Uncharted 4
As the final chapter in Nathan Drake’s story, Uncharted 4 has a lot riding on it. Drake has become one of PlayStation’s most notorious faces of recent days and has such a large fanbase that are passionate about the character and his friends. We’ve seen a fair amount of Uncharted 4 in gameplay trailers, screenshots and more; but with a number of key figures having left the development team who had such an important part to play in bringing these characters to life, it’s understandable to be a little concerned.
With former creative director, Amy Hennig, leaving the team and Uncharted 3’s game director, Justin Richmond, following shortly after, the game may have a distinctly different feel from the rest of the series. After all, Hennig’s departure led to the complete rewrite of the script, and Alan Tudyk breaking his contract and leaving the project following “weird changes” to the script.
Change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, but for some fans, Uncharted 4 may not turn out to be the game they were hoping it would be because of this. Of course, we hope that we are wrong, but the amount of hype surrounding Drake’s final outing is reaching heights that not even some of the greatest games can deliver on.
No Man’s Sky
Don’t get us wrong, No Man’s Sky has a very interesting premise and is possibly one of the most ambitious projects out there. However, it’s huge universe of sprawling planets does not guarantee its success as a great game. No Man’s Sky’s procedurally-generated universe may be one of the largest things we’ll ever get to explore, but with this massive scale comes a high chance that the interesting bits can get lost in a sea of mediocrity and monotony.
How many of the planets will have anything interesting to them? And how much variation is there in the universe? We’ve only seen a small amount of gameplay footage and nobody has yet been able to get enough hands-on time with the game to answer these questions.
If the universe of No Man’s Sky has only great moments littered in a sea of dull planets that have nothing of interest, it’s uncertain what else can keep players interested in the game. The shroud of mystery that keeps No Man’s Sky so intriguing to many players could also end up being its downfall.
Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy XV has been in development for quite some time. Ten years to be precise. And over these ten years, fans have been waiting, and anticipating the game with such high hopes and dreams. Square Enix’s flagship series has a prestigious history of excellent games and the latest one has ten years of expectations to deliver on. Final Fantasy XV has also been touted as a great place for beginners to jump in, meaning a whole host of potential new fans are eagerly anticipating the latest release in one of the most well-known game series ever.
The game is definitely going to be quite the looker, as gameplay trailers, screenshots, and the demo can prove, but whether or not the in-game systems and mechanics are enough to keep fans of the series happy, but still accessible enough for newcomers, is yet to be seen. With XIII having divided Final Fantasy fans, XV will be the series’ first numbered return to its single-player foundations for seven years, and with an event to reveal the release date for the game, Square Enix isn’t doing itself any favors by only further stoking the hype. Let’s just hope that those ten years were worth the wait and we’re not left with a game severely overhyped.
Star Citizen
Star Citizen has some serious hype surrounding it. That may be because it’s still not out and backers have been waiting for it since it was successfully Kickstarted back in 2012. Since then, the game has racked up a huge $109 million in pledges from fans desperate to get their hands on Star Citizen and its single player campaign, Squadron 42.
Unfortunately, there has been no update from Chris Roberts and the rest of the development team on the Kickstarter page in just under three years. This may well be because the team is hard at work, but when you have 255 people working on a game, you’d like to think a quick update every once in a while wouldn’t be too much to ask for.
Squadron 42 is the very first official product of the Star Citizen project that players will see, and even that is split into three episodes, the first of which is releasing this year. Star Citizen’s development timeline has become a complicated mess, and those who have followed the game closely throughout are starting to voice their concerns louder and louder. It may be an incredible project in design, but whether or not Roberts and the rest of Cloud Imperium Games can actually deliver a final product remains unclear.
Kingdom Hearts 3
Just like the Final Fantasy franchise, Kingdom Hearts has a special place in the hearts of its fans. When Kingdom Hearts 3 was announced, fans lost their collective minds. Not only has it been ten years since the second game was released, but three looks set to bring back the classic gameplay of the series and give fans exactly what they wanted- more of the same.
Unfortunately, all of this hype surrounding Kingdom Hearts 3 has come from a small amount of footage and information. The E3 2015 trailer was its first reveal of the game and had fans clamoring for their Keyblades and getting all nostalgic. However, the question has to be asked- Is it reasonable to be so hyped about a game from such a small amount of information? Take Final Fantasy VII Remake as an example. Fans were overjoyed at the news of the remake, but following the announcement of the episodic format, the reception took a rather negative turn.
This isn’t to suggest that Kingdom Hearts 3 will suffer a similar fate, but merely an example of how quickly things can change in this industry. While what we’ve seen of Kingdom Hearts 3 is definitely an exciting first-look at the game, this doesn’t mean that the final product will represent this.
Quantum Break
Quantum Break is one of Microsoft’s key high-profile exclusives for Xbox One and PC. With this kind of title, there is already a lot depending on Quantum Break to deliver the goods. If the game fails to live up to expectations, a lot of fans and Xbox One owners will be disappointed that the game didn’t help justify their console decision.
With very little of the game really being shown though, it’s difficult to get a clearer picture as to how we can expect the game to play out, not to mention the way in which it will tie in with the TV series. In trying something unique and new, and being a key factor in many gamers’ Xbox One purchases, Quantum Break is sat on a pedestal of expectations that will be tricky to live up to.
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