E3 2015 Thoughts: Sony, Nintendo, Square Enix, PC Gaming

This is obviously the better half of E3 :)

Sony:

I like that expression, the video game industry is part of the "cultural zeitgeist" of our time. Instantly starting strong with a much anticipated (almost vaporware) title, The Last Guardian has finally returned and is looking magically wonderful.

Representing the Dutch branch of video game development, Guerilla Games introduces a new IP called Horizon: Zero Dawn, with stunning landscapes, a large scope, mechanical enemies and you play as a prehistoric looking hunter ironically.

Street Fighter 5 remains odd because of it's controversial new way of defining exclusivity, yet consider me interested in seeing how the new features will work out for this fifth title. No Man's Sky is in a similar status for being partially exclusive, and it's hard to judge this one's potential massive scope. Carl Sagan's quote does boost the hype.

Media Molecule's Dreams is an original looking title about creating, sharing and feelings conceptual dreams, or art works. It's too late for me to be excited for Destiny because the vanilla release just simply was a repetitive grind festival as previously reviewed, so it got sold.

Final Fantasy VII remake is finally REALLY HAPPENING! But because this is still the Sony section, let's talk more about this a little more down below here. Shenmue III is another long awaited sequel of which I regrettably still have to start on, but is nonetheless another exciting announcement.

Project Morpheus is another contender for the virtual reality market which is re-opening very soon, and it's just too early to judge which of the devices will be the best one. Call of Duty might be milked to death, but at least it ain't shovelware, so yeah, I will get around Black Ops III sooner or later.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is a great way to end this conference, but it seems that something went wrong technically for the first round, which is forgivable. And with The Nathan Drake Collection appearing as well, I am utterly content and eager for the ultimate Uncharted experience.

Rating: A

Nintendo:

A Muppets intro, haha my puppet body is ready! Do a barrel roll meme, this was unexpected.

Star Fox Zero is looking like it just saved gaming in general, I really cannot wait to play what seems to be Star Fox 64's successor, FINALLY. The Amiibo expansion is out of control, and with having only Diddy Kong so far personally, I'm definitely not sold out on them.

So Hyrule Warriors Legends was leaked already, but Triforce Heroes seems to be a continuation on the Four Sword formula with an A Link Between Worlds art style, except that this time cooperation is encouraged, and competition is lessened. The totem mechanic is also something unique.

The Animal Crossing spin-offs Happy Home Designer and Amiibo Festival aren't sealing the deal for me, instead, people were expecting a proper Wii U edition. And although Fire Emblem Fates is looking promising, I can't say the same for Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, as it bores me.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is truly one of the upcoming must have games from Monolith Soft and Nintendo, however it's painful to wait for it. Metroid Prime Blast Ball was previously hinted at, but Metroid Prime Federation Force first of all looks UGLY and blocky, I can't believe I just said this, but it's not looking appealing to me as some kind of Hunters sequel/spiritual successor.

And finally, the celebration of Super Mario Bros.'s 30th anniversary is not only enhanced by the fun looking Super Mario Maker(another spiritual successor, this time towards Mario Paint), but also by Mario Tennis Ultra Smash and surprisingly Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where the two Mario RPG sub-series merge into one adventure.

So there's great stuff, but also dissapointing stuff for Nintendo this year. Or, perhaps Nintendo has yet to announce something else later on, which they sometimes do. This underwhelming feeling is caused because a real surprise or effective announcement was missing. I suppose Yoshi's Woolly World will keep me occupied and happy soon enough later this month to rebounce this conclusion.

And it was confirmed by Nintendo themselves that Zelda Wii U would be absent at E3 2015. On second thought, and to be fair, we did get a decent Smash 4 Direct earlier, so maybe Nintendo shouldn't had segmented the two events.

Rating: B

Square Enix:

 
With interesting bits of trivia from Square, Enix and Eidos,The press conference started with Just Cause, which I haven't touched upon yet, the same goes for Hitman. And Nier. And Kingdom Hearts. And Star Ocean. Got a lot of catching up to do.

World of Final Fantasy is a cutified tribute and celebration to what the title is saying, apparently from the preview. Similar to Dissidia or Theatrhythm, Squeenix is also having a lot of fun of commemorating Final Fantasy in general

Final Fantasy VII remade is a fan's dream come true, or a generation's dream, for all of us who played their first Final Fantasy back in 1997 on the PSX(Or the PC for me). So this is very exciting for the most popular entry that changed RPG gaming.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is another personal upcoming favorite, with the same team from Human Revolution developing this to expand upon it's design even further. Not too much information was available yet for Project Setsuna.

Rating: C+

PC Gaming:

Honesty, this was the most boring press conference. Although a PC presentation is a good idea, all of the games portrayed were bland, more of the same, convoluted in order of appearance and forgetabble. I did like the presentator being excited in general. Even AMD's graphical cards almost had me yawning. Better excitement for everyone next year. Not even Blizzard could save this.

Rating: D 

Multiplatform:

As an extra paragraph, with exceptions already talked earlier about, here are a bunch of video games which aren't exclusive, yet they deserve to be written about.

Batman: Arkham Knight is having a snowball effect of announced DLC coming up, but ignoring that, I can't wait to delve into the Bat's next-generation struggle against vengeful rogues in the biggest and grittiest Gotham City yet.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain had another stunning long trailer where rather than more questions being answered, new ones have filled up the community which theorize frantically as we speak about the characters, the central theme of language, how big the scope will be and how the hell it will end and transcend over into Metal Gear.

Dark Souls III is a fan favorite because it promises content which ain't broken nor obnoxious yet, and also, people are wondering how the lore will evolve, how the online scene will be, what horrifying bosses await and of course how beautiful the game's world will be. From Software declares it to be the final episode, but just you wait until Dragon or Death Souls comes along, next towards Bloodborne 2.

And that's all folks! Unless someone decides to announce a surprise or two tomorrow at E3's final day, E3 2015 was certainly no dissapointment in general and actually one of the better ones in so far as we can remember the previous ones.

E3 2015 Thoughts: Bethesda, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft

Bethesda:

So Bethesda is nowadays a publisher of both Wolfenstein and Doom, huh. Both of the franchises have a current strong uprising, what with The New Order and The Old Blood bringing back good old fast paced shooting with armor, health packs and not just 2 guns.

Or what about the upcoming Doom, which seems to be a mixture of Doom 1, 2 and 3 in regards to setting, enemies, guns and multiplayer. For the first official time, a map editor called Snap
map will let the community share their creations.

Dishonored 2 is another title I'm looking forward too because the original was pretty much a successor to the Thief franchise in my eyes, it had multiple paths to take, a good atmosphere, very good DLC and just satisfying overall gameplay.

I have no excuse for not mentioning Fallout or The Elder Scrolls, other than I have yet to start with both franchises. In time, this will happen eventually. But until then, they will have to wait, because other video games are waiting too!

Rating: C

Microsoft:

With Microsoft proclaiming the biggest lineup in the history of Xbox, I wanted to believe them, but crucial titles such as Scalebound and arguably Banjo Threeie missing kind of made the show incomplete. Backwards compatibility is a huge advantage however, and now only Sony is left behind in this field.

We all wanted to see that famous platform duo return, but instead, we get Rare Replay, 30 of Rare's most prominent games from the past, alongside a new IP called Sea of Thieves, promising a lifestyle of pirates.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is looking good, and ReCore is surprising because Comcept and Aramture, or Keiji Inafune and ex-Metroid Prime developers are working together on this one. Halo and Gears of War are simply more franchises I have yet to start with.

I gotta say that last year was most likely more impressive than this one for me personally. But on another topic, with the HoloLens and the Oculus Rift already having been showcased, it won't be too long now until the virtual reality wars start happening.

Rating: C+

EA:

Mass Effect Andromeda is unveiled with a cinematic trailer, and I'm interested in seeing what BioWare has in store for this next generation title. As usual, the sports games continue to be less exciting for pretty much anyone, as even the audience reflects this back each year.

Star Wars Battlefront gameplay looks great! It's been ages since I played a previous Star Wars game, which was Jedi Outcast for me, it's time to attempt Battlefront out just in time before Episode VII is released.

The Swedish Unravel looks promising, the creative developer was brave to speak out for his creation, seeming as he was obviously nervous and excited. Minions Paradise and Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 both could not hold my interest.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst also looks promising for a reboot.

Rating: C

Ubisoft: 

For Honor is refreshing to see, not for it's setting, but for it's arena/cooperative potential. So we have been seeing The Division for a while, which is another co-op title, yet it will take until early 2016 before we can experience it. It does look solid in a bland sense.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is the umpteenth title in currently the most milked franchise at the moment, but at least the settings and historical era's keep changing. Personally I have only played 1 and 2, and I am still wondering how much more will be touched by me.

Nice to see Track Mania appearing on the next-gen consoles. Did they really had to bring out Girlwood as the main presentator again? It's becoming an awful meme to be honest.

Ghost Recon Wildlands might be the first GR that pirks my interest for it's presentation, but other than that, yeah, the gazillionth shooter just got announced. Which wraps up a predictable and generic Ubisoft presentation.

Rating: C

E3 2015 Wishes and Expectations

This year, E3 is bound to become bigger than ever, as for the first time, when looking at the press conferences, there are 3 new ones attempting to conquer the audiences, live and worldwide. The Electronic Entertainment Expo has been going strong for almost 20 years, and I have been an enthousiastic reader since at least 2002.

And with the latest years, I have watched live streams of the conferences, arguably the biggest part of the expo, with expectations and wishes. Now that Sony's PlayStation is also part of the "family" personally, I am even more excited than usually anticipating Nintendo and the PC scene.

Speaking of which, the PC scene will have it's own press conference, alongside Square Enix and Bethesda, who will all no doubt talk with passion about their projects and the industry itself, and I'm sure that everyone will have at least 1 surprise waiting.

With upcoming top promising video games like The Phantom Pain, Arkham Knight and Xenoblade X already coming up later this year, 2015 continues to be worth watching. And with that said, let's take a quick look at what I am expecting and what I am wishing for to appear at E3:

 Expected:

-Dark Souls III-

I'm still quite shocked how soon this is about to get announced just after Bloodborne's March release, but it seems according to the leaked screenshots that it's really happening again. Miyazaki returns as the father of the franchise to direct this highly anticipated title.


-Paper Mario Wii U-

Again, the rumour wheel has been spinning, and voices are whispering that Paper Mario Wii U is a likely candidate. In order to rejuvenate the sub-series of Mario RPG's, it could potentially go back to the formula of the first two and make it even better with paper physics, new features and the functionality of the Gamepad.


-Banjo Threeie-

Even without the recent surprise kickstarter project of Yooka Laylee, which arguably is even more anticipated by Banjo Kazooie fans themselves, a part 3 of the actual series is still a likely possibility, what with the recent revival of Killer Instinct and Microsoft plus Rare looking for ways to make the Xbox brand stronger.

Wishes:

-F-Zero U/F-Zero 3D-

This is actually in my opinion the number 1 Nintendo franchise which desperately needs to return. I already dedicated a whole blog towards creating a hypothetical F-Zero U and/or F-Zero 3DS, so please, take another look at that post why it should finally get announced already.

-Advance Wars-

The brethren series of Fire Emblem, otherwise known as the militaristic multiplayer alternative for Nintendo handhelds, Advance Wars is another series that deserves another shot, either with the style starting with GBA, or the one with Dark Conflict, or perhaps something entirely new.

-Resident Evil 7-

First of all, the Revelations sub-series are very good, keep them up! As for part 7, Capcom should either go straight survival horror with it, turn a new direction, or give Shinji Mikami his seat back so that he can deliver again like he exceptionally did with REmake and Resident Evil 4, the two most important titles in the series if you ask me.

-The Last Guardian and Half-Life 3-

Two highly anticipated vaporware titles which should get cancelled if they don't get announced at E3 if you ask me. It's a terrible thing to not deliver with these two, but at the same time it would be even more terrible to have been hoping for them for so long, and then to find out that there wasn't any kind of development going on at all.

-Any Mega Man game-

Mega Man, excluding Xover, has gotten his break for over 5 years. It's been long enough, and with the recent news article of a new producer overseering the portfolio now, fans including me are hoping for any kind of either a new, original title(not the Legacy Collection), OR a must needed sequel to the X, the ZX or the Legends series, for they all have currently ended with cliffhangers, of which the most massive one is easily Legends.

Splatoon

 

First of all, two things must be said upfront about this new intellectual property from Nintendo. Yes, it doesn't have enough multiplayer content yet, and yes, voice chat is missing. Both of those "negative" factors in the eyes of many can be dismissed for now, because more content is coming very soon, and voice chat is not a necessity for tactical reasons as you wil eventually climb the ranked matches ladder, and the game is very much fun on itself without it.

Splatoon is a flashy cartoonish third person arena shooter with squid human hybrids being present as the player's persona's, and the main objective is to spray as much ink as possible in the area so that in the end, your team will have more than the opponents.

Splattering your enemies(or killing them in normal first or third person shooters)is a secondary objective that could delay the first one for the opponents to achieve, and the available arsenal is varied, entertaining and they fulfill different roles for the players to take.

A roller for instance is a melee based tool that can quickly cover much ground while simultaneously defeat enemies if they get too close to them. A splattershot on the other hand is a ranged based tool that has a wide range and a good fire rate.

There are many others available, of which several of them are variants, but pretty much all of them seem to have their advantages and disadvantages depending on the area's being played and the matchmaking itself.

This Wii U title also has a lengthy single player campaign that is more reminiscent of traditional Nintendo games rather than the absurdity that they have pretty much finally developed an online multiplayer shooter, although with innovative features, and the first inspiration that came to mind was Super Mario Sunshine's F.L.U.D.D. physics.

Innovative features include the ability to change into a squid, allowing you to traverse below the ink of your own kind so that you can hide and regenerate your ink fuel for examples. Upon respawning, you can also launch towards your teammates in a strategic manner, which sometimes can make or break your current match.

Splatoon is also equipped with an addictive soundtrack which embodies the teenage kid culture it represents, and I was pretty much instantly hooked with the online battles on my first playtime evening, especially after I turned off the motion controls for the camera.

Nintendo has most likely released the 3rd most popular multiplayer Wii U game at this moment, behind Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, as there are pretty much no other kart, fighting or shooting games that come close to these 3.

Because more content is coming very soon, the rating for Splatoon will for now stay on pending, however if this was the final game I would give it about an 8.3 just for replayability alone and the fact that there are plenty of different roles one can take with matches.

Bloodborne

From Software delivers again on their successful action role playing hack and slash game with Bloodborne, a spiritual successor to the Souls franchise, which was a spiritual successor to the King’s Field franchise. Play as a customized hunter, and uncover the dark gothic city of Yharnam, where an evil curse has plagued the townsmen and horrifying creatures occupy the streets now too.

The artstyle of Bloodborne is awesomely detailed, and the methodical combat has been fastened and improved because although the category of weapons has lessened, they all have 2 styles of using them now, such as letting the standard axe turn into a two handed halberd, or a standard holy sword turn into a bigger two handed holy sword.

Some features which were fine before have been lessened and are actually quite dissapointing. Covenants for instance are minimized into 3 different ones, and NPC quests have the same issue of quantity. Traveling between the new lanterns replacing the bonfires means you need to warp to the HUB location each time before you can move on to the next area.

PvP options are also way more limited because the conditions have gone higher in order for opponents to appear even in the first place. The same more or less goes when you want to summon allies using the beckoning bell. Many times there would be no allies to help me out, it's actually a rarity when contact could be placed. Even after beating Bloodborne for a second time, this issue persisted despite thinking that server intensity would be either lessened or higher depending on the amount of people playing the game.

 

Once again is the soundtrack minimum in quantity, but more than enough makes up for it during intensified boss battles and it’s just engrossing. The difficulty remains unforgivable even after beating Demon’s, Dark and Dark Souls II before, and I was most of all impressed with the enemy designs and their animations.

It remains utterly satisfying however to progress through these games, and Bloodborne is simply the best exclusive PS4 game at the moment. It is perhaps a little bit shorter and even dissapointing than the Souls games, but it more than enough makes up for it with optional content, the art style, the improved combat and the intact challenge which becomes truly brutal with the new game plus option like always.

Since the sales have been positive, I think that DLC is unavoidable when looking at the improved Dark Souls II with it's DLC, and even Dark Souls before that which also had an expansion pack, otherwise known as DLC nowadays. Both of those DLC's will be talked about soon enough, because thanks to Bloodborne, I have been on another Souls ride.

Rating: 8.5

Azure Striker Gunvolt

Inti Creates has released a somewhat spiritual successor and alternative towards Mega Man Zero and ZX in the form of playing as a lightning based hero who is able to tag enemies utilizing his electric field so that damage output is spread across the fields.

Azure Striker Gunvolt, having been released only on the Nintendo 3DS, has become commercially successful enough to permit the developer to create a sequel which was not too long ago announced, it only was recent though that it was released in Europe.

It's your familiar side scrolling action game with many elements returning from Zero and ZX returning such as the aesthetics, the mission/boss selection, the similar story and of course the gameplay, which is now focused on indirect combat instead of using a cybersword.

Automatically being able to damage enemies in the surrounding area, while being able to boost Gunvolt's health using special chips made the game quite frankly easy for me as a seasoned hardcore Mega Man player, except for the final boss's 2nd form, which had an annoying OHKO to be bothered by.

The somewhat short length of this digital only release is compromised by the game's relatively low price, which actually gives it more than enough content, it's just that in this industry, almost every game released is overpriced in so far as how much content is provided, but that is another future topic I can talk about.

While Keiji Inafune has been busy with post-development of the upcoming Mighty No.9, Comcept and Inti Creates have been collaborating in order to create Mighty Gunvolt inbetween as well, which is another retro throwback to classic Mega Man gaming, featuring the main characters of both new establishing intellectual properties. It's a free bonus which is fun while it lasts.

Azure Striker Gunvolt is a modest alternative approach to familiar side scrolling 2D action, and it shows promise, but I felt that it's similar towards Mega Man Zero 1 in the sense that it's not greatly polished yet. I'm sure that the sequel will be an improvement.

Rating: 7.4

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D

 

Last february, Majora's Mask was finally enhanced and re-released, fifteen years since it first appeared on the Nintendo 64 and when I was 12 years old. Packed with touch controls, an improved interface as well as visuals, it is unmistakenly the best version available.

Having only beaten the game twice before, playing through it for a third time is of course both a nostalgic ride, but also a refreshing experience. A few differences such as an extra empty bottle, a new Twinmold battle and a more convenient map system make this an easier yet a more enjoyable experience.

Of course, I already talked about Majora's Mask with much love previously five years ago(http://flow-rush.blogspot.nl/2010/12/retro-blog-legend-of-zelda-majoras-mask.html), and pretty much all of what was said there still applies over this new edition.

This time, I once again got all of the masks, the best sword, all of the faeries in the 4 dungeons and did pretty much everything except for several heart containers/pieces which I wasn't bothered to collect this time because frankly for me the game isn't difficult anymore.

I still am dissapointed that Nintendo didn't have the time during this longer development period of certainly 3.5 years to include at least a bonus dungeon of some sorts instead of fishing spots, similar to A Link to the Past's GBA version.

Because out of all the Zelda games released, Majora's Mask could benefit from one more. And I don't really count Ikana Kingdom or the Pirate Fortress either way.

Now that Nintendo has more or less remade Ocarina of Time, the Wind Waker and Majora's Mask, alongside rumours that Twilight Princess could be getting a New 3DS version, I wonder what's next for Zelda as far as handheld gaming goes.