So, 2015 is a HUGE year in gaming for me. This generation as a Nintendo fan has been frustratingly slow; 3DS has had a few great dishes: Ocarina of Time 3D, Link Between Worlds, Monster Hunter 3, Harvest Moons, Tomodachi Life, Mario Kart 7, Fantasy Life, Animal Crossing 3D, Fire Emblem Awakening... But the Wii U side has been somewhat sparse in games that I tend to like; mostly limited to Mario Kart 8, Mario 3D World, a couple of Assassin's Creed games, and the Virtual Console. 2015 is HUGE for a Nintendo gamer, there isn't much that has topped this in Nintendo's history - and in my opinion, a good year to say goodbye to the Wii U and 3DS, because unless they do something stupid like release Mario Galaxy 3 on Wii U instead of launching the next console with it, there's probably not anything left worth this kind of over the top hype.
Without further Apu, here's my list, free of ads - so expect inconsistent quality per entry, and no proofreading:
1. Xenoblade Chronicles X
There's not really much to say here; Xenoblade on the Wii was an absolutely fantastic game - it took the FF12 formula and not just made it good, but it made it great! FF12 had a big world, but it suffered from feeling very sparse, with poor guidance, and extremely slow pacing; Xenoblade had an even larger world, but rich with stuff to do all over the place, and extremely great pacing - you could move through the main story at a very comfortable pace, with always something satisfying to complete in a given game session; and if things are moving too fast, take part in the abundance of side content across the game world. Xenoblade also took FF12's battle system and finished baking it, because without a doubt FF12's system wasn't done; it worked, but it definitely felt like it should have worked better - Xenoblade is just as easy, but the player has much more of a feeling of control over what's going on in the battle without being jarring and chore-like, such as in FF13.
Now take Xenoblade, and add in a matured authors story elements from Xenogears and Xenosaga, and the Gears, and a world that is five times larger while still maintaining the excellent pacing of the original game, and that's Xenoblade Chronicles X. The size scale, Xenoblade was roughly 12 square miles (31 square kilometers) of playable space - that is, all inaccessible area cut out of the equation; a little more than double that of Skyrim's 14.8 square kilometers. X will have FIVE times that of Xenoblade on Wii, so that's roughly 60 Square miles, or 155 square kilometers.. Or roughly 10-11 times the size of Skyrim, or nearly the size of the entire world of warcraft world - including all of the water, mountains, and inaccessible area... Or 1 trillionith of Eve Online...
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960564-x ... s/70123373
http://www.quora.com/How-large-is-Skyrims-overworld
http://unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uplo ... orlds2.jpg
2. Legend of Zelda U
It is BECAUSE this game is only number 2, that I think this is a great year for a Nintendo fan like me. Nintendo has gone GTA and Assassin's Creed with this Zelda game, having a less linear main questline, and tons of stuff to do on the size. The world is also huge, at a staggering 23.6 Square miles/62 square kilometers. Which is many times bigger than all 3D Zeldas combined. Nintendo is managing the huge scale with the largest development team in Japanese history over what was originally a 4 year dev cycle, but extended to 5 years. Expect some news on this one soon, as Nintendo has only spoken about the game twice for a few minutes at a time, and the game is supposed to be out this year.
http://wiiudaily.com/2012/09/wii-u-zeld ... ming-2014/
3. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (3DS)
I don't really need to say much, I loved the original Majora's Mask, and this is the direct sequel remake to my favourite remake of all time:
4. Monster Hunter 4
This is the first game of my ultra-anticipated games coming out this year, and it is coming out in a few weeks: January 26th.
It's everyone's favourite Neolithic Hunter-Gatherer themed action game - and with much less water than Monster Hunter 3, so IGN will like it.
Some others which I will probably discuss below and expand on this post later:
5. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D - a port of the original Xenoblade game on the new3DS.
6. Story of Seasons - Marvelous Entertainment's own Harvest Moon franchise independent from Natsume licensing, it also takes the franchise to a larger multi-town level. This one is coming via XSeed about 2 weeks after Monster Hunter 4, February 10th.
7. Code Name STEAM - A strategy shooting game in a steampunk setting.
8. Yoshi's Wooly World - It's a more advanced Kirby Epic Yarn, and this one is headed by the less famous half of the original 2D Mario series design team - Takashi Tezuka. Judging by the promotion, a lot of love went into this game, and it may end up being the best 2D platformer on the console; just by looking at the videos, it's already the most charming.
9. Star Fox U - It's Star Fox U.
10. Citizens of Earth - this one will likely slip under the rug, seeing as how it's an eShop only title on the Wii U; and it's probably not making most top 10 lists even for just the Wii U this year, but the game looks VERY interesting to me... It's an RPG by Atlus where you are president of Earth, and has been described as Earthbound meets Little King Story. This one is out January 20th.
Without further Apu, here's my list, free of ads - so expect inconsistent quality per entry, and no proofreading:
1. Xenoblade Chronicles X
There's not really much to say here; Xenoblade on the Wii was an absolutely fantastic game - it took the FF12 formula and not just made it good, but it made it great! FF12 had a big world, but it suffered from feeling very sparse, with poor guidance, and extremely slow pacing; Xenoblade had an even larger world, but rich with stuff to do all over the place, and extremely great pacing - you could move through the main story at a very comfortable pace, with always something satisfying to complete in a given game session; and if things are moving too fast, take part in the abundance of side content across the game world. Xenoblade also took FF12's battle system and finished baking it, because without a doubt FF12's system wasn't done; it worked, but it definitely felt like it should have worked better - Xenoblade is just as easy, but the player has much more of a feeling of control over what's going on in the battle without being jarring and chore-like, such as in FF13.
Now take Xenoblade, and add in a matured authors story elements from Xenogears and Xenosaga, and the Gears, and a world that is five times larger while still maintaining the excellent pacing of the original game, and that's Xenoblade Chronicles X. The size scale, Xenoblade was roughly 12 square miles (31 square kilometers) of playable space - that is, all inaccessible area cut out of the equation; a little more than double that of Skyrim's 14.8 square kilometers. X will have FIVE times that of Xenoblade on Wii, so that's roughly 60 Square miles, or 155 square kilometers.. Or roughly 10-11 times the size of Skyrim, or nearly the size of the entire world of warcraft world - including all of the water, mountains, and inaccessible area... Or 1 trillionith of Eve Online...
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960564-x ... s/70123373
http://www.quora.com/How-large-is-Skyrims-overworld
http://unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uplo ... orlds2.jpg
2. Legend of Zelda U
It is BECAUSE this game is only number 2, that I think this is a great year for a Nintendo fan like me. Nintendo has gone GTA and Assassin's Creed with this Zelda game, having a less linear main questline, and tons of stuff to do on the size. The world is also huge, at a staggering 23.6 Square miles/62 square kilometers. Which is many times bigger than all 3D Zeldas combined. Nintendo is managing the huge scale with the largest development team in Japanese history over what was originally a 4 year dev cycle, but extended to 5 years. Expect some news on this one soon, as Nintendo has only spoken about the game twice for a few minutes at a time, and the game is supposed to be out this year.
http://wiiudaily.com/2012/09/wii-u-zeld ... ming-2014/
3. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (3DS)
I don't really need to say much, I loved the original Majora's Mask, and this is the direct sequel remake to my favourite remake of all time:
4. Monster Hunter 4
This is the first game of my ultra-anticipated games coming out this year, and it is coming out in a few weeks: January 26th.
It's everyone's favourite Neolithic Hunter-Gatherer themed action game - and with much less water than Monster Hunter 3, so IGN will like it.
Some others which I will probably discuss below and expand on this post later:
5. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D - a port of the original Xenoblade game on the new3DS.
6. Story of Seasons - Marvelous Entertainment's own Harvest Moon franchise independent from Natsume licensing, it also takes the franchise to a larger multi-town level. This one is coming via XSeed about 2 weeks after Monster Hunter 4, February 10th.
7. Code Name STEAM - A strategy shooting game in a steampunk setting.
8. Yoshi's Wooly World - It's a more advanced Kirby Epic Yarn, and this one is headed by the less famous half of the original 2D Mario series design team - Takashi Tezuka. Judging by the promotion, a lot of love went into this game, and it may end up being the best 2D platformer on the console; just by looking at the videos, it's already the most charming.
9. Star Fox U - It's Star Fox U.
10. Citizens of Earth - this one will likely slip under the rug, seeing as how it's an eShop only title on the Wii U; and it's probably not making most top 10 lists even for just the Wii U this year, but the game looks VERY interesting to me... It's an RPG by Atlus where you are president of Earth, and has been described as Earthbound meets Little King Story. This one is out January 20th.
-Insert Inspiring Quote-
