E3 2018 Thoughts

It does not seem like its been a year since E3 2017 but it clearly has. So its time for another E3 Blog post. I am still not good at doing these at a regular basis but hope springs eternal that some I will be. Like in many years before, much of E3's surprises were leaked ahead of the show leaving not much left to be learned from these press conferences. I do always end watching them either live if I can or after the fact if I can't. Rather than give a general though of each of the press conferences I am just going straight to the games that I am interested in and the ones I know I will be getting. For the first time in a few years, this E3 seems devoid of new hardware announcements, meaning it is all about games. As I have stated in earlier posts, I own an Xbox One X, and a Gaming PC from 2016 with a I7-6700K, and a GTX1060. I may end up getting a PS4 Pro (especially if there is a good sale on one lets say, around Black Friday) but for the moment I am more focused on my Xbone (a name I use with pride). I am also focusing mostly on games that at least seem near or that I am really excited for.

Games I'm going to get

• Ori and the Will of the Wisp: My biggest game from last year's E3 is also my biggest game from this year's E3, what a surprise. They actually showed some game play footage and it looks like there will be some neat new mechanics (different attacks and sand diving) and possibly a new character to play as. The game still looks gorgeous and now it will support HDR as well as 4K on the One X (so it should look really good on my LG OLED). Ori and the Will of the Wisp will come out in 2019
• Cuphead in the Delicious Last Course: My favorite game from last year is getting some DLC with a new area, new boss fights, new levels, a new playable character Miss Chalice ( the one you kept saving from ghost in crypt levels by parrying to get new supers). The specifics do not matter to me as I will be buying me some more Cuphead no matter what. The Cuphead DLC will come out in 2019.
• Devil May Cry 5: Devil May Cry 4 was not my favorite in the series ( it was 3 for a long time, now its DMC from 2013) but I did enjoy it for what it was. Now it looks like Capcom is pushing its 2013 reboot to the side for a sequel to 4 called Devil May Cry 5. It looks like it stars an older Nero possibly facing off against Dante or cooperating with him, its not clear. Regardless I am very much looking forward to some more Devil May Cry. It is set for release in spring 2019.
• Doom Eternal: Not quite Doom 2 in name, Doom Eternal takes the fight to Earth. There was no specifics and no release date and I have not yet even finished Doom 2016 (even though I have it on both Xbox One and Steam) regardless I will be getting it as Doom is awesome and I do feel bad for not having finished it yet (not sure if I want to start over on Xbox or continue with my Steam play through).

Games I am interested in

• Tunic: An isometric 2D Zelda style game with a sword wielding fox wearing a tunic is more than enough to get my attention. No release date was included but I will be keeping an eye on this one. 2D Zelda style games always get my attention.
• Session: Microsoft's presser had what appeared to be a off brand Skate game called Session, which seams to take place at least partially in New York City. It seems unlikely that either a new Skate or Tony Hawk game will be coming out any time soon so this will have to due. No release date was given but there is a demo/beta playable build of it for PC that I might have to check out.
• Gears Tactics: One of the 3 Gears of War games, Gears Tactics was the most interesting to me as it is clearly XCOM but with Gears of War stuff. I probably will end up getting Gears 5 but I wanted to highlight this game more as it was unexpected (at least to me anyway). No release date but they said more details will be coming soon. It also looks like this is a PC only game.
• Forza Horizon 4: I finally got me a copy of Forza Horizon 3 used from a local game store just in time for the announcement of Forza Horizon 4. This one takes place in jolly old England and features changing seasons, actual players in the world, not just Driveatars, and 60 FPS on the Xbox One X (which I have) as well as 4K and HDR (although I'n not sure if you can have both 4K and 60 at the same time or if it will be different modes like Hitman) I am still getting used to Horizon 3 and have not yet even bought the Hot Wheels expansion yet (I do plan to) so It might be a while before I pick this one up but I am interested. It is due out October 11, 2018.
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: A From Software game that I am interested in, Sekiro is getting compared to Tenchu and looks a little like Devil may cry with its combat and traversal. It is also more colorful than the typical From Software game though it is still messed up in its character designs. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is expected in early 2019.
• Fallout 76: This might be the first Fallout game that interest me and I'm not sure why. Fallout 76 takes place in West Virginia and is set before all of the other games in the series. 76 is an online game with "dozens" of other players and features base building, and base destroying (nukes do come into play here). For some reason I in interested in this game even thought it doesn't seem that different. I won't have to wait long though, it is due out November 14, 2018.

My list seems shorter this year than last year and I am okay with that as I seem to have less time to play games anyway. I think I am pretty satisfied with what I have here. One thing that occurred to me is that Xbox Game Pass might be the way to go as I use it to get Forza Horizon 4, Crackdown 3 (not mentioned but we shall see) Ori and the Will of the Wisps and give Sea of Thieves a try. $100 on top of the $60 for Gold seems like a tough pill to swallow though. Regardless this was a pretty good E3.