Dr. S is back and maaaaaaan… looking at the internet I wonder if I shouldn’t leave again straight away. Anyway, welcome to 2018, the year we finally see Shenmue 3, though it sounds unlikely. Wait, good idea, I never know what to write in this things anyway, so why not round up some of the early 2018 releases.

Dragon Ball FighterZ from Arc System Works, well known for their fighting games, is set to release later this month. Visually it’s already impressive and from what I’ve heard, it has the esports scene quite excited.

Monster Hunter: World also drops at the end of the month, but I tried twice into those games and failed just as often, so whatevs.

Early February sees Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which promises a no nonsense medieval RPG. No fantasy elements, a skill based fighting system and a realistic game world. It all sounds good and from what I’ve played so far, it certainly has the potential to be fun, just a shame that the lead dev Daniel Vávra is a bit of a right-wing cunt, void of the slightest sliver of empathy. Still, might be worth checking out.

Metal Gear Survive.

A Way Out, the co-op only prison break game by the fuck the Oscars guy, comes in March. What we’ve seen so far looks cool, so I’m now taking applications for an open friendship position. Requirements: You live in Vienna and know how to handle a gamepad.

Ni no Kuni 2 will also be released in March. I really wanted to like the first one, but I just couldn’t. The world and style was charming to no end, but the JRPG gameplay mechanics killed it for me and given the fact that I recently acquired Persona 5, I doubt I have time for giving Ni no Kuni a second chance.

And finally at the end of March we’ll get to play Far Cry 5. While the setting looks intriguing at least, the gameplay seems to be more of the same. Having never played Primal, I’m cool with that. It’s been a while since 4 and finishing Homefront 2 last year reignited my flame for that sub-genre of shooters. 2017 wasn’t kind to singleplayer FPS games, lets hope Far Cry 5 doesn’t disappoint.

Honorable mention goes to the Civ 6 add-on. Because Civ.

 

What’s the thing you’ll looks most forward to in Q1 2018? And even more importantly: What are you playing over the weekend?

 

Thomas: Having recently started Act 4 of Shadow of War, I can totally see why everyone was so pissed about it. It breaks with open world and turns it into an arena brawler with occasional visits to the main world for grinding out shit. So I’ll probably stick with Fractured But Whole for the rest of the weekend.

Grey: back in the saddle, so to speak:  started up the second campaign [of three] for etherlords 2.  now officially burning everything down with fire.  i also decided to replay book of unwritten tales to see how it's held up.  the environments aren't terrible.  the character models are...something.  [although, they were never really cutting edge, even for 2009.] - i'm liking it :) - and - slowly - working my way through children of the zodiarcs.

AJ: Horizon: Zero Dawn and Bayonetta

Scroo: I'm also neck deep in Horizon Zero Dawn, so that's gonna happen for sure. Vermintide, as per the usual as well as Shadow of War. And I recently installed Elite Dangerous, so I think I'd like to check that out a bit.

Tru: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. I may try to start some of the expansions for Final Fantasy XV but I think I have enough games on my plate.

Cody: If I don't hear back from the Surge devs I might start Witcher 3 on Death March and see how far that takes me. Been itching to get back into that world