Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 70
June 13, 2021
E3 2021 Part 6: Microsoft and Bethesda Games Showcase
Summer Game Fest 2021
Koch Primetime
IGN Expo Livestream
Guerrilla Collective Day 2
Wholesome Direct 2021
Ubisoft Forward
Devolver Forwarder
Gearbox Entertainment
Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase
Square Enix Presents
PC Gaming Show
Future Games Show
Limited Run Games
Capcom
Nintendo Direct
Bandai Namco
It’s strange having Xbox and Bethesda in together now that Microsoft bought Bethesda, and their joint show kicked off with Starfield… which leaked shortly before the show started. The trailer told me pretty much nothing, and it won’t be out until November 2022, so it’s quite a ways off.
Then they showed a really long trailer for Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl, which is coming out in April 2022. I’ve never played the first Stalker, but maybe I’ll try it sometime.
They showed Back4Blood, then a trailer for a new game called Contraband that showed basically nothing, but doesn’t sound like my sort of game (although the trailer music was good), and then a Pirates of the Caribbean crossover with Sea of Thieves called Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life. Gotta say, I didn’t see that coming.
Yakuza showed up briefly, but only because Yakuza: Like a Dragon is coming to Game Pass. They showed Battlefield 2042 and another look at the time loop game for Twelve Minutes.
Then, one of my hopes came true with a new trailer and August 25 release date for Psychonauts 2! It looks so good, and I can’t wait! (Although of course, it’s coming out right in the middle of all the other games I can’t wait for.)
More Bethesda games are coming to Game Pass, and they tried really hard to hype up new content coming to Fallout 76. They showed new content for The Elder Scrolls Online, too.
After that was Party Animals, which I don’t particularly care for, and a reminder that Hades is coming to Xbox. They also showed a game called Somerville, which looks pretty creepy. It definitely gave me Limbo/Inside vibes, and apparently the studio was co-founded by someone who worked on those games.
I was hoping to see more from Halo Infinite, and although they spent a good deal of time showing the multiplayer side (which will be free), they also showed a trailer for the campaign. I’m kind of interested in the story, although I never did catch up on Halo 5.
The next game they showed was Diablo II: Resurrected, but then they announced A Plague Tale: Requiem. That’s another where I haven’t played the original yet, but I’m intrigued. Maybe I should give it a try.
Far Cry 6 was featured again, and then the next announcement was Slime Rancher 2. I didn’t play the first one of those either, but it looks pretty cute.
New trailers for Shredders and Atomic Heart were next, and then a pretty cool-looking platformer called Replaced.
They announced a new update for Grounded, talked about Among Us, and then featured… Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes and it’s town-building spin-off Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (which might be the first time it got a name). Unfortunately, Eiyuden Chronicle now has a release year of 2023, which disappointed me a little.
I didn’t care too much for our looks at The Ascent or Age of Empires IV, but they followed those with a hilariously self-aware trailer that turned out to be for The Outer Worlds 2! I was hoping that would get a sequel, and I’m definitely going to play it!
The show concluded with Microsoft Flight Simulator, Forza Horizon 5, and the rumored vampire game from Arkane, Redfall. It’s an open world co-op shooter, though, so it’s not really my thing.
Still, this was a pretty good show all around. Now let’s see what Square Enix has for us in the next show!
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June 12, 2021
E3 2021 Part 5: Devolver Forwarder and Gearbox
Summer Game Fest 2021
Koch Primetime
IGN Expo Livestream
Guerrilla Collective Day 2
Wholesome Direct 2021
Ubisoft Forward
Devolver Forwarder
Gearbox Entertainment
Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase
Square Enix Presents
PC Gaming Show
Future Games Show
Take-Two
Limited Run Games
Capcom
Nintendo Direct
One of my fondest E3 memories is the first Devolver Digital showcase. I tuned in expecting a normal press conference, and went through many, many emotions as I slowly realized along with the rest of chat that we were watching some form of concentrated madness instead.
Since then, Devolver has found an entertaining balance between parody and actual game announcements, and has become a highlight for me.
This year’s parody was focused on games as a service and monetization, with Devolver presenting “monetization as a service,” a subscription service that gives you access to premium purchases you can make. It was great.
Meanwhile, they showed more gameplay from Shadow Warrior 3, a new sidescrolling action game called Trek to Yomi, another trailer for the multiplayer game Phantom Abyss, and another new multiplayer game called Wizard With a Gun. We also got to see another trailer for Death’s Door, which I really like the looks of.
A deckbuilding puzzle game called Inscryption looks interesting, and they announced a mobile game parody of mobile games called Devolver Tumble Time. Then they announced a physical-only game called Demon Throttle.
As they wrapped up this year’s showcase, they also managed to parody NFTs. I’m not sure what they have left for next year, but I can’t wait to find out.
Gearbox EntertainmentNow, I missed watching Devolver live and initially intended to watch Gearbox and then go back to Devolver later. After a few minutes of Gearbox’s show, I decided to catch up on Devolver’s insanity first. But don’t worry, as soon as I finished, I tuned in to see what Gearbox covered.
Gearbox began with a nice little video introduction about how it was a rough year and we deserve a treat now.
They talked for a while about things like the Borderlands movie, and then moved on to Borderlands Science, which is a mini-game in Borderlands 3. Then they had an itty bitty teaser for Homeworld 3. After that, they showed the trailer for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands again and talked a bit about the world.
Then Homeworld 3 got another tiny bit of attention.
We got to see Tribes of Midgard again with some more detail, and then they announced a PS4 port of Godfall, along with a new expansion and an update. Then they talked about Homeworld 3 for another few seconds. Then they talked more about the Borderlands movie.
…Why did Gearbox have a showcase?
That wraps up today’s E3 offerings, but don’t worry – tomorrow is filled with showcases, including a couple I’ve been looking forward to quite a bit!
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E3 2021 Part 4: Ubisoft Forward
Summer Game Fest 2021
Koch Primetime
IGN Expo Livestream
Guerrilla Collective Day 2
Wholesome Direct 2021
Ubisoft Forward
Devolver Forwarder
Gearbox Entertainment
Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase
Square Enix Presents
PC Gaming Show
Future Games Show
Take-Two
Limited Run Games
Capcom
Nintendo Direct
Bandai Namco
The first showcase of E3 proper was Ubisoft’s, and I had a pretty good idea what one of their announcements would be, considering Nintendo leaked it earlier this morning. Oops.
Ubisoft started with Rainbow Six Extraction. Now, I never follow Rainbow Six news very much, but I didn’t expect it to be about aliens. Apparently this game was originally announced under the name Rainbow Six Quarantine, so I probably knew about it already (and was probably surprised about the aliens then, too).
They talked about Rocksmith+ if you want to learn how to play guitar, their sports game Riders Republic, and new stuff for Rainbow Six Siege. Then they went through some upcoming updates and new content for their current games, like Watch Dogs: Legion DLC.
Then it was time for Just Dance 2022.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla got its own dedicated section on updates and expansions. Apparently it’s going to be supported for another year with new content.
After that, they moved on to talk about a couple shows they have, and then returned to video games with another look at Far Cry 6, as well as its Season Pass content.
Then they finally announced Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, which leaked this morning! I’ll never forget my expectations for Mario + Rabbids being completely turned upside down when I first saw the gameplay for Kingdom Battle, so I was hoping a sequel would be announced.
(I’ll play the first one before this comes out.)
They closed out with an Avatar game called Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, so maybe that will be interesting. That was it for Ubisoft’s show, but we still have more to discuss! Stay tuned!
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E3 2021 Part 3: Guerrilla Collective Day 2 and Wholesome Games Highlights
Summer Game Fest 2021
Koch Primetime
IGN Expo Livestream
Guerrilla Collective Day 2
Wholesome Direct 2021
Ubisoft Forward
Devolver Forwarder
Gearbox Entertainment
Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase
Square Enix Presents
PC Gaming Show
Future Games Show
Take-Two
Limited Run Games
Capcom
Nintendo Direct
Bandai Namco
Today is the start of E3, and the first thing scheduled for today was the second day of the Guerrilla Collective’s showcase. Once again, we’ll be going through highlights, because a lot of games were shown.
They started with another look at Aragami 2, a firefighting action platformer called Firegirl, and a sci-fi game called Batora: Lost Haven that seems interesting. Next came a game called Grime, with a trailer that told me absolutely nothing.
Akatori and Archvale look like they could be entertaining, but the coolest game shown (for me, at least) was a dark fantasy action-adventure game called Hunt the Night.
We also got another look at Black Book, which looks neat, and I’m also intrigued by The Light of the Darkness.
One that especially caught my attention, though, was the absolutely adorable Slime Heroes.
Demon Turf was shown again, but the slow animation of that game just doesn’t make the gameplay look fun to me even though I love 3D platformers.
Arietta of Spirits is another one I’ll be keeping an eye on. They showed a trailer for Sable (which you might remember from the musical performance the other day), and it’s incredibly pretty, but I’m not sure if it’s my sort of game.
Death Trash looks like it has potential, White Shadows has some Limbo vibes, and they revealed an Enhanced Edition of Raji: An Ancient Epic. I reviewed Raji for MonsterVine, so I’m curious about the changes in the Enhanced Edition.
Those were the biggest highlights for me from the Guerrilla Collective’s second day. They ended with a Limited Run Games interview. Of course, LRG has its own E3 show later this week, which I’ll be covering as well. And from that, they led straight into the lead-up for the Wholesome Direct.
Wholesome Direct 2021The Wholesome Direct began by saying they’d show off 75 games, which is when I really decided to make this a highlights post instead of trying to cover anything.
The best thing about Wholesome Directs is that you tend to see a lot of cute games. That’s how I feel about Bird Problems: A Sitcom Narrative Game, a game about a socially awkward bird.
I need it.
I’m not a big fan of farming sims, but Snack (a “farming cat-venture”) looks so cute I might try it anything. I’ll also be keeping my eye on the 3D platformer Here Comes Niko.
Yokai Inn looks interesting, Mythic Ocean is just beautiful, and Kokopa’s Atlas is another one that seems really cute.
I played a demo of Garden Story and found it to be promising, so it was nice to see that again, and Beasts of Maravilla Island is beautiful. Tasomachi, which is coming to consoles this year, also looks interesting.
A visual novel called Please Be Happy was also shown, and BattleCakes is a turn-based RPG where you play as cupcakes. Cupcakes! Cloud Jumper looks interesting, and I really like the look of Witchery Academy, too.
Many more cute games were announced, so be sure to check out the Wholesome Direct.
And now we have a short break until Ubisoft’s E3 2021 show begins!
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June 11, 2021
E3 2021 Part 2: Koch and IGN Highlights
Summer Game Fest 2021
Koch Primetime
IGN Expo Livestream
Guerrilla Collective Day 2
Wholesome Direct 2021
Ubisoft Forward
Devolver Forwarder
Gearbox Entertainment
Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase
Square Enix Presents
PC Gaming Show
Future Games Show
Take-Two
Limited Run Games
Capcom
Nintendo Direct
Bandai Namco
E3 still hasn’t officially begun, but today brought a presentation from Koch Media. Since yesterday’s new publishing label, Prime Matter, was from Koch Media, I went into the event expecting to get a closer look at the games featured in the montage at Summer Game Fest.
What I didn’t expect was that it would be primarily talking about games, with very little shown. At least we got a new trailer for Dolmen, though. It’s a cosmic horror Souls-like action RPG, and I’ve been interested in it for a while.
So while Koch Primetime wasn’t the big event I was hoping for, it turns out there also was an IGN expo today showcasing a variety of games. Instead of going through them one by one, here are the highlights.
Mortal Shell is getting DLC called The Virtuous Cycle. I haven’t played Mortal Shell, but I might try it out someday. They also showed a new trailer for Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, an upcoming adventure game I recently previewed for MonsterVine.
Doki Doki Literature Club is getting a new upgraded version for PC and consoles called Doki Doki Literature Club Plus. While I enjoyed the original, I’m not sure I actually care enough to play Plus, but we’ll see.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands looks entertaining enough that I’ll keep it in mind. They also showed a horror adventure game called Bramble: The Mountain King that could be interesting. And we got another look at Tunic, which as I mentioned yesterday, still looks very cute.
Death’s Gambit is also getting an expanded edition called Death’s Gambit: Afterlife, and it looks pretty cool.
We also got another look at Steelrising, which I’m potentially interested in, as well as a psychological thriller called Broken Pieces and the horror game Martha is Dead. Haunted Space, the horror space shooter, was shown again as well.
And those were the highlights for me from today’s events! Which games stood out to you the most?
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June 10, 2021
E3 2021 Part 1: Summer Game Fest
Summer Game Fest 2021
Koch Primetime
Guerrilla Collective Day 2
Ubisoft Forward
Devolver Forwarder
Gearbox Entertainment
Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase
Square Enix Presents
PC Gaming Show
Future Games Show
Take-Two
Limited Run Games
Capcom
Nintendo Direct
Bandai Namco
It’s not E3 proper yet, but I resisted the urge to call the first few events Pre3 and decided to group them with my E3 coverage along with everything else. Things kicked off today with the start of Summer Game Fest 2021, so let’s take a look!
First up was the new game from Gearbox. As I watched the trailer, I asked myself, “Is this just fantasy Borderlands?” Well… actually, yes. It turned out to be Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, a new Borderlands spin-off.
The next game was Metal Slug Tactics, a tactical spin-off of the Metal Slug series. I’m not too familiar with that series, but it could be interesting (although it also has roguelike elements).
Kojima made an appearance next via video call, and at first it seemed like he was just there to chat about the current situation in Japan and how the pandemic affected game development and stuff. However, then they played a highly confusing Death Stranding trailer, which turned out to be for Death Stranding: Director’s Cut. I never got around to picking up Death Stranding, so I’m intrigued.
The next special guest was Jeff Goldblum to announce Jurassic World Evolution 2, which doesn’t particularly interest me. Then it was time for a break from games for a musical performance of the theme from an upcoming game called Sable.
An MMORPG called Lost Ark was shown next, followed by an update on Call of Duty’s next season. Then Ryan Reynolds came with a joke about Elden Ring. He was actually there to share a movie trailer, for some reason.
Next up was new content coming to Among Us, and then Shuhei Yoshida appeared to talk about indie games, particularly Chicory. I played a demo for Chicory that was pretty cute.
After that, we got an indie game announcement that really caught my attention: Salt and Sacrifice, the sequel to Salt and Sanctuary. I haven’t played Salt and Sanctuary yet, but it’s supposed to be pretty good, and the sequel looks neat.
They showed a new trailer for Solar Ash, details about Chivalry 2, the world’s tiniest teaser for Valorant news, and a new area being added to Escape from Tarkov. The Two Point Hospital devs have a new game coming out called Two Point Campus, and then they teased a Netflix presentation tomorrow.
After that, it was time to announce a new publishing label, Prime Matter, with a montage of games. It’s from Koch Media, so they’ll probably show their games in more depth at tomorrow’s show. I’m familiar with some of them, like Dolmen.
Next up was a multiplayer game called The Anacrusis, which sounded interesting at first but became less and less my thing the more words he said. Anyway, we learned that an online game called New World will get a deep dive tomorrow, and then there was an update on Rocket League.
They also showed a new game in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, a multiplayer game called Bloodhunt.
We got to see a new trailer for the next game in the Dark Pictures Anthology, House of Ashes. It looks like it could be good, but I haven’t played any of them yet. For that matter, I still need to play Until Dawn.
But then, they showed a new trailer for Tales of Arise! It appears to show some party members they hadn’t revealed until now, so that’s no longer a surprise, but the trailer looks really good! I’m so excited for that game.
The Switch version of Sky: Children of the Light got a release date, and then they showed a cute-looking adventure game called Planet of Lana.
Next up was an update about Overwatch 2 stuff and then another look at Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, and then a new update on Paladins.
We got a story trailer for Monster Hunter Stories 2… but it seemed to me like it was pretty similar to the previous story trailer. Anyway, I’m excited for that game, although I might not play it at launch with all the other games coming out in the next few months.
It was time for another musical break, then a new look at Endless Dungeon. Then they talked about Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which has a live stream later today. Someday I’ll catch up on that series.
The next focus was Far Cry 6, with the actor who plays the villain talking about his character. Then they announced a Nier costume for Fall Guys (specifically, 2B), which was kinda cute… and kinda terrifying. Next was a Genshin Impact trailer, which I’ve never played despite it being recommended to me sometimes.
A new developer was introduced, Deviation Games, but they don’t have a game ready to share yet. They’re partnered with PlayStation, though.
More music (a Sonic Unleashed concert this time), an update on Back4Blood, and then an announcement of an upcoming ID@Xbox demo event. It will include Tunic, which I remember every few months as “that cute game that isn’t out yet.” It’s still cute.
They showed a trailer for a multiplayer action game called Tribes of Midgard, and then another look at Evil Dead: The Game.
Finally… they really did it! The show closed with a trailer for Elden Ring, which will be out on January 21, 2022. I have to admit, while I wasn’t too invested in the Elden Ring hype before, the trailer is really cool.
And that was that! Summer Game Fest 2021 has finished it’s show, but we have plenty more of E3 events coming over the next few days! What did you think of today’s event?
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June 7, 2021
E3 2021 Schedule and Weekend Highlights
The weekend saw a couple of additional gaming events that I’ll cover briefly here, but first let’s take a look at the E3 2021 (and related events) schedule! There are still a few unknowns, but we can fill those in as we go. I’m also counting Summer Game Fest as part of this coverage, since it’s right ahead of the main E3 events.
E3 2021 ScheduleJune 10
Summer Game Fest 2021 – 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET
June 11
Koch Primetime – 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET
June 12
Guerrilla Collective Day 2 – 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET
Ubisoft Forward – 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET
Devolver Direct – 1:30 PM PT / 4:30 PM ET
Gearbox Entertainment – ?
June 13
Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase – 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET
Square Enix Presents – 12:15 PM PT / 3:15 PM ET
PC Gaming Show – 2:30 PM PT / 5:30 PM ET
Future Games Show – 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET
June 14
Limited Run Games – 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET
Capcom – ?
Take-Two – ?
June 15
Nintendo Direct – 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET
Bandai Namco – ?
EA Live will be held on July 22. There’s still no indication of Sony’s plans.
Weekend HighlightsBut ahead of E3, we also had a couple of indie-focused showcases over the weekend! Indie Live Expo returned with some intriguing indie games, including a new trailer for The Good Life, which has been delayed to fall.
(However, the performance looks much better in this trailer than in the previous one.)
Others that look intriguing include an RPG called iii: Revolving Wonderland and a 2D sidescrolling RPG called Lost Epic. fault – milestone two side: below also got a September release window.
After that, the Guerrilla Collective held its Day 1 live stream (which is why only Day 2 is part of the E3 schedule). Highlights for me were another look at the cosmic horror roguelike Source of Madness, another side-scrolling Lovecraftian action game called Elderand, and the photography game Beasts of Maravilla Island.
So we’re off to a good start to the E3 season with some promising indies, and we have many E3 shows and presentations to look forward to. I’ll be covering them all, as usual, and I’ll update this schedule if anything changes or gets updated.
What are you looking forward to the most?
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June 4, 2021
Dragon Quest II: The Next Step in the Classic JRPG Journey
Eons ago when I played the first Dragon Quest, my plan was to play II next and progress through the series one game at a time.
Well, I ended up dropping my playthrough of Dragon Quest II, mainly because I don’t play mobile games often and it’s not a tiny game like its predecessor.
But the Dragon Quest 35th anniversary got me all fired up for the series again, so I returned to my Dragon Quest II playthrough and stayed with it until I finished it!
Dragon Quest II is a noticeable evolution of the basic JRPG formula found in the original. Instead of a single character, you gain two party members over the course of the game. The world is bigger, with the first part of the game being somewhat guided while the later part opens up for you to explore and choose which objective to pursue first. And the story is also more detailed, although still pretty basic.
Now… while I finished Dragon Quest finding it to be quite charming and pleasant despite its simplicity, Dragon Quest II frustrated me more. Sometimes your goal is vague, and the larger world meant I spent a lot of time wandering around lost. There’s also a hefty difficulty spike near the end compared to the rest of the game.
So I’d say I enjoyed Dragon Quest II less, even though I appreciate how it further developed the JRPG formula. It also had some nice touches that I enjoyed.
Click for Dragon Quest II spoilersI really like that the end of the game lets you talk to every NPC for celebratory dialogue if you want to, even though a lot of the lines were repeated. I’m glad that poor NPC outside the underground town finally figured out where everyone was. And I especially love that even the Dragonlord’s descendant has dialogue for that part. We’re pals now.Overall, I’m glad I stuck with it to the end. My original plan was to play III next, but with that beautiful remake announced, I’ve put that on hold in favor of waiting. I’ve got Dragon Quest IV, VII, and XI as options right now, so I think the next one I play will be Dragon Quest XI. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time.
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June 2, 2021
E3 2021 Pipe Dreams, Hopes, and Predictions
It’s that time of year again! E2 2021 is completely online this year, and with Nintendo’s announcement of their showcase time, the schedule is starting to take shape.
Summer Game Fest begins on June 10, followed by Koch Primetime on June 11, and then the start of E3 proper on June 12.
So far, digital E3 events have been announced by Ubisoft, the PC Gaming Show, Devolver Digital, Xbox & Bethesda (they’re together now), Limited Run Games, and Nintendo. There are some smaller events scattered in and around the E3 dates as well, so I’ll consider covering those.
Will Square Enix have its own showcase? I hope so, but they haven’t announced it yet.
(Meanwhile, PlayStation is off doing its own thing again, and EA is saving its showcase for late July.)
With the big event almost upon us, I can’t help but hope for exciting news!
E3 Pipe DreamsYou know, I’m running out of pipe dreams. In 2015, I thought a TWEWY sequel and Bayonetta 3 were pipe dreams, but they’re both in development. In 2016, I added Dai Gyakuten Saiban to the list, and that’s happening. We got a new Layton game and another Paper Mario in the meantime, too (and my feelings toward Origami King softened thanks to Bug Fables filling that Paper Mario void).
That means my only remaining pipe dreams from prior years are:
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 localization (chances are better than ever now)Tales of Symphonia prequel (no way it’ll happen with Arise coming out so soon)Xenosaga HD (they say it’s impossible, but I still hope)Knights of the Old Republic III (doubtful, but there are rumors of a KotOR remake)World of Final Fantasy 2Mother 3 localizationPersona 3 remakeAnd you know what? I’ll just go ahead and toss all of my remaining top localization dreams onto the list: the untranslated Tales games, Fatal Frame IV, Crossbell, and the Yakuza spin-offs.
But now let’s move on to something a bit more reasonable…
E3 2021 Hopes and PredictionsSquare Enix is at the top when it comes to hopes and predictions, which is one of the main reasons I hope they’ll announce their own showcase. We’re supposed to get Final Fantasy XVI news this year, and there are rumors of a Souls-inspired Final Fantasy spin-off. And while it’s probably too early, I can’t help but hope for even a small tease of Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2. And… Babylon’s Fall? Please?
Meanwhile, I think Ubisoft’s show will give us payoff for the Mario + Rabbids sequel rumors after all, and the Xbox show will include another look at Halo Infinite and maybe Psychonauts 2.
From Nintendo, I’ll dare to hope for Bayonetta 3 news at long last, and I expect we’ll get a look at Breath of the Wild 2 and maybe Metroid Prime 4. News about Shin Megami Tensei V also feels likely. Personally, I hope to see something from Monolith Soft, whether it’s a Xenoblade Chronicles X port, a new Xenoblade title, or the announcement of their mysterious fantasy IP.
I’ll also be bold and guess Elden Ring will finally be shown, maybe at the Xbox show or Summer Game Fest, which people seem to think is likely.
(Of course, there’s every chance Bayonetta and Elden Ring fans will be crying together again after E3.)
More than anything, I want the E3 showcases to dazzle me with surprise announcements I never saw coming. There’s nothing more exciting at these events than the announcement of a new, unanticipated game that looks fantastic.
So, what are you hoping to see from E3 2021? What do you expect to be announced? Share your own hopes or predictions in the comments!
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May 31, 2021
Raging Loop: Werewolf by Way of Zero Escape
Over the weekend, I finished up a visual novel that had been recommended to be several times, Raging Loop.
Raging Loop’s story is partly based on the Werewolf deduction game.
The main character is a young man who gets stranded in an isolated village just in time for the Feast of the Yomi-Purge, a deadly event where villagers become wolves and attack the humans by night, while certain humans are granted powers to help identify the wolves and choose who to hang each day.
Structurally, the visual novel made me think of the Zero Escape series right away. It has a flowchart to follow all of its branching paths, with certain paths blocked until you reach bad endings that grant you the “key” to unlock new choices.
Also like Zero Escape, this aspect is part of and acknowledged by the story, as well – that’s where the “loop” in the title comes from.
It’s a bit more linear than I expected, with only a handful of points that let you actually choose a path to see first instead of just following bad endings until you can reach a better outcome. I didn’t mind that, though, since the story is pretty interesting as it unfolds.
Sometimes the writing feels like it’s trying to be too clever for it’s own good, but overall it’s really an intriguing and thrilling story.
Now, once you reach the true ending of Raging Loop, you unlock a substantial amount of additional content. First, a series of short extra stories become available, set after the end. Second, new scenes are added throughout the entire visual novel, providing new details and showing scenes from other characters’ viewpoints.
I highly recommend reading these. When I reached the end, I was somewhat unsatisfied by the ending and frustrated by some of its more ambiguous points. Reading through the additional scenes and extra stories really helped to clear everything up and left me satisfied with the story after all.
Click for Raging Loop spoilersRaging Loop explains away the “supernatural” elements of the feast with an explanation that would make Professor Layton proud, but that still leaves a lot of questions regarding the loops and “god.” The bonus content really helps clear up what was legitimately supernatural and what wasn’t.I disliked that the first playthrough withholds information Haruaki knows for the sake of having some last-minute twists (such as Mitsuji’s identity), but everything else was good.
Wondering what’s up with a certain character? Confused about an aspect of the game’s lore? The answers are there. Oh, and if you felt disappointed by some of the bad outcomes that are essentially “I died and don’t know why,” those get explained, too. It makes the whole story so much better, and leaves me able to confidently say Raging Loop is worth reading.
Apparently there’s another visual novel set in this same universe, Death Match Love Comedy, that Raging Loop has some slight references to. Here’s hoping we get that one localized as well!
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