So I'm a little on the fence about Starfield, but this trailer gives me hope.
I don't know a lot about Starfield (does anyone, really?). I guess it's going to be an RPG in space. I expect it'll feel a little like Fallout, but I don't have any good reason to think that, other than that Bethesda is making it.
This trailer though... it's short and it doesn't show gameplay. But it's in-engine footage, and the score sounds hopeful/aspirational. I sorta like it.
And now I'm sitting here waiting to see how Starfield will turn out.
Initially, I wrote off Two Point Hospital as just another cheap-o hospital management/simulation game - I think it was something about how the character renders looked. But after a friend recommended it to me and I gave it a try, I was hooked; it's actually a pretty entertaining game, and the way Two Point Studios managed to take on the rather serious topic of managing a hospital and make it goofy and funny is excellent.
So I was delighted when Two Point Campus, a collegiate-themed sequel, was announced during E3 2021, and I'm excited to try it when it releases in 2022. It looks like it'll be a great follow-up to the first game!
It took me a long time to try out Plague Tale: Innocence, even though it was on my radar, and in my game library, for a while. I remember looking at screenshots and thinking they looked pretty neat, and I even bought the game once it went on sale, but kept it on the back-burner as I worked on other games. When it hit Game Pass, a friend of mine played through it and recommended it to me, and I finally played it - and instantly regretted putting it off for so long.
I've grown a bit wary of games with grim settings, and so that was one thing keeping me from trying the game. I don't mind that stuff, but it just feels tiring to enter one bleak virtual world after another, each one befallen by a different catastrophe, but with the same dirty, dull end-point. APT:R is full of color, however, and the levels are varied enough that you never feel like you're covering the same ground again.
I think, also, I just wasn't sure what type of game APT:R would be. It turned out to be mostly a stealth game, with some puzzle elements, quicktime sequences, and boss fights thrown in. The skill level for the game was tuned just right, in my opinion, and I breezed through it, enjoying just about every moment. I'm glad the focus wasn't on combat, most of the time, because it would have betrayed the powerlessness the child protagonists were meant to feel.
That Asobo used a custom game engine for the game is remarkable - I assumed it was an Unreal 4 game until I found out otherwise. They put real-world scanned assets to great use, making the game world lush and believable (while simultaneously alleviating their artists from a lot of grunt work). The swarms of rats that act as the game's ever-present menace are also a technical feat.
Anyway, that's a lot of words for the short message I mean to convey here: I'm looking forward to A Plague Tale: Requiem, the sequel to Innocence!
So Psychonauts 2 is coming later this year, and it looks a lot like the first game, with eccentric characters, zany levels, and a number of twists and turns in how each zone plays out. The original game came out 16 years ago, and it's a testament to the game's creativity that anyone still remembers it.
Part of my memory of the original game is complete frustration; the final sequence, in particular, had a number of tricky jumps and it took me many tries to complete it.
Most everything else I remember of Psychonauts is pleasant, so I'm hopeful that this sequel smooths over those difficult moments somewhat, as Double Fine creates such amazing experiences, it feels extra bad when you can't muster the skill to see all of it.
There wasn't much to show for The Outer Worlds 2 at 2021's E3, but that didn't stop Microsoft/Bethesda from dropping a bombastic trailer for it. I watched this directly after Redfall's trailer, so it almost felt like a dig at the rest of the show - but that's very much in line with the humor of The Outer Worlds franchise.
Is it a franchise yet? I guess it might be, after a successful second game, anyway. Obsidian created such a fun world to explore with the first game, I can't wait to see what's next.
It seems like the world is awash with multiplayer looter-shooters these days, so I was surprised that Redfall grabbed me the way it did. I like that the setting/enemies are a bit different from the norm, and that the game doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, which is nice for a multiplayer experience.
Granted, we haven't seen any actual gameplay yet, but if things are anything like this slick trailer, I'm in.
I'm still slowly churning through all the E3 2021 announcements I'm excited about here, bear with me please!
I played the new Microsoft Flight Simulator very briefly on my computer last year, and it was impressive. Flying around Sacramento was really neat, and the ability to change the flight conditions and see things look just about how they do in person was incredible.
Still, it ran a bit poorly, and after an update or two, the game wouldn't load and needed to be re-downloaded to get fixed. Not wanting to pull down another 100GB, I figured I'd try the game again once it was released on console - which I assumed would be a more stable, if less graphically intense, experience.
Judging from the video of the game shown during Xbox's E3 event this year (above), this might be the best of both worlds. The game looks beautiful, and is being heavily optimized for the upcoming console release. I can't wait to take to the skies again!
After you've played one or two Forza Horizon games, the experiences all sort of just meld together. They all follow the same general formula, so you know what expect - but they're fun games with lots to do, so I'm still looking forward to the fifth game in the series, which was announced at E3 this year. It looks incredible!
Taking up the wheel in Mexico is going to be a blast!
2021 marks another virtual E3 with a week of exciting-ish announcements for the world of video games. I do my gaming on Xbox, PC, and occasionally Switch, so that's the news I've been taking a very passive approach to following. So what am I excited about?
Not much that's out soon, it turns out. But one game I'll be blowing the dust off my Switch for is Advance Wars 1+2: Re-boot Camp.
I'm a little sad the cartoon sprites from the original game are going away, but the 3D models look alright, and that music - man, I hope it makes it into the final games!
As many of you already know, E3 is officially underway, and many of the top companies in the games industry are busy pushing announcements out of airplanes and watching them fall on the unsuspecting crowd at the show. Unfortunately for me, I am not at the E3 show, but as a faithful fan of the Xbox 360, I feel it my duty to talk about some of the more amazing reports that have come back from Microsoft's side of the show.
Read on for my list of awesomely unexpected Xbox 360 E3 announcements!
Microsoft partners with Netflix, NBC / Universal
Thanks to a new partnership with NBC / Universal, TV shows and movies under these companies will be coming to the XBL Marketplace. This is great news for fans of movies like The Bourne Trilogy and TV shows like 30 Rock. Hopefully The Office (my favorite show) will see some Marketplace love as well!
Netflix will also be supplying its streaming movies service through the Xbox 360, and those of you who already have a subscription will be given access free of any additional charges. It seems Microsoft is really pushing the 360 as a more universal media device. So long as they keep the primary focus on games, you won't hear any complaints from me.
Massive Dashboard Update, Avatars, the whole nine yards
Rumors about a dashboard redesign, including a new avatar system, have turned out to be true.
I've not investigated this very deeply yet, but it seems that the blades system currently in the OS will be the new in-game dashboard, and the normal OS screen will look more akin to the screenshot above. Avatars will be the new way to identify players. The many other new features are included:
8-way chat
Social functions, photo sharing,
Ability to watch Netflix movies with others
Optionally install games to the hard drive, for faster loads (and quieter gaming?)
Purchase / queue content on the web for download with your PC, automatically starts on Xbox
Xbox Live Primetime announced, which incorporates achievements, leaderboards, and real prizes into a TV / game hybrid
There are probably a lot more updates as well - these were only the larger of the ones I've read about. These changes all reflect the (slightly) new direction Microsoft is taking with Xbox Live, dubbed the Xbox Live Experience.
Exclusive Content & Pile O' Games
Among the many Xbox Live Arcade titles announced, a few stood out among the rest:
Banjo Kazooie (of Nintendo 64 fame)
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Fable 2 Pub Games (earn money for your character in Fable 2 before the game is out)
Portal: Still Alive
The exclusive downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto 4 was also mentioned briefly - purportedly as what will be a huge event. It was also announced that Fallout 3 (by Bethesda) will have exclusive content via XBL as well.
Not to be left out were the usual slew of big game announcements for the upcoming months, including one massive bombshell (at the end of the list):
Fable 2 (October 2008)
Gears of War 2 (November 2008)
Halo Wars (First Half 2009)
Final Fantasy XIII (excluding Japan, same day release as PS3 version)
Mind you, all of this was only announced in one day - it seemed for a while as if the internet might implode from all the awesome news, and the buzz surrounding it. And then, since we always want more, demos for Too Human and Tales of Vesperia were placed on XBL for play.
I've already tried out the Too Human demo, and though it does have a few odd quirks (including a slightly story that's impossible to follow with the TV volume turned down), I had some fun with it, and I think I just might buy the game. More on that later though - I'm going to go take some time to digest all this news (and maybe a little midnight snack as well).
One thing's for sure - it's a very good time to be an Xbox 360 owner!
