The Fire Emblem <\/em>series is a pretty reliable workhorse when it comes to tactical RPGs, and Engage <\/em>looks like it\u2019ll carry on that legacy with aplomb. Expect deep, strategic combat, plenty of returning fan favourite characters from across the series\u2019 history, and a political plot with lots of intrigue and danger to navigate. Engage<\/em>\u2019s core mechanic is the ability to summon characters from the franchise\u2019s greatest hits, too, so if you\u2019re a devotee, you\u2019ll find lots to like here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luminous Productions returns to the fold with Forspoken<\/em>, an open-world action RPG set in the fantasy land of Athia. You are Frey, a young woman transported to said land and equipped with a magical, sentient cuff that allows her to vanquish her foes with magic. Together with the aptly-named Cuff, you must set out to discover why you\u2019ve been brought here and to find your way home. The demo for this one was pretty promising, so we\u2019re looking forward to checking out the real deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only is Horizon Call of the Mountain <\/em>a console exclusive, but it\u2019s also only available on the upcoming PlayStation VR 2, so if you want to check out the latest adventure in the land of robot dinosaurs, you\u2019ll have to shell out a little cash. However, it looks like Call of the Mountain <\/em>will be worth it; Horizon<\/em>\u2019s spectacular world is strongest in the visual department, after all, so experiencing it through the lens of VR seems like it\u2019ll be an unmissable experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, the latest title in the Legend of Zelda <\/em>series is coming, and we couldn\u2019t be more excited. It\u2019s a direct followup to 2017\u2019s seminal Breath of the Wild<\/em>, the far-reaching influence of which is only really starting to be felt now; the game was so well-designed that other titles have struggled to match its brilliance. We know Tears of the Kingdom <\/em>will take place both on the ground and in the sky, but beyond that, we don\u2019t have a huge amount of info about this one yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The newest instalment in the Final Fantasy <\/em>series is taking a decidedly darker tone than its predecessors. As Clive, you will explore the land of Valisthea, a continent dominated by the vast and terrifying Eikons. This being a Final Fantasy <\/em>game, you\u2019re quickly dragged into a conflict between several nations, one that will see the first direct Eikon-to-Eikon battles. Final Fantasy XVI <\/em>promises to be equal parts spectacular and thought-provoking when it lands in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake <\/em>project doesn\u2019t have a release date yet, but that isn\u2019t stopping us getting excited for it. This is the point at which Cloud and company\u2019s journey really takes off; from the choking confines of Midgar, they set out to explore a vast world that includes iconic locations like Cosmo Canyon, the military town of Junon, and, of course, the fateful City of the Ancients. Hopefully, we learn when this one is coming sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2018\u2019s Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man <\/em>showed us that there was life in the old spider yet. Spider-Man\u2019s open-world games had been getting more and more tedious and forgettable, but Spider-Man <\/em>revitalised the series with great web-slinging, excellent combat, and a surprisingly effective story. 2020\u2019s Miles Morales <\/em>standalone expansion continued that run of good form, so we\u2019re hoping that the upcoming Spider-Man 2 <\/em>will be just as rewarding to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll be honest: when we first heard about Redfall<\/em>, we were a little worried. Arkane is an excellent developer that makes great single-player immersive sim experiences, and although the studio had a brief dalliance with multiplayer in Deathloop<\/em>, it didn\u2019t feel essential to the experience. Redfall <\/em>is a multiplayer game, but Arkane has promised that its open-world FPS can also be enjoyed in single-player mode. We\u2019ll have to wait and see whether that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Stalker <\/em>franchise remains the most iconic series you\u2019ve never played, and Stalker 2 <\/em>promises to clear out the cobwebs of the original Stalker<\/em>\u2019s followups by providing a clear, honest-to-goodness sequel. Expect lots of open-world exploration in post-nuclear Ukraine (which might be a little too close to home for some), as well as RPG-style questing, looting, and character interaction. GSC Game World has delayed this one a couple of times, so we hope development is progressing apace (and that everyone is safe).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bethesda proudly totes Starfield <\/em>as its first entirely new IP in 25 years, which rather speaks more to the company\u2019s profound success with its existing IPs than to any lack of creative spark. Starfield <\/em>is a hard sci-fi game that focuses on cosmic and planetary exploration, and since it\u2019s a Bethesda RPG, you can look forward to a massive universe with plenty of stuff to see and do. Hopefully, this one isn\u2019t too buggy when it does eventually launch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2023 is shaping up to be yet another great year for gaming. While Microsoft\u2019s slate was relatively underpopulated in 2022, the company looks to be making up for this deficit in 2023 with some excellent exclusives, and Sony is following suit with a couple of the biggest games of the year. Obviously, Nintendo is also … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9313,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"close","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-videogames"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9310"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9312,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9310\/revisions\/9312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. <\/strong>Forspoken<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(PS5, January 24th)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/image.api.playstation.com\/vulcan\/ap\/rnd\/202203\/0922\/AYCfCMQwkY42jPw9hpfjMgvl.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n3. <\/strong>Horizon Call of the Mountain<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(PSVR2, February 22nd)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/image.api.playstation.com\/vulcan\/ap\/rnd\/202207\/0615\/eicVspHDlt11H1xtnsw5dgkz.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n4. <\/strong>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(Nintendo Switch, May 12th)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/2022\/09\/14\/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-button-2k-1663127818777.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n5. <\/strong>Final Fantasy XVI<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(PS5, June 22nd)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/2021\/08\/05\/final-fantasy-xvi-button-1628180674117.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n6. <\/strong>Final Fantasy VII Rebirth<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(PS5, TBA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/2022\/06\/28\/ffvii-rebirth-1656441330369.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n7. <\/strong>Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man 2<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(PS5, TBA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thenerdstash.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Marvels-Spider-Man-2-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n8. <\/strong>Redfall<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(Xbox Series X|S, TBA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com\/steam\/apps\/1294810\/capsule_616x353.jpg?t=1656428428\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n9. <\/strong>Stalker 2: Shadow of Chornobyl<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(Xbox Series X|S, TBA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com\/steam\/apps\/1643320\/capsule_616x353.jpg?t=1672344498\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n10. <\/strong>Starfield<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(Xbox Series X|S, TBA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com\/steam\/apps\/1716740\/capsule_616x353.jpg?t=1664820785\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n