Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 86

Not-E3 2020 Part 5: Future Games Show

Table of Contents

Indie Live Expo 2020

The Escapist Indie Showcase

PlayStation 5 Showcase

Guerrilla Collective

PC Gaming

Future Games Show

EA

New Game+ Expo

MonsterVine Hot Games Summer Showcase

Ubisoft

Future Games Show

I almost got to watch the Future Games Show live, and I did catch the end live once I got my Internet to cooperate with me.

They started out with the upcoming horror game Quantum Error, which I was already interested in and actually interviewed the developers about over at another site I run.

I’m not completely sold on Dustborn, but it looks interesting enough for me to keep my eye on it. After that and Ghostrunner, they went to Call of the Sea, another adventure game I’m interested in playing.

The next game was Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, the next adventure game from Frogwares, and even though I’m not crazy about it being open world, I have to admit it the idea of a game starring a young Sherlock Holmes is intriguing. I’ll have to consider it, maybe after I play the Sherlock Holmes games I already have.

I’m not a big fan of shoot ’em ups, but Cygni does look pretty. I’m much more interested in the next game they showed, though, Morbid: The Seven Acolytes. Described as a “gothic RPG” and also “horrorpunk,” it definitely looks like my sort of thing.

As you can see, this show was off to a much better start for me, with so many games right in a row that I liked. The next few after that, I wasn’t quite as interested in. Hotshot Racing, another look at Cris Tales (which I’m interested in, but I just saw it at the PC Gaming Show), Liberated, Neon Abyss, Skater XL, the announcement that GTTOD: Get to the Orange Door is coming to the Xbox One…

Then Waking, which looks potentially cool, Space Crew, and then Maid of Sker. I remember Maid of Sker being announced, and it looks like one I’ll definitely need to check out.

This is where it started to slow down a bit for me.

We had a montage of games, another look at Remnant: From the Ashes – Subject 2923, a game called The Captain is Dead, a game called Main Assembly, another look at Blankos Block Party, a new map coming to Last Oasis, and then a discussion about “the future of gaming” in general.

When they got back to showing games, they featured Wasteland 3 and then Remothered: Broken Porcelain, which I’m curious about, although I haven’t played the first Remothered.

They teased Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest, then switched to another conversation, this time about cross-play.

After that, they returned with Rogue Company, Outriders, Disintegration, another look at Paradise Lost, a game called Operation: Tango, another look at Kena: Bridge of Spirits from the PS5 showcase, and a sequel to Serial Cleaner called Serial Cleaners.

Of the three shows today, this was probably the one I liked the best, mainly due to horror games. Huh.

Anyway, that wraps up our Future Games Show coverage! We’ve got a bit of a break for the rest of the weekend, but my Not-E3 coverage will return next week! What did you think of today’s news?

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Not-E3 2020 Part 4: Guerrilla Collective and PC Gaming

Table of Contents

Indie Live Expo 2020

The Escapist Indie Showcase

PlayStation 5 Showcase

Guerrilla Collective

PC Gaming

Future Games Show

EA

New Game+ Expo

MonsterVine Hot Games Summer Showcase

Ubisoft

Guerrilla Collective

I was all ready to watch the Guerrilla Collective show live, but my Internet connection had other ideas. Fortunately, I did catch it after the fact.

They started with System Shock, and then a game called Cardaclysm: Shards of the Four, which amuses me since I recently played a game called Cardpocalypse. Anyway, after that was Uragun, Exo One, Almighty: Kill Your Gods, and Roki.

The next game shown was called Genesis Noir, which combines a creation story with film noir, such a strange combination I’m intrigued by it.

Doors of Insanity sounded interesting until I learned it was a roguelike, and then we got another look at A Juggler’s Tales, followed by a game called Lake, Urban Trial Tricky, and Boyfriend Dungeons. It was another long string of games that didn’t catch my attention much, with Night Call, Colt Canyon, Slay the Spire for iOS, Rigid Force Redux, Outbuddies coming to consoles, and Scourge Bringer.

I was excited to see more of Baldur’s Gate III, and disappointed to hear it’s launching in Early Access in August, maybe.

Disco Elysium is coming to the Epic Game Store, West of Dead was shown next, and Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam. After showing a game called Valheim, which looks like it could be entertaining, and a Switch version of Dusk, they shared updates for Children of Morta, a mobile version of Moonlighter, and an expansion and board game for Frostpunk.

Next up was Liberated, then a game that looks pretty intriguing called Gestalt: Steam & Cinder.

They showed a game called Swimsanity, No Place for Bravery, and Haven, and then gave another look at Metal: Hellsinger. After that, it was time for Gonner and a new game called Just Die Already: Old People Mayhem Sandbox (yes, that’s really the title).

After that, Paradox took over for Paradox Insider, which… I guess is technically a separate show? They provided looks at Crusader Kings III, Empire of Sin, Prison Architect: Island Bound, Surviving the Aftermath, and Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2. That last one, I’m potentially interested in, but I’ll need to play the first one.

So now, let’s talk about the PC Gaming Show!

PC Gaming Show

This year, I was mainly interested in the PC Gaming Show because of the rumors about a Persona 4 Golden PC port. Its Steam page actually popped up before the show even began, so the actual announcement lost some of its impact when we finally got there.

Anyway, they started out with another look at Valheim, a look at Ooblets, and the announcement that Torchlight 3 is currently on Steam in Early Access. After details about Elite Dangerous, it was finally time for the big Persona 4 Golden announcement! I actually finished P4G a few days ago, so you can look forward to my Persona 4 Golden review coming soon if you’re interested in this.

Next was a horror game called In Sound Mind, which also looks pretty good.

After an exploration/city management game called Airborne Kingdom and an RTS called DwarfHeim, there was a lineup of titles from Newblood Games.

There were so many, it was a bit hard to keep track of them all, but the Newblood Games lineup did include Faith, which I played and enjoyed last October. The best part, though, was seeing the website URLs for these games and the company, because they have hilarious URLs.

devilmayquake.com
deaderspace.com
notfortnite.com
and similarly goofy URLs

Next came a strategy game called Humankind, a co-op survival game called Icarus, and then Evil Genius 2: World Domination, which looked entertaining enough.

Godfall looked more interesting than I thought when it was shown before, and Prodeus looks like a classic first-person shooter, but what really caught my attention next was Fae Tactics, a turn-based strategy RPG.

They showed a cute game called Carot, dogfighting game Project Wingman, a toy-themed online game called Blankos Block Party, Everspace 2, and a game called Inkluminati that could be interesting. After that, they showed Toy: A Total War Saga, and then a DLC for Remnant: From the Ashes called Subject 2923.

Then they provided some details about the upcoming Mafia remake, and from there showed a game called Rogue Lords that I’d be more interested in if I liked roguelikes. Similarly, Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy would look more interesting to me if not for that roguelike part.

The Call of the Void update for Dauntless was revealed, followed by a new look at the sandbox game Among Trees, but the next game that interested me is Potionomics, a potion shop sim that kinda reminds me of Recettear.

We got to see more of the very Souls-like Mortal Shell, although they decided to focus on a boss battle, which was… less than exciting and probably not the best look at the game.

Next they showed a trailer for the Shadow Man remaster, which I thought was a surprise, but it looks like it was actually announced earlier this year and I forgot about it.

After Blightbound came a detective game called Shadows of Doubt, and this one looks pretty cool.

The Forgotten City looks interesting, and Paradise Killer has potential as well. Then we got another look at the game Haven, the introduction of Cartel Tycoon, a game called Trash Sailors, and a new trailer for Cris Tales, which looks better than ever (even though I never actually did get around to playing the demo last year like I intended to).

Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms also looks pretty good.

I’m not especially interested in Weird West, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mienral Town, or New World, but then they actually showed a trailer for Dontnod’s Twin Mirror, which for a while I’d been afraid had been dropped. Next up was yet another look at Metal: Hellsinger.

The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos looks potentially fun, but it loses points for making me try to spell that name (I’ll admit that I typed “dungeon of nahbuellek” into Google and let the results correct me).

I wasn’t particularly interested in much of the rest – Red Sails, Surgeon Simulator 2, The Last Campfire, Escape from Tarkov, and The Outlast Trials (although maybe I’ll look into that more if I play the single-player Outlast games) – but then they showed a trailer for Gloomwood (which might have also been in the rapid Newblood montage), and that looks like my sort of game.

And that was the end of the PC Gaming Show. Next up, we’ll be taking a look at the Future Games Show, so stay tuned!

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Mixed Feelings on the New Origami King Trailer

Now it’s time for a break from our Not-E3 coverage for news that isn’t from an E3 replacement… although if Nintendo had its usual Nintendo Direct this year, it very well could have been.

Today, Nintendo dropped an almost 6-minute overview trailer for Paper Mario: The Origami King.

After the initial trailer left people cautiously optimistic, we were all waiting for a better look at the game to answer the numerous questions the reveal left us with.

I figured a solid look at the game would help me make up my mind, but instead I’m more conflicted than ever.

The main questions after the reveal trailer were:

Is Origami King an RPG?
Are partners really back and will they fight in combat?
Are attacks consumable items?
Is “paper” still a major focus of the game?
Will it have a good story?

So let’s take a look at the trailer and see which of these questions we can answer now.

It begins with a summary of the game’s premise, then gets into more specific details. Seeing Mario patch a hole with confetti right ahead of the narrator saying this game takes place in “the paper-crafted universe of the Paper Mario series” is a good sign that yep, they’re still obsessed with paper.

The environments look interesting, although I hope you can interact with NPCs in that oasis town.

About a minute and a half into the trailer, it gets into the question of Origami King’s partners. After Olivia, who appears to be the primary partner a la Tippi/Kersti/Huey, it introduces some others. The Bob-omb, who had everyone curious due to him appearing in multiple environments yet not having a name, is revealed to have amnesia. I suppose that’s why he introduces himself as Bob-omb. The trailer calls him Bobby.

Then there’s a Toad professor named, uh… Professor Toad. Really? They couldn’t give him a name?

And of course, Kamek, since Mario seems to be teaming up with some of Bowser’s allies.

So, will partners fight in combat? According to the trailer, “some of them” will.

The combat system itself looks like it could be okay. It’s not a traditional turn-based combat system, but instead has a puzzle component where you rotate rings to line enemies up. Unfortunately, we see the conclusion of a battle this time, and it shows Mario getting rewarded with coins, so I think there’s a very good chance Origami King does not have experience or leveling up.

Then… we have the bosses.

When I heard the words “Legion of Stationary,” I had a moment of excitement. Had they really introduced not only a new villain, but an entire cast of new villains? Then I saw that the colored pencils shown a moment ago were one of them, and my excitement plummeted into dismay.

Colored Pencils, Rubber Band, and Tape are our villains.

Yes, the bosses include a set of colored pencils and a tape dispenser.

I… I just don’t get it. They’re tripling down on the paper obsession! Remember when the paper aspect of Paper Mario was largely an aesthetic that only came into play from time to time? Now it’s like it’s the whole point! Why are we fighting tape?!

Ahem. Boss battles themselves sound interesting, since they seems to transform the battle into a mini board game puzzle where you have to get Mario close to the boss in order to fight.

Then the trailer shows how you’ll need to find lost, folded Toads and unfold them, because Toad-finding has become another obsession for some reason. Even the narrator lampshades it with the “This is a Toad” speech. Hopefully they’ll at least have funny personalities.

Some more gameplay elements are shown in a Japanese video, including Professor Toad using an ability in the environment and Olivia transforming into a giant turtle for a super attack.

The exploration, mini-games, and other gameplay elements seem like they could be fun, but there’s still so much about Origami King that has me shaking my head.

But wait, there’s more! In addition to the trailers, Nintendo UK’s website has been updated with more Origami King details.

It describes it as a “tear-able” comedic adventure, so I think we know what tone this game is going for.

Now, the story section introduces the main characters, with a paragraph devoted to Mario, Olivia, Olly, Peach, Bowser, Luigi, the Folded Soldiers, and the Toads. A second section talks about the partners, saying “they’ll join you for a time.” This probably means they aren’t permanent companions like in past Paper Mario games, although Bobby might be an exception to that since he’s been consistently shown in multiple areas.

The gameplay section introduces the confetti feature (which is basically a confetti version of painting stuff in Color Splash), mentions that Toad Town will gain new shops and features as you rescue more Toads (and that sounds cool; I like the idea of Toad Town as a hub area), the combat system and boss fights, and then… equipment.

So, are attacks consumable items or not? Judging by the website, it’s a mix.

Your basic Boots and Hammer sound like normal attacks you will always have. Special attacks such as Shiny Boots, however, are separate and must be equipped. They “break after a while,” so it doesn’t sound like they’re one-time consumable items so much as breakable weapons with durability.

You can also equip Accessories to “boost Mario’s skills both in battle and on the overworld.” Does this mean badges are back in Origami King?

That was my first thought when I saw them, but I’m not quite sure. It looks like accessories are split into multiple categories with different tiered accessories in each one, although the last group might be miscellaneous accessories. So I don’t think they’re badges, but a simpler version of that system.

Chances are good those health accessories are why Mario had different amounts of HP in different trailers, rather than any sort of leveling system.

And of course, there’s the “1000 Fold Arms” technique to interact with the paper world at special Magic Circles.

So to revisit our questions again…

Origami King does not appear to be an RPG. There is no sign of experience or leveling.
Partners are back, although most might be temporary, and at least some fight alongside you in battle.
Basic attacks are not consumables, and special attacks are breakable weapons.
The game is obsessed with paper and papercraft. The world is paper! Paper! Fight your nemesis, the mighty tape dispenser! (There’s gotta be a Scissors boss, right?)
I don’t know if the story will be good, but it looks like it’ll be focused on humor and possibly character-focused stories like Bobby’s amnesia. I expect it to be closest to Color Splash when it comes to story progression.

These are my thoughts on the latest Origami King trailers and details, but what about you? What do you think of Paper Mario: The Origami King?

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Not-E3 2020 Part 3: PlayStation 5 Showcase

Table of Contents

Indie Live Expo 2020

The Escapist Indie Showcase

PlayStation 5 Showcase

Guerilla Collective

PC Gaming

Future Games Show

EA

New Game+ Expo

Ubisoft

Sony’s PlayStation 5 Showcase

I didn’t get to watch the PlayStation 5 showcase live, but I managed to avoid all but one spoiler ahead of time. It began with a dramatic reveal of the PlayStation button icons, a theme which would repeat throughout the showcase as they used it to transition between sections.

With that aside, let’s get into the games.

They started with a PS5 port of GTA 5, and I feel bad for all the fans hoping for GTA 6 news. After that, they showed Spider-Man: Mike Morales. I’m not a big Spider-Man fan, but I have friends who loved the PS4 Spider-Man game, so I know it’s a big deal for them.

Next up was Gran Turismo 7, which doesn’t interest me.

But after that, it got good. A new Ratchet & Clank game was announced, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Now, I’ve only played a single Ratchet & Clank game so far, but I enjoyed it a lot and the new one looks a lot of fun. Maybe I should play more of them before it comes out.

I was pretty excited when I saw Square Enix’s name next, but even though it wasn’t Final Fantasy or Babylon’s Fall or any of the other names I hoped to see, Project Athia looks pretty cool.

The next game was from Annapurna Interactive. They made What Remains of Edith Finch, which I enjoyed, so I was already interested. This one is called Stray, and despite showing a setting with robots, the trailer prominently featured an adorable cat I hope is the player character.

Then it was time for some technical specs, but you know me, I’m mainly here for the games.

And they came back with a creepy science fiction game called Returnal. I’m not so sure about that title, but it looks like my sort of game.

Next up was Sackboy: A Big Adventure, which is basically a LittleBigPlanet spin-off as some sort of collect-a-thon 3D platformer, and it looks like so much fun. It also reminds me that I need to finish LittleBigPlanet sometime, as I’ve been playing it with a friend over the course of several years.

I’m not interested in Destruction All-Stars but then they showed a game called Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which looks pretty cool.

No interest in Goodbye Volcano High or Oddworld: Soulstorm (I’ve never gotten into the Oddworld series), but then we finally got a look at Ghostwire: Tokyo gameplay. It has a lot more action than I expected, but I’m still pretty interested.

They showed a few more games I didn’t particularly care about, Jett: The Far Shore, Godfall, Solar Ash, and Hitman III. I’m not completely sold on Astro’s Playroom, but since it’s a 3D platformer, it has my attention.

After Little Devil Inside and NBA 2K21, they showed a game called Bugsnax, which looks… cute? It’s from the developers of Octodad, and I have absolutely no idea what sort of game it is or how it plays.

I spent part of the next trailer saying, “Wow, this looks really cool” before realizing it was the much-rumored Demon’s Souls remake! It look fantastic and I want it. Since it’s a full remake, I guess this means my PS3 copy is going to remain (mostly) unplayed forever, much like my PS3 copy of Dark Souls.

Deathloop was shown again, and then the next game…

…was Resident Evil VIII, or… Resident Evil Village… Resident Evil VIIIage? they did a clever thing with the logo there, but I’m not sure how you’re supposed to say the title. Village, I guess. Anyway, it looks… different. I didn’t realize it was Resident Evil for a while. I’m not sure what to think, but I guess I’d better play Resident Evil VII soon.

The next game revealed was Pragmata, and it looks potentially interesting. Then they showed the rumored sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon II: Forbidden West. I haven’t played Horizon, mainly because it’s open world, but it does look cool.

Finally, they revealed the PlayStation 5 itself. Its design is weird and vaguely alien. I’m not crazy about it, but I don’t care what the console looks like as long as it has good games.

And as far as I’m concerned, this showcase was fantastic when it came to good games! There are so many games I want to buy, and I can’t wait to see more. What did you think of the PlayStation 5 showcase?

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Not-E3 2020 Part 2: The Escapist Indie Showcase and IGN’s Highlights

Table of Contents

Indie Live Expo 2020

The Escapist Indie Showcase

PlayStation 5 Showcase

Guerilla Collective

PC Gaming

Future Games Show

EA

New Game+ Expo

Ubisoft

The Escapist Indie Showcase 2020

Our second big not-E3 event was today, with a showcase of indie games hosted by The Escapist and GOG. It was originally scheduled for later in the day, but was moved earlier (most likely to avoid conflicting with the PS5 showcase).

They showed a lot of games. It was two hours of almost non-stop trailers, with only a few breaks to talk about specific games in more detail. Not all of them were new game announcements, of course, but there were plenty of those in there as well.

So instead of going through all ~70 games shown one by one, I’ll talk about the ones that stood out to me the most. You can check out the full showcase here.

The first that really caught my attention was Black Book, an RPG with card-based battles. Apparently it was announced several months ago, but I missed it then. It looks pretty cool.

A first-person exploration game called Paradise Lost (no relation to the novel) looks like it could be interesting, too.

Several games followed that could be worth looking into, an action game called There is No Light, a word-based game I’d heard of before called Lost Words: Beyond the Page, and a first-person puzzle game called Relicta are a few that stood out to me next.

Strangely, one of the games shown is heavily-focused on a streaming experience, an action game called Gone Viral that has viewers vote on things to happen in the game.

Now, I wouldn’t have guessed that the next game to really stand out to me would be a War of the Worlds tie-in, but Grey Skies: A War of the Worlds Story looks pretty cool… although it’s described as a stealth-based thriller, so I’m not sure if I’d enjoy it if it has a big emphasis on stealth.

The noir adventure game Chicken Police also showed up, and every time I see that game, I’m puzzled by just how many animal-based mystery games there are.

A new trailer was also shown for Raji: An Ancient Epic, which we talked about back in 2017, and it looks like it’s coming along nicely.

Near the end, they showed a tactical RPG called The Way of Wrath and then an open world called The SoulKeeper: Chronicles, both of which had cool trailers. Since I’m not much of an open world fan, I’m not sure I’d enjoy SoulKeeper, but I’ll definitely keep my eye on The Way of Wrath.

IGN’s Highlights

Meanwhile, IGN has had the first two days of its Summer of Gaming celebration, with some new announcements and gameplay showcases.

The first day included the announcement of a rhythm first-person shooter (yes, really) called Metal: Hellsinger, Alex Kidd in Miracle World Dx, and Demon Turf, none of which particularly interest me. Demon Turf is a 3D platformer, but it looks a little slow and awkward to me.

They also showed off English gameplay of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, although with no audio except for the commentary and looped gameplay clips.

Mortal Shell got a gameplay reveal too, and its presentation is just about the Soulsiest Souls-like look a game can get.

On the second day, one of the games that surprisingly caught my attention is Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time. I have no familiarity with Samurai Jack whatsoever, but the game looks fun.

Star Renegades and The Iron Oath both look like they have potential as well.

The newly-announced cyberpunk shooter Foreclosed didn’t get my attention with its trailer, but once they started showing more of the gameplay, I was more interested.

Overall, the second day was better than the first, despite the first day featuring Yakuza. Next up, we’ll be talking about the PlayStation 5 showcase, which is about to begin!

What were your favorite announcements from the Escapist Indie Showcase and IGN’s first two days?

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Not-E3 2020 Part 1: Indie Live Expo 2020

Table of Contents

Indie Live Expo 2020

The Escapist Indie Showcase

PlayStation 5 Showcase

Guerilla Collective

PC Gaming

Future Games Show

EA

New Game+ Expo

Ubisoft

Indie Live Expo 2020

The first of our “not-E3” digital events of June began with the Indie Live Expo on Saturday morning. I didn’t get to watch it live, but caught up on the news afterwards. So let’s take a look at the Indie Live Expo 2020 news round-up.

After a short introduction about indie games, they began with a concert. I’m not sure why the drummer was shirtless, but it started with Undertale music and then went into some other pretty good songs, so I enjoyed it more than a lot of the musical interludes during game presentations.

Then the showcase began with the announcement of a Japanese version of Children of Morta.

Next, some new games were revealed: a mech action game called Nimbus Infinity (sequel to Project Nimbus) and life sim game Chinese Parents.

Updates were announced for Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth and, a little later in the presentation, Gensokyo Night Festival.

The next game announced looked somewhat interesting, a narrative adventure game called Sumire, although since the game’s description says you’ll have a single day to accomplish tasks in, I’m not sure I’d enjoy it (especially if time passes as you walk around).

They showed another life sim called Picontier, and then a trailer for Craftopia. Craftopia looks pretty ambitious, but these sorts of open-ended crafting games aren’t really my thing.

The rest was a celebration of indie games in general, with showcases of games already out, as well as a Steam announcement for Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 and the announcement of a side-scrolling action game called Cogen: Sword of Rewind.

Overall, it definitely had a different feel from an E3 showcase, and even more so since the hosts were more providing commentary and explanations than strictly translating it. None of the games particularly interested me personally, but what did you think? We’ve got more events coming later this week, so stay tuned for the rest of this year’s not-E3 coverage!

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Not-E3 2020 Schedule

I’m still not entirely sure how I’ll cover the digital events that have risen up to fill the void left by E3 2020’s cancellation, but now that we’re getting closer, this is what the schedule currently looks like.

Not-E3 2020 Schedule

June 6

Indie Live Expo 2020 – 4 AM PT / 7 AM ET

June 11

The Escapist Indie Showcase – 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET

June 13

Guerilla Collective Live – 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET

PC Gaming – 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET

Future Games Show – 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET

June 18

EA – 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET

June 23

New Game+ Expo – 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET

July 12

Ubisoft – 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET

Sony’s PlayStation 5 event, which I was counting as part of this coverage even though they weren’t going to be at E3 2020 in the first place, has been postponed to an unknown date. Limited Run Games has also postponed its showcase. Microsoft still hasn’t given the date for their digital event, and neither has Devolver Digital. Nintendo hasn’t announced anything, so the rumors of no Nintendo Direct might be true. I’ll update this schedule as these dates come out.

IGN’s Summer of Gaming event runs from June 8 – June 28, so I’ll cover any interesting new reveals from that separately.

There’s also a VR showcase on June 16, but since I don’t play any VR games, I most likely won’t include that in my Not-E3 coverage.

This year’s “E3” schedule looks pretty different from past ones, but I’ll do my best to cover these events like I normally would. Are you looking forward to this summer’s digital events? Should I stop referring to them collectively as Not-E3 2020? Do you want me to cover the VR day after all? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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My Wild Theory About the Final Fantasy VII Remake Ending

Two weeks ago, we discussed the controversial Final Fantasy VII Remake ending and what it potentially means for the future of the remake.

As I mentioned, there are many different theories out there, and I’ve been working on one of my own.

The more I read other people’s theories and analyses, as well as the developers’ comments about the ending, the less I believe my own theory. There are some really good theories out there that make use of tiny details throughout the Compilation and seem pretty credible.

Nevertheless, here is my own wild theory about the Final Fantasy VII Remake ending – one that would allow the rest of the remake to stay in line with the original game.

There will be unmarked Final Fantasy VII Remake ending spoilers from this point on, as well as major spoilers for the original Final Fantasy VII.

There are three important things to keep in mind as we go into this theory:

1) Kitase claims they are “not drastically changing the story and making it into something completely different than the original.”

2) In a 2016 interview with Game Informer, he said they “know the balance between what can be changed versus what needs to be protected” and wanted to have surprises so fans of the original aren’t just following the story they already know.

3) The Final Fantasy VII Remake Ultimania lists four new mysteries presented in the game, one of which is the purpose of the Whispers. It quotes Red XIII’s explanation, but including it as one of the mysteries suggests there might be more we don’t know.

Now, let’s begin.

My Issues With the Final Fantasy VII Remake Ending

I actually like the idea of the Whispers enforcing the timeline of the original game, but some parts of its execution felt off to me. First off, why is destiny changing at all?

If we assume the timeline has a fixed destiny it’s supposed to follow, those events should occur naturally unless something directly intervenes to change them. Otherwise, the Whispers would not be a new phenomenon; people in this world would have been aware of them before.

Even if Sephiroth is attempting to change the timeline and the Planet deployed the Whispers in response, the Whispers are forced to correct little things that have nothing to do with him. Why did Avalanche not want to take Cloud on their next mission? Why did Cloud almost kill Reno? Why did Wedge survive the plate drop?

These little changes imply things can work out differently without the direct intervention of an outside force (especially since there’s no indication of a butterfly effect that would lead to them), which opposes the idea of a fixed destiny.

I also felt the Whispers’ enforcement of the timeline seemed arbitrary. Whenever they show up, it’s easy to point out what they’re correcting, but what about when they don’t correct events? One scene in particular stood out to me: saving Wedge in the underground Shinra lab.

The Whispers try to ensure Wedge died when the plate dropped, but he survives. One of his cats leads the party to where he’s unconscious in an underground Shinra lab. They’re separated from Wedge, and after fighting their way through the lab, they see hints of Shinra human experimentation, which nearly revives Cloud’s suppressed memories. Before he can remember too much, the Whispers literally shove everyone out of the facility…

…including Wedge. Instead of leaving him underground, the Whispers bring him out with everyone else.

I’ve seen theories that the Whispers needed Wedge alive to help correct a later part of the timeline (making sure the party goes to the roof of the Shinra building), but that seems like a bit of a stretch – mainly because it assumes the Whispers change things in the past to influence future events, in which case why did they try to kill Wedge in the first place?

I propose that the Whispers are not arbiters of fate at all, but rather that their role throughout the game is part of an elaborate deception being played on both audience and characters alike by Final Fantasy VII’s master of illusions: Jenova.

The Greater Role of Jenova in the Final Fantasy VII Remake

Regardless of which ending theory is true, I believe the Final Fantasy VII Remake is building up Jenova as a more central threat.

While the ending has gotten the most attention due to how dramatic its changes are, the remake really begins to diverge from the original earlier than that, after the party encounters Hojo and teams up with Red XIII, with the removal of the trail of blood scene.

In the original, the party is captured and imprisoned. After falling asleep, they wake up to find the cell doors unlocked and a trail of blood leading up to President Shinra’s office, where he’s been killed. In the remake, Cloud has a vision of Jenova and collapses. He then wakes up in Aerith’s old room in the lab, after which they need to escape Hojo’s lab in one of the game’s more extensive dungeon segments. A trail of purple ooze leads to President Shinra’s office, where he’s still alive, only to be killed ahead of the Jenova boss fight.

Why was this part changed so extensively?

The lab section feels as though it exists just to have a long dungeon there, but they could easily have done that with the prison instead. Changing the entire setup for this section puts a much stronger emphasis on Hojo and Shinra’s experiments – and by extension, Jenova.

Then there’s the trail. Many fans think the trail of blood was removed to ensure the game didn’t get an M rating. That’s plausible. Changing it to purple goo, however, shifts the scene’s focus away from Sephiroth (keep in mind that with Sephiroth being so iconic, they felt they couldn’t use the same subtle buildup for him that he had in the original) and onto Jenova as an inhuman entity.

Both of these significant changes place the focus on Jenova, leading into the Jenova Dreamweaver battle.

Red XIII says it’s an illusion, and enemy intel says contact with Jenova Dreamweaver induces hallucinations (note: the name “Dreamweaver” was added for the English localization and isn’t present in other translations or in the leaks, strangely enough).

Jenova’s ability to cause hallucinations is important to keep in mind as we continue with this theory, but now let’s talk about the Whispers themselves.

Appearance of the Whispers

The Whispers appear as cloaked spirits without bodies or limbs. On its own, this means nothing. However, one pre-release theory about them always stood out to me. According to the Final Fantasy wiki, an early version of the original Final Fantasy VII’s script had the Sephiroth clones as “not people, but, rather, parts of Jenova floating in the air covered by their cloaks.”

The Sephiroth clones appear in the remake as well, but a floating piece of Jenova covered by a black cloak would probably look a lot like a Whisper.

That’s not the only aspect of their appearance I want to focus on, however. Two primary colors are associated with the Whispers: gray and purple.

Most Whispers appear gray, trailing gray smoke. Where else is gray smoke used? In connection with Sephiroth. Throughout the game, there are several shots of a black feather from Sephiroth’s wing falling to the ground, where it vanishes into gray smoke. Gray smoke also appears when President Shinra is stabbed – most players took this to be censorship again, using smoke in place of blood, but why reframe that whole scene to have the party present when he dies? A bloodless corpse would have been less noticeable than watching him get stabbed right in front of you.

The second primary color associated with the Whispers is purple. The Enigmatic Spectres have a purple tinge that sets them apart from the other Whispers, and Whisper Harbinger has a purple core. A purple aura is also associated with Sephiroth in the remake, most notably when he appears ahead of the final battle. Keen-eyed fans have also noticed that when Aerith flees the alley in the new intro, a faint purple light is visible while a hint of One-Winged Angel plays.

And of course, the color purple is associated with Jenova due to both her design in general and, once again, the purple ooze that replaced that trail of blood.

A popular theory is that the Enigmatic Spectres are Whispers corrupted by Sephiroth’s power and that Whisper Harbinger was attempting to contain him. Nevertheless, I find it interesting that the two colors seen most often in connection with the Whispers are also associated with Sephiroth and Jenova.

I’d like to say one more thing about Whisper Harbinger before we move on. Harbinger is described in-game as an amalgamation of many Whispers. The ability of Whispers to combine into a larger form does bring to mind Hojo’s Reunion Theory, that separated Jenova cells will always attempt to reunite, but the name strikes me as even more interesting. Why?

Because in Advent Children, Vincent refers to Jenova as “Heaven’s Dark Harbinger.”

Now, I don’t know if the same word is used in the Japanese script in both of these scenes or not. It could be a coincidence, like how Remake’s Jenova boss is only referred to as “Dreamweaver” in the English script. If it is the same, though, that’s just one more connection between the Whispers and Jenova.

Sephiroth and the Whispers

But what really gets me is that near the end of the game, the party begins to conflate defeating the Whispers with stopping Sephiroth. We enter the portal to fight the Whispers because Aerith says Sephiroth needs to be stopped.

If Sephiroth is truly going against the will of the Whispers by trying to change destiny, defeating them is exactly what he wants. Yet entering the portal to fight the Whispers and change destiny is what the party decides to do to stop him. Either the party has been manipulated into defeating the Whispers for Sephiroth, or there is reason to believe the two are connected.

(Whisper Harbinger seems pretty intent on killing the party, too. Preserving destiny is no longer a focus.)

Then there are the three unique Whispers you face to overcome Harbinger: Whisper Rubrum, Whisper Croceo, and Whisper Viridi. Described in-game as future entities attempting to protect their timeline, the Ultimania strongly supports the belief that they are the Remnants of Sephiroth from Advent Children, which again directly ties him to the Whispers.

Finally, by the very end, it appears Sephiroth shows the ability to use the Whispers’ powers, meaning either he’s taken control of them or he always had that power.

Visions and Hallucinations

Throughout the game, Cloud is plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks. Most are clearly the result of his suppressed memories due to his trauma and Hojo’s experiments on him, but others appear to be glimpses of the future. Then, in the final chapter, the Whispers surround the party and we see a flashback of Zack.

The framing of this scene suggests that both Cloud and Aerith see it. If that’s the case, then it’s not another one of Cloud’s flashbacks, but was induced by the Whispers. Up until this point, the Whispers attempted to stop Cloud from regaining his memories… so why show him Zack now?

On the other side of the portal, fighting the Whispers also causes the party to see visions of the original game’s ending, presented as a bad fate they want to avoid.

Anyway, the main point of this is that although the Whispers are supposed to simply enforce the timeline, they spend the end of the game showing the characters visions, even though those visions fuel their belief that they need to fight back. Jenova is firmly established in the original as creating illusions, Jenova Dreamweaver is directly stated to cause hallucinations, and – getting back to the altered trail of blood scene yet again – the whole party came into direct contact with Jenova matter leading up to the ending.

Aerith and the Whispers

A big problem with the concept of the Whispers as an extension of Jenova/Sephiroth, of course, is that they’re explained to us as “arbiters of fate” by Aerith and Red XIII (who got his knowledge of them from Aerith). How could Aerith be so wrong about what the Whispers are?

First, let’s keep in mind that Aerith does not understand the Whispers at the start of the game. In fact, when Cloud first meets her, she appears both confused and frightened by them.

(Also note that they disappear right before Cloud has a hallucination of Sephiroth, who tells him he’s “too weak to save anyone.”)

It’s widely assumed that as a Cetra, Aerith can at least see the Whispers at this point, and people she touches or who directly attempt to interfere with destiny are able to see them as well. However, watch her face after she grabs Cloud’s hand at 2:07. She stares around at the Whispers as though this is the first time she’s able to see them, whereas earlier she’d been batting blindly at them to keep them away.

This would support the hypothesis a few fans have presented about why Rufus can see the Whispers, that touching Cloud makes it possible. In Chapter 17, Tifa also appears to share his vision of Sephiroth only after touching him.

But that’s tentative. For now, we need to focus on Aerith.

Regardless of whether or not Aerith has knowledge of the original game, she does not understand the Whispers at this point in time.

Even when Red XIII and Aerith explain the Whispers late in the game, there are some strange things going on. Although the Whispers surround her, they do nothing to prevent her from speaking. She also says, “I’m lost in a maze, and… every step is taking me further from the path… Every time the Whispers touch me… I lose something. A part of myself.”

If the Whispers are a force of the Planet, would she experience them in such a negative way?

What if this isn’t a comment on the Whispers taking away free will by trying to force Aerith onto destiny’s path at all, but rather a hint that their touch is influencing her, making her believe what they want her to believe about them?

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Jenova employed deception. According to Ifalna in the original Final Fantasy VII, Jenova “looked like… our death mothers… and our death brothers. Showing us specters of the past.” It appeared as a friendly force and tricked the Cetra before infecting them.

From the original Cetra to Shinra and Sephiroth himself, people throughout Final Fantasy VII’s history mistake Jenova for being something it is not.

Maybe we’ll look back on this scene and realize Barret wasn’t too far off to call the Whispers a “Shinra science experiment.”

But why? If Jenova is engaged in an elaborate deception to make the party believe they have overcome destiny itself, what is the point? What does Jenova and/or Sephiroth stand to gain from such a trick?

The Goal

In the original Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth frequently attempts to play mind games with Cloud while also using his influence over him to compel him to hand over the Black Materia. This culminates in the scenes at the Northern Crater, where Sephiroth shows Cloud a number of visions of the past, challenging his false memories and claiming he’s merely a Jenova experiment constructed by Hojo and formed from Tifa’s memories of Cloud.

Sephiroth’s mind games mirror the tricks the writers use on the players due to Cloud’s nature as an unreliable narrator. As Cloud’s false memories fracture, so does the player’s understanding of what they thought was going on.

Could this sort of trick work again on an audience that already knows the truth about Cloud?

Let’s assume the Whispers are Jenova. Let’s assume the visions are sent by Jenova/Sephiroth as part of their deception. Let’s assume everything the Whispers do is part of a massive trick to make the party and players both believe defeating the Whispers means destiny can be changed.

The scene that most stirred up the fanbase was the scene of Zack’s survival. Yet he can’t be alive in this timeline, because Cloud has the Buster Sword. The way that scene is shot, to me, suggests more that it is a vision of what could have happened if the Whispers weren’t around back then.

Why show us that Zack could have survived? Why show Cloud glimpses of Aerith’s fate? Why make us believe that fate can be changed?

“You are too weak to save anyone,” Sephiroth taunted Cloud at the start of the game, and by tricking both Cloud and the players into believing things can work out differently – that he could have saved Zack, that Aerith can be saved – he’s setting up yet another mind game that will result in Cloud’s breakdown when he sees he’s not able to save anyone after all.

I’ll leave you with one last thing to think about. The scene of Zack’s apparent survival is directly preceded by Hojo laughing as he sees that Jenova is free.

Like I said at the start, I’m not wholly convinced of my own theory anymore because of how detailed some of the other theories are. Nevertheless, this sort of trickery is the one path I see that would fulfill Kitase’s promise that the Final Fantasy VII Remake isn’t deviating hugely from the original story, while holding true to the original’s tone and style.

What do you think?

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Not-E3 2020 Hopes and Predictions

E3 isn’t on the horizon this year, but June is filled with all sorts of showcases and special game events in its stead, starting with the PS5 event this Thursday.

Update: Looks like that has been postponed.

Every year, I outline my hopes, predictions, and pipe dreams for E3. This year is a little different, but here are some things I’m hoping to see nevertheless.

Hopes and Pipe Dreams for June’s Gaming Events

Last year, I laid out all of my unlikely hopes from past years that had yet to come true:

Ace Attorney Investigations 2 localization
The World Ends With You 2
Tales of Symphonia prequel
The Great Ace Attorney localization
Xenosaga HD
Knights of the Old Republic 3
A true Paper Mario game
World of Final Fantasy 2
Mother 3 localization
Persona 3 remake

Of those, I still don’t expect to see The Great Ace Attorney until 2023, Xenosaga HD hopes are pretty much finished, and we actually have a new Paper Mario game on the horizon (so let’s see some more about it).

Strangely, The World Ends With You 2 feels possible now thanks to the Anime Expo art, so we’ll have to wait until early July to see if anything comes of that.

I really don’t expect any of the others to happen.

So let me add a few more to the list instead! Sega is participating in some of the June gaming events, including the New Game+ Expo on June 23. You know what I want to see? Yakuza Kenzan and Yakuza Ishin localizations. NIS America is going to be at events, too. I’d love to see official confirmation of the Crossbell Arc of the trails series being localized.

Now let’s move on to some more likely predictions.

Not-E3 2020 Predictions

I expect the next God of War game will be revealed, maybe at the PS5 event. I also think we’ll finally see something from Babylon’s Fall.

Even though Nintendo is reportedly not doing an E3 Nintendo Direct (although this still hasn’t been confirmed), I’m hoping to finally see more from Bayonetta 3 and the announcement of Monolith Soft’s mysterious fantasy IP.

And since EA is doing its usual showcase, I think we’ll finally get to see more from Dragon Age 4.

The Xbox event, whenever it will be, will probably show us more from Halo Infinite as well.

Coverage will be spread out over the month and beyond, since we’ve got events this week, next week, near the end of the month, and in July. What are you expecting, and hoping, to see from our Not-E3 events this year?

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PlayStation 5 Showcase Announced for June 4

Although Sony didn’t intend to have an E3 press conference this year, it looks like we have a big PlayStation event in June to look forward to nevertheless.

On June 4 at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, there will be a special PlayStation 5 showcase to reveal the first PS5 games.

It will be about an hour long and feature both large studios and smaller ones. The PS5 itself is still planned for a holiday release.

I’m usually a bit behind when it comes to adopting new consoles, but maybe this showcase will include a must-play game that sends me out to get a PS5 at launch. Then again, I still remember nearly buying a PS4 at launch for The Order: 1886 before I decided to wait, and I never ended up playing that game at all. Either way, I hope to see some great games in the showcase!

(Should I consider this part of my Not-E3 coverage? E3 replacements are spread all across the month, which makes it a bit tricky to decide how to cover it.)

What are you hoping to see in the June 4 PlayStation 5 game showcase?

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