E3, a holiday in the mind of many gamers, has now come and gone. With conferences from the big three: Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, as well as Bethesda, Ubisoft and Square Enix, gamers certainly found more than a few reasons to get excited. There are lots of titles set to release in the second half of 2018 and beyond (some way beyond, *cough Elder Scrolls VI cough*), the only issue will be trying to find the time, and money, to play them all! Fallout 76 and Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu! come out within days of each other, same with Kingdom Hearts III and Resident Evil 2. Don’t even get me started with February…
Here at Rogues Portal, we have a lot of passionate gamers on staff, so here’s a round up of our most anticipated games from E3 2018!
Cyberpunk 2077
– Evan Maroun (@e_maroun)
One title stole the show for me over at Microsoft’s Conference. In fact, it almost made me forget about everything else entirely. That game was Cyberpunk 2077. I have become a big fan of developer CD Projekt Red after The Witcher 3, from the way they went about creating that huge world, the memorable characters, and the creatures within it, down to how they treated their fans. To finally get a better glimpse at the drastically different RPG they are working on had me feeling stupidly giddy. The small snapshots of the city and its people showcased the game’s personality, not to mention it was very refreshing to see a cyberpunk world during the daytime. Gloomy cities drenched in neon had become a little stale. In Cyberpunk 2077 it looks like there will be a lot to do and a lot of havoc to cause. I cannot wait to see more.
Doom Eternal
– Justin Partridge (@j_partridgeIII)
I had moderately low expectations going into the recent Doom reboot. I had heard good things and everything looked appropriately grindcore, but I was still cynical as it installed. It wasn’t until my first frantic encounter with the hordes of Hell, and eventually becoming a gliding avatar of hysterically over-the-top death (both in the single-player and multiplayer, may it do ya just damn fine) that I cast aside my childish cynicism and became a true convert to the fun and craftwork that was DOOM. So you can imagine my hype levels when Bethesda (who ended up having a pretty substantial showing this year) and id Software graced us with an unholy tease of Doom Eternal, complete with an awesome, ear-splitting score by Mick Gordon. They were pretty tight-lipped about details, but unless it’s some sort of survival based crafting nonsense or a turn-based combat sim (which I actually wouldn’t entirely hate), I am way, way, WAY the hell in. The trailer suggests Hell’s invasion has reached Earth, but so has the DOOMGUY, and I am chomping at the bit to see what kind of gloriously kinetic hurt Doom Eternal has in store for us.
Beyond Good & Evil 2
– Jay Borenstein (@jeowulf)
The original Beyond Good and Evil from 2003 is one of those cult classics that plenty of people have never heard of, but is beloved by the tiny amount of people who paid for it, including me. Jade and Pey’j’s world was so rich and colorful. It was a fairly typical adventure game, but with a journalistic slant and that Michel Ancel polish – I played it multiple times in my younger life.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 definitely came as a shock. It was hinted at for years and years, but never came to be — until now. The world is rougher. The characters swear. It’s going to be a huge open-world game that allows you to traverse the atmosphere into space in gritty spaceships with no load times. I have no idea what’s going on, but the new cinematic shown during E3 and the pre-alpha footage has reaffirmed that this game is going to be special.
Ghost of Tsushima
– Brooke Ali
What we’ve seen so far of Ghost of Tsushima absolutely blew me away. The first thing I remarked is that it looks like Red Dead Revolver in Feudal Japan. High praise as that is, it actually looks even better. Sucker Punch has clearly gone all out on this project! Watching the Japanese maple leaves swirl around during the fight scene gets me excited to feel like I’m playing my favorite martial arts movie, Fists of Legend (I know, I know, FoL is set in the ’30s, but there’s a fight scene in swirling leaves, so bare with me). The combat looks unique and very fun, I can’t wait to explore the world they’ve created.
Death Stranding
– Stephanie Pouliotte (@FearfulFantasy)
Death Stranding is probably the most anticipated game we know nothing about. Well, at least until the E3 trailer, which gave more insight into the plot and gameplay of the latest disquieting thriller from the mind of Hideo Kojima than the previous trailers combined. It’s still a total mystery and that’s what has everyone so completely hyped, but now at least we (kinda) know what Norman Reedus’… I mean Sam’s role is in this unsettling reality where the connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead is fraying at the seams.
One of the most discussed elements of Death Stranding, besides the terrifying, invisible leviathan monsters, is the fetus kept in a container attached to their suits, which may play a part in the re-spawn mechanism — well at least that’s one theory. In interviews, Kojima has said that you don’t load a saved game, instead, you return from ‘death’ without reversing time in-game. So some believe that the fetus plus Timefall (rain that ages you) could break the endless cycle of life and death. Sounds, plausible? Maybe, a little too plausible.
Seriously, you could get lost in all the theories floating around online, and there are endless videos breaking it all down if you want to really get your speculation gears turning. If you haven’t checked out the trailers you definitely should, though I’m sure it’d be interesting going into this one somewhat blind. The trailers won’t spoil anything really, because I’m not even sure I know what I think I do after watching them. Honestly though, the most nagging thing about Death Stranding is that the release date also remains a mystery.
The Last of Us 2
– Evan Maroun (@e_maroun)
Kicking off Sony’s unorthodox press conference was The Last of Us 2. Ushering everyone into a locale picked specifically to mimic the opening scene of the trailer, Sony knew this was the one gamers had been waiting for. Ever since the debut trailer with grown-up Ellie, and then a brutally visceral 2nd trailer featuring completely new characters, everyone has been trying to piece together what the actual plot will be. Is Joel even in it? Even with some dialogue clues, it’s hard to say in what capacity.
At E3, they opened with a touchingly intimate scene with Ellie and another girl dancing, culminating in a kiss that had my twitter TL set ablaze. The gentleness of that scene was quickly contrasted by a dark transition into gameplay. This is where things got really interesting. There were a lot of the small, but noticeable elements that blew me away in this demo. From the scarily smooth character animations and reactions, down to the way you and the AI could interact with items and the environment, it just proved once again why Naughty Dog has the prestige that they do. Gamers are hoping for a 2019 release, but with no date announced, we may very well be looking at 2020 to finally get our hands on this one.
The Division 2
– Justin Partridge (@j_partridgeIII)
*Heavy sigh.* Okay, we can all pretty much agree that the first Division game is problematic as all holy hell, right? On like… a LOT of levels, yeah? BUUUUUTTTT, while recognizing that fact, not working to justify its troubling bits, and discussing at great length with other gamers (usually after I tell them this next bit), I kinda loved it? I liked how fussy it was and how it obsessed with menus, and I even got the Destiny-like thrill of airlifting high colored loot out of the immensely frustrating Dark Zone. Also, despite myself, I was pretty enamored with Ubisoft’s gameplay reveal of the Washington, D.C. set sequel.
Am I super pissed that the developers are waffling on what is a CLEAR political stance the game will be making (though it will probably be muddied by the trademark Tom Clancy rah-rah jingoism that makes his novels such fascinatingly frustrating reads)? Of course I am. But menus! And tense shooting mechanics! And legitimately rewarding squad-based missions! I know this isn’t going to be the most popular choice, but here’s to hoping that The Division 2 is a lot more of what made the first game fun, but with a whole lot less of its glaring racism and classism.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
– Jay Borenstein (@jeowulf)
Ever since I got Nintendo Switch, the one missing link was Smash Bros. My friends and I played (and play) every single Smash Bros. since N64 religiously. So it’s safe to say when the initial teaser for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate dropped a couple months ago, I got pretty excited. While I would have liked more new content in the E3 reveal, the fact that every fighter from every Smash Bros. is making a return is nothing short of a miracle. While I hope the game will have a more interesting single player than the 3DS and Wii U entries, it’s safe to say I’m going to be lost in this one for a while.
Spiro Reignited Trilogy
– Brooke Ali
The other game I’m excited for is the Spiro Reignited Trilogy. The OG Spiro is the game I purchased on the same day I bought my very first PlayStation, so it holds a special place in my heart. The update looks gorgeous, turning the flat environment and blocky characters into richly animated dragons scorching individual blades of grass. I watched an interview with one of the devs and he talked about the importance in building a game that used the same muscle memory us old school PS players faithfully developed all those years ago. Plus, I now have children to share this special game with, and I know they’ll absolutely love it!
What games are you looking forward to in the coming months, or apparently, even years? Let us know in the comments!
