2018 was a great year for game releases. The year saw the tension-filled Sea of Thieves, the emotional Red Dead Redemption II Old West and the thought-provoking Dead Cells. Can gaming developers outdo themselves in 2019? Looking at the early 2019 releases for consoles and the online casino, we believe that they can and will.
A review of some of the best to expect in 2019:
Spelunky 2
Spelunky 1 was so well-received when it was released in 2009 that it’s spawned a sequel named, appropriately, Spelunky 2. Spelunky 1 is still free and now the Yu, Mossmouth, and Blitworks developers are upping the stakes to create a more engaging and more visually appealing game.
The newest hero in Spelunky 2 is Ana Spelunky, the daughter of the original Spelunky. Each level of the game is split into two, even as all the movement takes place on the game’s traditional 2D plane. The levels are more interesting and polished than they were in Spelunky 1 and players will feel the interconnectedness that was, frankly, missing in the first game.
Spelunky 2 starts out where Spelunky 1 left off. Best of all, it’s still free.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World franchise teams up with the Niantic game developer to bring wizarding fans a great new mobile game that takes up where Niantic’s Pokemon Go left off.
The Harry Potter: Wizards Unite app can be downloaded into your smartphone app for lots of magic and adventure. Spellcaster-wannabes will solve mysteries, track down creatures from the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films and hunt artifacts, all while interacting with their favorite Harry Potter characters.
It’s already clear that Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is going to be huge. Wizards Unite follows the last big Harry Potter game app, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, which raised $55 million in only three months despite the microtransaction-heavy game design.
One hopes that Niantic has learned from past mistakes and indications are that it has –Pokémon Go is still as popular as ever so it’s clear that the game designer knows what it’s doing.
We predict that Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will cast its spell on smartphones in 2019.
Mindcraft: Dungeons
2019 Minecraft is going old-school. Minecraft: Dungeons is a retro-style dungeon crawler complete with fair maidens that need rescuing, young men who are ready to do the rescuing and ogres and monsters that need to be defeated. There’s also loot to collect.
Game developer Mojang has promised that Minecraft: Dungeons will be full of new content including new environments and plenty of new items. Everything will be encased in the Minecraft flavor including the Minecraft: Dungeons’ combat system that’s the same one that Minecraft players remember from the old game. You can play Minecraft: Dungeons alone or with friends — Minecraft: Dungeons supports parties of up to four players with bigger rewards for groups.
According to Mojang, Mindcraft: Dungeons is the first of many Minecraft-themed titles now in development.
Jedi: Fallen Order
The new Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was destined to be a success from the moment that it was conceived, if for no other reason than it’s part of the hugely successful Star Wars franchise. But having seen some previews, it’s clear that it will be a success based also on the plot, the game play, the technology and every other aspect of 21st century gaming entertainment.
Respawn Studios has been developing the game for 4 years. The studio hasn’t released much information about the game other than to say that it will feature “slick, larger-than-life action and fun, groundbreaking mechanics.” The game is set during the Dark Times when the Jedis were being ruthlessly hunted by the Dark Forces. This places the time frame between episodes 3 and 4.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
The Castlevania animated series, which is based on the popular video game series, is now in its second season, meaning that the new Castlevania game has an audience waiting patiently for the release of Game II. Now former Castlevania designer Koji Igarashi is releasing Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which is technically not Castlevania because Igarashi doesn’t own the name. But in every other way, it is the same game.
The game follows the adventures of Miriam, a former test subject for a group of evil alchemists, who infiltrates a demonic castle in order to exterminate evil’s forces.
In some ways, it’s a good thing that Igarashi wasn’t able to continue with the old game. This new game has a brand new cast of characters, a brand new crafting system and a “magi-crystal curse” that threatens to rob Miriam of her humanity if she falls into the alchemists’ hands.
Bloodstained isn’t technically a Castlevania revival but …. it is.
New Pokémon
If you loved Pokémon and have been waiting for a sequel that’s as good as the original, you can look forward to 2019 when the latest Pokémon role-playing game is released. Many Pokémon fans weren’t wild about the second Pokémon, Pokémon: Let’s Go, but the new game, whose final name hasn’t yet been established, promises to give you what you want.
Pokémon: Let’s Go was set in the first game’s Kanto region but the new Pokémon will take you to a new land where you will need to hunt down and collect new Pokémon in an entirely new environment.
The game is scheduled to debut on the Nintendo Switch.
Psychonauts 2
Find a summer camp, throw a bunch of psychic-powered kids together in the bunks and you’ll find chaos, shenanigans and serious hi-jinks. That’s the premise of Psychonauts which brings cartoony teen angst to the gaming screen for a quirky and heart-warming adventure.
Psychonauts has become a cult classic, even though the game bombed when the first episode was released a decade ago. Over time the game has developed a following and fans have been calling for a sequel for years – some fans even raised almost 4 million dollars in 2015 to get a sequel into production.
Now it looks like Psychonauts 2 will be worth the wait.
The game follows Raz, a brand new Psychonaut agent who can use abilities like pyrokinesis and telekinesis to tackle platforming challenges and solve puzzles. Many of the original characters return in Psychonauts 2 including Raz’s girlfriend Lili.
The game takes you into the minds of the different agents. You’ll be asked to unravel the mysteries hidden in the kids’ psyches while you learn more about Raz and his unique family.
A fun, entertaining and challenging game adventure for all ages.
