Aspyr censored the Tomb Raider 1-3 and put a stupid trigger warning on it. They will do the same here.
The Yakuza series has also been compromised. The producer Masayoshi Yokoyama admitted to consulting Western localisers on what's acceptable to put in the game.
Then there's Crapcom. They are one of the most DEI friendly companies having multiple of those initiatives in their games. There have been red flags for this Monster Hunter like the weird character designs and the removal of gendered armour and sex selection for your hunter.
Not only is the Series Trash for being boring(you Progression is tied to what you defeat, so there is no point in playing once you get the Best Gear.), but also the one Blonde Chick everyone is Gushing Over has a Feminist Haircut with part of it shaved off.
I also don't trust Crapcom after they ruined the RE4 Remake with Censorship and bad Writing.
I have been finding out lately that whilst AAA (and AA) keep disappointing me, so many nice free games surprise me positively. I usually find them in the Steam discovery queue.
Some examples... by genre:
Brawler: Arisen Force: Life Devotee
Heist FPS: Constantine Scores
Walking simulator: Estranged The Departure
Soulslike: blood spear
Top down action: inking
Vampire Survivor clone: autopanic zero
Movement FPS: Paperhead ep.0
Space invaders clone: 1982
HL2 mod: Transmissions: Element 120, Evacuation, Entropy: zero 2
Retro FPS: Cryptis and Harbinger (same dev)
Retro-style arcade: oil strike 75
Top-down Bullet hell: bloody hell
Rhythm game: quaver
You can also try perplexity (or grok) and ask which are cheap or free games well reviewed on Steam for your preferred genre, games' mods, etc.
Once you start playing this kind of games, the Steam daily discovery queue shows you the most popular or best reviewed games of this kind. I have been finding some absolute gems in this way.
I don't quite understand the need of buying the games that just came out.
Just last year, only on Steam, 19k games have been released. One can't possibly have played all the good ones... you spend less, find less bugs, and have much more choice in this way.
Honestly, this is an excellent list of games. Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is a game I will purchase when we get a physical release--same with Legacy of Kain--as I did with the first Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. Godzilla Voxel Wars looks like a cute little Godzilla game, so I might keep my eye on that one. Yakuza Pirate looks phenomenal and like a ton of fun, but I have never played a Yakuza game, so it will most likely be something I pick up wayyyyyy down the line. Finally, Monster Hunter Wilds is not a game I am interested in. I have tried Monster Hunter several times, and I honestly just don't understand the appeal.
Outside of maybe buying the Premium Edition of Age of Mythologies: Retold at the end of the month (it's coming to PS :)), I don't plan on buying any new game this month—nothing interesting as usual for February. At least I turn 22, I guess. On the other hand, some of the games coming out in the next few months have caught my attention, so I thought I'd quickly mention a few of them:
First, we have "The First Berserker: Khazan," which releases on March 27th. This is a soulslike game that is heavy on parrying and very fast-paced, with brutal enemies and boss fights. It has a ton of customization, so you can choose how you want to play. Just get ready to get your butt kicked by everything. This game has a steep learning curve, so be prepared to learn or die trying. You play as Khazan, a famous general sentenced to the most brutal and agonizing execution possible because of his supposed betrayal. It's your job to get to the bottom and find out what is going on; the demo gives you a small taste of what to expect and what a sweet taste it is.
Second, we have "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33," which releases on April 24th. Expedition 33 is an RPG that is supposed to echo RPGs like Legends of Dragoon, the Mana games, and other games that give you more of an active role in the battles, outside of the minimal interactivity you get in Turn-Based RPGs. It's supposed to be an incredibly dark story where your only goal is to kill the paintress so she can never paint again. It looks like an epic RPG adventure that will pull you in and make you care about the characters, and as far as you can tell, there is nothing woke about it, but we'll see. I am pretty excited about this one.
Thirdly, we have "Metroid Prime 4: Beyond," the long-awaited and troubled sequel to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which is finally coming out this year. Not much is known about it, but it looks amazing from the little we've seen, and I look forward to learning more about it. Retro Studios is cooking.
Fourthly, we have "Ninja Gaiden 4," a surprise announcement at the XBOX Developer Direct, and with both Team Ninja and PlatinumGames cooking, it looks like it could be a fast-paced, difficult, and violent action game, and the gameplay we were shown piqued my interest. Looking forward to it.
Finally, we have Doom: The Dark Ages, and I don't think I need to elaborate on that one.
On top of all those, I am pretty excited for Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle now that they are coming to PS. Then we got some promising indie games like Mouse, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and Tron: Catalyst. Nintendo will probably have a lot of good stuff on the horizon with Switch 2, and there will be more games announced in general that I don't know about. This is all I can think of off the top of my head. It looks to be an auspicious year.
3 of those are on my blacklist.
Aspyr censored the Tomb Raider 1-3 and put a stupid trigger warning on it. They will do the same here.
The Yakuza series has also been compromised. The producer Masayoshi Yokoyama admitted to consulting Western localisers on what's acceptable to put in the game.
Then there's Crapcom. They are one of the most DEI friendly companies having multiple of those initiatives in their games. There have been red flags for this Monster Hunter like the weird character designs and the removal of gendered armour and sex selection for your hunter.
An absolute NO to Monster Hunter Wilds dude.
Not only is the Series Trash for being boring(you Progression is tied to what you defeat, so there is no point in playing once you get the Best Gear.), but also the one Blonde Chick everyone is Gushing Over has a Feminist Haircut with part of it shaved off.
I also don't trust Crapcom after they ruined the RE4 Remake with Censorship and bad Writing.
Hard pass........
W yorch
Not keen on any of these for various reasons.
I have been finding out lately that whilst AAA (and AA) keep disappointing me, so many nice free games surprise me positively. I usually find them in the Steam discovery queue.
Some examples... by genre:
Brawler: Arisen Force: Life Devotee
Heist FPS: Constantine Scores
Walking simulator: Estranged The Departure
Soulslike: blood spear
Top down action: inking
Vampire Survivor clone: autopanic zero
Movement FPS: Paperhead ep.0
Space invaders clone: 1982
HL2 mod: Transmissions: Element 120, Evacuation, Entropy: zero 2
Retro FPS: Cryptis and Harbinger (same dev)
Retro-style arcade: oil strike 75
Top-down Bullet hell: bloody hell
Rhythm game: quaver
You can also try perplexity (or grok) and ask which are cheap or free games well reviewed on Steam for your preferred genre, games' mods, etc.
Once you start playing this kind of games, the Steam daily discovery queue shows you the most popular or best reviewed games of this kind. I have been finding some absolute gems in this way.
I don't quite understand the need of buying the games that just came out.
Just last year, only on Steam, 19k games have been released. One can't possibly have played all the good ones... you spend less, find less bugs, and have much more choice in this way.
Honestly, this is an excellent list of games. Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is a game I will purchase when we get a physical release--same with Legacy of Kain--as I did with the first Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. Godzilla Voxel Wars looks like a cute little Godzilla game, so I might keep my eye on that one. Yakuza Pirate looks phenomenal and like a ton of fun, but I have never played a Yakuza game, so it will most likely be something I pick up wayyyyyy down the line. Finally, Monster Hunter Wilds is not a game I am interested in. I have tried Monster Hunter several times, and I honestly just don't understand the appeal.
Outside of maybe buying the Premium Edition of Age of Mythologies: Retold at the end of the month (it's coming to PS :)), I don't plan on buying any new game this month—nothing interesting as usual for February. At least I turn 22, I guess. On the other hand, some of the games coming out in the next few months have caught my attention, so I thought I'd quickly mention a few of them:
First, we have "The First Berserker: Khazan," which releases on March 27th. This is a soulslike game that is heavy on parrying and very fast-paced, with brutal enemies and boss fights. It has a ton of customization, so you can choose how you want to play. Just get ready to get your butt kicked by everything. This game has a steep learning curve, so be prepared to learn or die trying. You play as Khazan, a famous general sentenced to the most brutal and agonizing execution possible because of his supposed betrayal. It's your job to get to the bottom and find out what is going on; the demo gives you a small taste of what to expect and what a sweet taste it is.
Second, we have "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33," which releases on April 24th. Expedition 33 is an RPG that is supposed to echo RPGs like Legends of Dragoon, the Mana games, and other games that give you more of an active role in the battles, outside of the minimal interactivity you get in Turn-Based RPGs. It's supposed to be an incredibly dark story where your only goal is to kill the paintress so she can never paint again. It looks like an epic RPG adventure that will pull you in and make you care about the characters, and as far as you can tell, there is nothing woke about it, but we'll see. I am pretty excited about this one.
Thirdly, we have "Metroid Prime 4: Beyond," the long-awaited and troubled sequel to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which is finally coming out this year. Not much is known about it, but it looks amazing from the little we've seen, and I look forward to learning more about it. Retro Studios is cooking.
Fourthly, we have "Ninja Gaiden 4," a surprise announcement at the XBOX Developer Direct, and with both Team Ninja and PlatinumGames cooking, it looks like it could be a fast-paced, difficult, and violent action game, and the gameplay we were shown piqued my interest. Looking forward to it.
Finally, we have Doom: The Dark Ages, and I don't think I need to elaborate on that one.
On top of all those, I am pretty excited for Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle now that they are coming to PS. Then we got some promising indie games like Mouse, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and Tron: Catalyst. Nintendo will probably have a lot of good stuff on the horizon with Switch 2, and there will be more games announced in general that I don't know about. This is all I can think of off the top of my head. It looks to be an auspicious year.