Aug 052015
No catchy title this time. Unlike last year when I shared great games from Gamescom, this year I’m just going to go through a few highlights of what has otherwise been a fairly lackluster show for me.
I went into Gamescom looking forward to two games: Scalebound and Final Fantasy XV. Therefore, I was very excited to watch Microsoft’s briefing to learn more about PlatinumGames’s new exclusive. What I saw didn’t impress me. I hate to say it, but I’m just not sure about Scalebound, and part of it is the protagonist.
When Scalebound was announced, a lot of people wondered if it had a custom protagonist. Well, this guy’s name is Drew. He’s from Earth. Now he’s been transported to the fantasy world of Draconis, where he bonded with a dragon.
And he is incredibly annoying.
Maybe he gets better through character development. But right now I have a hard time seeing the charm that drew me to PlatinumGames with that guy on the screen. It also sounds like Scalebound might be open world, so let’s just say I’m unconvinced.
But Microsoft had more than just Scalebound, so let’s move on. I appreciated hearing more about the Xbox One’s backward compatibility, which I hope will eventually expand to include the Xbox 360 games I have.
They also showed trailers for an adventure game called Thimbleweed Park, which looks old-school and entertaining, and We Happy Few, which… well, I’ll let you see for yourself.
Yeah, that one stood out to me. It’s a survival roguelike, so I don’t know if I’ll play it, but it certainly knows how to set the mood.
Next, the trailer for Dark Souls III was just fantastic and reminded me (yet again) that I need to really get into the Souls series.
The Halo 5 focus was on multiplayer, so I was less interested, especially since it will not have local multiplayer. I’m not big on multiplayer to start with, but I’ll miss the ability to sit down and play with my friends. Rise of the Tomb Raider looks interesting, and while it’s great to see a hoped-for announcement like Halo Wars 2, I don’t get along with RTS games.
Halo Wars 2 closed out Microsoft’s conference.
I didn’t watch EA’s live either, just checked out the highlights. Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst could be interesting, and The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire sounds pretty cool (even if it won’t be my first MMORPG).
Garden Warfare 2 might be worth playing, and Unravel looks just as adorable as it did at E3.
EA may not have had the most fantastic show for me, and I’m not interested in the Blizzard show tomorrow, but I was excited to see what we would learn about Final Fantasy XV today! The trailer revealed last night didn’t know much, but they wouldn’t hold a special Active Time Report during Gamescom if they didn’t have exciting announcements, right?
…Right?
No video game company trolls its fans better than Square Enix. Many fans went into Gamescom hoping to learn Final Fantasy XV’s release date. And they announced… that they know when they’re going to announce the release date.
There also might be a new demo available to anyone, and they also know when they’re going to announce details about that.
To be fair, they gave some information about the game. It will have a serious, emotional story in addition to the more lighthearted moments seen in Episode Duscae. Family bonds are a theme alongside bonds of friendship. Lunafreya is in a difficult political situation but has great inner strength. Airships may or may not be possible.
And they claim it has a villain who will top the previous games’ villains. That’s a bold statement to make, especially in response to a question mentioning the appeal of characters like Sephiroth and Kefka. I love a good villain, so I’ll be interested to see just what makes Final Fantasy XV’s villain so great.
At last, they shared a tiny bit of new gameplay.
Between Scalebound uncertainties and a lack of Final Fantasy XV details, this Gamescom wasn’t very eventful for me. What games stood out to you–for better or worse–at Gamescom 2015?