10 Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Biomutant
Every time footage of Biomutant is released, it continues to look like a wonderfully charming little game, and something wholly unique.
The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world filled with anthropomorphic creatures, after a poisonous oil has seeped up from deep below the earth and polluted the Tree of Life.
Biomutant is all about choice, and you’ll start the game by creating your very own raccoon-like creature. The big catch, however, is outfitting your creature with Affixes, devices that basically mutate them or certain body parts.
By doing this you can create some nightmarish combinations, like a raccoon with wing arms and rockets on its shoulders.
The level to which you can customize your mutant is incredible, right down to exact color and fur length. Combat looks like a fast and frenetic action-RPG that uses some comic book aesthetics to really make things pop, all while you’re going up against horrific enemies.
Biomutant definitely looks like it has some unique ideas, and the footage we’ve seen so far certainly looks impressive. It could easily end up being one of the sleeper hits of 2019, purely because of how wacky it is.
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
No More Heroes was a huge cult hit when it released back on the Wii in 2008, just like many of Suda51’s games. Although we got a sequel in 2010, since then fans have been pining for the return of Travis Touchdown, and now we finally have it.
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is definitely different from the previous two games, but boy it doesn’t look any less crazy or fun.
The game starts with a fight between Travis and Badma, the father of an assassin Travis previously killed. The two are sucked into a possessed video game console and forced to play through multiple games.
Grasshopper Manufacture has actually collaborated with some big indie developers, letting Travis wear T-shirts with famous games like Hotline Miami and Shovel Knight on them.
Levels in Travis Strikes again are played from a top-down perspective, and the combat looks just as crazy and over the top as the last two No More Heroes games.
With plenty of crude humor to go around and a fantastic art style, Travis Strikes Again could be the breakout Nintendo Switch exclusive of early 2019.
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Left Alive
Although Left Alive takes place in the Front Mission universe, it definitely looks like Square Enix said “If we can’t get a good Metal Gear game, we’ll just make one ourselves.”
There are obvious parallels to draw between the two, and much of the art and character design for Left Alive is actually done by Yoji Shinkawa, the legendary artist behind the Metal Gear series.
The survival-shooter takes place in 2127 in a city called Novo Slava. You play as three different characters caught in the middle of a massive invasion by an enemy army.
Based on early trailers and footage, Left Alive is putting a big emphasis on player choice.
That includes minute-to-minute gameplay decisions like employing stealth or combat, and larger decisions like trying to intervene in the execution of citizens.
Ammo is incredibly scarce, however, so you’ll constantly be scrounging for supplies to survive.
After 2018’s majorly disappointing Metal Gear Survive, the time is ripe for another game, like Left Alive, to take the stealth-action mantle.
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Daemon x Machina
Mechs are cool, that’s something pretty universally accepted in the realm of video games. So a super-stylish post-apocalyptic mech game sounds like all the rage, right?
Throw in the fact that it’s a Nintendo Switch exclusive, and Daemon x Machina has all the makings of a breakaway hit.
Daemon x Machina lets you completely customize your mech, known as an Arsenal, as well as your player avatar.
The striking art style gives off some serious anime vibes, and combat looks completely over the top, even letting you pick up cars and street signs to use as melee weapons.
With veterans from both the Armored Core and Fire Emblem series working on it, Daemon x Machina is yet another third-party Switch exclusive helping to round out Nintendo’s own lineup.
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Digimon Survive
Digimon games have seen a strong past few years with the Cyber Sleuth games, but 2019 looks like it could deliver the most unique Digimon experience yet.
Digimon Survive surprised everyone when it was announced, just because of how different, and even mature, it looked.
A grid-based tactical RPG, Digimon Survive tells the story of Takuma Momotsuka as he and a group of others get stranded in a parallel world during a camp picnic.
Survive puts a big emphasis on choice, and main characters can actually die if you make the wrong choices, leading to a multitude of different endings.
The much darker take on Digimon looks like a fascinating change for the series, and hopefully Survive has the strategy chops to back it up.
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Code Vein
With Code Vein, the team behind God Eater takes on the Souls-like genre, crafting a game that looks like it’ll stay faithful to the genre while introducing something entirely new.
Code Vein takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where the remnants of humanity have been turned into vampiric creatures in order to survive.
Precise, methodical combat is the name of the game in Code Vein, but there are a few mechanics that separate it from the Souls series.
First and foremost is the addition of companion characters. You’ll be able to bring one AI companion with you at all times, and who you choose will alter the skills and “Gifts” that you have access to.
Another is the ability to suck enemies blood in order to use your Gifts, or abilities.
Code Vein’s gothic anime art style is stunning, and there looks to be quite an involved story that doesn’t leave as much to the imagination as Dark Souls does.
Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen standout Souls-like games like Nioh, The Surge, and Salt and Sanctuary. Hopefully, Code Vein is one we can add to that growing list.
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Man of Medan
Until Dawn was the major sleeper hit of 2015, a horror title that played with genre tropes and player choice to brilliant effect.
Clearly Until Dawn was a success, as Bandai Namco has now partnered with Supermassive Games to create The Dark Pictures Anthology, a series of smaller Until Dawn-like experiences.
The first of those, Man of Medan, launches in early 2019 and focuses on a group of young adults that get trapped on a terrifying, ghostly ship.
The cinematic quality of Man of Medan is simply stunning, and it looks like the game will have an interesting way of playing with choice, just like Until Dawn.
Considering this is the first game in an anthology, Man of Medan needs to set a high benchmark.
However, if it’s a standout experience of 2019, it’ll sure be exciting to see where Supermassive goes next.
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
The Outer Worlds
The Fallout series has definitely had a rough go of things lately, namely with Fallout 76.
Clearly, fans are hungry for a Fallout-like experience, a massive open-ended RPG done in the same style.
Well, it seems like Obsidian Entertainment is poised to capitalize on that hunger with their ambitious new game, The Outer Worlds.
One of the best announcements from The Game Awards, The Outer Worlds comes from developers behind Fallout 2, pitting you as an adventurer in a diverse universe ruled by megacorporations.
Of course, there’s an emphasis on player choice and you can recruit different NPCs you meet along the way.
You’ll also have access to a variety of weapons, both ranged and melee based.
Some of the weapons and tools in the game will be quite unique, like a Shrink Ray that you can use to shrink down enemies to quickly eliminate them.
The Outer Worlds looks incredibly charming, and Obsidian certainly has a stellar track record to make you excited for their next game.
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Control
Remedy is well known for crafting some of the greatest games of recent years, including Max Payne and Alan Wake.
Although their last game, Quantum Break, wasn’t quite as well received, Control looks like it could return to the acclaim the studio once saw.
Control is a third-person shooter that casts you as Jesse Faden, an agent at the Federal Bureau of Control, a clandestine government agency tasked with studying and containing supernatural phenomenon.
The game has striking similarities to a well known creepy website known as the SCP Foundation, which we’ve previously detailed.
Jesse fights enemies with the Director’s Pistol, a weapon that can be transformed into different shapes depending on the situation.
Control looks like a mind-bending shooter that sports the usual detailed storytelling that Remedy is known for.
Its creepy supernatural themes look very unique, and hopefully it’s an experience that channels more Max Payne and Alan Wake than Quantum Break.
Games That Could Be Breakout Hits in 2019
Days Gone
Zombie games seem to be a dime a dozen these days, and that’s probably part of the reason there isn’t much hype surrounding the upcoming PS4 exclusive Days Gone.
However, we’ve seen an exclusive get overlooked before, like the aforementioned Until Dawn.
Days Gone certainly has some interesting looking ideas, and just maybe it’ll end up surprising everyone in 2019.
In Days Gone, you control Deacon St John, an outlaw-turned bounty hunter as he wanders through the apocalypse.
One of the more unique aspects of Days Gone comes with the actual zombies, known as “Freakers.”
The creatures will react dynamically to the world around them, including how weather has affected the environment.
When Freakers group into a horde, however, is when things really get terrifying.
The horde is a seemingly unstoppable mass that surges after you, and the early footage we’ve seen in trailers and demos looks absolutely terrifying.
Days Gone is much more of an open world game than the other zombie-focused PS4 exclusive, The Last of Us, and it’s interesting to think how these hordes of Freakers might interact with an open world setting and emergent gameplay.
At this point, Days Gone seems like one of the biggest question marks of 2019. It could end up one of the biggest disappointments of the year, or it could wow us and be a huge surprise.
