Oh would you look at the time? It’s half-past what-am-I-playing-o’clock. Here’s what’s been keeping me indoors so far this summer.
The Witcher 3
After finally beating the main quest line of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I was pretty eager to dive back in and clean up a lot of the side content I had missed. Simultaneously the Steam Summer Sale had begun, and the expansion pass was on sale for like 12 bucks. So instead of doing that aforementioned side content, I just started on the the first expansion, Hearts of Stone. I fear I will never be free of The Witcher 3 in my lifetime.
Dying Light
The recent announcement of a sequel has prompted some friends and I to dip back into the fantastic Dying Light. I had already beaten the game once before, but never touched any of the DLC. Thankfully, thanks to a sale and some participation from friends, I’ve fallen back into the zombie-filled hole that is Dying Light.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
Released a few days ago, this pseudo-prequel to the upcoming Life is Strange 2, is a good foundation for the next entry in an already emotionally devastating series. There’s a lot to unpack in this little hour-long experience, and there is no question that The Awesome Adventures of Captain Awesome is an emotionally draining experience, but it’s definitely worth the price of admission at zero dollars.
Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
Cause of-fucking-course I’m playing this game. Look, I like these kinds of games and I wont apologize for that. There have been significant changes to formula since the last entry in the series, Car Mechanic Simulator 2015, that have made things a lot more interesting. For instance, in the previous entry, changing a wheel was just picking a rim and putting it on your car, tire and all. Now, you need to pick rim sizes, tire types, mount the tires and balance the wheels before you can slap it on a car. It sounds like busy work, but for a simulation game, it’s what I’m looking for.
According the to totally accurate and absolutely infallible whenisthenextsteamsale.com, we’re on the eve of the annual Steam summer sale. While a Steam sale isn’t the same spectacle it once was, this is as good a time as any to go through my wish-list and fine-tune it.
The Witcher 3 DLC
Of course this is on here. When I first purchased The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, all of the big expansions hadn’t been released yet. So with my recent love affair with the base game itself, I figure getting the expansion pass is an easy call.
Moonlighter
I’m a big fan of games that have a cool look. It’s gotten me into plenty of trouble before, but I’ve heard pretty good things about Moonlighter. You play as a shopkeeper who has to go through their daily motions of running a store, while also being a part-time adventurer. That sounds pretty neat to me.
Warhammer: Vermintide II
I’ve been super interested in Vermintide II, but never pulled the trigger on it. I’ve also pitched my friends on this Warhammer version of Left 4 Dead, but despite our collective interest, we haven’t made a purchase yet. If the price is right, maybe we’ll all be playing by the end of the week.
PC Building Simulator
I have a problem and I’m well aware of it. Leave me alone.
Battleblock Theater
I really enjoyed Battleblock Theater when it came out in 2013 on the Xbox 360, but I never had the opportunity to really try out the cooperative levels. So my plan is to buy two copies of this and burden someone else with the punishment that is, Battleblock Theater‘s cooperative mode.
Vampyr
I’m fully aware that Vampyr was released two weeks ago and there probably wont be a sale on it at all, but a man can dream, right? It’s gotten a mixed reception since its release, but if it was cheap enough, I’d be willing to give it a shot. I miss demos…
Wreckfest
This is yet another game that just was fully released a few days ago but I’m still having delusional hopes it might be on sale. I just like seeing cars smash up real good.
Descenders
Mountain bikes are cool. This game is about riding them. I could be into that for the right price.
I’m realizing at this point that I’m not genuinely excited to play some of these games, but more curious about them. So either I have to become a millionaire so I can buy all of these games without feeling bad about it, or there should be more demos and trials out there. But there’s a secret third option that could be good too, all of these games could be on sale for a buck each. I’d be okay with that too.
It felt like a perfect storm of external forces all converged on me at once, pushing me into trying a game I had bounced off of several times before. After Skyrim and Fallout 4 failed to satiate my RPG cravings, it was the buzz coming out of E3 around Cyberpunk 2077 that served as the catalyst for me diving once more into The Witcher 3. Nearly thirty hours later, I think I can safely say that I am really enjoying my time with it… mostly.
My memory of The Witcher 3 wasn’t exactly positive up until this point. I distinctly recall being turned off in my previous attempts by the first few hours of the game. So instead of starting from the beginning, against my better judgement, I just picked up a year old save and ran with it. Most surprising is the fact that it worked. It’s probably worth noting that I guess I had cheated and boosted my level pretty significantly at some point in this save, which has made the combat incredibly easy.
Gotta shoulder check em’ to keep them off their rhythm
But the combat was one of the reasons I bounced off of The Witcher 3 in the first place. Even when I was fulfilling the power fantasy of being a legendary witcher and just annihilating anything in my path, the combat still felt loose and unresponsive at times. But trivializing the combat was what I needed to do in order to better appreciate everything else that people loved about the game.
It was when I accidentally walked up to the door of a random building that everything clicked for me. The door swung open and revealed a beautiful and detailed home adorned with several shelves that were packed with books and various baubles. Paint cans and brushes strewn across a table with a blank canvas waiting to be propped up on an empty easel. Around the corner was a bed and a large empty basin with a water pump next to it. This didn’t feel like a place where an NPC just stood in, but more like an actual home with the amenities needed for a person to comfortably live in this space. Just to be sure that my admiration was justified, I walked into every house in this city block that I could and found they were all unique in their own ways.
I could listen to this jam all day
As I continued deeper into the city towards my waypoint, I could hear the distant sales pitches of merchants, citizens complaining about the inequalities in their lives, a band playing a really awesome song, and a rather suspicious amount of cats hissing at me. This city felt alive in the way a city that was quietly being overrun with the meanest cats in the universe would be. Suddenly I came to a stop, yielding to a cut-scene of two people getting burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft. It was just as uncomfortable as you’d think it would be.
It’s here that I’d like to mention my first grievance with The Witcher 3. I really don’t like Geralt as a character. I don’t know the history and lore of Geralt outside of what I’ve seen in this game, but he just kind of sucks. I gathered that the witchers are supposed to be emotionless and only do what’s necessary for a paycheck, which seems to be contrary to a lot of what you see in the game itself. I find it odd that an emotionless mercenary like Geralt has any relationship options at all, as well as having dialogue choices that usually grant him options to be a more caring and understanding person. This wouldn’t bother me so much if maybe he just stopped bringing up the fact that witchers went through mutations to feel no emotions. Maybe the past games and books explain this stuff, but for someone like me who is experiencing The Witcher 3 in a vacuum, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
“I was genetically altered to kick your ass. Please go home though.”
But none of that is enough to make me stop playing altogether. I’ve genuinely enjoyed some of the story beats of The Witcher 3, even if there are plenty of times I had no idea what was going on. There are a lot of names and places to keep track of and it can get very confusing very quickly. But I was always ready to just accept my fate and go talk to whoever had the waypoint over their head. More often than not, the people I’d talk to were good at clarifying why I was there, and why it was important. That or they just wanted to challenge me to a game of cards or to race horses. The latter being one of the worst parts about the entire game.
This game still looks absolutely stunning
The Witcher 3 has the courtesy to let you opt out of most horse races, which is convenient because your horse, Roach, might be the worst video-game horse in history. This fucker is the absolute worst. The amount of times Roach has decided to not gallop when I hit the gallop button, or better yet, just stop in the middle of a pack of wolves, is unbelievable. Maybe when I spawned him in, he appeared behind a short, hoof-high rock wall or near a small bush. Well fuck me, because getting him out of that mess is going to be a challenge. But my favorite annoyance happens when I have the audacity to use the feature where Roach will auto-run and follow the road. This feature is a lie, and does not actually exist. Roach will ride on the road until he decides he wants to go on his own horsey adventures with or without you. Thank goodness for fast travel, or else I’d just end up walking everywhere.
Fuck you
I’m far from finished with The Witcher 3 but I know that if nothing else, I will see the credits for this game. I’m too invested at this point to just walk away from it like i had previously. In spite of my lack of enthusiasm for fantasy settings, CD Projekt Red has crafted a phenomenal game that I’m glad I can finally appreciate, albeit a few years late.
Hot Lava is what happens when your childhood imagination runs rampant and tries to kill you. The people at Klei Entertainment are behind this parkour focused, Trials-esque game, and I am holding them directly responsible for my conflicting feelings of joy and anguish.
The intro sequence of Hot Lava is effective at establishing the tone of what’s to come. What began as me just playing with action figures on the couch, instantly escalated to my entire home being overcome with lava. Luckily all of my furniture and toys seemed to be flame retardant and strewn about in such a way that I could just platform my way out of that nightmare.
After some jumping and swinging across what once was a home, a fire demon revealed itself to be the catalyst for all of this mayhem. It took a big swing at me and everything went black. Moments later I regained consciousness in a now emptied out classroom that my character must have fallen asleep in. Once I regained control I found that I was now in the hub world of Hot Lava. It’s an unassuming grade school that for the moment, was noticeably devoid of any lava. After getting turned around a bit, I eventually found my way to the gymnasium where I found out that I was not alone.
Some other players had spawned into my game, all of them equally as confused and disoriented as I was. We eventually found our way to the gymnasium, where on top of the bleachers was a large fiery red door with a name and some stars on it. It was my gateway to some tutorial levels where I learned about jumping, wall running, swinging, air control and more. Once completed, I was told I had missed some collectibles and the faster time requirements to get all the stars. Every level from here on out was presented in this way, encouraging you to replay them until you had completed all of their challenges.
Now back in the school, it’s revealed that a new level has opened up… somewhere. It takes some doing but I eventually found it. This would be the routine for me every single time a new level unlocked. The hub world was unnecessarily difficult to navigate once I started unlocking numerous challenges and levels at once, but it wasn’t impossible.
Controlling the game itself was an entirely different matter however. It ranged from supremely frustrating when I was bouncing off of the tops of slanted lockers for discernible no reason, to insanely satisfying when I started stringing together long lines of jumps and swings. In the few hours I spent with Hot Lava, I never quite felt like I was 100% in control of my movements. I’m sure that with time and practice that will change and I won’t fall into the orange abyss as much. Luckily respawning at a previous checkpoint was a button press away and basically instantaneous.
That is until I got to, the bane of my existence, the “Chase the Grade” challenge. In this challenge, I had to keep up with a floating letter that would change from A to F depending on how far away I was from it. But not only did I need to keep up with that constant reminder of my imminent failure, there were no checkpoints in that level. Every bit of confidence in my abilities was chipped away piece by piece with every death I suffered. To make matters worse, the other players that would load into the level with me would clear it in one or two tries. Not only am I not good at this challenge, but now I feel bad about it too. Thanks guys.
Outside of that nightmare challenge, there was some light character customization that involved new accessories, hats and sprays for use on any of the 4 unlockable characters. While I did obtain these cosmetics via a loot box system, there didn’t appear to be anyway for me to buy them with real money. I could only buy a loot box through in-game currency that I collected from completing levels or just finding it in the levels and hub world.
Hot Lava is a good idea that’s well executed for the most part and I’m curious to see what it looks like when it’s further down the road and some of the rough spots have been ironed out.
There is so much other stuff that didn’t make conference stages that I’m sure will be in my lane, and I can’t wait to hear about them. But from what I saw over the past few days, these were some of the notable games that caught my eye at E3 2018.
Battlefield V
I’ve had a weird relationship with Battlefield over the years. I really enjoy it conceptually, but the actual playing it part usually is hit or miss for me. Part of why I enjoy it so much has to do with the memories I have of playing past entries with my friends. Having reconnected with one of my old Battlefield 3 buddies might be the reason why Battlefield V is so enticing to me, but I hope that game itself can stand on its own merits.
Halo Infinite
I have no idea what this game is going to be or why it isn’t called Halo 6, but I do know that as a long time fan of the Halo franchise, I’m excited to see what this one does differently. I personally wouldn’t mind if this turned out to be an evolving platform for the Halo series going forward, but I’m curious either way.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
I really, really enjoyed Life is Strange and am onboard for anything that expands that universe. I felt that way even before I learned that it was a prequel to the upcoming Life is Strange 2, so knowing that all of these games weave into each other is just icing on the cake. And honestly, this game looks whimsical as hell and evokes a weird Calvin and Hobbes vibe with the main character losing himself in these imaginary worlds he’s conjuring. Also it’s free.
After Party
The people behind Oxenfree are making a game about having to out drink the devil to regain their mortality and be returned to the world of the living. I can’t wait to see more of it and eventually play it next year.
Tunic
I written about Tunic before, and all of my feeling about it then still ring true. It’s adorable, it has an awesome aesthetic, and it looks like the combat is going to be challenging and rewarding enough to pull me through the entirety of it.
Dying Light 2
I loved the first Dying Light and seeing the systemic changes they’re making to that game gets me even more excited. I love concept of being able to shape the world and story based on your decisions, and mixing that with the already great mechanics of the first Dying Light is a home run. The only thing I wish I could change about these games is the zombies. I would love this exact game even more if no zombies were involved. But hey, I’ll take this either way.
Cyberpunk 2077
The reveal trailer alone was enough to solidify my excitement, but the additional details that came afterwards make it all the more tantalizing for me. CD Projekt Red confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 is a first person RPG that allows you to customize a character with various stats, “Cool” being one of them. It’s an open world where you drive around (I’m assuming exclusively in a DeLorean) and shoot people. There’s more details here that should get you just as pumped as I am.
Starfield
I don’t know what it is, or when it’s coming, but the concept of a big Bethesda RPG in a sci-fi setting that doesn’t suck (Fallout) is something I’m interested in.
The Quiet Man
I’ll be real here, I mostly included this because the name is so dumb, but the little tiny glimpse of combat we saw was pretty captivating for me. I’m always down for some good punching and kicking in games.
Beyond Good & Evil 2
Another one of those “what even is this game” games, BG&E2 looks impressive visually and mechanically, I just want to know what I’m doing and what the structure is. But that world seems pretty cool to me and that’s enough to keep this game on my radar.
Trials Rising
Trials is fun, you should play a Trials game. That is until you reach the last few levels where the impossible is asked of you. With alleged better tutorialization, maybe I can finally beat the final levels of a Trials game. Probably not though.
The Last of Us II
Games are too happy these days. I need a good ol’ fashioned romp through the morose to bring me back down to Earth. Nothing like a sequel to the heart-wrenching Last of Us to fill that void. Seriously, fuck this game for looking so amazing and making me want to play it. I know how this ends, and it most certainly is in tears.
Ghosts Of Tsushima
Just watch the trailer Sony showed off for Ghosts of Tsushima. That should be all you need to know about why I want to play this game so badly.
Spiderman
I feel like with the popularity of the Marvel movies over the past few years, I should be up to my ears in good superhero games to play. Unfortunately, since the Arkham games wrapped up, I’ve only been left with Lego-based options. Then you got Spiderman over here, shooting his hot webs all over the place, and I’ll admit it – I’m impressed.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
I think what I enjoy most about Smash Bros. isn’t the actual gameplay, but the absurdity of its roster. Seeing shit like Solid Snake punching Sonic in the mouth, or Ryu uppercutting Cloud into space just fills me with a joy that I had long forgotten. Smash Bros. just seems like Nintendo got a hold of a bunch of 80’s and 90’s kids and asked them who would win a fight, over and over.
Nintendo invites us to have a smashing good time today.
Super Mario Party
Mario Party is a virus that somehow managed to spread to the Nintendo Switch. Make sure to get your Switch vaccinated to prevent any life threatening symptoms.
In theory Mario Party is neat, but in execution I think it’s been mostly terrible. It looks like a return to form for the series, but that form has never been something I’ve been enthused about in the first place. But this is great news for people who do.
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
Yeah it might just be an updated version of the original Wii U release, but that game was so good and deserved better. I’m really happy that it’s getting a second chance on the Switch.
Overcooked 2
Overcooked 1 was a chaotic nightmare that was a blast to play with friends. Overcooked 2 looks like more of the same but with some extra features and scenarios bound to make you yell at the person sitting next to you.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Everyone is confirmed for Smash. Snake, Cloud, Sonic, you, me. We’re all confirmed. Your cousin, he’s confirmed for Smash as well. Smash Bros Ultimate, as the title implies, is the most comprehensive game in the series, bringing in characters and modes from all the previous entries. There’s a luchador Pikachu too, which might be the best inclusion I’ve ever seen.
But really, this trailer has just been the equivalent of a YouTube video of patch notes. It’s informative if you’re an active follower, but I really don’t care about the mechanics of Pichu. There are about 65 characters in this game, and each of them had a talking point to go over. This combined with the focus on the more advanced fighting techniques seems like Nintendo is leaning very hard into the competitive scene.
This looks to me like Nintendo is using Ultimate as a Smash Bros. platform that can be updated for the rest of the life cycle of the Switch, which is smart. Put out a comprehensive platform for one of the most popular Nintendo games.
Also, I guess that after more than twenty years of asking, they’re finally putting Ridley in the game. So now everyone will shut up I’m sure. And also it’s launching December 7th of this year, so get to preordering everyone.
Hideo Kojima presents: The Sony 2018 E3 Press Briefing.
The Last of Us II
We open on the composer of The Last of Us sitting in the corner of the stage and playing some very somber tunes on his banjo. Without any gameplay happening. Just him playing the banjo. In this very small church themed venue.
Once he finishes, the lights fade and the footage begins. We open on some people having a party in the exact same venue the conference is happening in, which is weird but cool. We get some context to our main character, Ellie as she’s slow dancing with another woman and eventually kisses her. Then we get a fade to black and reemerge on her slitting a dudes fucking throat in the woods. Very romantic.
It’s all gameplay from here as we see Ellie creeping through the jungle and sneaking around enemy encampments. We come to a scene of some people simultaneously hanging and stabbing another dude which is insanely brutal and inefficient. Through a combination of using a bow and arrow as well as a hammer, she’s taking down her enemies. She eventually is shot at by a gunman which understandably, makes her start running away. She manages to get far enough away and hide under a truck, but eventually is found.
Here we get to see some of the more frantic gunplay and action. Everything seems incredibly dynamic in the way she seamlessly switches from firing a gun to picking up and throwing a brick at a dude to taking a human shield. She eventually ducks into a shop where the stealth elements make their return. While hiding, she crafts an explosive arrow which shes uses exactly how you’d expect. She finishes the last bad guy off and we get a wonderful transition back into the party where this all started.
It’s here I want to emphasize that all of this looks amazing. The animations, the art, all of it is fantastic. It blends from cutscene to gameplay and back and it does it flawlessly. I still don’t know much of anything about the story, but this segment has done enough to pique my interest.
Intermission
Yeah, so it’s here that I realized that they’re moving the audience of the venue into the main theater where the rest of the conference will take place. During this time we have a round table discussion about the current state of Sony and how it’s more recent successes are effecting new games and future decisions. Here they confirmed a new game plus mode for God of War.
They appear to be using this transitional moment to also showcase some trailers for other games. One of these was an ad for classic Black Ops maps available in the upcoming Black Ops IIII. We also learn that as of tonight, Call of Duty Black Ops III will be free for Playstation Plus members.
Ghosts of Tsushima
Here is a man playing an instrument I cannot name, but he blows into it and cool music comes out of the other end. The music stops and the footage starts rolling.
We see a Japanese warrior of some sort walking through a pretty fucked up battlefield with some mourning people crouched up and down the side of the road. He walks up to the top of a hill so we can admire the beauty of the world Sucker Punch has built. He calls for his horse, climbs aboard and sets off through the field and into the forest. Eventually we reach a clearing where some bad guys are executing another man. I’d say we were hacking and slashing through these dudes, but it’s way more deliberate and way more brutal.
We meet up with a companion of ours and run up to an enemy occupied temple. It looks like we’ve entered to stealth portion of this game. Our character climbs onto a roof and makes his way to an opening in the temple. He jumps down into the room and slow-mo murders 3 enemies before stabbing a guy through a door who attempts to sound the alarm.
Upon exiting the temple, our companion tries to pull some shit and challenges us in battle. It basically turns into a Soul Calibur/Bushido Blade game and it looks fucking mind blowing. Suddenly someone shoots fire arrows into the fray the entire field starts burning around them. Our companion and us stop fighting to team up against the incoming horde where it cuts to black and we see the logo.
I am in love with this game.
Control
What if Psy-Ops met Quantum Break? You’d get the latest Remedy game. A woman used psychic powers and guns to fuck people up in this Escher-ass looking game. It looks like a game that is aiming to mess with your mind and the trailer does a good job at establishing that. It’s slated for 2019, and I am onboard.
Death Stranding
So here we are, a Hideo Kojima game is being “shown” at E3. I’m surprised this isn’t just a big slide that just says “FUCK KONAMI.” We see gameplay of Norman Reedus and another guy trudging through various terrains while carrying cargo on their backs. Then, instead of carrying just cargo, we see a guy carrying what looks like a mummy around. At this point I think this is a weird moving and/or hiking simulator, until a guy pulls out a gun.
It’s right here that I realize that I’m trying to describe a Hideo Kojima trailer and I probably just sound like I’ve lost my mind. Invisible hand-footed monsters roam the land and Norman Reedus can’t be bothered to wear a shirt. I still have no idea what this game is about or how it plays but I didn’t expect that I’d find out tonight.
My guess he’s carrying a clone of himself around with him in the form of a baby in a jar. Then he did a sneaking bit past some floating ghost demons or something. I genuinely have no clue what I’m looking at. But Reedus gets swallowed up by the ground and we cut to a woman eating something followed by a cut to another woman standing on a beach dramatically.
I do not know what it is I just watched, nor do I know how I feel about it. Death Stranding ostensibly is a game that one day you might be able to buy.
Spiderman
We open with a crashing helicopter in which Spiderman, does Spiderman things with his spider webs to avoid any injuries. After the crash we get to see some awesome looking combat that reminds me of the Arkham games, but even faster and with some neat special moves sprinkled in.
The Sinister Six are on the loose and they’re all trying to fuck Spiderman up. They all go ahead and leave so Spiderman can fight some goons, which looks just as fun as it did a few seconds ago. After dispatching them, Electro taunts Spidey and starts fleeing. We get to see some real good looking web swinging which ends in Spiderman running up what looks like a massive elevator shaft so he can meet Electro and the gang on the roof.
At this point it’s just a cutscene where several baddies all team up on Spiderman and beat the living shit out of him. It ends with a cliffhanger of Spiderman on the ground in pain, looking up and saying something to the effect of “you?!” Then a quick fade to black and that’s it.
The show is now over and we cut back to the place where the intermission took place. Cool.
Overall, this was a bizarre conference that didn’t really surprise me that much outside of seeing some of that Ghosts of Tsushima.
After the annual Just Dance live performance, we got a trailer that served as a tone piece for what to expect from BG&E2. Lot’s of surly anthropomorphic animals flying ships as well as cooking were on display. Of course, tragedy strikes when the spaceship they’re on is under attack by a gigantic monster spaceship. This is when they reveal that the first game’s protagonist, Jade, is what looks to be the big bad villain here.
We then get some developers talking us through the basic setup of the game and introducing the characters that will be in this poorly titled prequel. That aside, it was time for some gameplay. A massive city is on display that you can fly through in your own spaceship and exit at anytime to go beat the shit out enemies. It was pretty ambiguous honestly, but it looked really cool. They also said there was coop, so that’s awesome.
Then Joseph Gordon Levitt came out on stage and asked people to submit their artwork, music and writing to be possibly put in the game. There was no mention of compensation on stage, but he clarified that there would be payment, on his Twitter.
Trials Rising
At long last, a new Trials game is upon us, and I could not be happier. In classic Trials style, it seems like it’s going to be just as frustrating and fun as the previous entries. There was a shot of what looked like 8 people riding bikes on the same screen at the same time. So that seems like it could be a chaotic blast.
Shortly after this trailer, we learned that there is a beta you can sign up for, and the full game is slated for release in February of 2019.
The Division 2
The Division 2 was shown again, but not before we got a really dour speech about how the events of The Division came to be. Nothing says fun like Small Pox.
But we got a new trailer, once again it’s a tone piece. We see shots of people living well inside compounds, then some less than friendly behavior outside the gates; people being robbed, in hiding, or being executed. Then we see 3 nondescript Division soldiers walking down a mountain. But suddenly it’s time for another dour speech that tries to be inspiring about hope and bringing the right equipment and tactical abilities to Washington D.C.
But let’s talk about the game structure. Raids are going to be in The Division 2 featuring up to 8 player coop to tackle these much more difficult missions. They also went ahead and plotted out their DLC structure, stating all three of the first year updates and content drops will be free.
Now a gameplay trailer that opens with some upside down American flags and people shooting at other people. Once again, nothing terribly new on display, but there’s a beta to sign up for, and it’ll be released March of 2019.
Skull & Bones
Skull & Bones was next game that was shown that followed the trend of showing a tone piece trailer, having a developer come out and explain things, and then showing some gameplay.
I never enjoyed the Assassins Creed boat stuff that this game is inspired by, it just never did anything for me. So it’s tough for me to muster any real excitement for this game. Looks like you’ll be heading to a hub area to buy upgrades for most of the equipment on your ship, then setting sail. We see the player pirate ship flying a fake flag to fool the sea cops before moving to intercept a convoy carrying some hot booty. Enough damage was done to the other ships that the player was able to board them and plunder them.
Oh no, a high level enemy is in the distance, luckily there’s multiplayer to help us out with that problem. Other players have joined the fray launching all forms of cannon fire at this large, evil galleon.
It’s right here that I realize we’ve spent way more time on this than I cared to see.
The big evil galleon is sunk, and unsurprisingly all the other pirate ships have turned on each other and attacked one another. Cut to black, and we’re done. You can sign up for the beta or wait for the 2019 release.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
As cool as AC: Odyssey looks, I’m genuinely disappointed that we’re back to getting another of these so quickly after Origins. While it isn’t like they just re-skinned Origins with a coat of Greek paint, it just feels a little soon in my opinion.
Aside from my personal feelings about the game, it looks actually pretty interesting. A large focus on RPG elements with dialogue options and choosing your player character. It seems like the natural progression of where Assassin’s Creed needs to go and I’m all for it. There also appeared to be a romantic options you could explore, at least that’s what I gathered from the “heart” icon next to one of the dialogue choices.
We didn’t shake the annoying “walk and talk” segments from previous AC games, but this one seems to have shortened it. They also kept the Phylakes style roaming mercenaries hunting you down on the map stuff from Origins. A feature I didn’t much care for, but others seemed to enjoy. There also are larger scale battles on display here which look like a nice change of pace.
All things considered it looks really neat and I’m curious in checking it out when it arrives on October 5th of this year.
There was no mention of Splinter Cell. I am the saddest man.
The Final Fantasy VII remake is totally real. Please believe us.
Shadow of The Tomb Raider
The show opened with a short sequence of a plane crashing which probably isn’t a great time for Lara Croft. After that we cut to gameplay of Lara hiding in a tree and shooting a poisonous arrow at a guy that made him lose his mind before he ultimately died. We then see her perform some takedowns on unsuspecting dudes before slathering herself in mud to blend into the environment. All of what we’re seeing here is stealth gameplay until Lara leaps out from the bushes to stab a dude in the face. Somehow she escapes that situation unnoticed, only for her to throw an ignited gas canister on top of three dudes so she can watch them burn alive.
It looked pretty cool, but aside from some mud-rubbin’ I didn’t really see much that differentiates it from its predecessors. Still, I like this series well enough to check it out when it releases later this year.
The Awesome Adventures Of Captain Spirit
We saw some of this at Microsoft’s briefing, but we got a different look at it here. We are quickly reminded that this isn’t Life is Strange 2, but an introduction to the world of Life is Strange. It seems to build upon the idea that based on whatever adventure this kid imagines in his mind, you’ll get a new gameplay experience. Whereas Life is Strange was built around rewinding time, this looks like it will allow for the player play with different kinds of mechanics based on the adventure. But that’s just my best guess.
We’ll find out on June 26th when it releases for free.
Baylon’s Fall
It’s a Platinum game about slashing through some sort of medieval styled world. Not much stood out to me here outside of the fact it looked like a Bayonetta game with an illusion to 4 player coop right at the end. So it could be cool, but there’s not much to go on right now.
Just Cause 4
Taking place in South America, once again Rico Rodriguez is sent in to fight an oppressive regime and tornadoes. There are claims that weather is going to be the big defining characteristic in this entry, blizzards and tornadoes being the highlights. Also in addition to the rocket boosters and grappling hooks, you’ll get these cool balloons you can attach to things so you can make your enemies just slowly float away. Looks pretty awesome, but we’ll see if it pans out.
The Quiet Man
What appeared to be an actual video of a man walking into an alley and getting heckled by stereotypical gang members, made a weird transition into gameplay of him brawling with them and kicking their asses. Also he’s deaf. Could this be The Bouncer sequel we’ve all been waiting for? Perhaps. We’ll learn more in August.
Then the conference just ended. No mention of their Avengers project, no mention of the Final Fantasy VII remake, and the same incomprehensible Kingdom Hearts III trailer from the Microsoft briefing yesterday.
We’re not mad at Wal Mart for leaking RAGE 2, we’re just disappointed.
RAGE 2
They brought out Andrew WK for this. There was no gameplay or trailer at first, just Andrew WK and his band playing the trailer song. Then the stream kept cutting to these people who were mildly disapproving of his music. After the one song concert, two directors on RAGE 2 came out and decided to actually show the game. But not before the longest five minutes of awkward conversation ever.
The game itself looks pretty neat. The first big bullet point was “If you see it, you can drive it”, which was an odd thing for them to lead with. But it looked like Avalanche expanded on the car combat stuff from the Mad Max game they put out a few years back. The gun play looked frantic and fast paced will some cool abilities on display.
The whole thing has an aesthetic and are leaning into it super hard. It’s over-the-top in a way that I’m definitely into. It’ll be available in Spring 2018.
DOOM Eternal
The sequel to the amazing 2016 Doom reboot arrives with an odd name, but it’s more Doom, so I’m in. No additional information was given, but we were told at Quakecon this year we would see more of it. From the look of things though, I’d say that hell has come to Earth, and we’re pretty fucked.
Fallout 76
Todd Howard walked out and did a few minutes of his rehearsed standup routine about E3. He killed that room. Then they decided to make a joke about porting Skyrim to the Amazon Alexa. I thought it was very well done. Keegan Michael Key was in it, and he was very funny.
But then it was time for Fallout 76. Set in the hills of West Virginia, you are among the first to tame this land. That’s more or less what he said. At this point I’ve seen a version of this Fallout 76 trailer 3 times. This trailer in particular was the exact same one they showed at the Microsoft event earlier today.
Finally we’ve arrived at gameplay. The staples of Fallout are on display, there’s a Pip-Boy, a floating robot, a vault and you leaving it. After boasting the graphical fidelity of their world, they went to off to highlight some new enemies and nightmare creatures you’ll fight on your journey.
At this point they dropped the multiplayer bombshell and announced that it is “entirely online.” They address some questions right off the bat. Of course you can go it solo and experience the story and world on your own. Then they emphasized that it is an open world survival game that wont have massive player counts to help it feel like you’re still in an apocalypse. You keep your progress and dying doesn’t cost you anything significant which is good news.
We now see some cooperative gameplay mostly of people shooting stuff, but also emoting at each other and playing instruments together. Oh also you can build shit. Yeah, they blew out that building system from Fallout 4 so you can build a base camp and customize it with all the atomic garbage your heart desires. You and your friends can build settlements which various creatures can come and fuck up from time to time should they please. After killing said creatures, you can pop into a photo mode together and memorialize the moment forever.
Oh, also, there’s just fucking nuclear missile sites you can go to and activate. You’ll have to clear out a silo, collect various nuclear codes, and then you can launch a whole nuke at some other players if you want.
Now that we’ve got the gameplay out of the way. They announced a beta that at the moment of writing this, I don’t know if you can actually sign up for because as you’d expect, the site isn’t handling the entire load of the internet too well. And now for a weird pivot to the cool ways you can pay for this game. You can buy yourself a version of this game that comes with a glow in the dark map and a power suit helmet you can wear if you really feel like it.
Fallout 76 comes out this year on November 14th, 2018.
The Elder Scrolls Blades
What happens if you take the Elder Scrolls and put it on a phone with Infinity Blade style Combat? You get what looks like a fairly robust Elder Scrolls game that you can take with you. Battery devouring aside, it genuinely looks impressive for what it is. I almost typed out that I wasn’t sure who would play this game, but then I remembered it’s an Elder Scrolls game and the internet exists. With a full story, a variety of modes and some social elements that remind me of Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, this looks like a neat game. It’s free to play, but you can pre-order it for reasons.
Starfield
“And one more thing…” The classic E3 moment lives on with a teaser of the first new property Bethesda has created in 25 years, called Starfield. It was just a video clip of a planet, so who knows what that is. But it’ll be a while till we find out. My guess is it’s gonna be a Bethesda RPG, but in space. Bold prediction, I know.
The Elder Scrolls VI
“And one more other thing…” They showed a large mass of land with the text “The Elder Scrolls VI” and received a standing ovation. “We’re working on it, so please shut the hell up already.” TES VI is slated for release after Starfield, so who’s to say if it will even be on the current generation of consoles and hardware.
The Bonus World 