'Sup? Been a year (technically speaking) since I posted anything here. Right, enter 2012; the year of gaming. 2011 was awesome; a lot of great games were released and I had a really good time(when i'm not looking at my flat wallet, though). But you know what? i bet my ass that 2012 will be DA BOMB, cuz brace yourselves, GREAT GAMES ARE COMING!!

OK, here's my list of top 20 upcoming games that i really gotta buy to stop me from drooling rainbows:     


20. Final Fantasy Versus 13
Although FF13 was one of the most beautiful games in this generation in terms of audio-visual, i think it's safe to say that gameplay-wise, and storyline-wise it was the worst Final Fantasy ever - it was so bad that i lost my interest in FF13-2 right from the start. That's why I really hope FFvs13 - after the extremely long development time - will deliver something awesome, and worth the long wait.


19. Metal Gear Rising
Honestly, when this game was announced and Hideo Kojima explains why the MGS:Rising was cancelled, I was VERY dissapointed. You know, they replaced the anticipation of a stealth innovation with a plain, mindless hack-and-slash action, not to mention Platinum Games usually delivers everything in so over-the-top way to the point of sillyness.
But then i played Bayonetta again, and then Vanquish (again), Platinum really served an awesome gameplay on a visually beautiful graphics. That, combined with Kojima's legendary franchise, now i realize, what's not to wait about this game?      


18. Bioshock Infinite
Although i think Bioshock 1 was a bit overrated, I was very, very impressed with Bioshock 2. The innovative gameplay, the art direction, the dark and gritty atmosphere, i really can't say anything bad about Bioshock 2.
When the first trailer of Bioshock Infinite (you know, the one w/ the girl with the cute pair of boobies) came out, i was jaw-dropped. It was kinda like trailer was telling me "would you kindly buy this game?"


17. Tales of Graces F
Over the couple of years, JRPGs has really lost its magic. I remember the last great JRPG i played was Persona 4, and it was on the PS2; the PREVIOUS generation. But this game looks interesting; the semi-chibi characters, the anime-style art direction, and the (seemingly) Devil My Cry-ish action gameplay combined with the elements of JRPG? i can't wait to get my hands on this game.   

16. GTA 5
To tell you the truth, i wasn't much of a GTA fan. Before GTA 4, the only GTA game that i really played was Vice City. But after playing and completed GTA4, my mind was blown away, i just can't stop playing that i immediately completed The Lost And The Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.
... and you know what? those 2 games are just NOT enough. CUM ON GIVE ME MOAR GTA, ROCKSTAR!!


15. Skullgirls
I'm more excited about this game way more than Lollipop Chainsaw and The Blades of Time combined. Watch the trailers and you'll know why. Enough said.


14. Gods Eater 2
I had a great time with Gods Eater: Burst. Albeit it lacks gameplay depth when compared to Monster Hunter series (and it's definitely not as pretty) GE accompanied me through a lot of sleepless nights with its palm sweat-inducing action gameplay and hours and hours of character customization. I'm really looking forward to poke the aragami to death with the new spear-type weapon, or mashing the new giant-aragami-meat-tenderizer hammer.


13. Silent Hill Downpour
To put it bluntly, I AM A SILENT HILL FANBOY. The only SH game I haven't finished is the SH: Origins on the PSP and it was because my PSP was broken. So if i were Pac-Man, these Silent Hill games are my favorite food: yellow dots waiting to be gobbled up.

  
12. Ninja Gaiden 3
When that asswipe Itagaki was fired from Tecmo, i'll be honest; had my worries that the Ninja Gaiden franchise will die again. But after watching the recent trailers, I'm damn sure that this game will be one of the best action gaming experiences this year. And the spreading rumors that Tecmo are going to take the elements from the original NES Ninja Gaiden series into this game hypes NES fanboys like me even more. Maybe it just me hoping, but I can't wait to see Ryu in his classic barefoot costume in seventh-gen graphics.     


11. Street Fighter X Tekken
When i first watched the Ryu vs Kazuya footage on youtube, i got goosebumps that my nose almost got runny like a 6-year old kid eating ice cream. Just at the moment when i thought this will be just another SF4 game with Tekken characters on it, Chun-Li and Nina steps in on the tag-team combo; now that's the OMFG I GOTTA GET MY HANDS ON THIS BEAUTY moment for me. Two all-time best fighting game franchise on one game? I'll be an idiot not to have this game.

   
10. DmC: Devil May Cry
I'm the kind of guy that loves innovations and changes. So i've been lookin forward to this game since day one when the first TGS trailer came out; i really like Capcom's decision to take the new direction from the anime-ish Dante into a darker, grittier dude. What hypes me even more is the game is being developed by Ninja Theory; their previous games Heavenly Sword and Enslaved was very impressive on all aspects: gameplay, art direction, story, and storytelling. I can't wait on seeing how they're gonna handle Devil May Cry.


9. Tomb Raider
OK, I liked how Capcom and NT reboots Dante, but not as much as how i loved Squeenix and Eidos reboots Lara Croft. I admit I stopped playing Tomb Raider since Tomb Raider 2 on the PSone, because the franchise got far-fetched and really hard to like ever since. Not to mention Lara's over-sexualized, yet unimproving assets makes the story uninteresting, moreover the awful graphics and the last-gen controls makes the name Tomb Raider drops off my radar.
But the new Tomb Raider on the trailer plus the gameplay reveal? IT WAS BITCHIN' AWESOME. It's amazing enough to turn a hater like me into a fanboy.   


8. Dragon's Dogma
2011's all about Skyrim versus Dark Souls. Skyrim won on the art direction and storyline, but Dark Souls pwns on the gameplay and character customization. I imagine Dragon's Dogma will be a combination of these two games, if Capcom managed to pull this off using their mighty MT Framework = EPIC WIN.


7. Hawken
Mech Warrior 3, Zone of Enders 2, Front Mission 3, 4, and Evolved. The only FIVE mecha games that is actually GOOD over the last TWELVE YEARS. Let's face it, the Armored Core series was too shitty to be called a videogame, the Gundam Series had it's moments, but ultimately nothing more than a load of crap, the Super Robot War Series is only for the Jappos, and Chromehounds was taken off the shelves too soon before i could even get my hands on it.
I really hope Hawken will be a cool breeze after years of shitstorm of mecha crap.


6. Resident Evil 6
I'm sure this game's gonna be epic. Multiple playable characters; Leon and Chris in the same game, plus Chris's underling and the martial arts guy in black suit (Alex Wesker?), amazing graphics(as usual), run n'cover shooting gameplay, beating up BOWs using bare hands, and the best part: THE RETURN OF THE ZOMBIES. AN ABSOLUTE MUST BUY!!
The only thing missing here is the girls, i really hope the hotties Ada Wong and Sheva Alomar makes an appearance again so that this won't be a sausagefest.

   
5. Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 1 was OK. But Mass Effect 2? Simply the best Action RPG I've played my entire life - and i've been playing videogames since the NES era, mind you. Now that it's only weeks away from Mass Effect 3 i need to gather all my Chi (and fatten my piggy bank, of course) to brace myself for the coming of the end of this amazing trilogy.


4. Assassin's Creed 3
Another wrap-up of another amazing trilogy. I really have high hopes for this game, since the Assassin's Creed trilogy are mind-blowingly amazing games in terms of everything; gameplay, storyline, art direction, everything. O ubisoft please hear my request: please don't mess this one up (and if possible, multiple playable characters, multiple era setting, new climbing mechanism new and improved combat system... okay i'll stop now)   


3. The Last of Us
I'm not exaggerating when I say Uncharted 2 and 3 was among the best gaming experiences i've ever had in my entire life. Now that Naughty Dog's wrapped up Drake's spectacular trilogy - and i doubt i will buy the Golden Abyss anytime this year - enter The Last Of Us; Uncharted's successor. Sure, there's not much info about this game yet(by the time i wrote this) but rumors has it that this game has been in development for quite some time. And definitely won't take much time for me to grab it once it's on the shelves.


2. Quantum Conundrum
I fancy myself as a puzzle game connoiseur since i played Tetris again back in 2008. I've been playing a hell lot of puzzle games ever since. The thing is, (please don't laugh, fellow puzzle game players) for some reasons (many reasons, actually) i haven't got my hands on Portal 1 yet, and i promised myself i won't play Portal 2 unless I played Portal 1 first. But when i saw the trailer of Quantum Conundrum, i was like, "screw portal!" I'M GONNA BUY THIS GAME!!  


1. The Last Guardian
This game is the reason i bought myself a PS3. Period.


Honorable mentions that nearly made it to the list:
- SSX 2012
- Journey
- Asura's Wrath
- Max Payne 3
- Ni No Kuni

...Phew. Now i gotta get back to work. That's a lot of money i'll be spending this year.