The games of E3...

So E3 happened. And a lot of things at E3 happened. So this is my summary and thoughts on things that grabbed my attention. It should be recognized that I did not watch the live streams, and have merely looked over at the after-math type news. Still, if it was good enough for the internet, it's good enough to write and post about what stood out to me. Still, I have not seen everything. Also, another note is that nothing makes this list other than just the thought that I have something I want to say on it. This isn't a straight hype list, best of E3, or other nonsense. A lot of this is positive stuff, but still most of this is just "I want to talk about it" stuff.

Far Cry 5

Far Cry has kind of been one of those games I guess I quietly fanboy over. I'm not major fan, I mean there's nothing really to be attached to in the usual sense. Every game is a new character, a new place, new atmosphere, but mechanically... it's a mix of features and mayhem to a scale that make it the closest thing to a modern day Mercenaries game. You've got war torn people, can hire in stuff, all sorts of outposts and territories to capture in addition to eccentric story mode quests, and then they mix in so many other features that just feel so good. Far Cry 3 to 4 was a "re-skin" to shallow minds exhausted of surface-deep relations, but to me it was the mile between a good game, and a mastering of such work that it went towards my GOTY. Far Cry 5 is doing little to slow that down. It's another sequel, featuring most of the core mechanics and principles, and I'm happy enough with that.

I barely paid attention to it, but what I saw was essentially "we upgraded your primal pet. He's super-dog, your trusty side-kick". That's all I really saw at a surface level, but it's good enough for me. I'm essentially sold already, I know it's going to be a good time if they keep the base features. I ran a mental checklist in my mind, and everything from AI hiring, to re-breaking your hand for healing, was back in. Even my concerns with a more stale setting eroded when I realized just how good Ubisoft is at building a world anywhere, and it's honestly still looking like a great time. It might also be one of the only games that I'm possibly too impatient to wait for, it just doesn't feel like a 2018 kinda game.

...oh yeah, and because those guys are already out there, if you want Far Cry to be a different game maybe... *gasp* Go to a different game. Maybe you didn't notice it, but there's tons of other products that are doing different stuff at E3. It's kind of the point of E3. So quite expecting Far Cry to suddenly cater exclusively to your vague "change" wish. It doesn't revolve around you, and can't read your mind as to what you wish it to transform into. I'll probably have to write another article on this continuing bullshit of "ew, it's the same" all over again. ...I guess you could say the internet stays stays the same on that regard.

Metro Exodus

Like Far Cry, it's has little to do with "what did you show", and more like the fact that you did show it. Metro is a damn good series, and as long as it does it's job and gives us a fun ride, I'm fine for that trip. Metro showed us more Metro being Metro. You walk through dark places, beat up mutants, explore the outdoors while worrying about supplies, and then get attacked by a crazy set-piece monsters. It's the best scripted nonsense type of game out there, and I think they can manage to get away with releasing yet another brilliant FPS game that I should theoretically hate. The big news is essentially, Metro is back for a 3rd round, and depending on my mood during launch... I'll probably be there for it. It's supposedly open world, but I have no idea how that's going to work since it isn't shown off in any way, so we'll see for that. I'm hoping they can keep it all good under that new direction.

Assassins Creed: Origins

Here's where things get more difficult. AC is simultaneously a great and terrible franchise. It has so much clutter, dips, turns, inconsistencies, and just... it's a mess. It's become every single flaw of AAA rolled up into one. There's no focus, it's cluttered, it's too new and gimmicky, it's too "the same", etc. It's everything wrong in a box, but it's also fantastic. It also has some fantastic ideas, some of the most unique settings in direct video games, has so many cool stories to tell, so many chances for cool moments to pop up, and so many way to just grip you. Now, they're doing it in egypt. I was enchanted for all of half a minute, before sky-spy fad rolled in and started marking targets by arbitrary numbers that were whispering "you better have a matching level requirement for your blades to stab these normal people". Seconds later, and we were seeing skinner box shoving confirmed with a level up system, followed up with some of the most clunkiest combat I might have ever seen in the series, ending the last second with a magic controlling arrow mode. Following it up with an epic cinemaitc-like showing of the world, a giant snake, and real bosses, and you have a roller coaster ride of cringe and delight. This game... has my attention, but it also has my fury. It's one of those games I am so badly hoping it turns out great, but I'm lying every time I say I think it's going to turn out fantastic. Everything that is right and wrong with the AAA industry is present here, and... c'mon now ubisoft, we've been waiting on Egyptian assassins creed since Brotherhood. Do not fuck such an easily cool thing up with your focus-tested bullshit, and slopped together clumsy combat. I guess, come October, we'll see where it ends up.

Wolfenstein: The new Colossus

Do I need to justify why this is amazing!? It's a new Wolfenstein, doing more of what made it amazing! Dual weapons, lots of guns blazing, nazi stabbing, but it takes place in american now with some crazier new characters, further developed relationships, and a lot of new crazy enemy types. Yes, yes, yes! Love it all! I still haven't heard anything about the mechanics, but I don't see why they'd change it up. Since then, they got two answers that were both in their favor: People loved the first. And then, people loved Doom perhaps even more. So yeah, old-school mechanics are amazing, they have zero reasons to ditch them, I think I'm justifed in hyping on this train. ...and then they have the nerve to tell me it'll be at the end of this year. Bethesda, you're trying way to hard to win E3 with just this one game.

Shadow of The Colossus

Turns out Wolfenstein wasn't the only big attention grabber with Colossus in the name. Now that word, almost always spawns yet another game in mind, and it is exactly that game... again... remade on PS4. I didn't quite expect this, but yet nodded my head, understanding that there was a clear demand for such a game. SotC is a classic that people still compare a few other games to, and think about when talking amazing PS2 quality, or just great art and indie-like products. It was a strange boss rush adventure concept that just worked, and I can still remember my friends in middle school talking about how weird but cool it was. When I got it with PlayStation Plus, I would get these weird moods for a lonely adventure, and SotC was one of the sole best things to itch that scratch. However as a general rule, it ain't my thing. I'm not all too into just an entire game dedicated to boss rushes, and empty gaps of searching and wandering in-between. I have to be in a special mood for that. Disconnected, concentrated, time on my hands, lonely adventure mood, the will for patience and trials, etc. I needed to essentially be in such a mood that would require me to go on a real adventure. Be willing to test my patience, have my gear, and be ready. If I wanted that, SotC was the best thing there is, and I welcome it's presence back. Depending on the price, I might have to pick this up and go at it, excited to return. However, it ain't normally my cup of tea, so my hype is a little waned. I... don't know. Still, awesome of Bluepoint games to go behind this game, and I wish them luck. It's going to make some people very, very, happy.

Spider-man

I'm going to come right out and say it, this was my biggest disappointment out of real feelings across the E3 show. I didn't have a whole lot of hope behind it, but still... it managed to hurt a slight bit. I remember seeing the original tease to this, and thinking "...yeah. Yeah! Yeah, Insomniac and Spider-man, yeah! This could work! Spider-man and Insomniac both love attitude, it's new and bold grounds for a great company, I love almost all their work, and just look at all this energy behind it. This is going to probably be fun, and maybe it'll bring out that inner-kid of me that used to love this superhero." Now jump to present day. I was distracted almost instantly, as the web slinging was damn button prompts on corners as if it were hacking from Watch Dogs rather than YOUR BEST METHOD OF MOMENTUM! Then insert dry and overused arkham comb combat, half-assed stealth, and then a glimmer of hope as you could sandbox the environment, right before the entire second half of an 8 minute trailer wound up falling into the grips of rapid QTE chase script sequence. Oh boy, so exciting to press the shoulder buttons at the right time, I'm totally spider-man here guys! It was overscripted, cliche among one of the formulas I hate the most, and then there's the fact that it just plain didn't appeal to me. Not a second I spent thinking fondly of anything I saw, it all had me kind of either in Okay or lower territory.

Look, I'm not trying to burn the hype train here. Insomniac seems to show a lot of respect for the character, and I know this is giving you a lot of things spider-man deserves. There's some nice winds and nods at play, great care in the polish and presentation, and it genuinely does seem spider-man-y. If that's all you want, to play spiderman, you're looking at one of the best games in a long while. However as a gamer, and Insomniac fan, who was merely hoping by chance to be pulled into spider-man from loving a just plain great game, it failed in every way. I'm not thrilled at all, and I can only hope future trailers will show me a better side with the promise that set pieces don't fill 1/3rd of the game, and it actually fixes Arkam's style by actually being fun. I'm not holding out for that kind of high hope though. Some people lost their shit and called this their darling child, but I'm stepping back cringing a bit like I wound up in the room by accident.

Dishonored: Death of the outsider

Look, I'm thrilled about this somewhere in my mind, especially after discussing Spider-man that can't do web-swinging right, while Dishonored has shown us how momentum powers are done right. However, the space requirements are a bitch, and I just haven't even been enjoying Dishonored 2 itself quite as much as I should because other things are consuming the memory, and rotating out. That, and we have absolutely no gameplay to be excited about. I love the idea, the plot, and the fact that anybody can jump in with it as a standalone, but I can't be excited for anything else. I know Arkane will do well though, so I'm sure I'll get around to visiting it, and I'm sure some of it will be fantastic. I'm looking forward to seeing what they bring, especially with the weird cyborg-looking style. I was beginning to be worried Dishonored was done at 2, but it looks like they came up with a follow-up to the original DLC plan they pulled with the original. I'm glad about that, just... not as much as I feel I should be. But on the other hand, Prey is amazing and current GOTY for me, so still good on you Arkane!

Beyond Good & Evil 2

Oh yeah, it happened. Finally happened. I don't have a lot of attachment to this franchise, but damn does it still feel good. I respect it for what it was, and I love this insanely creative type of world, and with this reveal... they just slapped you in the face with it, over and over. It was fantastic. A crazy British monkey with a giant metal grappling claw, a pig with a Fu Manchu type mustache passing deals, crazy hover craft police mobiles, space warp drives, diesel punk color pallet, and they all swear like sailors. It's fucking amazing nonsense that reminds me of why games are awesome! I'm going to keep my eye on this, cautiously optimistic.

Anthem

Hey look, it's not Destiny! That's the vibe I got from this one for the most part. It's trying hard to be it in a lot of ways, sounding like another online only looter adventure with cheesy clean mic buddies having a good time about playing co-op together on a mission. It's, like Destiny, a game that would look so cool and appealing to me if they just made a traditional fun adventure shooter with it. Instead, it looks like you're going to be comparing weapon variables, number crunching, and running back and forth with chore work quests, while hoping your internet stays connected to bullshit forced servers just in case you wanted to play with your friends. IF under the chance it comes out honoring single players, I might give it a rent and see where it goes there. I'll give them this credit, it didn't look as slow, dull, boring, or predictable as the other Bioware things they usually touch. It looked like a genuinely normal sci-fi action game made by whoever else, until the co-op crap slapped itself in the way and instantly felt more Destiny inspired. I guess what I'm saying is, I've got a heavy skeptical eye on this one, but it stands out just enough to actually put here and talk about. I can't really say Bioware did right or wrong, just that they didn't do so wrong that I continue to shun them in a corner with a giant "overrated" stamp like they usually deserve.