The holiday season is near.

Ah the holiday season: a gamer’s favorite or least favorite time of the year. So many titles to choose from yet so little time to play them all.

Today’s post is going to be a highlight of some of the titles I’m excited for, in no particular order (although I’m more excited for some titles then others).

Let’s get to it.

Deathloop

I love Arkane Studios games with the Dishonored series being some of my favorite games of all time. Their really good at making smaller engaging environments versus other titles than just shove open world down your throat and have nothing to show for it (you know where this will go).

Deathloop looks to follow the Arkane mold by giving you a character with cool abilties, a variety of ways to solve your problems all the while looking artistically unique. You play as Colt an assassin that has to hunt down a list of targets before midnight or time will reset forcing him to do it all over. From a gameplay standpoint, everything has looked standard Arkane affair, the only thing that worries me is the PvP aspect, as an enemy player can talk control of Colt’s nemesis Julianna and how sometimes those experiences can ruin a single player experience. Could be cool though, and my hype for the game is pretty high.

Deathloop hits Xbox Series One, PlayStation 5 and PC September 14th, 2021.

Battlefield 2042

I always have high amounts of excitement for Battlefield titles since they release once every like 3 years or so. Recently, the hype has been down because Battlefield decided to go backwards in time (Battlefield 1 was pretty good), but no we’re finally returning to a modern day setting.

About time.

Battlefield has always provided a great multiplayer experience, and with the huge leaps we’ve seen games take forward with cross-play, I think this will amplify the experience even more. Not much gameplay has been shown but we’ll be okay soldier. In the little bits we have seen, they’ve shown dynamic weather which is cool, but I just want to blow up whole buildings…

Battlefield 2042 is set to release October 22nd, 2021.

Far Cry 6

This one is tough.

When Far Cry is good, it’s really good. The open world, simple yet satisfying gunplay and progression, captivating villains; Far Cry has it all. Yet the last time it felt that way was Far Cry 3 and maybe Far Cry 4. The thing about Far Cry is there’s been no sort of progression as each entry has just changed the scenery but kept the core loop the same. It’s upsetting as a fan of the series.

Far Cry 6 looks to be following in the same path, but the main villain is non other than Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian). Not going to lie; that’s pretty damn awesome. He’s a phenomenal villain in every role he plays, but will he be enough to carry this game? If you haven’t seen any gameplay watch the video above, but beware, it looks exactly the same as the past entries.

I’m still going to give this a try, but I might wait a bit this time around instead of launch day purchase.

No matter what happens, don’t be this guy:

Far Cry 6 is scheduled to release October 7th, 2021.

Halo Infinite

I’ve never had the opportunity to experience a Halo launch/release because I’ve always had a PlayStation. Now with my PC, I finally get to experience the hype of Halo at launch.

If we’re being honest, I’m only excited for the multiplayer since again, I never got to play the campaigns of the previous entries. Interestingly enough, the multiplayer mode is going to be free while the campaign will be a paid experience. I hope the campaign is good though!

After a delay (or two), Halo Infinite is set for a December 8th, 2021 launch.

Back 4 Blood

I got to play the Alpha, the Early Access Beta, the Open Beta.. I have plenty of experience with this game, and it’s fun. Granted I played it in every playable form minus full release, I thought it was good but repetitive (due to limited content). I’m interested to see what they do for the full tile as far as locales, zombies and mechanics.

However, I think there are some big red flags that could ruin this:

• The card system used to give your characters buffs and how that system could be monetized
• A PvP mode that doesn’t look good at all. You know like forced?
• A confusing model for purchasing the game. There are like eight different versions with some of them locking characters behind a pay wall and a battle pass system in a full $60 game.
• It’s online only.
• This is the same team that released Evolve to the world.

Yeah…

Back 4 Blood is set to release October 12. 2021.

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles

Okay okay, I finally watched the Demon Slayer anime a couple of months ago, and I really liked it. The art style, the story, and the characters all came together and created such an entertaining experience. While I was internet browsing for details on a second season and the movie, and I came upon the fact they were releasing a game.

Now anime games never really got me hyped because 7/10 times they aren’t good (I’m looking at you Dragon Ball Z Sagas). I’m actually surprised at how good this looks and plays. It looks exactly like the anime, and I’m here for it. I’m going to assume the game story is only going to go up to the end of season 1, but I’ll take it.

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles is set to release October 13, 2021.

Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Out of all the games this season, this one would take the top for highest levels of excitement (if this list was ranked), After everything the team at Techland went through during the development cycle of this game, I’m happy it finally gets to see the light.

Not going to lie, I don’t expect much from the story. The first game’s story was decent enough to keep me entertained during my four plus playthroughs. What makes me really excited is just the fact that we can explore a massive city with the engaging parkour system and kill zombies, which is the major selling point of the series.

Also, they should drop the Stay Human portion of the title. Dying Light 2 sounds better.

Dying Light 2: Stay Human is set to finally release, after many years, on December 7th, 2021.

Crysis Remastered Trilogy

Wait I thought this was a rumor, but I guess not huh?

Out of all of the Crysis games, I’ve only played Crysis 2, and I loved it. I tried the first game years later, and it didn’t hold up to well. I’m excited to finally get a chance to replay Crysis 2 after what feels like 20 years since I played Crysis 2 on PS3.

The only thing that ruins my excitement for this is the fact that I feel bad for people who bought Crysis Remastered last year just to see the whole trilogy get the remaster treatment. I feel like developer Crytek should discount the other games if you purchased part 1 remastered, but that’s a pipe dream. To be fair, call me crazy, but I would’ve been down for a full remake of the series. Imagine how much they could’ve improved the story and overall game in 2021?

Crysis Remastered Trilogy is set to release October 15th, 2021.

While I’m not excited at how hurt my wallet is going to be this season, I am excited for the slate of games we’re set to receive. What are you excited for?

To all the next gen console hopefuls out there, I do wish you luck and haste with your search!