While there are a lot of purists and dedicated old-school video games who would disagree, gaming is an industry which has evolved in an enormous amount of positive ways. Far from the processing and other technological limitations of the media’s first few years, modern gaming has made great strides in addressing issues which were originally born out of necessity or outdated design. In this article, we want to go over a few of the biggest changes which we feel have had a considerably positive effect on gaming as a whole, and what makes these changes special.

Quicksave and Autosave

This one is can be a little bit of a double-edged sword, but in this case, we’re talking about when it works well. Saving on older systems, at least on consoles, used to require passwords or separately purchased memory cards. Not only would this make saving your game a constant pain, it was made even more frustrating though how limited older save systems were. Sure, save points have a place in some games as a means of gameplay expression, but being able to save anywhere you want was just the best thing for those prone to interruption.

While we are generally a big fan of autosave when it works well, we still get a lot of games where it can royally screw your progress if you quit in the wrong area, and the game does not offer quicksaves. Alternatively, quitting and have to redo long patches because of a terrible autosave system does not make for an especially enjoyable experience. A little more effort here, devs, would go a long way to eliminating these problems from gaming’s future.

Gamepad Support on PC

Drivers are almost always a colossal pain to deal with. When you have dozens of different forms and brands of gamepads vying for mainstream success then you have a lot of potential crap to deal with, and early device drivers were often even more frustrating than the ones which we deal with today. A lot of this simplicity comes down to how standardized modern Xbox and PlayStation controllers have become with PC gaming. Windows itself has offered official out-of-the-box support of Xbox controllers for years, with Steam and simple to use programs like DS4 mean the equally great PS4 controller is not far behind.

Really, though, we just glad we don’t have to put up with button prompts in games telling us to do things like ‘Hold button 2 and press button 6″.

Automatic Updates

We know, we know, automatic updates are not a faultless system, like pretty much everything else on this list, but properly applied they can save such a ridiculous amount of time over the old manually patching systems that we have to include these. GoG, Steam, Origin, and a whole host of other systems manage all this for you, let you schedule when you want to download, set data limits, and generally automate everything possible, as the name suggests.

Back in ye-olde days, we could have systems which were just ridiculously and frustratingly specific. In many games there were systems where updates could not be done in a single block, that is to say that a user could sometimes not simply download the most recent patch and be done with it. We remember a lot of cases where patching would require you to know the exact version number of your game, and what region it was designated, and from there download the very next patch in a long line. You would work your way through, each painful step, and hoping that no downloads were missing and that nothing went wrong along the way. We don’t miss it.

The Optical Mouse

The ball mouse, the best tool we had at the time for both precision cursor control, and collecting cat hair, even if you didn’t own a cat. Prone to missed movements and breakages at just the worst possible time, these are a peripheral which we are glad to see die out. Modern mice are not only just as cheap or cheaper than these earlier beasts, they come with vastly superior tracking which, it turns out, can be pretty important. We’re a big fan of wireless mice in many situations as well, though for gaming our personal experiences have been a little less than stellar.

Online Ownership

A problem which remains for many console gamers, and one which used to be a huge issue for PC gamers as well. By online ownership we’re talking about the ability to purchase games online, and have those tied to an online account. We can see this in systems like Steam, as the most obvious example, but others like the console online stores, GoG, and Origin also come with similar offerings.

The joy here comes in being able to so easily store your library of games online, eliminating the risk of game loss which so often happens with physical media. We’ve lost or accidentally broken a few disks in our time, which really sucks if you get that sudden hankering for a replay. With these new online systems, these games can be found instantly, downloaded infinite times, and don’t run the risk of scratches or damage. While they still have some painful issues, especially if we’re talking about Steam, the overall convenience is nothing short of game-changing. Yes, terrible, I know.

More Buttons, Standardized Controls

My first console was the Sega Master System II, here is a picture of its controller.

One awful direction pad, two buttons. Of course, as the SMS2 was not a powerful system the limitations of these controls made sense. Most controllable objects in the oldest of games could only do one or two things, so two buttons made sense. While these slowly evolved over the years, the biggest leap, in our opinion, was that which brought twin-stick controllers into the mainstream. While we could regard the N64 controller as the precursor here, we prefer the simplicity of early PlayStation DualShock devices. Not only did this let controllers keep up with the expanded possibilities of evolving and more powerful hardware, it made great strides in opening console systems up to PC ports like never before.

Then there is the aspect of standardized controls in games. While we see this in many genres and subgenres (more Arkham style combat please), it has to be the first person shooter controls which really opened up a new world. Funnily enough, playing an FPS on one of these –

Was a lot more difficult than playing on one of these –

This basic stick and shoulder layout would make the games not only feasible but enjoyable. This would further be aided by the advent and popularization of various aiming-assist systems, which further mitigate the limitations of these controller inputs. Funnily enough, the game which first brought the most common of these control schemes to console was once massively derided by Steve Garret of Gamespot, whom we can only assume is kicking himself in hindsight. At least he had the insight to recommend players wait for a better Aliens game, the ostensibly PS2 bound Colonial Marines. Oh dear.

So what do you think? What have we missed, or development is it that has left the biggest impact on you as a gamer? Gamer-targeted Doritos? Probably not, but we’re sure you guys have something we missed.

Aging games media is an interesting thing, rather unlike any traditional media counterparts. Apart from the obvious interactive nature, gaming is overwhelmingly informed by strict limitations of the host hardware, and the world and gameplay which developers are able to fit within these constraints. The simplicity of younger games was born out of necessity, rather than being the chosen direction as it manifests today. Limited playing area, fewer polygons on screen, more basic input options, all of these and infinitely more smaller restrictions combined to create the templates of the games of yesteryear. All of this, in an age coming around more and more to the idea of remakes and remasters.

So what does this tell us about the current state of gaming, what do these remakes and remasters bring to the table, and are the prices for updates of older games still worth the price? Well, let’s talk about it.

Give Them More

Remakes and remasters make sense, in many ways. For a start, they give newer or younger players a chance to experience the games which they might have missed. This not only gives developers and publishers a way to draw more attention into a long-running series, they also tend to be far less expensive than creating a new game from scratch. In this way, developers are not only able to gauge interest in a specific property, they can apply an actual monetary value to this interest, to determine if this path or property is worthy of further pursuit. In simple terms – this means they can test the water, to see if a specific market might still exist.

For longtime fans of these games, it gives them another chance to jump back into the action. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, and revisiting games from our youth, maybe even sharing them with a new generation in the process, is an experience many of us won’t pass up. This is aided by the fact that many of these new remakes or remasters offer improved performance, better controls, and quality-of-life upgrades which can smooth off the old and jagged edges. The thing is though, like anything involving the video game industry, there are those work for the players, and there are those who work for the money.

To get a good look at what can and has been accomplished, as wells as the positives and negatives, let’s use some of the biggest modern examples.

Run the Gambit

Final Fantasy 6

You might know it as Final Fantasy 3, so for simplicities sake, we’ll point out it was the game before 7. Widely regarded by both RPG and Final Fantasy fans as one of the best RPGs of all time, this SNES game has been ported to a wide range of devices, including the PS1, GBA, iOS, Android, and Windows. Some of these, most notably the GBA port, are generally praised and seen as upgrades. Here, the game has had various potentially game-breaking bugs patched and even has additional end-game content added, in addition to an improved localization effort.

On the other hand, we have the Windows Steam version. Already known for their shoddy Steam port jobs on older Final Fantasy games, Square Enix really outdid themselves with what is widely considered a charmless port job. Far from the pixelated and highly expressive original Super Nintendo art, Square Enix instead decided to change these graphics into a rip of the already horrible iOS port. Instead of offering something like the originals, what we have looks about as good as a low-quality RPG Maker fan-job. Yes, this is smoother looking, and yes the fundamentals are still intact, but it disregards so much of what made the original so outstanding. We hate to use the term soulless when it comes to video games design, but there is no word apter.

Fortressofdoors has a great analysis here.

Abe’s Odyssey – New n’ Tasty

A big hit back on the original PlayStation, and with some success on the PS2, the Oddworld series of games were once some of the more popular in gaming. As a personal enormous fan of the original game, I was extremely excited to see a remake in the form of Oddworld: New n’ Tasty. High definition graphics to what was already a beautifully atmospheric game? Sign me up. An hour and a half into the remake of one of my favourite games of all time and I found myself wishing Sony had a better online refund policy.

It could look good when the frame rate wasn’t unacceptably jumpy, and it could sound great too. The controls, however, and the failure in creating a similar atmosphere to the original, would ultimately mark this as one of my greatest ever gaming disappointments. What used to be heavy but extremely precise controls turned into a mess, and the changing from a screen based system to a largely scroll based system had unintended side-effects which caused chaos with the game’s overall flow. We understand that this game was still a commercial success, but for many of us, it represented failed potential. It also leaves us with major doubts for future Oddworld remakes.

YouTuber Matthewmatosis takes a look at what went wrong.

Crash Bandicoot – N. Sane Trilogy

You know Uncharted and The Last of Us? Made by the very same Naughty Dog. The N. Sane trilogy was not one of their efforts, but it certainly stands as one of the better remakes of classic games. Based on the original three games, the N. Sane Trilogy brought these classics up to date with modern graphics, while keeping gameplay much more intact than what we saw with New n’ Tasty. Certainly not perfect, but we feel we have to include this entry as it really is what we feel to be a vast improvement over the example set by Oddworld. As the popularity of this game helped bring the upcoming Spyro remake into development, we hope this marks a trend of greater adherence to a classic look and feel.

Resident Evil 2 – Remake

We thought this one might be vaporware at this point, but their recent showing at E3 has proven that this game is not only still in production, it looks incredible. Unlike our previous examples, the Resident Evil 2 remake is not focused on mirroring the gameplay of the original, instead, it aims to update the game to create a similar atmosphere via very different means.

Whereas the original has static cameras, with 3d characters moving around a prerendered background, the remake abandons this in favour of a fully 3d environment, and a camera and control scheme similar to Resident Evil 4 or 5. Sure, this game doesn’t strictly look the same, nor does it control the same, but it manages to feel so similar. This isn’t Resident Evil 2 – 2.0, this Resident Evil 2 reimagined with modern technology in a way that works, which feels both inspired by the original and progressive in its own right. Say what you will about Capcom, but when they get it right, they really get it right.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare – Remastered

Hoo boy, what a show this one was. Call of Duty was still popular before Modern Warfare, but it was Modern Warfare which made the largest strides, bringing the series into one of the foremost dominating market forces we see today. Excitement for this was enormous, so naturally, the publisher of Activision had to find a way to capitalize on this and capitalize they did. For a start, the only method in which people could apply to buy the game was to purchase the premium version of Infinite Warfare.

That’s right, Activision made it so that one of the most anticipated remakes of all time was initially held hostage behind an expensive version of a game that many weren’t interested in playing at all. While the game would eventually release as a stand-alone version, this left that horrible taste in our mouths which we get when somebody practices such blatant avarice.

But wait, it gets even better. The original Modern Warfare didn’t include microtransactions, as it was released just as the infamous Horse Armor DLC was still much derided, and before Activision had their collective vision turn into cartoon dollar-signs. The remaster, though? The remaster decided why not, slip these into a remake of a nine-year-old game. Not a great middle to follow an awful beginning.

Billy Mays here, and we’re not done yet. It’s been the standard operating procedure up until this point to include all of the previously released DLC in a remastered version of a game, whenever applicable. Not only would Activision and Raven Software not include the DLC in their initial remastered release, they would actually end up selling the DLC at a greater cost launch cost than the original game’s original DLC.  With that, Activision laid its desires and intentions bare.

The Apologetic

Dark Souls Remastered

On some levels, we can get on board with this. Allowing us to play this FromSoftware game on newer consoles and with better frame-rates than ever before is a great opportunity, and we support it for that. The problem we have with this game revolves around the PC port.

See, the original PC port of Dark Souls was, to put it bluntly, terrible. Seriously, one of the worst port jobs which we have ever seen, and this is an extremely commonly held opinion. In fact, in order to make this game bearable, users were practically required to download and install a program called DSFix. This fix, created very shortly after the game’s release by a man going by Durante, massively improved the experience to a level which was considered adequate by PC gaming standards. More resolution options, better effects modification and anti-aliasing options, and the ability to run at higher than the unacceptably capped 30fps of the base game stood chief among these changes.

Released almost as soon as the game came out, despite the fact that Durante had no access to the game source-code. FromSoftware and Namco Bandai never fixed this version of the game to anything approaching the level Durante brought it to, and they never paid him for effectively making the game playable. In effect, Durante had performed their job for them, and it was only through him that the PC game avoided being more openly derided as one of the biggest PC port job failures of all time.

Then, years later, Dark Souls Remastered is announced. PC players are even given a discount to buy this game, again. Some would consider this considerate, but for those of us who still remember being sold an unacceptably shoddy product which was never addressed by the developers or publishers, this is little more than a slap in the face. We bought a faulty product, Durante fixed it for them, and now they expect a discount is a good enough reason to buy back in?

No, FromSoftware, I love your games, but I don’t think so.

Oh, and you can’t buy the old version for cheap and use Durante’s fix on it anymore on Steam, as that edition can no longer be bought.

The Constant Gamble

The entire environment of remasters and remakes is a tricky one, and we don’t envy the developers who have to try to both modernize a classic game and have it live up to its reputation. Success in these matters is a balancing act between what can be changed for the betterment of the overall experience, and what needs to remain the same for the game to really be considered a remaster.

To us, this is a two-part effort of feel and atmosphere. Games like the Resident Evil 2 remake might not be technically accurate in their representations of their original IP, but they still manage to remain appealing because of their dedication to the atmosphere. On the other side, games like New n’ Tasty fail because while they succeed on technical fidelity, they miss the feel and atmosphere which made the originals feel as engaging as they are.

Finding the right level here is not something which can be applied across all different games. Each game does something different, each classic has something special which makes it classic, and these are concepts which developers and publishers need to fully understand on an artistic level before a remake can even approach success. Or you can just release a fixed game, like with Dark Souls Remastered, and just call it a day from there.

Video games are a business, at least that is the primary framing of the industry big boys. While there is the growing indie market more focused on customer satisfaction over sheer profit, this doesn’t help a lot when it comes to sequels to old AAA releases. It was hanging out with some friends, nostalgia tripping over the ‘good-old-days’ that we had the idea for this article – what old series do we want a sequel to, and why are these so special to us? At least with some of our old series, we might expect a crowd-funded pseudo-sequel but, if Mighty Number 9 is an example, these might not quite measure up to the originals.

Tony Hawks Pro Skater

This might surprise some of our younger readers out there, but the Tony Hawks games were once one of the biggest gaming series in the world. The first game on the original PlayStation and Nintendo 64 captured the imagination of 90s cool and skater culture perfectly, and the sequels on the PlayStation 2 generation added to this in both mechanics and scope. These were arcade perfection, with a focus on score and fun over anything approaching believability. Following this generation, however, the series fell into disarray. Starting with a new engine which just felt off with Project 8, pushing into terrible gimmick controllers with Ride, and the abomination which was the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 rush job, rarely has there been cases of series falling from such heights.

So what would it take to get us back into Tony Hawk game? How about we go the simple route first, to keep costs as low as possible and to bring back the original fans? Keep the hilarious character creator, keep all the playable characters, keep all the classic maps from the PS1-2 generations, and keep as much music as possible. This, right here, would have been a guaranteed way for Tony Hawk’s 5 to become a success. Alternatively, this could have been the path of the HD remake, which followed in the modern footsteps of unmitigated failure.

Still installed, and we still got the touch.

Lock it at 60 FPS, find some ridiculous way to link all maps together into one cohesive but nonsensical whole, and allow dedicated servers with plenty of concurrent players, and you have a chill-out game to surpass all others. Unfortunately, with the rights for the games now shifted from the original Activision, there is little chance we’ll ever get the follow-up we want. We can dream though.

At least we aren’t completely past the concept of high-quality Skating games, as the Skate series shows there is still significant enough interest to draw in major developers, and the recent announcement of Session does get our hopes us.

Help us Session, you’re our only hope.

Half-Life

You probably saw this one coming, well done. The original Half-Life began a revolution in gameplay and level design. Featuring a heavily story-based campaign, a setting which made the world feel incredibly real (maybe save for Xen), and AI which still beats out many modern contemporaries, Half-Life is often regarded as one of the best and most influential games of all time. Hopes were high for its sequel, where Valve showed the world they had not merely been resting on their laurels. Not content to just release the base HL2 game, Valve engaged in what is considered a forward-thinking attitude of episodic releases.

The first two of these episodes continued the story from the main HL2 campaign, with the second ending on one hell of a cliff-hanger. Fans were frothing (at the mouth) in their anticipation for the final of the three episodes to bring this entry to a close, only it never came. In what is now one of the most famous gaming memes, Valve not only abandoned the third episode, they have also made precisely zero announcements on a full-fledged third entry.

The stated reasons for this from Valve is that after the timing mess-ups which led to the cancellation of HL2 Episode 3, they wanted to wait until they could create a sequel as progressive as the first two were at the time of their release. Critics have pointed out that perhaps Valve’s reluctance is more due to their focusing on Steam as a money printing machine, with video games now being more a side project than their primary concern. At least we have some diligent fans in the Half-Life community who have dug up considerable information about what the third episode would have been like. This is well worth a look for those interested in game conception and creation.

YouTuber Phontomen lays out the cancelled HL2: Episode 3 story.

TimeSplitters

If you owned the original Xbox then chances are you were playing Halo. If you owned a PlayStation 2 or GameCube, however, and you wanted to get in on some classic split-screen cooperative or head-to-head FPS combat, then you probably went with TimeSplitters. Developed by the now-defunct Free Radical Design, this trilogy wore its GoldenEye and Perfect Dark inspiration on its sleeve. Makes sense, considering Free Radical Design was founded by a group of ex-Rare employees.

The story in TimeSplitters generally involved chasing aliens through time and attempting to stop the eponymous Time Splitters from creating a fascist and authoritarian future. This meant a huge range of environments and weaponry, in what are some of the most diverse settings included within a single series. This carried over into multiplayer, where users could play against their friends and bots with their own customized weapon sets and game-types.

Even better, TimeSplitters came with its own map editor. This was a powerful tool which is somewhat analogous to the modern DOOM Snapmap feature, including a variety of themes, and customizable events and triggers.

Time0to0split shows off the TimeSplitters 2 Mapmaker.

Unfortunately, Free Radical design saw financial difficulties which led to its ultimate sale and renaming to Crytek UK. While this company has still proven successful with games like Ryse: Son of Rome, and Crysis 3, they do not appear to have any plans to create another entry in the TimeSplitters series. While there is a fan recreation project happening on PC, development is slow and potentially stalled.

Thing is, you’d think to make another entry in this series would be a developers dream. Not only do they have the experience when it comes to first-person-shooters, the range of settings afforded by a time-travelling story would give an enormous amount of choice and flexibility to the involved staff. This is a game rife for creative exploitation, with a still very supportive fan-base, so we have to wonder what the hold-up might be. Hell, at this point we’d settle for an HD trilogy remaster. We know they have the tech, as per this Homefront easter egg so please, Crytek, give the people what they want.

Why do you tease us so?

So there it is, our first entry into our series of much-desired sequels. Which of these three would you want, or which others are overlooked that you miss? Hell, if we build up enough excitement as a group we might even inspire somebody to action. At least, we can hope.

The problem with E3 is often one of hype culture. Just as a horror movie monster can never be as scary in the light as it is in our imagination, our idealized versions of games cannot compare to how they stand in reality. Because of this, it becomes difficult to measure out our excitement when it comes to games in events as hyped as E3. That said, there are always going to be a few standouts, games which appeal to us through their similarities of their predecessors, their mixing up of a traditional formula, or the purebred accomplishments of their development staff.

In this article, we’ll go over some of the E3 announcements which really stood out to us, and why we think (and hope) these could be something special. We’re also going to stick to games where we feel we get some direct or indirect look at how gameplay works. This is an interactive medium, after all, so prerendered cutscenes or footage without any context does not a great judging point make.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

The third in the reboot trilogy, and a series which I’ve enjoyed far more than the originals (feel free to hate on me for that). Borrowing elements and style from Uncharted, which itself borrowed from the original Tomb Raiders, we have high hopes for the third-person action and acrobatics of our favourite British killing machine. Ludonarritive dissonance? Whatever do you mean?

Attempting to stop a Mayan apocalypse, this game puts a greater focus on stealth and stalking than in any previous entries. Using her newly trademarked bow and taking advantage of all the sneaking opportunities of the jungle, Lara brings her now honed and efficient interpersonal skills into a game for which we have high hopes. Let’s just hope the PC version this time is a little better optimized.

Just Cause 4

While we love the Just Cause games, we can’t exactly extol the virtues of its plot or characterization. These are games about blowing things up, and discovering new and amusing methods in which this might be better accomplished. We’d be happy with more of the same, but add sandstorms, lightning, tornadoes, and improved grappling functionality to the equation and you bet we’re on board for Rico’s next adventure.

Unravel Two

Actually already available, as was revealed at the tail end of the presentation. While the platforming fun and overall charm of the original drew us towards these adorable yarn creatures in the first place, it’s our love of couch coop which has us the most excited for this entry. With a heavy focus on cooperation and swinging (the rope kind), the simplistic but great looking designs of this game put it firmly in our gaming backlog.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

From From Software, the developers and originators of the soulsbourne genre comes a game set in fictionalized feudal Japan. We don’t really have much to add other than that, though we do wonder how this game will sit in relation to its seemingly conceptually similar cousin of Nioh. Samurai, ninja, demons, deaths, and frustrations, sign us up.

Dying Light 2

We went into the original Dying Light expecting a similar experience to Dead Island – a game high on promise but low on delivery. Instead what we found was one of the best first-person games of the year, and one of the best first-person melee (mostly) games of all time. While the trailer for the sequel focuses on showing us a more reactive world, it’s the minute to minute parkour, zombie bashing, and cooperative story play which really has our interest.

Developer Techland has shown themselves to be a rare case in that they have consistently offered updates and support for the original game well after release. If this new entry comes with the same level of focus on support and customer satisfaction then we could be in for another something special.

Metro: Exodus

Grim, dark, but never quite grimdark. The Metro games are rare in both their subject matter and the efficacy in which they shape this post-apocalyptic world. It also doesn’t hurt that this is one of the best looking set of irradiated ruins which we have ever seen, and that some of the mutated beasts within come across as both imaginatively unique and horrifyingly real. Probably won’t be a feel-good game, but we’re betting it will feel good to play.

Trials Rising

The latest in the platform/action games series, it’s hard to tell what is new when it comes to Trials Rising. A bizarre adventure and largely incomprehensible plot are a given, but it’s more that oh-so-frustrating/satisfying gameplay which we look forward to the most. This also ties into the presumed further evolution of the already incredibly powerful track creation tools. As one of the primary draws to the series, we can’t wait to see what the community will come up with when it gets it hands on this game early next year.

Devil May Cry 5

Forget about that Ninja Theory reboot, this time we’re getting a real Devil May Cry sequel. The trailer focuses on Nero, introduced in DMC 4, as he and his engineering genius companion take to the demon-infested streets to lay down some engine-sworded justice. As for what part the series main protagonist Dante will play, that remains to be seen, though his slightly older appearance at the end of the trailer does indicate his involvement. Even better is that we get more of that classic Dante ‘wit’ which many of us feared had disappeared from the series forever.

Rage 2

While the original game was divisive when it came to the overall structure, there was almost universal praise in one area- the combat. Seemingly having learned from their first entry, this new game seems to be more about the direct fighting than ever before, in gameplay which seems like both a refinement of the first entry and which seems to have picked up a few cues from the fantastically received DOOM.

Skull & Bones

From what we’ve seen so far, Skull & Bones looks to be a less-cartoonish online piracy simulator in the vein of Sea of Thieves. With a shared online game world, and the ability to finally sing sea-shanties with a large enough crew that it will only be slightly socially awkward, we have high hopes for this one. The only thing is that we’ve seen a small slice of gameplay so far, so what appears to be an engaging combat system could still be let down in other regards. Still, early indications make us confident enough to place this on our best of E3 list.

The Last of Us Part II

Naughty Dog is not one to disappoint, and their showing of TLOU2 at this year’s E3 continued this legacy. From what we have seen here the focus seems to be on Ellie, a few years older and a few years warier. As for Joel, we don’t quite know yet. One of Ellie’s companions does bring up her ‘old man’, which sees her wince in response, potentially carrying on the strained relationship the two share at the end of the first game, though time will tell if this little hint proves accurate. The gameplay itself looks to be more of the stealth-heavy trying-to-keep-it-together style of exploration and combat which we saw in the original. Combine this with tech improved even over Uncharted 4, and we can’t wait to get started throwing bottles and shanking infected again.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Take one of the best known and most successful game series on the planet, include every character ever included, an enormous variety of stages and items, and cater to both the casual and hardcore player bases. This seems to be Nintendo’s exact modus operandi with this latest entry into the Smash series. Nintendo is one of the best at printing money, and it’s games like this which show why. That said, we also can’t wait to see what the competitive community do with this game, both in terms of movement tech like wave-dashing and with whatever this version’s incarnation of ‘Fox only, no items, Final Destination’ might be. I’d also like to point out our prediction of Ridley in the roster which, while not actually serious, turned out to be true.

Ghost of Tsushima

No shortage of games set in samurai-era Japan recently, and we aren’t complaining. Coming with a focus on open world gameplay and precise katana murder, Ghost of Tsushima is definitely one which has us excited. The graphics don’t hurt either, especially when it comes to the impact of each swipe and stab.

Resident Evil 2 Remaster

While we have wondered if this remaster was caught in development hell, this trailer shows us that the game is not only still coming, it is shaping up amazingly well. The remaster of the original Resident Evil is held up as one of the best remasters ever created, and with this entry seemingly aiming at a more RE4 control and combat experience our anticipation is as high as it has ever been.

Spider-Man

Spider-man games have run the gauntlet in the past, from the utterly amazing PS2 Spiderman 2 to the outright dismal PC Spiderman 2. This latest entry brought to us by Insomniac shows all indications of being in the former’s camp. With the smooth and stylish traversal which we have come to expect from Spidey to the Batman-inspired combat, we suspect this could finally plug the gap in our hearts left after Arkham Knight.

Kingdom Hearts III

After playing the first two games a few time, discussing them with friends, and then looking at the non-main-entry spinoffs, we can confidently say we have absolutely no idea what is happening with the plot of Kingdom Hearts. That’s okay though, as the real appeal here comes through the ability to explore famous Disney worlds and fight with some of our favorite classic Disney and Final Fantasy heroes. Finally showing some real progress after years of doubt, Kingdom Hearts III is shaping up to be just as beautiful and baffling as its predecessors.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

We never asked for better graphics in Fire Emblem, but we still love their inclusion. The latest in a long line of tactical RPGs brings us more assurances that Nintendo really knows what there are doing when it comes to appealing to their userbase. As for the now famed love-interest systems, we don’t know, but we would guess that Nintendo know enough to include new versions of these in some way, shape, or form.

Super Mario Party

One of the few party games which really lives us to the concept of party games, the Mario Party series are as hilarious as they are frustrating and fun. Now taking full advantage of the Switch to do things with the series which has never been done before, this looks like an entry we can really get behind. At least right up until we lose our stars at the end of the long session because it happens every single time.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori and the Blind Forest was amazing for a few reasons. A Metroidvania style experience with almost watercolour fantasy visuals and gentle and relaxing aesthetic? Sign us up. Ori and the Will of the Wisps promises a similar focus on exploration, unlockables, and tight controls and navigation. All this, and it came from the much-maligned Unity engine.

What do you Think?

Which big entries have we missed that you are looking forward to, and what is it that makes them special? One of the great things about gaming is that you can never quite know what you’re in for until you get your hands on them for yourself, so being proven wrong or right for later releases is always a very real possibility. Whatever the end case for these games ends up being, we are happy in that we’ve just had one of the best E3’s in years. Only 52 weeks until the next one, maybe by that point, we’ll finally hear some more about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake.