The 16 for 2016 Part 3

So, we hit Part 3 of 4 of the 16 games that we’re looking forwards to in 2016. We have FF XV, No Man’s Sky, the OTHER new Tom Clancy video game, and the game that has reduced me to a drooling fanboy.

Final Fantasy XV (Undisclosed 2016). Depending on when this game is released, we’ll be in our second decade of waiting for this game (It was announced as Final Fantasy Versus XIII in 2006). There has been more stops and starts in this game’s history then just about any other game I can remember, except maybe Duke Nukem Forever. So why do I think this will be a hit? Well, the teaser of gameplay they put out earlier this year “Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae” was pretty well received. They are going with a more action based setup for this game (as well as in the just-announced Final Fantasy VII remake).. makes me wonder how much longer the traditional turn based RPG will be traditional.

No Man’s Sky (June 2016). Ok, this is where the cynic in me comes out. No Man’s Sky looks absolutely gorgeous, and the way they mix offline and online play looks wonderful. The game will be using a psuedo random universe seed, so you can share information about the planets you discover with your friends either online, or just by sharing the planets coordinates with friends offline. So why am I not waving my money wildly and screaming take it! Take it!!! Two reasons. One, everyone has gone on and on and on about how beautiful this game is. It reminds me of the hype about The Order: 1886. Two… The game play will determine if we have a winner, and considering this a magnitude higher release then Hello Games has tried before (their previous efforts were the well-received but budget titles in the Joe Danger series), I’m going to hold back but I’m hoping to be proven very wrong.

Tom Clancy’s The Division (March 2016) looks very interesting. Set in a post-apocalyptic New York, this team based shooter has an interesting setup where you can cooperate with other players to recover technical gear and information towards finding a cure for the virus that’s devestated the nation, or you can shoot the other players and take credit for their recoveries. Doing this without being shot at first marks you as rogue agents (the equivalent of being PVP flagged), meaning folks can earn a bounty by shooting YOU. First Person Shooters are not my normal cup of tea, but seeing a game like this that screams out for proper strategic play with voice communication for best efforts really hits something in me.

Cyberpunk 2077 (Undisclosed, aiming for late 2016 release). This is where I have to try to restrain my inner fanboy. A cyberpunk RPG game (one of my personal favorites?) CD Projekt RED, who have made three great Witcher games? And this game is going to be much bigger than all of them? Holy hell, remember up above when I said I wasn’t waving my money and yelling take it for No Man’s Sky? Hell yes, I’m waving my money and yelling Please Take it! There’s a bit of worry here, no game can meet such high expectations, can it? but this non-game play trailer nails the world, the ambience and just.. wow.  I want all of this.