No Man's Sky - Ask me to name one game for next year that excites me the most, it has to be this one. I'm not even fully sure why; procedurally generated games are barely my thing when I vastly prefer handcrafted content, but just the thought of flying around an open galaxy with other players coming to and fro sounds exactly what I need next year.
Star Wars Battlefront - Right, EA and DICE. Automatic need to remain sceptical. I hope the backlash Battlefield 4 received, and EA's subsequent relatively good standing with gamers this year with unproblematic launches like Dragon Age: Inquisition have provided the once worst company in America with much needed humility. Also because I've long wanted another Battlefront game. I'm not as fussed about the ground battles, because they'll inevitably resemble Battlefield with Clone Trooper skins, but the space dogfights I'm most excited for.
Batman Arkham Knight - I've enjoyed all the Arkham games, even the stopgap Origins entry, so unsurprisingly Rocksteady returning with a full Gotham in lawless hell and promise of more Scarecrow has to grab my attention. Now, the Batmobile transforming into some kind of battle tank mode armed with gun turrets did have me tilt my head and ask "huh"? Has Batman changed his policy over the years or is it just me? Oh well.
Pillars of Eternity - Well, number 1 reason is that Obsidian is behind this. Number 2 reason? I just want to get into these sort of D&D inspired RPGs, so I figured this would be a great outlet to do so. Unfortunately, the choice of fantasy setting stumbles on its own genericness, but hey, this is Obsidian. They've always been good writers, and the writing will easily make up for it.
(and if I like Pillars, I'll follow that up with Torment: Tides of Numenera, providing it doesn't miss out on 2015)
Xenoblade Chronicles X - Fellows behind my favourite JRPG from last generation are following up with a more ambitious spiritual sequel. How can I pass up on this one?
The Witcher 3 - Just for that open world they've shown us so far. Ciri as a playable character is also a nice surprise, though I'd have preferred Triss - playing as a mage would be a different flavour from all the sword swings.
Just Cause 3 - Despite its problems and the relative dearth of varied content given its massive in-game geography, I had so much fun with Just Cause 2. Thankfully SE decided not to plague the sequel with the original plan of microtransactions everywhere (*blech*), so I can now look forward to Just Cause 3 again.
The Legend of Zelda (Wii U) - It's Zelda. I'm always going to be there for Zelda.
I'd list FF Type-0 HD as well, but for some reason, something about it and its full price point turns me off. Seems like it would have to be a £20-25 game for me. Meanwhile, while I may not necessarily wish to spend money on it, I am highly anticipating Telltale's Minecraft: Story Mode just to see how on earth they plan to meld MINECRAFT (you know, a game that has no characters or story to speak of, but instead rely on the player(s) cultivating their own creativity, individuality and self-made stories) with a Telltale formula that has so far only tackled IPs with distinctly constructed narratives and characters.