In about a week, my copy of Dragon Age: Inquisition will arrive in the mail. Between that, Metroid Prime, Pokemon LeafGreen, and whatever else gaming-wise I can squeeze in here and there, I’m pretty much set for the rest of 2014. There’s a good possibility that holidaytime will bring about the addition of the PlayStation 4 to our gaming brood, which, short of having a handheld and a Steam-only PC, should keep my hands plenty busy for a good long while.

It’s with those thoughts in mind that I contemplate here the coming year in gaming. It seem like the “next-gen” moniker is finally crumbling as “next” becomes “now” and the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are more ubiquitous than ever. True that a sizable handful games coming out in 2015 will only be available to those with the new consoles, but that’s the way these things go – eventually we all have to live with our decisions to upgrade or not. And surely the enormous catalog of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games is nothing to balk at. If anything, the Xbox One and PS4 have quite a lot to live up to.

Setting aside my strong desire to sort of, kind of remain in the past, there are a few new titles that, in an ideal world and under ideal circumstances, I’d like to get my hands on next year. Now, my number one most anticipated game is Kingdom Hearts III, but since that remains in the ether of uncertainty, I won’t cover it here. Nor will I include any games with vague release times such as “mid year,” “Spring,” and “Q4.” Though I can be flighty about some things, I do like to plan out my gaming roster when possible. Plus, it’s easier to get extra excited about a new game when you know that it is, in fact, going to be released. So here we go with three upcoming games with actual release dates to which I’m looking forward and that have secured coveted and unmoving (hopefully, hence the use of “anticipated” below since I’m not completely oblivious to the flakiness of the real world) spots in my calendar.

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (anticipated release – February 24, 2015)

Despite owning both The Witcher and The Witcher 2, I’ve barely sunk my teeth into the first title and haven’t touched the second – not for lack of interest but lack of time. At this point, it’s highly unlikely that I’ll make any headway with either of the first two games, so why not hope that the third time’s a charm? The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt looks amazing – lush graphics, the promise of a compelling story, and enough gameplay to make Skyrim look like a school field trip. I know, I know – time, time, time – but at least I can own it and hope.

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Mortal Kombat X (anticipated release – April 14, 2015)

Fighting games speak to me on levels like no other games, and I say this even though I suck at them. Hard. Though I’d much prefer a new Street Fighter or Marvel vs. Capcom game, I’ll make do with Mortal Kombat. And I shouldn’t be so coy as to say “make do” because the next MK title looks pretty darn incredible!  Though it doesn’t contain my personal favorite character, Sindel from Mortal Kombat III and others, I suppose I can manage with perpetually trying but failing to achieve any of the fatalities of classic characters Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Raiden. I told you I suck at fighting games (but I love them anyway).

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Batman: Arkham Knight (anticipated release – June 2, 2015)

So maybe I’m not the world’s most dedicated Batman fan, but I enjoyed like crazy Batman: Arkham City and have had all the best intentions in getting to Asylum and Origins…someday. Well, Arkham Knight only needed to show its face to convince me that maye those other games could wait (maybe), because hooboy! It looks one doozy of a game. In what’s supposed to be the final game of the Arkham series, Arkham Knight promises to tie things up in an action-packed bow what with the events of Arkham City being what they were. I’m sure the whole party will be manic, exciting, and tons of fun!

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What are some of your most anticipated games of 2015?