Team Picks: Most Anticipated Games of March

Team Pick is a feature where the Team here at Press Start, gives you a run down on the latest games coming out in the good ‘ol land down under. While we’re at it, we share our personal picks and why we’re excited about them!

March is the start of what is sure to be a crazy year. With big hitters such as Infamous and Titanfall hitting a week within each other. South Park and Dark Souls 2 will finally hit for the last generation of consoles.

kevin
Dark Souls 2: Ever since I managed to beat the first one (by the skin of my teeth) I’ve held Dark Souls to a very high regard. The incredible gameplay mixed with the unforgiving difficulty created one of the best action RPG’s I’ve played. Hopefully Dark Souls 2 carries the legacy forward.

shannon
Yoshi’s New Island: For me, Yoshi’s Island on the Super Nintendo is a game that vividly sticks with me to this day. It’s not the first game I played, but it’s the first game that I can truly remember appreciating and playing time and time again. Yoshi’s New Island looks to be more of the same. It doesn’t look to be introducing too many new gameplay mechanics and that’s something that I am completely fine with. The games are released with enough time in between to take advantage of what it does well without it becoming stale. Hopefully it can capture the Nintendo charm of old.

James
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes: Yes, it’s essentially an overpriced demo. Yes, it’s (apparently) not even going to last me five hours. But I’m still intrigued to see just what Hideo Kojima has had in the oven for what feels like several years now. While I’m kind of tired of hearing about Big Boss and his eventual descent into malevolence, I’m excited to see what Ground Zeroes does to contribute to that. Most of that will be cleared up in The Phantom Pain, no less, but Ground Zeroes will definitely get the wheels going on a story that has taken an eternity to wrap up. It’ll also be interesting to see what Kojima considers to be “taboo” or “risky” topics – of which will be allegedly covered in Ground Zeroes and its follow-up. Only time will tell.

Gameplay wise, it will be interesting to see whether or not a franchise with a heavy emphasis on narrative and storytelling will be able to cross-over into an open world design successfully without making some kind of sacrifice. There’s a few alarm bells ringing in my head – namely that it resembles Peace Walker more so than other titles, and that Big Boss himself has regenerating health. But I am never one to judge before playing, so I’ll have to wait and see. Once again, Ground Zeroes will probably only half answer my questions about the franchises transitions into the open world territory (both figuratively and literally), but I am excited none the less.

tyla
Titanfall: I think this game has the feel of the new generation Halo 3 and we all remember how much love that game got back in the day. I played the beta briefly and was thoroughly impressed with what it had to offer. Game mechanics are amazing and are everything you want in a shooter with a variety of game styles whether you’re romping kids first person or running around in your titan this game is not something to sneeze at or skip. I have a feeling Titanfall will do extremely well for years to come and hopefully some competitive play comes from it also.

Mark
Diablo 3: Reaper Of Souls: This is yet another one of my obsessions. Spending weeks upon weeks farming in Diablo 3 looking for that one item to complete my build I am no stranger to this series. I started my Diablo days on the original game and built my fanboy status over years of playing it. The original was made when Blizzard could not step a foot out of perfection and they showed this through this entire escapade. Starting in Tristram under the old cathedral to now returning to that very same cathedral I find myself very whimsical at the shear sight of what Tristram had become and once again adorned my Armour to take on the crusade and defeat Diablo once more.

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Once I finished Diablo 3 I found myself lost for content. Yes I can farm like always and play in the whimsy shire but I was always searching for what’s next. Blizzard answered in spectacular fashion as always. A fan favorite over at Blizzard lets give them an expansion! and to be honest I wouldn’t want anything else. Blizzard know their fans and they know that people aren’t searching for a Diablo 4! They want this current story to be fulfilled. We worked hard on our heroes we want them to see a fight fit for them! Bring forth the Reaper of Souls and we will slay that too!

dean
South Park: Stick of Truth: What can I say? After delay on top of delay I was starting to lose interest in this one and then the 13 min preview was shown. The idea of playing in the South Park universe and being able to explore the town, talk to the towns folk and loot their homes fills me with glee. Having all of this wrapped up in a comprehensive turn based RPG will hopefully make all the delays worthwhile.

jake
inFAMOUS: Second Son: I am a massive fan of the series’ earlier entries, what’s not to love roaming a vast living city with superpowers at your disposal but it all comes with choices and consequences. Second Son is the game I have been waiting for since the PS4 was initially announced I look extremely forward to taking to the streets of Seattle in all it’s next (or current) gen glory.

diego
Titanfall: I would totally pick the Final Fantasy X remakes if I could, but every time one of these lists comes up, it’s for games on consoles I don’t have, or it only has PC games that I’m not interested in. Granted, I’m planning to soon get a Vita, so I’ll eventually play it anyway, but let’s think present. Considering what I’ve just said, Titanfall’s my pick. I’m not exactly that crazy about Titanfall, but that’s probably because I haven’t actually tried the game yet, so I really want to see what the fuss is all about. I wanna make my own informed opinion of the game, and since I’m able to play it on PC, I will not let this chance pass.

JohnDark Souls 2: This is probably the most difficult pick I’ve had to date with this feature as March is definitely pulling me in all directions. Final Fantasy, Infamous, MGS, and the crossover of Professor Layton vs Phoenix wright many have been wanting for years. However, Dark Souls and Demons Souls has been a phenomenon I’ve been very interested in getting into since their release. To the point where I own Dark Souls on every Platform available. That being said, I was only recently hooked late last year and I feel that I missed a special component to the Souls experience. That component is an active community base. Sure, the Dark Souls community is still alive and well, but everything has been worked out. I want be a part of a community is actively discovering new things about the game. I think there is something special that, and I don’t aim to be three years late to the party this time. The very difficult, frustrating but rewarding party.

RELEASE LIST:

March 6th:
South Park: Stick Of Truth – 360, PS3 & PC

March 7th:
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists Of The Dusk Sky – PS3

March 13th:
Dark Souls 2 – PS3, 360
Titanfall – Xbox One, PC

March 15th:
Yoshi’s New Island – 3DS

March 20th:
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes – PS4, XB1, 360, PS3
Final Fantasy X/X2 – PS3, Vita
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z – 360, PS3

March 21st:
inFAMOUS: Second Son – PS4

March 25th:
Diablo 3: Reaper Of Souls – PC

March 27th:
Deception IV: Blood Ties – Vita, PS3

March 29th:
Professor Layton VS: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – 3DS