46 replies to this topic

[Veteran]

Ah, Nintendo. Crushing hopes and dreams since 2005.

[Selena]

Yeah, Nintendo was the worst of the conferences for me. And that's saying a lot, 'cause of EA.

 

Star Fox and Super Mario Maker looked neat. And the new Xeno game if you're up to speed on that series. Otherwise, a lot of it was forgettable. Still nothing that would urge me to pick up a Wii U, unfortunately.

[Egann]

I have many problems with the FF VII remake. For starters, turn-based combat has not aged gracefully. The remake will neither be a vintage classic, nor will it be a true current-gen game. I'm expecting a lot of players will be in for a shock when they try to play a turn-based game with photorealistic graphics and realize that it doesn't work that well.

 

And yet, here's the rub: S-E will certainly keep the turn-based mechanics because the fanbase will have a fit if it isn't faithful in the extreme. They can't either update or fix the game. The relevant comparison is Ocarina, except that Ocarina has been complemented hand-over-fist for being one of a very few early 3D games which aged well.

 

The real problem is that VII is the least faulted of the PSOne era FF games, and therefore it looked good in 1997 by comparison. This is not the same as it *being* good in its own right. Put a remake of it into 2016's market and this will be obvious; the market has done a lot of growing up over 20 years.

 

 

But my real problem is that this is almost like Square admitting their glory days are behind them. If XV isn't able to sell on par with the VII remake we are doomed to a bunch of FF remakes, which is basically the franchise in a death-throe.

[DarkJuno]

I gotta stop making comments as jokes, because Nintendo really doesn't care about what everyone else is doing. I won't lie, I was disappointed, but at the same time, if this Direct was done any other time then E3 I'd say it was good. I hate to say it, but EA just flat out sucking this year and Ubisoft being bland did more to help Nintendo from being in "last place" then anything they did themselves. Still, it's not a BAD line-up, there just weren't any surprises, not really. A couple, but nothing huge. I do still really like how they did the Developer diaries, and the puppet thing was....weird.

 

So, Star Fox. Of course I'm excited, but it....doesn't look as good as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros? It looks fine, but I was expecting more effects, and I'm really hoping it's because it's still in development and we get all the fancy flourishes when it comes out. It's not a reboot but it's not a sequel, so I don't know what it is. The Gerwalk/Battloid mode is kinda neat, and the alternate vehicles are cool too. We shall see.

 

New Amiibo that...can be used for Skylanders? Huh. That's...an interesting business strategy, and a neat one given the company.

 

New Zelda for 3DS, it's a new Four Three Swords, Triforce Heroes. This Fall 2015, more Co-op then competitive, could be neat. Though, they know what Pandora's Box they're opening by having Link in a dress, right?

 

Also that 3DS version of Hyrule Warriors, Legends, in 2016. Adds Tetra and the King of Red Lions from Wind Waker. Fine, whatever, apparently you can transfer them into the Wii U version.

 

Aha! The reason why Blast Ball looked like Metroid Prime robot soccer is because it is! Metroid Prime Federation Force, co-op game where you play as Federation Forces instead of Samus. 3DS, could be interesting.

 

Fire Emblem is called Fates, out here in 2016.

 

Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem is still weird as hell. Still want it.

 

Xenoblade Chronicles X out in December, on the 4th. Maybe.

 

Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer out on 09/25, whatever.

 

Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival, aka Animal Crossing Board Game. Man, why? More Amiibo, that's why.

 

Yoshi's Wooly World coming out on 10/16/15, seems to be compatible with Amiibo and alers Yoshi somewhat visually and in action. Huh.

 

Yokai Watch is coming out here. All right.....

 

I gotta say, I've loved the Mario & Luigi Superstar RPG's and liked Paper Mario until that last one - a crossover is weird but I can dig that if they keep their sense of humor. That was always the strength of the RPG's, which is why Sticker Star was very blah since it lost that, but the trailer makes it seem like it'll lean into it, so I'm okay with this.

 

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash. I'd rather a new Soccer game, but hey, sure.

 

And Super Mario Maker still looks kinda great. The cute little animations in the Direct turnign out to be a real thing in the game via Amiibo is kinda cool. Wonder how they'll look in the other tile sets though.

 

 

And that's that. I hope they'll do more in the Treehouse Presentations as times past, but that was kinda disappointing. Now, to Square Enix.

[DarkJuno]

....how is it that Square-Enix announced and talked about a lot of games I'm interested in but still managed to be super dull and boring? You can tell that they ahven't done this in awhile ebcause it was a very old style late 90's/early 00's E3 conference, which in all fairness is what a conference really is, but still, talk about no sizzle. 

 

I guess I'll toss in my thoughts on the remake here because it IS SE. I still stand by what I've always said and wish they'd use their resources on new games and new stuff then just remaking stuff, personally. I mean, when it's something like Final Fantasy III, which NEVER released outside of Japan, that's cool, or what they did with FFIV where they mixed up a lot of the game's difficulty to make it fresh, I can at least understand. As much as I wanted to see a 3DS version of V and VI after that, I ended up being a lot happier they made The 4 Warriors of Light and Bravely Default instead.  Even so, I'll get this because I did like VII, but I also understand that a remake is...a remake. A lot of things are going to change because the fundamentals of game creation have changed a lot since 1997, it has to. It would just be really weird if the overworld is an HD one with chibi versions of the characters after XII, XIII-2 and seemingly XV's open world areas, to say nothing of other JRPG's. It's not going to be an exact copy of what came before except in HD, honestly, all that'd do is ruin everyone's nostalgic fuzzies about it when they realize that, surprise, a game made in 1997 feels really dated today. 

 

I do also really hope they stick close to the original characterizations, though I'm a little worried by how much of that was from the original script and how much was from the localization. Anyway, the trailer itself is strangely prophetic, since it straight out says it may not turn out the way people are expecting it to, but now that it's coming you'd better appreciate it. The good thing is that now people can quit pestering SE about remaking the game! But the big fear is that this does well and they end up also remaking Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core and all of that.

 

Anyway! Conference!

 

Just Cause 3 comes out December 1st. Looks fun, and they're really leaning into the stupid awesome aspect that, let's be honest, the last game kinda got into by happenstance and accident. Hopefully theyc an take it and stride and make it work for them like Saints Row, and not beat it to death by overdoing it.

 

Hey, a new Nier game. Cool.

 

More Tomb Raider, though it was the same trailer, which is a theme today. I also have to ask how are Lara's hands and forearms not just raw and scabbed up since she always slides on them when she falls off stuff.

 

Lara Croft Go. Hitman Go was interesting, and this looks fine, but whatever.

 

Exact same FFVII Remake trailer. Hrmph.

 

Mobile KH game, spelled out Kingdom Hearts X Unchained.......except it's pronounced Kingdom Hearts Unchained Key. Damn this series and its damn titles.

 

New Kingdom Hearts III trailer has a disclaimer talking about how it's not final and the final game will be in English....and proceeds to be in English anyway. What. And dammit, this trailer didn't show anything - I can't imagine how insane I'd be if I actually gave a crap about this series.

 

World of Final Fantasy, again, exact same trailer. Hmm.

 

Hitman looks ambitious and really cool if it  delivers what it promises, but I have my doubts. I did really like Absolution though, so if it's expanding on that, then I'm down.

 

Hey, we're getting Star Ocean 5, cool.....though we gotta work on that title. "Integrity and Faithlessness?"

 

Deus Ex looks pretty, next year, fine.

 

Final Fantasy Portal App....okay?

 

And a new RPG.....that we only have concept art of. That's....not a good way to end this.

 

And...that's that. Hrmph. 

 

Well, now E3 starts proper, and we do still have the PC conference later this evening, so who knows? At the very least, the Treehouse is showing off way more of the new gams they revealed and they're coming across way more interesting that way, so that's good.

 

We shall see.

[Raien]

Urrrgh. I had a long post written and then my browser crashed, deleting the whole message. So here's the cliffnotes version:

 

-E3 was pretty great. It did what E3 does best; spectacle. There was a lot of variety to the spectacle, good graphics, big worlds, unusual visual ideas. It was colourful and impressive.

 

-Doom 4 is designed to play like the fantastic Brutal Doom mod, just with a modern coat of paint. However, the Doom 3 aesthetic they went with is totally wrong for an excessive action game like this. I really think they should have gone Gothic like the original games. All horns and goats' legs and glowing red eyes. Then again, the trailers might not do Doom 4 justice. Brutal Doom doesn't look that great in trailers but it's AMAZING in practice, especially when you get your hands on the shotgun.

 

-Super Mario Maker is still my most anticipated game of the year and it deserves all the hype and attention it's getting. Most importantly, it addresses the two biggest problems I have with the new 2D Mario games; the lack of creativity and the four-player co-op. I know that sounds like blasphemy to criticise the multiplayer, but I've realised that you can't design a game to be challenging for a single player and simultaneously fun for four players. Two-player co-op wouldn't be so bad but four-player co-op requires the devs to turn down the difficulty. Mario Maker delivers exactly what I've been wanting for twenty years; good creative challenges designed for a single-player experience.

 

-Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer was my surprise WANT of this convention. As I mentioned before, I'm a big fan of Animal Crossing but the game has a problem of diminishing returns. Once you have your small house decorated and a couple of animal friends to meet with, everything else starts to feel like a chore. Expanding your house and decorating your village costs too much time and money for its own good. HHD looks like a game that will address this; focusing the game on the best parts of Animal Crossing; talking to the animals and decorating the houses. It should be a fun relaxing game to play on the go, at least.

 

-Regarding the conversation about whether No Man's Sky will be fun for exploration alone, I think it will be a great game for when you have the flu or the norovirus and just want something simple and relaxing to engage in while you heal. And I mean that seriously. Ultimately, the game is too big for what you do to have any real consequence, either in-game or for the multiplayer community. I expect things to start repeating before too long and predictability setting in. But at the same time, exploring does bring its own organic rewards sometimes. I'll probably play it when it comes to PC.

 

-Star Fox Zero looks great visually, but the big question on my mind is the challenge. My biggest complaint about Star Fox 64 was that it was way too easy. I want a game that makes me learn how to play well, not just fobbing me off with a high score objective. I'm also just reading about the game's controls and I don't think I want to be forced to use the Wii U gamepad. We'll see...

 

-To respond to DarkJuno's point about indie games starting to look the same, I agree and would make the same case about most AAA games. SuperBunnyHop explained the problem very nicely back in February; modern developers are getting too comfortable with their mechanics. Everything is refined because the devs take few chances with experimentation. I personally would like to see more genre subversions. How about a non-linear RPG where there are no quests or quest systems? How about an open-world sandbox where your movements are restricted by organic forces in the game world? Just something to make the customers ask "How will that work?" because it's legitimately new and interesting. Actually, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is a good example; a game that subverts the Animal Crossing formula to make something different.

 

Here's that SuperBunnyHop video:

[Selena]

Nothing too exciting from Square, at least for me. I was mostly looking for Deus Ex, so I'm happy I got to see it. Just Cause 3 was neat -- though it's not all that impressive graphics-wise. Wingsuit looks fun! But, being a somewhat shallow ridiculous game, I'll wait for a few price drops before I get it.

 

 

 

 

A fairly good e3 overall, though. I'm sure a lot of us will be broke by January 1st. Fallout 4 is a must-have for me.

[Egann]

So, the wrap-up. I only watched two and a half of the conferences, but on the whole it was a ho-hum E3. Not bad, but not particularly good, either.
The hardware announcements were ho-hum, the software was mostly mundane...basically, there wasn't much of anything going on. Except for the FF VII remake, anyway, which is like Square Enix screaming "help us, we don't know how to make a game." Nintendo didn't really bring anything new, I cared surprisingly little about X1 backwards compatibility, and Sony said "more of the same."

 

It's a ho-hum middle of the generation E3.

[SteveT]

Guys, let me be the first to say

 

Nintendo is doomed.

[DarkJuno]

Random trailers? Random trailers.

 

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Spoiler

 

I was surprised that this didn't pop up anywhere in Sony or Microsoft. I imagine it has to do with Konami beginning to really an earnestly distance itself away from video games as it focuses on mobile and its gambling divisions. Sad to see, but it is what it is. As for the game, it's....you know what, it's Metal Gear, you should know by now. It's crazy, it's needlessly dense and complicated, whatever. Just go be crazy Kojima, because this might be the last time he can.

 

Persona 5

 

Spoiler

 

Hey, this is coming too! I know that it's made a nice little surge in popularity lately, but it's still a pretty niche title, but I'm glad to see it confirmed for sure. Slick looking menus and style, I gotta say. I'm also secretly glad the dancing game is coming out. I might have to grab one of those $40.00 PS TV's to play this, P4 Golden and Tales of Hearts R.

 

Transformers: Devastation

 

Spoiler

 

I think I'm obligated to post this? Seriously though, an action game made by the part of Platinum games that made Revengeance....this could turn out good. Granted, they also made that Korra game that ended up being not good, but who knows. And for me personally, I'll give it a shot.

 

Huh, that's all for now I find interesting. Fatal Frame is coming out later this year and I wonder why Nintendo didn't mention it, it's a good use of the gamepad after all. Hmm.

 

And I definitely agree that AAA games are starting to get in a rut, moreso then indies, but in and of itself, doing the "safe" formula isn't bad. It's when it gets so cynical like the yearly EA sports games where they just completely bail and take a huge dump on last year's version (and thus, all their customers) in order to promote the next one that I have issues. Say what you will about NBA 2K, but they actually make a point of making each version worth playing, like having the various challenge modes (Jordan Challenge, Dream Team Challenge, etc.) be unique to each game and worth buying a used or old copy of later just for the experience or fun.

 

EDIT: Oh, and first awkward/weird VR Demo video, from the team in Namco Bandai who make Tekken.

 

....I don't have much to say, other then Harada (THE Tekken guy) doing his cameo at the end makes this somehow feel even more like a porn then a silly joke to show it's not.

Edited by DarkJuno, 16 June 2015 - 09:54 PM.

[SteveT]

Serious time.

 

The following are games I care about.

 

Mario Maker: Nintendo World Championship sold me, and how.

 

Dark Souls III: Yes

 

The Last Guardian: I'm a little skeptical.  The gameplay looked very scripted and very slow paced.  I'll keep an eye on it, but I'm not ready to get excited yet.

 

Zelda: Tower of Links: I am on board.  I loved Four Swords, so I'm hoping this will also be good

 

Fire Emblem Fate: Just tell me how many copies I have to buy

 

Star Fox: They are getting it right.  It's happening.

 

Mario & Luigi & Paper Mario: Fantastic idea

[SL the Pyro]

Nintendo's digital event struck me as if they were doing it like any other Nintendo Direct, which... doesn't really cut it at E3, where everyone is expecting things of a much grander scale. The muppets were funny and all, but that's not what people go to E3 to see. I wonder if Nintendo honestly thought a regular Direct would suffice, or if they really don't have anything else that's polished enough to show... doubly disappointing, seeing as they were doing so well before E3 and I expected things to keep rolling. Have they run out of steam already?

[SteveT]

I think Nintendo underestimated how many people seem to ignore everything but that one presentation.  If you take their E3 presence as a whole, the picture looks a lot better.

 

- Smash Direct

- Nintendo World Championship

- Official Presenation

- Two days worth of Treehouse Live

 

Treehouse Live is a fantastic thing.  They actually spend the time to go in depth with live demos and developer commentary.  Seeing more than a trailer might even change your opinion on some of these games.

 

The problem is twofold.  People aren't considering the presence as a whole and are judging Nintendo by that single hour; and people hyped themselves up about NX, Zelda U (both of which were not going to be presented and we all know that), and things like the unannounced Retro title.  They wanted one big bomb at 9 AM PST.  Instead, they got a three day long fireworks show.

 

That said, last year was way better.  Splatoon was a surprise hit that stole the show, Hyrule Warriors got announced, many of the games we saw today were announced last year (Mario Maker, Yoshi, and Fire Emblem come to mind), etc.  The games felt bigger.  Plus Amiibo and tons of Smash 4 info including the tournament.  That's hard to follow up.  

[JRPomazon]

I missed the presentation, so reading up on it here has been good. Though I'm surprised this wasn't posted sooner:

 

[Raien]

It's likely that Nintendo are saving their really big bombs for next year's NX unveiling. Zelda Wii U will probably go the Twilight Princess route, releasing on the current console while also headlining the new platform. Personally, I'm already set to get Mario Maker and Xenoblade X so the lack of new announcements didn't really bother me. In fact, I probably would have been happy if the entire event was dedicated to Mario Maker. It's the only game this year that I'm genuinely hyped for.

 

Btw, I love the new yellow builder costume for Mario. It's a great old-school touch; if only it was hand-drawn.

 

Edited by Raien, 17 June 2015 - 05:18 AM.

[DarkJuno]

I'll have to re-iterate how incredibly helpful and good the Treehouse presentation thing is. They are currently in a lengthy game play demo of SMT X Fire Emblem and it basically answered all the questions people have had about what kind of game it is and how it plays. Yes, I know people are disappointed by the lack of surprises, but they're straight up spending the time - way more time then any conference could possibly give - showing off how the games they have coming work, and honestly, watching them give guided demos is a lot more indicative of the "true" E3 experience minus the rushing from place to place for appointments. Sure, all those trailers are neat, but lots of those games are 3 - 4 years away - let's be honest, that FFVII remake will essentially become the new Last Guardian/Versus XIII in being an announced game that'll take forever to come out.

 

I'm also a little stunned at all the people who are all angry that Nintendo "lied" because it's obvious that the NX will be a new platform and they're bailing on the Wii U. Iwata flat out said the NX would be a new dedicated platform and they would not talk about it until 2016. If you do some smart inferring and not just wildly speculate, that probably means they'll start to talk about it next E3 and it'll be out in 2017, which gives the Wii U a typical Nintendo console lifespan. I just really love how he clearly said that little nugget in order to keep people from wildly speculating, but obviously, that happened anyway. I.....really have to wonder if it's Nintendo's fault so much as it's the media and the fans' fault for being so needy and trying to hype up stuff that they clearly are not ready or even want to start getting hyped themselves.

 

Whatever.

 

For the record, despite how clear the game demo is making the game, it's still anime/J-pop as all hell. And...I'm sorta disgusted and okay with it at the same time?

[canas is back]

unfortunately DJ SWTOR is to bioware KOTOR 3, they went through wrapped up a bunch of the loose threads from the previous games and are just generally advancing their plot, I enjoy the game, but yeah to quite a few people that don't enjoy the MMO aspect it's a real drag to play. The expansion looks good though.

 

I am super stoked for Fire Emblem, and MGS V, other than that I need to go back and watch it all again, I was on vacation so I missed out on most of it.