Ernest's Top 5 Anticipated Games of 2016

My favorite time of the year is fast approaching.  E3 is right around the corner and video game hype is going to start ramping up quickly.  With all the hype I wanted to talk about the games that I am most looking forward to this year.  Now this is a pre E3 list so it is subject to change based on the things we learn that week (Come on Forza Horizon 3!).  So here it is my top 5 anticipated games of 2016.

So pretty it could be a book cover

No Mans Sky (PS4, PC) June 21st -  This game looks like the cover of a old sci-fi novel.  The promise of being able to explore the galaxy in a open world environments and the ability to do anything you want blows my mind.  You just want to be a space trader?  Go for it!  You want to explore new worlds and catalog new lifeforms on those worlds?  Why not.  You want to become a bloodthirsty space pirate?  Sure thing.  This game is offering limitless possibilities in a procedural generated universe.  No 2 planets will be the same and with what seems to be millions of planets the developers have said that 90% of planets will go undiscovered.  Add on top of this a soundtrack developed by 65daysofstatic and you have yourselves an amazing combination.  There is a ton of hype around this game and some big expectations of it, but from the videos I have seen so far I think it will deliver.  We have until June 21st to find out.

Pirates!

Sea of Thieves (Xbox One, PC) - Other than a quick teaser trailer last year at E3 this new Rare game has been pretty quiet.  However what we did see was a tease of a open world online pirate game.  Just the thought of being able to sail the seas and go on treasure hunts with my friends!  Sign me up now.  With this being from a company with the pedigree of Rare I think we can expect some great things.  Hopefully this years E3 sheds some more light on what the game will actually consist of.

Final Fantasy XV (Xbox One, PS4) September 30th -  This is the game that looks like it will bring the Final Fantasy brand back or it will die trying.  I was super skeptical of this game up until last month when the unleashed a ton of new info on this game.  Not only are we getting the game, but we are also getting a anime series and a CGI movie to top it off.  To top it off the game looks gorgeous.  Add in a very action heavy combat system and a more open world feel to the game and they might just have brought the magic back.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Xbox One, PS4, PC) August 23rd -  Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a breath of fresh air when it was released in 2011.  The idea of here is your objective, have fun was new and unique.  You could go in guns blazing or take a stealthy approach to your target.  Or my favorite was hack all the wonderful cybernetic goodies in the world to use them to your advantage.  There was no shortage of possbilites.  Deus Ex: Mankind divided offers us more of this but it looks like we have even more tools at our disposal and even more options.  The next gen systems have given this game a graphics overhaul and future looks good indeed.

Crackdown 3 (Xbox One) -  I sense a trend here of open world games.  This new entry in the Crackdown franchise looks to offer even more destruction.  This will be one of the first games to tap into the cloud power of Xbox One and Microsofts Azure cloud.  This will allow for unprecented levels of enviromental destruction in the game.  Some of the early demo footage has shown a buidling being blown up and then falling into another building taking out the gang leader inside. Hopefully this game can live up to the hype they have built around this next gen destruction because if it does work not only will it look cool but it could make other developers rethink how there using the cloud to help with processing power.  Fingers crossed this game shows up at E3 next month and we get a better look at it.

So that's my list for anticipated games.  Let me know what games you are getting excited about this year or anything your excited to hear about at E3.