A few hours delayed but I had to sort my ideas about this year’s E3 and catch a few more videos, demos and other bits of news. Then I had to make up my mind on which I thought were the best and which ones I really didn’t care about, and boy there’s a lot I don’t give a damn about.
Starting with the now tired notion of “who won E3?” Which is rather pointless, to be honest.
But let’s not get into that, and focus on the really important thing about E3, the games!
Metroid Fever
I didn’t see the Nintendo presentation live, I caught it a few hours later and imagine my surprise when I hear that familiar Metroid Prime intro music, see the Samus symbol appear and then the ‘4’ drops on it.
They could’ve ended the show there and that 4 would’ve been the mic drop, but nope, they kept going, showing more games and one of them was the remake of Metroid 2 on 2.5D for the 3DS. Of all the games to remake this is the most deserving as it’s not really the best in the series. In its original form it’s a bit of a convoluted mess, which is a shame seeing how important it is in the overall Metroid mythos.
If they can deliver something like Metroid: Zero Mission, which took the original Metroid, enhanced the story and freshened up the gameplay, I think we’ll be in for something special.
My only concern is that some of Samus’ moves look inspired by Metroid: Other M and I think we can all agree that the less influence that train-wreck has over the series, the better.
The Joy of Mario
I love Mario games but that’s not what I mean with the joy of Mario. What I mean is that wonderful long-form trailer Nintendo ended their presentation with. It had a song with a catchy tune and lyrics that just spoke of how wonderfully fun it is to run around with Mario collecting coins and saving the world. I echo what I read online, I hope those tunes make it into the game.
And beyond just the melody, I love the expansion to the Cappy mechanics we saw the last time Nintendo showcased Mario Odyssey. Before, the cap was just something to jump on and attack people with, but now you can possess enemies. It’s trippy as hell, ambitious like no other Mario game has been before, but I can dig it. Also, when you possess the T-Rex it sports a tiny moustache on its snout and that’s just cool!
More Xenoblade
Can you blame me? I think I’ve made it clear how much I adore this series and I’ve been dying for new information, desperate to see one little shred of evidence. And then Nintendo drops the most JRPG of JRPG trailers–followed closely behind by the Friendship is Magic themed Fire Emblem Warriors trailer–showing villains, heroes, superpowers and oh my god the expansive world.
I like the concept of the companion powering your weapon with elemental attacks, of switching them out for other such support characters and that being in addition of your party members. It’s gonna make combat so much fun.
There is just one thing I hope they confirm either now or in the future and it’s the ability to fly in the game. They haven’t even mentioned it, but there’s a lot of footage with skyships and such, and the character has this strange backpack on that I hope is some form of jetpack.
After Xenoblade Chronicles X and its Skells, I can dream!
Monster Hunter World
I’m slightly disappointed that this game isn’t making it to the Nintendo Switch, but I like what I saw. There’s that classic over the top action, fighting giant creatures with unwieldy titanic weaponry, literally scraping the ocean floor for materials and then setting up a barbecue before returning to the hunt.
Also, it’s releasing on PC so you know I’ll get it!
My only concern is with the photorealistic-ish approach to the visuals. In the past, the more cartoony cel-shaded graphics for Monster Hunter has allowed them to come up with some really silly looking monsters, as over the top as imaginable. I hope the change in visual style doesn’t mean we won’t see some of those weird creatures.
BJ’s Back!
Ah, good old Blazkowicz is back for a new Wolfenstein romp. If it’s even half as good as the last Wolfenstein released by Bethesda, then we’re in for a fantastic time, and that was a game that had Nazis on the moon. The mecha dog is cool and all, but it’s really the Man in the High Tower setting that I’m looking forward to. That’s where we’ll find the silly and memorable parts of the game.
Sing the Anthem
I didn’t want to like it. I didn’t. After the disappointment of Andromeda, and hearing the series had been put into cryostasis–ironic when you consider Andromeda’s premise–I didn’t want to like what I saw of Project Dylan, which had been in development along Andromeda. But then they showed it, and it’s a co-op action RPG with exosuits. It’s essentially Destiny meets Metroid but by Bioware and it looks badass in a way that Bungie’s shooter has never accomplished.
So I hope to get into my Ranger exosuit and dive into this world and crossplay a bit as Samus Aran. Don’t judge me.
Producers vs Players
The fighting tournaments Nintendo had were fantastic. It was great seeing ARMS in action as well as the improved Pokken Tournament. But while the finals were exciting, it was the exhibition matches that did it for me.
It was fantastic to see ARMS Producer Kosuke Yabuki beat the ever-loving crap out of the new champion, showing the world just how good a player can get with the game. He showed a playstyle no other competitor had shown. It was fast, aggressive, darting across the stage and away from blows while throwing his own strikes. It was more exciting than the finals.
In Pokken, two of the developers came in vs the pro gamers and it was intriguing to see them not only hold their own against the pro-players but also push and punish them. It was really fun.
Et tu, Kratos?
Unlike many I’m not really that excited for the new God of War, in particular because they’re pulling that usual video game industry nonsense of making a sequel but dropping the numbering, making it seem like the first game in the series all over. It annoys me to no end.
Also, Kratos is a raging lunatic and one of the worst protagonists in gaming. You can’t possibly like him, not even as an anti-hero. He’s more of a monster than the beings he slays..
But that seems to be changing, and it’s the only thing about this new God of War that I’m excited about, that Kratos may grow up, mature and become, not a good person, but a person at the very least, an individual with thoughts and feelings the audience can relate to.
Spidey Sensation
Holy crap that Spiderman game. It looks like it’s going to be the game that finally dethrones Spiderman 2 as the best Spiderman game out there. It’s fast, it’s fluid, the spider-sense makes, well, sense. The action pieces have that uncharted feel but with a very Spiderman identity, as your task in the button mashing and quick-time-events (the only major downside I see in the game) all around Spidey saving lives.
Also, that cameo of Miles Morales has to mean something. If it’s just a tease with no consequence, I’ll be very disappointed. Same if the game doesn’t have some open world-ness to it. I want to swing around Manhattan for hours solving petty crimes. But I won’t be too disappointed, because the combat and the Arkham Predator-style sequences are awesome with Spidey.
Mario XCOM
Who would’ve guessed that combining Mario and the Rabbids from Rayman would give us a tactics game? Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle looks so much fun, and has its tactics fundamentals so well-made that XCOM 2 developer Jake Solomon had an epiphany: “this is finally how I can introduce XCOM to my daughters. I can finally play something like XCOM with my daughters, introduce the basic concepts. Then, when they’re old enough, maybe we can move on to XCOM together. That was really cool to see.”
As a fan of XCOM, if the developers are into this game, then I’m definitely looking at it.
And that’s it. Those were the best bits of E3 for me. Assassin’s Creed Origins looks great, but I’m now much more cautious with Ubisoft and their big games on E3 as I’m sure the quality we see here won’t be in the final product.
Kingdom Hearts 3 looks wonderful, I’ll be happy to play in 2042 when it finally releases.
Let’s end it here before I get even more cynical! See ya!
