"Another epic day for gaming."
Disclaimer: This is an extremely DENSE article filled with a lot of reveals. If you are looking for specific teasers, reveals and speeches, reference the Glossary below and use the command, Control+F to bring up the browsers word finder. Input the game you are looking for and check out the details. The "Top" button shall help you climb back up to the start of this article if you would like to search for another game. I will find a way to make this easier in the future but thank you for patience and efforts with this article. If you are on mobile, Google Chrome offers a search option in the top right corner of the application.
Also, there is no Cozy Pre-Showcase since I watched recorded versions of the show and did not catch any live. We are just jumping in!
Showcases:
Square Enix
Ubisoft
Sony
Part 1 - Square Starts the Day Off:
Square Enix has Keith David (I presume) narrating a tale of announcemes that Matsuda introduces us too. Many titles today were shown in yesterday's Microsoft Showcase but with some extra details. If you would like to revist the titles and their respective trailers, go here.
Glossary:
Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Stealth Gameplay
Stormblood/Monster Hunter World
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit - Free
Dragons Quest: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Babylon's Fall
Nier Automata: Become as Gods Edition
Octopath Traveler
Just Cause 4 - Extreme Weather
The Quiet Man
Kingdom Hearts - Ratatouille Tease
Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Lara comes back to introduce us to the stealth gameplay the new installment will possess. It seems like you will be able to cover yourself in mud, daze enemies with your weaponry and execute multiple threats at once with close ranger finishers and environmental objects. Becoming one with a jungle is what the creators seem to be aiming for. Also, the Mayan Apocalypse seems to be the over looming threat in this new adventure. Shadow of the Tomb Raider will launch on September 14th, 2018 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
Stormblood/Monster Hunter World - Final Fantasy XVI got look at what is to come in a future up withing the, "Under the MoonLight" addition coming to it's MMO. The trailer showcased new monsters and crazy spells as usual. However, since the trailer clarified nothing, Google helped me out and it seems like it will be adding new scenario content, extra raids and loads of other goodies. I am not quite sure if this an expansion but I want to say it is a huge content update instead. Regardless, Monster Hunter's Palico's comes to steal the show alongside Rathalos to swipe up the popular MMO for a crossover. FFXVI characters become playable in Monster Hunter World. The trailer had me confused on which one was going where but the animation styles definitely hinted at Monster Hunter World. So look forward to the new costumes!
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit - June 26th, this heroic child will be getting his prequel to the Life is Strange universe for free. Like, completely free. I thought it was going to be episodic yesterday but it seems like the developers have clarified that this is available to all for no price tag. I am glad we got the extra info and there was even some resolution on where the series is going. This is no direct sequel and Captain Spirit should lay the foundation of the world for the upcoming Life is Strange season 2. Will be available on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
Dragons Quest: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Dragons Quest makes a dynamic comeback for it's next entry into the series. I have not played Dragon's Quest so watch the trailer and check it out! Also, pre-order bonuses were set for Supplicants, Healer and Seeds of Skill. I have no idea what that means but they are there. Also, This title will launch on September 10th, 2018 on Steam and PS4.
Babylon's Fall - There is not a lot to take away from this trailer besides Platinum Games, the company that brought us Nier, has started a new original IP. Aiming for PS4 and Steam release in 2019. Nothing more to go off than the cinematic trailer. Not too crazy on this and would like to see some more of what this game is going to be.
Nier Automata: Become as Gods Edition - Same exact trailer as yesterday. No news here.
Octopath Traveler - Seems to be a homage to the classic JRPG turn based games. It looks gorgeous and the Nintendo Switch seems eager to jump on this. It is aiming for July 13th, 2018 for it's release and it looks pretty dang gorgeous in the style that it is.
Just Cause 4 - Same reveal as yesterday with a keen highlight on new narrative, gadget diversity and extreme weather simulation. The weather effects were something I took not of pretty quick yesterday and it seems like lighting, sandstorms and blizzards will be making a reactive change onto the large living world of Just Cause 4.
The Quiet Man - This game highly peaked my interest. I was almost nervous that this was going to be a PS4 exclusive but luckily it will be on Steam as well. "Silence rings loudest". This is the motto of The Quiet Man and the trailer alone had me interested in the potential concept and setup of the world we could be playing in. Give it a look! I got this on my radar, most definitely.
Kingdom Hearts 3 - Ratatouille and the kids from the classic Twilight Town make an appearance in this trailer and provide more context on the upcoming story. Especially if it is piggybacking off yesterday's reveal at Xbox's showcase. I will not present the trailer yet, only because the small addition of Ratatouille is not that glamorous and the trailer Sony has for Kingdom Hearts is much more worthy of to reveal a second time. If you would like to see it the Sony trailer version early however, I left it here as well.
Part 2 - Ubisoft Marches in Proudly and Brillantly:
Ubisoft tags in the second half of the day strong and to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed their presentation today. It was full of the same goofy and upbeat personality it usually has but it got rid of a lot of the awkward personification it had in past few years. The Just Dance intro was actually pretty awesome and really sets the tone for what is to come.
Glossary:
Just Dance 2019
Beyond Good and Evil Two
Rainbow Six Siege
Trials Rising
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom: Donkey Kong Adventure
Skull and Bones
Transference
Starlink
For Honor
The Crew 2
Assassins Creed Odyssey
Just Dance 2019 - Yeah, I kind of already said but there is a new Just Dance on the way and the band mash ups hint towards some new songs on the way that we can expect. Check it out, it actually put a smile on my face and was impressed with the choreography of the set. Talk about making an entrance! Just Dance 2019 will be coming out this year (confusing a bit, right?) this October.
Beyond Good and Evil Two - This ancient series is coming back strong and I cannot even tell that either correlate with each other with how spectacular the game looks. The developers came out and announced that this will indeed be a prequel, touching base on a more aggressive Jade, the main character from the first Beyond Good and Evil. The game looks astounding with both the world setting and cast of characters. The roster consists of such so far: Uma, the Medic, Kala, the Chief Engineer, P'aj the Chef (Pig) and a monkey... Yeah it does not seem like the monkey got a name yet. And then there is you, the main character which you will be able to create. The trailers portray the protagonist as a female with a swanky Afro. Beyond Good and Evil Two aims to create an epic space opera and early alpha footage was provided as well. To close off this huge announcement, Joseph Levitt, popular actor from Inception and no co-founder of Beyond Good and Evil Two, comes in to provide a website and opportunity for everyone around the world to contribute to the world of Beyond Good and Evil Two in any way possible. Lore, soundtrack, art, everything. Hitrecord.org has entire project page dedicated to the title and it is pretty humbling to have developers give us the opportunity to be a part of the development process. More information for this game will be dropping in Fall and as I sign off on this title, there will also be Co-Op play!
Rainbow Six Siege - Siege enters the stage and is proud of the accomplishments it has made in the past few years for both it's community building and E-Sports potential. Standing with 40 operators, 19 maps and 10 seasons, Ubisoft is not stopping anytime soon. The Pro League was advertised to be starting June 18th of this year and bring 6 months of high paced E-Sports action. Paris, the U.S and Italy will be the arenas of play for it's competitors and will span from August, November and February. There was also a documentary of some pro players but I was not too into the scene of Siege to be into the whole documentary.
Trials Rising - Another unexpected reveal for me! A pleasant one at that as well. RedLynx comes back and introduces more mayhem, more crashing and and even bigger multiplayer pool of up to eight players! I do not know if it was for promotional purposes but it seems like multiple players can share one track as well instead of the large multi-tracks mode from Trials Fusion. Fat Shady, a very experienced player, was approached by the developers to create the tutorial section for Trials Rising alongside experienced streamers and YouTubers for the series. It was a unique gesture and another enlightening example of how much the developers at Ubisoft are hoping to reach out and bring players together to create game-play experiences in creative ways. There will be a closed beta which you can sign up for here and Trials Rising is aiming to release in February of 2019 on all major platforms!
The Division 2 - The creative director steps out to provide more perspective on what is happening in Washington D.C and what to expect of the start of Division 2. When completing the story, players will gain the opportunity to delve deeper into three class types upon what they have already; Demolition, Sharpshooter and Survivalist. Ontop of this, raids are finally coming to The Division 2 and will include up to eight players. Then to put the icing on top of the cake, there will be three episodes throughout the year of it's release that will offer new stories, areas and activities to do. The best part of this all, it will all be free. No expansion, no paid add-on, free. The director continued on to say how much he wants this sequel to improve from the first and that they learned a lot from The Division 1. March 15th, 2019 is the aimed released date and you can sign up to potentially be in the closed beta here.
Mario and Rabids Kingdom - Grant Kirkhope introduces the upcoming DLC for the Mario + Rabbid mashup strategy game. Donkey Kong and Kranky Rabbid join the fray and bring in status effects and AOE combo attacks. The DLC aims to launch for June 26th, just next week. Now enjoy the beautifully orchestrated presentation from the legend himself. The trailer speaks louder than words.
Skull and Bones - Piracy is dead. Ling live piracy. Ubisoft's acclaimed pirate adventure game comes to light with a full length game-play reveal and breakdown. The world is mapped out with the Indian Ocean possessing the most notorious pirates whom challenge the Empire and Portuguese for their own gain. Their will be game changing scenarios called Fortunes and the game provides a hideout to fully customize your ship from top to bottom with new weapons, decals and more to truly be a menace among the sea. The ship combat from the demo looks to be really responsive and simple to get a hang of. The player can switch perspectives of their crew to either get vision, man weapons, go full ramming speed and of course handling the ships movement. It seems to be built up in an arcade like format rewarding you points for every little action you take and for the pacing of the game-play. It seems promising so far but I would love to get access to their beta and get a hands on impression for myself. This 2019 will also house Skull and Bones and the beta signups are live on their website here. The game-play reveal below goes into way more details than what I caught whiff of during the presentation. From the few minutes I watched, it definitely has some complexity to make it feel like a worthy experience to have.
Transference - Elijah Wood, yes another extraordinary film actor, steps foot into E3 with an additional project on the horizon. Transference is a optional VR experience that will put players into the viewpoints of a family of an obsessed and probably disturbed father, a few kids and who know what else. It is a pretty whacked out game but to aim for a psychological horror genre, it kind of comes with the label. It is aiming for Fall 2018 for a release and the trailer below sets the scene of what we can expect. PC, Xbox One and PS4 are the platforms of choice.
Starlink - How to Train Your Astronaut. This game features a bubbly cast of diverse characters in a sci-fi world. Shooting down spaceships and... Wait... Did that person just attach a plastic ship to their controller...? Oh no... we have a Skylanders problem... Miyamoto comes in later in the presentation to receive a very special gift from the Ubisoft team for a special character they included in their game. Not even this character can compensate for the evil tactics that are about to be on marketing this game. I refuse to go forward with this title. Look for yourself.
For Honor - The ancient wars are not over yet. Ubisoft hits the throttle for this game by creating a promotional period giving everyone the ability to get For Honor Standard Edition for free until next week, the 18th. Also, a new major content update called "Marching Fire", will launch in October 16th, 2018 and feature a ban of new Chinese warriors. There will also be a new siege game mode (no not Rainbow Siege), featuring trebuchets, fire-pot defense boiling, battering rams and so much more. It seems hectic and an epic addition to the war torn lands of For Honor.
The Crew 2 - You like driving? Yeah, well now you can drive all the things! The Crew 2 is expanding the player control beyond just cars and has added motorcycles, planes, formula racing, helicopters and even motorboats into their open world racing MMO. The introduction was really quick but their will be an open beta June 21st for the content and from what I heard, it will be going free to play on June 29th. This may not be true however but the way it was worded was extremely odd. I am not sure if it is a free content update or if the game will be free. Hopefully I can figure that out once the dates rolls around.
Assassins Creed Odyssey - Vikings, Greeks and Spartans. Okay, maybe not vikings but they got those ships that remind me of them. Assassins Creed returns and is covering the Sparta versus Athens timeline of 431 A.C Greece.The protagonists will be either male or female, based of player choice, controlling either Alexios or Kassandra. You take possession of Leonidas' spear and jump into ancient Greek with a familiar game-play perspective of the Creed series. This title seems to play off of Assassins Creed Origins with it's combat, leveling system and equipment load-outs. There also seems to be ship combat from a quick transition shown, romance sequences hinted and eagles! Assassins Creed Odyssey is launching this year on October 5th, 2018. So close!
Part 3 - Sony Establishes Experiences And Depth:
Every showcase so far has been exceptionally pleasing to watch and for varying reasons. Xbox with an onslaught of reveals and surprises, Ubisoft with a pleasant and welcoming portrayal the their upcoming titles and Sony with an inquisitive mindset of answering many questions left by their fans. Sony has had a huge lineup of games at the door for this whole past year and even last E3, with no sign of forwarding life for any of them. That all changed tonight and it gave a handful of titles plenty of spotlight to show where they are now and what players can expect out them beyond just confirmations or reveals. Since these are extensive reveals, there is not much information confirmed per say besides release dates and game-play features shown live. So many abbreviations will be from my observations based off game-play but if you are truly interested in the following titles, make sure you check out the videos attached. There is plenty to pique your minds and states of curiosity.
Glossary:
The Last of Us Part Two
Blacks Ops 3 DLC
PSVR Highlights
Days Gone/Twin Mirror Teasers
Destiny 2: Forsaken Expansion
Ghost of Tsushima
Control
Resident Evil 2
Trover Saves the Universe
Kingdom Hearts 3
Death Stranding
Nioh 2
Spider-Man
The Last of Us Part Two - Ellie returns smacking lips with another girl named Deena. And then... death. Death everywhere. This game has continued to get darker from the trailers and the cinematic game-play demo continued to personify that. The demo felt heavily scripted and kind of left me in a state of disbelief of what was actually going to be interpreted for core game-play throughout. However, mechanics from the first game like executions, stealth play and crafting on the fly seem to have made a return. Still no sign of Joel... what is the end goal here? The acoustic intro was nice though before the game-play started.
Black Ops 3 - I swear, Black Ops was mentioned at least eighty times in this segment. So after the initial Last of Us reveal, Sony starts moving the crowd from one showcase location to another. Leaving online viewers stuck with... Black Ops 3 and 4. There was such a heavy reinforcement on trying to promote pre-orders for the fourth installment that I just wanted to mute the stream. The Slums, Summit, Firing Range and Jungle from the first game are available now in Blacks Ops 3 if you pre-order Black Ops 4. I am going to stop before I start adding to the Black Ops counter of how many times I can repeat that game. These maps are all available now though however.
PSVR Highlights - Continuing to wait for the crowd to move to the showcase destination, we get a reiterated glance of some upcoming VR games from Playstation. Tetris Effect, Ghost Giant and Beat Saber make the spotlight in these features. All super cool titles. There are some other titles in between like Evasion and Star Trek but all are worth checking out to see where the playground of VR is going. If any of you read my article a few weeks ago with my hopes and predictions for E3, you would know that I am beyond ecstatic to see that Playstation has not left VR in the dust.
Days Gone/Twin Mirror - Two Playstation titles with no in depth peeks. I feel like Day Gone may get some more live game-play tomorrow during the showcase floor panel but besides that, not much. These titles collaborated a back to back feature of the upcoming titles coming to Playstation in the near future.
Destiny 2 - Poor Cayde... that is all I can say for this trailer. Screw you, hooded lady person. Coming September 4th this year on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. There will also be the Gambit mode coming with this expansion as well that has players racing to kill AI enemies to summon a boss and defeat it for victory. PVE yet PVP oriented.
Ghost of Tsushima - Sucker Punch stomps into E3 with a game that took my interest and nestled it tightly into it's care. Ghost of Tsushima takes put you into the hands of a samurai who is out to fight the Mongols in a beautifully set landscape of feudal Japan. GoT seems to offer a take on option combat approaches and are outfitting you for your decisions throughout. It had an almost, Batman like, game-play aesthetic but with so much more finesse and actuality to it's flow of movement control. The demo closes with one of the most stunning duels I have ever got to witness in a video game and if Ghost actually commits to making this more of a habit, then I think there is an IP worth bragging about here. Before you watch game-play though, enjoy that flute intro. Trust me, it sets the scene.
Control - Female protagonist, trippy blocks, Stranger things meet Doctor Strange, all of these things were running through my mind when this trailer was playing through. Remedy and 505 Games take the mantle on this new original IP. It actually had a release window of the year 2019 but no console information was provided. This is not exclusive to PS4 and will be available to Xbox One and Steam as well.
Resident Evil 2 - It's time to go back to Raccoon City. January 25th, 2019, evil will be reborn. This remake (not a remaster to be very clear here) looks insanely unbelievable and just like Resident Evil 7, it is bringing back the horror aspect of the series that Resident Evil was so prominently known for. This was a huge relief to see tonight after seeing so many teasers and updates of the current state of the game's potential.
Trover Saves the Universe - Justin Roiland and is back and is as eccentric as ever in this new 3D action platformer. Super colorful and with many shapely characters, this raunchy world sculpted by Squanch Games will have us dialing 711 for emergencies because... that is just a sci-fi thing in that world. It will be PS4 exclusive and have optional VR capability with no release window. It looks so silly and I can only hope I get to try this game out sometime in whatever future I have.
Kingdom Hearts 3 - Hey look, it's Kingdom Hearts again! The only thing that could make this more kooky is if it got announced on Nintendo Switch tomorrow. This trailer however was the best one shown at E3. And not because it was shown at Sony but because it provides the most context and a culmination of the last two trailers combined. All the companies involved with reveals had this planned in some way because it is too much of a coincidence to have this occurring back to back. However, Pirates of the Carribean sets sails as a returning world for the series and has ship combat as well! The plot thickens as well with more Organization XIII context and a reveal of even more familiar characters. There is even motives to the Organization as well to gather seven light hearts... just like the first game. There is so much and I will not spoil anymore but this trailer is definitely the one you want to watch this E3 week. As the trailer closes off, Playstation unveils a console exclusive bundle of every single Kingdom Hearts title made along with 3 in a bundled up custom made Kingdom Hearts 3 Playstation 4. That was so much to mesh all together but with kingdom Hearts, did we expect anything less?
Death Stranding - I was not looking forward to covering this game after the presentation. Why? Because there was so much to the presentation that answered so many, and left with a million more. Basically, the main character's name is Samwoor Bridges, the baby from the first reveal trailer sees invisible entities of this mysterious world and your deaths will have absolute consequences on your world every-time you fall. I do have to say though, I am glad Kojima has provided context to his brand new captivating world. Even though it leaves so many mysteries still, we know that this is an actual game with actual game-play and that it does have some rational thought into every inch of it's design. Check out Kojima Productions colossal infant as it shows how cryptic and somber it truly is. Also, I think Kojima likes getting Norman Reedus. Just saying.
Nioh 2 - Demons, samurai and even more death. Nioh 2 makes it's return with this upcoming teaser trailer. Team Ninja lets us know death defies us and that in the near future, we will be one with the blade once more. Except this time, much more angry.
Spider-Man - The wonderful, amazing spider boy makes his debut back to E3 and even stronger than ever. A more in depth look at how the combat plays out, iconic villains and the infamous spidey traversal methods all gleam brightly in a thorough game-play demo. Spider-Man encounters Rhino, Electro, Scorpion and even more as villains unite against him in the overarching state of things. The Suicide Squad bent on ruining Spider-Man practically. It really creates these moments of being triumphed and leaves the audience begging to see the outcome of what will happen to our iconic hero as he is brutally set down. Goal established, world raised, Spider-Man is heading in an amazing direction and my skeptical perspective on it's game-play from the last reveal is now quickly shortened. I could see myself enjoying this game and I really want to try and just see how the web slinging feels. It looks extremely fluid and easily traversal to the player's whim. I also still love that the spidey sense conveyance ques are present. Adds so much to the character and even the game-play. It is a natural wonder really. Check out the downfall of Spider-Man and join me in hoping to avenge this poor boy. Spider-Man remains a PS4 exclusive at this time with no initial release date.
This day has left me exhausted yet again. Not because of the amount of hours spent just writing all this down and bringing it to all of you but because of the sheer amount of excitement alone. Nobody is winning anything this year, every company is coming out swinging and this is truly the best scope of upcoming games I have had the pleasure of investing into. Even indie titles and side show announcements have so much potential to be great and I want every single one of these games these past few days to succeed. Except Battlefield V Royale we have to stop that now. I will be back again tomorrow with Nintendo Direct and shortly after that, I will be giving my final impressions of the E3 event and what I am truly excited the most for. A nice wishlist, for lack of the better term.
This news was gathered off of Square Enix, Ubisoft and Playstation's live-streams during the E3 2018 Showcase. Note, all images and videos provided were taken from official press releases advertising the games mentioned above or recorded with the live version of the current live-stream.
Disclaimer: I was not paid nor offered any incentives to write this review by the accompanying publisher, developer or any outside force. This is solely for personal production and interest. My opinions and recommendations are based off my personal interpretation of the product and it's design.
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