Not-E3 2023 Part 3: Wholesome Direct and Future Games Show

Table of Contents

Not-E3 2023 Schedule
Guerrilla Collective 2023
Summer Game Fest 2023 Showcase
Devolver Direct: The Return of Volvy
Wholesome Direct 2023
Future Games Show
Xbox Game Showcase
PC Gaming Show
Ubisoft Forward
Capcom Showcase
Grasshopper Direct
RGG Summit

Today brings us two more showcases: the Wholesome Direct and the Future Games Show. Once again, we’ll be going through the highlights, so be sure to check out the full showcases if you want to see everything that was announced.

Wholesome Direct

The Wholesome Direct is always an interesting show to look forward to, because while it might only have a handful of games I want to play, it’s bound to be the cutest showcase. This year’s Wholesome Direct featured a lot of farming and garden games (and a high number of witch games again), like last year. Also like last year, there were multiple frog games.

First up was Mineko’s Night Market. I feel like we’ve been talking about this game for years, but now it finally has a release date!

The next game to catch my attention was one of the aforementioned frog games. Frogsong is an action-adventure game where you play a tiny frog, and it looks so cute!

Creature-collecting game Moonstone Island, bunny-collection game Usagi Shima, and nature exploration game Flutter Away are among the number that look really cute even though I’m not sure if they’d appeal to me personally.

Frog-raising farm sim Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge is another (as well as being another frog game).

Then there’s Gourdlets, which sounds like a game I wouldn’t normally be interested in, being a city-building sandbox. Yet something about building your city and watching the little gourdlets interact with it looks so relaxing, I can’t help but be interested.

And while there are a lot of games starring cute animals, special mention goes to Smushi Come Home, an exploration game where you play as a tiny mushroom.

I’m also intrigued by A Tiny Sticker Tale, which looks like a pretty neat little puzzle game.

And while there were a ton of exploration/gardening games, Kibu is one that especially stood out.

Meanwhile, even among all these cute games, the cuteness award might go to Little Friends: Puppy Island, where you explore and build a paradise with a bunch of puppies. (Now, if it was kittens, I’d probably be buying it already.)

Narrative adventure game Fall of Porcupine looks interesting, and there was also a surprise appearance of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. Of course, it fits right in with the theme, but I expected it to be entirely focused on indie games.

(One of these days, I’ll get back to playing Rune Factory.)

Campfire Cat Cafe did bring some more cute cats to the showcase, and then it ended with another farm/life sim RPG that looks especially interesting, Fields of Mistria.

Future Games Show

After the Wholesome Direct, we went straight into the Future Games Show. One of the games that stood out to me the most is Lords of the Fallen, the spiritual successor to the previous Lords of the Fallen. Confusing title aside, it looks pretty cool! This new trailer introduced its dual worlds system and gave a decent look at its gameplay.

I also have to give a shout-out to Head Bangers: Rhythm Royale. While this sort of multiplayer game isn’t my sort of thing, the dancing pigeons were terrifying yet strangely compelling to watch.

Moving on, you might remember The Last Faith from last year, and it still looks fantastic.

Swashbuckling action game En Garde! looks like it could be interesting, and so does narrative adventure game The Book Walker: Thief of Tales.

I was also surprised to see the Deponia series return, with Surviving Deponia… a survival game entry in the adventure game series.

Layers of Fear also got a new trailer – this is the upcoming collection of both previous Layers of Fear games plus new content, so it’s competing with Lords of the Fallen for the most confusing title.

Speaking of horror games, I’m also curious about Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle, although I haven’t played the first one.

Ruffy and the Riverside also looks like it could be a lot of fun, although finding out that it’s open world diminished my excitement a bit.

Getting back to the horror genre, another horror game (although its store page officially describes it as a “psycho-thriller”) that looks like it has potential is Reveil, so I’ll be keeping my eye on that one, and Luto also looks nice and spooky.

The final game shown, The Spirit of the Samurai, also looks interesting, although I’m not sure how I feel about the stop-motion animation style.

Anyway, those were the highlights for me from today’s showcases! Come back tomorrow for two more game showcases as we proceed through this year’s Not-E3 season. In the meantime, which games stood out to you the most?