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Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3
The third game in the fan-favorite Marvel Ultimate Alliance series of co-op beat-'em-ups takes the fight to Thanos and his lackeys in The Black Order (who you might recognize as those creepy alien cronies from Avengers: Infinity War). You can - and should - enjoy Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 in up to 4-player local or online co-op, because the more the merrier when it comes to superhero team-ups. The Nintendo E3 2019 trailer showed off some new faces joining the cast like Magneto, Miles Morales, Elsa Bloodstone, Ghost Rider, and Elektra, adding to a huge roster that features your favorite teams like The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. There's also an expansion pass planned for this fall themed around the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Marvel Knights.
Astral Chain
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release date: August 30, 2019
Platinum Games developing: check. Nier: Automata designer Takahisa Taura directing: check. Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya supervising: check. Astral Chain has everything going for it, and it looks like a lot of very anime fun. You play as a Legionis agent who commands Legion combat units, which are sort of like familiars in that they're on a very literal leash. You can control your Legions - and we do mean Legions plural, because you can tame and swap between Legions on the fly - and your agent independently to spread out your assault, or link up for some flashy combos. There's also a bit of a social element on the side which is pretty intriguing given the state of the game's world - that is, crawling with murderous chimera. If nothing else, Astral Chain looks like another Platinum-grade action game, and that's reason enough to be excited.
Luigi's Mansion 3
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release date: 2019
The world's most hesitant ghost hunter returns in Luigi's Mansion 3, and this time he has not only Mario but Peach and many more members of the Mushroom Kingdom gang to rescue from ghostly clutches. Thankfully, he'll still have the help of Professor Elvin Gadd and his many gadgets, including a new Poltergust with the ability to summon Gooigi. You know, the goo version of Luigi? He's very helpful, especially if you get a co-op partner to control him, though he dissolves in water so watch out for puddles. There's also an online co-op multiplayer mode, and the whole game takes place in one great big haunted hotel so you can crack jokes about the ghosts "checking out" every time you finish a fight.
The Witcher 3 on Switch
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release date: 2019
After all those rather unbelievable sounding leaks, it turns out that CD Projekt Red really wasn’t kidding and is actually bringing The Witcher 3 to Nintendo Switch. And it’s not just the Witcher 3, it’s something called The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition. That includes the base game, along with every piece of additional content ever released for The Witcher 3 - both story expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, and the 16 free DLCs. That means you’re getting over 150 hours of gameplay in one glorious bundle, marking the first time the game’s ever been playable on a portable machine. Geralt in your pocket folks.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release date: July 26, 2019
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of the closest games to release that Nintendo showed off at E3 2019, but it still managed to save one big surprise until now: everything we've seen of the game so far, which puts players in the role of an instructor at a battle academy, takes place before a five-year timeskip. Fire Emblem stories are often at their best when we get to see how characters grow and change over time (see Chrom's growth from a foolhardy knight errant to a noble king in Fire Emblem: Awakening) so this is an exciting twist to find out about with just over a month until the game arrives.
Trials of Mana
Platforms: PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch
Release date: Early 2020
If you lived anywhere outside of Japan, Seiken Densetsu 3 (AKA Secret of Mana 2) was one of those lost legends for the Super Nintendo generation. It's finally available in official form as part of the Collection of Mana, but Square Enix is doing its legacy one better with a fully remade version of the game coming early next year. It will follow the same group of heroes as the original version, each with their own substories to explore, and let you fight rabites and giant enemy crabs all over again with a revised combat system. Now if only we could get whoever currently holds the rights to the Terranigma license to do the same.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Platforms: PS4
Release date: March 3, 2020
With the Final Fantasy 7 Remake release date locked in for March 3, 2020, we can finally rest easy knowing that this long-awaited remake is really and truly happening. The Square Enix E3 2019 show featured tons of new footage, with a good look at the Final Fantasy 7 Remake combat gameplay as Cloud and Barret teamed up to take down the colossal Scorpion Sentinel boss. We also finally got our first look at Tifa, who can punch foes into submission using some slick uppercut combos. Though the focus is primarily on real-time combat, Final Fantasy 7 Remake also lets you spend ATB energy to enter 'tactical mode,' where time slows down and you can select your next move from a command menu.
Final Fantasy 8 Remastered
Platforms: PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Release date: 2019
The black sheep of the PlayStation-era Final Fantasy trilogy is finally taking a step into the future. It's not a huge step, mind - Final Fantasy 8 Remastered is just a visual update to the original game rather than the ground-up, modern remake that Final Fantasy 7's getting. But just compare the new Squall to the old, pixelated "best-looking guy here" and you'll see that the visual remastering has made quite a big difference on its own. If you've never played Final Fantasy 8, this will be the best way to try it out. And you won't have to wait very long, since it's scheduled to arrive sometime this year.
Outriders
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Release date: Summer 2020
The Bulletstorm folks have another game coming, with even more intense shooting action and markedly less weird profanity. Outriders is a 1-to-3 player co-op shooter where you can make your own character to explore a dangerous, alien world. You'll wield powerful weaponry and potent abilities - think a third-person Destiny with less mysticism and more cobbled-together technology and you'll end up somewhere in the neighborhood of Outriders. People Can Fly says Outriders will be a "dark, modern shooter built with traditional values," which presumably means traditional shooter values rather than embracing a vision of old-timey domestic life.
Tom Clancy's Elite Squad
Platform: Mobile
Release date: TBA
Tom Clancy's Elite Squad is a big mobile party where every Ubisoft Tom Clancy-verse hero is invited. You can fill your ranks with the likes of Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell, Nomad from Ghost Recon Wildlands, and Caveira from Rainbow 6 Siege then deploy them into tactical realtime battles against other players, or work your way through a dedicated PvE campaign mode. In either case you'll need a combination of the right operators with the proper equipment and training as well as well-timed battlefield orders to ensure your side seizes victory. Ubisoft hasn't said when we can start playing Elite Squad yet, but it will have a whole lot of source material to draw from whenever it does arrive.
