Bravely Second--I know a lot of people hated Bravely Default, and I mostly understand why that is. Personally, though, I loved the game. Yes, it had its shortcomings--chief among them, for me at least, being its annoying chattiness--but the rest of it was so sublime It wasn't hard for me to overlook the ugly bits. I've heard that this oddly named sequel has its own share of pitfalls, but I'm determined to buy and play it anyway. I mean, there's no chance Bravely Second's negatives will be anywhere near as bad as Default's, right?
Dragon Quest VII--I've wanted to play through the original PlayStation iteration of the game ever since I quite literally wrenched myself away from my beloved copy of Dragon Quest IX. What's kept me from starting that predecessor? The astronomical pricetags usually attached to complete versions of Dragon Quest VII is one. Another is that VII's supposed to be a real time sink. Thankfully, this 3DS remake addresses both if those problems (in a way), as launch copies should be $50 or even $40, tops, and the length issue will be less of a worry due to its portability. In other words, this sucker can't be released too soon, as far as I'm concerned.
Final Fantasy Explorers--I'm kind of baffled that I decided to pre-order the North American version of this Final Fantasy offshoot, to tell you the truth. I downloaded and played the game's Japanese demo shortly after it was made available in late 2014 and walked away from it feeling ambivalent. On the one hand, Explorers looks a bit rough. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all if someone revealed that the game began life as a DS game before being ported to the 3DS. I also don't much care for the odd aesthetics of this title's character models. On the other hand, I thought Explorers' real-time gameplay was at least competent, and I'm strangely attracted to adventures that focus on completing quests these days. At any rate, I'm not going to cancel my pre-order now, so hopefully the positives outweigh the negatives once I finally plug this cart into my trusty 3DS.
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest--Of course I went with the version of Fates that will allow my male protagonist to woo one of the game's muscle-bound brutes, right? The question is: will that be enough for me to spend more time with Conquest than I did with Awakening? (Last time I looked, I'd put just under eight hours into the 3DS' first Fire Emblem title.) I don't know, but I sure hope it will, as I really enjoyed what I experienced of Awakening.
Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale--The PopoloCrois (or PoPoLoCrois, if you're a Japanophile) series has intrigued me since I became aware of its first entry, a PlayStation game. That RPG--as well as its sequel and roguelike spin-off, both of which also were PSone titles--featured some of the loveliest sprite-based visuals you're ever going to see in a video game. Sadly, developer Epics veered away from that aesthetic for this curious mash-up, which combines PopoloCrois' setting and turn-based battles with some of Harvest Moon's--I mean A Story of Seasons'--farming-focused gameplay. Oh, well, at least Return to PopoloCrois' polygonal graphics still look pretty good.
Witch & Hero 2--The original Witch & Hero first caught my eye about three years ago due to its 8-bit-esque enemies, which look like they were pulled from an old Dragon Quest game. I was a bit shocked when I actually bought and played this FK Digital title, though, as it plays nothing like that classic series of RPGs. Instead, it's a twitchy, arcade-action game that confidently leans toward tower-defense territory. Will this soon-to-be-released sequel be more of the same or offer up something new? I have no idea, but I'm anxious to find out one way or the other.
Are there any in-the-works 3DS games that are causing you to salivate in anticipation of their impending (during 2016) release? If so, let me know about them in the comments section below.
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