E3 2018 Highlights Days 1 & 2

E3 2018 Highlights

Days 1 & 2

          For years E3 has been a competition for game companies. They come at each other with the best upcoming games and hardware and hope to remain relevant by the end. Among the reveals and cringe-fests, someone always has the best press conference. In this series of posts, I just wanted to break down some of the highlights that stood out to me and give a few thoughts on them. This is in no way everything E3 had to offer, this is just what I feel had the most impact. This will be broken into two different articles showcasing different days, so stay tuned for more. 

EA Press Conference - If you've talked to me about games, I've probably made it pretty clear I don't like EA. They have ruined several franchises for me with their greedy business practices, and I have little hope for what they have to bring to the table. However, outside of sports game talk (which I am skipping over, sorry), they did have some reasonably big news to share.

• Unravel 2 - Yarny gets a friend for a co-op focused sequel. I never got to play the original, and I can’t deny that this one looks just as good. The reveal was followed by an announcement that the game is out right now.

• Battlefront 2 Clone Wars/Solo DLC - People still play Battlefront 2? Oh, well I guess that’s pretty cool. Players will get to go to Kessel, and General Grevius is going to make a fine addition to the collection of playable characters.

• Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order - Respawn took the stage to announce the title of their Star Wars project. There was a lot of talking for very little details. Come back next year with a teaser or something.

• Battlefield V Battle Royale Mode - Because originality is dead. 

• Sea of Solitude - This is a bonkers looking game under the EA Original label. Original meaning they aren't going to try to squeeze every dime out of you to play it. That said, it looks like a fun, engrossing platformer with an interesting take on loneliness and depression. It is set for an early 2019 release. 

• Command And Conquer Rivals - I never played the Command and Conquer games, but I felt an entire fan-base die when they revealed this mobile game. A game that is probably going to be riddled with micro-transactions locking away any decent content. I’m hard-pressed to think of another moment the crowd was as quiet as it was after this reveal. 

• EA CEO’s Damage Control Speech - Andrew Wilson took the stage to present a damage control speech, stating EA is attempting to listen and learn from their players. He emphasized EA’s want to give payers choice, and that no one is going to be given an unfair advantage while playing. The wound from the Battlefront 2 controversy is still fresh, and this whole speech is meant to address those feelings. EA has since announced that they are taking Lootboxes out of their upcoming AAA  titles so we will see if they really follow through with what they say, or if they will a way to screw us further. 

• Anthem - Bioware took the stage for the main event of the conference. A CGI trailer played followed by a bullet point discussion the story of Anthem. After that, a gameplay showcase started and showed off the class system and cool looking monsters. The game screams "Destiny with mech suits" more and more with every showing. This game may be the death cry of Bioware, so I hope it does well. Anthem drops February 22nd, 2019.

 Microsoft Press Conference - Microsoft absolutely killed this year. As a follow up from last year where they showed very little games and focused more on hardware, Microsoft came out swinging with over 50 games to showcase. 18 of these 50 were X-Box exclusives and 15 were never before seen world premieres.

• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - From the masterminds of From Software, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice looks like a Soulsbourne game set in Feudal Japan. The game was originally teased and thought to be Bloodborne 2, but this set those rumors to rest. Gameplay was scarce, but the combat looks Dark Souls inspired. Some parkour mechanics look to set it apart from the games that put From Software on the map, however. Sekiro is set for 2019 release.

• Kingdom Hearts 3 - Since this is the first time the series is going to be on X- box consoles, Kingdom Heart 3 got a new trailer showing off a world set in Disney’s Frozen. While this wasn’t even remotely surprising news, what got me the most was an emphasis on a bunch of different summons that will be in the game. Namely Simba, and Wreak-it Ralph. Kingdom Hearts 3 is out on January 29th, 2019, and it can’t come quick enough.

• Shadow Of The Tomb Raider - The next (and final) entry in the Tomb Raider reboot series got a lengthy story trailer. The game looks like it is going to be more of the same explosive action, and that is not a bad thing at all. 

• Devil May Cry 5 -  YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES. Set for Early 2019 release.

• Jump Force - This looks to be an anime lovers wet dream. A CGI trailer showed Naruto, Luffy from One Piece, and Goku from Dragonball joining forces to take down Frieza from Dragonball Z. Looks as if it might be an arena fighter game these three characters are known to inhabit. I have never been a huge fan of this style of fighter, but this mash-up is too good to pass up. Jump Force is set for a 2019 release.

• Dying Light 2 - This was one of the more surprising reveals. Set in Europe during the "Modern Dark Ages", this game brings back the parkour mechanics and nighttime zombie transformations the first game was known for. Techland also showed an in-depth look at how player choice will change the game in a variety of ways. No release window as of yet, but hopefully we will get this game within the next year.

• A New Console In The Works? - Microsoft couldn’t resist teasing some new hardware. Phil Spencer mentioned something called, “Microsoft AI” and hinted at yet another new X-Box console under development. Other companies are talking about the next generation of consoles still being three to four years away, so what is Microsoft up to?

• Cyberpunk 2077 - Before signing off the conference, the first full-blown trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 in a couple years dropped. Being created by CD Projekt Red, this game is looking more and more buck wild with every viewing. Cyberpunk is supposed to be four times bigger than the Witcher 3 and will feature a more dynamic world. There is no set release window yet.

Bethesda Press Conference -  The cringe was real with Bethesda this year. Between horrible, horrible gamer girl stereotypes in the preshow and the presenters grabbing at applause after every sentence, I almost watched this whole conference in a wince. Todd Howard (our Lord and Savior) embracing Skyrim memes was a delight, though.

•  Rage 2 - This game started off with one song set from the Andrew W., who sang the songs in the initial trailers for Rage 2. Id Software then dove head first into a showcase of Rage 2’s seamless world and guns. The action is explosive and fun and doesn't seem to take itself too seriously. Rage 2 will be out Spring 2019.

• Doom Eternal - Doom 2, now called Doom Eternal, was given a brief teaser trailer. It looks like Demons have overtaken Earth and the Doomslayer is out for blood. Developers promised more details on the changes to the Doom formula at QuakeCon in two months.

• Quake Champions - The online arena shooter fully embraces itself as an Overwatch clone. After a brief showing of some of the characters, the lead designer revealed the game is launching with a free to play model, which is available to play now.

• Wolfenstien: Young Blood - A story expansion is coming to Wolfenstien 2. This expansion is going to have a focus on BJ’s twin daughters in the 1980’s and will have a large co-op focus. A brief CGI teaser was shown complete with a BJ Blaskowitz monologue and Oklahoma accents.

• Fallout 76 - The real reason everyone was watching this press conference. Fallout 76 is a prequel to all the other games and is fully online. Players will be able to play with a squad of 4 in a world 4x bigger than Fallout 4’s world. The world will look better and feature monsters based on West Virginia folklore. Rumors of the game being a full-blown base builder with no world to explore ran rampant on the Internet weeks prior so there was an audible sigh of relief from the crowd after all these rumors were put to rest. 

• Starfield - Bethesda Game Studio’s first new franchise in over 25 years. Only a brief teaser was shown, but it hinted at possible dimension jumping or FTL travel a la Interstellar.

• Elder Scrolls VI -  I'm still a little speechless at this reveal. The teaser was 20 seconds long, showcasing a CGI landscape that I would assume is the setting for the one game everyone has been wanting since the day Skyrim came out. No details were given, and the Internet has been set ablaze with speculation. Hopefully, we get more details in the coming months, but probably not.

Coming up: Square Enix, Ubisoft, Playstation, and Nintendo.