T5T: Games Announced at E3 2014

Top 5 Tuesdays is an article series that focuses on my “top five” anything on a given subject of my choosing that pertains to either gaming, anime, or manga.

Everyone was awaiting this year’s E3, Electronic Entertainment Expo, with baited breath.  This was going to be the first E3 after the release of Xbox One and Playstation 4, and we expected to see brand new titles for those systems as well as the Wii U.  Having been pleasantly impressed by a lot of the line-up, I had a lot of games that caught my interest but only a few that really rose above the rest to tickle my inner game with impatient anticipation .

Go ahead ahead and hit the jump to find out my five favorite games that got their debut at E3 2014.

With so many games being shown off at E3, some of you may think I am leaving off some obvious favorites from everything that was shown in my choices below.  Unbeknownst to some of you, there are a few games that were shown off at E3 that were already debuted by their respective company either before E3 (Even if only by a little) or were shown at a previous E3; some of the titles I am referring to that I am happy and eagerly awaiting but were NOT announced at E3 are Destiny, Bayonetta 2, and The Division.  While I do love these games, this is not a Top 5 Tuesday post regarding my top 5 most anticipated games, but the top 5 games I am excited about that were announced during this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Overall, I am more impressed by the feats the major companies took during this year’s E3 versus last year.  We were still unsure about most of the “Next Generation” consoles and a lot of time was spent explaining features for both systems, and while Sony did it significantly less than Microsoft, both of this current gen’s titans still felt as though they had to sell us the hardware that these games were going to be powered on.  Now, with numerous reviews and half-a-year within the hands of consumers, we can finally fully focus on games and get excited for them.  Here are my top five favorite games that were debuted at this years E3.

Every gamer is familiar with The Legend of Zelda series, it is historic and iconic in the very sense of the words.  While not every Zelda game is a masterpiece, none of them were considered to be woefully sub-par, and each one is welcomed with fans, especially the recent release of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.  With that being said, it is no doubt that we all new a title was coming for the Wii U and it would be of fantastic quality.

During an interview with Eiji Aonuma at E3, he began to tell about how the next Zelda game was going back to the very roots of the franchise, which is an open-world concept which allows the user to explore where they want, when they want.  Also, he began to explain how going into this project would provide better freedom since they were limited by hardware capabilities by giving the player the illusion of a massive world, when instead they had clearly defined entry and exit points.  Even more than that, he said the game play was linear because it forced you to follow a set path and solve pre-determined puzzles within the proper order in order to advance.  The fact that he says they will be able to break this barrier for the Wii U is incredible news, it also does not harm anything that the graphics are absolutely beautiful, they seem to be a cross between Wind Waker HD’s art-style and something else.

While I am very excited for this title because of the open-world Zelda concept and its lovely artistic uniqueness, not everyone was happy and would have preferred a “Darker” Zelda with more realistic graphics, such as the demo game play of The Legend of Zelda running on Wii U that was shown off 2 years ago in 2014.  In my opinion, they are probably still working on that particular game and perfecting it to be the crowning jewel of the Zelda series (Possibly), but then again, we could have had a sneak peak of such a game right here.  Whatever the case, I am happy for it and “My body is ready”.

When this game was revealed, I recognized the person who was sitting down, but where exactly I knew him from did not come to mind.  Continued to look upon the trailer and soon as the murdered landscape came to be within a mere instant, I was filled with excitement.  Eventually, the name came upon me as they revealed it and I could not be more happy with a title being announced.  Finally, they reboot a franchise that needs one because it was completely under-appreciated.

From my understanding, the game is an action/strategy type of game that takes place around skills, a user has these skills within a deck of cards that is used to fight and fulfill missions.  Also, there was an online multi-player mode which allowed you to battle against other players.  That also means that there may be some form of online within the newest game, I know there will be 1v1 if so, but I am also hoping for a team mechanic.

Actually, I did not own the original Xbox so I never got a chance to play the game.  However, a colleague of mine, Rasean, did play the game and he happened to say the reason he thought it did not get widespread recognition is because the game happened to be made “Before its time”, and many also agreed with that notion.  I looked at some game play of the original and I was intrigued by what I saw.  Thankfully, since Phantom Dust is now going to be releasing all over again, I can get to witness within its full glory.  Though, it awaits to be seen rather-or-not this is a sequel, remake, or a complete re-telling of the events that happened within the original Phantom Dust.  Guess there is only one way to find out!

Halo is the game that put the Xbox on the map.  It was one of the games that made revolutionary steps towards what we know today as online multi-player.  Actually, this is a game series that earned “Game of the Year” two years in a row, that is absolutely incredible.  While I did enjoy many of the games, I was sad when Halo 2, my favorite of the bunch, was discontinued because the original Xbox’s online connectivity was cut off in an effort to continue forward with the Xbox 360.  However, that has all changed as of now.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection allows everyone to play Halo: Anniversary Edition, Halo 2: Anniversary Edition, Halo 3, and Halo  4.  It also includes a beta code to play Halo 5: Guardians, I am quite pumped!  I will be able to play the Halo games that matter (Yeah, I said it), and beat all the campaigns over again in order to make way for the newest Halo to come out for the Xbox One.  Being able to play everything from last gen in the way of Halo on the newest gaming console intended for it will be a blast for all of us Halo fans.  The only thing I see as a potential problem for Microsoft is the fact that people may not like Halo 5: Guardians (Though, they did say they are moving away from the Call of Duty-style gameplay that Halo 4 had and making a jump back to competitive-style arena combat) and instead opt to play one of the older titles like Halo 2 or Halo 3.  Regardless, it is going to be a win-win situation for me.

I am not going to pick this up on the first day, I will probably too busy playing Destiny at that point and will resolve to buy it at a later date.  The good thing about this game is that I know it will be picked up by the vast majority of gamers, and I can come back and play it whenever I want knowing that millions of others will be destroying on that game across all versions.

I was very excited when I heard who was going to be working on this game, PlatinumGames and Hideki Kamiya.  The reason I was so hype before any gameplay was even shown was because of the reputation that these two carried with them.  Hideki Kamiya is the creator of the Devil May Cry and Bayonetta intellectual properties, and these two happen to be my most favorite hack-n-slash games series of all-time.   PlatinumGames is responsible for many incredible hack-n-slash and beat-em-up style games, such as Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Anarchy Reigns (Max Anarchy in Japan), and helping Hideki Kamiya on Bayonetta.  Then it came time for the trailer and I sat there, waiting for greatness to be bestowed upon me!

Unfortunately, greatness was not what I found.  I thought that the character looked pretty good, the fact that he had white hair reminded me greatly of Dante (Well, maybe not, but he had a sword and this guy did create Dante and Bayonetta, not beyond the realm of possibility that he might make something akin to his old creation), but besides his cool appearance I was not interested by anything else.  He had some transformation which reminded me of an anime I just finished watching called Zetman, and he seemed to be an alley of some dragons.  I was disappointed that there was no actual action to be seen from in-game gameplay, but I was even more frightened and doubly disappointed that this game was looking like it would not at all be a hack-n-slash like I was expecting.  With this being said, you may wonder why SCALEBOUND is #2 on my list if I had such disdain from first seeing it.

PlatinumGames has created experiences that are revolutionary within my opinion, over-the-top and incredible action that can only be found in video games, and their proof is everything they had been behind, even The Wonderful 101 on Wii U.  Hideki Kamiya has created memorable experiences and has been the sole motivation between two of my favorite series of all-time, there is no way these two put together would create something merely mediocre, rather, they will shape something great and an experience which could only be found within their minds.  I guess this is the only time within gaming that my faith is bigger than that of what I have seen, I hope I am not disappointed.

One of my absolute favorite games of last generation was Tomb Raider.  It, to me, redefined what the entire series was and gave a dramatic look into the life of Lara Croft.  I have always looked upon Lara as an activist within the gaming world as an icon of a woman who kicked ass, however she felt heavily sexualized and was less respectable than someone like Samus Aran of Metroid.  I felt the reboot of the series showed her growing from a timid young girl who had no idea what to do, into someone who was struggling to find a way to survive, into a woman who was able to thrive under harsh conditions in order to accomplish what needs to be done.

The trailer starts off with a mysterious figure, although when she jumped off of the cliff and showed a pick axe, one of the weapons which played a core mechanic within the last game, I immediately began to get hype beyond words.  This was MAGICAL.  Lara seemed to be seeing a psychiatrist due to the events that happened in the previous game, I think she ultimately accepts who she is and what she will become, embracing her destiny as a “Tomb Raider”.  I believe the game play that follows are hints as to what the new game will entail and the attitude that Lara will exhibit, no more will she be afraid but confident within her abilities, I love it.

Something I am really hoping for in Rise of the Tomb Raider is for them not to include any multi-player whatsoever.  I found multi-player in the last game to be forced and uninspired, more-or-less something to add a selling point to get people to buy into the single-player experience by first luring them with online to convince them of its replay value.  I feel like all their efforts should be made into making a complete, extensive single-player experience that is rich with things to do.  I would love tons of optional side-quests and a bevvy of tasks to complete once the story has been completed (Such as, if you opt to do all the side-quests as they appear without a fail, you will still have further tasks to be unlocked and completed after story is finished).  Besides collecting certain things (Which sucks), there was no enemies to fight, no additional quests to play, and there were no modes like “Survival” to make use of the skills you had obtained through the game in Tomb Raider.  I am looking for them to add such things here and make the game have a value of over 80+ hours of game play.