This year’s E3 has come and gone. After sifting through hours and hours of content, I’ve decided to talk about some of the games that caught my eye. Of course, I didn’t actually attend E3, so I haven’t played any of these titles. All of my opinions are based solely on gameplay videos, trailers, and whatever other media I could find around the internet.
There was actually a lot of interesting stuff shown off this year and I had a tough time narrowing this list down to just eight games. We had Sony show off a trifecta of fantastic looking third-person action games (Horizon: Zero Dawn, God of War, and Days Gone), Microsoft continued to showcase unique indie titles like Cuphead and Inside, and even EA (whose conference was the worst of the bunch) got my attention with a little game called Fe. There was a lot to take in during those five days, but I think I’m ready to show you just what tickled my fancy this year. So here are eight games of E3 2016 for your consideration.
Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil 7 makes this list simply on name alone. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the announcement or the demo that Capcom made available following that announcement. I will say that while there were rumors that RE7 would make an appearance, I was still a little shocked when I saw the logo flash on the screen following a trailer that looked nothing like Resident Evil. I’ve read that what was shown and what was in the demo aren’t going to be in the final game, so I hold out hope that when Resident Evil 7 releases, it will have the feel of previous iterations even if they do change things up.
Battle Chasers Nightwar
Before E3, I knew absolutely nothing about Battle Chasers, let alone that there would be a game releasing based on the popular comic from the late 90’s. It was pretty much love at first sight and I knew immediately that I needed to know more about Battle Chasers. It turns out that Joe Madureira (who has worked on The Uncanny X-Men comic book series and the video game Darksiders) is the creator, so it should have been no surprise as to why the art direction was gorgeous. Nightwar is described as an “RPG inspired by the classic console greats, featuring deep dungeon diving, turn-based combat presented in a classic JRPG format, and a rich story driven by exploration of the world.” Sign me up!
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Following the debacle that was Mighty No. 9, I’m a little hesitant to get excited about Kickstarter games made by famous designers that are looking to reinvent older series. Okay, that’s a pretty specific group, but Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night definitely falls into that category. Being designed by former Castlevania producer, Koji Igarashi, Bloodstained is looking to fill the void left by Konami’s Castlevania series. While I may be hesitant to get too excited, the gameplay demo shown off at E3 did impress. Still in the alpha phase, it was beautiful and appeared to be right on point with games like Symphony of the Night. Of course, this is me judging as someone else played it, but I will say that I’m looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.
ReCore
I’ve pretty much made my decision on where I’ll be playing my games this generation and I’m all-in on the PlayStation 4. This isn’t because I have some undying loyalty for Sony (I played almost entirely on Xbox 360 last generation), but because there are just so many games to play on the systems I already own that I can’t justify the purchase of another. ReCore is making me question that decision though. I’m not sure what it is about ReCore that excites me (probably the robot dog) because in some ways it does come off as a bit generic, but every time I see this game I want it more and more. The combat and platforming, along with needing to rip the cores from your enemies and the combo system all just seem so satisfying. After seeing it at E3 this year, I nearly went out bought an Xbox One just so I could play it this September and it may still get me to make that purchase yet.
We Happy Few
Yet another Xbox One console exclusive, We Happy Few hit all the right notes for me when it was shown off this year at E3. The fact that it appears as if it is going to explore the human psyche and the affects that drugs have on it is something I’m interested in. How deep that actually goes remains to be seen, but as someone who is fascinated by human psychology, I can’t wait to see where the story leads. I’m still holding out hope that We Happy Few will eventually make its way to the PlayStation 4, if not, it’s looking like another great reason to buy an Xbox One.
NECROPOLIS
If you’ve been keeping up with GAJ for the past couple of weeks then you’ve probably seen a couple of stories about Necropolis. It’s a “rogue-lite” dungeon crawler with Dark Souls style combat and it’s looking pretty sweet. I imagine I’m going to be pulling my hair out with frustration once it releases this summer and I can’t wait.
Dragon Quest Builders
I’ve always loved the idea of Minecraft, but I guess I just don’t have the imagination to make it a worthwhile experience. I need objectives and goals to actually feel like I’m accomplishing something and that’s where Dragon Quest Builders is changing the Minecraft formula up a bit. Instead of just aimlessly wandering around the world, Dragon Quest Builders is going to be a full-fledged RPG experience where you’ll have to build towns and help folks with their various problems. On top of that, it just looks so damn adorable. I know very little about Dragon Quest, but that’s not going to stop me from jumping into Builders when it releases this fall.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
I absolutely loved South Park: The Stick of Truth, but never expected The Fracture But Whole to be my most anticipated game following E3. The footage shown off at Ubisoft’s press conference reminded me just how great South Park can be. With a new storyline (this time involving super heroes), improved combat and gameplay, and that crude humor South Park is known for, The Fractured But Whole is looking like another top notch South Park game from the minds of Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
