So, I had a “my favorite games of 2017” post all written, and then I just had to go and start playing Nioh, which is basically Ninja Gaiden meets Dark Souls and is probably going to mean that I need to do a little bit of rewriting.

So instead of that… here’s a short list of the games I am looking forward to adding to the backlog in 2018.  Most of these are actually from this year (or even earlier), but I already bought too many things at full-or-near-full price this year and am waiting on sales and price-downs.  The only 2018 game I am fervently looking forward to is Code Vein.

Splatoon 2 (Switch): I loved the first Splatoon and apparently the sequel has a campaign where you face off against the squid sisters from the original game, who have turned evil or something?

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch): Every review of this I’ve seen has been along the lines of “it’s an amazing epic RPG if you can get past the way the camera always seems to be lingering on the main heroine’s butt”, and I think I can get past that.

Nights of Azure 2 (Switch): After playing the first Nights of Azure and Blue Reflection, I may be turning into a Gust fanboy.

Mario / Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Switch): I actually really love the Rabbids and I liked 2 out of 3 of the Mario games I played this year, so the combination sounds really fun.

Super Mario 3D World (WiiU): It’s already been priced down to 20 bucks and I liked Odyssey a lot.  Seems worth it to give the last game a try.

Call of Duty: World War 2 (PS4): Every year, I buy the new Call of Duty so I can play through the single player campaign.  I didn’t do that this year, because I realized that I can probably just get it from Redbox and get the full experience for a lot cheaper.

Star Wars: Battlefront II (PS4): Again, I just want to play the single player campaign, so I will hit up Redbox.  Fiscal responsibility!

Cat Quest (Switch): It’s an RPG with cute cats.

School Girl / Zombie Hunter (PS4): It’s called “School Girl / Zombie Hunter” and it’s set in the Oneechanbara universe.  School. Girl. Zombie. Hunter.

Rime (PS4): Apparently it’s basically Ico?  Anyway this is mostly on here because a friend recommended it to me and it’s cheap.

White Day: A Labyrinth Named School: I love me some asian horror games, and there’s no new Fatal Frame on the horizon.

So that’s basically a dozen games, and a startling proportion of them are Switch games.  That’s a pretty good sign for a new console, and it goes to show that Nintendo really did learn SOMETHING from the last few years.

Mind you, if reading end-of-the-year retrospective articles on gaming sites has shown me anything, what it’s really learned is that the ideal market for getting your console talked about is the “urban tech blogger who has just turned 30 and has a new kid and has NO TIME for gaming any more but the Switch has changed their whole life and now they can play Mario on their 45 minute train commute every morning” demographic.  Seriously, I have read so many articles along these lines that I’m starting to wonder if there’s a template somewhere that they’re all working from.

Also it’s making me wonder why all of these people who had no time for gaming anymore were still writing for video game news sites, but that’s probably a rabbit hole it’s best not to go down.