Unless you have nothing but free time and/or are a speedrunning expert, you are probably still playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Assuming that you’re playing it in the first place, that game is shaping up to be at least a 200-hour experience. I could happily play nothing else for the rest of the year. Alas, the gaming calendar—largely thanks to COVID-19 backlogs—has other plans. Honestly, I have no idea what my plans are to deal with it.
If you listen to podcasts about gaming or just talk about gaming among friends, you’ve probably run into this conundrum. It seems that everyone invested in “gaming” as a whole is currently putting their head in their hands and wondering, “What the hell am I going to do?” First-world problems, for sure. Still, as a fan with limited amounts of time and money, it’s a deeply valid question. The time concern is especially prevalent if, say, it’s your job to know what’s up in the world of video games.
This stress is all too timely because there’s a whole slew of major games coming out within the next month. Most of these games are going to cost $60 and take upwards of 60 hours of time to beat. Hell, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor came out right before Tears of the Kingdom, and I already know plenty of people juggling that conundrum. Gamers will be forced to pick and chose what to play, causing them to skip over a game that, any other time, would’ve been a shoo-in to their gaming queue. Honestly, it’s rough.
So here’s a quick low-down of the games coming out in the next few weeks. What you play immediately, what you save for later, and what you skip is entirely up to you, of course. If you want to ignore everything and just play Tears of the Kingdom—I do not blame you, friend.
Street Fighter 6, June 2
Street Fighter is one of the most beloved arcade fighting franchises of all time. It’s arguably the most pioneering game as well. But Street Fighter (or any fighting franchise, for that matter) has never been known for its story modes. Until Street Fighter 6. Not only is Street Fighter 6‘s combat placating fans who weren’t quite taken with Street Fighter 5, but its story mode is apparently delightful. Verge aptly described it as a mix between Street Fighter and Yakuza. Sign me up.
But Street Fighter isn’t the only beloved franchise with a large gap between games releasing a “return to form” sequel after a predecessor many fans felt was disappointing. You don’t even have to wait a full week for the next one. But first …
We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie, June 6
You know that the gaming schedule is stacked when one of the best series in existence is releasing a remaster … and it’s getting completely overshadowed. Granted, to most people, the other titles on this list are much bigger news. But this does not change the fact that any Katamari game is now and forever a goddamn delight. And we expect nothing less from Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie.
If you’re unfamiliar with the game, you play as a tiny prince who has to roll up things in the world to recreate planets for your weird King of the Universe father. As your Katamari gets bigger, you can roll up bigger things. Including people. And buildings. And you do this all to a totally banger soundtrack. It is simply the greatest.
Diablo IV, June 6
Diablo IV is a big freaking deal. Its “true” predecessor, Diablo III, came out eleven years ago. (We’ve all agreed to forget about the phone game, right?) Diablo II was unavoidable at the time of its release and remains iconic to this day. Diablo III … less so. But from the early access talk, it seems like Diablo IV could very well be the return to form that Diablo fans have been pining for during that intervening decade. The reviews so far are incredibly promising—9/10s abound. Even some 10/10s!
Crash Team Rumble, June 20
Seriously, did you even know there was a new Crash game coming out this month?! Sure, it’s a multiplayer party game and not the single-player bonanzas that Crash Bandicoot is known for. But still. Even Sony was like, “Oh shit, Final Fantasy XVI is also coming out … I guess this one releases two days before, then?” This either means Crash Team Rumble is bad, or the release calendar is that chaotic. At least this one won’t be demanding giant, time-sucking campaigns out of you.
Final Fantasy XVI, June 22
Did you wrap up those 200 hours in Tears of the Kingdom yet? Good, because here comes Final Fantasy XVI entirely too soon. Final Fantasy XV was released seven years ago if you want to feel old. While the hype around XVI has turned to become mostly positive, you can feel nervousness around the fandom for sure. But the battles seem like they’re going to be epic as hell, and the fact that you can turn into a dragon-man is very promising.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you’re hunting for excuses), you will need a PlayStation 5 for this one.
Sonic Origins Plus, June 23
Truly, it seems like a bunch of games will be dancing around Final Fantasy XVI‘s release date. We all forgot a Sonic collection was coming out too. Sure, Sonic Origins Plus is basically just the already-beloved Sonic Origins compilation from last year with a few add-ons. The biggest of the additions are 12 Sonic games which were originally released for the Game Gear AND the addition of Amy Rose as a playable character in Sonic 1, 2, and 3 … for the first time!
Planning ahead
Of course, the gaming schedule won’t let up later in the year. Pikmin 4 comes out July 21, giving all of us Switch-heads another big game to contend with. Baldur’s Gate 3 is finally getting its official release on August 31. Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Alan Wake 2 are both slated for October. And we’re getting Hades II, Spider-Man 2, and a Metal Gear Solid 3 remake before the end of the year, too. So curate your collections accordingly. As much as I wish it were possible, you simply can’t play everything.
(featured image: Capcom)
Published: Jun 3, 2023 03:33 pm