It might seem we’ve survived the worst, but all those Q4 releases are sure to have created a considerable backlog of games that still need to be completed, and we are expecting a couple of fresh intriguing releases before the year ends… How on earth will we have time to celebrate Christmas properly? Let’s find out if we can manage to handle our first world problems, after the break!

6th: Trine 2 (Multiplatform)
20th: The Old Republic (PC)

Trine 2 is a beautiful action/puzzle/platformer, that abandons pretenses of a nuanced story and looks to be holding back on the challenge in order to allow the gameplay to flow more smoothly. Balancing the difficulty just right is always one of the trickiest parts to get right in gaming, but it is also absolutely essential for games that don’t rely on their story or their complex mechanics to create a compelling experience; so, it will be quite interesting to check Atlus got it right this time.

The Old Republic is, of course, being touted as the last MMORPG of its kind. Boasting a huge development budget and a monthly subscription model, it is indeed unlikely we’ll see another MMO that releases so much ambitious content right out of the gate & doesn’t rely on the “freemium” model to become profitable. At the same time, developers BioWare will certainly be hoping that TOR becomes the first of a new kind of MMORPGs, a kind that relies on the story and the single-player experience, or, at the very least, the not-so-massively-multiplayer one. Will it work? The Beta has been going on for a while now, and I’ll probably have a few quick thoughts when it’s released for reals.

And that’s it for December’s most interesting releases! It might not look like that much new content, but who hasn’t leftover quests in Skyrim/Assassin’s Creed/Arkham City? So, enjoy your games & stay safe during the holidays!

2011′s second all-out avalanche of videogame releases is upon us, and it’s going to be the biggest we had in years. In case you aren’t familiar with the way we do things around here, “The Plan” isn’t supposed to cover all the decent games of the month, or even just those we’re going to pick up; it’s about the month’s most intriguing releases which is why, in an exciting month, we’ll usually list three or four. This November, we’re listing seven. Check out what they are past the break!

2nd: Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3)
4th: Sonic Generations (X360, PS3)
11th: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Multiplatform)
15th: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (X360, PS3)
18th: Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
18th: Saints Row: The Third (Multiplatform)
25th: Rayman Origins (X360, PS3)

Everyone’s favourite PS3 exclusive returns with Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. On paper, the Uncharted series has the potential to produce one of my favourite games ever, but the below-par platforming and the mindless massacre of same-y nameless goons has left me wanting for much, much more, so far. Here’s to hoping Drake’s Deception finally lives up to that potential!

Like a moth to a flame, I’m drawn to Sonic games no matter how many times they’ve burned me in the past. They are my childhood and I’ll give ‘em a chance even if I full-well expect ‘em to be bad. However, after a slew of truly terrible releases, last year’s Sonic Colours was decent enough to make me think that the nostalgia-fueled Sonic Generations could actually be a solid game enjoyable by everyone. Don’t call it a comeback!

With Mass Effect 3 slipping to 2012, like I kinda predicted way back in my 2010 Recap / 2011 Expectations post, and Batman: Arkham City already out, there is only one game left to be insanely excited about and that game is none other than Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Now, games in the Elder Scrolls series habitually make you feel like they are going to be the best games of the decade right-before their release. They promise you the stars and once you play them, you realize that, maybe the engine is kinda ugly, the voice-acting is quite bland, the huge world is full of little glitches. I fully expect Skyrim to be ridiculously over-hyped on 11/11/11, then its stock dropping rapidly. Personally, I think it’s going to be a good game, I’ll certainly enjoy it for its ambition alone, but if you go in expecting the best game ever, it’ll probably frustrate you to no end.

My feelings on the Assassin’s Creed franchise are well documented, as is my disenchantment with Ubisoft‘s apparent desire to “milk” the franchise as much as possible. Assassin’s Creed was a solid concept that lacked a bit in the execution and Ubisoft worked well to address its shortcomings and build on its the strengths to release the excellent Assassin’s Creed II. Then, they tweaked AC II a little bit to release Brotherhood and I’m afraid they might be doing the same thing with Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. Even if that’s true, we’ll still get a technically great game, but fine-tuned retreads don’t gel that well with me. I hope Ubisoft surprises me with Revelations but, in case it doesn’t, I really hope they stop being afraid to get creative, take risks with the established formula, even if it works, push the story forward and give us an inspired Assassin’s Creed III next time around…

Ah, the Legend of Zelda series! What’s left to say about those gems, except that Twilight Princess wasn’t as good as Windwaker and Spirit Tracks was, in my eyes, a new low for Nintendo? Seriously though, it’s virtually impossible for Skyward Sword not to bring a smile to my face. It’s the first Zelda game designed for the Wii, I know it won’t be as cheap as Spirit Tracks and it’ll probably be fresher than Twilight; its look is definitely inspiring.

Closing up the month, we have another Ubisoft release and another comeback! Before the adorable Rabbids, their mindless minigames and their crazy success, that universe’s star was Rayman and he spent most of his time platforming. And it was time well spent! I hope we’ll be able to say the same about playing Rayman Origins, clearing the way for a resurgence of even more venerable platforming protagonists. Who will be next? I know the smart money is on Crash and the ironic/sarcastic bet on Bubsy, but my heart is rooting for that little bird from New Zealand Story. Loved that guy!

September, the time where we customarily get back to school, back to work, back to reality, back to gearing up to play some AAA titles! Let’s see what this month has in store for us, past the break!

6th: Disgaea 4 (PS3)
30th: FIFA 12 (Multiplatform)

There was a time, back in the PSX era, where turn-based RPGs were coming out at frenetic intervals, and most of them were pretty okay to boot! Sadly, that time is long gone, but we still get the odd gem every now and again; and when you say “odd” & “turn-based” in the same sentence there’s a fair chance you’re talking about the Disgaea series. Indeed, Disgaea 4 is coming overseas and it should be wacky enough to offset the hint of genre-fatigue I’ve been feeling lately.

September also signals the return to the bleachers for most football aficionados, and, although we usually have to wait until mid-October for the newest round of football videogames, this time we’ll get our fix pretty close to the Champions League openers. With 2.5 FIFAs that were clearly better than their PES counterparts, I feel it’s high time to stop talking about the series’ dramatic comeback and start labeling it as the undisputed king for this generation of consoles. That’s not to say I’ll stop checking out PES altogether, much like I didn’t stop checking FIFA even when it was downright abysmal, but I’m fairly certain that FIFA 12 will be the people’s choice this season.

And, yes, as timeless as a chainsaw to the face might be for some, that’s pretty much it for me! See you in an even more exciting October!

Ah, August, the only month where I play most of my games on the beach, instead of the TV. Still, there are a few fresh videogame releases, fortuitously scheduled towards the end of the month and my vacation, I’ll definitely be checking out. Check out the list after the break!

23rd: Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Multiplatform)
30th: Tropico 4 (PC)
30th: Driver: San Francisco (Multiplatform)

The one thing certain about Deus Ex: Human Revolution is that every single one videogame journalist is wishing for it to be spectacular. The original was groundbreaking, back in 2000, it was the kind of title that gets people enamored with videogames and the business as a whole, but the 2003 sequel was mostly heartbreaking. So, everyone’s hoping “Human Revolution” will erase “Invisible War” from memory and live up to the original standard, but being a FPS in today’s market often comes with excess baggage that might just cripple it. From where I’m standing, it looks like Metal Gear Solid meets SWAT 4 and I’m relatively hopeful; at least it’s better than GTA meets Call of Duty.

If From Dust was my “gateway Populus“, Tropico 4 is my “gateway Sim City“. Even if they were somewhat lacking in the production values and challenge departments, the Tropico series have always been a fun, humourous spin on the classic city-building game and Tropico 4 looks like might be the best one yet.

I’ve always had a curious relationship with the Driver games: I always love the concept, so I always play them, but I never finish them as there always comes a point where they get too damn retarded. Still, it’s a variant to the straight-up racing game I’ll always favor, so I’m keen to check out San Francisco and see how far I can get, before uncontrollable nervous laughter forces me to put down the controller.

It’s time to break out the beachwear and seriously start working on that tan, as we’ve officially reached the capricious summer months! Make sure to leave one set of clothes able to withstand a blizzard though, just in case everything freezes over on account of a certain videogame release that might have taken forever, but is now happening for reals!

For more thoughts on that and the other interesting June release, simply click through the break.

10th: Duke Nukem Forever (Multiplatform)
10th: inFamous 2 (PS3)

That’s right, this is the month we finally get Duke Nukem Forever, one of the year’s most interesting releases, not because it looks amazing or anything, but simply because it’s happening.

There seems to be a certain buzz popularized on the interets that DNF will end up disappointing everyone, which is just ludicrous. It’s not like the hype has been building up since development started in 1997; most everyone had long written the game off, so the proverbial bar, if it even exists, is set so low as to be meaningless. It’s like having the world’s most unfit person resolving to run a marathon; his time wouldn’t matter at all, simply finishing would be a grand accomplishment in itself.

When Gearbox made it clear this was happening and the May 6th date was set to stone, I declared that Duke Nukem Forever only had to do two things to make me happy: Be delayed one last time and have flying pigs as enemies somewhere in the game. The first, of course, came to pass and, as far as the second thing goes… I guess I’ll just have to play the damn thing to find out.

As far as games that are interesting because they look to be fun go, we have inFamous 2, the sequel to one of those elusive PS3 exclusives that weren’t outright terrible. Of course, the 360 has, nowadays, definitely lost its edge when it comes to securing exclusives but inFamous 2 still holds great importance for Sony, since it’s a great opportunity to win back some its customers broken, pilfered hearts, after the, still-ongoing, PlayStation Network fiasco.

So, yeah, June looks to be relatively bare as when it comes to fresh gameplay, but still rather meaty on newsworthy events. There is also the E3 to watch out for, where we might catch a glimpse of Nintendo‘s next console, or some novel games for the Kinect or Move. I really, really hope recycled N64 games and Dance Central 2 won’t be the biggest headlines to come out from gaming’s most produced show.

Alright gang, today we enter the most easy-going month of the year and summer is so close we can practically feel the revitalizing sea breeze! You may check past the break, for my thoughts on May’s most interesting videogame releases!

13th: LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Multiplatform)
17th: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (PC)
20th: L.A. Noire (X360, PS3)

My affection for both the LEGO: [Insert Franchise Here] concept and the Pirates of the Caribbean setting is common knowledge nowadays, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m happily looking forward to LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game. Sure, it’s not likely to set the world ablaze, but it will be a very fun cooperative platformer nonetheless.

The original Witcher was an ambitious variation of the standard “Neverwinter Nights“-style for PC RPGs and Assassins of Kings looks set to be as pleasingly familiar, but still weirdly exotic as the first one. Of course, the thing I’m really curious about is whether I’ll be able to actually play it: DRM is always a hot topic on the Internets, but it’s with the Witcher that I’ve personally felt its sting, as no matter of customer, technical, or psychological support could get my legitimate copy to run past its unapologetically daft copy protection system.

Finally, L.A. Noire seems to be the game adaptation of your token “Gritty Police Procedural” TV show and has already picked up loads of press for having the most realistic facial animations ever rendered by a computer. It is also the latest in a string of Rockstar games that interest me immensely more than their Grand Theft Autos and I really hope it’ll hold up better than its honorary predecessor, boRed Dead Redemption.

There is also one more game that was in the Brink of making the list, but the bar has been recently set a bit higher for cooperative First Person Shooters. In unrelated news, 100% new JRT by the end of the week!

After a marvelously busy March, today, we greet a disappointingly slow April. This looks to be a truly disastrous month for the gaming industry: Not only is it lacking a Call of Duty, Halo or GTA release, it doesn’t even offer any notable DLC to hold us over. April’s only saving grace just might be that Farmville is still open for business… or, perhaps, the games we’ve posted after the break.

21st: Mortal Kombat (X360, PS3)
22nd: Portal 2 (Multiplatform)

Now, to be perfectly clear, I don’t think the new Mortal Kombat is a game I’d ever recommend you buy, but it still is a noteworthy release. The original was something different, a gloriously violent fighting game that allowed you to punctuate your win with hysterical fatalities. Its mechanics were sub-par, which is why later games in the series failed miserably: instead of adding more ridiculously gory ways to dispose of your opponent, they tried to deepen gameplay. This might seem like a noble goal, but the reality is that since MK‘s developers can’t come near, say, Street Fighter‘s quality when it comes to the simpler gameplay mechanics, more complex ones would only widen and emphasize the gap.

So, the latest Mortal Kombat wisely focuses on looking cool and violent, which is great, but it is also why I don’t think it can possibly be a recommended purchase. Since the gameplay will probably not be able to hook you on the multiplayer the way Marvel vs. Capcom 3 can, you’ll pretty much be done with it as soon as you see all of the fatalities. This would make it a rental, if we weren’t living in the YouTube generation.

The true highlight of the month is, of course, the sequel to everyone’s favourite game in the history of ever, Portal. Portal is pretty much proof that most critics are so enamored with First Person Shooters, terrible, bland, xeroxed First Person Shooters, that when they are tricked into playing one that has some tight writing and puzzles slightly more elaborate than “shoot X IN THE FACE” they immediately achieve nirvana.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Portal is a bad game: it’s objectively good and I definitely had fun with it; but it’s only great, when compared to trash like Killzone, and most of the guys waxing lyrical about it wouldn’t even have played it if it wasn’t part of the Orange Box.

As far as Portal 2 goes, it’s a pretty safe bet it’s going to be pretty good, but the thing that worries me is that Valve keeps forcing me into online cooperative multiplayer. Playing with your friends was orders of magnitude more fun that playing with the AI in Left 4 Dead, so it’ll be interesting to see if this holds true here as well.

- Unconventional-thinker-cat courtesy of Halolz

The first hard-hitting month of the year is upon us! March will be putting my time-management skills to the test, as I try go through marathon gameplay sessions while still making enough public appearances to satisfy everyone in my social circle that happens to have a birthday right about now. And, trust me, I know a lot of people whose parents were apparently feeling extra frisky around June. Click past the break to find out which games I consider most noteworthy, for this, March 2011!

4th: Fight Night: Champion (Multiplatform)
11th: Dragon Age II (Multiplatform)
25th: Total War: Shogun 2 (PC)

Three titles might not look like much, but Dragon Age and Total War aren’t your typical kind of franchise: Their flagship releases aren’t your average type of game, where you spend a couple of bombastic afternoons and are done with it, unless you stick around for the multiplayer. They are games that, whether you like ‘em or not, you will spend whole days getting through their main gameplay modes.

Much like Civilization and Football Manager, both of which, as luck would have it, are getting free patches this month! Civ V also gets a new playable civilization and a scenario as DLC, but the big news is definitely the fresh round of balance tweaking: Amongst other things, I’ll need to see if my civilization can stand the test of time without relying on the, once-ludicrously-overpowered-but-now-seemingly nerfed, City-State alliances.

In FM 2011 we get some bug-squashing and, most importantly, the February roster update. Once you realize that each subsequent entry from SI hasn’t been much more than a roster update since CM4 (oh, I went there), it makes sense that this has me about as excited as a new FM release. I’m not terribly excited, mind, but even a simple play-through takes at least three days of gameplay.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: I wish that games like FM, Fifa and NBA 2K only released DLC a couple of times per year and a full, “retail-version”, title every three years or so; or however long it takes them to implement a brand-new engine.

Which is why I’m looking forward to Fight Night: Champion. EA took a breather from milking that franchise, leaving the development team some space to try a few new things. It’s a decision that’s certainly been guided by the fact that EA has no real competition for its boxing games, but it’s a decision I applaud nevertheless. Even if the game doesn’t end up being revolutionary, or any good for that matter, their mentality has taken a step towards the right direction. Much like they cancelled NBA Elite 2011 for being too balls, I hope they’ll one day start cancelling any sports game that feels to samey.

Speaking of things that feel samey, we have another Total War coming up! This is a series that started out strong and peaked quickly, around Rome: Total War, so a lot of people have turned against it. When game after game has the same exact qualities, the good things start losing their impact and the bad things start becoming unbearable.

Total War: Shogun 2 will likely be more of the same: A very pretty, quite massive, slow-paced war game, with barely-there AI and egregious load-times, but I am willing to give it a try. If it is indeed the same, I’ll still have some fun, even if I’ll tire of it quickly since it’ll be the same kind of fun I’ve been having since 2004. If it surprises me, all the better!

Well, not all better, since there are some other games that will feel neglected if spent too much time Total Warring. We’ll talk about those after I’ve been elected president of the UN, Civ V just finished patching.

Cats & kittens, it’s already February: the most playful month of the year! Granted, most of its playfulness is attributed to Valentine’s Day, but these new, less racy, but still interesting games you can play in your bedroom do have their own part. Click past the break for their names and my quick thoughts!

18th: Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Multiplatform)
18th: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (X360, PS3)
22nd: de Blob 2 (Multiplatform)

As I’ve mentioned before and as silly as it might sound, the Lego [Insert Film License Here] series is actually pretty great! The Clone Wars focuses on the well-received animated series of the same name and the most interesting thing about it just might be that the portable versions are shaping up quite well. As a two-player experience, I’ll probably end up recommending this one over New Super Mario Bros. once again.

Fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom 3, usually put me in the awkward spot where I’m too good to have fun playing them with my friends, but too n00b to make it online. And it is awkward, because they’re really meant to be played with other humans. Still, I feel that simply seeing all those beloved and despised characters co-existing once again will be a treat, even if the matchmaking isn’t fair enough to make online play enjoyable. And, of course, if you are a hardcore fan of fighting games, Marvel vs. Capcom certainly has you covered.

Lastly, De Blob was a rather clever platformer for the Wii, with a pretty great development history. It was successful enough to warrant a sequel, probably because there doesn’t exist a playable Call of Duty game on the Wii for you lot to blindly buy instead. The sequel is multiplatform, however, so, if it bombs, I am blaming you and your BLOPS.

That does it for this month’s plan! As far as our posting schedule goes, we’ll have a piece covering the rest of the month’s videogame releases, then a review around Valentine’s Day and another one to close out February. Stay tuned to find out if I’m talking about text or video reviews, and if they’re for games that actually came out in 2011!

- Samus’ Valentine by Katrin Auch

Alright, apparently you do like The Plan posts, enough to also ask for an additional monthly summary of the less interesting, by JRT standards, releases. Let’s call it “The Back-Up Plan” and check out the very first one, after the break:

14th: Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (DS)
14th: DC Universe Online (PC, PS3)
21st: Mass Effect 2 (PS3)
21st: Mindjack (X360, PS3)
25th: Knights Contract (X360, PS3)
28th: Dead Space 2 (Multiplatform)

We do have a healthy selection of games this month and the reason these six don’t make my A-list is not that they look set to suck; you can’t really judge that from trailers and previews because these are pretty much required by law to be positive. But a game can give you a certain vibe, depending on what you personally like, whether it tries to bring something new & creative to the table, and how much effort the developers seem to have put into it.

These are the games that, to me, don’t look to be bringing something special and, even if I end up liking them, it’s unlikely they’d be intriguing enough to warrant a proper review. But don’t worry, we won’t be turning this into “Johnny Previews Tonight”, the team is working on some actual reviews that will be finding your way soon. But for now, here are my two cents on the aforementioned releases:

As absurd as it is, I really love the idea of Kingdom Hearts and it’s actually executed rather well. That said, I feel the handheld versions never quite reached the level of the “proper” installments, so I’m not holding my breath for Re:coded. However, it does make me want to count how many emails I got with that exact subject title.

As I’ve said before, I haven’t been excited for a MMORPG since Everquest. I have high hopes for Guild Wars 2, which shows ambition and a willingness to rework a lot of facets that have become taboo, but even The Old Republic, with its high production values and narrative hooks, leaves me bemused. So, if the Star Wars license can’t do it for me, what chance does the DC Universe have? It does have a veteran EQ developer working for it, strong backing by Sony and some cool trailers, so I’m fairly certain it’s going to be pretty good, but “pretty good” is not enough to get me back in the grind.

I actually briefly mentioned my thoughts on the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 way back in my video review. It has since been crowned the “JRT Game of the Year: 2010“, but you just can’t be legitimately excited for a re-release of a game that’s been out for so long.

Squeenix needs a solid title after bombing Final Fantasy XIII and especially XIV, will Mindjack be it? It looks ok, I like the Matrix-esque premise, but I am always wary when Square tries to switch genres.

I can’t quite get a read on Knights Contract. Sometimes it looks awesome, other times it looks like something you’ve played a million times before. It’s certainly something to keep tabs on, but I have a feeling it will be a somewhat enjoyable but easily forgettable game.

I would have instantly loved Dead Space 2, if only it had gone the B-Movie route and called itself Deader Space. I didn’t actually think the original Dead Space was that bad, I’m just not that big on its brand of survival horror and the sequel predictably looks to be more of the same.

So, that completes the picture of the gaming scene for this January! We might also get Stronghold Kingdoms, an MMO version of the average Stronghold line of strategy games, and some titles of an even lower profile, but this is where I draw the line. Next update will hopefully be a video review, in the meantime remember to check out the month’s predicted highlights I’ve posted earlier!