My 5 Most Exciting Takeaways From E3 2017

Another year, another Electronic Entertainment Expo filled with exciting new announcements of games, consoles, gadgets and more, and while the convention is dying down its time for the hype trains to start rolling out. To help add a little fire to their engines I’ve taken the time to reflect on what I’m most excited about after this year’s E3.

5. Age of Empires: Definitive Edition

While Age of Empires 2 and it’s expansions are arguably the most well-known and popular in the Age of Empires series, the original Age of Empires game was the building block for its successor and has much of the same charm and style of play that made Age of Empires 2 so great. The game is slated to have a complete rework of its art and sound as well as possibly being able to be played at 4K projection. What really has me excited for this though might be the nostalgia factor as this game along with Age 2 were some of my favorite games growing up, in fact I might need to go and break out some of the old CD’s and see if I can get them running while I wait for Age of Empires: Definitive Edition to be released.

4. Call of Cthulu

Based off the works of H.P. Lovecraft’s and his mythos, Call of Cthulu looks to be a mix of survival horror and detective style gameplay all while being set in the 1920’s Lovecraftian universe. I’m quite hopeful for this game as there’s been a slew of decent Cthulu/Lovecraft themed tabletop games in recent years but the genre has yet to make any big debut in the video game world. While the genre itself tends to hold a unique niche of fans I’d like to think that a good video game adaption that really captures the dark and surreal nature of the Lovecraft mythos would allow for greater experimentation of new and unique settings in video games, while also introducing a new wave of fans to the Cthulu and Lovecraft universe.

3. South Park: Phone Destroyer

Now you might ask why, in a world seemingly inundated with online card games such as Hearthstone or Gwent might I be excited about another, especially a mobile only game. Primarily it has to do with the South Park theme, South Park’s take on the classic turn based RPG in Stick of Truth made for some truly compelling and hilarious gameplay that seemed to resonate with both fans of the TV show and new inductees as well. I can only imagine the crazy possibilities a South Park card game could bring, combined with the show’s thoughts on the traditional mobile gaming style in their episode “Freemium Isn’t Free” lends me to think that this might be a little different from your run of the mill mobile or card based game, although I’m pretty confident I might need to be a little careful playing this game out in public without headphones.

2. Beyond Good and Evil 2

Finally it seems that the much beloved cult classic seems to be getting the sequel it so rightly deserves. Despite years of reassurances and rumors of a sequel, here we are with something finally. While the lack of gameplay might lead some to believe not all is fine yet, I like to believe that somewhere in the near future there will finally be another Beyond Good and Evil game out to play. While I have to admit I never really got to play much of the original game, as at the time I was way more invested in Halo, Knights of the Old Republic, and Final Fantasy 10 I’m happy and excited that this game is getting a sequel. I like the idea of that big name companies care about their fans no matter how big or how small and dedicate time to making another Beyond Good and Evil, or another Psychonauts, or another Shenmue. Those more skeptical than I might argue that such a sequel could never live up the expectations of its fans who have been hardened by years of nostalgia I like to think that anything is possible, and besides even if the sequel turns out not nearly as good as the original there’s no need to debate which is the better game. All in all I’m excited for another continuation of a great classic game, because it might just mean that eventually I’ll get a sequel to Robotech: Battlecry.

1. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Finally my most anticipated game from this year’s E3 is Ori and the Will of the Wisps, sequel to the outstanding Ori and the Blind Forest from 2015 (seriously find the time to play this game it’s awesome), the sequel looks to expand on the story and world from the original game while keeping with the original’s unique platforming style that was very reminiscent of the old Metroid or Castlevania games, which was a very real design feature. This platforming element was easy to understand to both new and old platform players while simultaneously creating its own memorable style through fantastic art, level, and story design. While I’m sad that this new Ori game still seems to be a Microsoft exclusive, if it’s even half as good as the original, well I think we’re all going to be in for another great adventure.

#MichaelMarch