I guess it was luck that I just happened to have two days off from work during the first two days of E3 conferences, even if Nintendo's presentation was what stuck with me the most in the end, which I had to wait until after work on Tuesday to watch. Suffice to say, though, I watched a lot of video game trailers over the past weekend and I have some thoughts.
On Sunday was Microsoft's E3 press conference, the presentation for which I was least excited. I've never owned an Xbox One and even though I own an Xbox 360, it wasn't a console that had a lot of memorable exclusives, at least as far as my gaming preferences go. Project Scarlett, the code name for Microsoft's next console (which I'm predicting at this point will be rebooted as simply "XBOX") was revealed and although it looks impressive, it's not clear to me how it will distinguish itself from the upcoming PlayStation 5. Assuming the two pieces of hardware are comparable in terms of power, the real draw is going to be the software and it's clear that Sony has been winning that battle handily for a long time. It was also revealed that Halo Infinite would be a launch title for the system, which is interesting, but since I haven't played a Halo game since the original Xbox, that's certainly not a title that would win me over.
There was also a really thrilling trailer for CD Project Red's Cyberpunk 2077 that framed it as really exciting narrative experience. I'm reserving judgment on the game since I still haven't even gotten around to playing the game that really made the developer popular. Although I realize The Witcher 3 has absolutely nothing to do with this game, I'm a big fan of having context when playing a dev's new game, so I probably won't play Cyberpunk unless I end up enjoying their breakout hit. The internet's reactions to Keanu Reeves' surprise appearance as an in-game character was also hilarious to see. Of course, there's no reason I wouldn't just play this game on PS4 if it came to it.
Now, what I did find interesting about the conference is that Double Fine, the long-running independent studio helmed by Tim Schafer, was revealed to have been acquired by Microsoft. Now, whether or not this means their future games will be Microsoft exclusives is up in the air, but it's hard to see what motivations the company would have if that wasn't the eventual goal. I'm not that excited for Psychonauts 2 since I never managed to finish the original, but it's still a studio that I'm interested in going forward. The same goes for Obsidian, now also owned by Microsoft and responsible for the excellent Pillars of Eternity. Of course, the upcoming The Outer Worlds is also going to be available on PS4, which is puzzling from Microsoft's standpoint.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps looks incredible, as did the original Blind Forest from 2015. Above all else, I really admired that game's graphical style and it looks like the sequel is only going to improve upon that. If there's anything that would convince me to own a Microsoft platform again, it would be these games, since I don't have the ability to really jump back into PC gaming at this point. Still, though, these games alone wouldn't be enough to convince me to purchase a console. What might make me do it instead is Xbox Game Pass, particularly the Ultimate Game Pass that was announced during this conference. At $14.99/mo, you gain access to all first-party Microsoft releases on day one in addition to a pretty large catalog of games going forward. I have to admit that sounds pretty good since there are a ton of games I would normally not consider buying but would still like to try out. I could see a future where the Xbox One exists for me solely just for that purpose.
Bethesda had a presentation later that night that was surprisingly solid in retrospect, although none of it necessarily blew me away. The next Wolfenstein and Doom releases both look really good, but I stil l haven't gotten around to trying either of those series, though I've been meaning to do so. Deathloop, a new game from Dishonored and Prey developers Arkane also looks really good, even though I don't love that name. I'll definitely try it after I get through Dishonored 2 and Prey. Ghostwire: Tokyo looks horrifying and interesting. It made me want to go back and play The Evil Within, which I'll probably do.
I didn't see every single E3 conference this year but I did see most of them. Because I haven't touched my PC in probably more than a year, I skipped the PC conference (and also I just didn't know it was happening), but I did watch the Ubisoft conference, including several minutes of agonizingly boring pre-show material that I was momentarily fooled into thinking was the actual conference itself. I guess I got mixed up on the times. Anyway, the conference itself was not all that exciting since it was overwhelmingly stacked with dull Tom Clancy military shooters. Watch Dogs Legion did look very cool, though. I'm totally on board with the idea of being able to play as any NPC I can see in a city and in recruiting for a resistance movement. That's a game I'd love to try if I'm able to.
The most bizarre thing I saw all E3 was indie publisher Devolver Digital's video "press conference." Apparently they've been doing these strange, satirical videos for a couple of years now, but I was caught off guard by it. The actual real content revealed in the video was minimal as most of it was concerned with a ludicrously gory scene in which fictional Devolver CEO Nina Struthers was gunned down by a crazed fan (?) and then forced to give the presentation comatose, from within her own mind. In this wacky segment, Nina revealed an actual real-life Enter the Gungeon arcade cabinet; a collection of "bootleg" Devolver games with titles like Catsylvania and Shooty Boots, parodying Gato Roboto and Downwell; new DLC for The Messenger; and an interesting-looking "reverse horror" game called Carrion in which you assume the role of the nightmarish horror lurking in the dark.
Square-Enix got the ball rolling right out of the gate that same night with footage from the upcoming Final Fantasy VII remake. As I'm typing this, I've suddenly realized I planned on replaying the original game again before the remake released. Since it's arriving March 20th, I need to get right on that. The footage itself looked fantastic and honestly a lot better than I expected. If Square-Enix is planning on putting this level of detail into the entire game, we won't see the entire story until 2035 at the earliest. Cloud and Barret's intense battle with the scorpion robot from the very beginning of the game in the Mako Reactor so much more involved than the 30 seconds of turn-based combat from the original that it really speaks to the scope of this ambitious project.
Of course, they also (finally) announced the Final Fantasy VIII remaster, which I'm actually pretty excited to play. I was bummed when it kept getting left out of rereleases but I guess it makes sense now. Since I haven't gotten around to playing the Final Fantasy IX remaster either, I think it might be time for a marathon. I haven't seriously played those games in many years and I think a refresher sounds nice.
The biggest news from the conference other than the aforementioned Final Fantasy VII Remake was or course Crystal Dynamics' new take on The Avengers, which looks really nice. I'm only a casual Marvel fan, but I know enough about the MCU and about the comics to get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Fans are divided on the character designs used in the game (because of course they're not going to use the movie actors' likenesses) but I think they look perfectly fine and I'm excited to play it when it releases, and I'm especially interested in trying out the cooperative play.
The rest of the Square-Enix conference didn't wow me, especially when they showed off some spectacularly boring-looking military shooters in the middle. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered could be interesting because I never played the original, but my only potential co-op partner isn't very interested in it, herself. Oninaki, the new game from Tokyo RPG Factory looks decent, but neither I am Setsuna nor Lost Sphear were excellent games, so I'll wait for reviews on that one.
Although I'm now doubting my decision to publish these impressions in one entry since it has already taken me several lunch breaks to compose, there is still one "conference" left, and that was of course the Nintendo Direct released on Tuesday. The very first reveal got me excited, because although it had already been leaked that the Hero from Dragon Quest would be released as a DLC fighter, I'd had no idea that you'd be able to play as the heroes from various different titles in the series. I can't recall exactly which ones were featured but I know I saw the protagonists from Dragon Quest XI, VIII, and possibly even Dragon Quest V? That's significantly more interesting than just assuming the role of Dragon Quest XI's Luminary. Throwing Banjo-Kazooie into the mix is just icing on the cake, as far as I'm concerned. I'm eager to see who the remaining fighters for the season pass end up being.
There was also some more footage shown of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, possibly my most-anticipated upcoming game right now. It further reinforced the simulation/management aspects of the game, for which I'm totally on board. The idea of growing and developing my characters in an academic setting, recruiting new heroes, and getting to know them looks really fun on paper. I'm very much hoping the game executes on its premise. I'm also still very excited for the incredibly stylish Astral Chain from Bayonetta developers Platinum. I love the combat in pretty much any game they do. Daemon X Machina also made another appearance and is looking good. I enjoyed the demo when it came out and I still plan on grabbing it close to release as long as reviews are solid.
I never played the original Link's Awakening, but the remake is looking great, particularly with the new randomized dungeon creator mechanic this Direct's footage showed off. Of course, what I'm much more excited for is the Breath of the Wild sequel teased at the end, which I'm very much assuming won't be entitled The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. Nintendo has earned itself a lot of goodwill with the phenomenal job they did on Breath of the Wild so I think I'm definitely not alone in expecting very good things from another entry in that world.
Some of the more obscure announcements actually got me pretty excited, too. Although not a lot of people have talked about it, I played the recent localization of Romancing SaGa 2 and actually really enjoyed it. It was a game that's very rough around the edges but I'm wild about the concept in general. I had briefly considered tracking down a fan translation of the third game, but it looks like now I won't have to since Romancing SaGa 3 and another 3D SaGa game I hadn't heard of are being released in a bundle for Switch. If that wasn't enough, the much more shocking announcement was of not only the North American localization of Collection of Mana, containing the very first official release of Seiken Densetsu 3 (now called Trials of Mana), but a full 3D remake of that same game. And it looks incredible, too--much better than the recent, disappointing Secret of Mana remake.
So, that's pretty much it. I watched a lot of stuff about upcoming games and I'm not sure how my wallet's going to handle it.
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