Here's the continuation of another one of my blogging traditions, in which I pledge to spend no greater than X dollars on games in a given year, after lamenting on how I failed to follow my spending goals of the previous year.
I won't belabor the point: my goal last year was to spend around $300 on games, absolutely no higher than $330. I ended up spending more than double that. My 2015 spending was about the same as 2014 and significantly less than 2013, but still way too goddamn much. I shafted myself by buying a PlayStation Vita (and several games) and re-investing heavily into Blizzard by spending significant dough on Heroes of the Storm. My spending goals this year are going to be... a little higher, but hopefully more realistic. Still want to lower my spending overall. Here are the specific games I'm getting, plus a non-specific buffer tagged on to the end:
- Persona 5, if it launches in North America in 2016
Persona 5 has been my most-anticipated game ever since we saw a brief teaser in late 2013. I've loved every Persona game I've played other than the original, which works out to something like 7 out of 8. Those numbers are great. It's no guarantee that P5 comes out in English in 2016 (coming out in August in Japan, unconfirmed elsewhere), but if it does I'm jumping on it fast. Est. cost: $80
- Bravely Second
Like Persona 5, Bravely Second is a game I *thought* might come out in English in 2015, but was wrong. Unlike Persona 5, Bravely Second is definitely arriving in 2016! I absolutely adored Bravely Default and played through all of it (in spite of its incredibly weak second act) and I'm really excited about its sequel. Est. cost: $50
- Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
I'm worried I'm buying this game too early, since I still haven't finished Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. STILL, this is a Mario RPG (I love every Mario RPG I've ever played) and its concept of combining the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi universes is hilarious and downright inspired. I might quickly mainline Dream Team just to get it out of the way for Paper Jam. Est. cost: $40
- Fire Emblem: Fates
I rarely play Fire Emblem games right when they come out (I think I did that for Sacred Stones and that's it), but Fire Emblem: Awakening breathed so much new life into the franchise that the series has hit peak worldwide popularly and my personal Fire Emblem hype is at its career maximum. I've followed the hype cycle for Fire Emblem If/Fates since we got our first trailers, and I'm nabbing that special edition on day one. Est. cost: $80
- Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past
The fourth 3DS RPG I'm picking up in 2016 (!!!), Dragon Quest VII has been a long time coming. Releasing in Japan in early 2013, North America is getting it about 3 years late, but that's better than never. DQ VII is the only numbered Dragon Quest I haven't beaten, and I'm excited to finally play it! Hopefully the rumors are true that it speeds up the PS1 version's glacial pace in the early-game. Est. cost: $50
- Tokyo Xanadu, if it launches in North America in 2016
This is the second of three pipe dreams in this list, but Tokyo Xanadu is a less-likely 2016 game than Persona 5; Falcom games are much more niche than the Persona RPG juggernaut and TX came out quite recently in Japan, in September earlier this year. Still, if an English-language localization studio (let's be honest, it would be XSEED) brings this over in 2016, I'mma be first in line to pre-order it. Est. cost: $40
- Zero Time Dilemma, if it launches in North America in 2016
Virtue's Last Reward blew me away when I played it over the summer - it was better than its predecessor, 999, and one of the best visual novel / puzzle games I've ever played. Zero Time Dilemma, the finale of the Zero Escape Trilogy, had a troubled development history (mostly because it was hard to secure funds for it) but it's finally happening, with a tentative 2016 release date. Regardless of the accuracy of that release date, I'll want to play it ASAP. Est. cost: $40
- Something in a Steam sale, PSN sale, or Black Friday sale
Just a few bucks to pad out this list and to acknowledge the very likely possibility that I pull the trigger on a sale sometime this year. I really, REALLY hope I don't go overboard. Est. cost: $20
2015 GRAND TOTAL: $400
I need to stop buying games on whims and going spending-crazy when I discover a new, fascinating thing. My major hopes this year are that I buy fewer games on impulse and avoiding throwing more money at Blizzard. I've spent $80 on Heroes of the Storm items, and I need to try and make that $0 this year. Hopefully that 2015 $80 investment is enough to cool my jets. Also, I should NOT buy a new console in 2016. Waiting until 2017 for a PS4 or Wii U is definitely in my best financial interests. Anyhow, the above total amounts to $400, and could be less than that if a few games on the list don't land in 2016. Keeping a hard limit of, say, $419. That's just under 5% of my goal. I think I can manage that.
-That's all, folks!
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It's only a few days until Christmas, but I probably won't do any more game-buying for the rest of the year, other than a shopping trip with David where we buy games for each other at our own direction (really). I already have a copy of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel pre-paid, which I'm picking up in a few days. But that's it! Gotta keep those purse strings a little tighter in 2016.
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