[Let’s Talk] Games you can’t believe exist

Every now and then, a game is announced and / or released that you can’t believe actually exists. This could be for various reasons – series that seemed finished, games that get sequels despite the originals not selling well, and more.

For me, there are probably three that immediately come to mind. The first one involves Xenoblade Chronicles – while it’s a fairly successful series for Nintendo these days, that wasn’t always the case. Fans will remember how they had to beg for the first game to be released in North America. The fact that we ended up getting a game beyond the original is an accomplishment in its own right, but now the franchise has various games and Monolith Soft is one of Nintendo’s most prolific developers. It’s crazy to think about how Xenoblade started and where it is today – multiple games, Smash Bros. representation, and even amiibo figures.

The next one I’ll briefly bring up is Metroid Prime 4. In one way, it’s crazy to think that this game exists given how long we’ve been waiting for it. Nintendo announced the project way back in 2017. Then at the start of 2019, it was revealed that the entire game was being rebooted with Retro Studios taking over development. It’s been a long wait, but we’ll finally get it later this year.

Finally, there’s Okami 2. To be honest, my mind was blown when we heard about Okamiden on Nintendo DS way back in the day. I never thought Capcom would revisit the IP in any form given how many reports were out there about how poorly the original Okami sold. Okamiden also seemed like a market failure, so once again, I wasn’t expecting the series to see a return. Yet at The Game Awards in December, an Okami sequel was announced – but that was only half of the announcement as Hideki Kamiya was confirmed to be directing. The fact that we’re getting a true Okami sequel with Kamiya back in the director role feels like a dream come true.

Now that I’ve shared my picks, we want to hear from you. Which games surprise you that they exist? Let us know in the comments.

Highlights from last week’s topic: What are you playing? – March 2025

Lance Devon

Just wrapping up Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door once more. Then mustering up ebough tenacity to get through a boss in Ender Lilies that has been giving me a hard time.

Luke Houser

MH Rise. It’s basically a mix of World and Wilds in a fusion filled with added flexibility and genuine narrative sophistication, simply best of both worlds with better optimization to boot.

andremiguens

On the Switch I’m playing Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes before XCX comes out. Also in hopes of getting to Fire Emblem Engage later this year.
On the Series S I’m playing Avowed and thst should be it until South of Midnight comes out in early April.
On the PS4 I’m playing Daxter and then I think I’ll play Pac-Man World Re-Pac.

PanurgeJr

I’m playing Xenoblade 2 and Eastward; I generally finish the night off with a day’s worth of building in My Time At Sandrock; and I’ve been working on developing my fighting game skills, so once in a while I’ll do a few rounds of something, most recently Blade Strangers, which is a bit underrated.