There was a whole lot more to the showcase than a 'Fable' trailer and the most 'Starfield' gameplay we’ve seen so far.
As E3 is no longer the popular multi-format games showcase it once was, more and more studios are choosing to instead host their own. Sony had the PlayStation showcase back in May which most people found a bit underwhelming. Many of the games had previously been announced, and any new reveals were not the fan favourites everyone was hoping for.
It seems Microsoft and Bethesda were paying attention when it came time to play their own showcase. Opening with a new trailer for the next 'Fable' game – narrated by and starring Richard Ayoade – they weren’t pulling any punches.
Next up we had the announcement trailer for 'South of Midnight', an occult adventure game set in the deep south of USA. Not much has been revealed yet, but this is certainly one for our watch list.
Following on from this we had a cinematic trailer for 'Star Wars Outlaws' – yes, another Star Wars game. This will be one of the first Star Wars games to release after EA lost its exclusivity over the brand, and Ubisoft is calling it the “first-ever open-world Star Wars game” so we’re cautiously optimistic. Very cautious.
If you’ve ever wanted to play 33-player co-op, we have just the game for you. Thunder Lotus Games next outing, '33 Immortals', puts you in a world with 32 other players, looking top-down battling your way through mobs in what seems to be an animated medieval bullet hell-type setting. Curious, but not at the top of the watch list.
Ten years after 'Payday 2', comes 'Payday 3'. From the trailer, all we could glean was that it seems a lot like 'Payday 2' with better graphics. We saw with 'Diablo IV' recently that executing the formula perfectly with a few new additions can be better than trying to re-invent the wheel, so we’ll wait and see with this one.
The 'Persona 3' remake trailer was accidentally leaked early by the creator Atlus, and it’s essentially a 'Persona 5' graphics remake of the PS2 game. If you played the original or know the series, you know what to expect here, and it’s basically a license to print money from the Persona fanbase if the remake is done well.
'Avowed', from Obsidian Entertainment, gave off heavy 'Assassins Creed' vibes in the first few seconds, but this didn’t last long. Mixing first-person action, swords, shields and other melee weapons, magic, and what seemed to be magic-infused flintlock firearms, it quickly reminded us of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, which isn’t a bad thing at all. This one is on the list.
After its initial hype and disappointing release, 'Sea of Thieves' has been consistently improving and adding content in one of the most impressive turnarounds in gaming history. Continuing with this theme of adding content, they’re doing a cross-over episode. Coming July 20th players will get to experience 'The Legend of Monkey Island' expansion, with Dominic Armato reprising his role as Guybrush.
'Flight Sim 2024' was surprisingly interesting, while it looked great (as always), virtual pilots will now be able to take on different jobs from the world of aviation. Mountain rescue, cargo transport, crop dusting, and aerial fire-fighting.
But 'Flight Sim' wasn’t finished yet. If you’re a fan of the books or movies, you’ll be delighted to hear that a 'Dune' expansion is coming. With all the air vehicles from the movie, it’ll be released on 3rd of November alongside 'Dune: Part Two'.
A cult favourite that has gone under the radar for many gamers, the first 'Senua' game was critically acclaimed with average scores in the 80s across platforms. The second in the series, 'Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2' is coming sometime in 2024. The trailer from the showcase didn’t give us much to go on, but familiar themes were present throughout with shiny new graphics.
'Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess' showed us an absolutely beautiful trailer, full of action set in a traditional Japanese-inspired fantasy world. The combat looks very interesting, full of flourishes and colour, but we won’t be able to tell how close to actual gameplay this is until we get a full gameplay trailer.
Finally, a new 'Forza Motorsport' game! The timing for this should be perfect. With many gamers feeling 'Gran Turismo 7' fatigue and the 'Horizon' series being a bit too arcade-y, motorsport and racing fans are primed for this – another license to print money for Microsoft we expect.
Blizzard giveth, and Blizzard Taketh away. Just after the near-perfect release of 'Diablo IV', Blizzard announce a paid expansion for 'Overwatch 2' which will include many of the features which were promised at the initial release for free, then removed just before going live. It’s a bold strategy Cotton let’s see if pays off for ‘em.
Time for another 'Persona' game. This time 'Persona 5 Tactica', a spin-off of 'Persona 5'. A squad management, turn-based, strategy game. Think 'Fire Emblem', but 'Persona' and you get the gist.
'Starfield' had a trailer mixed into the middle of the Xbox showcase, but also had its own dedicated hour-long section when Microsoft was finished showing off. At this stage we could write books about 'Starfield' and it hasn’t even been released yet. It’s the most hyped game of the year, and probably the most hyped game since 'Cyberpunk 2077'. Hopefully, it has a better release when it finally comes out in September.
'Jusant', an exploration game based on climbing is coming in Q4. From the trailer it feels kind of like a vertical 'Firewatch'. Very similar artistic direction, but cliffs. Probably won’t be the most exciting release of the year, but could turn out to be a nice, relaxing break away from some of the heavier stuff on this list.
A horror game on a ghost ship? You got it. 'Still Wakes the Deep' looks quite nice, and seems to be in the Amnesia style of running and hiding from whatever it is that’s chasing you, with some puzzles here and there for good measure. If you’re a horror game fan keep an eye out for this early 2024.
Cell-shaded, western animation-style 'Dungeons of Hinterberg' mixes a variety of interesting settings, a cool sword and a futuristic skate/hoverboard. What’s not to like? This has the potential to be one of the biggest indie games of the year when it comes out in 2024.
'Phantom Liberty', the first expansion for 'Cyberpunk 2077' is bringing sweeping changes to a lot of different in-game systems, and they’ll apply to the base game too. The levelling system, cyberware, upgrades are all getting a re-work. There’s a lot to say about this one, and there are a good few developer talks online if you want to get into all the details. Highlights from the trailer are the return of Keanu Reaves as Johnny Silverhand, and of course Idris Elba. Scheduled for 26th of September on PC, Xbox and PS5.
'Cities: Skylines 2'. More of the same, but better. Higher fidelity graphics, more detailed cities, if you liked the original you’re bound to like this. And if you were curious about the original but never played, you only have to wait until October for this significant upgrade.
The team who brought us 'Persona 3' to 'Persona 5' are the talent behind upcoming 'Metaphor: Refantazio', and you can tell from the trailer. Set in presumably a different universe, the new RPG looks very similar to 'Persona' so should be an easy win for fans of that series.
A mostly side-scrolling, 'Hades' art style inspired, co-op fighter 'Towerborne' is coming sometime in 2024. Has potential to be fun but the trailer didn’t give away much, or make too many promises.
'Clockwork Revolution' looked a lot like 'Atomic Heart'. Incredible graphics set in a retro/future world, just this time steampunk instead of whatever-Atomic-Heart-was-punk. Standout gameplay mechanic was the ability to rewind and manipulate time, seemingly at will. There’s no release date, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.
And a somewhat underwhelming finish with the announcement of a new Xbox Series S in black instead of white. It does look cool, maybe they wanted a low moment before launching into an hour of 'Starfield'?
