E3 2014 Part 3: Sony Steals the Show

Despite my less-than-fun experiences with EA and Ubisoft’s press conferences, I was excited when Sony’s came around. Last year, Sony won E3 for me. This year, I couldn’t wait to see more about The Order: 1886, and with rumors that Sony might unveil some old favorites like Crash Bandicoot (which turned out to be just a rumor), I had confidence this would push Microsoft’s press conference out of the top place.

Microsoft
EA
Ubisoft
Sony
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Conclusion

It began on Mars. Yes, it was time for Destiny, Bungie’s upcoming shared-world shooter, which would interest me a lot more than it does if I could play it outline. As it is, it seems pretty cool, but I’m not sure I want it. In this trailer, we got to meet a little cube-AI thing that reminds me a lot of 343 Guilty Spark, from Halo. We also learned about the alpha and beta.

Then my video crashed, and when it came back, people said the dark, creepy thing on the screen was a new IP. I wondered what it could be until I saw the character’s face. He looked a lot like the main protagonist from that game I was interested in seeing…

…because it was him! New IP, yes, unannounced game, no. We saw a dark gameplay demo for The Order: 1886 and got to meet one of the Lycan enemies. I’m still interested in it, but not as much as I was last year. Last year I almost ordered a PS4 the moment I saw The Order’s trailer. Now, it still looks good and has a cool premise, but I’ll wait for more previews, if not reviews, before I make any decisions.

The next game, Entwined, looked beautiful and mysterious. It claimed to be a story about love, but I’m not exactly sure what it is. It’s on my list of games to consider…although it was released that night and hasn’t met with the warmest reception.

Standalone DLC for Infamous: Second Son. I plan to try that series someday.

And then, out of nowhere…. LittleBigPlanet 3!

New characters, new features, new puzzles… I may have only played a little bit of the first LBP game, but I’ll definitely keep this one in mind for the future. I wasn’t expecting it at all, and it was a great surprise announcement.

So, what did they show after the cute, happy celebration of fun that is LittleBigPlanet? Bloodborne, of course, the newest dark adventure brought to us by From Software, who created the Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls game. Rumors about Bloodborne, under its working title of “Project Beast,” had been in the air for quite some time before E3, but most fans thought it would be a new Souls game. It looks very dark. I can’t wait to see more.

Far Cry 4 gameplay. I was no more interested than I was when Ubisoft showed it.

Next, Sony went for a bit of a sillier approach, with the presentation of fan letters. Fans apparently want to see more zombies (the zombie craze is not over yet!), so Sony presented the upbeat, somewhat comedic trailer for Dead Island 2. I have nothing against zombie comedy, as you might have guessed, but I didn’t think Dead Island was a cheery game. Well, I didn’t play the first one, and I probably won’t play the next one.

Enemies from The Last of Us are entering Diablo 3. I’ve played neither, though I may try TLoU sometime.

Battlefield Hardline. Still no interest.

Exclusive PlayStation content for Disney Infinity 2, which I haven’t played.

More Destiny, and its PS-exclusive content! (And an out-of-place “Hulk smash!” leftover from the Disney announcement.)

I didn’t know what the next trailer was for, but it was quite entertaining. It turned out to be for Magicka 2. I never played Magicka, but after that trailer, maybe I should look into it. (Kind of like how Tomodachi Life’s trailer got me interested in a game outside of my standard genres…)

That added a dose of amusement, and the next game announcement–and the letter that preceded it–ratcheted it up even further.

1. Tim Schafer is hilarious.
2. YES!!! GRIM FANDANGO!!!

It’s possible I’ve never mentioned Grim Fandango before, but it’s one of those old games I’ve wanted to play for a long time. Wikipedia describes it as a “dark comedy neo-noir adventure game.” I love dark comedy, as you might remember. Adventure games? I love them too. As for neo-noir, noir can be pretty cool. Add in an underworld setting and Tim Schafer, who created one of the greatest games ever (Psychonauts), and I would have already played Grim Fandango if it wasn’t one of those games that’s so old it’s crazy-expensive.

So a remake? Yes, yes, YES! Right then, I knew Nintendo would have to work hard to come in at #1 for me this E3.

Indie game montage! Some looked interesting, especially The Talos Principle.

Suda 51 was up next, so I knew it would be something weird. However, Let It Die didn’t really catch my interest.

ABZÛ, an atmospheric adventure compared to Journey, was up next. I’m not really sure what it’ll be like, and I never played Journey, but nevertheless I’ll keep my eyes open for news on this one.

No Man’s Sky is another one of those games it seems like everyone is interested in except for me. I just don’t like the idea of a procedurally-generated open universe…much as I’m not too thrilled with open world games in general.

It took a break from games, then. Project Morpheus and its demos available at E3, PS4 and activity statistics, Youtube/Twitch stuff, new “social gaming” features, and new content for the Playroom. Free-to-play montage! Information on the upcoming PlayStation Now open beta… PS Now interests me mainly because of its backwards compatibility potential. Still, this was part of the long lull in Sony’s conference. It really lost its momentum after the initial rush of games. They talked about the Vita for a while, and then introduced something new: PlayStation TV. It allows you to remotely play PS4 stuff on a second TV. I don’t have a second TV, so I don’t think I’ll be picking one up.

Back to games, with Mortal Kombat X! I’m not really interested in the Mortal Kombat series, but I know it’s a big deal.

Back to non-game material… and we learned about an original series called Powers for far too long. Maybe it’ll be interesting, I don’t know. Most of what I know about comic books comes from Atop the Fourth Wall. Since I’ve never heard of the comic series Powers, it might be good. But I watch E3 to learn about games. I couldn’t wait for the section on Powers to be over.

There’s going to be a Ratchet & Clank movie. I’ve never played the games, but I want to.

A look at the remastered PS4 version of The Last of Us was the next feature for the night, but it came with a spoiler warning, so I stopped watching. I came back for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Metal Gear Solid…. yes, I’m going to admit it…. it’s another one of those series everyone loves except me. I did like the music in the Phantom Pain’s trailer, though. It really fit the mood.

After that, Grand Theft Auto V was finally confirmed for the PS4/Xbox One/PC. Never played GTA, probably never will.

But are you ready for the best trailer of the night–perhaps the best trailer of E3?

Yes. Batman: Arkham Knight has had my attention for a while. I’m not done with Arkham City yet, but I loved Arkham Asylum. And that trailer… and my reaction of, “Wait, was that a glitch? Is it glitching? Or is it….him!”

Scarecrow was one of the best parts of Arkham Asylum. I can’t wait.

They ended with a new trailer for Uncharted 4, which gained its subtitle “A Thief’s End.” Ah, Uncharted… I’ll give the second game a try someday, despite hating the first Uncharted so much I didn’t even finish it.

And that was that! Of course I wasn’t interested in every game shown, but it was a strong press conference for Sony and put them in first place in my mind. The combination of LBP 3 and Grim Fandango was enough. All that remained was to see if Nintendo could top them…

Are you ready to find out?

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