E3 2015 may not have been much better than the average on the whole, but it sure brought us some of the most exciting announcements in many years. We had Bethesda making their first dedicated E3 conference, but it was clear that would hardly be the highlight of the show… Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo would have to make a great showing to convince gamers of the current-generation consoles’ worth.

Like every year, you get a concise bullet-point summary of all the major conferences, with the bold item being the highlight of the particular conference in my view.

BETHESDA

• Doom single player shown – coming in Spring 2016 to PC, PS4 and Xbox One, lots of gore; “Snapmap” mode where you fight waves of enemies, also apparently players can create levels; multiplayer only shown briefly
• Bethesda.net – their answer to Battle.net, Origin, Uplay, etc.
• Battlecry – team-based action combat; you can sign up for the beta; class capabilities shown
• Dishonored 2 – you can play as Corvo or a new woman, named Emily; coming to PC, PS4, Xbox One, no release date yet
• Dishonored “Definitive Edition” (with improved graphics and all DLC included) coming to PS4 and Xbox One
• Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited – new locations – Imperial City, Orcs’ realm, coming to the game this year
• The Elder Scrolls Legends – card game… apparently Bethesda’s take on Hearthstone
• Fallout 4 – you can play as a man or a woman; looks colourful for a Fallout game; player character is voiced; dialogue options are selected with the four controller buttons (thus limited to 4); real Pip-boy in the Collector’s Edition; you can build stuff, grow settlements and defend them; you can modify weapons and armour; release date – November 10, 2015
• Fallout Shelters – iOS game, inspired by X-COM and FTL

Nothing particularly exciting from Bethesda. Fallout 4 looks interesting, although the limited dialogue options are worrying.

MICROSOFT

• Halo 5: Guardians live demo – single player shown, multiplayer called “Warzone”, demo of multiplayer available at E3
• Recore – first-party title from Armature Studios, Keiji Inafune involved
• Xbox One will be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 – both digital titles AND physical discs; 100+ games coming this holiday, more later
• Xbox Elite wireless controller with swappable parts, allowing you to customise it
• Fallout 4 – gameplay shown; PC mods will be playable on Xbox One
• EA Access – subscription service allowing you to play EA games for $5 a month. Xbox One exclusive
• Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 – coming Spring 2016
• Forza 6 – 24-car multiplayer; coming out on September 15th
• Dark Souls III – coming early 2016
• Tom Clancy’s The Division – takes place in New York; exclusive Xbox One beta in December
• Rainbow Six Siege – comes with free copies of Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and 2
• Gigantic – arena shooter, free-to-play on Xbox One and Windows 10, beta in August
• Indie game reel – over 1000 indie devs working on games for Xbox One
• Tacoma – by Fullbright Company of Gone Home fame, coming first to Xbox One, in 2016
• Cuphead – cute platformer with an early 20th century animation visual style
• Xbox One Game Preview – try before you buy
• Rise of the Tomb Raider – Xbox 360/One exclusive; coming out on November 10th
• Rare Replay – Rare game collection, coming out on Xbox One on August 15th
• Sea of Thieves – pirate game by Rare; Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive
• Fable Legends – free-to-play on Xbox One, cross-platform with PC
• Partnership between Microsoft and Valve VR
• VR/AR version of Minecraft via the HoloLens
• Gears of War Ultimate Edition coming to Xbox One
• Gears of War 4 – coming holiday 2016

Microsoft showed lots of stuff, but nothing really exciting. I suppose the new Gears of War was the biggest new game here. Seems they are putting lots of money into VR research, evident by their deal with Valve and the Minecraft stuff they showed. Backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games is great, it’s still limited, but way better than what PS4 is doing in that area – you don’t have to re-buy 360 games that you already own.

EA

• Mass Effect: Andromeda trailer – discover a new galaxy
• Need for Speed – coming November 3rd, will apparently have a “strong story”
• Star Wars: The Old Republic – Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion coming in October, free for subscribers, will have a focus on story
• Unravel – puzzle platformer where you play as a yarn creature; interesting physics-based gameplay – you have to use your yarn to advance through the game
• Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 – live gameplay demo of 4-player co-op mode; coming Spring 2016
• EA Sports games – NHL 16, PGA Tour, NBA Live 16
• Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes – yet another trading card game…
• Minions Paradise – mobile game featuring those lovable creatures
• Pelé himself showed up to talk about football and thus promote FIFA 16 (didn’t talk about the game specifically, of course)… Nice going, EA, though it is totally lost on most Americans
• Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst – Faith uses no guns this time; game uses Frostbite engine that powers Battlefield; actually doesn’t look too different from the original, Faith is also pretty unlike in the latest promotional image; comes out February 23, 2016
• Madden 16
• Star Wars: Battlefront – gameplay shown (captured on PS4); also uses Frostbite engine; you can switch between first- and third-person mode; Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader will be unlockable

The next Mass Effect was finally announced, and that must be the biggest thing from EA this E3. I’m happy with Mirror’s Edge, I was getting worried with the recent news surrounding it. Pelé coming out on stage was really epic – this is the most famous player of all-time in the by far the most popular sport on Earth. Cool they finally showed some Battlefront, too.

UBISOFT

• South Park: The Fractured But Whole – new South Park RPG coming up
• For Honor – new IP, focusing on swordfights and medieval battles; blocking attacks is important
• The Crew: Wild Run expansion, coming November 17th
• Trials Fusion: Awesome Level MAX – coming July 14th on PC, PS4 and Xbox One
• The Division gameplay shown
• Anno 2205 – gameplay shown; comes out November 3rd
• Just Dance 2016 – coming to all platforms in October; Just Dance Unlimited service promising new songs all year long
• Rainbow Six Siege gameplay shown; PvP, Terror Hunt modes; beta starts September 24th
• Trackmania Turbo – split-screen for up to 4 players; 200 tracks
• Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate – set in London during the industrial revolution; play as Jacob Frye or his sister Evie
• Ghost Recon Wildlands – open world, vehicles, helicopters, icy, desert, forest environments

Boring showing from Ubisoft, too. Assassin’s Creed is still their biggest thing, and Ghost Recon looked relatively fine, but when has a Ghost Recon game ever been amazing? For Honor seems to have some potential, but I doubt it’ll be something really impressive. The new South Park RPG will be as solid as the first one, no doubt.

SONY

• The Last Guardian – from Sony Japan Studio, directed by Fumito Ueda; coming in 2016
• Horizon: Zero Dawn – new IP by Guerilla Games; female protagonist; post-apocalyptic setting
• Hitman trailer
• Street Fighter V – console-exclusive to PS4; public beta starts July 23rd
• No Man’s Sky – impressive scope, battles to take place across the universe, most planets will never be visited, every planet is fully destructible; release date coming soon
• Dreams – new Media Molecule project; you can create all kinds of things using PS4 motion controls
• Firewatch – first-person adventure-ish game; gameplay trailer has the protagonist have a long talk with a women on radio, while exploring the environment
• Destiny expansion – The Taken King, coming September 15th; PS4-exclusive content
• Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate – a look at Evie, the female protagonist
• World of Final Fantasy – PS4/Vita exclusive; features chibi characters; coming in 2016
• Final Fantasy VII Remake – beautiful trailer shown; audience goes absolutely crazy
• Indie stuff – Ronin (PS4/Vita), Eitr (PS4), Mother Russia Bleeds (PS4), Crossing Souls (PS4/Vita)
• Shenmue III – PS4/PC; Kickstarter going on
• Batman: Arkham Knight – Scarecrow missions exclusive to PS4
• Morpheus VR – optional; will support many games; will allow someone to use Morpheus while friends in the same room just play on the TV
• Call of Duty: Black Ops III – takes place in 2065; has giant robots; PS4 gets first access to beta and DLC
• Disney Infinity 3.0 – PS4-exclusive starter pack featuring Boba Fett
• Star Wars: Battlefront – split-screen 2-player co-op shown
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – live gameplay demo; destructible environments; coming in 2016

Sony stole the show. Big game after big game, after big game. Amazing start with The Last Guardian that many people thought was probably lost forever, solid finish with Uncharted 4, and the unthinkable in the middle… Final Fantasy VII HD Remake! I had given up hope on it after previous statements from Square Enix, to be honest… It seems they decided to listen to the fans and understand that this would make them incredible amounts of money. Of course, I am very concerned about them changing lots of things that made the original game great… This is contemporary Square Enix, after all, I doubt they’ll resist the temptation. But if they do, if they keep the battle system and, most of all, THE STORY intact, it will be more glorious than almost anything ever seen before in the world of gaming.

NINTENDO

• Muppet versions of Miyamoto, Iwata, Reggie Fils-Aime
• Star Fox Wii U gameplay – cinematic view on TV, cockpit view on gamepad for better aiming; can transform Arwing into a Walker; named Star Fox Zero
• Skylanders/Amiibo joint stuff, exclusive for Wii U, of course
• The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes – co-op dungeon-crawler on 3DS; you can jump on your partners’ shoulders to reach high places
• Hyrule Warriors coming to 3DS, will be called Hyrule Warriors Legends and contain the DLC characters
• Metroid Prime: Federation Force – 3DS game; 4-player co-op missions
• Fire Emblem Fates – coming in 2016
• Xenoblade Chronicles X – trailer shown with some gameplay; comes out on December 4th
• Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer – 3DS game; coming September 25th
• Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival – similar to Mario Party; Wii U game; Amiibo necessary to play; coming holiday season 2015
• Yoshi’s Woolly World – features co-op, Amiibo support
• Yokai Watch – kinda like Pokemon with ghosts
• Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam – RPG coming to 3DS
• Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash – coming to Wii U in holiday season 2015
• Super Mario Maker – touching the gamepad with an Amiibo changes Mario into a different form corresponding to it; releasing on September 11, 2015

Expectedly, Nintendo showed their first-party games and nothing else. They kicked off with the new Star Fox and it kinda went downhill from there. I doubt Metroid fans will be very excited with the new game they’re getting. New Mario RPG is always good. X is still looking to be by far the most interesting thing Nintendo’ve got coming, at least for me. Overall, though, practically no new incentives to buy a 3DS or Wii U if you don’t own them already.

SQUARE ENIX

• Just Cause 3 – to be even bigger than 2; grappling hook, wingsuit added; over 400000 square miles to explore; coming December 1st on PC, PS4, Xbox One
• New Nier – developed by PlatinumGames; will take a while to make; more details this autumn
• Rise of the Tomb Raider – Xbox 360/One-exclusive; nice details like scars on Lara, blood, snow piling up on you during snow missions
• Lara Croft Go – mobile game
• Final Fantasy VII Remake – “play it first on PS4”, meaning it’s also coming to PC at least
• Final Fantasy VII PC version delayed, iOS version being developed
• Kingdom Hearts Unchained – mobile game
• Kingdom Hearts III – new trailer; coming to PS4 and Xbox One
• World of Final Fantasy – players and creatures create towers to defeat enemies; coming in 2016
• Hitman – new limited-time hit contracts to be releasing constantly; you can also mark targets and share them online; coming December 8th
• Star Ocean 5: Integrity and Faithlessness – aiming to be more like old-school Japanese RPGs; to be 60 FPS; coming in 2016
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – 2 years after Human Revolution; augmented people like Jensen considered outcasts; Jensen teams up with hackers to take down the Illuminati; coming in 2016 to PC, PS4, Xbox One
• Final Fantasy Portal App coming outside Japan, contains Triple Triad mini-game from Final Fantasy VIII
• Project Setsuna – new RPG project by the so-called Tokyo RPG Factory – a new Square Enix studio; only concept art shown; coming in 2016; platform unknown yet

Was a bit tempting to bold Final Fantasy VII Remake again… But let’s not be a total fanboy. Square had a good show, showing lots of stuff both on the Japanese and the Eidos side. New Nier is exciting stuff, the original was a rather underappreciated gem. I wonder how it’ll look like being developed by Platinum. The new Star Ocean looks promising, but I’m cautious after the fourth installment. New Deus Ex looks great, the series keeps evolving. Project Setsuna was the most exciting thing for me, maybe because it remained rather shrouded in mystery – we don’t even know what platform it’ll be on yet. But a dedicated studio to work on RPGs that focus on the “golden era” approach circa SNES/PS1 days would be really amazing. We can hope…

PC GAMING SHOW

• Killing Floor 2 – feedback from fans taken to heart; modding, user-made maps; early access people will not have their stats reset
• Rising Storm 2
• Star Citizen – only possible on PC
• Oculus Rift – looking for 90th of a second response time
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – elaboration on tech used; action and stealth gameplay
• Total War: Warhammer – reveal only, and some artwork
• Phil Spencer talks about Microsoft increasing their support for PC, making it easier to build games for Xbox One and PC
• Killer Instinct coming to PC
• Fable Legends – free-to-play; years of content coming up; 5-on-5 PvP; closed beta in August, open beta later this year
• Gears of War: Ultimate Edition coming to PC, supports 4K, DX12
• American Truck Simulator
• Eve Valkyrie – VR game; separate experience from Eve Online
• Ion – Deal Hall’s new game
• Strafe – Quake/Doom homage; procedurally-generated levels; low-resolution 3D graphics
• Pillars of Eternity expansion – The White March: Part 1 – higher level cap, new companions and abilities
• Planet Coaster: Simulation Evolved – Rollercoaster Tycoon-style game
• Guild Wars 2 – Heart of Thorns expansion – build and customise guild halls; pre-purchasing gets you into the beta
• Hitman – biggest locations ever in the series, 6-7 times bigger; over 300 NPCs; PC digital launch on December 8th
• AMD’s new GPUs – Fury X, etc.
• Dual GPU Fiji card revealed
• Arma III expansion – Tanoa, a new 100 km² terrain; coming in 2016
• Beyond Eyes – pretty exploration game
• Dirty Bomb – class-based team shooter
• Tacoma – first-person adventure game taking place on a space station; zero gravity
• Soma – horror game set under the sea, by the makers of Amnesia; coming September 22nd
• DayZ – single-player option to be added; modding highly encouraged; public beta by end of 2015
• Take On Mars – operate a rover, construct settlements
• Enter the Gungeon – overhead-view shooter
• Heroes of the Storm expansion – Eternal Conflict – coming June 30th
• StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void – coming “soon”; early access only if you pre-purchase
• No Man’s Sky – coming out simultaneously on PC and PS4, no release date yet; during development, AI bots explore and catch bugs

The very first PC gaming show was a success. A whole lot of games were shown, even if very little that people didn’t already know about. As a whole, it was just sheer celebration of the glorious PC gaming master race. AMD have won the hearts of many PC gamers with this initiative. The overall focus on technology and the PC’s technical dominance over console was inevitable. I think the Total War: Warhammer reveal was the biggest thing of the show, a match between two franchises with dedicated followings, and one that makes perfect sense. It could become the best Warhammer game to date. Other games that looked nice were Strafe, Deus Ex and Hitman (of course), Beyond Eyes. No doubt Planet Coaster will excite the RCT fans… And No Man’s Sky’s scale keeps being incredibly impressive.

OVERALL

Sony stole the show, no doubt. The Last Guardian, Shenmue III, Uncharted 4… But, above all, the Final Fantasy VII Remake. It’s still a bit hard to believe even 5 days later. In comparison, Microsoft and Nintendo failed to impress. To Microsoft’s credit, the Xbox 360 backwards compatibility is a huge thing, and unmatched by Sony. We all know 7th-generation games are better than what we’re getting today, so this is one legit reason to own Xbox One. Nintendo was all first-party stuff, and you know you haven’t made a great conference when the best thing you’ve shown is Star Fox (Star Fox is cool, but a second-tier franchise for Nintendo).

From the third parties, Square Enix also had a great showing with PlatinumGames-developed Nier, Kingdom Hearts III, Star Ocean 5, Deus Ex and, of course, the mysterious Project Setsuna. The others failed to impress. Fallout 4, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Mirror’s Edge, the new South Park RPG are some of the few cool things Bethesda, EA and Ubisoft showed. PC gaming show was not extraordinary, but still an overall success, with lots of interesting games shown and great focus on the platform’s strengths.

As a whole, 2015 was hardly the best E3 ever, but the Final Fantasy VII remake alone makes it legendary.

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