Lists, am I right? People still like those, I've heard.
In honor of the upcoming E3 press conferences this week, I wanted to put together a list of the top 10 games I was excited to see at this year’s event. Unfortunately, by the time I was writing this list, Square Enix announced that 2 titles I wanted to see more of (Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy XV) will NOT be shown off at E3. While a large part of me is hoping that this is a lie, I’m going under the assumption that this is true. The following, in no particular order, is a list of games I’m looking forward to, why I’m excited, and why I’m nervous about each.
Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4/Xbox One)
Why I’m excited:
Rocksteady has done an excellent job crafting 2 great Batman games (Arkham Asylum and Arkham City), and they’ve had plenty of time to work on this final chapter. Driving around a huge Gotham City in the Batmobile should be awesome, and having this game be exclusive to PS4 and Xbox One means there won’t be any content or scale that gets cut.
Why I’m worried:
There definitely hasn’t been a TON of innovation in the series, but I’m ok with that. City’s largest claim to fame was a much larger playable area, but the combat and stealth mechanics have stayed largely the same. The introduction of the Batmobile might be a forced attempt at “innovation for innovation’s sake”. Meanwhile, noted comic writer Paul Dini, who crafted the stories of both Asylum and City, was not involved in writing Arkham Knight, so it’s unclear how dark the story will go. With a lot of comic book icons recently, but especially with Batman, there’s been an emphasis on making things as dark and brooding as possible (see the ending to Arkham City, or for a spoof version look at Batman as portrayed in The Lego Movie). It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. That, and the recent delay into 2015 isn’t a good sign.
X(working title) ( Wii U)
Why I’m excited:
Xenoblade Chronicles, Monolith Soft’s newest creation appears to have a vast, sprawling world with several varied environments. We’ve seen spaceships, dinosaur-like creatures and everything in between. The fact that we as players will also have the opportunity to pilot giant flying mechs does nothing but increase my anticipation. That the combat system is supposed to be so similar to the previous game is also a point in its favor.
Why I’m worried:
Nintendo and Monolith Soft are supposedly going for a very heavy and ambitious online aspect, and if there is one thing Nintendo has never done well, it’s pretty much anything online based. So, if there are server issues, it could either mean a lengthened development time, or resources taken away from other areas to fix problems. This is also a team looking to push the Wii U as hard as they can, so lets hope their ambitious plans don’t lead to frame rate or visual issues.
Legend of Zelda Wii U (Unannounced) (Wii U)
Why I’m excited:
This is a series that has shown time and again why almost all it’s entries are instant classics. Our last console Zelda game, Skyward Sword, had some new ideas and tried to mix up the 3D Zelda formula that we’ve seen since Ocarina of Time. The recent A Link Between Worlds shows there’s still plenty of magic left in this bottle, and series director Eiji Aonuma has said he wants to really shake up the series with the next entry.
Why I’m worried:
There’s no guarantee this game will be shown off at E3, though with how badly the Wii U is selling I’d be shocked if it doesn’t make an appearance. Aonuma previously stated he almost showed us our first look at New York Comic Con back in September when he had a panel on A Link Between Worlds, so there’s likely some content here Nintendo can show us. At the same time, we don’t know to what extent Aonuma truly intends to ‘shake things up’. It’s possible he could present us with something that’s too radical a departure for series fans, which would leave Nintendo in an uncomfortable position.
The Order: 1886 (PS4)
Why I’m excited:
I’m a fan of new IPs; too many companies play things safe today with sequels, spin offs, reboots and the like. Even if a new IP is mostly recycled ideas, getting to see new characters, artwork and periods of history mean new stories, sometimes resulting in really cool experiences. The Victorian look mixed with Arthurian legacy certainly doesn’t hurt.
Why I’m worried:
The game has already been delayed into 2015 from its late 2014 release date, and that’s never a good sign. It could genuinely be a case of just needing a little extra polish, but delays late in the game always make me nervous. Let’s hope Sony shows us a lot of new info at this year’s press conference.
No Man’s Sky (Unspecified)
Why I’m excited:
You play as a pilot in a massive procedurally generated universe. Not world, universe. Every planet, star and moon you can find can be visited, which will have unique lifeforms, ecosystem and terrain. The game will feature a massive online element, where all players share the same universe. The game has also promised that there will be no load screens, only smooth transitions between space and atmosphere.
Why I’m worried:
To say that this game’s goals are ambitious is a huge understatement. Then add in the fact that this game is being made by between 4 and 6 people, and I can imagine it won’t be a short development cycle. It reminds me very much of Peter Molyneux’s promises about the original Fable, most of which ended up being either massively scaled down or stripped out entirely. Lets hope No Man’s Sky tiny development team know what they’re doing.
Star Wars: Battlefront (Unspecified)
Why I’m excited:
It’s a Star Wars video game! Seriously, I love the original Battlefront, and seeing the footage of the third console entry that was never made was heartbreaking. It isn’t the best designed or deepest gaming experience, but it was a lot of fun.
Why I’m nervous:
It’s been about 10 years since we’ve had one of these games; we’ve had an entire console generation come and go. Pandemic, the studio behind the originals, closed up shop in 2009, so the new version is being handled by EA’s DICE studios. EA has a habit of taking things that aren’t broken and ‘fixing’ them. Plus, with Disney now owning the rights to Star Wars, it isn’t hard to see some interference from both corporate overlords. Lets hope they back off and just let Star Wars be Star Wars.
Super Smash Bros(Wii U/3DS)
Why I’m excited:
Portable Smash Bros. MegaMan. No more random slipping. Also, Nintendo probably has some more surprises in store for us, and has yet to finish revealing the whole roster.
Why I’m nervous:Another Nintendo product relying heavily on online play, which has traditionally not always gone well. As long as Nintendo can keep the framerate constant and playable, then I don’t think there will be too much to worry about.
Kingdom Hearts 3/Final Fantasy XV(PS4/Xbox One)
*No, they’re not the same game, but my comments for them are identical so I'm counting this as one game.
Why I’m excited:
I really like what I’ve seen so far of [Kingdom Hearts 3/Final Fantasy XV] visually, and the battle system is definitely something I'm looking forward to.
Why I’m nervous:
[Kingdom Hearts 3/Final Fantasy XV] has been on gamer's minds for a long time with very little (read: almost no) information, and now we’re not getting anything new this year at E3. This is a game that has been teased over and over, and while what we have seen is nice, it's honestly hard to see what's taking them so long. Granted the development team will need time to adjust to the latest hardware, and the game's director Tetsuya Nomura is also busy directing [Final Fantasy XV/Kingdom Hearts 3], so it may be a very long time before we get anything new and concrete. Look for whispers of 'vaporware' to pop up if we don't see anything by year's end.
The Last Guardian(PS3/PS4?)
Why I’m excited:
The third game from Fumito Ueda and his team (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus), this game was teased in 2008 with a single image, shown off running in 2009, and hasn’t seen the light of day since then. You play as a boy with a massive cat/beast...thing. With chicken legs...trust me, it'll be awesome.
Why I’m nervous:
Assuming it won’t show up at this year’s E3, that will make 5 consecutive shows with nothing new from this game, despite its original promise of a 2011 release date. That’s not a strong sign, despite Sony execs insisting the game is still in development in some form. Add in that Ueda left Sony (but is still working on the game as a contractor) and there are some strong doubts to be had. There’s also the possibility that the game is being converted for the Playstation 4, which could add to the development time. There have been comments from more than one Sony executive that they are waiting for the right time to ‘re-introduce’ the title, and one exec refused to say whether he last played the game with a PS3 or PS4 controller. So, we may never even get the game we were shown to begin with, but least Sony came out on 6/8 and said this game isn't cancelled.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One)
Why I’m excited:I’m a huge Metal Gear Solid fan. I’ll be the first to admit that the recently released “Ground Zeroes” was little more than a paid demo, but the possibilities teased by it are very exciting. The control scheme got some very needed TLC, making movement much smoother and changing button layout to help everything run smoother.
Why I’m nervous:
…I’m kinda not. Seriously though, though the series has plenty of flaws (overly confusing story, absurdly long and cheesy cut scenes), the MGS games are always a lot of fun. Kojima is promising this will be a darker tale than previous games, and the trailers we’ve seen so far have definitely reflected that. But while these games don’t always come out on time, there usually isn’t much in the way of cut content or excessive bugs.
Honorable Mentions: Mirror's Edge 2- Not sure if it'll be a sequel or a reboot, but it looks great either way. The first game had some great ideas for Freerunning, but a lousy combat system. Let's hope this new one fixes some of those issues. New Shigeru Miyamoto franchise- Nintendo has been teasing this one for a while, hopefully we see something this week. Let's hope its a game like Super Mario Galaxy and not a "game" like Wii Fit. Hover: Revolt of Gamers*- A freerunning/graffiti tagging game taking inspiration from games like Mirror's Edge and Jet Set Radio. Plus, Hideki Naganuma, the JSR series composer, is on board for the music! Amplitude*- Big fan of the original, I was excited to see this come back as a possibility. Let's just hope the music selection is a little better this time around. Hyrule Warriors- Essentially Dynasty Warriors set in Hyrule, this could be a fun distraction. Of course, fanboys will complain about how much (or how little) it ends up adding to the overall Zelda series timeline.
*Denotes the author contributed to this game on Kickstarter
End Note:As E3 is in full swing, its fun to see how much of this is panning out as I thought, both in good and bad ways. I'm not re-writing with the updated information because, well, its interesting to see how hopes and fears were lived up to. Its still not over though, and so I'm looking forward to writing again about these after the dust settles. If anything, AAA gaming is trying to bring a lot to the table all at once, which is going to be great to follow along with...see what happens in future: if they live up to the promise they had both before and after this E3 for me.
