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As a gamer... you are always hopping on one hype train to the next... it's a bit like crypto really! Anyway, jokes aside, there are always games coming down the pipeline that have such amazing and interesting pitches, gamplay or narrative settings. Some of them come from established studios... so you sort of know what to expect... whilst others come from complete dark horse studios that suddenly sweep in with an ambitious title and just clean up... ... however, for every hyped up and much anticipated game that lands... there are quite a few more that just couldn't live up to a gamer's unrealistic expectations.

These days, as a supposed adult... I have much less time to enjoy and savour gaming... but on the plus side, I have a touch more disposable income than when I was a student! So, no need to pirate games and if something really catches my eye, then I have a little bit less of a dilemma about plonking down some money for it. That said, I'm all too conscious of my unplayed backlog of games... and I've pretty much resolved not to buy anything at full launch price for quite some time... plus, Humble Bundle keeps dumping a bunch of awesome games into my account every month!

That said... there are a few games on my radar that I'm really considering for a full priced launch day purchase... I sorely tempted and will have to use all my willpower to resist... but in some cases... I just don't want to resist! I want my HYPE TRAIN ticket! NOW!

Phoenix point

Holy moly... I've been following this game for quite some time.... Phoenix Point is a X-COM re-imagining by the original creator of the hardcore turn-based genre. It looks pretty awesome, with tactical combat taking some much needed detail that was missing in the original and the more recent remakes. Turn based tactical goodness combined with a strategy layer... Anyone who has followed my gaming blogs knows that I am crazy XCOM fan... with the recent XCOM2 being almost the PERFECT game... so, this game is definitely on my list of most anticipated games!

However, will it live up to the hype? They do already have tough competition from XCOM2... and with XCOM3 on the horizon (but not yet announced....), it's going to be tough sell! For me, they've shot themselves in the foot with the Epic Store exclusive... I really am disappointed with that move... so, I doubt that this will be an actual launch day purchase, I'll wait till it hits Steam.

Release Date: December 2019

Cyberpunk 2077

CDPR of Gog and Witcher fame... for me, this studio can't do anything wrong and I doubt that I'm the only hardcore gamer that thinks so highly of this studio. So, when they said that Witcher 3 would be the end of the Geralt storyline... I was as saddened as anyone else. However, there was the announcement of this cyberpunk open world game, cunningly titled CyberPunk 20177...I've always hated a lot of the shortcomings of the GTA series... and this would be the game and the studio to blast this genre to the MOON!

Plus... who doesn't like a cyberpunk setting?

Release Date: April 16, 2020

Outer Worlds

Well... seeing as it took so long for me to write this post... some of most anticipanted games are actually just around the corner! In this case, it is Outer Worlds which is due to launch next week... with the review embargoes lifting on Monday (I think...). This is an Open World RPG set in space with a seemingly quirky sense of humour... a bit Borderlands, but with a better gameplay mechanic (not loot chasing... but RPG instead...).

The developers are Obsidian Entertainment, who have had a long and great track record of developing superb RPGs... from Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, Alpha Protocol and Neverwinter Nights! This is another studio that I have some serious trust in... I've loved most of their games, even those that were supposed to be a bit MEH... well... okay, I found the South Park games bit of a drag... but I think that was the fault of the humour rather than the studio...

Release Date: October 25, 2019

Red dead redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2... one of the few Rockstar games that I REALLY wanted to play... but couldn't because I'm a PC Master racer... with no console (Switch doesn't count!). When I was seeing the release and all the stuff that was possible in the Wild West setting... well, it just sounded like a much better GTA. Like I had mentioned previously, I was a bit disappointing with the GTA series of games... they promised open world, but there were so many locked doors or impassible areas. The whole thing smacked of console limitations...

Anyway, Red Dead Redemption 2 just looked like a much better game... however, I had to just savour the trailers and with the console myself knowledge that the game would never come to PC (just like it's predecessor)... except, Rockstar recently annouced that it was coming to the superior PC gaming platform! I really hope that they manage to wash off all that console stinkiness!

Release Date: November 5, 2019

Humankind

Amplitude Studios are the developers responsible for the Endless series (Legends and Space and spinoffs) of 4X games... they completely rewrote the 4X genre that had existed since Civilization and Masters of Orion.... added a workable RPG element and a bit of narrative to the factions... and BLEW IT OUT OF THE PARK! They really managed to

Now... with Humankind they are coming after the grandfather of all human history based 4X games, Civilization. I think this is long overdue as the Civilization series has stagnated into a pretty predictable formula... with many hardcore Civ fans preferring older versions of the series over the newer flashier numbers... If anyone can put a productive and innovative boot up the arse of this genre... it will definitely be these guys!

Release Date: 2020

Bannerlord

Mount and Blade was a hugely innovative and epic game when it was released... Leading a band of medieval mercenaries across a shifting battleground of kingdoms and bandits... It was a game that I sunk many hours into... however, it was looking a bit clunky when it released, and the graphics has not aged well... plus, there were little things about the gameplay that could have used updating... since then, I've taken to playing Freeman as a pretty cool modern day substitute.

Now, many years later... Bannerlord (aka Mount and Blade 2) is on the horizon... promising to overhaul the game graphically and with new gameplay. This is something that I've been looking forward to for quite some time... TaleWorlds were an unknown studio when they launched with their cult hit Mount and Blade... and now they have many devoted followers... here's hoping that they can launch with a worthy successor!

Release Date: March 2020

Terra Invicta

Pavonis Interactive is the studio that is comprised of the modders who produced the absolutely awesome Long War mods full overhauls for the recent XCOM and XCOM2 games. They completely surpassed the vanilla versions and earned some pretty serious kudos from the developers of the actual games. So much so, that many features were incorporated into updates and expansions.

Now, they are attempting their first game, Terra Invictus which seems to be a bit of a spin off of the XCOM genre. It does currently have a bit of a rough feel to it... but I'm hoping that the gameplay will be solid... the same as what they managed to do with the modding of XCOM. However, this one will definitely be a bit of a gamble... it won't be the first time that well intentioned and talented modders have come together but ended up failing in their vision.

Release Date: Unknown

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Humble Bundle

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Humble Bundle Subscriptions, it's a no brainer for the dedicated gamer!