Part Quatre! If you didn't read the previous parts, I'm posting a quick summary of why I'm excited for 50 different video games in 2016. Today, I'll be running down the last ten games on my list or, better put, the ten games I'm most excited to play in 2016. I apologize for the wait. I was sick off and on for a good three weeks after the last post and unfortunately 30% of this last segment is already released because of it, but I'm working on a little something extra of more 2016 hype to make up for it so I hope we're still friends. Ok? Okay!

Again, this is a subjective list, so don't expect something popular I have no interest in to take #1 (sorry, ARK: Survival Evolved). Hopefully this list will get you more hyped up for the games coming out this year, remind you of a few you've forgotten about, and maybe introduce you to a few new games.

If you didn't catch the previous posts I made, check em out here:

• My 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 - Part One (#50-#36)
• My 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 - Part Two (#35-#21)
• My 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 - Part Three (#20-#11)
• My 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 - Part Four (#10-#1)

#10 - No Man’s Sky

Platforms: PS4 & PC

Release Date: June 21st, 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBERVWYa-1Y

This game tickles me pink as a lover of math, a computer scientist, and a game designer. What this small team of what I have to believe are genius level intellects are accomplishing makes me accept that there are heights to attain in all three of these fields that I never thought possible and may never personally reach, yet inspires me to reach them all the more. The scope of the game world that Hello Games are creating is bonkers, with incredible breadth of biodiversity and ecosystems all being driven by one of the most powerful instances of procedural generation that games have ever seen. Since this game was announced, my jaw has been on the floor. I’m at the point where, whatever the hell the gameplay of this game ends up being has no bearing on my interest level. I just want to dissect it, to pick it apart and analyze it. I want to sit on my couch, stare at a small part of this universe they created and yell “HOW THE FUCK DID THEY DO THAT?!” at the television. If the game ends up being a compelling gameplay experience, all the better, but it’ll be a rewarding, special, one-of-a-kind experience regardless. As a testament of human creation, of human ingenuity, No Man’s Sky is sure to keep me captivated for years.

#9 - XCOM 2

Platforms: PC

Release Date: Released

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIRDb_O6qXA

Yes, I was late on this one and XCOM 2 was already released. Shut up. XCOM 2 is still my #9 most anticipated game of 2016 and allow me to explain why:

It baffles me how short some people’s memories can be, especially when it comes to rough launches of video games. Diablo III launched as a massive disappointment as compared to the “seminal” and “perfect” Diablo II and that derisive attitude toward the former persists today, despite Diablo III undergoing massive improvements over the last few years and Diablo II being a full on tire fire when it was released. Ultra Street Fighter IV on PS4 is considered the definitive version of the game and people act like it always has been, despite having weeks where one of the characters sounded like a goddamn train and another had invisible fireballs. More closer to the topic at hand, Firaxis has had a history of rough launches of their games, from the sterile and boring Civilization: Beyond Earth to the imbalance of vanilla Civilization V to the bug-riddled XCOM: Enemy Unknown that made Ironman a bigger struggle against the game’s inadequacies than an alien invasion, despite Firaxis being (rightfully) known for being one of the best strategy game developers in the business.

So XCOM 2 launches and what happens? Well, there’s so many bugs that it looks like a Fallout game and people start freaking out about it. It’s business as usual, but people are acting like it’s the end times. I just want to grab people, calm them down so they stop screaming, look into their eyes, and softly say “you do not have to play games the second they come out.” Civilization V was improved to one of the best 4X games in existence with it’s two expansions. XCOM: Enemy Unknown exterminated most of it’s bugs even before Enemy Within came out. Civilization: Beyond Earth… well Civilization: Beyond Earth could use one more expansion, but it’s on the right track to being a respectable entry in the series.

Don’t get me wrong: this doesn’t excuse the developers for launching a busted game. I would love to have been proven wrong, for the game to make huge improvements and be perfectly playable right out of the gate. But as the old saying goes: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. And baby, you wish this was only the second time.

#8 - Danganronpa V3

Platforms: PS4 & Vita

Release Date: 2016?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfMqURJ3ZfE

Danganronpa went from being “a visual novel I should check out I guess maybe?” to one of my favourite series in 2014. The series was able to create engaging mysteries, a colourful cast of characters that slowly subverted their one-note literal-cardboard-cutout character designs, and masterfully made use of tension to keep you both dreading and fixated on figuratively turning each page of the story. Sure, it had a few… disgusting parts to it (mostly due to how it handles a transgender character and it’s constant need to ogle and objectify it’s female characters), but those aspects slowly got better as the series progressed (Despair Girls was actually pretty good on that front…).

The future of the series is undergoing a big split however, a split between the story and the gameplay that comes directly from not sticking with their guns on a decision made early on. Without spoiling too much, they opened the Mystery Box. The developers made some fantastic novels and games with the box open (hell, Goodbye Despair was a better game than the original), but they lost the ability to spin stories with the same magic, tension, and wonder. They were vehicles of knowledge and answers to mysteries that were satisfying on their own, but never as satisfying as the mystery itself.

Danganronpa V3 is throwing the series back into the box and throwing the rules out the window. It takes place in a different universe with different characters and different reasons for why, essentially, high school kids are killing each other. It’s sort of like The Great Ace Attorney, but even more of a step removed. It’s a new take on the series that they can use to completely start anew, with new takes on the premise going forward that hold onto the same magic of the original, that made it such a compelling mystery to unravel. It’s a take that, for the love of god, I hope they do not backpedal on, as it’s a stronger direction for the series going forward.

But I do think they’re going to stick with it. The original universe with all the characters you love (that are alive, that is) will be continuing after all…. in a new anime series. While initially a move that disappointed me greatly (not only because I am not a fan of the medium, but because the original Danganronpa anime was some hot garbage), I think it’s best their pursuing an ending to the current arc concurrently, but separately. While I don’t buy for a second that the series will include elements “that can only be expressed in the anime medium” and I’m highly skeptical that it will be any good, I feel that the sooner Spike Chunsoft hit the reset button on this series, the better.

I don’t know if Danganronpa V3 will actually come out this year. I certainly believe it will be out in Japan, but localizations of these games have not exactly been swift. Something tells me, however, that NISA understands that they have a hit on their hands and their going to be making Danganronpa V3’s localization a top priority. A hope and a prayer, but no guarantee.

#7 - Overwatch

Platforms: PC, Xbone, PS4

Release Date: May 24th, 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEYp1RTvllM

Last year’s Splatoon was the most excited I had been for a multiplayer shooter in many, many years and it met my every expectation. While I haven’t quite sunk hundreds of hours into it like I did with Monday Night Combat or Team Fortress 2 before it, this is more due to not having access to an external hard drive to fit the updates onto (curse you, 8GB Wii U!) than waning interest. I’d like to say I’ll eventually play just as much of Splatoon in the months & even years ahead, but, for the first time in my life, there’s multiple multiplayer shooters that I’m actually interested in playing.

Overwatch isn’t squids and kids levels of novelty, creativity, and freshness, but if there’s one company other than Nintendo that can hook me on a game, it’s Blizzard. And I’ve fallen for their hype hook, line, and sinker. Fascinating character designs, breadth, & depth; gorgeous visuals & art direction; focused game modes (that happened to be my favourites from Team Fortress 2); and character flexibility that suits the more jack-of-all-trades approach I usually take. It looks like a fantastic time to tackle with either friends or alone and I’m dying to play it, either on console (where I feel it will play quite nicely) or in the mean streets of the PC shooter scene.

Speaking of Team Fortress 2 though, a lot of people complain that Overwatch is just a ripoff of it, a stab by Blizzard back at Valve after DOTA was taken out from under them (kinda). To which I respond: yeah, doi. That second part is pure conspiracy theory, but there isn’t a competitive genre alive that hasn’t taken, borrowed, or stolen from competitors. It’s why shooters started off being called “Doom-likes” and most of them plays like Call of Duty now. Just because no games have yet recaptured Team Fortress 2’s success (though some have tried), it doesn’t mean it’s a sacred golden cow that no one can learn from.

Overwatch has the game modes from TF2 that work the best in a more fast paced, movement heavy shooter with unique roles and classes, but almost everything it’s doing is adaptations on where the competitive gaming scene as a whole is right now. MOBA’s and MMO’s have taught players cooldown management, so Blizzard ditched the multiple weapon and ammo model found in games like TF2 for a completely ability and cooldown based system. Call of Duty and Fighting games have taught players to unleash devastating attacks on opponents with proper metre/killstreak usage, so every character now has an ultimate they have to manage and use at the right time to swing a match. MOBA’s and Fighting Games also lend themselves to the player preparing match-up knowledge, which is extremely important in games with a lot of characters. Hell, some characters even have shield management and recovery from Halo and Destiny. So when you break down Overwatch, yes, it’s taking stuff from Team Fortress 2, but don’t think that’s all it’s taking from. Overwatch is a beautifully designed game that is taking inspiration and learning lessons from all corners of competitive gaming and that, that is what makes it so special.

#6 - The Legend of Zelda

Platforms: Wii U

Release Date: 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZmxvig1dXE

Given how big of a Nintendo fan I am, I’m surprised at how little Nintendo is on this list. Sure, there’s not exactly a lot announced these days on the Wii U or 3DS, but beyond a few third party titles, Star Fox and Pokkén are about it. That either means that 2016 will be a big drought year for both platforms or Nintendo has a lot to announce in the next few months. Luckily, we do have the most exciting and unique Zelda game since Wind Waker to look forward to, a fine game to mark the end of the Wii U and to start the likely transition to NX next year.

We don’t know much about the game currently beyond hopes and promises (Nintendo instead chose to focus on games much closer to completion), but everything they have shown has been full of promise. The open world aspect, despite my usual aversion to the approach, is what gives the title so much potential. If you think about the worlds the 3D Zeldas have given, there haven’t been much in the way of adventure, of exploration, of trekking off the beaten path to find new areas and secrets. In a way, the series is still where it was in 1986, still bombing walls to find secret rooms and exploring the small, confined, tiled, sectioned off spaces that are presented to us. Wind Waker was the only game to break free of this model, but with it’s own set of limitations that come with a world that’s 99% water. Still, you were finding unexplored islands, you were hopping on spooky ghost ships, and heading wherever the wind took you… as long as you travelled to exactly these 6 dungeons along the way.

I know it’s cliche and passé, but I truly do believe that a game like Dark Souls is more of the answer here, if only in the way the world is structured. Sure, Dark Souls is a game that lends itself to more claustrophobic environments than Zelda, but the way it’s connected, the way the world feels full and natural and just waiting to be explored is a feeling that has been rubbed off of the Zelda series over many, many iterations. A beautiful open world that is cleverly designed and just waiting to be explored to your heart’s content might be the trick Zelda needs to break the series from it’s decade old rut.

#5 - Street Fighter V

Platforms: PS4 & PC

Release Date: Released

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyjEP-Sb1Qs

Note: This post was initially released prior to the release of Street Fighter V. Despite some launch ugliness, I stand by it.

Even if Street Fighter is not your game of choice, if you are a fan of any corner of the fighting game genre, you know how colossal a new Street Fighter game is. Street Fighter II invented the genre as we know it today, Street Fighter III flipped the script on what a fighting game could be, and Street Fighter IV single-handedly revived the series, the competitive fighting game scene, and the entire fighting game genre. And now, we live in a new era. A new game means new characters, new blood, new playstyles, new mechanics, new technology, new combos, new competitors in the genre seeking to dethrone it, and new competition from the pro level right down to your local scene.

The slate is wiped clean this time right when the genre, the scene, the community are at their very brightest. The community has never been bigger, more focused, more passionate. The competition has never been as diverse, as educated, as fierce. The games being played have never been as numerous, as polished, as distinct. And Street Fighter V is attempting to defy expectations: to not only keep the good times rolling, but to push the community and the whole damn fighting game side of the industry to a whole new pinnacle.

The future is bright for fighting games and, despite still needing a lot of work (especially when it comes to removing toxicity), I’m proud to be a tournament organizer in this scene. So here’s a toast to those games, those organizers, those competitors that allowed this scene to get to where it is today. If the industry continues to put out games with this level of passion and excellence, we’ll be sure to respond in kind.

#4 - Rez Infinite

Platforms: PS4 (VR)

Release Date: Last 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sk5ThgnI2k

Rez is one of the few games ever made that I would unequivocally say is perfect. It’s art style is ageless, the way it incorporates music into it’s gameplay is powerful, and it’s the best the on-rails shooter has to offer. It saddens me that, though it has a sizeable fanbase nowadays, it’s still not a gaming experience ubiquitously praised for it’s ingenious and flawless design. The world just wasn’t ready for it back in 2001, I guess, a time where game criticism was still stuck using the Playskool branded critiques like “price”, “value”, and “length” to determine a game’s “worth” and therefore, by the metrics of the time, it’s cultural significance.

But culturally and critically aside, the world just wasn’t technologically ready for Rez either. Despite being made 15 years ago, Rez feels like it was born for VR and we’re only now able to fully realize the game’s potential. Rez might be a short game, a game that can be wrapped up in under two hours, but it’s also a game that has sold me as a consumer on buying into Playstation VR, something no other VR headset has quite done yet.

I think that says a lot about how much those two hours are “worth” in my eyes.

#3 - Fire Emblem: Fates - Birthright & Fire Emblem: Fates - Conquest

Platforms: 3DS

Release Date: Released

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLFB-LtKYuQ

Note: Due to some retailer (*cough*amazon*cough*) fucking up my order, I did not have access to Fire Emblem Fates until a few weeks ago despite having preordered it in June of last year. So I chose to write it still as a preview, despite it being released.

Fire Emblem: Awakening is my frontrunner for game of the generation so far. The series really lost it’s footing for nearly a decade and to call Awakening a return to form is a huge understatement. It fixed a lot of longstanding problems, it made smart innovations, it had one of the most engaging (albeit still simple and shallow) stories in the series, and refocused the game on what had mattered to fans (can you believe that Supports were actually taken out of the three previous games?). Yes, Awakening was a real gem, a game that was no doubt the best the medium had to offer in 2013, the best game to grace the 3DS, and one of my favourites of all time.

So you can imagine how stoked I was when not one, but somehow two follow-ups were announced. Two campaigns that played off each other, with each giving you a glimpse at two equal, but opposite forces that had their own quirks, flaws, and advantages. The game felt like a breath of fresh air into the series from a narrative standpoint, as it had always been about the unshakeably moral and virtuous vs the undeniably evil and cruel bad guys. Unfortunately, the game never quite shook this habit, based on how both the opposing factions ended up and a “true” path through the middle that reframes the storyline into the classic good vs evil of old.

Still, Fire Emblem: Fates is more classic Fire Emblem Strategy RPG gameplay with more characters to fall in love with (platonically and… not so much) in it’s most approachable form (based on it’s difficulty settings at least). It’s a natural follow-up to Awakening that tries a new approach to an honestly rote storyline, which will be interesting regardless if it pans out. I cannot wait to finally dive in.

#2 - Zero Escape 3: Zero Time Dilemma

Platforms: 3DS & Vita

Release Date: June 28th, 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8z9yogpeUA

“Six of us are…. dead…”

That’s all you needed. That’s all you needed to hear and you erupted into excitement if you’re a Zero Escape fan. If you’re not, let me lay down some history for you, because getting this game feels like a miracle.

The second game, Virtue’s Last Reward, left the trilogy on a ridiculous cliffhanger, but the realities of the business caught up with this little visual novel series. It just wasn’t selling in Japan, the home of the genre, visual novel fanbases, and visual novel developers, even after Virtue’s Last Reward was tailor-made to succeed in the region. The thriller aspect of the story was toned down considerably, the tension and violence was minimized, voice acting was added with some notable Japanese talent, and a 10 minute OVA was made to hype up the crowds. All to no avail. The game tanked in Japan and with it, any chance of a conclusion.

…Or so we thought.

I think it’s not unfair to say that without Ace Attorney doing so well in North America, the Visual Novel genre would have stayed in Japan. The wacky lawyer visual novel series converted a lot of people to the genre (including myself) with it’s humour, adventure game gameplay, outrageous plot twists, and fantastic characters. But in early 2010, North America had finally caught up with Japan on the Ace Attorney series with Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and North American fans were experiencing their first lull in the series. Investigations’ sequel would never make it to North America and new fans of the genre needed somewhere else to turn. Enter the first Zero Escape, 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, which released on the DS in North America in late 2010. It was a cult hit and, somehow, managed to sell ten times as many copies in North America than in Japan.

And, despite the game being made for Japanese audiences, Virtue’s Last Reward was much more successful in the west. It was one of the must-play games of that year, helping to expand the genre even more in the west. It won awards from outlets across the industry and it’s writing was even nominated at the Game Developer’s Choice Awards, I’d argue the closest thing this industry has to an Academy Award. Spike Chunsoft had an award winning series on their hand, but since conventional knowledge said that Japan mattered most for the genre, a sequel was doomed.

Then Zero Escape 3, the ending to the trilogy, the ending to one of the best storyline games have to offer, was finally announced last year to everyone’s surprise. At Anime Expo in LA of all places. I hoped it would be made. I hoped that Spike Chunsoft would see that they genuinely have one of the biggest Visual Novel successes in North America on their hands and how much of an opportunity that was, but it’s hard to see that when you’re an ocean, language, and culture away.

Yet they did, eventually and somehow, and, in just a few days, we’ll be getting the first trailer for the game at GDC, debuting it’scool new cel-shaded art styleand embracing the thriller aspects of the original (Note: This trailer is linked above!). Then, later this year, Kotaro Uchikoshi and the rest of the world will finally see the story of Junpei, Akane, Phi, and Sigma to it’s conclusion.

I cannot wait.

#1 - Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 5

Platforms: PS3, PS4

Release Date: Summer 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc_9r4wifFc

Could #1 have been anything else?

There isn’t a video game that you could pitch to me, real or imagined, that could take the #1 spot over a new Persona game. I connected with Persona 4’s narrative and characters so deeply that I didn’t quite know what to do with myself when I had completed it. The highs left me giddy with excitement, the lows hit me like a sack of bricks. Even though I had finished Persona 3 just months prior to Persona 4’s release, I still wasn’t prepared for how genuinely invested and touched by the exploits of those meddling kids (and their bear too) I was. There isn’t a video game out there that I cherish more than my time with Persona 4.

So, obviously, the next game in the series is something I’ve looked forward to for nearly eight years. And you know what? I think such a large gap is only going to be a positive for Persona 5. Sure, as a fan, it’s a pain in the ass to wait for the game for so long, but in many ways Persona 4 was just Persona 3 2.0. They had similar styles, gameplay, execution, music, writing, localization, etc. etc. This large gap between games, however, has given Atlus everything they’ve needed to make a new Persona game be as creative as possible and to ensure 5 will be an evolution of the series, rather than just another iteration. The hardware advantage is obvious (I wouldn’t even be surprised if the PS3 version was axed so they could make full use of the PS4), but they’ve also gone back and touched up both 3 & 4 since then, refining them and experimenting with them to see just what exactly the audience wants out of their games.

And you know what? So far I’ve been very impressed on how much it’s paid off. The game’s style has evolved from it’s predecessors, the premise is unique and takes the series in a fun new direction, the dungeons are hand-crafted instead of randomized, the world is populated and made to feel more alive, and the UI is a fucking masterpiece of both form and function. I’m trying not to hype it up too much for myself (except for the UI part because GOD DAYUM) so that I get disappointed in how it ends up, but I also have faith that Atlus both knows what they’re doing and taking this game very, very seriously.

As they should.

A game like Persona 5 (a big budget JRPG whose fanbase stretches beyond the genre) is only released once, maybe twice a decade… let’s hope Atlus delivers.

And that concludes the list of why video games are going to be fucking rad in 2016. What did you think? Got anything you agree/disagree with? Got any other games you're super excited about this year that I didn't mention, especially some underground shit no one's ever heard of? Post down below with your thoughts! I had fun with this list, like every year and I hope you did too!