by mento
Fine. You guys want me to get more invested in E3 ("not really?"), then I'm going to review all the trailers that went up on the site during the event. That's right, I'm smoking the entire carton, for little other reason than to masochistically punish myself for trying to symbolically wash my hands of the whole thing with a Super Famicom JRPG Let's Play (it's over here! Plug plug!).
Actually, I do this largely to credit the hard work Marino did to get all these trailers up on the site for the past few days, and how the lesser known trailers that didn't rise to prominence with showy conference appearances might not get their due. I mean, how many of these could there be...?
(Every trailer review is accompanied with a "Hype Meter" score, because we wouldn't allow Edgework to bust that thing out during the livestreams and somebody might as well use it. I'm also checking to see how many of these games appear to have Grappling Hooks. It was their E3 after all, along with Dads of War and getting high.)
(work in progress!)
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The next big thing from Volition, the Saints Row and Red Faction guys. Kinda has an Overwatch vibe to its cast of colorful quippy heroes and what look like hand-drawn special effects mixed in with cel-shaded characters (sorta Wind Wakery, even), but maybe that's less biting Blizzard's steez and more "knowing which way the wind was blowing" after the reception Fuse got after its visual change. Seems like it could be fun, though this CG trailer doesn't give much away about the actual game, except for that one guy has a grappling anchor. (This was one of a handful of trailers to get leaked before E3, but for the rest I'm sticking to those that are specifically tagged "E3 2016" in the site's video library.) Hype Meter: Mayhaps on the Mayhem. Grappling Hook: Confirmed!
Well, it's more Injustice. Trailer seemed to be focused on Supergirl, Gorilla Grodd and rocky new guy Atrocitus, but otherwise looked a lot like the prior game. I guess the big changes will be in how it plays, not how it looks, much like any other iterative fighter franchise. Either way, I'm not really a fighter guy, so pass on this one. Hope it's a hit for Jason and Jeff and all the other Netherworld/Boon/DC fans out there though. Hype Meter: Not frozen solid, but in just ice. Grappling Hook: C'mon, there's gotta be some "get over here" shit in this. Mostly confirmed.
We got Titanfall. For as much as everyone's looking forward to seeing the changes to the multiplayer, I'm into this single-player they showed off in the trailer. Looks like it might be a fun twist on the "big guy helps small hero" mold we saw with Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom and, well, this year's The Last Guardian. Just with a giant mech that talks like the Honest Trailers guy. Hype Meter: Well, it's not falling after seeing that trailer. Cautiously optimistic about shooters next year. Grappling Hook: Other footage has shown off the grappling hook in multiplayer, looks to be the big new change to the game. Confirmed.
That was four minutes of watching cars I'll never get back. Something about the plain fonts and the opera music reminded me of the new Hitman, and I sort of expected Agent 47 to show up and throw a can of spaghetti at one of the cars to kill it. Maybe that's just me trying to amuse myself during a dry (but gorgeous!) racing game trailer that seemed oddly focused on the game's eSports potential. Hype Meter: Made me want to fall asleep, maybe in one of those depressing office cots we saw during that one Demo Derby. Grappling Hook: Probably not. Gran Turismo is too serious for grappling hook cars.
This game still looks like a psychotic Amplitude, even with the short but intense trailer. I'll let you know how I feel about it after I take this wallet out of my mouth. Hype Meter: I'm very intimidated, so that's probably a good sign. Grappling Hook: The only hooks here are of the musical kind.
Glad to see this series still looks as nuts as ever. Can't wait to find out that Watson's a ghost. Hype Meter: I haven't played a single one of these Sherlock Holmes games yet, but I'm hyped for the Quick Look at least. Grappling Hook: Nope, but it's a more rough and tumble Holmes game with a heroic Jon Hamm-looking version of the sleuth so let's not discount the possibility. Deductive reasoning and all that.
Less a new game but a whole lot of new content for LEGO's toys-to-life behemoth, presumably even stronger this year with one fewer competitor around. The Gollum/Sonic thing was cute (though I hate to think of the amount of "blue precious" slashfic it spawned) but seeing all the Amblin movie characters was the more surprising part. I guess that means we'll be getting an Innerspace level at some point? Hype Meter: The game still looks very cool and very expensive. Grappling Hook: LEGO Batman doesn't leave his cave without it.
I figure this is Final Fantasy breaking into the Tales' "Radiant World" crossover business, but I sort of wonder if the reason that everyone looks like Funko dolls isn't part of some dubious marketing crossover too. I love FF, but it's getting harder to keep up with all the spin-offs. Also this game seems lore-dense as hell given the trailer never stopped talking about a dozen different unknown quantities, so that's going to be fun to parse. Hype Meter: More hyped than ZombiePie is, at least. Grappling Hook: Didn't see Laguna, so the jury's still out.
I like that this trailer came out just soon after the crew discussed on a recent Game Tapes how there didn't seem to be any more annual MTV/Motocross games in every E3. This sequel is keeping the spirit of jumping over tiny hills alive! Now in VR! Hype Meter: I'm not Excite for Bike. Grappling Hook: Man, I wish.
The sequel (prequel?) to Pendulo's Yesterday, which is something I intend to play at some point after The Next BIG Thing. Doesn't seem like this game shares TNBT's surreal sense of humor, though... Hype Meter: Gotta play Yesterday first, but I could see myself penning some future May Mastery/Go! Go! GOTY! blog on this eventually. Grappling Hook: Sadly, no.
