We’ve already knocked heads here at DualShockers about the games we’re most looking forward to in 2024, but a year in gaming would be nothing without its share of surprise announcements and sudden releases. And the beautiful thing about those is that they could be anything.

So in that spirit, Team DS has decided to share its hopes and dreams for games we’d like to see announced in 2024, whether or not we think they’ll actually happen. So enjoy our little flights of fancy here as we dig deep into our gaming desires and present to you what we most want.

Dishonored 3

Rob Zak – Features Lead

Prattling on about how much I’d want a Bloodborne Remaster feels about as pointless as trying to fight Ludwig the Accursed with a dustpan-and-brush, if a little more predictable, so I’m going for something that, on deeper thought, I’d actually want more than that anyway.

Dishonored 1 and 2 are two of my favourite games of all time, with some of the best level design, most original combat mechanics, coolest art style, and most original world in gaming. While I liked Deathloop (and yes, even Redfall), neither held a candle up to these fantastic stealth games set in the steamish-punky world.

Story-wise, I’m fine with Dishonored’s simple tales of ‘assassinate a bunch of aristocratic ne’er-do-wells plotting a coup,’ it’s the worldbuilding and chance to explore another of the world’s cities that compels me. After the Victorian London-inspired Dunwall in the first game, and the sticky mediterranean-style city of Karnaca in the sequel, the game could explore the ‘gloomy’ northern city of Morley or head up north to the frozen climes of Tyvia.

It doesn’t really matter where it’d be set, because I love the whole world Arkane created and miss it greatly. Despite their recent slip-up with Redfall (did I mention I kinda liked it?), I believe that a return to their greatest work could be the comeback the studio needs. Just give me these massive stealth-sandboxy levels, apartments to snoop around in, and the ability to dismember burly guards with rats and eldritch powers, and I’m set.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Remake

Matthew O’Dwyer – Evergreen Editor

We seem to be on the verge of something special with Star Wars games. We’re going to get a lot of new and different visions, which is amazing. New is great! But while my ultimate wish would be a Sith-focused story, I don’t see it happening, so the next best thing would be a Force Unleashed story as Darth Bane while he institutes The Rule of Two. A close second would be a remake of The Force Unleashed as we knew and loved it. Playing those games made you feel like a Force (yeah?) to be reckoned with.

As far as I’m concerned, they could tell the same story or something completely new. Imagine those unhinged powers coming to life with modern graphics. Consider how the game would feel through the haptic feedback of a PS5.

What incredible story could be told as players choose to lean into the light or dark side at the height of its power? Since he’s both an amazing actor and a Star Wars fanatic, bring back Sam Witwer. Playing as Starkiller was the ultimate Force power fantasy. Starkiller’s existence broke The Rule of Two but brought back The Rule of Cool.

The Force Unleashed had so much potential as a franchise and was cut short by a disappointing sequel. It’s time for a redo. Mix the old with the new and give us as many Force Unleashed experiences as our wallets can handle. Tell us it’s coming. We’re in the era of remakes and reimaginings, and this one would be sure to excite the Star Wars fanbase.

Persona 6

Sam Woods – Managing Editor

Persona 5 is Atlus’ crown jewel. It’s the studio’s best-selling game of all time, its highest-rated game on Metacritic and has seen a wealth of spin-offs, including two, Persona 5 Strikers and Persona 5 Tactica, in genres that broke new ground for the series. It’s also a top-three game of all time for myself, swapping regularly with Persona 4 as I eternally try to choose between the pair.

I fell in love with Persona 5, and the series as a whole, a few months after release, but it really resonated with me as I played through Royal during the COVID pandemic. The game’s eccentric cast of characters and their communal adventures managed to fill a social-sized hole that the quarantine measures had left in my life. It also helped that stylistically, musically and, in just about every other way, the game was phenomenal.

It’s now approaching eight (!) years since the original Persona 5 was released and almost five since the critically-acclaimed Royal dropped and, quite frankly, it’s absurd we haven’t even heard whispers of Persona 6 yet. Admittedly, Atlus has probably been busy rebuilding Persona 3 for Reload’s impending release, but still. I need it.

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Saints Row 5

Matthew Schomer – News & Features Editor

Hey, nobody said anything about a game that was likely to happen. This is a wish list, and even though developer Volition—which has been with Saints Row since the beginning—is dead and buried, I’d hate to see the series have its swan song be the watered-down reboot we got back in 2022. Nah, fam, I’m talking old-school Saints Row; a true sequel to Saints Row 4, with the return of Johnny Gat, Saundi, Pierce, Kinzie, and whoever else is actually still alive after all the chaos of the Earth’s destruction.

Don’t get me wrong: the reboot wasn’t as bad as it seemed at first glance, but it also wasn’t that good either, and it definitely wasn’t the Saints Row I’d grown to love since its days on the Xbox 360. From the loss of fun mechanics like grabbing people to use as human shields (and consequently yeeting them from high places) to characters that just weren’t likable (as opposed to being delightfully unlovable), the first four games had so much to offer, and they knew how to be fun and lighthearted even as the game series they were so obviously parodying, Grand Theft Auto, forgot how to be. Also, the reboot didn’t even have an ’80s station on the radio anymore! Who’s going to have a sing-along to awesomely bad music with me now?

I don’t need anything groundbreaking in terms of plot. Just give me another evil corporation or overlord to go up against, toss in a bunch of pop-cultural references, decorate it with purple fleur-de-lises (fleurs-de-lis? I never took French), and work Keith David back into the vocal cast. I don’t care how. If someone could just put out one more Saints Row adventure before I have to say goodbye to Third Street forever, it’d be a game I’d make sure not to miss, ’cause I don’t wanna miss a thing.

A Soulslike Metroid

Jeff Brooks – Evergreen Lead

This idea has been bouncing around in my head for years now, so this is a complete wish-upon-a-star moment, but I would adore a third-person Metroid Soulslike—bonus points if it’s actually created by FromSoftware. A pretty popular request in the FromSoftware community is to someday see a ‘Sci-fi Souls’ from them, bringing their incredible world-building, level design, and combat stylings into a cosmic new genre, and well, Metroid-Souls could be it!

Remnant From the Ashes and Remnant 2 offer solid Souls-Shooter experiences, but I think the aesthetic of Metroid would fit so perfectly into a great Soulslike game. Metroid is already about getting lost in a massive interconnected environment, discovering a wide variety of enemies, and unraveling the lore and story in bits and pieces along the way. As much as I’m all for FromSoftware continuing to create their own unique IPs, I’d love for them to take a project on for Nintendo like how they created Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne for PlayStation.

To spice this up a bit further, let’s mix in some Returnal-style bullet-hell action. Returnal, aside from the excellent Roguelike design, absolutely nailed the lone sci-fi warrior traversing a bizarre alien world, discovering ancient tech, and battling the environment in the pursuit of figuring out what the heck is going on. I know Metroid Prime 4 is next in line and will maybe probably someday actually release, and while I appreciate the excellent design that goes into the Prime games, I’m just not that into the first-person aesthetic. Samus deserves to kick some third-person ass!

More Of 2024…

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