Summer Showcases Impressions
E3... But Not E3
In the past, this would be my overall thoughts on E3, but we know E3 seems to be dead. However, this still felt much like an E3 week with all the reveal events we had. I decided to sit down and write my impressions on what I felt were the four most significant events to come out of the week: Summer Games Fest, the Xbox + Starfield Direct, Ubisoft Forward, and the Capcom Showcase.
Summer Game Fest
Geoff Keighley is a bit of a polarizing figure in gaming. I personally don’t have any beef with him. I see a guy that has an intense passion for gaming and wants to contribute to the industry in any way he can. I don’t think he is responsible for the death of E3, I think there are much bigger factors and events at play for that. However, Geoff’s events do tend to get a bit overhyped, and there are always jokes about how underwhelmed people come out of them when it comes to game reveals. I think before this event, Geoff’s most significant get was the Xbox Series X reveal. But this year’s Summer Gamest Fest actually felt like an E3 type of event, but also, at the same time, it didn’t blow my socks off. I think it’s the start of going in the right direction.
One big thing here was the Spider-Man 2 release date of October. It’s obvious now that Sony is developing a relationship with Geoff and making sure they have something of relevance for him. The opening with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was a genuine surprise. I actually missed out on the Prince of Persia series and have never played one, but I do want to try them out. Since the Sands of Time remaster/remake seems to have disappeared, this could be the one to start things with. Sonic Superstars was another cool announcement. I used to play any Sonic game that came out, but it’s been a while. I have yet to play Sonic Frontiers, so I got some catching up to do.
Alan Wake II piqued my interest. There’s the whole debate about the game being digital only, but I’m not going to tackle that right now. I missed out on the first one, so I want to get my hands on this one. SandLand looks like it could be cool, but I think I need to see more to see if it’s something for me. Palworld made me laugh because I’m shocked Nintendo’s lawyers haven’t gotten involved. Lies of P announced a demo which I quickly gave a try, and it only sold me more on the game than it already had. I have a feeling after playing the demo that this game is going to be special and could be an excellent spiritual successor to Bloodborne, one of my personal favorite games of all time.
The big finale was Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and my God did it look gorgeous. I didn’t mind the delay for the release since this year is already incredibly packed. I will say that while it looked great, I think Geoff overhyped the “one more thing” and it made the expectations for it too high. That being said, I think everything else was pretty solid. This was the best-paced Geoff event I have seen. I think he got suitable E3 type of reveals. The show was solid, nothing mind-blowing, but solid. Oh, and yeah, Nicolas Cage made an appearance which was kind of cool.
Event Grade - B+
Xbox Showcase + Starfield Direct
I had a lot of excitement for this one. Call it a vision, an intuition, or anything else; I knew this was going to be one of the more talked about Xbox press events. Microsoft gaming has been on a stretch of bad news. The Activision-Blizzard deal is looking less and less likely, Redfall pretty much bombed and exposed issues in their processes, and consoles sales have slowed down after a pretty good first year. They needed this event to hit a home run, so did it? In my opinion, they absolutely did.
We got everything kicked off with Fable. The trailer set the tone for the British comedy the games have been known for, but I felt it was funnier than usual as well. It looked beautiful, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it, but I do think we still have maybe two years before we do. South of Midnight grabbed me with its style and setting, but I hope to see actual gameplay soon. Avowed looked promising, and this is a game I’ve kept my eyes on. Some people seemed turned off due to the art direction, but I am all in. Elder Scrolls VI is going to be a long way away, so this will be the closest thing to that until that game comes out. Clockwork Revolution and Jusat looked like games I may check out and see if they’re my jam. Clockwork Revolution called to me with its steampunk aesthetic, which I’m a sucker for.
Starfield looks like a game that could be the most consequential video game since The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The trailer they showed at Xbox Showcase alone sold me, but the direct presentation after was just reason upon reason for me to ask them to shut up and take my money. This game looks like a Bethesda fan’s dream of the perfect Western RPG, especially sci-fi fans. It seems incredibly ambitious, but if Nintendo could make something like Tears of the Kingdom on a device with 2015 era chip, Starfield can do this. This is day one for me, it was my most anticipated game of the year, and this direct showed why I was right to have it at the top of my list. I cannot wait to play this game.
They had some pretty cool third-party stuff here as well. Yakuza: Like a Dragon was a game I wanted to play and never got around to, and its sequel looks just as interesting. I loved Persona 5, so I might check out the Persona 3 remake. Talking about Persona, the creators are making a new IP called Metaphor: ReFantazio, and I am all about it. And finally, Star Wars: Outlaws looked damn good, and I’ll talk about that more in the Ubisoft Forward section.
Overall, I thought this event was what Xbox needed. We got solid updates on numerous titles and studios; it had such great pacing that I never had one stretch of being bored and revealed new games while also keeping your eye fixed on their massive Starfield release. For the first time since the Series X was announced, I am pumped for the future of the Xbox brand. This was the best reveal event of the Phil Spencer era. My only gripe was the “one more thing” wasn’t handled perfectly, and I have mixed feelings about the Xbox Series S 1TB black console’s pricing since it’s so close to how much a digital PS5 costs. But overall, this was the best event they’ve had in over a decade.
Event Grade - A-
Ubisoft Forward
Ubisoft Forward
I must admit, I am actually not the biggest user of Ubisoft games. I just recently finally checked out an Assassin’s Creed game, and many of their famous franchises just never were must-plays for me. So I’m going to keep my thoughts on this one shorter than the last two events. I thought it was okay, but like many Ubisoft events, it wasn’t unforgettable. Avatar seems to have people mixed on it. I do see why it has jokes already about being Far Cry with Avatar, but I personally didn’t think it looked bad and if you are a massive fan of those films, you should check it out. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, as I said earlier, does have my interest, and I might pick it up.
Star Wars: Outlaws looks like the first Star Wars game I could play all the way through. I played Jedi Fallen Order and liked it but didn’t have the time to play all the way. I have a weird love-hate relationship with Star Wars as a whole, so maybe this is an entry in the franchise through video games that can leave me with a great experience. I think the game looks polished and exciting enough for me to believe I can have a lot of fun with it and really immerse myself in that world.
I thought this was basically your typical Ubisoft event. There’s stuff I didn’t talk about because it was predictable (Just Dance and Assassin’s Creed). I feel for Splinter Cell fans and anyone waiting for Beyond Good and Evil 2 because you have to wonder if they are a press release away from being canceled. Ubisoft has never been great at updating fans on games in developmental hell.
Event Grade - C
Capcom Showcase
There’s not too much to say about this showcase, as it was pretty short compared to the others and didn’t have anything huge revealed. Pragmata was given an update and showed the expected delay. Something about the game keeps me interested, and I want to know more. Dragon’s Dogma 2 got a lot of hype here. I never got to play the first one, but I’ve heard nothing but great things, and I do want to see if I can get into the franchise. It does look real good, and I’m a sucker for these kinds of games. Ace Attorney got a collection I may check out, and last Mega Man is back… in mobile form lol
I think, like the Ubisoft Forward event, there wasn’t anything shocking here outside of Pragmata making an appearance since everyone said the game disappeared. Now that I think of it, Capcom’s showcases are never really mind-blowing, and tend to mostly give you extra details on already announced games. This event overall for me was kinda meh, and quite frankly, what they showed from Dragon’s Dogma 2 saved it for me.
Event Grade - C-
So there you have it. Considering the lack of E3, this week sure felt like one. There are rumors of Nintendo potentially cooking something up that might pop up, but other than that; these were the four most significant events of the Summer showcases. I will say that this week did make me miss E3, but the companies having these presentations made up for it just a little bit.