A nice laundry list of all the games I’m looking forward to in (hopefully) the near future. Unfortunately, almost none listed have concrete dates. Oh well.
Quest For Glory II (AGD Interactive)
AGD is a group of independent developers remaking some of the old Sierra games that never got true VGA releases. Their two previous releases (Kings Quest I and II) were really incredibly well done. I had never played KQII, and also have never played QFGII because it was the old EGA graphics and “type” what you wanted to do rather than point and click. QFGII has been in development for quite some time and is expected be released some time this year. Unfortunately, the developers are also trying to finish their own project (Himalaya Studios – Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine) which uses the same AGS development platform. I’m really looking forward to playing QFGII as it will be the last one in the series I haven’t completed.
Kings Quest III (Infamous Adventures)
Along the same lines, another group is remaking KQIII, yet another “early” Kings Quest I never played (I played the first one, and then jumped to KQIV, then completing KQV and VI). Should also be released sometime this year. Should be really good.
Kings Quest IX - The Silver Lining (Phoenix Online Studios)
Are we detecting a theme here? Another group of independent developers is making a new Kings Quest. I just discovered this one, but apparently its been covered in numerous gaming mags. This one will be done in 3D rendered environment (in contrast to the titles mentioned above which is sprite and art paintings based). This one (along with the two above) will be wonderfully free!
Final Fantasy XII - (Square Enix)
Jumping platforms for a moment, XII will be the latest in the on going Final Fantasy series (and probably the last on the PS2). The game was just released in Japan today, and I’m not sure when the US release date is, but my guess is it is still a few months away. The demo which came out with Dragon Quest VIII (which is a great game BTW) encountered a bit of ire from fans because the combat had left the traditional turn based in favor of the World of Warcraft real time system. Supposedly there has been a lot of rework between the demo and today’s release, but I haven’t heard anything yet from the talking heads. I’ve been a fan of Final Fantasy since VII came out for the PC (and it is the primary reason I bought a PS2 – though the Prince of Persia series has also been excellent). FFX2 was a humongous flop, in my opinion (and most everyone else’s) so I’m anxious to see what Square has in store next.
In addition to these, I’ve mentioned previously that Dreamfall will be released sometime in the next few months I believe and I can’t wait for that. Additionally, I’ve went on ebay and I’m trying to pick up the old Gabriel Knight trilogy (also released by Sierra in the mid-ninties. They are supposedly some of the best adventure games ever done (using the Lucas Arts SCUMM interface). Given they don’t sell them anymore, they are tough to track down, but that should be fun as well.