Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Not-E3 2020 Part 3: PlayStation 5 Showcase

 Video games  23 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jun 112020
 

Table of Contents

Indie Live Expo 2020
The Escapist Indie Showcase
PlayStation 5 Showcase
Guerrilla Collective
PC Gaming
Future Games Show
EA
New Game+ Expo
MonsterVine Hot Games Summer Showcase
Nacon Connect
Limited Run Games
Devolver Direct
Ubisoft
Nintendo
Microsoft

Sony’s PlayStation 5 Showcase

I didn’t get to watch the PlayStation 5 showcase live, but I managed to avoid all but one spoiler ahead of time. It began with a dramatic reveal of the PlayStation button icons, a theme which would repeat throughout the showcase as they used it to transition between sections.

With that aside, let’s get into the games.

They started with a PS5 port of GTA 5, and I feel bad for all the fans hoping for GTA 6 news. After that, they showed Spider-Man: Mike Morales. I’m not a big Spider-Man fan, but I have friends who loved the PS4 Spider-Man game, so I know it’s a big deal for them.

Next up was Gran Turismo 7, which doesn’t interest me.

But after that, it got good. A new Ratchet & Clank game was announced, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Now, I’ve only played a single Ratchet & Clank game so far, but I enjoyed it a lot and the new one looks a lot of fun. Maybe I should play more of them before it comes out.

I was pretty excited when I saw Square Enix’s name next, but even though it wasn’t Final Fantasy or Babylon’s Fall or any of the other names I hoped to see, Project Athia looks pretty cool.

The next game was from Annapurna Interactive. They made What Remains of Edith Finch, which I enjoyed, so I was already interested. This one is called Stray, and despite showing a setting with robots, the trailer prominently featured an adorable cat I hope is the player character.

Then it was time for some technical specs, but you know me, I’m mainly here for the games.

And they came back with a creepy science fiction game called Returnal. I’m not so sure about that title, but it looks like my sort of game.

Next up was Sackboy: A Big Adventure, which is basically a LittleBigPlanet spin-off as some sort of collect-a-thon 3D platformer, and it looks like so much fun. It also reminds me that I need to finish LittleBigPlanet sometime, as I’ve been playing it with a friend over the course of several years.

I’m not interested in Destruction All-Stars but then they showed a game called Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which looks pretty cool.

No interest in Goodbye Volcano High or Oddworld: Soulstorm (I’ve never gotten into the Oddworld series), but then we finally got a look at Ghostwire: Tokyo gameplay. It has a lot more action than I expected, but I’m still pretty interested.

They showed a few more games I didn’t particularly care about, Jett: The Far Shore, Godfall, Solar Ash, and Hitman III. I’m not completely sold on Astro’s Playroom, but since it’s a 3D platformer, it has my attention.

After Little Devil Inside and NBA 2K21, they showed a game called Bugsnax, which looks… cute? It’s from the developers of Octodad, and I have absolutely no idea what sort of game it is or how it plays.

I spent part of the next trailer saying, “Wow, this looks really cool” before realizing it was the much-rumored Demon’s Souls remake! It look fantastic and I want it. Since it’s a full remake, I guess this means my PS3 copy is going to remain (mostly) unplayed forever, much like my PS3 copy of Dark Souls.

Deathloop was shown again, and then the next game…

…was Resident Evil VIII, or… Resident Evil Village… Resident Evil VIIIage? they did a clever thing with the logo there, but I’m not sure how you’re supposed to say the title. Village, I guess. Anyway, it looks… different. I didn’t realize it was Resident Evil for a while. I’m not sure what to think, but I guess I’d better play Resident Evil VII soon.

The next game revealed was Pragmata, and it looks potentially interesting. Then they showed the rumored sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon II: Forbidden West. I haven’t played Horizon, mainly because it’s open world, but it does look cool.

Finally, they revealed the PlayStation 5 itself. Its design is weird and vaguely alien. I’m not crazy about it, but I don’t care what the console looks like as long as it has good games.

And as far as I’m concerned, this showcase was fantastic when it came to good games! There are so many games I want to buy, and I can’t wait to see more. What did you think of the PlayStation 5 showcase?

Not-E3 2020 Part 2: The Escapist Indie Showcase and IGN’s Highlights

 Video games  16 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jun 112020
 

Table of Contents

Indie Live Expo 2020
The Escapist Indie Showcase
PlayStation 5 Showcase
Guerrilla Collective
PC Gaming
Future Games Show
EA
New Game+ Expo
MonsterVine Hot Games Summer Showcase
Nacon Connect
Limited Run Games
Devolver Direct
Ubisoft
Nintendo
Microsoft

The Escapist Indie Showcase 2020

Our second big not-E3 event was today, with a showcase of indie games hosted by The Escapist and GOG. It was originally scheduled for later in the day, but was moved earlier (most likely to avoid conflicting with the PS5 showcase).

They showed a lot of games. It was two hours of almost non-stop trailers, with only a few breaks to talk about specific games in more detail. Not all of them were new game announcements, of course, but there were plenty of those in there as well.

So instead of going through all ~70 games shown one by one, I’ll talk about the ones that stood out to me the most. You can check out the full showcase here.

The first that really caught my attention was Black Book, an RPG with card-based battles. Apparently it was announced several months ago, but I missed it then. It looks pretty cool.

A first-person exploration game called Paradise Lost (no relation to the novel) looks like it could be interesting, too.

Several games followed that could be worth looking into, an action game called There is No Light, a word-based game I’d heard of before called Lost Words: Beyond the Page, and a first-person puzzle game called Relicta are a few that stood out to me next.

Strangely, one of the games shown is heavily-focused on a streaming experience, an action game called Gone Viral that has viewers vote on things to happen in the game.

Now, I wouldn’t have guessed that the next game to really stand out to me would be a War of the Worlds tie-in, but Grey Skies: A War of the Worlds Story looks pretty cool… although it’s described as a stealth-based thriller, so I’m not sure if I’d enjoy it if it has a big emphasis on stealth.

The noir adventure game Chicken Police also showed up, and every time I see that game, I’m puzzled by just how many animal-based mystery games there are.

A new trailer was also shown for Raji: An Ancient Epic, which we talked about back in 2017, and it looks like it’s coming along nicely.

Near the end, they showed a tactical RPG called The Way of Wrath and then an open world called The SoulKeeper: Chronicles, both of which had cool trailers. Since I’m not much of an open world fan, I’m not sure I’d enjoy SoulKeeper, but I’ll definitely keep my eye on The Way of Wrath.

IGN’s Highlights

Meanwhile, IGN has had the first two days of its Summer of Gaming celebration, with some new announcements and gameplay showcases.

The first day included the announcement of a rhythm first-person shooter (yes, really) called Metal: Hellsinger, Alex Kidd in Miracle World Dx, and Demon Turf, none of which particularly interest me. Demon Turf is a 3D platformer, but it looks a little slow and awkward to me.

They also showed off English gameplay of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, although with no audio except for the commentary and looped gameplay clips.

Mortal Shell got a gameplay reveal too, and its presentation is just about the Soulsiest Souls-like look a game can get.

On the second day, one of the games that surprisingly caught my attention is Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time. I have no familiarity with Samurai Jack whatsoever, but the game looks fun.

Star Renegades and The Iron Oath both look like they have potential as well.

The newly-announced cyberpunk shooter Foreclosed didn’t get my attention with its trailer, but once they started showing more of the gameplay, I was more interested.

Overall, the second day was better than the first, despite the first day featuring Yakuza. Next up, we’ll be talking about the PlayStation 5 showcase, which is about to begin!

What were your favorite announcements from the Escapist Indie Showcase and IGN’s first two days?

Not-E3 2020 Part 1: Indie Live Expo 2020

 Video games  15 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jun 082020
 

Table of Contents

Indie Live Expo 2020
The Escapist Indie Showcase
PlayStation 5 Showcase
Guerrilla Collective
PC Gaming
Future Games Show
EA
New Game+ Expo
MonsterVine Hot Games Summer Showcase
Nacon Connect
Limited Run Games
Devolver Direct
Ubisoft
Nintendo
Microsoft

Indie Live Expo 2020

The first of our “not-E3” digital events of June began with the Indie Live Expo on Saturday morning. I didn’t get to watch it live, but caught up on the news afterwards. So let’s take a look at the Indie Live Expo 2020 news round-up.

After a short introduction about indie games, they began with a concert. I’m not sure why the drummer was shirtless, but it started with Undertale music and then went into some other pretty good songs, so I enjoyed it more than a lot of the musical interludes during game presentations.

Then the showcase began with the announcement of a Japanese version of Children of Morta.

Next, some new games were revealed: a mech action game called Nimbus Infinity (sequel to Project Nimbus) and life sim game Chinese Parents.

Updates were announced for Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth and, a little later in the presentation, Gensokyo Night Festival.

The next game announced looked somewhat interesting, a narrative adventure game called Sumire, although since the game’s description says you’ll have a single day to accomplish tasks in, I’m not sure I’d enjoy it (especially if time passes as you walk around).

They showed another life sim called Picontier, and then a trailer for Craftopia. Craftopia looks pretty ambitious, but these sorts of open-ended crafting games aren’t really my thing.

The rest was a celebration of indie games in general, with showcases of games already out, as well as a Steam announcement for Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 and the announcement of a side-scrolling action game called Cogen: Sword of Rewind.

Overall, it definitely had a different feel from an E3 showcase, and even more so since the hosts were more providing commentary and explanations than strictly translating it. None of the games particularly interested me personally, but what did you think? We’ve got more events coming later this week, so stay tuned for the rest of this year’s not-E3 coverage!

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