E3 2017 Review
I love the summer time – sun, holidays and ice-cold drinks. But what I love the most is Electronic Entertainment Expo. It has returned this year, and this time to was open to the public. So, let’s take a list of games showcased and the big reveals.
Here’s a list of games that were announced:
- Call of Duty: WWII (PC/Xbox One/PS4)
- Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Triology (PS4)
- Destiny 2 (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PS4/Vita)
- Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (3DS)
- Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology (3DS)
- Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux (3DS)
- Ashen (PC/Xbox One)
- Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Code Vein (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Gundam Versus (PS4)
- Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (PC/PS4)
- Project CARS 2 (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- The Artful Escape (PC/Xbox One)
- Dishonored 2: Death of the Outsider (DLC) (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Doom VFR (VR)
- The Elder Scrolls: Legends (PC/Mobile)
- The Elder Scrolls Online (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (coming to Nintendo Switch with additional content)
- The Evil Within 2 (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Fallout 4 (VR)
- Quake Champions (PC)
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One Console Exclusive Release)
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Monster Hunter: World (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Deep Rock Galactic (PC/Xbox One)
- Hunt: Showdown (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Metro Exodus (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Absolver (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Ape Out (PC)
- Enter the Gungeon (PC/PS4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch)
- Ruiner (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Serious Sam’s Bogus Detour (PC)
- The Swords of Ditto (PC/PS4)
- Battlefield 1: In the Name of Tsar (DLC) (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- FIFA 18 (PC/PS4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch)
- Madden NFL 18 (PS4/Xbox One)
- NBA Live 18 (PS4/Xbox One)
- Need for Speed Payback (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Fortnite (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Vampyr (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Tacoma (PC/Xbox One)
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PC/PS4/Vita/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch)
- Black Desert Online (PC/Xbox One)
- Tropico 6 (PC/Xbox One)
- Metal Gear Survive (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (PC/PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One)
- Crackdown 3 (PC/Xbox One)
- Forza Motorsport 7 (PC/Xbox One)
- Minecraft (coming to Nintendo Switch)
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (PC/Xbox One)
- Sea of Thieves (PC/Xbox One)
- State of Decay 2 (PC/Xbox One)
- Harvest Moon: Light of Hope (PC/Nintendo Switch)
- Harvest Moon Lil’ Farmers (iOS/Android/Kindle Fire)
- River City: Knights of Justice (3DS)
- Wild Guns Reloaded (PC)
- Blade Strangers (PC/PS4/Nintendo Switch)
- ARMS (Nintendo Switch)
- Fire Emblem Warriors (Nintendo Switch)
- Untitled Kirby Game (Nintendo Switch)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – The Master Trials and The Champions’ Ballad (2 DLC packs) (Wii U/Nintendo Switch)
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions (3DS)
- Metroid Prime 4 (Nintendo Switch)
- Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
- Miitopia (3DS)
- Untitled Pokemon Game (Nintendo Switch)
- Pokken Tournament DX (Nintendo Switch)
- Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)
- Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido (3DS)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Nintendo Switch)
- Untitled Yoshi game (Nintendo Switch)
- Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (PC/PS4/Vita)
- Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PC/PS4/Vita)
- Battle Tech (PC)
- Super Lucky’s Tale (PC/Xbox One)
- Rocket League (coming to the Nintendo Switch)
- The Last Night (PC/Xbox One)
- The Darwin Project (PC/Xbox One)
- Sonic Forces (PC/PS4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch)
- Sonic Mania (PC/PS4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch)
- Total War: Arena (PC)
- Total War: Warhammer II (PC)
- Valkyria Revolution (PS4/Vita/Xbox One)
- Yakuza 6 (PS4)
- Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
- Bravo Team (PS4)
- Detroit: Become Human (PS4)
- God of War (PS4)
- Gran Turismo Sport (PS4)
- Hidden Agenda (PS4)
- Horizon Dawn Zero: The Frozen Wilds (DLC) (PS4)
- Knack II (PS4)
- The Inpatient (PS4)
- Shadow of Colossus (Remake for PS4)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)
- Uncharted: Lost Legacy (PS4)
- Undertale (releasing on PS4 and Vita)
- V! What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? R (PS4)
- Dissidia Final Fantasy NT (PS4)
- Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (PS4)
- Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood (PC/PS3/PS4)
- Final Fantasy: Brace Exvius (iOS/Android)
- Flame vs. Blaze (iOS/Android)
- Kingdom Hearts III (PS4/Xbox One)
- King’s Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dungeon (iOS/Android)
- Lost Sphear (PC/PS4/Nintendo Switch)
- Mobius Final Fantasy (PC/iOS/Android)
- MotoGP ’17 (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- MXGP3 (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV (PS4 VR)
- Cuphead (PC/Xbox One)
- Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord (PC)
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- The Crew 2 (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Far Cry 5 (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Just Dance 2018 (PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One/Wii/Wii U/Nintendo Switch)
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Nintendo Switch)
- Skull & Bones (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- South Park: The Fractured But Whole (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- South Park Phone Destroyer (iOS/Android)
- Space Junkies (PC)
- Starlink: Battle for Atlas (PS4/Xbox One/Ninendo Switch)
- Steep: Road to the Olympics (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Transference (VR)
- Cars 3: Driven to Win (PS3/PS4/Wii U/Nintendo Switch/Xbox 360/Xbox One)
- Injustice 2 (PS4/Xbox One)
- LEGO Dimensions (3 new franchises added to the line up: Bettlejuice; The Powerpuff Girls and Teen Titans Go!)
- LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PC/PS4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch)
- LEGO Worlds (coming to Nintendo Switch)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
- Neil deGrasse Tyson Presents: Space Odyssey (PC/Mobile)
- Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star (Nintendo Switch)
- Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin (PS4/PC)
- Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash (PS4)
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (Nintendo Switch)
- Zwei II: The Ilvard Insurrection (PC)
Now let’s take a better look at some of the titles that grabbed my attention during the event.
Dragon Ball FighterZ (Bandai Namco Entertainment) (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
As a huge Dragon Ball Z fan (I’m an anime fan, and DBZ was the first one I ever watched), how can I not be excited for this title?
Similar to previous DB titles, it is another beat ’em up rendition, however Namco have seemed to go back to the old school days and reverted it back to 2.5D graphics and side scrolling, compared to 3D and open-world (to some extend) trend we’re used to seeing for Dragonball Xenoverse 1 & 2. And it looks fricking sweet.
Only a few characters have been showcased so far: Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Frieza, Cell and Majin Buu. They have also shown of their Super Saiyan forms and Final Forms, retrospectively.
Another difference between this and Xenoverse is that the combat has been tweaked – gameplay is similar to BlazBlue: Central Fiction (if you haven’t played that game, you’ll need to before buying this) which is snappy and fast-paced, along with the Marvel vs. Capcom trope of assistant attacks and a 3 vs 3 mode.
A closed beta for the PS4 and Xbox One ports of the game will be opened and the game itself will be released sometime in 2018.
- Watch the trailer for it here.
A Way Out (EA) (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
A Way Out a story-driven co-op game that can be played locally (optionally on the sofa with a friend) or online (possibly with a stranger if you don’t have any friends nearby).
You’ll both play as prisoners – Leo and Vincent. Both of them want to get out for various reasons, so they decide to work together to escape. You’ll have to solve puzzles, create distractions and – most importantly – work together.
One of the really cool things about this is that it played entirely via split screen (although I believe that joint cut scenes are just one screen) and different scenarios run at different times, for example, Leo is not new to the prison, whereas Vincent is, so when Vincent arrives, Leo can be seen watching Vincent and the other new arrivals while Vincent is a introduction on becoming a prisoner. Complicated, right?
A Way Out comes from Josef Fares, who directed Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, which was a fantastically emotional game. It will be released in early 2018.
Days Gone (Sony) (PS4)
Now, I love post-acopolytic, zombie-filled, horror-survival games as much as the next person, so when Days Gone was debuted at last year’s E3, I wasn’t really invested in it. To me, it was another Dead Island clone that was trying to be different, but wasn’t really (Dying Light should hide away now). The trailer just showed some dude who looked like an extra from Sons of Anarchy who was spouting on about how this pandemic had affected the world so much that people had lost so many loved ones, blah, blah, blah, that I wasn’t really that interested.
365 days later (or around that amount of time), Sony decided to show off some of the gameplay this time around, and I have to say, I’m so glad they did because it was – as they say in the business – a complete game changer.
Days Gone focuses two years after a global pandemic almost wiped out the entire human race and follows Deacon St. John – a former bounty hunter and drifter who rides a motorbike. You encounter various enemies in the world, such as Freakers (zombies); Runners (zombie wolves) and Ragers (zombie bears – yeah, I’m not joking) along with with other people who just want to survive. John Garvin and Jeff Ross – the directors of the game – have promised a harsh open world that “wants to kill you” at every turn.
Only with the open world, they are salvagable items, weapons and upgrades that can even be applied to Deacon’s bike, allowing him to travel faster and further. Garvin and Ross warned however that with the bike, you will only have one and you best keep an eye on it, as other people may want it too. Skill trees will also help with survival – especially Deacon’s trait of tracking.
The big thing that sold me on this game though was the approach you could take to survival – you can be as stealthy as Batman or go gun-ho and kill everyone. Moreover, there are multiple ways of getting in (or out) of certain situations, along with day and night cycles and changes in weather. Usually, this is just a small thing – like in Final Fantasy XV, the night cycle hints that Noctis and the gang need to sleep – however, in Days Gone, this can affect anything – from the way you deal with a horde of Freakers or the way you deal with hostile people. There are alternatives to everything – for example, in the demo at E3, you have the playable mission of tracking down one of Deacon’s friends Manny, who has been kidnapped by other survivors. If you play this mission during the winter time, it can change how to deal with one of the situations you deal with when encountering other people. But if you play it in the summertime, it’ll be completely different (I won’t spoil it, but you can watch a video of the directors talking to Kinda Funny at E3 here).
Garvin and Ross have promised a violent and real zombie survival, open world game that is a unique to everyone. No release date has been confirmed as of yet.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 (Ubisoft) (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
This probably had to the be the biggest surprise for me at E3 (along with Evil Within 2 and the following game I will talk about next).
Let’s rewind back to nearly 15 years ago, way back when the PS2 was the most popular console at the time (I sure lots of young people know which console that is…right?). In November 2003, a little game called Beyond Good and Evil was released. It followed Jade (which I always found weird because my real name is Jade) – a young woman aspiring to be a photojournalist who is in charge of a care home that looks after kids affected by disasters caused by an alien species called DomZ. Jade explores the planet, fights her enemies with her Dai-jo staff and obtains evidence of corruption. It was a game that gained a cult following (despite being a failure at launch, and a tad bit buggy) from it’s unforgettable characters, amazing setting and never-ending plot twists. I was pretty young when I first played it (it was probably in 2004, which would make me 10) so I didn’t really ‘play’ it properly, but I still loved it.
With such a huge following, the next game was demanded and was always promised. In 2007, it was announced a sequel would happen, and over the years we were teased with images and short videos and potential production, but nothing really came from it. Naturally, as years passed, the sequel idea was forgotten about and replaced with other great titles from various companies.
So, imagine the shock when I see a monkey and a pig-like creature striking a very similar likeness to Pey’j from BG&E that turns into a hilarious chase, then a green-eyed woman, only to be announced as Beyond Good and Evil 2. Hint: I lost my shit.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is actually a prequel (not that it matters to me) – set before Jade was even born in an open, sci-fi ridden, multicultural futurist planet that just looks fricking awesome.
No release date has been announced as of yet.
- Watch the trailer reveal here (warning: it gets a bit emotional…and funny).
Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back (Tommo) (PC/PS4)
I’m sure many fans of the gaming world have heard of Bubsy the Bobcat. He was basically Accolade’s failed attempt at a mascot (you know, like Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog; Nintendo’s Mario; Insomniac Games’ Spyro the Dragon, Naughty Dog’s Crash Bandicoot, etc., etc.) who belongs to the infamous series that began on the SNES in 1993 and died a very painful death in 1996 on the PS1. Criticized for it’s poor design choices, rip-off impersonations, bad controls and for just being of the most annoying characters ever to grace the video game world. Bubsy was long forgotten about – even after it’s last game’s release to the UK in 1997.
So, of course, when it revealed that Bubsy will be revived after over 10 years of freedom, a lot of people kicked up a lot of fuss. And I am one of those people.
I’ve never played the games per say, however I have watched fellow YouTuber’s impressions of the games, and even I thought it was dreadful. But not funny dreadful, like say for instance, Deadly Premonition or any of the Phoenix Games copy-cat games – it has dreadful everything, from music, to visuals to just…everything. I can’t phantom how it was made into a 1-episode cartoon back in the day.
The trailer doesn’t give much – not that it needs to. Even the graphics don’t look that good (I don’t know which platform the demo was shown on), and don’t get me started on the ‘jokes’ that don’t even land in the space of 30 seconds. Needlessly to say, I will not be investing in this…thing (I couldn’t think of a justified insult – that’s how bad it is).
- Watch the trailer (if you dare) here.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Square Enix) (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
I’ve already written a review for the first game Life is Strange, so I don’t think I have to say it, but I will – I am super excited for this.
Before the Storm is a 3 episode arc that follows one of the previous game’s main characters Chloe. It is set around 3 years before the original – when Max abandoned Chloe and befriends Rachel before she went missing.
Sadly, time travel will not be element available (for obvious reason), but choices will be – and I have no doubt you’ll have to make deadly decisions that will impact the game’s path. It also sounds like awesome indie music will be used again (judging from the trailer).
Another sad thing is that Ashly Burch – Chloe’s original voice actor – has not provided her voice this time around (despite hearing it in the trailer) – Rhianna DeVries will instead (no, I don’t know who she is either).
Despite this, I am looking forward to seeing Chloe’s independent story before things kicked off in the first game and just explore more of the game. A Deluxe Edition will be released, which will include a bonus chapter entitled “Farewell” (you get to play as Max again) with additional outfits and Mixtape Mode, which allows the player to customize playlists for the soundtrack of the game.
The first episode, “Awake”, will be released on Thursday 31st August. I will definitely be doing a playthrough on my channel, so look out for it. And just in time for the announce of Life is Strange 2 (no details have been given at this time).
- Watch the trailer here.
Star Wars Battlefront II (EA) (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
Star Wars, I think is fair to say, holds a place in every geek and nerd’s hearts. So naturally in 2015, I bought the first Star War Battlefront re-imagining and loved it (I have a few videos on my channel). The visuals, the sounds, the music, the heroes – everything. And even after the disappointment (for me at least) of The Force Awakens, I played it.
For a while.
Eventually, it did get boring – playing on the same maps, the same classes and being beaten very easily by extremely good players. Not even the DLC saved it in my eyes.
I agreed with a lot of people after playing it for some time – it’s great, but something’s…missing. It felt like a shell – it looked good on the outside, but the inside didn’t really give us anything. It needed more – it needed to go back it roots of the initial series on PS2 with a story mode or something.
We players pleaded – we tweeted, we Facebooked, we ranted on videos, we wrote until our thumbs were sore like a Overwatch marathon.
And EA have listened to us.
Star Wars Battlefront II was announced back in April of this year at the Star Wars Celebration Event in Orlando, showing a Story Mode which gives more details into the space between Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens. It focuses on Commander Iden Versio (played and voiced by Janina Gavankar) – a Imperial squad member who seeks revenge on behalf of her army. You will be able to play all 3 eras, with more weapons, vehicles and different soldiers (robots and wookies are included), along with more forefront characters, such as Finn, Rey, Captain Phasma, Kylo Ren and Darth Maul along with previous character, such as Luke, Han Solo and Boba Fett. Classes will be introduced and weapons have been remade from scratch.
Honestly, I really do feel that EA have listened to us players and taken our advice on board, which will no doubt work in their favour of delivering a great game. And even better – ALL DLC WILL BE FREE!
Star Wars Battlefront II will be released Friday 17th November. If you pre-order, you will gain access to beta versions until the wait is over.
- Check out the first trailer here.
- Watch the E3 trailer here (with real storm troopers and Janina herself)
- Watch this video to see some multiplayer action for the first time.
So, who shone in my eyes?
It had to be Ubisoft with Beyond Good and Evil 2 – I really cannot wait play this game and see what 15 years difference makes for a prequel. Looks like I’m gonna actually have to play the first game before it comes out.
And that’s it – another E3 gone! I’m looking forward to seeing some of these games in the next few months or so, as well as hearing and seeing more development in the time to come.
What was your favourite announcement? Let me know!
If you want more news, trailer, interviews, and all that good stuff, I highly recommend GameSpot’s YouTube Channel as they have everything on there.
Until next time, take care!
gamerangelsblog 