Howdy, all,
I'm taking a leaf out of my friend Mike's book and setting some gaming goals for 2022. Last year, I spent most of my gaming time catching up on the MSQ in Final Fantasy XIV, and while that was great, it left me with quite the backlog of 2021 releases to catch up on, as well as some retro games I've been meaning to get to. This is mostly for my own benefit, and aren't set in stone by any means, but if you want to know what I'm getting up to in my free time, read on!
January - Finish Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, start Tales of Arise.
New Release - Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
I'm about to contradict myself a bit, but I'm in the final area of the newest Final Fantasy XIV expansion, Endwalker, which I won't name due to spoiler concerns. I really like this expansion a lot, but once I've finished, it's going to be time for a break. Not that I won't be coming back to XIV whenever there's a big update, but I plan to keep it on the back burner for most of 2022.
I got Tales of Arise for Christmas, so that's what I'm going to start next! As for new releases, Pokemon Legends: Arceus drops at the end of the month. I'm really excited for this one, as it looks like the biggest evolution of the Pokemon formula we've seen in a very long time.
February - Fantasian.
New Release - Elden Ring.
I'll probably be finishing Pokemon for a good chunk of February, but after that I really want to give Fantasian a try. This is the newest game from Hironobu Sakaguchi's company Mistwalker, and probably the first time I've ever been excited to play a mobile game. I have a friend's Apple TV that I'm going to be hooking up my Dualshock to, and I'm looking forward to it. The big new release this month is Breath of the Dark Souls... I mean, Elden Ring, a game I've been waiting for with bated breath ever since it was announced. Considering that I blew threw three Soulsborne games in a row last summer (Demon's Souls remake, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls Remastered), I feel confident that I'm going to enjoy this one.
March - Scarlet Nexus.
New Releases - Triangle Strategy, Chocobo GP, Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin, Rune Factory 5.
Sweet beans, there are a lot of new releases this month. I'm absolutely not going to be picking up all of these at launch (I'm very on the fence about KILL CHAOS: The Game), but Chocobo GP is something I'm very much looking forward to. I'm sorry, but kart racers are my weakness, and this one looks so cute! Assuming that I'm not still knee-deep in Elden Ring in March, I also want to try Scarlet Nexus. This action RPG from the Tales team looks really stylish and unique.
April - Shin Megami Tensei V
No new releases this month, thankfully. I started Shin Megami Tensei V at the end of 2021 and put about eight hours into it before getting distracted by MMORPGs, so I want to get back to it. From what little I played, it was a really enjoyable game, even if the story seems kind of like Nocturne-lite.
This also seems like an ideal time for a Kingdom Hearts replay?
May - Shadow Hearts: Covenant.
New Release - Forspoken.
I loved Final Fantasy XV when that game came out, so I've been watching Forspoken with a keen eye. It's the first game from Luminous Productions, and has a really interesting emphasis on parkour and magic attacks that I hope feels as good to play as it looks. I also really want to get around to Shadow Hearts: Covenant some time this year. I really liked the first Shadow Hearts when I played it a couple years ago, and everyone tells me the sequel is even better.
June - Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Lastly, I was able to pick up copies of Silver Star Story Complete and Eternal Blue Complete without breaking the bank! These are practically the flagship games for RPGFan, the publication I write for, and I've been wanting to try them for a long time.
That's all for now, folks. I'll be back with an updated list for the second half of the year!
