E3 2015 Wrap-Up

E3 is over unless you’re literally there I think in which case it has a little bit of time to go for the showroom and such, but for most people it ended on Monday. I felt like, for once, E3 actually has a lot to talk about more than just making fun of it, because of that I’m gonna skip out on the dumb shit that went on (pretty much just all of Ubisoft’s conference) and skip on the negatives and focus on the game announcements. These are the games I have some interest in and just wanted to point out and give some personal thoughts on.

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The Last Guardian

I don’t care and it looks like a lazy copy paste of Ico which just makes me even less interested. Graphically it’s nothing amazing either, which was the big thing about it when it first got announced so that’s disappointing. Aside that, I guess it’s what you’d expect from these developers but that isn’t necessarily a good thing in this case. I mean was it really worth the like 8 years it’s been just to finally in 2016 get to play yet another generic puzzle platformer? Worse, one you have to listen to the character you control constantly repeat the same exact 2 lines of gibberish over and over to the point that it was already grating in the video they showed us? I don’t want to play that, it seems obnoxious, boring, and lazy. I’m not trying to feel special for ‘shitting’ on this, it just really has no appeal to me and I really wish it did but always figured it wouldn’t anyway as I never really had any interest in their previous titles either.

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Shenmue 3

90% of people who claimed to want this game for all these years have never played Shenmue in the first place, let alone both 1 and 2. It is the perfect example of a literal “meme game” in the real meaning of the former word. It spread because of hipsters and “look at me I’m special” manchildren saying how amazing Shenmue was, leading to retards pretending to know to try to feel equally special and unique for knowing about this “retro” game (I guarantee a lot of these people would consider it that). Regardless of the quality of the game, it was a huge failure for Sega financially and barely sold – both 1 and 2 were big trouble for the company after they dropped so much cash into making them. Now they’ve resorted to Kickstarter…and decided to announce this at a press conference at E3 for some reason. I’m fine with this existing, totally, Shenmue might not be the masterpiece people try to pretend it is but it’s fine and I have to thank it for paving the way for actually fantastic games like the Yakuza series. I won’t be backing this, but you can if you want to and know how to use google – though in case you’re just curious, the kickstarter passed 2 million (what they were asking for) in under 10 hours. I have no ill will towards this (actually I’m really glad these guys care enough to do this, while Harada and Scamco refuse to even attempt to kickstart a Xenosaga HD remake or even just a straight port to PSN as classics) and I hope it turns out good I just don’t see it turning out well after all this time, with almost nobody who wants it knowing the series whatsoever aside knowing saying the name makes them feel cool, and having gameplay in the first 2 that would never fly in this day and age.

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South Park: The Fractured But Whole

The Stick of Truth was a surprisingly fun and very well made RPG first and foremost with the fact it was South Park taking second place to that, which was surprising as games based on TV shows or movies are usually total fucking trash and are just treated as a cheap marketing vehicle. Here it felt like a full and great game that then had the humor and charm of South Park. We didn’t get much but it’s obvious what to expect from this; more of the same, in the best way possible. Though I have to admit I think I won’t like this as much due to the focus on super heroes – I hate superheroes but also don’t know enough to get half the jokes they’ll be making.

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Trackmania: some subtitle I forgot

I never played Trackmania. Well, I probably did at some point in some way, but I don’t remember so it doesn’t count. I’ve seen it played and it looked fun, but it also looked like it relies on mods to truly be fun and I wonder how much of that will make the console version feel lacking. Depending on the price and whether or not hilariously bad remixes of Dr. Dre songs are somehow available I may play this, otherwise I’ll pass and just get it on PC some day.

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Fallout 4

I’m not a big fan of Fallout, the old or the new. The main reason is probably that I just fucking completely hate the aesthetic. 50s but future alt reality “50s”…that happens to be full of real world 50s music even though this is supposed to take place way in alt-reality future and yet none of the fans mention this problem. Anyway, I hate the 50s so I hate how absolutely EVERYTHING looks in the Fallout games and the stories are equally as fucking retarded, I end up playing them for a bit anyway, but I never buy them myself unless they’re incredibly cheap. I’ll gamefly this or get it on a super sale either through PSN or Steam someday, seems interesting enough, has a dog companion, and has some features I think are kind of neat like the base building stuff.

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Mass Effect: Andromeda

Not much revealed so not much to say. I really enjoyed the first 3 ME games aside the ending like most people, so I’m interested. Hyped? Excited? Ehhh, more like I’m certainly interested but not much more than that.

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Need For Speed

Shittily-hilarious FMV, great graphics, shit tons of customization, and just that look of what Need For Speed is supposed to be. I’m one of the rare people who actually loved Rivals – which is odd to me given the only complaint I’ve seen about it is whining that the multiplayer is bad…which, who gives a shit? It’s a single player game, I didn’t want that MP shit to begin with so I was grateful when it was poorly implemented and was hoping it wouldn’t show up again – as the rest of the game was fantastic. Regardless, I really liked almost every NFS I’ve played from their very first release to the most recent previous one and a good amount of the ones inbetween – and this LOOKS like it could be one of the better and more overall fun games from the series. NO LAN EVO, NO BUY, okay that’s an exaggeration but they better have my favorite car.

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Ghost Recon Wildlands

It looks kind of fun and kind of retarded. Yeah, that’s all, I’m not super excited for it or anything but if it’s single player then I’ll definitely gamefly it or something. I’ve always liked the games in this series.

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Star Wars Battlefront

I’ve seen a lot of whining about this “ruining” battlefront and “turning it into Battlefield” but, uh, have you ever played Battlefront? It was, from the very fucking beginning, a wannabe Battlefield. Almost every single thing about it was ripped straight out of the BF series and that hasn’t changed now aside the inclusion of a first person mode if you choose to use it and…uh…better graphics and no bots? This looks identical to how old Battlefront was gameplay wise minus bots and not minus anything else really and with nothing but positive things added and a pointless first person mode nobody will use because it would put you at a disadvantage. Looks fantastic and really the thing that stood out to me was the sound design – it really felt like being in Star Wars even while just watching a trailer in a stream. The end of the trailer, or ‘gameplay’, gets even more cool and fun with Luke and Darth Vader about to duke it out while being controlled by players – something I think you could do before but is still awesome. I’ve got some questions about the scope of the game such as what movies we’ll be seeing content from and what characters will appear and things like that – but it looks great and I’m excited for it.

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Horizon: Zero Dawn

This was a new IP Sony showed off and really it hooked me the moment the setting was obvious – a post-post apocalypse. It takes place after a future world has died off and the buildings have decayed and the people who used to live in them are just legends, and the present world is now filled with varying types of cultures ranging from small tribal groups to bigger more solid cities and a varying range of technology. Then we saw the gameplay and there are fucking robot dinosaurs all over the place that are sentient and completely animal-like in their ways of being. Aside that, playing Freedom Wars lately, I was intrigued – it reminded me a lot of it.

There are smaller enemies but the big ones you take down by doing the same stuff; see a weapon, say a missile pod or laser or something? Chop it off, use it against it. Having a hard time with a fast one or being charged or something? Tether the fucker down and go HAM. It looks really interesting, really fun, and I hope it lives up to how cool it looks. I also really hope you can explore into the old destroyed cityscapes that are seen only in the distance in the trailer – maybe high level mecha-dinos are in there or rival humans, but it’d still be cool to see.

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For Honor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSHXXks53YY (Age gated, so I can’t embed it!)

This game looks fucking cool. That kind of sums it up. Knights, Vikings, Samurai – pick one and fight another in some actually innovative gameplay both in controls and just in how it all plays out. I don’t really know what to say about it aside it looks great and fun as hell and I really love the concept of it. Yes, realistically some of this is incredibly fucking dumb – but that’s purposeful (the developer even talked about how samurai were really mostly horseback archers and also their swords wouldnt work against plate armor) and is ignored for a thing called FUN. Realism and accuracy do matter, but not when the game clearly isn’t about that at all. This is a game that knows it’s kind of stupid while actually maintaining a really realistic feeling of visuals and an overall skirmish from those periods. It’s also the first game I’ve ever seen with realistic use of old medieval swords including using them as bludgeoning weapons and regularly gripping the blade itself. It’s really fucking cool and you should check out the trailer above because it’s damn good, but then also the following video if you want to see some of the gameplay which looks fucking awesome as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp3NKQlJPuo

I was put off at first by Ubisoft as the combat in their games is…not good usually, but this actually seemed both unique AND fun with a lot more control than you’d expect from a melee game. Aside that I was also nearly done caring the moment it was obviously a 4v4 pvp game – I hate pvp, it just isn’t fun to me even if I’m good at it. However, the more they showed of the game the more I didn’t even care about the fact it’s primarily a 4v4 game – it just looks so fun and even aside that it has single player campaign or mode at least (the developer did state this in a later interview – which made me really happy) and has all that cannon fodder and objectives rather than being fully focused on just killing the other human players. I don’t know when this is releasing but I wish I did, I really want to try this out. Aside the next 2 titles, this might be what I’m most looking forward to playing some day.

As unbelievably badass as vikings were and as much as I love samurai, my first choice are the knights for sure.

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Best MGSV trailer yet

MGSV isn’t a new announcement, but we did get a new trailer and boy was it a fucking great one. Instead of an action packed explosive clip, we got an unsettling look into the mental state of Big Boss during his change from man to monster as well as get more questions, more things to make more theories on, and more Miller. If you ask me, this new trailer is the BEST we’ve had so far. I like the prior ones but this is just so creepy and atmospheric and sets this really legitimately uncomfortable tone – one I hope the game can carry as well as the video does. The open world worries me, as open worlds aren’t really conducive to great storytelling, let alone serious deep stories, but if the game pulls off even 75% of what this trailer Kojima threw together does it’ll be goddamn amazing. This truly gets across the descent into madness and pure insanity that Big Boss is going through, that Miller is following him into, and that Ocelot and the others have to witness. As much as I’m excited for the final game I’m gonna talk about – this trailer is just incredible and almost trance like in how much it pulls you in to Big Boss’s twisted reality.

To be honest, Miller has been my favorite character since MGS1 came out. I know the truth about him in it of course, but it’s the rendition of “Miller” in Metal Gear Solid that ended up being even at that point my favorite character in the game and ended up continuing to maintain that even through game after game of him not even being a character at all. Then Peace Walker came out and I was fucking thrilled because he was finally super relevant again, and now, finally, he is a massively important main story character in 5 as he deserves to be. That’s another reason I really love all these trailers, but especially this one and that first reveal one with the woooOOAAAOOHHHHHH song and his cool as shit and very meaningful monologue. Though what’s up with his eyes? Is he blind?

Anyway, MGSV is in a position to possibly be one of the best games ever, I doubt it will accomplish that because of the open world shit but I hope it at least comes close and this trailer really reminded me why I care so much about this release. I really hope Kojima didn’t waste the really unique concept of a game that literally is about falling into fucking insanity and turn it into Red Dead Redemption by mistake.

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FF7 remake

I’m not about to pretend I’m above it – I’m not – I am fucking excited and hyped for this beyond words and could probably write several entries just about why that is and how fucking amazing it is that this is actually fucking truly really officially happening finally. I see a lot of people naysaying now that it’s actually true about how “they’ll ruin it” and “theyll change x or y” but you know what? I welcome change with this, I actually hope for drastic change – a reimagining more than a 1:1 remake would be the best. I love Final Fantasy 7 and because of that I’ve played it a lot and have basically memorized it at this point. I want to experience this world and these characters and this story in a new way, I don’t need to watch the same repeat for the 500th time of a game I know by heart and the times I do want to do that I can (and do) just go back and play the original. A remake coming out doesn’t magically erase the original – and hell, the PC port of the original is STILL coming to PS4 as well so there’s no reason to be so against change. I’m really excited to see what they do with this but I just am blown away by everything about this. There is literally no way they can ‘fuck this up’ for me because I’m open to anything being removed, changed, added, I don’t care. I just want to be THERE again with these characters even if it’s fucking emo cloud and even if they remove the honey bee inn and all the other whiny shit I’ve seen, it’ll still be fucking amazing just to be playing FF7 in some new form.

These two guys don’t look like Shinra aside those goggles that seem reminiscent of the enemies you fight in the first part of the game, plus they hide from the Shinra chopper’s search light. Biggs and Wedge? Who knows, I don’t, fuck you, it’s just some fun speculation and a big guess at how far they’d redesign them.

The announcement itself, the way they did it by trolling us like shitbags which in hindsight is hilarious and actually made it that much better, and the actual short little pre-rendered trailer we got. It looked fucking beautiful and certainly the actual gameplay won’t look THAT good but even for pre-rendered cutscene quality that shit looks fucking amazing. On top of that, just the way the trailer plays out is incredible and I love the hell out of the fact that they had the narration being very thinly veiled about talking to US about how we’ve waited for this, how we’ve missed these people and this place, and how we finally are having a reunion with them after all this time. Most of all, I love that the narrator points out that maybe the game won’t be exactly as it was and that anyone who is afraid needs to just “embrace whatever it brings” because IT’S FUCKING FINAL FANTASY 7. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IT’S CLOUD, TIFA, BARRET, CID, YUFFIE, VINCENT, THAT STUPID CAT, THAT OTHER STUPID CAT, SHINRA, THE TURKS, MIDGAR, THE JUNON CANNON, SOLDIER, ITS FINAL FANTASY 7 NO MATTER HOW DIFFERENT IT IS. THAT is what matters. And shit man, this monologue should be the definitive example of how to reach for those nostalgia heartstrings in people. It’s fucking perfect.

Surprisingly, I’m not actually a HUGE FF fan. I’ve played almost all the games, but hate all the pre-Sony titles and for the most part while I love the shit out of some of them after that point other JRPG franchises just always interested me more and felt better. FF will never compare to the Xenosaga trilogy or Star Ocean 2 for me, but 7 has always come the closest to what those games achieve and it’s truly an amazing game. I think it’s earned the praise and is only as “overrated” as Kanye is – that being not at all. You can’t be OVER rated if you actually live up to what’s being said about you, and I feel like FF7 always has and always will (Kanye too). Then again I love 13 and Lightning Returns, so maybe my opinion doesn’t matter to you!

Anyway, this is easily the biggest announcement for me. A day later, probably several more, maybe weeks will pass and I still won’t be able to believe it’s fucking true – like it’s just incredible and genuinely getting to me. Not in some weird touchy feely way, but like I am just full of fucking excitement and I can’t get it off my mind – THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. Even knowing it probably won’t be out for YEARS (albeit there are clear implications this has been being worked on for awhile) I just can’t help it. I feel like the only thing that would have had a bigger impact on me is if someone announced a Xenosaga HD collection or even a continuation from 3 after all this time. That trailer has already made me feel right back at ‘home’ in the game even with how amazingly updated it looks – it really is a reunion, just as the trailer says, and that feeling is very special and hard to get off your mind. Hell, I’m still getting that full body feeling of excitement just from seeing that thumbnail for the video.

Not enough to satisfy you or put your worries at rest? The game is being written, directed, and made by people who just happened to write, direct, and work on the original game. Yup. This is a remake with all the same important staff members including the men who created FF7 and wrote it’s story, designed it’s characters, and came up with the concept all coming back to completely remake Final Fantasy 7. If anyone has the right to remake it, “fuck it up”, or do whatever else to it, it’s them.

If you are against changes in the Final Fantasy 7 remake you are not a fan of FF7 but a fan of your personal nostalgia. No true fan of the actual game, story, lore, setting, and characters would just want to see the same thing the exact same way and throw a tantrum over a retelling. This isn’t Nintendo, if you want Zelda 20 Zelda Again so you can feel like a child again playing through your first Zelda then you’re free to go buy a Wii U instead of look forward to this.

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Oops, did I say it ended on Monday for anything important? Well, SE had some secrets it still had aside FF7 which was at the Sony conference.

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Project Setsuna / Tokyo RPG Factory

Project Setsuna is a currently untitled RPG that a new development studio is working on (Tokyo RPG Factory), I assume as part of SE given it’s the SE conference. Don’t know shit about it, but looks…well, doesn’t look anything, all we did was get some concept art as far as I’m aware.

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Nier 2

Platinum is working on this with the original Nier staff, and it looks like you’ll be playing as grown up Yonah. So just imagine Metal Nier Revengeance 2 More Moe Than Raiden edition. Aside that we got no information aside a very short clip of concept art and a girl that, again, looks like a grown up Yonah. As big a deal as this is, it just doesn’t really compare to the new MGSV trailer and FF7 at all. Nobody expected this but in a “there’s no reason” for it way, yes I’m excited, yes I’m happy it’s coming out – Nier is a fucking phenomenal game and one of the most emotional experiences I’ve had with a game, but this isn’t the same feeling as FINAL FANTASY 7 being remade finally, or that incredibly powerful MGSV trailer, or even how much hype some others like For Honor got me. This just feels like a cool bonus because as much as I loved the game, the characters, the emotions it forced me in and out of, and the world…I just never really felt like there was a need for more of it so this is a great announcement but one I just don’t really feel all amped about or anything. Looking forward to more news on it.

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Final Thoughts

This year’s E3 was actually really surprising – I’m genuinely amazed that it was actually fucking video games and a LOT of huge awesome surprises. I’ve watched E3 a lot of years now and this is one of the best ones yet in terms of game announcements, surprises, and actual focus rather than 90% cringe and 10% actual video games. Definitely a lot to look forward to and really just, yeah, a shit ton of massive really great surprises as well as a couple new IPs that look great. Knowing TGS is still to come and plenty of announcements there surely (and updates on these) it’s pretty fucking awesome. Sony definitely won as a whole (including thanks to having a key SE title, but hey SE let Sony announce it so it counts as a Sony announcement!) but I’d say E3 in general really just as one thing was one of the best in years. I feel like for the first time in a long time people of all types and all interests were able to get pumped over the info coming out of this – hell, even JRPG fans got a shit ton of huge amazing news which at E3 is usually something not mentioned or just glazed over.

Still can’t get over the fact the FFVII remake is really happening, nor can I stop rewatching it’s trailer as well as the MGSV one. Goddamn.