10 Most Ambitious Upcoming Games That EXCITE US

(tone jingles) - [Narrator] Every year we get plenty of sequels and like the latest yearly sports game, but there are those certain games that feel like they have something a little bit different going on. Some games that really have some ambition, be it with graphics, storytelling, revolutionary, new gameplay mechanics, something. These are the games that stand out, and the ones we look forward to the most every year.

So today we're just gonna take a quick look and break down 10 ambitious upcoming games. Starting off at number 10, we have "Black Myth Wukong". This game has been in development for a while now, and I'll be totally honest, we have put it on a lot of game ranks, top 10 lists, but we've always just kind of talked about what it is.

It's a Chinese mythology, dark soulsy action, adventure style game with seemingly really good graphics. We've seen a lot from this game so far. Like I mentioned like the really stunning visuals and presentation, but also larger than life over the top boss battles with cool animations, a lot of really fun attacks and different weapon styles.

The main character uses some larger kind of open areas for exploration and platforming, but ultimately this does look like it is boiling down to being a challenging RPG combat experience. There's gonna be some loot and like I said, different weapon types, but it's all about the challenge, at least with the gameplay I've seen, this does look like this is gonna be a pretty brutal one. But what's really ambitious isn't like the combat or the souls like stuff.

We've seen a lot of games innovate on that genre before, right? With "Black Myth Wukong", we think the coolest, most interesting thing about it is that it's based on the classical 16th century Chinese novel, "Journey to the West". Something that not everybody knows about, but if you're getting into like, you know, historic literature 101, Journey to the West was wildly influential and is considered by many to be like one of the most popular bestselling works of writing in China, and really all of East Asia.

So what we really are interested in this one, is that they're not just coming up with a bunch of lore on the spot, or doing all this dense writing to come up with stuff. They have something to base all of this on, they have real legends from a really cool story. You're playing as this monkey guy, yes, but he's based on Sun Wukong, one of the main characters from "Journey to the West".

For all that stuff, I think it's potentially really exciting. Maybe it'll get more people into reading books. I feel like not enough people read books anymore.

But that's just me, let's move on to number nine, Hideo Kojima's next project "OD". Now, as you probably know, Hideo Kajima and Kojima Productions are working on a bunch of things. The big thing of course is the sequel to "Death Stranding 2".

"Death Stranding 2" is you know, the next "Death Stranding". So you're gonna have those characters, you're gonna have weird things, you're gonna be carrying more packages probably. So that's pretty expected.

But we see the ambition with Kojima Productions as other project called OD. This is a Xbox collaboration and I know recently Xbox has closed studios and you know, probably canceled some projects. So, who knows?

But as of right now, Kajima Productions is working Xbox and using their cloud technology, to develop this experimental and strange horror game. Now I'm in for this just as a Hideo Kajima fanboy, knowing his passion and interest in horror and what we can really get from that. Anytime Hideo Kajima has leaned into horror, it's been really cool.

So to have a game focused completely around that experience, I definitely wanna see that. All we really have for this is a teaser, that shows really graphically impressive character faces in game or like rendered all based on real world actors that look incredibly impressive, but also almost unnervingly so. This trailer, when you watch it with like a good sound system or headphones or something, the audio design and the editing can actually be pretty frightening.

It's a lot, it's pretty intense. So we're hoping that carries over to the main game, which Kojima has said that he is teaming up with famous horror directors to work on, along with that, it kind of being an experimental thing, blending cinema and game. What does that mean?

I don't know. Does it just mean there's gonna be a lot of cut scenes? Does it mean that there's gonna be like some FMV or like real motion video in this?

I don't know for sure, but I just like that "OD" is cooking on something, and something that's trying to be different. It is a perfect example of what should be on this list. Again, we don't know too much about it, but I'm hoping that we learn more soon.

Next, over at number eight we have the "Star Wars Knights of the Older Republic" remake. Now this one, you might not think it's that ambitious, right? It's honestly pretty safe.

It's a remake of a beloved classic Star Wars, RPG from BioWare. So it seems like a home run, right? Well I think for some Star Wars fans that really pay attention, this is more ambitious than you might first think.

But first just history lesson. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic was one of the best, it was one of the best obsidian games and just a really cool take on Star Wars, and the lore and it taking place well before any of the movies. It kind of became the standard for a while and the remake was something that has been trying to get off the ground for a really long time.

If you follow the Game Ranks Friday news show or anything else online, just gaming news, you know that the "Knight of the Old Republic" remake was rumored forever. Then it was finally announced and then it kind of disappeared for a while with the publishers and developers behind it, despite them changing hands a few times, insisting that the game is still in the works. But it's been years, and we haven't seen anything.

The most recent headline suggested that things are still moving along, but it might be some time. And partially I think is because, it's ambitious to remake "Knights of the Old Republic". I think it's a tough one to remake.

It was like lightning in a bottle. It was BioWare at its peak. It was Star Wars in that weird time where it was before Disney, and there wasn't really too much going on and there were a bunch of Star Wars games, but like this one just really hit.

Now years later, they're remaking something that just isn't quite around anymore. Star Wars feels differently now, you know, it has expanded quite a bit, and not in the old like expanded universe ways completely. The fandom also is obviously very divided.

I don't think that's totally like a new thing. It's been divided since the prequels, but this game has to somehow please fans of the old game, the classic "BioWare" game, which is a formula that's probably really hard to replicate, while also potentially carving its own path out in Star Wars lore. Is this going to be Canon?

Who knows? God knows really, but whatever it does, whether it's Canon or not, is its own unique slice of Star Wars. That was really cool when it first dropped, but can they continue to keep that up?

Does that stuff feel as cool when presented in full modern gameplay? I don't know, but I do think it's pretty bold and daring to try and give that a shot to remake one of the greatest games ever. It's the same thing with people wanting to remake "Metal Gear Solid 1".

I feel like it's just so tricky to get that right. So the "Knights of the Old Republic" remakes ambition lies in just the fact that they're crazy enough to do it. Good luck.

Next, over at number seven, we have "Crimson Desert". This is from the people behind the MMO RPG Black Desert Online, but this is like an open world RPG. It has been in the works for many years.

We thought we were getting it like released this year, but it's been pushed, they're still working on it, and this is ambitious just because number one, look at it. Graphically, it's got a lot going on, it looks really cool, but also the amount of stuff they're cramming in this game. This game has been billed like a combination of the "Witcher III", "Assassins Creed", "Ghosts of Tsushima", "Drgons Dogma", "Skyrim", you name it.

Just systems wise, gameplay wise, they are throwing a lot in here. Massive open worlds, all different types of traversal, weapon types, gorgeous graphics. Larger than life creatures, all these different gameplay systems, stealth, actual like RPG town stuff.

There's so much that they're throwing in here that it just seems like it's so much. You're riding and engaging in combat on carriages, you're riding horses, you're training horses, you're fighting against multiple giant enemies at once. Mechanized enemies and technology.

And the combat itself also just looks really, really intense and detailed. There's just a lot here, that's all I'm trying to emphasize. The last big gameplay trailer we got was from Gamescom 2023 and it just showed that there was a lot with this one.

They are incredibly ambitious, essentially like cramming in so many systems, like a bunch of stuff that would keep you busy for hours and hours and hours in an MMO, but in something just more like a big open world action RPG. We're really hoping this one turns out awesome because on paper, and like everything that they're going for, it seems really awesome. Next, over at number six we have "1943 Rise of Hydra".

This is the next big Marvel game, and this is ambitious in kind of an old school way. When they revealed the first look at this game, you know, showcasing the Nvidia graphics and how this was all in Engine, it almost feels like an old school game reveal where it's just crazy budget, big action adventure stuff, wild set pieces and cut scenes, and you just don't see tons of these anymore. Like is it getting unsustainable to make these big crazy things?

I don't know, but they're trying with this one, they got Marvel money. And with it being so bombastic and gorgeous and cinematic and adventurous, Amy Hennig is behind the wheel. The person behind stuff like "The Legacy of Cane" games, but also she kicked off "Uncharted".

So there's some of that DNA here, but they're doing it in World War II, Nazi occupied France with Captain America and a Black Panther. That is really cool. Like as a comics person, I am so into this idea from a storytelling and gameplay perspective, I just think there's a lot of potential.

The trailer that we saw, even teased like a little showdown between this Black Panther, which is T'Challa's grandfather and Steve Rogers, Captain America. There's also apparently other Wakandan spies. There's probably Shield and Hydra spy stuff going on here.

I'm just really excited to see how they take on the Marvel universe. You know, less of an MCU thing and more of like a Brubaker comic type thing. But that's where the ambition really lies for us here, is like when you just like write down the bullet points, it's like, okay, world War II, Nazi occupied France, Black Panther and Captain America running around, big cinematic action.

I don't know, that just sounds to me like a crazy fever dream, and I'm all for it. I don't know when we're actually gonna see this thing. And also it almost looks too good to be true, graphically.

I see this stuff and I still, maybe it's from like the early 2000s, seeing those gameplay trailers that just were total BS. I see this and I go, "Yeah, okay, we'll see. " But if it looks anywhere near as good as this, and it nails those ideas, like those bullet points I mentioned, this could be awesome.

Next over at number five we have "Blight Survival". This is one I'm still a little bit on the fence with, specifically because it's another one of those games that releases a really incredible trailer, that seems like a great idea from a very small studio, we don't know anything about. And that's it.

I mean we've seen it with "The Day Before" that happened recently. But "Blight Survival" has been on our mind for a little while, because if it does turn out to actually be as cool as this trailer is, it's a good idea. It is essentially a co-op hacking, slashy extraction game with you and up to three other players, essentially running into this plague ridden no man's land between two kingdoms.

But not only is it like a, just a couple of player co-op extraction thing, it's got like very realistic, almost cinematic graphics, and weighty physics based and directional gameplay. It almost looks like four honor combat where every swing matters. Everything is deliberate, and slow, and almost realistic as you're just like murdering creepy, plague zombies.

The visuals are stunning. The environments are like really, like nothing we've really seen. It just looks very eerily realistic but also has a good creepy horror edge to it.

And to incorporate that with multiplayer, it just seems like a potentially cool idea. We haven't heard too much since this initially dropped, but we do know that they're partnering with Behavior Interactive, the people behind "Dead by Daylight" to kind of get this thing published. So they're going to be helping out with resources and stuff like that.

Maybe they saw this and really believed in this idea too. Maybe it is really ambitious. I don't know for sure, but this initial trailer reveal concept thing is really sweet.

Next, over at number four, we have a game called "Everywhere", which I wanna start by just addressing that. Calling your game "Everywhere" is already really ambitious. I'd say almost too ambitious, but this game is very much trying to go for a game where you can do a bunch of stuff and have a ton of freedom.

Now this game is significant, because it's from a new studio called Build a Rocket Boy set up by Leslie Benzies, one of the original people behind "The Grand Theft Auto" Series. So with him having that name behind him, he was able to get funding and make this new creative project, which has been in the works for quite some time now. We've gotten glimpses of it, we've gotten trailers that have kind of teased almost two different worlds or multiple worlds, different art styles, kind of a cartoony, more Fortnite type of thing.

And then a more cinematic, realistic, gritty sci-fi, other aspect. That's all very confusing, but then you also throw in like what this game is cooking, What they've been talking about with this. It's like the Sims mixed with Grand Theft Auto mixed with like Rust and Roblox because it's going to be like a community driven platform thing, but then also open world adventure.

I don't know, it's still very muddled if you ask me, but there is a lot of information out there if you wanna dig through it. The developers have showcased some of that user generated content and level type stuff. I really don't know what to make of it.

But even if you don't really know what it is or you don't really understand it, you can appreciate the ambitions because like I said, it's a lot of different genres they're trying to cook up here and come up with some kind of weird platform thing. If you ask me, I think players are starting to grow tired of this stuff at this point. We have our Minecrafts, our Robloxes, our Fortnite, our, you know, even like Destiny or War Frame, the things that are keeping you busy, right?

So for everywhere to really break through this type of crowded genre and find their own player base, it's gonna take a lot of work, but maybe it'll catch on, I don't know. It's still probably a while before they release this thing, but eh, keep it on your radar. Next, over at number three, we have "Judas".

The next game from Ken Levine, the creator of "Bios Shock" and "Bios Shock Infinite". With "Judas", he's changing gears with a bit of a smaller team, and going for kind of like a "Bios Shock" in space, but centered around kind of procedural storytelling, where the game reacts to like the choices you make and you essentially having three artificial intelligence characters or hologram characters to deal with throughout the game. And the more who you choose to side with, the game will react and change accordingly.

So not only from a story standpoint, but also from like a gameplay standpoint. That stuff sounds really cool. A lot of really cool ideas on paper, and developers have tried many times in the past to make games that really react to what you're doing to you know, different degrees of success.

But those types of concepts in a kind of bio shocky game where you're running around on a space station, you're shooting monsters with cool guns, you're also zapping them with hand powers and hacking and doing all that type of stuff. I do think it's potentially a good idea. There's still not a ton of information out there on this one.

There are a couple of previews out there. One of course by yours truly, I did with the "Friends Per Second" podcast I do, but even still it's still in the works and we need to see more. But with Ken Levine at the helm, you gotta give him credit for always trying ideas.

Those ideas may not always land with everybody, but at least he's trying something different. "Bios Shock" was weird, quirky and unique. "Bios Shock Infinite" was weird and quirky and unique, and "Judas" is looking to be the same.

Now down at number two we have "Kingdom Come Deliverance 2". Now this one is getting by on Ambitious sort of because of the game that came before it. This is really the only sequel on this list, but it's ambitious just because it's expanding upon what they did with the first game, which the first game at launch, you know, for all its flaws was really dedicated to a hardcore RPG experience, set in a historically accurate and realistic medieval bohemia.

So they're continuing that here with a bigger world, way more detail, way more to do, more customization, and the continuation of Henry's story. So with more budget that can allow more customization, more detailed NPCs, bigger towns and cities, actually living your life more realistic survival elements, you know, building on what the first game had. And that's all we really know, because it was just recently announced, it is coming this year, but we haven't gotten too much information about it.

But even just glancing over like the bullet points for the steam page and stuff, it does sound like they're just doing more, bigger and better. And the first game was really ambitious. So we're excited to see them really tap that potential this time around.

Now down at number one we have "Light No Fire". This game is ambitious because it is being dubbed the first truly open world game. We are exploring a full actual world persistently online, I guess, with other people.

Now this comes from the people behind "No Man's Sky" developer, Hello Games, which "No Man's Sky" had a lot of ambition and big words that launched, but it released and you know, it wasn't really that, it was a much simpler game that eventually became incredibly awesome. They put their money where their mouth was, and they continuously updated that game. And now "No Man's Sky" is absolutely incredible and met the potential of what it initially was.

Even though you know, people were kind of sold a bill of goods at first, it wasn't that. At least now there's a happy ending. So with "Light No Fire", they're going bigger and crazier with more fantastical elements, this massive world with a bunch of different biomes, and more online play.

And we're really excited to see how that goes. We know they've been working on this for a while, and we're hoping that it can meet those lofty ideas as vague as they still are at this point, we don't know everything about it. But hopefully they've learned a lot from "No Man's Sky", which did turn out to be incredible.

So if this is anything as cool as "No Man's Sky", I am definitely interested. But those are 10 upcoming ambitious games that we wanted to talk about. So don't let your hype get the better of you, but you know, we can just be excited about things, right?

So I wanna know what game specifically in the comments, what you're looking forward to. Is it something on this list? Is it something not on this list?

Definitely let us know if it's something worth getting our eyeballs on. Maybe we'll make another list like this. Just hit us up.

But if you like talking games with us every day, and especially this extra long video, click the like buttons is all you gotta do to help us out, we would appreciate that. Thank you. But as always, thanks for watching and we'll see you guys next time.