It's been more than a week since E3 2018 and though I made the deliberate choice to follow E3 in a more of a passive manner, not giving much of my opinions with the announcements but rather just making sure I deliver the announcements as fast as possible, I do have a lot of things to say. Now that the smoke has settled and the coast has uhhh... cleared? (I'm running out of figures if speech) I do have a lot of opinions regarding the E3 2018 event. That being said, I will solely focus on the announcements of the individual companies and not on the conferences themselves. Which means, all that wacky musical and dance performances and not to mention all the cringy presenters (I'm talking to you Madden) will be given a pass. Here are my best and worst of E3 2018.
THE BEST
Microsoft Expanding Its Reach
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Microsoft didn't exactly have a good run the past few years. They haven't had a mega-hit in years and compared to their competitors they have been... well, behind is an understatement. Their affiliation with EA and therefore the loot box controversy also affected the progress of the company. If there's anything to take from Microsoft's conference is that they are finally looking for a new path. Instead of focusing on games they have established and just making sequel after sequel after sequel, they are now finally opening up its doors for new and better opportunities. Seeing Kingdom Hearts of all things finally going to Xbox is one indication of the changing times, but it turns out that was only the icing on the cake. On Microsoft's conference, it was eventually revealed that they've successfully acquired 4 indie studios and will also launch a brand new studio of their own. Microsoft has never had as many internal studios as its competitors, and that has prevented it from having many first-party exclusives in this generation of games. With the inclusion of these developers, they will not only able to fill out its library of exclusives on Xbox, more importantly, its Xbox Game Pass library. This will in theory intice more people from being new members and will keep the ones they already have. This might actually be the start of a renaissance for Microsoft.
Capcom Wins E3
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If you would ask me who I think won E3 this year, I'd say it was Capcom. Okay, granted they didn't exactly have a conference of they're own but come on they're the only company that made a damn impression this year. Capcom has been crushing it throughout the years with Street Fighter V, Monster Hunter World and the recent announcement of the resurgence of Mega Man with Megaman 11. Of course, they're going to be at E3 but with all the things they have provided us so far, no one really expected anything new from Capcom. We had our fill. So I feel it was truly unprecedented what Capcom did. A collaborative effort with Square-Enix to deliver Final Fantasy IV X Monster Hunter, Devil May Cry V with Hideaki Itsuno back at the helm and more importantly one of the most fan-requested game in the past few years, an honest to God Remake of Resident Evil 2. Capcom tell me, what did we ever do to deserve this?
Devolver Digital Is Crazy As Fuck
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The whole Devolver Digital conference was short but was damn fun. It might not have been the conference we were actually excited about but hell, It provided a much-needed levity in such a gigantic event. This is only the second time Devolver held a conference at E3 and their antics last year held up enough to be memorable but in reality, no one really took them seriously or rather no one really knew what to do with them. So what did they do this year? They said, "fuck it let's just have fun." And in the gaming community, that's really all that matters. Devolver is never going to be as big as the other companies, and if they did what everyone else is doing they would only be forgotten in the annals of E3. I honestly feel that there are more than a welcome addition to the yearly event, I hope to God I see them again next year. More murders to come.
Everyone Is Here
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Full disclosure, I have never played smash in my entire life. Mainly because I followed the way of Sony. That being said, I do understand the impact smash had throughout the years especially with the competitive scene. The original was released way back 1999 before the turn of the century and for almost 2 decades it's one of the games that had remained relevant. Smash has always been a celebration of everything Nintendo... okay, granted we have Capcom, Konami, Square Enix in there too but you get the point. What Masahiro Sakurai does best when it comes to this franchise is catering to its fans. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate exemplifies this. On the surface, having every character ever introduced in the entirety of your franchise might be nothing more than a cash grab for devoted fans but in reality, it changes the actual landscape of the game (given the overhaul actually does its job). Even though I am not much of a fighting game gamer myself as a gamer, in general, I understand the implication of having such a large roster. Smash just got bigger both literally and methodically and EVO is waiting.
Continuous Rise of the Indies
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The Indies will never be stopped. Most, if not all the standouts of this years e3 are not from the triple-A releases but rather the indie scene. Moon Studio the independent developer behind Ori and the Blind forest showed off its sequel 's gameplay Ori and the Will of the Wisps and damn it looks absolutely gorgeous. You've got challenging puzzles, gorgeous visuals and, intriguing boss fights. Tunic is another one to check out. It's pretty much an old-school Zelda clone but with its own charm. The game formerly known as Secret Legend was given the limelight on Xbox’s E3 stage and it was well deserved. Underneath its fun, cutesy friendly exterior is a deep combat system that utilises slash/block/dodge/stagger tactics and requires a whole lot of decision making. Defenitely a game to look forward too. Another I was extremely impressed by is Sable from the PC Gaming Show conference. Sable takes place in a fairly open world, and you aren’t given explicit directions on where to go or what to do. People are already comparing it to Zelda Breath of the wild. What I love most about the game though is its visual style, it kind of reminds me of Okami but in a weird way. Honestly i could go on and on about all the great indie games coming in like unravel 2, Noita, Signalis and many more. The point is that the indies is really where everything is at right now, which means more devopers are going to be given more opportunity to show of they're creativitiy and thank God for that.
THE WORST
Battle Royale Everywhere
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When EA's gaming showcase kicked off on Saturday in Los Angeles, one of the first games up for discussion was Battlefield V. Well, it's a given since it is one of the most famous Shooter franchise in gaming history. In the middle of the discussion though, it was later announced that the game will now feature a battle royale mode... This announcement garnered close to weird applauses and a sense of indifference. Okay to be fair, before I continue, I do understand the appeal of Battle Royale games. And this is not an attack on any particular game. I don't hate fortnite nor PUBG. It's the over saturation that rubs me the wrong way. We've got not 1, not 2 but for 4 battle royale games announced in E3. And I Honestly can't help but feel that this is nothing more than a ploy to capitalize on a trend. And The last thing that I want to happen is to have the battle royale genre treated as a trend. These games are fun and the reasons are many. Battle royale's emphasis on solo achievement, stripped of team tactics, makes it an easy and fascinating spectator sport, perfect for Twitch streams. Not to mention Fortnite is free. I guess this was inevitable, to be honest. And it's really not fair for me to judge these games without playing them myself, Rapture Rejects from the same team as Cyanide and Happiness looks like a fun take at the genre. Too bad I cant remove that corporate stench... goddamit.
Bethesda Telling But Not Showing
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To be honest, Bethesda's showing was actually pretty good. The problem, however, is that Bethesda’s E3 conference was dominated by trailers, trailers, trailers and close to no gameplay. Games like Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot were downright awesome looking games... I wanna see how they play! Come on Bethesda this feels like blue balling at this point. I mean all three of those games mentioned are all going to be released this year. Why not show gameplay now? And then we got the announcement for Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI, which to be fair are pretty awesome announcements. A new IP from Bethesda that's set in space and a confirmation that next Elder Scrolls is on the way? I'm in! Can I see more? No? Nothing? Goddamit.
What Exactly Did Square Do This Year?
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No really? What the hell!? We got close to no information on new IPs, we got barely any new info about older IPs either. The Square Enix showcase for E3 2018 was hyped up, but it turned out to be a disappointment for gamers expecting something new. There were still some new Square Enix games announced in the press conference, but the developer and publisher failed in giving gamers on any real information. Everythig just felt flat. Most disappointingly, we got absolutely no information about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Lets talk about that one on detail.
FF7 No Show
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Despite everyone’s hopes and dreams, we got absolutely no news at all with the arguabley the most anticipated game since its announcement on 2015. Despite all of the hype, the Final Fantasy VII Remake was missing from E3 this year. This pretty much means that the rumors surrounding the development of the game are almost pretty much confirmed. In a not so recent Reddit thread, Dan Tsukasa, a game designer who served as Final Fantasy VII’s art director, made a statement. He stated "while Square Enix originally said it put four years’ worth of effort into the remake, there’s actually only two. Also, the company started it again because cyber connects(sic) work was just so useless and not far enough along.” That pretty much means that the game was being redeveloped from the ground up, which in turn means delay after delay after delay. This was then followed by square confirming that development of the game is indeed now being handled in-house. To be honest, not showing Final Fantasy 7 remake was understandable. Because how in the holy hell would they be able to show anything if it's under development hell. That being said, they could have at least gave us an official update on what the hell is going on. We understand if the shit is currently hitting the fan, but at least give us something to work on. If it's gonna take a while, fans will understand (most likely) but we just need answers... goddamit square. Oh Kh III looks awesome though.
In Conclusion:
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Thank you very much for reading and I hoped you enjoy. Please make sure to upvote and resteem! Also feel free to comment below on your opinions, suggestions, and questions. Let's have a discussion below and you too can help influence my content! THANKS! PEACE OUT
This years E3 was so-so, we had a lot of great announcements and confirmations but not enough to really stir the community. The indies are rocking out as usual, and it looks like most of the main companies are really going to be busy this coming year. I'm not exactly dissapointed but weirdly enough I dont think I was really satisfied as well. It feels like some of the comapies actually held out a bit. All in All if I had to give E3 2018 a rating, It would be a missing buster sword out of 10.