Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 117

Baldur’s Gate: Back to Where it All Began

I’ve been curious about Baldur’s Gate for a long time, since it’s one of BioWare’s earliest games and the progenitor of Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc., as well as a game often praised by Mangaminx (although I think she preferred Baldur’s Gate II), whose LPs I used to watch a lot.

So once my friend and I recovered from Majora’s Mask, we agreed to play through Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition.

First off, I could clearly see the origins of the later games. Just like when I played Mass Effect for the first time and the familiarly from Knights of the Old Republic struck me, I felt the same in reverse here – I could see what led to KotOR and Dragon Age’s gameplay especially.

The combat could be pretty tough at times. I had to pause frequently and give my characters commands, and eventually I remembered to use the potions I was stockpiling. Soon I fell into a habit of saving frequently in case I had to reload.

I wasn’t quite as invested in the story as I expected to be, although this is in part because of how I paced it. I explored most optional areas as soon as possible before progressing the story, which made the story feel light early on.

Much of that time was spent gathering companions. There are a lot of party members in Baldur’s Gate, and I gathered most of them. Now, they’ll leave you if your alignment gets too far from theirs, and only members in the party get experience, so I let most of them sit at a central location while I stuck with the characters I favored.

Some of them also had timed quests. Timed quests are probably the biggest thing I disliked, because I typically waste a lot of time exploring and vaguely wandering, so having characters who might leave forever if I didn’t complete their quests in time frustrated me.

I wish there were more interactions with the party members. This is probably the biggest thing from the later games that I missed here. They made occasional comments to one another, and some of them had personal quests, but I never really felt like I got to know them.

(But really, where would I be without Ajantis telling me several hours into a dungeon full of people trying to kill us that it has a sense of evil about it?)

The writing did have entertaining moments, though, especially through side quests, dialogue choices, and NPCs.

Durlag’s Tower was probably my favorite part of the game, because I felt like I was gradually learning the story as I explored the tower, and it was more focused on little puzzles.

In fact, I generally enjoyed the storytelling in the Tales of the Sword Coast content the most, so I’ll be interested in seeing what the writing is like in Baldur’s Gate II when I get there.

While the story in Baldur’s Gate didn’t resonate with me quite as strongly as I expected, I do have to give it credit for having a main antagonist who felt like a credible threat despite spending a lot of the game off-screen, something BioWare’s recent villains have lacked.

As you can see, my feelings on Baldur’s Gate ended up being somewhat conflicted. I did enjoy my time with it, though and I’m happy I played it, especially to see the origins of some of my favorite games.

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E3 2018 Part 10: Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Games

Table of Contents

EA

Microsoft

Bethesda

Devolver Digital

Square Enix

Limited Run Games

Ubisoft

PC Gaming

Sony

Nintendo

Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

Normally, I fill this section with things that caught my eye during Nintendo Treehouse, as well as anything else from E3 itself. This year, however… it felt like there wasn’t quite as much.

But hey, maybe I missed something wonderful. Here are the highlights…

Nintendo Treehouse

Nintendo focused a lot on Super Smash Bros., but on the second day, they showed off some of the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 “Battle Challenge Mode,” which includes Shulk and Fiora as Blades. That’s pretty cool.

It also has some special challenges, such as the ability to play as Jin for that scene where he killed a ship full of people. Okay, I wasn’t expecting that.

The expansion also looks incredible. You can play as both Drivers and Blades, it’s a standalone prequel to the main game, and it sounds like it’s going to be pretty lengthy.

Meanwhile, Super Mario Party looks great. Even though I’m not much of a multiplayer person, I might get it. I’m so happy that it looks like a traditional Mario Party game again. NO CAR!

Hollow Knight looks pretty fun, too.

Meanwhile, I’ve become more and more excited for Octopath Traveler. It’s going to be a full-length RPG, with an estimated 50-60 hours for the main story and 80-100 if you do side quests as well.

Miscellaneous Games

There’s a cool E3 trailer for Yakuza Kiwami 2, so I really need to get back to playing 0 and catch up.

At first, I was conflicted over the Resident Evil 2 remake. They’ve definitely committed to a dark atmosphere (and it’s so bloody, geez) and focusing on survival over action, but the trailers didn’t convince me.

However, during the E3 gameplay demonstrations, I saw locked doors, keys, and puzzles as well! Right now, I feel optimistic.

What were your favorite games from E3? Let me know in the comments.

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E3 2018 Part 9: Nintendo Focuses on Smash

Table of Contents

EA

Microsoft

Bethesda

Devolver Digital

Square Enix

Limited Run Games

Ubisoft

PC Gaming

Sony

Nintendo

Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

Nintendo’s E3 2018 Press Conference (Nintendo Direct)

Nintendo has some of my favorite games, so I was eager to see what they’d show this year. They started with a new mech action game from Marvelous called Daemon x Machina. Then they moved on to something I’ve been looking forward to, the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 expansion, which is titled “Torna – The Golden Country.”

I loved Xenoblade Chronicles 2, so I’m looking forward to this a lot when it launches on September 14.

They talked a bit about the Pokémon Let’s Go games, which I’m still not sure about. But then it was time for a series I thought we might see, Mario Party…

…and Super Mario Party has no car!

The old board game style is back? I’m in!

Next they showed Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which looks cools, followed by confirmation of the Fortnite rumors. Then they announced Overcooked! 2 and another indie game called Killer Queen Black.

Hollow Knight, which I’ve heard fantastic things about, is finally out on the Switch today, and a new demo for Octopath Traveler is coming on June 14.

A montage of games already announced for the Switch followed, and then they moved into the new Super Smash Bros. game, which is titled Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and has every fighter that has ever appeared in the series.

It was an extensive look at Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and then that was the end.

Like Sony’s press conference last night, it left me conflicted. I enjoyed some of the things I saw… but there were so few announcements! Will they make up for it through Nintendo Treehouse?

What did you think of Nintendo’s E3 2018 show? Let me know in the comments.

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E3 2018 Part 8: Sony Brings A THIRD Kingdom Hearts Trailer

Table of Contents

EA

Microsoft

Bethesda

Devolver Digital

Square Enix

Limited Run Games

Ubisoft

PC Gaming

Sony

Nintendo

Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

Sony’s E3 2018 Press Conference

I normally love Sony’s E3 press conferences, but I was a little worried going into this one. They said in advance that they’d be focusing on four major games (The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding, and Spider-Man), which made it sound like they might not have other announcements.

The starting setup was weird, with everyone in a vaguely church-like space. Then a man played a banjo for quite a while. It wouldn’t be E3 without concerts, for some reason.

That moved into The Last of Us Part II. I was just thinking to myself that this was the complete tonal opposite of the previous grim, brutal trailer they showed for it, when it became just as grim and brutal as I expected after all.

I’ll admit, despite all the praise The Last of Us gets, I’ve avoided it because it always looked too brutal for my tastes.

Then they went to… intermission?

As the intermission stretched on and they repeated their plan to focus on four major games, it really started to sound like there wouldn’t be any new announcements.

They did show a Call of Duty trailer and announce that Black Ops III is now available through PS+, and then they went through a recap of the five games they showed leading up to E3 (Tetris Effect, Days Gone, Twin Mirror, Ghost Giant, and Beat Saber).

(I do want Twin Mirror.)

After a trailer for Destiny 2: Forsaken, it was time for the show to start up again… in a room that looked much more like a typical E3 press conference set-up. Of course, they had another concert.

Their next featured game was Ghost of Tsushima, which looks more interesting than I expected it to, and then… new announcements!

Control, a new game by Remedy, looks pretty cool.

After that, one I was hoping to see: the Resident Evil 2 remake! Yes, RE2make was shown off for the first time at last, after all this time. The atmosphere looks perfect, the characters look good, and all I need is to see some gameplay to be happy.

(Please be traditional survival horror gameplay…)

Also, January 25?! Nice!

(Really, though, please give me survival horror gameplay.)

They announced a wacky game called Trover Saves the Universe next, followed by…

MORE Kingdom Hearts III?

The last one just added scenes. This one was a brand new trailer, confirming the return of Pirates of the Caribbean, Luxord among the Seekers of Darkness (he always seemed like one of the nicer ones, too), more scenes not shown before, a scene between Kairi and Lea, and Repliku is returning??

There’s also going to be an All-In-One Package for the PS4, with Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5, 2.8, and 3 in a single bundle.

Next up was Death Stranding. No matter how much I see of this game, I still don’t understand it, but it does seem interesting at least.

Nioh is also getting a sequel.

They finished with a look at Spider-Man, although afterwards they did announce a new VR game developed by FromSoftware called Déraciné.

And that was that.

My feelings on this one are mixed. On one hand, there were some awesome moments and that Kingdom Hearts III trailer was almost worth it on its won. On the other hand, it felt like there were a lot fewer announcements than usual.

What did you think of Sony’s E3 press conference? Let me know in the comments and don’t forget that we have Nintendo’s show tomorrow!

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E3 2018 Part 7: A Range of PC Games

Table of Contents

EA

Microsoft

Bethesda

Devolver Digital

Square Enix

Limited Run Games

Ubisoft

PC Gaming

Sony

Nintendo

Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

PC Gaming’s E3 2018 Press Conference

I faithfully watch the PC gaming show every year, but it rarely stands out to me as much as the others. Still, sometimes some cool games are shown. They kindly mentioned at the start how long the show would be.

The first game shown, Satisfactory, didn’t really interest me, but the next game looked interesting, Neo Cab. I’d like to learn more about the story, but I’m intrigued.

Battle royale modes aren’t my thing, so I wasn’t too interested in Mavericks: Proving Grounds. However, the next game sounded interesting. Apparently The Forgotten City was a popular award-winning mod for Skyrim, and it’s been reworked into a standalone game.

Open world? How about open universe? Star Control: Origins isn’t my sort of game, but it sounds like a cool concept.

After Hunt: Showdown and Archangel: Hellfire, they moved on to one of my sorts of games, The Sinking City in all its Lovecraftian glory. They discussed how The Sinking City will be focused on investigation, with clues to follow instead of outright objectives. It will have a sanity mechanic, which is always nice.

I wasn’t interested in the long discussion of Warframe, but the Sega montage was interesting… especially with the surprise announcement that Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami are coming to the PC!

(Yes, I have both on the PS4, but it’s still cool news.)

Next up, more Killing Floor 2 updates. Is Killing Floor featured at every E3, or is it just my imagination? They’re also working on a game called Maneater where you play as a shark attacking people.

A publisher named Untitled Publisher announced three games next: Bravery Network Online, Morning Star, and Overwhelm (which is out now). Morning Star, a “post-cyberpunk farming sim,” was the most intriguing of the three to me.

I wasn’t too interested in Jurassic World Evolution or Stormland (although Stormland has some beautiful environments), but the noir detective game Night Call looks like it could be more my speed.

The same publisher showed off an open-world exploration game called Sable.

From there they moved on to Star Citizen, which has been in development for years.

Then it was time to discuss hardware and hardware trends. This section of the PC gaming show never interests me, but someone must enjoy it, because they keep doing it. I’m just not into the hardware side of things (which might be why I’m starting to fall behind in terms of specs again).

After that, back to games. Genesis Alpha One, the Don’t Starve: Hamlet DLC (which looked interesting, but I’ve never gotten into the survival genre), and more Just Cause 4. That’s the third time we’ve seen it this E3!

They showed Overkill’s The Walking Dead, not to be confused with Telltale’s The Walking Dead, which they moved on to next. I really need to catch up on those games.

Noita sounded interesting at first, an action RPG, but since it’s procedurally generated, it’s not really for me.

Two Point Hospital, Realm Royale (another battle royale), Ooblets, and we were over the 90 minutes they said at the start, but at least Ooblets looks cute.

They finished with Anno 1800, Rapture Rejects (top-down battle royale that the audience found funnier than I did), and Hitman 2. (Ah, Hitman 2, not to be confused with the other Hitman 2, because this is the seventh game in the series. And people think Kingdom Hearts has a confusing numbering scheme.)

What did you think of the PC gaming show? Next up is Sony, and then Nintendo tomorrow!

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E3 2018 Part 6: Limited Run Games and Ubisoft (Surprising Me Again)

Table of Contents

EA

Microsoft

Bethesda

Devolver Digital

Square Enix

Limited Run Games

Ubisoft

PC Gaming

Sony

Nintendo

Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

LRG’s E3 2018 Press Conference

I’ve picked up some games from Limited Run Games, but they seemed like an odd choice for an E3 press conference. Still, I was intrigued going into it.

It started out… oddly. I’m not sure what vibe they were going for. That weird feeling persisted throughout the entire conference, from the fake audience to the screen showing musical instruments.

But what about the announcements?

As they’ve hinted for a while, they’re bringing out a physical copy of Golf Story for the Switch.

Our first #LRG3 announcement!

Excited to announce @sidebargames' beloved Golf Story for the Nintendo Switch will be getting a physical release from us this September!

It will be available exclusively at https://t.co/rZI6STJv9L!

Catch our E3 presser here https://t.co/etJsMq9OOw pic.twitter.com/j8r9jHGdWr

— Limited Run Games (@LimitedRunGames) June 11, 2018

They also announced physical copies of Iconoclasts, Observer, Layers of Fear, Thumper, The House in Fata Morgana, 2064: Read Only Memories, VA-11 HALL-A, and Senran Kagura: Bon Appétit!

From there, they revealed that the physical copy of Oceanhorn on the Switch, which they are distributing, can be pre-ordered for the next month.

Cosmic Star Heroine is coming to the Switch, which is exciting news (although a bit rough, since it wasn’t too long ago the physical PS4/Vita copies went on sale).

They moved on to Night Trap, and then news I’ve been hoping for: a physical copy of Yooka-Laylee for the Switch! Since I didn’t buy it yet, I’ll probably get this version.

Surprise! Just announced at E3, #YookaLaylee Nintendo Switch is getting a physical release in August via @LimitedRunGames! pic.twitter.com/YHoRdicYsT

— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) June 11, 2018

From there, they announced physical copies of Spelunky, Exile’s End, Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds Overdrive, Salt & Sanctuary, and Dust: An Elysian Tail, which I more or less enjoyed.

Their final announcement was Double Switch: 25th Anniversary Edition, which apparently is a new release of an old Sega CD game.

This was an odd press conference, but I did like some of the announcements. I’ll get some of these physical copies for sure.

Limited Run Games ended with just enough time for me to eat before catching Ubisoft’s press conference!

Ubisoft’s E3 2018 Press Conference

I tuned in slightly late and found myself confronted with a dancing panda. After wondering what in the world I was looking at, it turned out to be an announcement for Just Dance 2019.

Next, they showed Beyond Good & Evil 2. I wasn’t thrilled with it last year, and I’m still not sold on it, but this new trailer was a lot more interesting. After the reveal at the end, I wondered if it really was a prequel after all, but it apparently still is… somehow.

The Rainbow Six Siege devs discussed the community and upcoming tournaments, and then an awkward intro led into Trials Rising.

There was a new trailer for The Division 2, as well as the announcement of Raids.

Next up, another concert, but this one was based on the Donkey Kong DLC for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. I’ve been lucky with concerts this year.

Skull & Bones still looks cool, but the shared world doesn’t really excite me.

Transference looks creepy and weird. It looks like it isn’t VR-only anymore, either, so I might get it.

Starlink: Battle for Atlas returned with a huge surprise, the Switch version will have exclusive Star Fox content.

For Honor will be free from Uplay this week, and there’s an upcoming addition called For Honor: Marching Fire that adds a castle siege mode, among other things.

Racing followed with The Crew 2, and then when the next trailer started, I wasn’t sure what it was for a while.

At first it looked like Assassin’s Creed… but after I saw a lot of direct combat instead of stealth and assassinations, I figured it wasn’t… but it was! Assassin’s Creed is set in Ancient Greece, and it looks really cool. This is the first time I’ve been this interested in an Assassin’s Creed announcement, possibly because it appears to be a lot more RPG-like.

Here’s the gameplay they showed:

I’m actually pretty interested. (Really, though, was any of that assassin-like?)

Last year, Ubisoft surprised me with a conference I enjoyed, and this year they did the same. I may not be interested in all the games, but it was an enjoyable press conference.

Two more to go tonight: PC Gaming and Sony! As we wait for more, share your thoughts on Limited Run Games and Ubisoft’s E3 press conferences.

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E3 2018 Part 5: Square Enix’s Surprisingly Short Show

Table of Contents

EA

Microsoft

Bethesda

Devolver Digital

Square Enix

Limited Run Games

Ubisoft

PC Gaming

Sony

Nintendo

Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

Square Enix’s E3 2018 Press Conference

Square Enix makes some of my favorite games, so I was pretty excited going into this press conference. They started with more Shadow of the Tomb Raider, then moved on to Final Fantasy XIV.

I’ll get back to FFXIV eventually, so I was intrigued by the new trailer for Final Fantasy XIV Patch 4.3 – Under the Moonlight, although apparently it was already announced a while ago. There’s also going to be some sort of crossover event with Monster Hunter World.

They re-showed the Captain Spirit trailer from yesterday and then moved on to Dragon Quest XI, which I’m pretty excited for.

When the next trailer started, I was intrigued. I didn’t know what it was, but it looked cool. At the end, it was revealed to be a new title, Babylon’s Fall… and it’s by PlatinumGames. An awesome trailer together with PlatinumGames? Sign me up!

They re-showed Nier: Automata for the Xbox and then moved on to a short teaser for Octopath Traveler. I’m looking forward to Octopath Traveler, but I really wish they’d say something about an overarching story. It can’t just be eight individual character stories with no plot connecting them, can it?

Just Cause 4 was next, followed by a short teaser for something called The Quiet Man. Hopefully we’ll learn more about that soon.

Finally, they showed Kingdom Hearts III. At first, I thought it was the same trailer from yesterday, but while it’s mostly the same, it has a few new scenes.

I’m happy we got to see Xigbar again, although he sounds a little different (maybe more… Xehanort?), and it looks like Ienzo might help Sora try to retrieve Roxas’s data. (But where is my favorite, Even?!) The final shot of Lea and Kairi was also nice to see.

This press conference was much shorter than I expected, without many new announcements. Babylon’s Fall is the standout announcement, but why did they have their own presentation for this?

Well, we still have several press conferences left to go today! Up next, Limited Run Games for the first time, followed by Ubisoft. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on Square Enix’s press conference.

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E3 2018 Part 4: Devolver Digital’s Insanity Returns!

Table of Contents

EA

Microsoft

Bethesda

Devolver Digital

Square Enix

Limited Run Games

Ubisoft

PC Gaming

Sony

Nintendo

Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

Devolver’s E3 2018 Press Conference

Last year, Devolver had an unusual press conference. Those of us who tuned in expecting a real conference didn’t know what we were watching for a while.

This time, I was prepared.

It started out with as much insane commentary on the gaming industry as expected, and this time I enjoyed the ride as they parodied the battle royale craze, loot boxes and cryptocurrencies, and more.

They also worked in a few game announcements.

First, they talked about Scum, an open world survival game currently in Early Access.

Next, they showed off My Friend Pedro, a violent game that apparently features a sentient banana, which is coming to both the PC and Switch.

Finally, they revealed the game they teased earlier this week that I was really hoping to see, Metal Wolf Chaos XD. Metal Wolf Chaos was a third-person shooter developed by FromSoftware for the Xbox, but it was never released outside of Japan despite over-the-top American themes. When I first heard about it, I thought it sounded so ridiculously fun I wished I could play it, and now it’s coming to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

They’re using the hashtag #MechAmericaGreatAgain (and URL, probably, although it won’t load for me) because of course they are.

My hopes were fulfilled! I tuned in to Devolver Digital’s conference hoping for a crazy presentation and Metal Wolf Chaos, and I got my wish!

We’ve got a big day of press conferences tomorrow and hopefully many more exciting game announcements.

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E3 2018 Part 3: Bethesda’s New Games (and Numerous Jokes)

Table of Contents

EA

Microsoft

Bethesda

Devolver Digital

Square Enix

Limited Run Games

Ubisoft

PC Gaming

Sony

Nintendo

Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

Bethesda’s E3 2018 Press Conference

Bethesda is a big company, but I actually don’t play a lot of their games. Still, I’ve enjoyed some of their press conferences in the past. The Dishonored 2 trailers stand out as particularly cool.

Here we go!

There are always some leaks ahead of E3, and Bethesda referenced the Rage 2 leak by making a joke about it, which I enjoyed. Then… they had a brief concert? It was more my style of music than a lot of the typical E3 concerts, though, so I didn’t mind as much.

They showed Rage 2 gameplay next, although it’s not a game that particularly interests me.

They talked about Elder Scrolls Legends (which was also announced for Switch/PS4/Xbox) and then Elder Scrolls Online. I’m not a big MMORPG player, but I have to admit it was a cool trailer.

A new Doom game is coming called Doom Eternal. (Halo Infinite, Doom Eternal, where are these names coming from?)

Then they moved on to talk about Quake Champions, which players will be able to play for free this week.

I almost forgot Prey was a Bethesda game, but the Prey devs came out to talk about the new modes and content available in the new update, including the Prey: Mooncrash DLC (available now) and another new mode coming this summer. There was some oddball humor, but it wasn’t too bad.

Wolfenstein was next, with the announcement of Wolfenstein Youngblood, which stars the protagonist’s twin daughters and features optional co-op. (Unfortunately, all I can think of when I see the title is Linkara’s reviews of the Youngblood comics.)

VR is also big. VR is coming to the next Prey mode, and there is also a VR Wolfenstein game coming up called Wolfenstein Cyberpilot.

The humorous section next was hit-or-miss, but I enjoyed the “trailer” parodying how Skyrim is available on everything.

Then they moved on to Fallout 76, which of course is a huge game for them. It’s also… entirely online. It sounds like they’re trying to go for something different than the typical MMORPG, but it’s still not really my sort of thing.

(Fallout fans, how do you feel about this?)

There will also be a beta test, along with some more jokes about that.

Fallout Shelter is out on the PS4 and Switch tonight. I know the PS4 version was leaked, but I don’t think the Switch version was.

Next, they announced a new mobile game called The Elder Scrolls: Blades, which is basically a regular Elder Scrolls game, except for mobile devices… and eventually everything else, from what they said.

What do you think, Elder Scrolls fans?

After that, they announced that they’re working on an all-new single-player game in a new franchise: Starfield. The teaser trailer was short, but I’m intrigued.

Finally, they closed with a tiny teaser for The Elder Scrolls VI.

It was a good press conference. Not a lot of games I’m interested in personally, but it was entertaining and had some good trailers.

Next up, let’s see if Devolver Digital trolls us again or has a legitimate conference!

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E3 2018 Part 2: Microsoft’s Exciting Show

Table of Contents

EA

Microsoft

Bethesda

Devolver Digital

Square Enix

Limited Run Games

Ubisoft

PC Gaming

Sony

Nintendo

Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

Microsoft’s 2018 Press Conference

My relationship with Microsoft is an odd one. I had an Xbox 360 before I had any other consoles from that generation, but since then, my tastes have been more aligned with Sony and Nintendo. Still, sometimes Microsoft’s press conferences have some interesting stuff…

(Note: I wasn’t able to watch this one live, so apologies for the long wait.)

They started out with a familiar name: Halo! Yes, Halo is back as Halo Infinite. I’m not entirely sure why it doesn’t get a number, and the trailer didn’t seem like Halo at first, but I’m intrigued. I also need to eventually play Halo 5, or at least catch up on the story.

The next game excited me, because I recognized its cuteness as being something to do with Ori and the Blind Forest (which I still need to play; darn backlog). This sequel is called Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and it looks beautiful. Take a look.

FromSoftware’s mysterious game came next. And you know what? It wasn’t any of the things fans speculated it might be, because it’s a new IP! It’s called Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and it looks pretty cool.

At this point, I was surprised at how exciting the press conference was. Microsoft got off to a great start!

After a brief mention of Fallout 4, they showed a trailer for Fallout 76, which is a prequel. The Fallout series has never really been my thing, although I know it’s very popular.

When I saw Dontnod’s name come up for the next game, I wasn’t sure was to expect (since it wasn’t the game they recently announced)… but I definitely wasn’t expecting The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. This is a free game set in the Life is Strange universe, coming out on June 26. It follows a little boy who dreams about adventures, and while it looks lighthearted, I’m not sure I trust Dontnod. According to the official announcement, it will contain clues about Life is Strange 2’s story.

Next up was Crackdown 3, which I have little interest in, followed by the announcement that Nier: Automata is coming to the Xbox One. That’s cool news for Xbox players, although it was leaked earlier.

Metro: Exodus will be out on February 22, which surprised me a bit since I actually thought it was already out.

And then it was time for Kingdom Hearts III! I thought they might show a trailer at Microsoft’s conference, but I never expected that twist at the end.

It looks like Sea of Thieves is getting some interesting updates, maybe with new story content, although I was still reeling from the Kingdom Hearts III trailer.

The Battlefield V and Forza Horizon 4 trailers normally would have left me a bit disinterested, but this time they gave me time to compose myself as I continued to think about the Kingdom Hearts III trailer.

(Can you guess which trailer had the biggest impact on me so far?)

Microsoft has acquired some new studios, which led into a trailer for We Happy Few. This is another one I thought already came out, but I guess that was Early Access.

There was a trailer for PUBG’s War Mode, and then… the rumors were true! Tales of Vesperia is being remastered as the Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, which includes all the content from the PS3 version!

Other news suggests it’s coming to PS4/Switch/Steam as well. Meanwhile, I still have an unplayed Xbox 360 copy. This is what my backlog does to me.

They showed The Division 2 next, followed by GamePass news and a montage of indie games, and then a new trailer for Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

I wasn’t thrilled by the skateboarding game Session, but the next game intrigued me until they revealed it to be the MMORPG Black Desert.

Then it was time for another highly-rumored title, Devil May Cry 5!

Devil May Cry is another one of those series I really need to get into someday, but I know a bit about the controversy. This looks like it’s going back to the original canon and ignoring the controversial reboot.

(Nero also looks weirdly like the Scalebound protagonist.)

A new DLC was announced for Cuphead, and then they moved on to a very adorable indie game. As I watched the trailer, I found myself thinking “Hey, what happened to that other cute game I wanted?” only to get to the title reveal and realize this was the same game. I didn’t miss it! I still want Tunic.

A bunch of manga heroes are coming together in Jump Force, which was then followed by Dying Light 2 and a new Battletoads game. After the announcement of Just Cause 4 (another popular series I’ve never been interested in), the Gears of War developer announced… Gears Pop?

Yes, as in Funko Pop. After this cartoonish Gears mobile game, they announced a turn-based strategy game called Gears Tactics, and then before any fans could explode, they revealed Gears 5. For the past couple of entries, the trailers have intrigued me. Someone let me know – is Gears worth playing for the stories?

Phil Spencer took the stage again to talk some more about the Xbox brand and their future plans, and then the press conference “glitched” a la Scarecrow’s takeover a few years ago, because it was time for some cyberpunk…

Yes, the long-awaited new trailer for CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077!

I didn’t really get a good sense for the game from this trailer, but it did do a fantastic job of presenting its cyberpunk world. It’s coming for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and more information is supposed to follow during E3.

Phew! That was quite a long, interesting press conference. Leagues above EA’s for sure, and much more exciting than I anticipated.

I think my biggest problem is that most of the games that interested me are multi-platform or at least coming to the PC. I still lack a compelling reason to get an Xbox One.

Anyway, share your thoughts on Microsoft’s conference in the comments and join me later for Bethesda and Devolver Digital!

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