrong: I am totally in favour of remakes and the like, especially when they allow potential players to (re)discover games that slipped under the radar in their time or were released very long ago on much older systems. However, I firmly think that remakes and ports should only represent a small fraction of the releases on a platform and that developers should lavish attention on new titles first and foremost. The DS library has a perfect balance in that regard, with loads of fresh and innovative titles and a couple of excellent remakes; and now that the 3ds is conveniently loaded with remakes and ports of all sorts, I fervently hope that it will be showered with brand-new games before the end of its lifetime. There is always hope, indeed! 

That being said, and to end on a positive note, I’m really thrilled about all these upcoming games, whether they be on the Vita or the 3ds. I will absolutely purchase them all, and review them when the time is ripe. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!