Prince of Persia. The lost crown
The new opus of the saga Prince of Persiaof Ubisoft, is expected from January 18. The series still goes back to 1989 and the new chapter, a little out of respect for the original, in turn adopts a 2D environment typical of games of the time. For those who have never heard the expression, we are talking here about a “Metroidvania” type game, whose graphics are reminiscent of the golden age of linear games like Metroid And Castlevania.
That said, it is not because Prince of Persia. The crown lost somehow sacrifices one of its three dimensions that the game loses in originality. The band-announcement suggests in any case a very wide variety of movements, combat actions and secondary quests which are not without respecting a certain tradition reinforced in 2003 in Prince of Persia. The sands of time. Ubisoft promises this time more than twenty hours of gameplay, a few surprises along the way and fun until the end.
Tekken 8
Nine years later Tekken 7, Katsuhiro Harada returns with a game that it promises will be a big step above everything else out there when it comes to one-on-one fighting games. Despite what we may think, the genre is doing rather well these days, while we were treated to a Mortal Kombat 1 and to a Street Fighter 6 as recently as last year. The bar is set very high for Tekken 8.
Obviously, the first images are impressive, except that the most demanding critics are already deploring the graphics ceiling which limits the display during fights to 60 frames per second, a heresy for more than one addicted to Tekken. For everyone else, the new game expected at the end of January will more than satisfy expectations, for anyone who owns a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S or Tekken 8 is exclusive to them.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
2024 is a leap year and for many gamers, there’s probably no better way to mark it than with a new foray into the redesigned universe of Final Fantasy VII. No one expects the newcomer, Rebirththerefore expected on February 29, to be as significant — for better or for worse — as was the Remake of 2020. It is the second title in a video game trilogy whose objective is to rewrite a little the history of this role-playing game whose origins date back to 1987, all the same.
One of the elements of the almost timeless success of Final Fantasy is this half-fig, half-grape blend of light play and deep reflection, which almost plunges us into a high-flying meditation. We expect nothing less in Rebirth, in the shoes of Cloud, central character in this revisited adventure. Obviously, this could offend some purists, but we are not going to spoil the pleasure of a new FF that is more ambitious than its predecessor, and which should reveal a little more about how Square Enixits publisher, reimagines the story of its characters.
Princess Peach: Showtime!
Nintendo is perhaps still riding a little on the momentum caused last fall by the marketing of two major titles derived from the world of Super Mario. Or perhaps there are still those nostalgic for Super Princess Peach from 2005 who were still hoping for a sequel, but now Peach will be back on March 22 in Princess Peach: Showtime!. The princess so desired by the little Italian-Japanese plumber returns in an adventure all her own, which we hope is less clichéd than the previous one, and which, with a little luck, will manage to escape the somewhat hackneyed stereotypes put forward by his predecessor…
Peach’s objective remains rather simple: to free the glittering theater from the clutches of the witch Raisin and her so-called sour minions, who are also particularly bitter. She will not be alone in this mission, since she will be accompanied by a theater star-guardian called Stella, as it should be, and a few Toads, these mushrooms on legs who are never very far away in this imaginary world of Nintendo.
STALKER 2:Heart of Chornobyl
Because we all need to be reminded at least once a decade of the dangers of nuclear power, the Czech-Ukrainian studio GSC Game World will ultimately allow us to revisit the world of STALKER: Call of Pripyat published in 2009. If only because its Ukrainian programmers experienced the hell of the Russian bombing before moving to the Czech Republic to finish their work, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is de facto one of the essential titles of the coming year. In addition, it has been awaited for 10 years, given that its first anticipated release date dates back to 2012, before being pushed back to 2022, then finally to 2024. Hopefully we will avoid a new Duke Nukem Forever and that this time will be the right one.
Already, a playable demo presented last year gave an overview of a radioactive universe from which we will have to extricate ourselves with the means at hand. Expect a demanding solitaire puzzle, even if we seem to have softened the formula by adding an indicator on the screen which allows you not to lose sight of the objective too much.