Well, I call it the aftermath. The only conference that had all it's shit together was Sony really, everyone else was a bit pish.
Some short summaries of what I'm into from the conference to follow. If it isn't there, I don't care. Simple.
Starting with EA's conference:
Titanfall:
I skipped the first Titanfall, not having enough interest to put up with my shitty internet connection for a multiplayer only game, Overwatch being the first I've gotten on board with. This time there's a singleplayer, and it looks quite fun. Having a titan as a character is interesting, and it will likely be a better character than the boring white dude it would appear you play as. Mechs have swords now, there's a grappling hook, it all looks like solid fun.
Fe:
Journey by way of gameplay. Not a rag on Journey, which is spectacular, but I like that Fe seems to have taken that atmosphere, but put it in a new setting and introduced some mechanics to the affair. This has my attention.
Battlefield 1:
Still the worst name ever, but the most interested I've been in Battlefield in forever. Maybe there's a bit of Stockholm syndrome going on since they kept showing us the same trailer again and again throughout the conference, but the weapons and environments of the great war appear to be being utilised to good effect. Looked fun enough to care. Still, balancing gung-ho wartime power fantasy with genuine acknowledgement of the horrors of the great war isn't something I'm going to expect when EA has confirmed microtransactions for the game, so the finished product could end up a tad tasteless.
And that's it for interesting stuff at EA.
Told you it was bad.
So next up, Bethesda:
Prey:
I never had time to really buy into the hype for Prey 2, as good as it looked, so I'm even less fussed than most at it being canned in favour of this Sci-Fi horror reboot. We know next to nothing beyond premise, but so far so promising. Definitely keeping tabs on this.
Dishonored 2:
I never finished the first owing to it's godawful morality system niggling at my mind as I played, and knowing that it's back in some form for 2 makes me VERY sceptical. That said, the core of the game still looks solid, with great visual design informing the expansive levels with plenty of options for the creative. Emily's new powers look fun, and I love the way they've developed Corvo into an old Batman type. I'm hopeful they won't ruin it all by punishing me when it's not needed.
Thus ends Bethesda's showing.
And now, the first annual Windows 10 E3 conference:
I can actually play some of these games if I simply give in to my Overlords at Microsoft and install Windows 10:
So that's cool. Frankly, this might JUST justify the upgrade at some point. It's not like it isn't an inevitability anyway, at least this way there's actually a benefit to it. Fascinatingly, this Xbox conference's big takeaway is that you have no reason to buy an Xbox, since everything is coming to PC.
Recore:
This had me interested last year when they said there were ex Metroid Prime peeps on board, and the gameplay shown so far is meeting my standards. An "action-adventure"(we really need a better name for this genre) with a cute robot companion with various bodies, well up for that. That said, some of that platforming looked a little off even as someone who loves and is good at 3D platforming. Remains to be seen.
Final Fantasy XV:
Seeing as it turned up here first, might as well talk about it here.
I kind of love FFXIII in it's own cute way, and it's sequels show that there's good storytelling to be had in that ridiculous-budget development method with enough effort. FFXV looks to me like more of that, with a much better story. I've enjoyed the two anime episodes released so far, the gameplay from the demo was enjoyable enough that I think I could stand it for the whole game, and it looks gorgeous. I'm excited for Fuckboy Roadtrip XV. Sue me.
We Happy Few:
Not exactly subtle with some of that dialogue, but the gameplay demo has some excellent pacing, and was wonderfully stylish. I had high hopes for this before, and it looks to be meeting them. So far, so good.
Tekken 7:
My fighting game of choice, so yeah, up for more. Akuma is nice, good to see them making use of the almost certainly dead Tekken X Street Fighter assets somewhat. Hoping for a return of the customisation from Tag Tournament 2 that let me make various cosplays. I'm a sucker for dressup.
Scalebound:
A boss battle with some odd pacing to it, but enough was shown to convince me that this is my type of game, right down to the cheesy music that kicked in at the end. Not-Dante seems cool enough, hopefully we get a chance to play with those other mounts in some way. And Kamiya stopped tweeting and blocking people for a while too, so that was a rare once-in-a-lifetime sight.
Sea of Theives:
I'll be frank: I'll likely never have enough friends to play this properly. But at the very least, it looks like a lot of fun for those who do, and I'll likely enjoy watching more entertaining people than the people demoing it play the full game.
So Microsoft didn't do too badly overall.
And now, Ubisoft:
For Honor:
Yup, this still looks baller as hell. Woke me the fuck up after the absolutely dire first half of the show. The Viking man in charge of this game is always a joy to see, as is always the case with people genuinely passionate about their work. And boy does this man love swords. I was on board from the start with this, and now I know the singleplayer has a high-concept medieval post-apocalyptic story with a Knight called Apolyon pulling strings of war between the factions I'm pretty damn hyped. Can you tell I'm excited for this game? I am excited for this game.
Steep:
Non-combat games always have my attention by default, and Steep looks to offer a lot of extreme sports thrills with some standard Ubisoft open world architecture to keep things moving. I'm up for that. And I enjoyed the montage of death. The snow will run red with the blood of dumbass snowboarders.
Thus ends the conference with 2 things to show for it that made me prey for death in between. Well, the Star Trek Bridge Crew talk was enjoyable, always good to see someone genuinely excited about something talking to someone else genuinely excited about something. But nonetheless, dull.
And now, the main course. The only conference I can actually call GOOD this year. Sony:
Dad of War:
This is such a left field turn, and I am kind of in love. I have no interest in the old God of War games, never played them, and I have enough games I love in the genre that I don't feel I need to. But taking that series, the premise, the protagonist, and starting afresh in a new pantheon, with a new humanised approach to the characters and a big departure from the core gameplay, that's got my attention. And to do this fatherhood thing with Kratos, god of being really fucking angry all the time, is damn near genius. A great opening, and defiantly on my watch list.
Days Gone:
I'll admit, I cared significantly more about this game during the first trailer, before I found out it was Zombies later. Is it too much to as for a human survival story WITHOUT zombies? But still, it's got a lot going for it. Biker culture is interesting, so there's a lot of stuff it could do with it, there's a lot of style in it's presentation, with a good script on show, and even the zombies take more from the underrated World War Z movie, moving as a terrifying ad seemingly unstoppable wave of dead flesh. The chase sequence shown at the end of the conference was tense, original and dramatic, all very good things. Has potential, but a lot of that was lost when it decided on Zombies.
The Last Guardian:
I'll admit to my cardinal sin of never having played Shadow of the Colossus or Ico. That may change soon, in no small part down to my interest in the game that nobody believes exists. The fact that the protagonist appears to be rendered in a completely different art style to the rest of the game is somewhat amusing to me at least.
Horizon Zero Dawn:
If this game can live up to what it's shown so far, it'll likely be one of my favourite games ever. Open world survival with a mysterious sci-fi story and a ton of amazing tools to play around with, and absolutely stunning to boot. January can't come soon enough.
Detroid: Become Human:
I can't believe I'm interested in a David Cage game. Likely because the man himself didn't come on stage and start talking, would likely have killed my interest dead. But the topic is a good one, if a well-trodden path, and the setup of what appears to be a series of short stories with wildly differing endings and little to do with each other has a lot of potential. Then again, that's just what I understood from the trailer, it might not even do that. Doubtless the section we saw isn't nearly as expansive as it's made to look, and there will be plenty of David Cage stupidity to go around, but at least this time I can see it being alright.
Resident Evil 7:
Another left turn, and arguably a bigger one. Capcom has swerved to avoid wherever they were by the end of Resi 6, driven straight through their horror roots and ended up with a broken down car near a scary old house. Resi 7 looks even more straight-up horror than any other game in the series, and while there's Resi DNA to be found in the demo(which IU have not played myself, as it's PS+ exclusive and I'm not falling for that scam), with inventory management and various puzzles involving found items, but this is clearly a game inspired by the success of PT rather than whatever the fuck Resi 6 was. And based on what I've seen of the demo, it might be a version of PT I can get into. I never finished the Silent Hills teaser because I have no balls, but the mystery and puzzle elements of Resi might just keep me sane enough to enjoy it. Lot of potential here.
PSVR:
Alright, I'm not THAT interested in the headset. Reasonable price point or not, it's still beyond what I as a rational human am willing to pay for the thing, and that a lot of the games designed for it are still these "experiences" says to me that it will likely be thrown under the bus like so many of Sony's ventures. That said, all of those experiences looked and/or sounded like fun. Farpoint might even have potential outside of VR if you can work around the motion control issues in a non-VR version. Also Prompto goofing about with the VR headset on was fun, even if the whole "experience" there looks a tad throwaway.
Call of Fucking Duty:
The fact that I am writing about this is absurd. Call of Duty has no right to look alright. To be fair though, I did think it was the rumoured Armored Core reboot until they got in the space-plane, which may have helped make me excited before anything really happened. It will, like Davi Cage's offering, likely be much less of what it looks like, but at the very least there exists the potential for something new and interesting. Maybe multiplayer will even off Battlefront style space battles like we all wanted the Battlefront reboot to have.
Death Stranding:
I could practically feel Kojima's erection as he waltzed on stage to a path of light and a full orchestra. And who can blame him, he was so excited, it was adorable. In contrast somewhat to the rather creepy imagery of the Death Stranding trailer, which dumped a whole lot of not subtle imagery in the traditional Kojima style that I love. Environmentalism, Natural Order, Religion, Parenthood, Imprisonment and Freedom, and in regards to that last pair, those handcuffs Norman has gotten off look an awful lot like a Fuck Konami to me. Sweet Konami tears. Looking forward to seeing more. My bets? Those 5 locks around Norman's neck will correspond somehow to the 5 figures seen at the end. Some form of psychedelic repentance, perhaps? Come on Kojima my lovely boy, lets see some more Norman Reedarse.
And that's about it for Sony, the most impressive of the conferences. But we aren't quite done, as Nintendo is still showing things today and tomorrow, apparently including a new IP. I'll likely write up my thoughts on their showing when it's over, as Zelda: Breath of the Wild has quickly become one of my most anticipated games of next year.
Some short summaries of what I'm into from the conference to follow. If it isn't there, I don't care. Simple.
Starting with EA's conference:
Titanfall:
I skipped the first Titanfall, not having enough interest to put up with my shitty internet connection for a multiplayer only game, Overwatch being the first I've gotten on board with. This time there's a singleplayer, and it looks quite fun. Having a titan as a character is interesting, and it will likely be a better character than the boring white dude it would appear you play as. Mechs have swords now, there's a grappling hook, it all looks like solid fun.
Fe:
Journey by way of gameplay. Not a rag on Journey, which is spectacular, but I like that Fe seems to have taken that atmosphere, but put it in a new setting and introduced some mechanics to the affair. This has my attention.
Battlefield 1:
Still the worst name ever, but the most interested I've been in Battlefield in forever. Maybe there's a bit of Stockholm syndrome going on since they kept showing us the same trailer again and again throughout the conference, but the weapons and environments of the great war appear to be being utilised to good effect. Looked fun enough to care. Still, balancing gung-ho wartime power fantasy with genuine acknowledgement of the horrors of the great war isn't something I'm going to expect when EA has confirmed microtransactions for the game, so the finished product could end up a tad tasteless.
And that's it for interesting stuff at EA.
Told you it was bad.
So next up, Bethesda:
Prey:
I never had time to really buy into the hype for Prey 2, as good as it looked, so I'm even less fussed than most at it being canned in favour of this Sci-Fi horror reboot. We know next to nothing beyond premise, but so far so promising. Definitely keeping tabs on this.
Dishonored 2:
I never finished the first owing to it's godawful morality system niggling at my mind as I played, and knowing that it's back in some form for 2 makes me VERY sceptical. That said, the core of the game still looks solid, with great visual design informing the expansive levels with plenty of options for the creative. Emily's new powers look fun, and I love the way they've developed Corvo into an old Batman type. I'm hopeful they won't ruin it all by punishing me when it's not needed.
Thus ends Bethesda's showing.
And now, the first annual Windows 10 E3 conference:
I can actually play some of these games if I simply give in to my Overlords at Microsoft and install Windows 10:
So that's cool. Frankly, this might JUST justify the upgrade at some point. It's not like it isn't an inevitability anyway, at least this way there's actually a benefit to it. Fascinatingly, this Xbox conference's big takeaway is that you have no reason to buy an Xbox, since everything is coming to PC.
Recore:
This had me interested last year when they said there were ex Metroid Prime peeps on board, and the gameplay shown so far is meeting my standards. An "action-adventure"(we really need a better name for this genre) with a cute robot companion with various bodies, well up for that. That said, some of that platforming looked a little off even as someone who loves and is good at 3D platforming. Remains to be seen.
Final Fantasy XV:
Seeing as it turned up here first, might as well talk about it here.
I kind of love FFXIII in it's own cute way, and it's sequels show that there's good storytelling to be had in that ridiculous-budget development method with enough effort. FFXV looks to me like more of that, with a much better story. I've enjoyed the two anime episodes released so far, the gameplay from the demo was enjoyable enough that I think I could stand it for the whole game, and it looks gorgeous. I'm excited for Fuckboy Roadtrip XV. Sue me.
We Happy Few:
Not exactly subtle with some of that dialogue, but the gameplay demo has some excellent pacing, and was wonderfully stylish. I had high hopes for this before, and it looks to be meeting them. So far, so good.
Tekken 7:
My fighting game of choice, so yeah, up for more. Akuma is nice, good to see them making use of the almost certainly dead Tekken X Street Fighter assets somewhat. Hoping for a return of the customisation from Tag Tournament 2 that let me make various cosplays. I'm a sucker for dressup.
Scalebound:
A boss battle with some odd pacing to it, but enough was shown to convince me that this is my type of game, right down to the cheesy music that kicked in at the end. Not-Dante seems cool enough, hopefully we get a chance to play with those other mounts in some way. And Kamiya stopped tweeting and blocking people for a while too, so that was a rare once-in-a-lifetime sight.
Sea of Theives:
I'll be frank: I'll likely never have enough friends to play this properly. But at the very least, it looks like a lot of fun for those who do, and I'll likely enjoy watching more entertaining people than the people demoing it play the full game.
So Microsoft didn't do too badly overall.
And now, Ubisoft:
For Honor:
Yup, this still looks baller as hell. Woke me the fuck up after the absolutely dire first half of the show. The Viking man in charge of this game is always a joy to see, as is always the case with people genuinely passionate about their work. And boy does this man love swords. I was on board from the start with this, and now I know the singleplayer has a high-concept medieval post-apocalyptic story with a Knight called Apolyon pulling strings of war between the factions I'm pretty damn hyped. Can you tell I'm excited for this game? I am excited for this game.
Steep:
Non-combat games always have my attention by default, and Steep looks to offer a lot of extreme sports thrills with some standard Ubisoft open world architecture to keep things moving. I'm up for that. And I enjoyed the montage of death. The snow will run red with the blood of dumbass snowboarders.
Thus ends the conference with 2 things to show for it that made me prey for death in between. Well, the Star Trek Bridge Crew talk was enjoyable, always good to see someone genuinely excited about something talking to someone else genuinely excited about something. But nonetheless, dull.
And now, the main course. The only conference I can actually call GOOD this year. Sony:
Dad of War:
This is such a left field turn, and I am kind of in love. I have no interest in the old God of War games, never played them, and I have enough games I love in the genre that I don't feel I need to. But taking that series, the premise, the protagonist, and starting afresh in a new pantheon, with a new humanised approach to the characters and a big departure from the core gameplay, that's got my attention. And to do this fatherhood thing with Kratos, god of being really fucking angry all the time, is damn near genius. A great opening, and defiantly on my watch list.
Days Gone:
I'll admit, I cared significantly more about this game during the first trailer, before I found out it was Zombies later. Is it too much to as for a human survival story WITHOUT zombies? But still, it's got a lot going for it. Biker culture is interesting, so there's a lot of stuff it could do with it, there's a lot of style in it's presentation, with a good script on show, and even the zombies take more from the underrated World War Z movie, moving as a terrifying ad seemingly unstoppable wave of dead flesh. The chase sequence shown at the end of the conference was tense, original and dramatic, all very good things. Has potential, but a lot of that was lost when it decided on Zombies.
The Last Guardian:
I'll admit to my cardinal sin of never having played Shadow of the Colossus or Ico. That may change soon, in no small part down to my interest in the game that nobody believes exists. The fact that the protagonist appears to be rendered in a completely different art style to the rest of the game is somewhat amusing to me at least.
Horizon Zero Dawn:
If this game can live up to what it's shown so far, it'll likely be one of my favourite games ever. Open world survival with a mysterious sci-fi story and a ton of amazing tools to play around with, and absolutely stunning to boot. January can't come soon enough.
Detroid: Become Human:
I can't believe I'm interested in a David Cage game. Likely because the man himself didn't come on stage and start talking, would likely have killed my interest dead. But the topic is a good one, if a well-trodden path, and the setup of what appears to be a series of short stories with wildly differing endings and little to do with each other has a lot of potential. Then again, that's just what I understood from the trailer, it might not even do that. Doubtless the section we saw isn't nearly as expansive as it's made to look, and there will be plenty of David Cage stupidity to go around, but at least this time I can see it being alright.
Resident Evil 7:
Another left turn, and arguably a bigger one. Capcom has swerved to avoid wherever they were by the end of Resi 6, driven straight through their horror roots and ended up with a broken down car near a scary old house. Resi 7 looks even more straight-up horror than any other game in the series, and while there's Resi DNA to be found in the demo(which IU have not played myself, as it's PS+ exclusive and I'm not falling for that scam), with inventory management and various puzzles involving found items, but this is clearly a game inspired by the success of PT rather than whatever the fuck Resi 6 was. And based on what I've seen of the demo, it might be a version of PT I can get into. I never finished the Silent Hills teaser because I have no balls, but the mystery and puzzle elements of Resi might just keep me sane enough to enjoy it. Lot of potential here.
PSVR:
Alright, I'm not THAT interested in the headset. Reasonable price point or not, it's still beyond what I as a rational human am willing to pay for the thing, and that a lot of the games designed for it are still these "experiences" says to me that it will likely be thrown under the bus like so many of Sony's ventures. That said, all of those experiences looked and/or sounded like fun. Farpoint might even have potential outside of VR if you can work around the motion control issues in a non-VR version. Also Prompto goofing about with the VR headset on was fun, even if the whole "experience" there looks a tad throwaway.
Call of Fucking Duty:
The fact that I am writing about this is absurd. Call of Duty has no right to look alright. To be fair though, I did think it was the rumoured Armored Core reboot until they got in the space-plane, which may have helped make me excited before anything really happened. It will, like Davi Cage's offering, likely be much less of what it looks like, but at the very least there exists the potential for something new and interesting. Maybe multiplayer will even off Battlefront style space battles like we all wanted the Battlefront reboot to have.
Death Stranding:
I could practically feel Kojima's erection as he waltzed on stage to a path of light and a full orchestra. And who can blame him, he was so excited, it was adorable. In contrast somewhat to the rather creepy imagery of the Death Stranding trailer, which dumped a whole lot of not subtle imagery in the traditional Kojima style that I love. Environmentalism, Natural Order, Religion, Parenthood, Imprisonment and Freedom, and in regards to that last pair, those handcuffs Norman has gotten off look an awful lot like a Fuck Konami to me. Sweet Konami tears. Looking forward to seeing more. My bets? Those 5 locks around Norman's neck will correspond somehow to the 5 figures seen at the end. Some form of psychedelic repentance, perhaps? Come on Kojima my lovely boy, lets see some more Norman Reedarse.
And that's about it for Sony, the most impressive of the conferences. But we aren't quite done, as Nintendo is still showing things today and tomorrow, apparently including a new IP. I'll likely write up my thoughts on their showing when it's over, as Zelda: Breath of the Wild has quickly become one of my most anticipated games of next year.
Comments
Post a Comment