{"id":37603,"date":"2020-01-07T13:33:05","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T21:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/?p=37603"},"modified":"2020-01-07T13:33:05","modified_gmt":"2020-01-07T21:33:05","slug":"januarys-video-game-serve-kickoff-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/features\/januarys-video-game-serve-kickoff-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"January’s Video Game Releases Start Off 2020 With a Slow Serve"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We\u2019ve made it to another year of new video game releases, but it\u2019s more than that: it\u2019s also the beginning of a console launch season for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. January also, of course, marks the result of gamers everywhere having some of the best titles of the year \u2013 and previous years \u2013 at their fingertips due to gifts given, holiday bonuses received, and\/or overtime finally cashed in. This combo results in most of the video game community being distracted by other things, whether it\u2019s playing with new shiny games from this generation or getting ramped up and researching what\u2019s coming later this year. And because of that? It\u2019s a very, very empty month for new stuff coming out for this round of consoles and on PC. Let\u2019s take a closer look, all the same.<\/p>\n

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\"ao<\/p>\n

Pre-Order AO Tennis 2 at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

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AO Tennis 2 — January 8<\/h3>\n

Similarly to golf, there\u2019s something universal about the zen aspects of playing tennis (or table tennis) video games, where even those who aren\u2019t exactly enthusiasts can find some enjoyment in playing. One could argue that the process of playing Pong<\/em> resembles the engaging, yet relaxing rhythm of tennis video games, so the concept of bouncing digital dots between competitors \u2013 either sitting next to you or digital \u2013 has been a thing for a long while and evolved with the years.\u00a0 Over the years, however, popularity of these games has fallen to the wayside, and releases are slim.\u00a0 AO (Australian Open) Tennis<\/em> stepped up a few years back taking aim at a realistic, detailed tennis experience, but the release was married with the need for a day-one patch that still couldn\u2019t overcome critically panned physics and unsatisfying graphics.\u00a0 Despite this, AO Tennis 2<\/em> hopes to serve up this sequel inbound the first time, and hopefully on January 9: there are conflicting dates, as it may have been pushed to the end of February.<\/p>\n

Yakuza: Like a Dragon — January 16 (Japan; WW Later 2020)<\/h3>\n

SEGA\u2019s storied game series about a semi-fictionalized gang atmosphere in Japan has long prided itself as one of the more reliable beat-\u2018em-up franchises out there. A shift to turn-based combat might be a bit of a shock to some players, but fans of other Japanese RPGs might be drawn in enough to counterbalance those hesitations.\u00a0 Guess we\u2019ll see with Like a Dragon<\/em>, which transforms the martial-arts combat fans have come to love into a somewhat similar-feeling turn system. Yakuza\u2019s storytelling has always stood out from the gameplay, and regardless devotees will dig into this revamping on the series that follows a new setting and a new \u201cemotive and outspoken\u201d protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga. \u00a0All these new variables could make Like a Dragon<\/em> out to be a reboot of sorts for the Yakuza series; however, execution will of course determine whether it feels like something new or a natural extension of what comes before. Those in Japan will learn soon enough, and worldwide gamers who can’t play it until later in 2020 will be waiting anxiously for their impressions.<\/p>\n

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Pre-Order DBZ: Kakarot at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

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Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot — January 17<\/h3>\n

Whenever Dragon Ball Z<\/em> enters conversations about what superheroes would win in battles over one another, the Japanese property often gets shrugged off because its characters are often portrayed as exaggeratedly overpowered. In video game form, reducing these powers to the scope of a fighting-game framework keeps that perception somewhat in check \u2026 though with modern tech and open-world games being so popular, a boundless DBZ<\/em> \u201csimulator\u201d from the perspective of these characters is certainly something fans would desire.\u00a0 Enter Kakarot<\/em>, which allows the player to gain control of Goku (and other series regulars) and maneuver around the vast landscape of the game\u2019s universe: to glide, levitate, charge, slam into obstacles, traverse towns, fish, converse, and of course fight. Other Dragon Ball<\/em> games have attempted the open-world feel \u2013 Xenoverse<\/em>, for instance \u2013 but not with the genuine freedom, emergence, and reactions that Kakarot<\/em> has boasted thus far.<\/p>\n

Journey to the Savage Planet — January 28<\/h3>\n

Somewhere between The Outer Worlds<\/em> and No Man\u2019s Sky<\/em> lies Journey to the Savage Planet<\/em>, the debut game from Typhoon Studios, a new collaboration of gaming dev vets. Players gain control of a faceless protagonist \u2013 essentially assumed to be you, the player \u2013 as they navigate what was believed to be an uninhabited planet under the employ of the \u201c4th<\/sup> Best Interstellar Exploration Company\u201d. \u00a0With vibrant colors and a focus on humor, the first-person action shooter then allows the player to discover why the \u201cuninhabited\u201d part of their assumptions isn\u2019t correct. Progression has been labeled as something like Metroidvania style of games, where certain obstacles and challenges are insurmountable without certain gear earned later down the line, and the breadth of the hazardous world has been described as “focused” due to the small scale of the dev team.\u00a0 Seems like an easy pickup for those who dig sci-fi and lighter-hearted gaming experiences (like myself).<\/p>\n

A few assorted ports and remasters fill out the rest of the calendar for January, with PC players getting both the latest Monster Hunter World<\/strong><\/em> expansion, Iceborn<\/strong><\/em>, on the 9th and the Warcraft 3: Reforged<\/em> remastering of Reign of Chaos<\/em> and The Frozen Throne<\/em> coming on the 28th. The Atelier<\/strong><\/em> franchise of JRPGs will be releasing its Dusk<\/strong><\/em> series of games in a PC\/Switch\/PS4 bundle on the 14th<\/sup>, while a Nintendo Switch port of Oddworld: Stranger\u2019s Wrath<\/strong><\/em> will be descending on January 23. And finally, The Walking Dead<\/strong><\/em> will be scaring up some excitement on the VR front with Saints and Sinners<\/strong><\/em>, also on the 23rd<\/sup>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve made it to another year of new video game releases, but it\u2019s more than that: it\u2019s also the beginning of a console launch season for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. January also, of course, marks the result of gamers everywhere having some of the best titles of the year \u2013 and previous years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":37605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2200,401,2201,25,378,1630],"class_list":["post-37603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-dragon-ball-z","tag-ps4","tag-tennis","tag-video-games","tag-xbox-one","tag-yakuza"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37603"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37608,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37603\/revisions\/37608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}