E3 2013 Thoughts

Tons of announcements, 2 new hardware competitors and unexpected surprises, that's what E3 2013 is about! There are simply too many games, including independent ones, so during the comments below I might say too much that the game or the series are still new for me.

This post might also be written a bit more amateurish than previous entries, because they are basically first impressions for a lot of games, I'll admit that. Which means that first impressions in this case are NOT final impressions of the products.

Let's get it on with the press conferences and that other company who presented content differently this time:

 Microsoft:

As I tuned in, the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain trailer was halfway through, but I am already excited by it. World of Tanks seems addictive but I haven't tried it yet. Dark Souls II looks very slick, can't wait to play through another difficult quest like that.

Ryse: Son of Rome is looking hectic and has potential, but those were a lot of quick time events at once. The shield formation is exciting, it's what you would expect from that age of warfare. Killer Instinct is finally back, awesome!

Sunset Overdrive, I need to see more of that before I can judge it beforehand. Dammmn that car on the show looks crazy as shit with Forza Motorsport 5, but not my kind of game. Minecraft, same opinion, and I have not delved into Quantum Break's hype yet.

Project Spark seems to be a creative engine to design your own games, like Little Big Planet. Crimson Dragon seems to be a spiritual successor towards Panzer Dragoon, and Dead Rising 3 is looking bigger and better and grimmer as well.

Witcher franchise, also untouched but I have heard good things about it. Battlefield, same deal, where will I get all of this free time for this shit!?! What Lies Below looks like a troll game. Syphon Filter was shown too quick as well, and which Halo is this? An old or a new title?

Titanfall is a new IP as well? It's another shooter but this time mechs join the party. Anyhow, I think we can all agree that this was a better Xbox One conference than the first because of the games right? There was enough announced for the target group and anyone else interested.

Electronic Arts:

Garden Warfare is looking pretty cute but it seems to be a very different game from Plants VS. Zombies. The most noteworthy change is 3D physics. Titanfall looked better here than at Microsoft's conference, and It's also coming to PC, I will be watching this shooter which is trying something different with mecha units and multiplayer.

Star Wars Battlefront was too quickly over hehe. It's been too long since I touched Need for Speed(3), and it's not like I'm missing it. It was cool to see Aaron Paul briefly. The EA Sports Games seem to have more access to control with regards to footprinting, dribbling and more. The MMA game trailer looks interesting because MMA itself is on the rise.

Battlefield 4 looks very chaotic with 64 players going to battle simultaneously. Commander Mode seems like a fun mode that originated in part 2. Dragon Age Inquisition... 2 was dissapointing, might look into this after beating the original one with had ups and downs. But a fall 2014 release is very far away.

Mirror's Edge 2 is...well, let's just say that I will start with part 1 soon.

Ubisoft:

Mighty Quest is looking very funny and immature, while Watch Dogs continues to have plenty of potential with a relevant current age of too much information. Assassin's Creed IV features pirates and sea battles, but I still have to start with this series.

Rayman Legends, I am looking very forward to this after I truly enjoyed Origins. The Crew, what's the selling point? It's an open world for cars. Trials Fusion, I used to play the original version when classes were boring, and Tom Clancy's The Division was the big surprise, but like Titanfall's first reveal I need to see more before this generic looking shooter might be worthwhile.

Sony:

Vita needs to pump up in popularity like it's rival needed early on as well. The Last of Us is looking good and even better after all those very positive reviews, too bad I won't be able to play it for a while.

Beyond: Two Souls hopefully won't have horrible glitches such as "JASON" in Heavy Rain. Also funny to see real actors portrayed as characters here. Batman: Arkham Origins will be a great game like the others, I just know it. It will take some time to get used to Batman and Joker's new voices though.

PlayStation 4 looks blocky, but has a cool "inner part" sideways. After the TV and cinema talks a new IP known as The Order blasts off as promising new kinds of action in an unlikely setting nowadays. Killzone Shadow Fall looks good but also dull from the latest trailer.

Infamous Second Son doesn't seem to have Cole anymore, that doesn't matter because the fastpaced superpowers are still intact! And it's looking much better. I almost forgot about Knack but this might be just another great 3D looking platformer.

The Dark Sorcerer started funny with the old guy being used before during a tech demo in February and it ended unexpected, seems like in order to continue seeing it I will have to search through the E3 topics.

 

Transistor seems to feature more than 1 genre of gaming, including over head action and 2D platforming. The indy games afterwards are looking great for retro and innovative reasons. Oddworld is even in there! Makes me really wish that I had the capacity, time and endurance to create my own indy game.

Rise, Final Fantasy XIII Versus! That game seriously needed to return, and now that this trailer popped up, I'm pretty sure that everyone onboard the Final Fantasy community is more excited since a long time. Sick looking graphics, typical from Square Enix.

And after a very cool twist, it seems to be renamed to Final Fantasy XV now!? And then they throw in Kingdom Hearts III right afterwards, that's another great announcement. These titles will be very important for Squeenix to be globally praised like they used to be in the 90's.

Dissapointing to see Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag lagging live, but otherwise the game is looking good. It's kind of funny to see more of Ubisoft news again seen here, but each time it's something differently shown.

Watch Dogs is looking very good as usual but I won't buy it unless I know for sure that I won't be dissapointed like the previous Ubisoft title I last played. Still have to start with Elder Scrolls 1 before trying the newest ones damn it.

Never heard of Mad Max before, seems like it's based of movies. PS4 supports used games, it's funny how the crowd reacts positively, as if we all would go down Xbox One's road. The games don't need to be online to play or for any mandatory authentication, another victory over their competitor.

Playstation Plus, even I think it's a very friendly service, and it's coming over from the PS3. Destiny gameplay is looking ambitious as co-operation is an important factor. 399 dollars is very acceptable, contentwise, as well as pastwise(599 US dollars) and looking at the competitors.

Nintendo:

At first, I was a bit worried that this video would only be 40 minutes.

Then I was focused when Satoru Iwata took stage.

Pokémon X/Y seems to be more of the same old good strategic gameplay, the last one I played was SoulSilver, been missing out on the Black&White games, I wonder, should I give them a try or skip into the latest 2 versions instead?

Super Mario 3D World is looking awesome because of the multiplayer and the notch towards Super Mario Bros. 2, but I will be slighty dissapointed if this becomes designed with linearity just like Super Mario 3D Land. Otherwise, consider me excited.

Mario Kart 8's new feature of  racing atop and across courses sounds like fun, and it's good to know that the online mode will be improved even further. Bringing back the air and sea segments as well as the bikes is a good thing.

The third party games were all previously known before, so that's a bummer, however I am still excited about titles such as Arkham Origins and Watch Dogs. The indy games, like with Sony before, were great to see, ShovelKnight for example seems entertaining.

I still need to see more about The Wonderful 101 before I consider even trying it, but Bayonetta 2 seems to be more of the same good beat/slash em' up as I beat the original earlier this year. X is still definitely, definitely worth waiting for, if it has atleast some basic gameplay from Xenoblade, consider me hyped.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze was a surprise announcement because everyone was either expecting a new Metroid or a new Star Fox game to be shown from Retro Studios, however this sequel is no bad thing. As Returns showed, the developer knows how to make challenging and diversive level design, so it looks like I will be buying this one.

And then Super Smash Bros. happened. The Animal Crossing opening felt sarcastic, but then it continued. Starting with the 3DS version, having a distinctive kind of graphics from it's Wii U counterpart, traditional gameplay was shown, which of course was sublime to see.

As the Villager entered with his shovel and other kinds of moves, I thought okay, that's a nice teaser for what else is to come. And then the new challenger alarm hype moment happened. The Nintendo characters looked at a small silhouette on a hill, someone with a bit too long hair.

The moment Mega Man was revealed, I became so happy that I honestly cannot remember the last time I was SO FUCKING HAPPY. I honestly shed manly tears as Mega Man kicked everyone's expectational asses while Dr.Wily Stage 1 was playing and Robot Master weapons were shown as moves.

Damn it Nintendo, I absolutely will have to main Mega Man now and host a new tournament in celebration of my happiness towards this masterful franchise. Thank you Nintendo, thank you Sora Ltd., thank you Namco Bandai Games.



And could this be the return of Capcom's glorious reputation from the past?