If you haven’t already blown your entire budget during the seemingly endless year-end video game sales or just want to add more games to your backlog, January has a few choice titles worth keeping an eye on.
If you love action-heavy games, our picks for the month will be right up your alley.
One Piece Odyssey
One Piece fans probably had the same reaction as Luffy when Bandai Namco announced this game.
Release Date: January 13
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
The beloved manga and anime series is receiving another new game to its library and will undoubtedly excite fans and maybe even garner a few more. One Piece Odyssey is a new role-playing game that boasts an original story, all-new characters and gameplay but will retain the humour and chemistry of the anime with series creator Eiichiro Oda’s guidance and voicework from the original Japanese VO actors.
One Piece Odyssey sees the merry band of pirates, the Straw Hats, being transported to a mysterious new island where they embark on quests and will face powerful enemies and massive bosses in exciting turn-based battles. In the game, players take on the role of nine of their favourite pirates, playing as Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Franky, Sanji, Usopp, Nico Robin, TonyTony Chopper, and Brook.
Is this the part where Luffy uses some special jutsu technique? Oh wait…
Despite being set on a new island, fans will still visit familiar places like the Gallery-La Company and meet characters like Franky’s gang, Iceberg, Aokiji and some of the CP9 members like Lucci and Kaku.
Whether you are a fan of the series or not, One Piece Odyssey looks like it will be a fun romp due to its humour, colourful art style and stunning visuals, exploration and battles.
Forspoken
You know that saying about scorned women? Seems like Frey literally brings hell to you.
Release Date: January 24
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5
After two delays, Square Enix and Luminous Productions’ open-world action role-playing game, Forspoken, looks like it is ready to be one of the must-play games of the year. If it lives up to expectations. Judging from the pre-release gameplay trailers, it sure does look exciting and impressive.
The story of Forspoken revolves around Frey Holland, who is transported from New York City to the fantasy world of Athia. This beautiful yet cruel world is under the tyrannical rule of the Tantas, who Frey will encounter throughout her journey to find her way home. But Frey isn’t helpless though as she gains magical powers while in Athia which she can use to either unleash a barrage of quick-fire spells or take a more methodical approach. Combined with her magic-enhanced parkour skills, players will have an endless amount of options when it comes to fighting or fleeing.
No wonder I failed at parkour. I don’t have a pair of shiny gold shoes.
This parkour system will also enable you to quickly and seamlessly explore the lush landscapes of Athia and discover a variety of rewards that include will enhance Frey’s journey and skillset, rewards include new magical abilities, powerful gear as well as collectable items.
If you have a PlayStation 5 and want to try out Forspoken before it launches, you can download its free demo from the PlayStation Store.
Dead Space
In the immortal words of Carl Johnson of Grove Street “Ah S***! Here we go again.”
Release Date: January 27
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
While it is still one of the most beloved and successful sci-fi survival horror games, Dead Space was originally released in 2008 and definitely shows its age when it comes to gameplay and graphics. To cater to a new generation of gamers who have never played the original, Motive, a studio of Electronic Arts is rebuilding the game from the ground up leveraging the Frostbite game engine and promises to stay true to the original game’s vision.
In Dead Space, you play as everyman engineer, Isaac Clarke who goes on a routine mission to fix the mining starship, the USG Ishimura. However, a living nightmare awaits him onboard this sprawling ship. The ship’s crew has been slaughtered and infected, and Isaac’s girlfriend is missing somewhere on board. Armed with only his engineering tools and skills, Isaac will have to battle terrifying creatures called Necromorphs and his own crumbling sanity.
Yup! Definitely going to crap my pants again. This time in HD.
Like most remakes, Dead Space will receive a shiny new coat of horrifying paint that includes reconstructed levels, enhanced audio and the use of dynamic, volumetric lighting with atmospheric and environmental VFX rendered in full HDR. So be prepared to get spooked and grossed out in the gloriest and goriest manner possible.
Superfuse (Steam Early Access)
If you thought his gear is badass, wait till you see what he can do.
Release Date: January 31
Platform: PC
Superfuse will make its Steam Early Access debut at the end of the month and since we haven’t really had a good isometric action role-playing game and Blizzard’s Diablo 4 is only estimated to be released in June, we think Superfuse definitely deserves to be highlighted as this comicbook-inspired ARPG brings something very interesting to the table.
This ARPG by developers Stitch Heads and publisher Raw Fury is essentially a hack-and-slash ARPG but features the ability to hyper-tailor your character’s powers to suit your playstyle with its insanely dynamic skill tree. Throughout the game, you are able to apply fuses to your powers and this will create all sorts of unique skills. For example, the Elementalist’s Fireball skill. By default, it functions as you would expect it to, with a single fireball exploding when it hits an enemy. By adding fuses to the power, the fireball can be “customised” to split into three more fireballs after it hits an enemy or ricochets off enemies or unleashes another fireball backwards. So even if you choose the same class as a friend while in co-op mode, your playstyles and skills will be very personalised.
When one fireball isn’t enough, hit your enemies with three or a bazillion.
Story-wise, Superfuse’s setting sees humanity living across the solar system after they escaped a dying Earth. The wealthy lived in luxury, extending their lives and augmenting themselves with superpowers, becoming gods. But when a new threat emerges, these corporate gods created the Enforcers to patrol the solar system and deal with this threat. You play as an Enforcer and must do whatever is necessary to maintain order and ensure humanity’s future.
Similar to other ARPGs, Superfuse will feature plenty of loot to collect, 4-player PvE drop-in/out co-op campaign modes and procedurally generated levels. The campaign will also feature fully voiced characters and NPCs who are brought to life through the talents of award-winning actors.
