@mbun Yeah I get that the appeal is supposed to be the open-world exploration, and I would be excited about that... if it didn't look just as basic as the Wild Area in Sword and Shield. It may be larger, but that's it.

Maybe they're really bad at making trailers, but nothing they've shown tells me that there's anything to see in this barren world except for sparse roaming Pokémon. Traversal itself doesn't seem particularly interesting, sure you'll have ride Pokémon but are there any areas that are challenging to reach in any way?

Morrowind had a more interesting open-world 20 years ago. In a post-BotW world, it's not enough to just say "We're open-world!"

So anyway, I hope it turns out more interesting than it looks so far, I'd buy it day one if they gave me one good reason, but I don't see it yet.

• My Pop-Tart: Triangle Strategy (March 4th)

Youtube Video

I can't get enough of this art style, I find it absolutely gorgeous. I loved Octopath Traveler so I have complete faith in the studio, I love the tactics genre, and what I played of the demo was very promising, especially since the devs again took all the feedback on board and have made tons of improvements since. I don't see how this one could go wrong, it's one of my most anticipated games of the year.

Honorable mention to Weird West, also very promising.

• My Toaster Strudel: Pokémon Legends: Arceus (January 28th)

Youtube Video

After the reveal, I wanted to believe the game would gradually show signs of improvement, but the very latest trailer that dropped a few days ago still shows the exact same footage we've seen twenty times, and now I'm worried.

I can tolerate sub-par graphics, but I'm starting to feel like there isn't much to the game itself at this point. What do you even do in this game? The world looks extremely empty, and all they've shown is you sneaking up on Pokémon, fighting them one-on-one, and... that's it? They mentioned crafting but have they shown it? How does it tie into the rest of the gameplay?

As it stands, it feels even more basic than traditional Pokémon games. I don't see what it brings to the table at all. Hopefully I missed something, or they're keeping other features close to their chest, but it's hard to believe.

Time to channel our hype and cynicism again and pick 2 games coming out in the upcoming quarter (January-March), one Pop-Tart and one Toaster Strudel.

As a reminder:

• Your Pop-Tart is the game you want to bring attention to because you strongly believe it's going to be awesome. It can be an obscure game that's being overlooked, or a AAA game that you just know will be worth the hype, or anything in between.
• Your Toaster Strudel is the game you have a bad feeling about. Ideally, not a game you have no interest in, but rather something you'd want to be good but is currently raising too many red flags.

@shoulderguy Totally forgot about those, thanks for the reminder :)

@bam541 Oh you're playing Fast RMX too? I picked it up on sale over the holidays, it's seriously impressive for the Switch, Shinen are wizards!

Just sent my list!

@dmcmaster I'm waiting for PSVR2 to come out to finally get my first VR headset, really hyped for it, seems like it could be this year!

My 12 games for 2022:

• Final Fantasy X HD Remaster
• The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (Switch): Halfway through the game already, probably the next one I'll finish.
• Blasphemous
• Legend of Mana (Switch): Started it last year, didn't fully grab me but I'll get back to it soon.
• Psychonauts 2 (PS4): Never played the original but Ben's review totally sold me on this one, can't wait to dive in.
• Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4): Tried to start it last year, bounced off hard, not sure why. The hype for the sequel will make me try again.
• Control (PS5): Didn't feel like playing when it launched, but word-of-mouth about its narrative and Huber's hype have finally sold me.
• Deathloop (PS5): Absolutely loved Prey, so I owe it to Arkane to try this bad boy too.
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PS5): Took a long enough break from Yakuza, it's time to go back.
• Hitman (PS5): Got Hitman 3 plus the two original games as "DLC", I should at least finish the first one this year.
• The Wonderful 101 (Wii U): Fourth year in a row, probably won't play it, but gotta include it as a mark of shame.
• Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (3DS): Started it, I find it extremely generic (just like XI), but who knows, I might get the itch at some point.

Completed backlog games not in the original target 12:

• Sine Mora EX

Picking up from @bard91, let's start a new thread for this new year.

As usual, the idea is to list up 12 games from your backlog that you intend to complete this year, as a personal challenge, a way to motivate yourself, or just to keep track of your progress.

There's no strict format or rules, feel free to pick more or less than 12 games, games you already own or some that haven't released yet.

@bard91 Shall we start a new thread for this year?