I like to plan my game-buying in advance. While I'm financially comfortable, my games budget is limited and I usually try to space out my game purchases and try to keep under a certain amount every month. I basically always fail and buy more games than I plan to, but without this level of planning and budgeting my game buying would be (even more) out of control. Also, blogging about my game-buying and game-playing plans motivates me to stick to those plans, and I really need to be more consistent with this blog. Long story short (too late) I'm going to write about what games I might buy in 2020.
I'm writing about thirteen games in four categories: 2020 remakes, because I'm interested in a shocking number of upcoming remakes (more than the three I list below!); 2020 JRPGs, because of course I'll want to buy video games of my favorite genre; Old Games, in which I specifically mean games from 2018 or 2019 that I will search for sales on in 2020; and Unplanned Purchases, where I'll try to predict some shit that I *kinda* want to buy, but kinda don't, and probably will anyway. Each of those four categories has three entries listed below, plus a thirteenth game which defies categorization. So here goes:
2020 Remake # 1
My first guaranteed purchase of the year, TMS Encore launches in January. Tokyo Mirage Sessions was one of my most-wanted Wii U games basically since its initial release. I own a Switch and never bought a Wii-U, so this remake is definitely something I wanted. An Atlus RPG with Fire Emblem imagery and Persona influence with a bent towards Japanese pop music? Sure. I'm down. TMS also comes highly recommended to me from friends, helping its case a little.
2020 Remake # 2
Final Fantasy VII Remake Part I
I wasn't 100% sold on the Final Fantasy VII remake in the marketing following its initial announcement... until I played the demo for myself last June. It was breathtaking. The action-oriented combat was fast and fun, and the character differences made them feel unique in a way that was not true of the PS1 version (although I only got to play with Cloud and Barret). The game also looks gorgeous and sounds amazing. I wasn't 100% sold at the start of 2019, but by 2020 the Final Fantasy VII Remake became a must-play game.
2020 Remake # 3
Trials of Mana
Trials of Mana shocked me twice in 2019: first with the announcement of an official English-language version after 24 years of nothing, and second with the announcement of a 2020 remake to be released worldwide. Trials of Mana (formerly Seiken Densetsu III) is one of my favorite games of all time and I replayed it on the new Switch port twice in 2019. Very excited to try a beautiful, fancy new 3D version of Trials of Mana this year, and I'm grateful to have a full three months to decide which three heroes I'm choosing for my first run.
2020 JRPG # 1
Bravely Default 2
I adore Bravely Default and Bravely Second, especially for its Final Fantasy III-and-V-inspired job system. There's also Bravely series' delightful retro aesthetic, battle system full of cool gimmicks, and subversive story ideas. Bravely Default 2 (the third Bravely game, which is a little confusing) is sure to be more of all those things, plus they're bringing back Revo and Linked Horizon to compose the soundtrack. All of this is extremely exciting, and if BD2 holds to its promised 2020 release date I am 100% buying it day-one.
Tales of Arise
I love the setting, characters, music, and combat in Ys a whole, whole lot. Ys Seven and Ys VIII are two of my favorite games for the PSP and Vita respectively, and I haven't been disappointed by an Ys game I've tried... other than maybe Ys VI? It's hard to say; I only became an Ys fan recently, but I'm definitely excited for more Ys soon. But how soon? Impossible to tell, since Falcom is sometimes slow with localization for its popular Ys and Trails games, but this 2019 Japanese release could get a 2020 drop worldwide, and if that's the case I'll be in line to pick it up.
Old Game # 1
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I've been a Fire Emblem fan since its first North American release, the GBA game Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (the seventh FE title, localized as just "Fire Emblem" in NA). Since then, I've tried almost every game released since with mixed results (loved Path of Radiance and Awakening, hated Fates and Shadow Dragon, thought the rest were at least OK). Fire Emblem: Three Houses by word of mouth appears to be one of the good ones, and if I see it for a discount in 2020 I'll happily give it a shot. This feels like a "buy in 2020 but put on the 2021 targets list" kind of game.
I really enjoyed playing Trails of Cold Steel I last summer, and put Trails of Cold Steel II (which I already own) on my list of 2020 target games to play. There is a healthy chance that I'll really like Cold Steel II and will want to move on to Cold Steel III, and this entry on the list is in anticipation of that. It also helps that this game has an excellent reputation and was RPGFan's runner-up for RPG of the Year in 2019. I'll have my eye out for a price drop, and might not wait for one if I beat Cold Steel II a little early and get desperate to play the next one.
I was pretty surprised when A) they released a new interpretation of Tetris in 2018; and B) it was one of the most popular, well-reviewed games of the year. I don't own any VR headset and won't be able to take advantage of that side of Tetris Effect, but a beautifully-produced innovative new Tetris experience with incredible audio and visuals? That sounds like a game I definitely want. And may get later this year. (It's on sale on PSN literally right now but I'm going to hold back for the time being).
Unplanned # 1
The video game system I have the most enthusiasm to play things on is definitely the Nintendo Switch, and I can guarantee that there will come a time where I feel like playing a new Switch game and either make an impulse purchase or take advantage of an eShop sale. There's also the very real possibility that I raid the used DS, 3DS, or Wii games at a local shop. Basically my Nintendo love is very strong and my wallet will suffer the consequences.
Steam sales are perhaps the top contributor to my horror story of a backlog over the past 15 years. I can't predict what games or sales or games-on-sale will catch my eye on Steam in 2020, but I'm pretty sure that number is greater than zero. Especially since the past three or four years of Steam have seen an increase in JRPG ports, being my favorite genre. Western RPGs aren't my favorite genre, but 2019 standout Disco Elysium (shown above) is another one that's on my wishlist. If I see it below a certain price threshold... then my wallet will take that L.
Unlike the eleven preceding entries, the above game is a game I already own; I'm just using it as an example. When A.I. launched in September 2019, it took me by surprise. I knew that Uchikoshi was working on a game, but I somehow completely escaped the news of its 2019 release in English, and was floored. Especially since it had great reviews! I ended up buying and completing A.I. over a few weeks in December, and it was one of my overall favorites of the year. And in 2020, I'm sure there will be something I completely forget, miss, or don't see coming at all, only to be compelled to pick it up and play it. And if it's as good as A.I. was, I won't regret it.
I will almost certainly re-subscribe to FF XIV in 2020 (thinking maybe March or April?) and I should probably budget ahead for that. I played through the first 40-50% of Shadowbringers in 2019, and I'm so thirsty to return that I literally have two Final Fantasy XIV blog posts in draft stages right now. Probably throw about 6 months of time in, focusing on beating the Shadowbringers main story and clearing as much dungeon, trial, and raid content as I can (which includes Extremes, probably not Savages, definitely not Ultimates). Damn. But I want to finish Nier: Automata and Tokyo Mirage Sessions before getting too deep into FF XIV again. So I shall wait.
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There are three games, specifically three remakes, that are not on the list above for the same reasons:
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age S
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
Persona 5: The Royal
Persona 5R comes out in March 2020, Xenoblade DE comes out later in 2020, and Dragon Quest XI-S dropped in September of 2019. These are three of my favorite games of the past 10 years. However, they're also all 100+ hours of gameplay each, and I played them recently enough that I'm not going to go out of my way to replay them soon. I will probably (almost definitely) get these three games eventually, but hopefully not soon. I'll try and hold off my buying impulses and wait for price drops on all three.
I *wish* I could curb my game-buying and only buy the first four or five games in the above list in 2020, but I know that won't happen. I'm not guaranteeing all of these will happen either, because I don't have my heart set on really anything other than... really the first four games on the list. I'm not even counting impulse PS4 purchases, because I couldn't think of any quick candidates there. Whatever. I know I'll spend more money that I planned to on video games in 2020, but this list hopefully lets me space the ideas out a little and maybe scares me into buying less than in years past. Woo. Capitalism.
Good post man. it seems we have similar taste in games. my take for 2020 its preety much the same except for disco elysium and Trials of mana. I never played the original sieken densetsu III and i am waiting for trials to drop in price to try it. Keep up the great work.
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