Well, February 2025 looks fit to burst. Between Assassin’s Creed Shadows getting pushed back to join Avowed, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and Monster Hunter Wilds, those sickos who love their bulky RPGs will surely be glutted beyond belief! Right? Right?!Nah, probably not. As much as we all like to joke about sleepless nights and chameleon-eyed gamers trying to bullishly marathon their way through hundred-hour narratives, only a tiny percentage of people are going to play even half the games listed above, and certainly not all during February itself. Only those with a depressingly high amount of time on their hands are going to play even a few of them, and that’ll be over several months or the year itself. Hell, Assassin’s Creed alone has a well-deserved reputation for making games that just don’t know when to quit. No, more likely February won’t be a feast, but a fight. People have limited time and money at their disposal, so it’ll be a time for hard choices about what they actually want and what they’ll spend on. Now, that’s nothing new in and of itself – busy release periods happen every year – but this might be different for a couple of reasons. Firstly, all the games releasing are ostensibly large-scale RPGs, and secondly they’re all looking like they’ll be very different from each other, despite that shared DNA.As a result, February is fast looking like it might become a kind of impromptu vote by the public on what they truly want from one of gaming’s oldest – and most diverse – genres: the role-playing game. More surprisingly, it’s genuinely tricky to say right now who the winner is going to be.Each with their own role to play What else is new? Check out the video game release dates that will see us out for 2024.I’m pretty impressed by how each of February’s games seems set to offer a fundamentally different experience and sales pitch. Shadows is looking to be classic Ubisoft fare, Avowed is a brand new IP seemingly channelling the spirit of late 2000s RPGs, Like a Dragon seems set to be an oddball summer holiday, Kingdom Come is setting itself up as the more grounded “hardcore” RPG, and Monster Hunter will be next evolution of the Barioth-butchering job sim we all know and love.February is fast looking like it might become a kind of impromptu vote by the public on what they truly want from one of gaming’s oldest – and most diverse – genresNow, a few years ago I’d have given the expected box office victory to AC: Shadows without question, but nothing’s certain these days. The combination of the disgusting backlash to the game by certain figures online, not to mention that Star Wars Outlaws’ sales have disappointed… well, it definitely makes success a lot harder to judge.The reality is that being a big brand doesn’t seem to be a guarantee of anything, especially when so many of the big hits this year have been surprise successes (Helldivers 2) – and many of the failures have been major IPs (Suicide Squad). And who would’ve thought that a top-down turn-based RPG like Baldur’s Gate 3 would’ve been such a smash the year before, even steamrolling over genre titan Bethesda’s own Starfield? Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
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With Assassin’s Creed Shadows pushed back to an already-full February, expect a bloodbath that might decide the future of RPGs
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It’s time to say goodbye to 2024 and look ahead to all the new games for 2025 racing our way! From the long-awaited arrival of GTA 6 to several iconic sequels (including a new Doom and Borderlands game), 2025 is shaping up to be one of the best gaming years we’ve seen in quite some time.There are massive upcoming Xbox Series X games, some key upcoming PS5 games – especially exciting now that some are confirmed to be part of the PS5 Pro enhanced games haul – and finally, there’s also a strong showing of upcoming Switch games as we wait for the Nintendo Switch 2 to arrive. In short? 2025 is going to be a very, very busy time to stay on top of your backlog. However, the year hasn’t completely filled up yet, with the calendar down below still awaiting release dates (especially for the latter half of 2025).Still, there’s plenty for us to keep track of while we wait for more news. So get ready to d…
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Abyss Ring – Tsports bettingrailer 2024 December – YouTube
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