February is generally not one of the biggest release periods in the year, but it is an important one. Since it’s the month leading up to the major March release season, companies sneak in some potential gems the month before in order to see if something can make it as a sleeper hit. This is the month where you start seeing the interesting major releases that didn’t want to compete with the mega titles of March. So, to help out with your shopping, here’s a look at what are the most anticipated and most promising titles that are coming out this month!
10. The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince
Royalty can be insane sometimes. The king will even imprison people for no other reason than being blind! That’s exactly what happens to the prince after he gets blinded from a trick by a strange wolf. However, what’s even stranger is that this wolf actually has a conscience and ends up feeling bad for the prince. She travels to a local witch to see what she can do to atone, and decides that she can bring the prince there too to get his sight back. Of course, the witch doesn’t work for free. In exchange for the wolf’s ability to sing, she’s transformed into a princess so she can break into the jail and save the prince! Fans of past NIS puzzle platformers were immediately able to recognize The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince as another entry in the company’s more experimental, atmospheric puzzle line of games like Rose in the Twilight or ntoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diaries. However, unlike those games, The Liar and the Blind Prince is angling for less oppressively violent overtones and goes for a more bittersweet romance. It’s great for the indie game fans out there looking for the next interesting puzzle-platformer, even if it’s not technically indie!
9. Etrian Odyssey: Nexus
Whenever there’s a grand labyrinth, there are always adventurers who want to explore it. You’ll create a guild, hire the best talent you possibly can, and then set forth into its depths! Of course, no one knows what’s at the center or what monsters could possibly lurk within, so you’ll have to use your wits to survive. Even worse, there are even bigger, more dangerous monsters called FOEs that could wipe the floor with you in a second if you so much as breathe on them, so you’ll also need to do your best to stay clear of them! Etrian Odyssey: Nexus is essentially one last hurrah for the remarkably consistent franchise before the 3DS dies out. Etrian Odyssey is a series that really can’t exist without using 2 screens, as on the bottom screen you have to draw the map yourself. It’s a big part of what gives the series its charm, so with the 3DS in its final year of support, it will be the end for the nearly 15-year-old franchise. It’s a bittersweet farewell, so fans are hoping Atlus can close it out with a bang!
8. Trials Rising
Despite riding on a motorcycle, the Trials series isn’t really about racing. It’s more about survival. You’ve got to balance your motorcycle so it doesn’t tumble over. And goodness knows that’s not always going to be a simple task, considering you’ll be driving through notoriously complicated structures like the Eiffel Tower. Oh, also, there’ll be extra obstacles to avoid while you’re at it, and you’ll be graded on how cool you look while driving. Good luck! The main reason people are getting hot and bothered over Trials Rising is that it’s the first new Trials game in 5 years. It seems implausible, but the last Trials game was Fusion all the way back in 2014, meaning fans haven’t had anything new to latch onto in what must feel like an eternity! Trials Rising is shaking things up a bit with a Tandem Bike mode, where 2 players will attempt to control the same bike. It’s the ultimate practice in frustration that we love from Trials, and hopefully you’ve got a friend who can read your mind!
7. Wargroove
The king of Cherrystone has been assassinated, and now his inexperienced daughter Mercia has been left to rule. The Felheim nation smells blood in the water and makes their move on Cherrystone, leaving Mercia to quickly have to learn the ins-and-outs of commanding the military. She won’t be alone though! Coming to her aid is her guardian, the mage Emeric, who quickly teaches her what she needs to do. Of course, the story is all just dressing. Wargroove is to Advance Wars what Stardew Valley was to Harvest Moon: a retro-revival of a long dead franchise that was basically keeping an entire genre alive. Fans are thrilled to finally see a potential successor to Advance Wars, keeping the charming art direction and turn-based tactical gameplay that you can’t really find elsewhere these days. Even better, Wargroove comes with full online capabilities, meaning it can right that wrong when Advance Wars died before online play on handhelds became a standard feature.
6 Jump Force
Pandamonium has broken out! Frieza’s somehow attacking Earth… REAL Earth, that is to say. He’s just made his touchdown in New York City before Goku bursts in and tries to stop him. You were just trying to mind your own business before you got caught in the crossfire. However, you’ve been given a second lease on life and now head a squadron of famous Shonen Jump heroes! Choose between Goku’s, Luffy’s, or Naruto’s team and save the world from the impending invasion of villains! The story is just there to justify why the crossover is happening, though. No one is playing because they’re really that concerned about saving Earth or understanding why Jump characters have suddenly sprung to life. No, you’re playing because you wanna watch Naruto blast Goku with a Rasengan while Yusuke Urameshi snipes them both with a Spirit Gun from a distance. It’s a fighting game first and foremost, and a made a lot of waves when Microsoft debuted it at their E3 presentation last year.
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5. Anthem
The Monitor just believes he’s keeping the world safe. Of course, this belief also involves him oppressing the public and forcing them to live in a horribly violent nanny-state. You’ll play as a Freelancer, a mercenary for hire who goes up against whoever pays the right price. Sometimes, that even means going up against the Dominion—the Monitor’s own military organization. You’ll also explore tons of planets, build up relationships with your teammates, and discover the secrets of the Monitor. However, what really drives Anthem is the interconnected online play with the main campaign. Fans are a little sad that the return of Bioware seems to be offering more limited branching story paths and relationship options than they are usually known for, but at the same time, it’s great just to have them back in the fold. Anthem is the Bioware take on the Destiny-style of MMORPG Shooter, and for that alone, it’s got people intrigued.
4. Far Cry: New Dawn
Well, it finally happened. Nuclear war finally broke out, and now civilization is picking up the pieces. Some survivors have attempted to build a new life for themselves in Hope County. However, things look bleak when some Highwaymen sisters by the names of Mickey and Lou start causing trouble. You’ll need to do your best to fight them off, even if it means up teaming up with New Eden. While Far Cry is essentially a yearly franchise like Call of Duty and Madden at this point, people are still pretty excited about New Dawn since it’s the first time we’ve gotten a direct sequel to a Far Cry title. New Dawn is actually a continuation of the story from last year’s extremely popular Far Cry 5, and will actually provide some much-needed resolution to that title. Not only that, but the addition of Expedition missions, which sends players to smaller maps outside of the main map, to collect supplies, looks to spice up the Far Cry gameplay.
3. God Eater 3
Well, Earth is doomed. The Aragami have essentially claimed it as their own at this point and devour anything they come across. The only people who have been able to fight against the Aragami are the God Eaters, and they’ve only been able to do that due to being blessed with the power to summon God Arcs. However, now the God Eaters are starting to question their role in the world, and the fate of humanity is called into question. The God Eaters have to fight for their own right to survive! Though us in the West received God Eater 2 just a little over 3 years ago due to the expansion, it’s actually been a much longer wait for the rest of the world. The original God Eater 2 released on the PSP of all systems, and we were just lucky enough that Namco put it on the PS4. Because of this, you can expect an entire generation’s-worth of improvements with God Eater 3, including tons of Quality of Life additions, gameplay shake-ups, and vastly improved graphics over Rage Burst!
2. Metro Exodus
It’s been 2 years since the events of Metro 2033 and, yes, the world is still a mess. Artyom has finally escaped the Metro in Moscow and starts making his journey eastward with the Spartan Rangers. Of course, it’s not just desert wastelands that spring up as a result of nuclear wastelands. Nuclear winter has made its arrival too! You’ll trek through the treacherous blizzard around the Volga River as Artyom to find the Aurora train that’ll allow him to start his life anew! We’re going to be honest here: not many expected Metro to last this long as a series. Its hyper-realistic take on surviving nuclear fallout made people think it wouldn’t really find a massive audience as it has, but, well, here we are. We’re thrilled to see Metro still alive and kicking though, as with Metro Exodus, you’ll get to see a full evolution of its unique blend of survival and FPS elements come to fruition. It’s no longer about keeping track of time to see how long you can survive in a nuclear cloud, but also in the cold! It should be a real treat for those who have been waiting for the Metro 2035 novel to finally be adapted!
1. Crackdown 3
Terrorism is alive and well 2 decades into the timeline of the Crackdown world. In this case, all power has been shut off around the world, and The Agency is called back into action. Governments have been able to narrow down the origin of the attack to New Providence, and it is being credited to an organization called Terra Nova. You’ll play as an Agent and do whatever you can to hunt down the perpetrators, even if it means blowing up a few buildings in the process. Crackdown is to Microsoft what The Last Guardian was to Sony or any game announced by Square Enix is to them: a title announced way too early in its development cycle, came across several delays, and now players are unsure if it’ll actually come out. Rest assured, you’ll be able to get your addictive combination of open-world-collectathon-exploration with satisfyingly destructive gunplay very soon! This is the biggest game Microsoft has announced for this year, and it’s going to be a big one!
Final Thoughts
Hopefully this list helps out with picking and choosing what you want to buy this month. Or, who knows? Maybe it drew attention to something you didn’t realize was going to be a major release and suddenly find yourself wanting! We’re not going to apologize for that, though. Anything we missed out on? Disagree with the order? Please let us know in the comments below!
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