Four games for you to play in 2021 REVIEWS CORNER
HOGWARTS LEGACY
PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION, XBOX, PC GENRE: RPG
The longevity of Harry Potter has proven there is still so much more to discover about the wider Wizarding World. Now fans will have a chance to do just that in Hogwarts Legacy, but don’t expect to see Potter and friends – or anyone remotely familiar for that matter – as this adventure is set in the 1800s.
Trailers for the game have shown a truly immersive openworld waiting to be explored among the iconic school building, as well as the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade Village. Warner Bros’ Portkey Games label is behind the adventure title, though JK Rowling has no direct involvement in it, so we will have to wait and see whether the story itself lives up to high standard we’re used to from anything Harry Potter-related.
GOD OF WAR
PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION GENRE: ACTION/ADVENTURE
An untitled sequel to 2018’s God Of War was announced by Sony in September 2020, which will serve as the ninth instalment in the God Of War series. Not much is currently known about the next stage of this Norse mythology-inspired title, with only a logo revealed during Sony’s PS5 showcase teasing that ‘Ragnarok is coming’ – a series of events and a great battle in Norse mythology, which leads to the demise of Norse gods. Fans of the franchise are keen to see where it will take protagonists Kratos and his young son Atreus next.
RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE
PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION, XBOX, PC GENRE: HORROR
A staple in the survival horror genre enters with yet another taste of zombie fun, this time centred in Europe. As a sequel to 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, protagonist Ethan remains centre stage but with an appearance from franchise favourite Chris Redfield. According to Capcom’s Kellen Haney, this will set off ‘a chain of events that sees a distraught Ethan seeking answers to Chris’s shocking actions… and ultimately finding him in a mysterious village’. Spooky.
If developers choose to follow the success of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, we can expect Village to stick to the franchise’s roots once more with greater emphasis on survival and exploration than action.
It’s 10 years since we’ve seen anything from the main story arc of Fable. Now, it looks like we might actually get something, although details are thin on the ground – in fact, we don’t even know for sure if it will be released in 2021 at this stage, we might have to wait even longer. We also don’t know if it will be a direct sequel to 2010’s Fable
3 – though given we’re in next-gen console territory, we expect it to be a branch of the main story series as opposed to a smaller spinoff of sorts.
What we did see from a teaser in 2020 are fairies, swords, a skull, and a very hungry toad, alongside the usual humour (yes, the toad did gobble up a fairy), so we’re excited to see what’s in store after such a long hiatus.