El33tonline's Gamescom Predictions: The games we wish were there (but probably won't be)

Gamers are generally impatient when it comes to getting their hands on a hot upcoming release. Unfortunately we are often made to wait far longer than we anticipated as the developers polish their product until they’re confident enough to let it out into the world. This year’s gamescom should have plenty of awesome titles on display, including the likes of Uncharted 3, Journey, Batman: Arkham City, Resistance 3, Gears of War 3, Forza 4, FIFA 12 and Battlefield 3. That’s an unprecedented number of triple A games starting with ‘3!’

Unfortunately, there’s always bound to be some sweet-looking games left off of the itinerary at gamescom, and this year will be no different. I’ve compiled a list of five titles that are looking epic but are unlikely to be shown at the event. Thankfully, four of these are unreleased Japanese titles that may very well make it to the Tokyo Game Show next month, so we shouldn’t have to wait long to gorge ourselves on new footage of these promising titles, even if some of them are still far out to sea in relation to our Western shores.

Catherine (PS3, Xbox 360)

This bizarre horror/dating simulation from the Persona team at Atlus recently got an English release in the US and seems to be receiving plenty of attention from consumers over there. Deep Silver will publish the PAL release of Catherine, although it looks like we’ll have to wait a couple of months until the game is localised into multiple European languages. With no confirmed release date to mark on our calendars, will Deep Silver use gamescom to promote Catherine or will it stay holed up in its headquarters getting the game finished?

The Last Guardian (PS3)

This PS3-exclusive is looking absolutely mesmerising in trailer format, and I’m sure the gameplay will live up to its majestic visuals. Team Ico is a modestly sized development studio with incredible dedication to detail and getting the atmosphere of a game just right. It’s therefore little wonder that The Last Guardian was delayed until 2012 a couple of months ago, and Team Ico will probably hide it away until this year’s Tokyo Game Show at the very earliest.

Metal Gear Rising (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

This title from Kojima Productions was announced back at E3 2009 and is looking likely for a late 2012 release. There’s very little information about what exactly the game will be about (other than Raiden slicing and dicing), which auxiliary characters will feature in it and where it’ll take place.

I’m a regular listener to the Kojima Productions podcast and they’ve mentioned on previous episodes about going on at least one research trip to the US, so it’s looking like they’re going to shake things up a bit in terms of Metal Gear Solid 4’s war-torn locations. I think Metal Gear Solid Rising will definitely be a no-show at gamescom and the inevitable media blitz will probably only happen at next year’s E3.

Final Fantasy Type-0 (PSP)

If you want to get an indication of how gaga the Japanese are about the Final Fantasy series, then watch out for El33tonline’s weekly Media Create post around the time of Final Fantasy Type-0’s release in the country (October 13th). I’m expecting it to burn up the charts and sell well over 100 000 units in its opening week - a very tidy sum in Japanese terms. There’s been a ton of screenshots and video clips released for Type-0 of late, and the game is looking incredible for a PSP title.

You can expect tons of depth and plenty of battling in the final product, as well as some interesting characters to command and converse with. Unfortunately this triple-A PSP title hasn’t been confirmed for the English market as yet, and it therefore has a close-to-zero chance of being shown at gamescom.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3)

If you want to see what talented artists and engineers plus PS3 hardware equals then do yourself a favour and watch a trailer for Final Fantasy Versus XIII (any will do). It’s a visual feast filled with all the elements that make character designer and director Tetsuya Nomura so iconic. It’s like Final Fantasy VII on steroids and is as close to a FFVII remake as we can realistically hope for this generation.

The way Square Enix manages its Japanese teams is rather bizarre in that it’s quick to develop spin-offs to their most popular franchises (like Kingdom Hearts) but take an age to make proper sequels. This doesn’t make Square Enix fanboys like me very happy because I’d rather the publisher focused all of its talent ensuring awesome-looking games like FF Versus XIII are primed and ready to take the market by storm. This is another almost certain no-show for gamescom, but may just sneak into the line-up at the Tokyo Game Show despite being at least a year away from release.

Which titles are you expecting to have zero presence at gamescom despite being worthy of exposure to a European audience? Let us know in the comments section below and also be sure to check out our extensive coverage of the event to judge the veracity of my predictions.