Morning Friends! As promised yesterday I am returning to my shoddy coverage of E3 2021 this morning. As a kid I can remember the highlight of my year being when the Christmas “wish books” as they used to call them, started showing up and giving us a vision of all of the amazing things that were about to arrive that winter. In many ways E3 reminds me of that same process because we sit down and watch a glorified demo reel of all of the games that are going to be arriving somewhere on the horizon. Sure some of those titles disappear never to return again… but most of them eventually do see the light of day in the coming two years.
Of all of the shows in recent memory there have been three that really stood out as highlights of the E3 Experience. Those were Sony and Microsoft because they always pulled out the big guns to show off everything we should be salivating over. As far as individual companies though… Bethesda is the show that most had my heart in mind when it came to its specific brand of games. Sony seems to be completely absent this year, like maybe they didn’t get the memo that E3 was back on and everyone was participating… even Nintendo. This however is the first year with Bethesda and Microsoft sharing the stage and it was a very interesting experience. E3 had been a pretty lackluster experience, but this combined show made up for lost time.
Starfield
Unfortunately we still don’t know a ton of information about “No Man’s Skyrim” as Kodra refers to it, but we do have a release date. This is currently targeting November 11th of 2022 aka 11 years after the release of Skyrim. Todd Howard even drew the same comparison to it basically being Skyrim in outer space and if they can pay off on that concept I am entirely on board with this. I like the grimy lived in feel of the visuals of this game as compared to the slick, smooth and clean spaceships that we often get. Ultimately if they are going to make it to 2022 and maintain the level of hype they have now… they are going to need to strategically seed us with information along the way to keep us going.
Release Date: November 11th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Atomic Heart
A theme you are going to find out about me, is that I really am interested in eastern block/soviet era nostalgia science fiction. I find the concepts that get thrown together so interesting and so wildly different from the narratives that come out of the western story telling traditions. Atomic Heart looks to be this wild post apocalyptic Bioshock style game set in or around a post-soviet Russia. Wild robots, some friendly, some very not friendly… and interesting denizens like this brief shot of a lady that looks like she is about to bung you over the head with a ladle. I remember seeing this before, but I had not really been following it… and I am super on board with this brand of nonsense.
Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer
The Ascent
I’ve seen this game a few times but it still interests me greatly. It reminds me of Syndicate in so many ways or the modern Shadowrun turn based RPGs. Based on the visuals and demo reel I would guess it is something more akin to a Tactics game or X-Com. It seems like you get to build your squad and then go out on missions for fun and profit. Going to be completely honest though, the setting and visuals are what made me interested because I am almost always on board with a cyberpunk aesthetic. Definitely going to check it out whenever it launches, especially since it will be available on Gamepass.
Release Date: July 29th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Redfall
Sometimes a game comes along and I am uncertain how to feel about it. Redfall is one of these games. On some level it makes me think it is very much going to be a nostalgia trip back to the era when Left 4 Dead was king. Redfall describes itself as a co-op first person shooter but also Arkane goes into detail talking about how it will have loot collection and customization which screams something like a Destiny. Ultimately I think it all depends on how it feels and if it has compelling single player gameplay. Sure I like the notion of being able to get together with some of my friends and do co-op gameplay, but that is pretty much a pretty lie at this point. It is hard as hell to ever be playing the same game as my friends and even harder to get over the social friction required to actually be online and interested in playing the same thing at the same time. If this game gives me engaging single player gameplay… I am probably on board because I love what I have seen of the setting so far.
Release Date: Summer 2022 – Watch the Trailer
Replaced
There is this trend happening right now in games and I am loving it. I most closely identify it with Narita Boy and Octopath Traveller but it is this concept of 2D pixel graphics being influenced by a 3D world with shaders and VFX. The end result is this glorious aesthetic that is both retro and modern at the same time and it is showcased beautifully in Replaced. This game reminds me of a Castlevania game set in a post apocalyptic wasteland or maybe even a setting similar to the Crow movies. I am very interested and again since it is coming to Gamepass, I will at the very least install and check it out.
Release Date: Sometime 2022 – Watch the Trailer
Psychonauts 2
I am not sure what I need to say about this one. We have known a new Psychonauts game was in the works for several years at this point. It is just about to release since we have an August 25th date finally announced. Either you are a fan of this particular brand of humor and adventure or you are not. Double Fine creates a very specific flavor of game and I know that I will eventually get around to playing this one. The challenge however is I am not sure when. I am interested but probably not interested enough to push something else out of the way in order to play it. I am certain Thalen however will be trying his best to play this upon release because he is a huge fan of the series. I enjoyed the first game quite a bit but also am fine waiting awhile until I have a lull to pick it up.
Release Date: August 25th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl
I am extremely excited for this game, because I feel like I missed out on playing the first game. What I mean by that… is there is this entire era of first person shooter that is largely lost to me. I’ve become used to the specific control scheme that we landed on for this style of game, and going back to a game that controls differently than that… is just not something I can do anymore. As a result I am super interested in exploring this setting with modern controls. Again this feeds into that whole Soviet era nostalgia and narrative thing that interests me because the kinds of stories that get told are different than what I would normally expect. This is probably a day one game for me, especially since once again… it is on Gamepass.
Release Date: April 28th, 2022 – Watch the Trailer
The Outer Worlds 2
The Outer Worlds 2 wins the show for the absolute best trailer. If you don’t know what I am talking about take a watch. I loved the first game (and need to return to it and finish it at some point soon) and as a result I am super on board with a new one. I love this setting and I love the characters that came from the setting. Obsidian did a damned fine job of hatching a Fallout adjacent feeling environment that doesn’t just feel derivative and is instead its own rich setting. I am going to keep buying Outer Worlds games as long as they keep making them. I still hope someday to see a Fallout New Vegas 2 however since Obsidian and Bethesda now live under the same corporate umbrella. Please Papa Microsoft make this happen.
Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer
Contraband
This is another game like Redfall that I am uncertain about. The premise seems awesome… the folks that brought us the Just Cause games creating a 1970s era heist game set in a fictional country. The piece of that equation that I am uncertain about however is that it is ultimately a co-op experience which may or may not translate to single player gameplay. Once again I have friends and I have friends who game… but the likelihood of actually getting everyone to be playing the same game at the same time is next to zero. So this is really cool and all, but unless I can play it happily by myself without the need of other human beings that it is probably going to be a pass for me. Again however the existence of Gamepass allows me to dip my toes into a game like this without fully committing so for now… I am tentatively interested.
Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer
Fallout 76 Expansions
I have been recently back in Fallout 76 and the game is far better than anyone seems to give it credit. The introduction of NPCs went a long way to making this feel like a proper fallout game, and they continue to roll out new content at a regular cadence much like Elder Scrolls Online. So while I have not really interacted much with the Brotherhood of Steel content, I am interested to see more of it.
What really intrigues me however is something they announced branded an “expedition” and that we would be visiting The Pitt again. This was one of the better Fallout 3 expansions and it was a self contained area separate from the Capital Wasteland. This makes me wonder if this is ultimately going to be how Fallout 76 introduces new maps to the game. I am interested to see where they go with this concept and I would love to spend time visiting areas that we have in other games… in this prequel setting to see the forces that shaped them.
Steel Reign Release Date: July 7th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer Expeditions: The Pitt Release Date: 2022 – Watch the Trailer
Halo Infinite
I have no idea why I am paying attention to this trailer or why I am even talking about it. I know that I do not like Halo games. I’ve known this for awhile now. I don’t like not being able to stick with only the weapons that I like as I make my way across the game world. I hate having to pick up random weapons and use them, especially the goofy covenant weapons. Knowing all of this… why am I still compelling to keep watching Halo trailers and get mildly excited by them? I mean it looks like a good Halo game for people who love Halo… and given that it is probably going to be available on Gamepass at some point… I will probably give it a try. Sometimes the heart wants things that the brain knows that it should not.
Release Date: Holiday 2021 – Watch the Trailer
There we have it friends… this is the show that restored my faith in the E3 experience once again. Sure I could cherry pick a handful of games that I was mildly interested in from the previous shows but this had things I was legitimately thrilled to see. There are times I have to admit I consider picking up an Xbox Series X, or at least trying to. Microsoft with its focus on Gamepass… really does seem like the winner of this generation. I’ve always backed Sony because it gave me experiences that did not end up transferring over to my platform of choice… the PC. However it seems like even that might be less of a thing as Sony seems to be courting that sweet sweet PC gaming dollar. If someone asked me how they could get the most bang for the buck I would not hesitate for a second to say that they should buy an Xbox Series X and Gamepass and then just play whatever gets released there.
The post Bethesda and Microsoft E3 2021 appeared first on Tales of the Aggronaut.
Hey Friends! We are back again because Bel’s life has calmed down a little bit, or at least enough to be able to reasonably make our normal recording slot. Tonight we have a whole stack of things to talk about and not enough show to fit it into. So first up we talk about R-Type Final 2 which has been bouncing for a few shows and how it is very true to the PS2 original game. From there Grace talks about her recent experience finishing Subnautica and starting the Below Zero sequel. From there we talk a bit about E3 2021 so far and most specifically further information coming out about Elden Ring. This is another Dark Souls game that is not called Dark Souls. Bel also talks a bit about how weird it is that UbiSoft is working on an Avatar game… aka the big blue people and not the great sorta-anime series. Ash talks about his experience with Chicory and we talk a bit about what it is like to survive Snowpiercer the City Sim in Frostpunk.
Hey Friends! It is still very much game show season and today we have a new batch of shows to talk about. I contemplated saving this for Monday, but since I am sitting here with a handful of things to talk about I decided to go ahead and post it because I am hoping Monday I will be able to talk about cool stuff from the Microsoft and Bethesda show. Thursday was pretty solid with the Summer Game Fest, or at the very least there were a lot of trailers to consume. Friday I was largely out of pocket and today the more normal shows started up giving me a few things to talk about. I have to admit I did not do a great job of keeping track of which show had which games, but largely these are the shows that I am going to talk about today and links to the videos of them.
I have to admit I am a little underwhelmed by what was shown today. There are a handful of things that I am mildly interested in but nothing really that got me excited. Well that is slightly untrue because there is one game that we got a trailer for that I am very much looking forward to, and hoping maybe during the Microsoft show we might get a release date. UbiSoft for me is very hit or miss and they seemed to lean very heavily into properties that I don’t really care about. I am kind of hit and miss with FarCry in general and this one in particular with its “Tropico” feel isn’t my jam. Wholesome Games Direct is an excellent show and I support it wholeheartedly… but also most of the games they show off are not really my jam and tend to be more of the walking simulator or harvest moon-like variety.
Of the hundreds of games that were shown there are some that I thought were interesting. Again this is not a best of list or anything because I am certain you would choose differently. It however is my blog so here is my list I wanted to talk about.
Death’s Door
I had not heard of this game before today, but it appears to be another in a fairly long line of recent “zelda nostalgia” games. This time you are playing as a crow with a sword and battling all sorts of intense looking bosses. It looks fast and smooth and similar to Tunic from my last post I am all in on these Zelda-likes… at least enough to give them a shot when they launch.
Release Date: July 20th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Olli Olli World
There is an ongoing revival of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater nostalgia game which I guess is a bit of a misnomer for this particular entry given that OlliOlli is in itself a storied pixel art skating game starting in 2014. The early entries were a sort of linear side scrolling “endless runner” type experience. This game appears to be taking that and transforming it into something a bit more open world. In many ways the gameplay reminds me a bit of the old Atari game 720. Most definitely interesting enough to give it a look as it gets closer to release.
Release Date: Winter 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Skatebird
For starters I feel like it is a tragedy that the game was not called Skatebirb, but that is just a me thing. Secondly Glass Bottom Games is pretty great and behind a couple of interesting games including the firefighter endless runner called Jones on Fire and Hot Tin Roof a 3D stylized noir detective adventure game. I remember watching an early video on Skatebird and it is basically a love story to Tony Hawk Pro Skater but with birbs. Because of the scale of the birbs you also have some interesting “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” style repurposing of giant benign objects for the purpose of building ramps and obstacles. Very into this game.
Release Date: August 12th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Black Skylands
I remember seeing this several years ago associated with a showing at PaxSouth. The idea looked pretty cool in that you build an airship and then explore the skies looking for resources and treasure… while occasionally having to deal with giant monsters that attack you. This is one of those games that I have kept my eyes out for and it finally has a release date. It looks fun, but I have no clue when I will actually get around to playing it. Unfortunately said release date is actually the beginning of early access… so take that as you will.
Release Date: July 9th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Steelrising
This is the one game from today that I am legitimately extremely excited for. So there is a game studio called Spiders that is one of the few companies making new games in the Bioware Action RPG style. They keep making a valiant effort to perfect the formula and thusfar each game has been flawed in a slightly different way, but still very enjoyable to play through. Greedfall is just about as close to perfection as they have gotten and my hope has been the next game… would really nail things. Steelrising is that next game and it appears to be set in an alternate version of the French Revolution where automatons are doing battle and seemingly killing off people. It appears that you are playing a good one of these automatons. I know this has been associated with Microsoft so I am hoping that maybe just maybe we get a proper release date tomorrow during their show.
Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer
Firegirl
I thought this one looked really cool. It has the whole pixel art plus detailed lighting and backgrounds that worked so well for Octopath Traveler. This however appears to be a side scrolling platformer where you battle fires, avoid obstacles and rescue people. I think it looks really cool and it reminds me sorta of a 16 bit era fire fighting game that I don’t think ever made it to the United States. Again zero clue if or when I will ever get around to playing it, but I dug its look and gameplay.
Release Date: Fall 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Dolmen
The trailer doesn’t really give much to go on here, so I was forced to do some external research. This looks like it is a SciFi/Cosmic Horror style game that maybe draws inspiration from Deadspace. The challenge is it describes itself as “Action RPG” which means many things to many different people. It appears to be a third person action hack and slash style combat game. It does however appear to also have gunplay similar to Mass Effect. What little combat footage I could find seemed to feel a bit more Dark Soulsy when immediately makes me question if it is my jam. I guess time will tell on this one and I will absolutely want to watch some gameplay before picking it up. Definitely looks interesting.
Release Date: Sometime 2022 – Watch the Trailer
Chernobylite
My initial take away of this game is that it is in the Stalker/Metro genre of post nuclear war Soviet era Science Fiction. The trailer doesn’t give us a lot to go on, but I did watch some play through and the entire thing looks somewhat compelling. Third person shooter with some exploration and stealth notes, but that seemed to be largely due to extremely limited resources. Also appears to have some survival aspects in that you need to keep tabs on your radiation as you roam around. The game has some heavy horror notes as well, so I am not really sure what bucket to place it in. I find these games extremely interesting but the problem I have had with Metro series is that they are somewhat klunky to control. My hope is this feels smooth and reliable, and if that is the case I will probably give it a shot at some point.
Release Date: Steam Early Access currently with July 2021 console release – Watch the Trailer
Moonglow Bay
This game originally interested me last year also at the Wholesome Games Direct because it had a very similar art style to Touryst. The game itself appears to be a fishing based harvest moon style game. There also is hinted at some mystery surrounding why exactly this fishing village doesn’t have people who fish anymore. I like the concept of a game like this but I always end up finding myself getting bored after awhile. Definitely seems charming however and I really like this simplified voxel art style.
Release Date: 2021 – Watch the Trailer
There you have it. All of the games that I found interesting in the four shows that I watched today. My hope is tomorrow will be filled with games that are more my speed. For those interested we have Xbox and Bethesda showcase at 12 pm CDT, Square Enix at 2:15 pm CDT, PC Gaming Show at 4:30 pm and Future Games Show at 6 pm. With no Sony in the mix, my hope is that Microsoft/Bethesda gives me something to get excited for.
The post UbiSoft, Devolver, Wholesome and Gearbox 2021 appeared first on Tales of the Aggronaut.
Yesterday was the kick off of the Summer Game Fest, another Geoff Keighley production. Essentially this is “The Game Awards” without the pretense of having to occasionally give out an award. Similarly you are going to hear the “World Premiere” sounder a ridiculous number of times before it is over. Apparently Geoff saw the Zach Synder Cut and was jealous of its length, because the official stream broadcast clocks in at around four hours. You can of course instead watch your favorite YouTube talking head talking over the show, or you could just do what I do… and simply track down the original broadcast and watch that so you can make your own decisions… and jokes.
I did not watch the entire thing, but instead chose to skip around a bit because to be fair… I don’t care about the random conversations in between the game trailers. That said it was sort of humorous to watch Jeff Goldblum awkwardly troll Geoff Keighley in a display that did not seem scripted or planned in any way. Even skipping around like I did, there was an awful lot to unpack and I did my best to catch all of the game trailers. I originally had a totally different post for this morning but instead realized that it is in fact game show season once again… and I will apparently be watching a lot of these over the weekend. It seems that E3 is back on the menu which is not something I expected. I legitimately thought E3 as a concept would not survive the last year given that for the most part it is really easy to do a pre-recorded segment that you can control the release of and most game companies are already doing this.
On to the games I cared about…
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
So essentially the breakout hit of Borderlands… aka Ashly Burch with her Tiny Tina character is helming a brand new game that is effectively the best DLC for Borderlands 2 turned into an entire game? I am down for this. Borderlands and I have a sort of hit or miss past with the games and I never really got into Borderlands 3 in spite of my best efforts, but I am interested in a fantasy looter shooter in the style of Borderlands. That is essentially how Ashly Burch described it and I am certain I will be giving this a spin.
Release Date: Early 2022 – Watch the Trailer
Metal Slug Tactics
This is a game that I most definitely did not expect to see in a genre that I think no one was expecting. Metal Slug is a favorite of mine and I think for the most part I love it because of the art style. It seems like all of that pixelated goodness is porting over to a rogue-like tactics game experience and while that isn’t normally my jam I am going to try it. The trailer was beautifully made, but also spent more time on animated bits than actual gameplay so it will be interesting to see any gameplay videos that come out about how things are actually going to flow.
Release Date: TBA 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Lost Ark
I have been waiting for this damned game since 2014 when I first saw its trailer for the South Korean release. It finally released in 2018… and I have to admit I contemplated trying to buy an account given that you have to have the national id thing to create an account to play on the Korean servers. I thought surely eventually this would come out in the West and last year it was announced that Amazon would be bringing it here. Finally we have a release window and I am super pumped about it. I love hack and slash Diablo style games and I am hoping this is worth all of the wait time. I am trying not to hype it up any more than I already have because I really want this to be a great game.
Release Date: Fall 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Axiom Verge 2
Axiom Verge was a really cool love song to Metroid and I own it on a bunch of platforms. So when the second game was announced it was almost certain that I would give it a spin. What I find intriguing is how different this one seems like it is going to be. In the first game you mostly used ranged attacks and in this one it seems like your character is largely melee based. The trick however is that apparently your character can also hack the mechs you are fighting to change the pace of combat. Additionally in the trailer they talked about how apparently you don’t have to fight any bosses in the game to progress through it. If you just want to run straight through the battle and keep on moving… that is apparently a valid playstyle. Should be interesting to see this as it launches.
Release Date: Q3 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Tunic
I’ve been tracking this game since E3 2018 and am still very interested in it. Essentially it is cute fox Zelda and that is pretty much all the hook I need. I’ve even played one of the earlier demos of the game and it was great… I just want it to actually release. I think this is a single developer project so I am way more forgiving on what has felt like the long development cycle. Ultimately this seems like a Switch game to me but I will likely buy it on multiple platforms to support the developer.
Release Date: Sometime 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Tales of Arise
So I am going to have to admit… I have seen a lot of trailers for Tales games over the years and I am not sure if I have ever actually called one of them out until now. Basically Tales was a series that I knew to be as beloved and complicated as Final Fantasy… but I had never actually engaged with it in any form. That is until now when I have been playing through Tales of Vesperia and have found it super charming and enjoyable and now suddenly care. I have no clue when I will actually get around to playing it but I am very interested in Tales of Arise as a result of this new experience.
Release Date: September 10, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Elden Ring
This is the trailer that pretty much everyone online seemed to be hoping for… but also at the same time preparing for it not to actually show. Elden Ring is this weird collaboration by red wedding aficionado George R. R. Martin and the fine folks that bring us games that make you want to punch your screen… FromSoftware. I mean I have to admit I held out a slim amount of hope that this would be a very Skyrim like game experience… all the while knowing it was probably going to be another non-Souls Series Souls game like Bloodborne. Based on the trailer footage, it seems like this is very much a Souls game and while I generally am not a huge fan of that genre… I have to admit there is something compelling about it. I am probably going to be a sucker and give it a try since I did make some measure of traction into the Demon’s Souls remake.
Release Date: January 21, 2022 – Watch the Trailer
Of note… there were way the hell more games talked about than I just featured. If you ONLY care about the trailer reveals and want to completely skip the rest of the show… the YouTube channel GameTrailers has ripped and re-uploaded all of the trailers into a playlist form. There are 104 videos in the list so it will still take awhile to chew through it. Probably the strangest announcement is you can play as a Bean in Fall Guys that looks like 2B from Nier minus the mighty butt action. We have once again entered a wealth of new game information and expect my next several posts to probably reflect that.
The post Summer Game Fest 2021 appeared first on Tales of the Aggronaut.
