2024's Most Anticipated Video Games: A Preview

Black Myth Wukong

Black Myth Wukong has been much awaited for quite some time.

The very first trailer was not only a pretty great showcase of what we could expect from Unreal Engine 5, but also an intriguing take on the all-time classic novel Journey to the West. While it will probably stray quite a lot from the source material, we’re in for a fantastic adventure steeped in Chinese mythology.

Image credit: Game Science

Unsurprisingly, you’ll be taking on the role of Sun Wukong, a martially and magically talented immortal monkey. And you will need all the staff combos, shapeshifting powers, and variety of spells to survive encounters with the game’s rich bestiary of demons, spirits, and monsters alike. There are good reasons to believe the gameplay will be truly thrilling and spectacular.

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Dragon’s Dogma 2

The original Dragon’s Dogma came in 2012 and it was an interesting action RPG which gathered quite a community of fans over the year.

And that community was delighted to finally see the first glimpses of the new installment in several trailers shown in 2023. Better yet: DD2 isn’t that far off, scheduled to release in March 2024, which means it’s basically right around the corner.

Image credit: CAPCOM

It won’t be a sequel to the first game, more like a reboot, with a new story, new map, and a few new classes existing alongside classics. The AI Pawns are coming back to aid your monster-killing endeavors, covering your flanks, providing additional expertise (and being canon fodder). Add to that an open, vibrant world to explore, and it’s easy to see that we are in for a treat.

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Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

The world has changed a lot. Once upon a time, Final Fantasy VII came in one package and several discs.

Now, with the remake (with a twist!) is so expansive and technologically impressive, that it has to come as several separate games. FF7 Rebirth plot begins after the escape from Midgar and will cover event up to the Forgotten Capital, so there’s quite a lot of ground to cover.

Image credit: SQUARE ENIX

Thankfully, we’re going to have an airship thanks to the already revealed and confirmed Cid. The game keeps the dynamic combat system mixing action and turn-adjacent ATB from FF7 Remake, with a few sparkles, like combo attacks coming back full-time after a previous successful DLC outing. We do urge you to play FF7 Remake before Rebirth, the plot might be a bit impenetrable otherwise.

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Frostpunk 2

Frostpunk was, by all accounts, a deeply engaging game. It forced players to make plenty of harsh choices as they tried to ensure the survival of their people.

In the sequel, taking place thirty years after the end of the first game, not only is the new Ice Age still going strong, but you also need to figure out how to deal with politics and factions which arose, vying for control.

Image credit: 11 bit studios

The city itself can get much bigger, for example, with specialized districts. The political landscape is much more complex, as people had time to form coalitions, build ideologies, and get their own ideas, and as the Steward you’ll have to try and work with the Council towards balancing peace and survival. Nothing new under the absent sun, right?

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Hades 2

Hades 2 is something never seen before in Supergiant Games’ catalog: a sequel.

It should be no surprise, not only was Hades a huge success, but the story and source material left much room for a new story. And new story we will get, starring Zagreus’ sister Melinoë going up against the forces of Chronos. The Titan of Time has escaped his prison, and you are uniquely positioned to stop him.

Image credit: Supergiant Games

Melinoë isn’t as melee-oriented as her brother, but she’s much better at magic, especially since her talents were cultivated by the goddess of witchcraft, Hecate. Hades 2 will launch in Early Access, which helped make its predecessor such a masterpiece. When it becomes available in 2024, we’ll see what tweaks and surprises Supergiant introduced to the familiar formula.

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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

After the Ichiban Kasuga-led installment of the Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza) it was only a matter of time before he’d get another leading role.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth follows both Ichiban and series mainstay Kiryu, and the events aren’t limited to Japan this time around. Indeed, we’re also going to Hawaii, where Ichiban will even open a holiday resort island for some reason.

Image credit: Ryū Ga Gotoku Studios

The turn-based combat returns from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, powered by the protagonist’s overactive imagination. Appropriately, Kiryu will apparently be able to ignore the turns and just whale on fools. Other than the combat system and new location, we can expect Infinite Wealth to have all the silly, serious, and weird side-activities expected of the series.

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has had a somewhat cursed and prolonged development for a variety of different reasons.

There is a good chance, however, that the long-awaited sequel to a highly respected series from the late 2000s will, finally be out in 2024. It is, of course, set in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, which, in the fiction of the game has suffered another, reality-shaking explosion.

Image credit: GSC Game World

What can we expect? A huge open world, dangerous, vicious radiation mutants, and several factions of probably somewhat unhinged scavengers hoping to earn big buck by selling artifacts created by the secondary explosion. All these nifty things aside, STALKER 2 is mostly going to be a first-person shooter with a fair amount of survival horror elements put in for extra flavor.

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Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was a phenomenal game on many levels, and its story was concluded, so it was a welcome surprise to see the sequel announcement.

But that was a few years ago, and Senua’s Sage: Hellblade 2 is scheduled for launch in 2024, with a new chapter in the protagonist’s life. If the trailers and Senua’s perceptions are to be believed, it’s going to involve giants.

Image credit: Ninja Theory

Set on Viking-age Iceland, the game is said to deal with themes of facing up to tyranny, and Senua will face her own demons again. We can also expect more third-person action-adventure adventures, grim though they might be, couples with exceptional performance capture and voice acting. This series is shaping up to become the magnum opus of developer Ninja Theory.

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Tekken 8

As the feuds of the Mishima clan are never-ending, so it is the Tekken series, and fighting game fans wouldn’t have it any other way.

Tekken 8’s plot will take place a few months after T7, and this time the big beefing Mishimas will be Kazuya and Jin Kazama. We can expect a lot of talk about the devil gene as Jin has had it with the family being tainted by this curse.

Image credit: Bandai Namco Studios

As for gameplay considerations, Tekken 8 is said to be geared more towards in-your-face, aggressive playstyle, with a Heat gauge providing a new layer of options during the fights. Additionally, characters are getting new models and voices, while arenas are said to be much more interactive. Oh, you’ll also be able to make your own fighter, how’s that for a treat?

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Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

WH40k: Space Marine was a very fun game which sadly ended on something of a cliffhanger, and (formerly) Captain Titus has been hanging on it since 2011.

Now, finally, after 13 years (fitting, since Ultramarines were the thirteenth legion) Titus comes back, enhanced with the Primaris upgrade and ready to take on the enemy hordes. Time to grab your bolters and chainswords, battle brothers.

Image credit: Saber Interactive

Along with Titus returns the third-person action with a hybrid range and melee combat, both employing some of the iconic weapons. The combat system underwent some tweaking to be more dynamic and responsive, but the brutal finishers from the original game are back in full force, even through now they’ll be deployed against ravenous, monstrous Tyranids, rather than Orks.

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Homeworld 3

Homeworld 3 is a long-time coming sequel to 2003’s Homeworld 2.

Sure, we got remasters and a prequel in the meantime, but a proper follow-up to one of the best science fiction real-time strategy games is long overdue. Thankfully, as of March 2024 the wait will be over, and a new story, set long after Homeworld 2 will give you solid reason to go to war across a darkening galaxy.

Image credit: Blackbird Interactive

This also means a full-blown return of the series’ iconic 3D space battles between swarms of ships of various classes and functions. Of course, space in science fiction is very dangerous, so be ready to help your forces deal with unforeseen events and exploit unexpected opportunities. As an additional treat, HW3 will also come a roguelike-inspired co-op mode, if you’d rather play with friends.

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Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

While the world is waiting for another third-person Prince of Persia game (such as the much-expected remake of 2003’s Sands of Time), Ubisoft Montpellier has sneakily made a side-scrolling action game that might, by all accounts, actually be awesome, a spiritual successor to the original Prince of Persia, in a way, albeit one filled with fancy combat and special abilities.

Image credit: Ubisoft Montpellier

PoP The Lost Crown is also going to be something of a metroidvania, with an interconnected world you’re able to explore as much as your abilities and story progress allows you to. The story will follow a warrior names Sargon, who travel to the legendary Mount Qaf in order to rescue his liege, Prince Ghassan. Of course, the journey is fraught with danger, magical and mundane.

Star Wars Outlaws

Star War Outlaws might be a rare treat: a SW game that doesn’t revolve around Jedi and the Force.

Instead, it stars a young outlaw called Kay Vess, who’s going to be involved with a major heist somewhere out in the Outer Rim. Kay is also assisted by Nix, her alien pet that seems to be somewhere between a dog and axolotl, which is truly a winning combination.

Image credit: Massive Entertainment

At the same time, Outlaws isn’t going to be linear experience. It will have several open world planets, a space combat, and even dialogue trees. The events will take place sometime between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, so if you are tired of the space wizard samurai affairs, Outlaws is worth keeping an eye on.

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Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster

Speaking of Star Wars, 2024 is the year we can expect a remaster of a true classic.

Star Wars: Dark Forces originally launched in 1995 and introduced the world to Kyle Katarn, a mercenary working for the Rebel Alliance. It was a fantastic first-person shooter for its time and popularized a few features which had been nearly absent from the FPS genre at the time, but have since become essential.

Image credit: Nightdive Studios

However, what worked well for 1995 hardware might clash with the machines we use now in the 2020s, so it’s getting a spiffy remaster, bringing resolution up to speed, adding some extra tech missing from the original, and touching up the gameplay. If everything works fine, it’ll be the best version of this stone-cold classic you could play on modern platforms.

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World of Goo 2

World of Goo 2 was a sudden, expected, and utterly delightful reveal during The Game Awards 2023.

The original game released in 2008 and nobody’s heard from it again outside of ported versions. And, for what it’s worth, it seems that World of Goo 2 is going to be a worthy sequel to that cute, silly game about building structures out of… well, goo.

Each stage will present a new challenge to overcome by making… stuff out of available goo of various types, each suitable for a different task. With modern tech available for developers, we can surely expect improved physics and a greater volume of ooze and slime and goop of all kinds. Thankfully, the art style remains very familiar, kept in a cartoonish, stylized aesthetics.