Most-awaited games we’d like to see the light of day amid the pandemic

The pandemic brought by the dreaded coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has got us all in a strange pocket of reality that no one sort of expected.  Well, except for those who have read Y: The Last Man, of course. But as we continue to live in a bizarre situation where everything and everyone is in a state of suspended animation, let’s take a quick look at some of the biggest sought-after game titles this year.

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or been playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons since the lockdown, there’s no denying that Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is one of the most-anticipated games for the ageing PS4 this year. Thankfully, the pandemic hasn’t delayed the game’s release date yet, which hopefully comes out in June 26, 2020.

GoT takes place in feudal Japan in 1274, where you’ll play as one of the remaining samurais who survived the invasion of the Mongol Empire in the island of Tsushima. But in a bid to protect the surviving members of his clan from the Mongol invasion fleet led by General Khotun Khan, Jin needs to set aside his traditions in order to forge a new path to free the island of Tsushima from the grip of the ruthless enemies.

Although much of the game’s details have been kept neatly under wraps since it was first announced at the Paris Games Week in 2017, developer Sucker Punch released a brand new story trailer last month that shows us more about samurai warrior Jin Sakai and the people he’ll meet along his journey.

THE LAST OF US PART II

The future is quite bleak for the legion of fans of the much-awaited sequel to Naughty Dog’s post-pandemic game, after it has been delayed for the second time - ironically due to the COVID-19 situation that’s grappling most of the countries across the globe.

Set for a May 29 release date, Naughty Dog decided to delay the release of the upcoming PS4 exclusive anew due to logistics problem. Sony initially announced that the sequel has been slated to come out on February 21, 2020. However, Neil Druckmann, director of The Last of Us Part II, said in a blog post that they “simply didn’t have enough time to bring the entire game up to a level of polish we would call Naughty Dog quality.”  Sadly, there’s no mention of a new release date following its postponement.

The Last of Us Part II is set five years after Ellie and Joel began their journey in United States and have settled down in Jackson, Wyoming along with other survivors of the pandemic.

However, Ellie is forced to embark on a journey for vengeance following an event that disrupted peace in the community.

CYBERPUNK 2077

Unlike the fate of The Last of Us Part II, CD Projeckt, the creators behind the acclaimed fantasy RPG The Witcher 3, is firm on releasing Cyberpunk 2077 on September 17, 2020.

The Transmetropolitan-like action-RPG Cyberpunk 2077 follows the story of a hired-gun named V who takes on dangerous jobs in a “corporate-ruled” dystopian metropolis of Night City. Like CD Projectk’s initial masterpiece, some of the decisions that players will do throughout the missions will influence the turnout of the game. Players can also customize V’s gender, appearance as well as his or her historical background which also affects the narrative of the game.

Apart from the main quests that could take dozens of hours to finish, the DLC of Cyberpunk 2077 will reportedly have “no less” than the DLC of The Witcher 3, according to CD Projekt president Adam Kiciński.

Hopefully, all three of these games will come out in time despite the ongoing health crisis. But of course, nothing is certain at this moment. Because who knows, maybe we’re in a sick episode of Twilight Zone or even Black Mirror and all we could do is listen to R.E.M.’s It’s the End Of The World as We Know It just to keep ourselves sane.