2012 Hype Train

So inspiration has struck dry right now. As of late I've been mostly doing homework or playing King of Fighters XIII. 

Until then, I guess I'm here to do one of those “what we're excited for” list. So, all aboard the hype train. Next stop, 2012.  (wow, can I get more new games journalism?)


Under Night In-Birth

French Bread, I love your stuff. But please, and I mean this lovingly, buy an English dictionary before you name a game again. I have no idea how you came up with a title worse than “Melty Blood.”

Horrendous title aside, UNI-B is looking pretty snazzy. I'm a huge Melty Blood fan, so not only is it cool to see a talented group of developers break out from making fan games to a completely original ones; the game they're making looks fantastic.

French Bread and publisher Ecole, have been pretty tight lipped with info, but from the characters shown, huge sprites, giant slashes, and a breakneck speed, I think we're in for quite a treat.

Character with the best weapon: Linne or Orie

Skullgirls
Oh god another fighting game. By now it's pretty much impossible for me to say different nice things about the genre, because so many games are doing it well. Skullgirls just happens to be another one of those.

I don't know if it's going to live up to the hype, but I do like seeing that it's trying to fix what was broken with tag team games.

That being said, I can respect that. Fine tuned/well balanced tag team games seem to be in short supply, and with the kind of positive buzz around the tournament scene, I think Skullgirls is going to rock.

Character most likely to be played: Parasoul

Dustforce

 

I'm dying to play this. The concept is cute, it has a nice look, and the focus on building and sustaining momentum is a nice change from usual platformers.

 

I'm not far from saying that this might be closer to my dream game of “2D Jet Set Radio” than anything else. And it's also also is looking to contain a blissful soundtrack.

Best of all, it comes out Tuesday! Waiting is irrelevant!

Janitor most likely to be put on duty: Cool old guy with a leaf blower

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown

Virtua Fighter 5 is the best 3D fighting game ever made. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown will be an even better Virtua Fighter 5.

Deep. 

 

Character I'd like to kick in the throat most: This one ^ 

Dragon's Crown

Wow, if this list were to be put anywhere it would imply I have a bias towards arcade-style games. :P

Anyway, Dragon's Crown is looking like the successor to the excellent D&D arcade games. The game has been in development for a long time, director George Kamitani has had the idea in his head for about 13 years, originally planning it to be a Dreamcast game.

Either way, I adore 2D beat-em-ups, Vinillaware's gorgeous art, and the fact that Mr. Kamitani has gone on record saying that Dragon's Crown is his "dream game." 

 

You can only expect good things from here.

Character with least frightening amount of muscles: Wizard

So that's a brief glace at 2012. Unlike last year, I don't think there'll be too many disappointments.

Now if you excuse me, I've got a 100% KOF combo to practice. Those 1 frame links aren't going to link themselves!