Obviously the long-anticipated sequel to my favourite game of all time is going to top my list. It's been sixteen years since Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines released as a buggy, nigh-on unplayable mess, but with a world so immersive and characters and story-lines so compelling we all fell in love regardless. Fair to say that not a year has gone by since when I didn't at least glance in at V:TMB at some point (despite never having managed to finish the last quarter of the fucking thing); and with the dev team behind Bloodlines 2 working hard to avert the technical issues that plagued the first game, it might finally provide that pay-off that has been denied to so many of us for so long. Details beyond the basic premise of the game are still thin on the ground, but it looks pleasingly like a mix between a low-key remake and a straight follow-up: like the first game, once again you're cast as a naive newcomer to the World of Darkness, embraced without your consent and suddenly thrown into a vampiric society you had no knowledge of the night before. This time, though, you're a Thin Blood: a clanless, low-generation vampire who can only gain strength and status by consuming the blood of their elders. Set in Seattle rather than Los Angeles like the first game, a lot of the concept art makes the set pieces look suspiciously similar, suggesting to me that we're going to see a lot of re-worked story-lines while still remaining in-universe with the first game (a la the TV show sequels to movies like Fargo and What We Do In The Shadows). Cameos by characters from the older games, original tabletop source-books, and expanded universe novels are high on my wish-list. I'm also looking forward to finally having a fully-fledged character creator in a VTM video game.
- Release date: Originally announced for March 2020, but pushed back to an unspecified date later in the year to allow for more testing time (a smart move considering the pitfalls of the first game). Personally, I'm torn between wanting it as soon as it can possibly be ready, and hoping that it comes out just in time for my birthday in early September.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
The Dark Pictures Anthology kicked off last August with Man of Medan: the first in a series of stand-alone short horror games (all episodes sold separately, of course) that's set to be five, six, or eight games long, depending on who and when you ask. Originally, developers Supermassive anticipated releasing two episodes in 2019 and sticking to that twice-yearly schedule thereafter; obviously, that didn't quite happen, and with no release date more specific than "2020" for Little Hope it remains to be seen whether they're going to have to adopt a less ambitious plan to drop one title annually. Nevertheless, Man of Medan ended up being low-key one of my favourite games of 2019: while not initially as much of a revelation as Until Dawn (the game whose success The Dark Pictures Anthology is clearly designed to capitalise on), Man of Medan's shorter run-time and more dynamically branching story-line actually made for a more compulsively re-playable experience. Plot details are thin on the ground, though the setting (Salem, Massachusetts), the central horror trope that's bound to be subverted at some point (witches!), and the recognisable actor whose likeness has been captured this time around (Will Poulter) are all revealed in the teasers from Man of Medan. As the second entry, Little Hope has a lot riding on it: not least for me because so many of the loose plot threads from the first game still have time to be revealed as part of a master-plan, linking all the games in the apparently unconnected "anthology" together, which would have a pleasing American Horror Story vibe to it if it's done well. Rumour has it that there will be five playable characters in every Dark Pictures game: Will Poulter seems like a sure inclusion, and we might be about to see Supermassive's first older protagonist in the form of Angela, the other non-spooky character from the trailer. Or maybe she dies straight away to make way for yet another roster of bright young things. Either way works for me, to be honest: it would be nice to have a bit of diversity among the characters if there really are going to be six or seven more of these things (and even Man of Medan's Fliss, allegedly thirty-five years of age, didn't look or act a day older than her grad-school-aged companions); but if the game isn't populated entirely by sexy teens, is it even really a horror movie experience any more?
The Dark Pictures Anthology kicked off last August with Man of Medan: the first in a series of stand-alone short horror games (all episodes sold separately, of course) that's set to be five, six, or eight games long, depending on who and when you ask. Originally, developers Supermassive anticipated releasing two episodes in 2019 and sticking to that twice-yearly schedule thereafter; obviously, that didn't quite happen, and with no release date more specific than "2020" for Little Hope it remains to be seen whether they're going to have to adopt a less ambitious plan to drop one title annually. Nevertheless, Man of Medan ended up being low-key one of my favourite games of 2019: while not initially as much of a revelation as Until Dawn (the game whose success The Dark Pictures Anthology is clearly designed to capitalise on), Man of Medan's shorter run-time and more dynamically branching story-line actually made for a more compulsively re-playable experience. Plot details are thin on the ground, though the setting (Salem, Massachusetts), the central horror trope that's bound to be subverted at some point (witches!), and the recognisable actor whose likeness has been captured this time around (Will Poulter) are all revealed in the teasers from Man of Medan. As the second entry, Little Hope has a lot riding on it: not least for me because so many of the loose plot threads from the first game still have time to be revealed as part of a master-plan, linking all the games in the apparently unconnected "anthology" together, which would have a pleasing American Horror Story vibe to it if it's done well. Rumour has it that there will be five playable characters in every Dark Pictures game: Will Poulter seems like a sure inclusion, and we might be about to see Supermassive's first older protagonist in the form of Angela, the other non-spooky character from the trailer. Or maybe she dies straight away to make way for yet another roster of bright young things. Either way works for me, to be honest: it would be nice to have a bit of diversity among the characters if there really are going to be six or seven more of these things (and even Man of Medan's Fliss, allegedly thirty-five years of age, didn't look or act a day older than her grad-school-aged companions); but if the game isn't populated entirely by sexy teens, is it even really a horror movie experience any more?
- Release date: "2020" is all we've been told so far. First half would be nice if they want to get two episodes out before the end of the year, but Supermassive said that last year too and Man of Medan still released at the end of August.
Tell Me Why
After shipping the fifth and final episode in the sixteen-month-long Life is Strange 2 episodic schedule in early December, developers DONTNOD were almost immediately back in the game, with another new release announced for 2020. Tell Me Why will be a three-episode mini-arc in the style of Life is Strange: Before the Storm (which wasn't technically a DONTNOD game, but was an official tie-in to their biggest franchise), and looks set to share many of the same themes. It's got a preset-day, small-town American setting (Alaska instead of Oregon this time); young people with superpowers (twin protagonists Alyson and Tyler can perform some kind of mind meld to share memories); and at least one LGBT+ character (Tyler is being heralded as the first playable trans character from a major video game developer, a fact which is probably responsible for 95% of all press attention the game has received so far). Otherwise, the vibe is strongly reminiscent of Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch: Tyler and Alyson return home after a long absence (implied to be drawn back somewhat unwillingly following the death or illness of their mother) and encounter each other for the first time in a while. Returning to the place where they grew up causes them to re-evaluate old memories, many of them less than happy ones - but, thanks to their ability to literally share their perspectives on the past with one another, it becomes apparent that they don't quite recall things the same way.
After shipping the fifth and final episode in the sixteen-month-long Life is Strange 2 episodic schedule in early December, developers DONTNOD were almost immediately back in the game, with another new release announced for 2020. Tell Me Why will be a three-episode mini-arc in the style of Life is Strange: Before the Storm (which wasn't technically a DONTNOD game, but was an official tie-in to their biggest franchise), and looks set to share many of the same themes. It's got a preset-day, small-town American setting (Alaska instead of Oregon this time); young people with superpowers (twin protagonists Alyson and Tyler can perform some kind of mind meld to share memories); and at least one LGBT+ character (Tyler is being heralded as the first playable trans character from a major video game developer, a fact which is probably responsible for 95% of all press attention the game has received so far). Otherwise, the vibe is strongly reminiscent of Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch: Tyler and Alyson return home after a long absence (implied to be drawn back somewhat unwillingly following the death or illness of their mother) and encounter each other for the first time in a while. Returning to the place where they grew up causes them to re-evaluate old memories, many of them less than happy ones - but, thanks to their ability to literally share their perspectives on the past with one another, it becomes apparent that they don't quite recall things the same way.
- Release date: All three episodes are currently expected to release in mid-2020.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood
It's a good time to be a video gaming Vampire: The Masquerade fan: with visual novel Coteries of New York released recently in December 2019; the long-awaited V:TM-B2 (see above) due in 2020; and an RPG-lite adventure game by the makers of The Council, entitled Swan Song, slated for 2021. (There are also at least three VTM mobile games in various vague stages of development.) If that wasn't enough to sate your cravings for video games set in the World of Darkness milieu for at least three years — or if vampires aren't quite your cup of tea — then there's excellent news in the form of Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood. Gamers familiar with the original tabletop incarnation of the World of Darkness might recall that it's not actually all about vampires, despite their domination of the franchise's best-known output; but this will be only the third time another branch of the story has seen the light of day in video game form. (A Hunter: The Reckoning trilogy so obscure even I'd never heard of it until just now dropped in 2002-2003 - annoyingly as exclusives on different platforms nearly every time - while a Mage: The Ascension visual novel got bundled in with an obscure VTM title in 2017). This also marks the fourth attempt to bring Werewolf: The Apocalypse to life in a video game, with the unlucky first through third unceremoniously cancelled between 1997 and 2005; and though production on Earthblood has not been without its troubles, I'm still very hopeful that it will still see the light of day, and perhaps even soon. It's being developed by Cyanide, the studio behind 2018's Call of Cthulhu and who also had a hand in the aforementioned The Council, which gives it some good pedigree (pun intended) as a tabletop-to-video game RPG. So far not much is known about the details, except that the game takes place in Ireland (quite a rare and interesting setting for a video game); stars a protagonist who returns to the werewolf clan that exiled him to learn more about the recent death of his son; and will feature themes of ecology and pollution, and a system which rewards the player for helping restore and keep the balance of the natural world. Intriguing stuff which I sincerely hope I can tear myself away from Bloodlines 2 long enough to enjoy.
- Release date: Q2/Q3 2020.
Cyberpunk 2077
I covered this one in last year's list, and other than having my over-confident assertion that it might come out in time for 2020 being shot down in flames, my assertions back then still stand. Compared to Vampire: The Masquerade and even Werewolf: The Apocalypse I know very little about the Cyberpunk 2020 setting the game will be drawing from, but I'm very excited to find out.
Honorable mentions
The folks at DONTNOD have got a busy year ahead of them: fresh off the back of Life is Strange 2, they've got two non-franchise releases in a similar genre and storytelling vein planned for 2020: the above-mentioned Tell Me Why and Twin Mirror, a slice of Twin Peaks inspired weirdness that looks like the oddest bits of Life is Strange mashed up with a (hopefully) less janky Deadly Premonition. It was a tough call which game to put in my Top 5, honestly, and Twin Mirror definitely takes the notional #6 slot on this list.
Of course, Twin Mirror was originally planned for release in 2019, just like Ghosts of Tsushima (like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but in 13th century Japan rather than 13th century Bohemia), Journey to the Savage Planet (like No Man's Sky meets Slime Rancher), and Boyfriend Dungeon (like Monster Prom meets a dungeon crawl), all three of which I'll be keeping an eye on in the hopes that they, too, will actually come out this year.
This looks to be a good year for video game remakes (the only remakes that are really worthwhile, in my opinion). Resident Evil 3 was originally set to launch on my RE-fan partner's birthday in March, but has since been pushed back a few weeks, though a 2020 release still seems assured even if I have to think of another gift now (thanks for nothing, Capcom). As someone who missed out on Half Life the first time around and has never yet got around to playing a Final Fantasy game, I'm pretty excited for both the Final Fantasy VII remake (finally I'll understand the big deal about Aeris!) and Black Mesa: Xen (like Portal but with fewer jokes?).
Like all sensible people I'm a fan of the PS4-exclusive Spider-Man game that came out in 2018; so despite popular misgivings I'm quite intrigued by the Avengers game that's set to be following in Spidey's footsteps on all major platforms come the 15th of May. Aside from the fact that the Avengers seem to be played by secondary actors from the MCU (I can't be the only person to notice that Black Widow looks weirdly like Cobie Smulders in an ill-fitting red wig...?), the aesthetic is pleasingly similar and the game-play looks pretty cool. Movie fans left saddened by Endgame's terminal resolution for a number of popular characters will surely be pleased to see the original gang back together again (minus Hawkeye, but, eh...), and since I've literally never stopped playing the trilogy of LEGO Marvel games since the first one came out in 2013, this one should fit nicely into my collection.
Of course, to make my year complete I need some arty shit, and it looks like it won't be getting any artier in 2020 than Haven and Dreadful Bond. Haven is a "romantic RPG" that tells the story of two lovers who have escaped persecution on their home planet, and are now living the dream of starting a new life in a beautiful wilderness with only your chosen beau for company. The realities of that isolation will not be shied away from, nor will the practical limitations of cutting yourself off from the infrastructure of even a flawed society: sounds like an exploration-based punch in the feels, in similar style to last year's excellent Heaven's Vault, which I'm obviously all in for. Dreadful Bond, meanwhile, is a black-and-white, cinematic horror game from the brain of arty horror auteur Dario Argento, which is all I need to know to be pretty fucking excited for whatever it turns out to be.
I covered this one in last year's list, and other than having my over-confident assertion that it might come out in time for 2020 being shot down in flames, my assertions back then still stand. Compared to Vampire: The Masquerade and even Werewolf: The Apocalypse I know very little about the Cyberpunk 2020 setting the game will be drawing from, but I'm very excited to find out.
- Release date: March 2020.
Honorable mentions
The folks at DONTNOD have got a busy year ahead of them: fresh off the back of Life is Strange 2, they've got two non-franchise releases in a similar genre and storytelling vein planned for 2020: the above-mentioned Tell Me Why and Twin Mirror, a slice of Twin Peaks inspired weirdness that looks like the oddest bits of Life is Strange mashed up with a (hopefully) less janky Deadly Premonition. It was a tough call which game to put in my Top 5, honestly, and Twin Mirror definitely takes the notional #6 slot on this list.
Of course, Twin Mirror was originally planned for release in 2019, just like Ghosts of Tsushima (like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but in 13th century Japan rather than 13th century Bohemia), Journey to the Savage Planet (like No Man's Sky meets Slime Rancher), and Boyfriend Dungeon (like Monster Prom meets a dungeon crawl), all three of which I'll be keeping an eye on in the hopes that they, too, will actually come out this year.
This looks to be a good year for video game remakes (the only remakes that are really worthwhile, in my opinion). Resident Evil 3 was originally set to launch on my RE-fan partner's birthday in March, but has since been pushed back a few weeks, though a 2020 release still seems assured even if I have to think of another gift now (thanks for nothing, Capcom). As someone who missed out on Half Life the first time around and has never yet got around to playing a Final Fantasy game, I'm pretty excited for both the Final Fantasy VII remake (finally I'll understand the big deal about Aeris!) and Black Mesa: Xen (like Portal but with fewer jokes?).
Like all sensible people I'm a fan of the PS4-exclusive Spider-Man game that came out in 2018; so despite popular misgivings I'm quite intrigued by the Avengers game that's set to be following in Spidey's footsteps on all major platforms come the 15th of May. Aside from the fact that the Avengers seem to be played by secondary actors from the MCU (I can't be the only person to notice that Black Widow looks weirdly like Cobie Smulders in an ill-fitting red wig...?), the aesthetic is pleasingly similar and the game-play looks pretty cool. Movie fans left saddened by Endgame's terminal resolution for a number of popular characters will surely be pleased to see the original gang back together again (minus Hawkeye, but, eh...), and since I've literally never stopped playing the trilogy of LEGO Marvel games since the first one came out in 2013, this one should fit nicely into my collection.
Of course, to make my year complete I need some arty shit, and it looks like it won't be getting any artier in 2020 than Haven and Dreadful Bond. Haven is a "romantic RPG" that tells the story of two lovers who have escaped persecution on their home planet, and are now living the dream of starting a new life in a beautiful wilderness with only your chosen beau for company. The realities of that isolation will not be shied away from, nor will the practical limitations of cutting yourself off from the infrastructure of even a flawed society: sounds like an exploration-based punch in the feels, in similar style to last year's excellent Heaven's Vault, which I'm obviously all in for. Dreadful Bond, meanwhile, is a black-and-white, cinematic horror game from the brain of arty horror auteur Dario Argento, which is all I need to know to be pretty fucking excited for whatever it turns out to be.
