Tech Talks: The Best New Video Games in 2019/20

I’m going to talk to you about the best new video games in 2019/20. Okay, surprise surprise: I like video games. Probably too much. Did I tell you my son’s named after Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog? No, his name isn’t actually ‘Tails’ because that would clearly be stupid. He’s called Miles. After Miles ‘Tails’ Prower. Yes, I’m a geek. So sue me.

Anyway, I digress.

The 11^th-13^th June saw the annual E3 event. The world-famous event held in Los Angeles never fails to excite, surprise and sometimes shock, and this year was no different. Now, I was going to give you my lowdown on the events from the expo, but I’m gonna go one bigger and talk about every bloody brilliant thing to expect from the gaming world in the next year.

Remakes

I love a good remake. It’s like when nostalgia and next-gen tech come together and create insatiable offspring. Such as the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy. Or Spyro Reignited. And if you like a good gaming lovechild as much as I do, then you’re in luck – because there are some bangers coming your way.

• Final Fantasy VII: It’s been long-awaited and fans can’t wait to get their hands on this remake of what’s arguably the best FF game – maybe just best ever game full stop, dare I say. Hold tight though peeps, it still won’t be here until March 2020. And given that it was officially announced in 2015, you’ve done a good job waiting.
• Battletoads: Rash, Zitz and Pimple certainly gave the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a run for their money back in 1991, but they’re back – and they’ve ditched Nintendo for Xbox. Expect to see these menacing toads on your screens late 2019.
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition: Now I hate to sound cocky here, but I totally predicted this. I also predicted a Crash Bandicoot remake but whatever… anyway, yes – it’s about flippin’ time that an Age of Empires reboot happened. You’ll be treated to enhanced graphics, better sound, and nostalgia galore.
• MediEvil: Move aside Jack Skellington – it’s all about Sir Daniel Fortesque. This hack ‘n’ slash adventure game was huuuuugely popular back in 1998 on the good ol’ original PlayStation – and it’s coming to the PS4 in October 2019.
• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening: Nintendo, and the Zelda franchise, got a decent amount of attention at E3 this year – and the Link’s Awakening demo was one of the reasons for this. The 1993 Game Boy title is sticking to its original style with a top-down perspective, and will be available on the Switch in September 2019.

Sequels

You can guarantee that every year there’ll be a sequel you totally didn’t expect to see announced. And the 19/20 releases haven’t disappointed with this. Let me break it down for you.

• Luigi’s Mansion 3: This series has reeeaaally taken its time to get to where it is. The original hit the GameCube (I know, major throwback) in 2001, with its 3DS sequel a whole 12 years later in 2013. So I guess now’s as good a time as any for part three.
• Psychonauts 2: This is kind of old news now, since it was announced in 2015. However, it’s still such fantastic news that it needs to be talked about. Bridging the gap between the original 2005 title and the 2020 sequel is VR puzzle game Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin – so check that out first if you’ve got the right equipment.
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2: The announcement of Breath of the Wild 2 blew a lot of minds at E3 this year. Confirmed as the sequel to the huge Nintendo Switch launch title, the trailer suggested a potentially darker vibe with just as much ambiguity. And I still haven’t finished the first one. Best crack on.
• Gears 5: The fifth ‘of War’ title was already announced back at E3 2018 – however this year’s event revealed its connection to upcoming Terminator film, Dark Fate. Yes, really. And it’s officially just ‘Gears’ now. Expect it in September 2019.
• Borderlands 3: It’s been five years since the release of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and is due to hit all platforms in September 2019. Sticking to its famous cartoon style and first-person shooter gameplay, it’s set to be a huge success.

Brand Spanking New

Hold up – you mean there are actually still fresh ideas out there? It’s not all about the remakes and sequels? Nope, modern classics are surely about to be born here. And even though Sony didn’t bother popping along to E3, I’m still going to talk about them. Here are my personal favourites.

• Cyberpunk 2077: Right, first of all I’m just gonna say it: Keanu Reeves. No, I don’t have a rare form of keyboard Tourette’s – the man from The Matrix stars in this brand new role-playing game based on the 1988 table top game Cyberpunk 2020. Set in an open world metropolis known as Night City, California, Cyberpunk 2077 definitely strikes me as some kind of GTA-Watchdogs-Detroit hybrid. And I can’t. Bloody. Wait. April 2020 can’t come quickly enough.
• Xbox Project Scarlett: Onto consoles now, and Microsoft have teased us all with Project Scarlett – or Xbox Two as some people are calling it. It’s been confirmed that the first launch title will be Halo Infinite (surprise, surprise) and is set to be 4x more powerful than the Xbox One. And the addition of an SSD means extended loading times will be a thing of the past. No pressure, Sony.
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: The subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, also known as ‘Netflix for video games’, is now available as a combined bundle with an Xbox Live Gold subscription. And it’s launching on PC.
• Google Stadia: We all know Google are slowly taking over the world, despite their occasional failures (*cough* Google Plus, Google Video, Google Glass…). Google Stadia is a cloud-based service that will allow you to stream video games in up to 4K at 60 frames per second – available through Chrome, smartphones and tablets. No more waiting for games to download. It’s due for release in November 2019 and anticipated titles include Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Borderlands 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Just Dance 2020.
• Death Stranding: The legendary game creator Hideo Kojima is back with a Sony exclusive, focussed around supernatural events and saving mankind from extinction. The graphics look impeccable, the gameplay looks wonderfully bizarre, and it’s just not one to miss. November 2019.

Of course, there’s plenty more to come when Sony hold their PSX 2019 event – such as the eagerly awaited PS5 console set to rival Project Scarlett. And I won’t be surprised if there are any random announcements through the year, too. But I’d say we’ve got a decent amount to look forward to this year.