Games From E3 That I Wood Or Woodn’t Play
E3 Has Come and Gone
E3 has come and gone. As a result, we are now much better-informed about what we can expect from the video game industry in the near future. On the whole, this E3 wasn’t one of the most memorable examples. However, there were still plenty of titles that managed to stand out for good as well as not so good reasons.
What Are Some E3 Games that I Wood Play?
Here are some E3 titles that I wood play:
Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 is set to come out on September 13 of 2019. For those who are unfamiliar, the main titles in the Borderlands series are shoot and loot action RPGs set in what is best described as a space western science fantasy with a dark, offbeat, and sometimes juvenile sense of humor. Borderlands 3 is looking as though it will be following in the footsteps of its predecessors, which isn’t a bad thing because there is no point to making revolutionary changes to a winning formula.
However, it is clear that Borderlands 3 will still have plenty that is new to offer interested individuals, as shown by how its four new playable characters will be a Siren named Amara who can conjure up extra fists for extra punching, a Gunner named Moze who can summon a mecha for riding as well as fighting in style, a Beastmaster named FL4K who can call on various animal buddies for various effects, and an Operative named Zane who will be bringing a wide range of gadgets to the game.
There are some people out there who will be put off by the fact that Borderlands 3 will be an Epic Games Store exclusive for a time, but if they are unhappy with that, there is no harm to waiting until it is released for other platforms, by which time it will presumably have been polished for an even better experience.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 is something of an edge case. In short, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was far from being perfect, but it was nonetheless very solid, meaning that it more than earned its awards and other accolades. As such, CD Projekt is still riding high at the moment, though it remains to be seen whether it will be able to translate that momentum into another smash hit in the form of Cyberpunk 2077. Unfortunately, there are a number of potential concerns that mean that interested individuals might want to keep their optimism under control for the time being.
For example, Cyberpunk 2077 is the first time that CD Projekt is making a first-person shooter, meaning that it is lacking in experience in this regard. Likewise, there are reports that Cyberpunk 2077 combat is unsatisfying, which was something of a problem with The Witcher 3 as well. As such, while Cyberpunk 2077 remains a title to keep a close eye on, it isn’t quite as shiny as it was before.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Fandoms being fandoms, it should come as no surprise to learn that the Fire Emblem fandom infights on a regular basis. In particular, there are segments that have embraced the most recent Fire Emblem titles that have managed to make the franchise more popular than ever before as well as segments that have been much less enthusiastic about the same because of a perception that they have been hollowed out for mass appeal.
Curiously, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is looking as though it could unite both segments, though it remains to be seen whether its promise can be fulfilled or not. In short, when Fire Emblem: Three Houses was revealed, the initial marketing focused on the protagonist becoming a teacher at a school in a pseudo-medieval fantasy setting where they would take charge of one of three school houses. Something that resulted in a lot of Harry Potter jokes to say the least.
However, E3 marketing has revealed that while the school simulation elements will play an important role in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the title will feature a time-skip that will be followed up by the three factions represented by the three houses going to war with one another. In other words, it seems pretty safe to say that the story of Fire Emblem: Three Houses will be darker than it seemed on initial consideration, which should come as welcome news for the segments of the fandom that lament the presentation of the more recent titles.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
The indie game boom has resulted in a number of outstanding Metroidvania games, with an excellent example being Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight. Better still, Team Cherry gave its customers a number of substantial expansions free of charge, which did much to further endear interested individuals. Now, it seems that a sequel called Hollow Knight: Silksong will be coming out in the not too distant future, which should excite anyone who enjoys good action-adventure gaming in a Metroidvania world.
In any case, interested individuals should know that Hollow Knight: Silksong will not be centered on the Knight but rather on Hornet. As such, interested individuals can expect a new character with a new skill-set in a new setting that should nonetheless prove to be very familiar. After all, while start-of-the-game Hornet won’t be as capable as she was in her boss fights in the first Hollow Knight, all indications are that she will not just gain her associated abilities but also a great deal more besides.
Pokemon Sword and Shield
Pokemon Sword and Shield are another example of upcoming releases that have experienced both a positive impact and a negative impact because of E3. Granted, not every Pokemon fan out there has embraced all of the new Pokemon that have been revealed for the Galar region because they never do. However, it is clear that there is still plenty of enthusiasm, as shown by the Sif jokes about the sword-wielding Zacian as well as the sudden fandom that has sprung up around Wooloo. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm has been dampened to a considerable extent by the announcement that interested individuals won’t be able to move Pokemon over to Pokemon Sword and Shield unless they are included in those titles’ Pokedex.
To some extent, this is understandable, seeing as how the Pokemon franchise has more than eight hundred Pokemon even before the release of Generation VIII, which means a huge amount of animation work that won’t get a lot of actual use. Never mind the balancing issues. However, the news is nonetheless a serious disappointment, particularly for those who have always been hoping for a truly massive Pokemon game encompassing all of the known regions and more. Hopefully, future Pokemon titles will have bigger and bigger Pokedexes, but for the time being, there is definite cause to fear that we might never see another Pokemon game featuring all of the Pokemon available at the time of its release.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
For a lot of Zelda fans, chances are good that the single greatest reveal from Nintendo’s presentation at E3 was the news that the follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is being developed at this very moment. However, that shouldn’t take away from the fact that Nintendo is set to release a remake of the Game Boy’s The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch. This is not a remaster of either the original release or the Game Boy Color release.
Instead, this is a fully 3D remake that is nonetheless very faithful to its source material, so much so that it even includes the sequence in which an irate shopkeeper will one-shot Link for coming back into his store after stealing from him. Due to this, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening could be the perfect way for interested individuals to tide themselves over while they wait for the follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Something that is particularly true if they are curious about the original’s peculiar mix of both overhead and side-scrolling sequences.
What Are Some E3 Games that I Woodn’t Play?
In contrast, here are some E3 titles that I woodn’t play:
Anthem
A lot of people predicted doom and disaster for Anthem long before it came out in February of 2019. After all, it was Bioware’s first game in said genre, which was expected to go up against not just Destiny 2 but also a number of other entrenched competitors from more experienced developers. However, post-release articles have made it clear that the development for Anthem was much worse than what anyone expected, with examples ranging from how bad project management meant that the whole thing was cobbled together within a very short period of time to how crunch time resulted in the burnout of multiple employees.
As such, if the people behind Anthem want it to make a comeback, it needed to make a good impression at E3 as well as other prime marketing opportunities. Unfortunately, the lackluster effort at E3 was a flop, so much so that most people didn’t even realize that there was an Anthem presentation at the event, which might have been the worst outcome of all.
Fallout 76
Speaking of bad releases for big name games, another recent example was Bethesda’s Fallout 76, which cratered so much after its initial release because of bugs and bad design choices that a lot of people suspected that it wouldn’t be able to survive at all. However, it is clear that Bethesda hasn’t given up on the title, seeing as how it has been continuing to add more and more content to game since that disastrous launch.
Moreover, it was pretty upfront about its future plans for it at its E3 presentation, which was definitely to its credit. On the whole, while Fallout 76 still isn’t looking that great even with the promised addition of human NPCs as well as a battle royale mode. However, if Bethesda continues on its current course, it is possible that Fallout 76 might be worth checking out at some point further into the future.
The Avengers
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is huge, so Marvel titles have become very popular. However, Marvel titles that aren’t actually based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been put in a very awkward position. At least one of these titles, Marvel’s Spider-Man, managed to stick its landing. In contrast, well, suffice to say that The Avengers is looking derivative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the most boring way, which isn’t helped by the fact that its business model is already raising fears that the upcoming title will be designed to extract as much money out of its players as possible without giving good value for that spending.
