Not all that long ago, I sat down to have a look at the upcoming games of 2011, and I found myself sad to see the inevitable and expected decline of the DS and the PSP. I didn’t see much on the list to excite me, either. Most that looked interesting to me are for systems I don’t yet own, but with a little searching I found some genuinely interesting games that I’m really looking forward to play.

High on my list is Jikandia: The Timeless Land. From the same team that made Half Minute Hero, Jikandia looks like a kind of RPG platformer that features time-based gameplay. The time you set for a dungeon determines what can be found there (enemies, loot and traps), and the more times you play through the game, the more story events are unlocked. I’m looking forward to a lot of replay value.

The next game that really caught my eye was Radiant Historia. Another game from my favorite company, Atlus, the development team is made up of people who worked on the Etrian Odyssey and Megami Tensei series. I have high hopes for this one, as it combines some of my favorite things: a turn-based RPG and a steampunk setting. With a team of people who’ve worked on some of my favorite games, how could I not look forward to it?

Close behind Radiant Historia is Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. I never got a chance to play any of the original Tactics Ogre games, but I know they’re considered some the all-time greatest strategy/tactics RPGs. Despite being pretty disenchanted with Square Enix in recent years, I’m genuinely excited to play this game and extremely happy to see it getting a modern port.

Oh look, a second Square Enix game made my list! Pretty unexpected. Dragon Quest 6: Realms of Revelation is another port of another great older game I never got to play in its original form. Other people might be annoyed that Square is porting more of their old games instead of developing new ones, but having been less-than-impressed with their new releases, I’m thrilled to see some of their older games getting a revival. I do have high hopes for their current list of upcoming items, though. It would be nice to see the Square Enix I fell in love with in the PSX/PS2 era again.

Call me what you will on this one, but I’m looking forward to Pokemon Black and White. I’ve been a fan of the series since the first ones came out, and I probably will be until they stop making them. You can argue till you’re blue in the face about how the series is stagnant, repetitive, boring and the same as it’s always been. I’ll agree with you wholeheartedly and then go right back to catching ‘em all. Pokemon Blue has a special place in my heart as the first RPG I ever played, and I’ve been hopelessly hooked since.

While my “anticipated” list is longer, these are the ones I’m really looking forward to playing in the coming year.