Report From Day 1 (and yeah, EA's conference was technically yesterday but who gives a shit about EA)
MICROSOFT: In a complete reversal from their past few showings, rather bland. They put majority focus on game trailers and mixed a lot of indies in with the AAA titles, which is my favorite kind of E3 conference, but most of the big deals were things we already knew about and there was a startling dearth of actual gameplay footage. The fact that Phantasy Star Online 2 is getting a Western release after years and years of people clamoring for it was the biggest shock of the hour, and there were a lot of cool indies; they also showed off a LEGO Forza and a Funko Pop Gears of War, and I felt myself slipping from this reality. Much pomp and circumstance over the next Xbox, but all we got for the buildup was "Project Scarlet". Overall, middle-of-the-road E3, though the focus on reveal trailers was nice.
- Standout games: Phantasy Star Online wins for sheer unexpectedness and importance, even though I know nothing about it. My personal pick is 12 Minutes, some indie thriller where you're trapped in a time loop and have to stop you and your wife from dying in an apparent home invasion; I'm here or there on Groundhog Day plots, but it looks like an intriguing setup. Spiritfarer looks cute as hell, but also promises to explore death and letting go, so it automatically has my interest. And I must admit I'm curious about the Blair Witch game, both as someone who loves the original movie (and very vocally hates the recent sequel) and to see what the fuck kind of experience was worth incorporating an ancient and incredibly divisive film IP.
- Defining moment: KEANU REEVES COMING OUT FOR CYBERPUNK 2077. And hamming it up like a glorious motherfucker. Love you, Keanu. Stay immortal.
BETHESDA: This isn't one of the all-time worst E3 conferences, but it's certainly the worst I've watched. I was expecting something embarrassing and masturbatory, I was expecting Todd Howard to come out with self-deprecating jokes but no actual apologies or acknowledgements of the major financial scandals they've gotten into, but... wow. No less than four cuts to developers and superfans talking about how important Bethesda is and how it saved their lives (to a point I found legitimately disgusting and exploitative when it came to discussions of how Bethesda saved a girl from suicide), a ridiculous crowd visibly packed with Bethesda employees, and the general tone of the evening all gave me the feeling of watching a cult gathering.
The Fallout 76 devs expected the world because they added in NPCs and dialogue trees (things that should have been in the game from the start), and then dramatically revealed the umpteenth Battle Royale mode because Fortnite is all. Commander Keen got resurrected after 30-ish years to become an embarrassing F2P mobile game. People liked when Todd said "fuck" last year, so tons of other devs got to drop the F-bomb and you could feel how forced it was. I genuinely can't summarize this craven cavalcade of corporate calamity, and I implore you to view it for yourselves.
- Standout games: I'm excited for Ghostwire: Tokyo even if it means Tango Gameworks isn't giving me Evil Within 3, and Deathloop seems interesting, but the standout's DOOM Eternal no question. I knew it would be the highlight ahead of time, and it delivered on everything I wanted and more. Carving up demons and angels alike looks like a whale of a time.
- Defining moment: In terms of positivity, Ikumi Nakamura (a creative head at Tango Gameworks and a key artist for such games as Okami, Bayonetta, and The Evil Within) coming out and melting hearts the world over. She was adorable and she was one of the only people on stage who seemed to genuinely care. But the moment that sums up the rest of the conference has to be Todd strolling proudly onto the stage, laughing off one of the most dire PR disasters in gaming history with a quick "we've had an exciting year" joke, and deflecting into talking about their record high playerbase and how much everybody loves Fallout 76.
DEVOLVER DIGITAL: An absolute joy as always. For those who don't know, Devolver is an indie-focused studio whose E3 conferences are prerecorded fictionalized things mixing real announcements (usually for really cool games) with games industry satire and a bizarre ongoing storyline revolving around domineering, homicidal host Nina Struthers. They really went for the throat this year with the satire, and the games looked cool, although I'm disappointed with the lack of news on last year's announced Metal Wolf Chaos remaster. Story left a bit to be desired, and nothing matched the lunacy of 2018's gore-soaked finale. Still, my favorite "conference" of the day and probably going to be my E3 highlight.
- Standout games: Carrion, a 2D "reverse horror experience" where you control a fleshy alien monster thing and move fluidly through various environments, devouring people. I'm all about that. My Friend Pedro was announced last year, but the ballet-influenced sidescrolling shooter looks as hype as ever, and I'm glad it's got a release date now.
- Defining moment: The moment they announced this year's presentation would be a "Devolver Direct"... and then started using the actual Nintendo Direct graphics and audio. Good god, I hope they got permission and don't get sued, but if they do, the hustle was worth it.
Tomorrow I'll do a write-up for Ubisoft, Square Enix, and possibly the PC Gaming Show; then I'll wrap this E3 with Nintendo on Tuesday (and hopefully get my Metroid news). Stay tuned!