Tracy Fullerton of USC Interactive Media & Games said it well: “The next step in the evolution of games is not newness and it’s not surprise, it’s depth.”
2015 is going to be full of new surprises in the gaming industry, but what will characterize it is the richness of external worlds and the depth of our internal worlds as we explore.
Forest scene from Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
One of the major themes blossoming in the gaming world are expansive environments. Technology, not our imagination, has been the limiting factor for how far-reaching a gaming environment can span. We’re reaching a critical mass with our technological capabilities that will aid developers in realizing their vision: for example, No Man’s Sky is creating a universe for its world, and The Legend of Zelda for the WiiU will be magnitudes larger than Twilight Princess.
The Pond‘s Carlos Rodela invited me to join him on his Video Game Break podcast were we discussed our most-anticipated video games for 2015. Don’t miss my picks if you have a soft spot for adventure and excellent storytelling.
The minds behind the puzzle-exploration genre’s seminal game are back. Between re-releases of beloved titles such as MYST and RIVEN, ideas have been brewing at the Eastern Washington-based game developer for the last several years. The potential for crowdfunded independent games encouraged Cyan to get the band together. Cyan’s fans spoke loud and clear with an incredible $1.3 million raised through Kickstarter in November 2013.
CEO Rand Miller has a knack for layering puzzles so as to create alternate reality games within a game. He and his design team have the ability to seamlessly integrate puzzles that feel natural–an essential aspect of world immersion.
Take, for example, the name Obduction: the geologic term means “to cover over”. But view the trailer that contains an odd pinecone-shaped egg descending from the sky and you might be reminded of extra-terrestrials. The name is also a play on the homonym “abduction”–to be forcibly taken away.
Chew on that for a while and see where your imagination takes you. It will likely play a part in traveling to a new world.
Obduction is kind of a big deal because it’s Cyan’s first property that is a full departure from the MYST franchise. I’m looking forward to what this team of talented designers and storytellers can do in a new paradigm using the powerful Unreal Engine 4. An early in-game peek driven by Art Director Eric Anderson unfolds a lush moonlit forest and rich object interaction. It’s a subtle detail, but I’m particularly impressed with the ground cover: the pine needles and rocks give a sense of realism that add up to deeper environmental immersion.
Why it will blow your mind: The guys who brought you MYST are stretching their chops into a whole new world using the technology to make their immersive adventures even more drool-worthy.
(Disclaimer: I had the pleasure of working with Cyan on their Obduction Kickstarter fundraising round, and I have no financial stake in the final product.)
OK, excuse me for relishing in the obvious choice for 2015 video game releases, but it has to be said: this will probably be the best Legend of Zelda since Ocarina of Time. Why?
1) Epic scale. Thanks to advances in hardware, the newest Legend of Zelda will make good on the promise of the largest “Zelda” world yet. It’s so large that the entire map of Twilight Princess only covers a fraction of the WiiU feature.
You’ll be able to use a binocular-like capability to view distant landmarks. Ride Epona across the varied landscape to reach it and most likely run across strange new sights – it might very well take you an hour to get there. This was one of my favorite aspects of Shadow of the Colossus: unbridled landscape exploration that goes on for miles.
And you thought Ocarina was epic.
2) Frustration-free playable character mechanics. The Zelda development team have done their homework and improved all those little things that got our goat.
Remember riding Epona, your trusty steed, in Ocarina of Time? She’d take off into a glorious gallup and then BAM! A dead halt as she hits a tree. It was exhausting (and flat-out unrealistic) to manage Epona’s gait, speed, and direction so she didn’t blindly hit objects. In this version, Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto proudly asserts that Epona will respond like a real-life horse, avoiding trees and boulders. Thank goodness.
Another new feature debut is what appears to be a slow-motion attack mechanic. In the Legend of Zelda preview video, Miyamoto demonstrates Link vaulting from Epona and freezing mid-air to aim his bow. It seems as though you’ll be able to hold position for at least 3 to 5 seconds before falling to the ground. Using the WiiU gamepad will be critical here, and will most likely include the second screen to help you target your enemy. GameXplain even hypothesizes that this is more than just a new dimension to battles: it might tie into a time manipulation narrative.
3) Side missions that maximize the experience. Thanks to such a large world, there will be plenty of opportunities for side quests. “There may even be times where you forget what your goal is because you’re doing other things on the side,” says Miyamoto in an interview about the upcoming epic. “There may be times where you go into one big, long dungeon or there may be times where you’re headed to a dungeon, and you’re doing other things along the side.”
Not so much into side missions? More interested in the core narrative? Miyamoto assures us that you don’t need to dedicate your life to the game to play through the story.
Why it will blow your mind: Besides the lush graphics and out-of-the-box battle mechanics? The new Hyrule promises to be an expansive world where you can scope for miles and bosses defy map boundaries.
The usual name is enough to earn a few curious glances from even the most hardcore First Person Shooter fan. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is billed as the “spiritual successor” to the exploration-narrative game Dear Esther. That means we can expect to be swathed in a world of eerie isolation, ghosts, beautiful vistas, and a haunting story that stays with you long after the game is over.
Dear Esther was criticized as having a linear path that played out more like reading a novel than engaging with a world. Unlike its predecessor, Everybody’s will have object interaction and the player will be able to affect in-game events. Six characters’ fates will be tied together through an evolving England landscape inspired by post-apocalyptic British authors such as John Christopher and John Wyndham.
A more recent (and enigmatic) trailer says that the game will be exclusively for PlayStation4 – which means it’s finally time for me to buy a PlayStation4.
Other fans have not been so supportive of the console exclusivity when it was originally slated to be released for PC. Developer The Chinese Room was concerned it would not be able to raise enough funding through a Kickstarter campaign alone to fully realize their vision for the game. This works well for Sony, who seems to be investing in the exploration-narrative genre more heavily than other consoles with titles such as Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and The Witness. This is a smart strategic move as most exploration games have historically been limited to PC and Mac only.
Why it will blow your mind: The Chinese Room has proven themselves to be masterful storytellers. Now let’s see what they can do on a PlayStation budget.
Contrary to my initial assumption, it’s not about exploring Seattle’s southerly sister city. The truth is even better.
Little has been revealed about Tacoma since its initial announcement in December 2014. A vaguely eerie and introspective trailer docks us onto an Art Deco-infused transfer station orbiting the Moon. The station appears abandoned with the exception of refuse such as juice packets and a station guide hang in zero gravity. Our technician protagonist responds to an incoming request with a heavy “I am in” to mission control.
Why is the station abandoned? Who patroned it? Why does the technician sound so wistful in her communications? How will zero-gravity enhance the play experience? Fullbright’s award-winning predecessor Gone Home was a richly emotional storytelling experience. The possibilities for their next iteration (and the forthcoming answers to these questions) put Tacoma on my list.
Though the only grappling found in its award-winning predecessor Gone Home was of the emotional variety, Tacoma will include some level of physical combat. Fear not, adventure fans! Co-founder Steve Gaynor announced a combat toggle option that allows the player to immerse themselves in the exploration and storytelling–a mode that was inspired by the 1994 game System Shock. If only more games had this capability, I might have actually finished BioShock and a bazillion other games.
Forgive the stretch on this one: Fullbright’s next environmental narrative will be available in 2016. But I’m just so excited that I have to share this now. (Thanks for understanding the needs of a fangirl.)
Oh, and geek-out moment! Note who created this facility in-game. Love it when an alternate reality is introduced with real-world entities.
Why it will blow your mind: I’m banking on a metaphysical twist that will question the meaning of our very existence through the excavation of an eerie lunar transfer station.
Hungry for more? Listen to Carlos and Nate share their picks that span action, adventure, puzzle, and even resurrected retro gaming. Which games are you most excited for in 2015?
Lauren is a lifelong gaming fan. She expresses her love of strong female pop-culture characters by costuming at conventions. Internet marketing consulting, playing the clarinet and sax, practicing martial arts, and geeking out over tea keeps her busy the rest of the time. Find more of her shenanigans on Twitter @hallstigerts and Google+!
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