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This year in gaming leaves much to be desired.

2017 is considered by many to be the best year in gaming since 2007 with releases such as Persona 5Hollow KnightHorizon: Zero Dawn, and many other releases. 2017 also experienced some of the biggest crashes in gaming with titles such as Star Wars Battlefront 2Destiny 2and Lawbreakers experiencing near constant controversy. However, while 2017 saw the release of many new sequels and original IP’s, for better or worse, it seems 2018 will be built entirely on nostalgia. Here’s a list of some of the releases announced so far.

Shadow of the Colossus

Initially released in 2005, Shadow of the Colossus is a story about a boy named Wander who travels to defeat several beings known as Colossi in order to save his friend Mono. There are no towns to explore or NPC’s to interact with. The game is simply Wander hunting down each Colossus. The game was developed by Team Ico, creators of the much smaller ICO. According to Engadget, the game is being built “from the ground up” rather than being just a port with the only thing remaining being the mechanics. This game will be available February 6th, 2018 for Playstation 4.

Catherine: Full Body

Originally released on February 11th, 2011, Catherine is a mix of a puzzle game and a visual novel. The player controls Vincent, a man in a relationship with a woman named Katherine. Katherine wishes to get married and is constantly frustrated by Vincent’s indecisiveness. One night, Vincent meets a young woman at a bar named Catherine which ends in a one night stand. From here, the game uses puzzles set in Vincent’s dreams to symbolize his fears while, in real life, he must choose between Catherine and Katherine. Catherine: Full Body introduces another woman into the picture: the pink haired pianist Rin. The remake will also include new puzzles, a two-player mode, and an expanded story. Announced for PS Vita and Playstation 4, the game is slated for a Winter 2018 release.

The World Ends With You -Final Remix-

The World Ends With You is a highly stylized game originally released on the Nintendo DS in 2007. In this title, Neku Sakuraba has died and finds himself forced to complete in the Reaper’s Game in an alternate plane of existence. Failure to complete the challenges set forth, he will be erased. Though invisible to this plain of existence, the Realground, Neku exists in the Underground which can influence the Realground indirectly. The Composer, the god-like being that runs the game, sends Reapers to prevent the player characters from advancing. The game was highly praised for the soundtrack, art, unusual mechanics, and integrating real life Shibuya with the “Underground” Shibuya in the game. This isn’t the first time this game has been ported, as it saw release on iOS in 2012 and 2015. This remake will include a new scenario as well as mechanical upgrades to function on the Nintendo Switch. This game is slated for a 2018 release.

Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection

Street Fighter is a classic game series that most have played at least a few times in their lifetime. From the arcade to EVO, this classic never fails to sell. What is notable is that this collection will contain the original Street Fighter. Alongside that, this version will contain ever version of the original game to Street Fighter III. This collection will be available May 2018 for Xbox One.

Dark Souls: Remastered

Dark Souls is one of the most influential games of the seventh generation of consoles. When describing difficulty, it has become common to describe something as “the Dark Souls” of that game’s genre. Many games have taken inspiration from it including Salt and Sanctuary, Hollow Knight, Lords of the Fallen, and Nioh. It managed to create a new genre of gaming entirely: souls borne or souls-like. The plot of Dark Souls is minimalist. The player takes control of the cursed undead and must find the Lord Souls in order to rekindle the flame and extend the Age of Fire or allow the fire to die out and usher in the Age of Dark. This remaster will be available May 2018 for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and, for the first time, Nintendo Switch.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux

Shin Megami Tensei is the long-running dungeon crawling franchise by ATLUS games. This game saw the rise of many popular spin-offs including Persona and Catherine. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey was the fourth game in the main series. In this title, the Earth is suffering from war, famine, disease, and pollution. In addition, a black portal has opened in Antarctica. With all attempts to interact with it ending in failure, the united nations decide to send a manned operation into the hole, which they have dubbed “Schwarzwelt”. Once inside, the mission goes awry as the crew becomes all too aware of the existence of demons. This remake will include animated cutscenes, voice acting, a new character, and several new endings. Finally, the game will include several fusible demons from the newer games in the franchise. The game will be available in North America May 15th, 2018.

Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition

Our thoughts on this title can be seen here. This title will include new vehicles, new boss fights, an extended story, and all the previously released DLC. The Windows version will include native 4k resolution and 60fps. It will also allow for mods.

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st]

Arc System Works will be publishing three games in North America this year. The first is Dragon Ball FighterZ, a team based 2D fighting game. Releasing spring of this year is BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. Releasing February 9th is a lesser known game by the creators of Melty Blood known as UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[st]. While this title released 2017 in Japan, it will not be released in North America until 2018. Storywise, the primary protagonist is Hyde Kido who becomes an In-Birth,a person who can control EXS which makes up all living things. After being attacked by a monster, he’s saved by an immortal woman in a yellow jacket. From there, he must fight other In-Births in order to gain answers about the monsters that attack and the Hollow Night in general.

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology

Radiant Historia is a 2010 game originally released for Nintendo DS. It stars Stocke, a spy who gains the ability to travel between two timelines in an attempt to prevent the end of the world. By learning skills in one timeline, the player solves puzzles in the other. This updated release contains several new add-ons including voice acting, a new opening cutscene and an entirely new, third timeline. The player will have to choose whether to ignore this new timeline or incorporate it into their playthrough as well as adjust difficulty on the fly. This title will become available in 2018.

System Shock

System Shock is a complete remake of the 1994 title of the same name. Most fans of gaming are currently aware of its spiritual successor, Bioshock. The player controls “the hacker”, a criminal who is offered a chance at freedom and a neural interface implant if he hacks the AI known as SHODAN. After succeeding and waking up from a six month induced healing coma, he finds that the removal of SHODAN’s ethical constraints have caused it to go absolutely insane and gain a god complex. It also murdered, mutated, or converted all living beings on the space station into cyborgs. Naturally, as one of the few remaining humans on the station, the hacker must defeat SHODAN before her plans can reach Earth.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered

The seventh game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, this game stars Shay Patrick Cormac. Following a mission that unleashes a disaster of unprecedented proportions, Shay becomes disillusioned with the Assassin’s Brotherhood and defects to join the Templars. Here, he begins a quest to take down his former allies who have labeled him a pariah. Meanwhile, a present-day consultant of Abstergo activates a virus that knocks out all the systems within a building while investigating Shay. This game is a prequel to both Assassin’s Creed III and Assassin’s Creed Unity. The remaster is mostly a graphical overhaul with a few new missions, costumes, and weapons for the naval gameplay.

Devil May Cry HD Collection


On December 7th, 2017, Capcom officially announced an HD port of the first three Devil May Cry games. The Devil May Cry franchise stars half-demon demon hunter Dante as he takes down various demons who would like to see control of the human world fall into their hands. This game appears to just be a graphical update and port. It will be available March 13th, 2018.

Bayonetta 1+2

During the 2017 Game Awards, Nintendo announced Bayonetta 3 for the Nintendo Switch. Alongside this, they announced a port of Bayonetta 2. However, this port comes with a digital download for the original Bayonetta as well. This title also seems to be a port and offers no changes to the original title as of yet.


As of the publishing of this article, these are the most notable remasters, remixes, and remakes for the year of 2018. While every year contains its fair share of updates and ports to older games, this year, in particular, seems to have the most high profile ports of classic and even newer games. Hopefully, these games will live up to their original versions.

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Travis Lionel

Travis is a mostly self-taught freelance writer. He enjoys video games, comic books, and whiskey, in that order. When not enjoying his hobbies, he is active in the sociopolitical landscape and enjoys conversations about how they fit into pop culture. Travis lives inside of a blanket fort. Travis is not a rabbit.