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What on Earth was 2022’s problem?! It honestly felt like the whole year was out to get us and it was personal. I don’t know about you lot, but I had to physically and mentally drag myself over the finish line and into 2023 and I still got a swift kick in the nethers on my way out. Hopefully 2023 will be better or, at least, more tolerable. Sure, the lingering odour of the dumpster fire that was 2022 has followed us into the new year. But with a little positivity we can crack out the air freshener and shake things up a bit.
I’m not one for new year resolutions or setting unrealistic goals. I also don’t wait for the start of a new year to make changes. If you want to make a change, you can make it anytime you want. It was a Wednesday in September when I decided to stop smoking, I had set arbitrary dates to quit in the past and it hadn’t worked. So on this particular Wednesday in 2017 I decided I didn’t want to smoke that day and I managed to resist. Then I decided to try and not smoke the following day, then the next and then the next. Eventually I didn’t miss it and stopped thinking about it. So yeah, don’t worry if you haven’t set any resolutions, it doesn’t matter, you can make a change whenever you want. There’s no rush. And if you don’t want to make any changes, then don’t. As long as you aren’t hurting anyone or yourself go nuts! But most importantly - buy videogames. Let's get up to date with the video game news from December!
I’m currently playing: On Switch Two Point Campus has snuck back in. While on PlayStation 5 it’s God of War Ragnarok all the way.
I’m currently hyped for: Fire Emblem Engage on Switch and on PlayStation 5 it’s the Dead Space Remake, the Resident Evil 4 REmake and Forspoken (don’t forget - there’s a free Forspoken demo out to try for yourself).
New Games
The end of 2022 gave us Cuphead (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch), Hello Neighbour 2 (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch), Dragon Quest Treasures (Switch exclusive) and Jitsu Squad (PS4 & PS5). The grand finale came in the form of Final Fantasy Crisis Core (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch).
2023 will come out swinging with Dragon Ball Z Kakarot (PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Switch) and One Piece Odyssey (PS4 PS5, Xbox Series X|S) on the 13th. Fire Emblem Engage (Switch) and the Danganronpa Trilogy (PS4) follow on the 20th. Then January will end with two big hitters - Forspoken (PS5) on the 24th and the long-awaited Dead Space remake (PS5) on the 27th.
Announcements
Gaming news for December was mainly Christmas focussed, with developers and publishers touting their time-limited festive updates, cosmetics and battle passes. And then we had the Game Awards, which Seb Hawden covered for us. This didn’t leave much room for anything else, the Microsoft Activision/Blizzard acquisition continues on, but hasn’t had any funny updates like last month and a bunch of games, including PlayStation exclusive Spider-Man 2, pencilled in 2023 release windows but nothing is set in stone.
A definite surprise of the many, many game trailers from the Games Awards 2022 was for Star Wars Jedi Survivor. A sequel to the sleeper hit was always expected, but I don’t think anyone saw a March 2023 release window coming. With that in mind details have been coming in thick and fast. So far it’s been revealed that protagonist Cal will be able to use five “fully realised” lightsaber stances, including dual-wielding and cross-guard (as used by Kylo Ren in the *sigh* sequels). The game will take place five years after the events of the first game and follow the metroidvania style gameplay. Cal will be joined by new and old characters as he makes his way across the galaxy fighting the darkside. If they fix the awful map I’ll be sold.
After a typically stylish trailer for Death Stranding 2, fans are desperately seeking new information and, more importantly, a release date for the game. Well, a senior artist posted a resume online stating they worked on “Death Stranding 2 (2024)”. They’ve since taken any mention of Death Stranding off their online profiles and resume, but the rumour mill has cranked up and probably won’t stop. Little is known what will happen in Death Stranding 2, but we did see a rather grey Norman Reedus emerging from the safety of a bunker. He’s no doubt looking to go up against weird gloop and invisible killer monster things once again.
Speaking of bad decisions, Square Enix has doubled down on it’s stance to embrace blockchain gaming and NFTs. So much so that they are ceasing support on Final Fantasy First Soldier, Bravery Default: Brilliant Lights and Nintendo Switch Racer Chocobo GP to move the teams onto the new, controversial, games.
And That’s, That
So, are you picking anything up this month? Or are you making your way through a back catalogue? Let us know on Zatu’s social media and I’ll see you next time.