It's E3 Day 2 But I Need To Finish Day 1, So Here's Some More Before Day 2 Officially Starts

Written By: Tyler

If you've been following my coverage of E3 -- and I know you have, because IGN, Gamespot and Twitch are rookies -- then you know I went to bed pretty early last night. Because of this, there were some titles and some news that I may have missed that I am now catching up on today. Before coverage starts for today on sites like Gamespot and IGN, I think it's best to throw up a post to round up some of the stuff I missed because unfortunately I have a job.


Freedom Wars Looks Like An Incredible Vita Game
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/11/e3-2014-freedom-wars-vitaas-most-promising-new-exclusive

I don't own a Playstation Vita because at the time I was considering buying one, I was turned off by the fact that I had to buy a memory stick on top of buying the actual Vita itself. I then decided to just go back to Nintendo and get a 3DS. I don't regret this purchase at all, but as time goes on, I'm really wanting a Vita more and more. Freedom Wars has a great premise: People can be given a million years in jail time for small crimes, and in order to knock years off your sentence, you have to do things for the State. Damn you State!

Aside from the fact that it gives you a reason to do a bunch of quests, the action looks fast and exciting. There seems to be quite a bit going on on screen and there's a lot of creativity on display. Freedom Wars is definitely a game to lookout for.


Final Fantasy 14 Is Getting Gay Marriage And Two New Classes
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/11/e3-2014-final-fantasy-14-getting-two-new-classes-gay-marriage

Are you gay? Do you like Final Fantasy? This one is for you. When the next patch comes out you will be able to play as the Rogue, who dual wields weapons and uses enhanced movement skills and poisons. Then the Ninja can be unlocked afterward, who does all this but adds magical abilities. Whoa, magic in a Final Fantasy?

You will also be able to marry anybody. But not everybody, because that would be weird.



Impressions

Below -- I haven't gotten a chance to play Super Time Force, but I loved Sword and Sworcery and while these are completely different games, I have high hopes for Below. I don't love Roguelikes like the rest of the indie community seems to, but I enjoy them, and Below looks like an atmospheric, interesting take on the genre. I have faith that Below will be a nice mixture of visuals, music and gameplay. The choice to have the camera so far back on your character is neat, and the things said about the game in the demo I saw gives me faith that this will be special, such as the sense of exploration.

Helldivers -- This is interesting, a co-op game that kind of encourages you to be a dick, or at the very least lends itself to your friends being dicks. It's a top-down shooter (which we don't see enough of), and when you die, your friends have to call in a respawn. Oh yeah, there's also friendly fire. The action looks wonderful, and I'm a bit of a sucker for this type of game so I'm excited. I think the name is terrible, though.


Murasaki Baby -- I'm very impressed by this game. I feel like I heard of it before, maybe just that it was coming out, but I absolutely adore the hand-drawn, surrealist (I'm a big fan of surrealism) art style. It's disturbing and beautiful all at the same time. I'm also not usually a fan of touch-screen controls, but there are certain genres where it works well. Murasaki Baby looks like a game that will benefit from the touch-screen controls rather than succeed despite them. This is one of the games of the show I have been most invested in, and it's yet another reason I need a Playstation Vita.


No Man's Sky -- I have loved what I've seen so far, but I just listened to the developer joyfully discuss the story, multiplayer and -- most importantly -- the gameplay. Even though I have been positive and excited since I saw the reveal of the game, I would say there's a bit of cautious optimism because I was scared that the game wouldn't be that fun to play. The developer has soothed these fears for me because he explained how if you're a fan of combat, there can be a lot of it, or if you just want to explore there's certainly a lot of that, or maybe you just want to focus on building your suit. There seems to be a lot of variety, and the idea that we start on the outside of the universe really adds to the mystique of... what is at the center of the universe?


 Well that's pretty much it for me. It's a little late, but Day 1 is done for me. Bring on Day 2!

E3 Day 0 (Part 3) -- The Sony Press Conference

Written By: Tyler

Here we are... the last press conference of the day/night. I don't have to remind you, but remember when Sony came out and Ether'd Microsoft? Can they do it again? What does Sony have to say for themselves? Read below.

We see the blue, we hear the calming, pretty music... and then there is black. When images and light return the stage, we see Mars. It looks exactly like Mars and I would know because I've been there. But what does this all mean? It's your destiny to know. It's um, Destiny, and spoiler alert, it still looks really cool, even if the opening video didn't really give us much in the way of gameplay footage.

Andrew House takes the stage and uh, rocks the house (okay I'll stop) by talking about understanding what it takes to be the best in the world. Then, he announces that Playstation gamers will get their grubby little hands on the Destiny beta first on July 17th. Also, starting on Thursday Playstation owners can play the first-look alpha of the game. If you act now you can actually help develop the game. One of these things is a lie made by me, I'll let you guess which.

There's also a white PS4 coming, with an exclusive Destiny bundle.

Next comes a new exclusive IP: The Order: 1886. It is a dark, third-person shooter and in the footage there's a lot of walking through the dark with only your flashlight. But wait, there's more, because you are not alone. I can't imagine. At least now we've seen some gameplay.

Jumping from dark, scary and depressing to light and beautiful, we have two bird-things flying through the air. It's Entwined, and it's apparently about two souls that are in love and can't be together. You have to guide two things at once using the dual sticks, and when you bring them together they'll transform into a dragon. Could be neat, but I wish my soul could merge with something and become a dragon. It is available right now for $9.99 so I think I may have to check it out tomorrow.

Infamous: Second Son is getting standalone DLC. You get exclusive content if you own Second Son but you don't need it. It's called Infamous: First Light.

Then Little Big Planet 3 hits the stage. I'm not real familiar with the previous two, despite buying the first (and not playing it yet) but it appears there are new characters. It looks charming like the first two did and this co-op play looks entertaining. I know they're slightly different but I feel like Little Big Planet 3 will be a better game than Project Spark.

Next on the agenda is the new game from From Software, Bloodborne. They appear to be trying something new by making a dark, gruesome game. You can get it in 2015.

Then Far Cry 4 flashes on the screen. We saw the first five minutes of the game earlier during the Ubisoft press conference, but now we see some gameplay. The video involves the player walking around, where he then picks up some equipment and starts grappling. Then he walks through the trees a little and after that the fun starts. In an unexpected twist, it looks like it's going to play like other Far Cry games, but that isn't even a criticism. Trust me, this looks like it's a lot of fun.

But they're not done, because this one seems to have co-op or at least some form of multiplayer. You can invite your friends to play with you even if they don't own the game... but only on Playstation. What?

What don't we see much of? Zombies. So we better make a game about zombies. We get to see go jogging while people get molested by zombies, things crash and an upbeat song plays. But then he transforms into a zombie himself. The video is silly fun. It's Dead Island 2.

Battlefield Hardline makes another appearance. I'm already sold, I didn't need this, but it's more of a mixture video of gameplay and cinematic. I'm more impressed with what EA showed us in their press conference.

There's an exclusive Disney Infinity collectors edition for PS3 and 4.

They talk about Destiny some more, talking about how Playstation owners will get stuff for owning it on a Sony system. Hulk also smashed during that, which made me chuckle.

They have a new partnership with Paradox Interactive. The first game they're working on is the new Magicka game, appropriately titled Magicka 2.

Grim Fandango is getting a remastering. I suck at Adventure games but I dig this one. It will be exclusive to PS4 and Vita.

After the biggest cheer of the night, we get a montage of a bunch of games who make their debut on Playstation platforms. I won't list them all because I've already forgotten the titles as I write this, but a lot of them look really cool. Some of them are Not A Hero, Hotline Miami 2, and The talos Principle. Wait I can do this... Titan Souls and Broforce as well. I may have missed some.

Oh god yes, here we go. The new Suda51 one game, that's only coming to PS4... I'm a huge Suda51 fan and up until now we only got a brief teaser that told us nothing about his new game. Only this is called Let It Die and it's not the game I thought he was making. What a confusing guy.

Then there's an awkward transition to Journey. Then we get to see the Giant Squid game, Abzu, and I'm not really sure what the point is. I don't think that's a criticism because it's intriguing and beautiful. It's another exclusive console debut for Sony.

No Man's Sky then shows up and it's even more gorgeous than I remember it being the first time I saw it. It's got the visuals and the scope is incredible, especially when you consider it's an indie game. It's a procedural universe, and every player will start on a different planet where the universe is supposedly infinite. Whether it'll be fun to explore these worlds or not remains to be seen, but I'm optimistic and anticipate this game.

After being inspired by No Man's Sky, Andrew House comes back to talk about the Playstation Camera and starts discussing Project Morpheus.

House introduces Shawn Layden, the new President and CEO of SCE. He starts talking about the PSN and statistics. Youtube will be coming to PS4 later this year. In the summer, their broadcasting will be enhanced. He also thinks that free-to-play is important, and there are a bunch of games coming in the next year, then we're treated to a montage of some of these games. Some look cool, some look crappy, but all will annoy a large portion of gamers who hate F2P.

Playstation Now is going to be available in beta on July 31st on PS4. Shortly after it will be on Vita
and PS3. I'm excited for this.

Layden then went on to talk about PS Vita. There are over a hundred games in development for the platform.

Playstation TV is a thing too. You can pair it with your PS4, and play your games via remote play on another TV. When it's released it will cost $99 but there's a bundle for $139 that includes a Dual Shock 3, a game, and an HDMI cable.

After that, we get the world premiere of gameplay footage of Mortal Kombat X, and guess what? That teaser trailer we saw a while back was not gameplay footage, to those who debated how much of it was. When did Mortal Kombat get gory?

After Mortal Kombat, Andrew House comes back and starts talking about movies and television on Playstation. Their first original program is a show called Powers, which is about superheroes.

If you didn't know, there's an animated Ratchet & Clank movie in the works. We got to see a little bit of it. 

Finally we get back to games... with the remastered version of The Last of Us. If you haven't played The Last of Us and you only own a PS4, you definitely have to check this out when it releases on July 29th because it definitely lives up to the hype. The footage presented also has a cover of a Nirvana song so that's a plus in my eyes.

I love Metal Gear, and Sony knows this, so they chose to show us a new trailer of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Not that I need a new trailer, but of course it looks awesome. The trailers for this game have been incredible.

Next comes Grand Theft Auto 5 for PS4. I'm really happy about this because the online aspect of the game seems really interesting and my PS3 broke a while back so I haven't gotten a chance to play it.

After stroking the audience with next-gen GTA5, we get to see the next Batman game, Arkham Knight. This was a must-buy before I knew anything about it. The video that they showed made me happy because now there is no doubt in my mind at all that the game is going to be awesome.

The press conference ends with Uncharted 4. If I'm being honest, I'm not real excited because I'm not a fan of the series, but it's nice to see that the game hasn't imploded with all the people leaving over the past year. It's just a short cinematic, but it says that it's coming out in 2015. There is a big applause at the beginning of the video and at the end.


Closing Statement: Sony suffered from some technical issues on occasion during their presser, but for the most part it was good. It's interesting that they were more like Microsoft last year than Sony of last year... focusing a bunch on their non-game features. Some of this is really interesting, but I felt like it went on a little too long and started clamoring for more game talk. After the talk about all their hardware and services, they came back in a huge way though, which I think kept Microsoft from edging out a victory here. The games that Sony showed are, for the most part, just more interesting.

My 30 Most Anticipated Games of 2014: 30 - 16

Written By: Tyler Selig    

I've been to the future, I know.

               

                Before I celebrate the year in games, I just want to take an opportunity to give you a rundown of some – not all because that’s way too much work – of my games that I’m anticipating most next year. Believe me, next year is shaping up to be an incredible year, but then, all years are good, regardless of what some people want to say. This will be two parts, the first part released today and the second released tomorrow so make sure to check back.

However, this year there was a bit of a lull at the beginning, as their often is, but next year has decided to launch a bunch of games of interest right off the bat.

These have to be games that have at least been announced for a 2014 release, even if they end up getting delayed. It feels wrong not including some of the games that were in the rough draft of the list, but the integrity of the list is important so I argued with myself to come up with the thirty games that, as of this moment, I am most hyped for that come out in 2014! Let’s do this. 

Games I Forgot When Making the List:

Conception II – 2014 North American release, looks like a great RPG.

The Evil Within – Will hopefully be incredibly scary.

South Park and the Stick of Truth – Much delayed, looks to have the South Park charm.

Quantum Break – Could just be a shit-ton of fun.

DayZ – The kind of game that is “next gen” to me. It’s in Alpha now. Hopefully 2014 sees the full release.

Dungeon Defenders 2 – I can’t believe I forgot some of these games. So hyped for this one.

30: Bravely Default (3DS)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=947ROLASPpQ

                There are a bunch of games next year coming to both Wii U and 3DS, but Bravely Default is the only game on this list that is only coming to 3DS. I’m sure the 3DS will have another fantastic year, but as of making this list… it was a little dry on 3DS exclusives.

                I’m a JRPG guy, having grown up playing Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, etc and it’s nice to see another JRPG hit North American shores and look awesome. A big selling point to me here is the fact that there’s a job system, which I always appreciate.

               

29: Child of Light (PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkljZTI2ryA

                Damn, another JRPG thrown in here? Yes, and due to the fact that I have faith in Ubisoft, I’m really excited for this one. It looks beautiful, and with its platforming and story, it looks like it’s going to be something truly special.

28: LISA the painful RPG (PC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z7UohKnVts

                Wow another RPG! But yeah, I Kickstartered this, and I’m really excited because it has an interesting premise and looks to do quite a bit of interesting things with the premise. It has a gritty, dark art-style but it’s not without humour. The creator has a better description of what to expect from this game, so I’ll just link the Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/131274701/lisa-the-painful-rpg

27: Interstellar Marines (PC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5ED2zyLdg8

                I haven’t actually played this even though I can, mostly because I don’t want to play betas… I bought it because it said it was going to be like Rainbow Six with some RPG elements, and that had me sold because we don’t have a lot of tactical shooters anymore, and I love me some RPG elements in shooters anyway. Not to mention my older brother, who I do most of my gaming with, also likes those things and this game is going to have co-op. I haven’t even really read about it anymore or watched videos, because they already have my money and I want to experience it when it’s done, so it may not be shaping up to be much for all I know, but I’m excited.

26:  Sunset Overdrive (Xbox One)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqJdZQPBDF0

                Insomniac Games meets Parkour, crazy platforming action… with some fun, silly violence. I just think this game is going to be a great time for those who aren’t super cereal all the time. Makes me wish I had an Xbox One.

25: Halo 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fEKcOK8gno

                It’s not that I’m against Halo, because I am most definitely not. I love Halo – it’s been one of my go-to Multiplayer shooters for years and I always play through the campaign. I got mad respect for Halo. Playstation 4 was always going to be my primary system, but when Microsoft fucked up their E3 Press Conference, I didn’t say, “Goodbye Microsoft.” I said, “Goodbye Halo.” It’s that important.

                It’s just that there are so many new experiences coming, and games in series that I like more, that the anticipation for Halo drops a little. Look, I don’t need to tell you that Halo 5 is going to be awesome, because they’ve all been (ODST less so, but it was still good). If you’re reading this blog you probably already know what the series has given us, and seeing the first Next-Gen entry will be incredible. It’ll be one of the games of the year.

                That trailer is also epic as hell.

24: Pillars of Eternity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-CPTsWLfWM

                Formally known as Project Eternity, this is a throw-back to those classic PC Point-And-Click RPGs – except this time it’s not focused on D&D. That seems like it’d be controversial a little bit, but I don’t really care because while there are a few of them I really like, PC gaming was not my thing back then (as I never even got my first PC until I was 16, and it wasn’t a gaming one anyway). I don’t have loyalty to the old guard, is what I’m trying to say.

                Pillars of Eternity looks to be a fantastic addition to the genre, however, and I eagerly await the tactical gameplay, and I hope that there’s a good amount of depth because let’s face it… this genre without depth is a terrible tragedy.

23: Torment: Tides of Numenera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9CiS5L8zVM

                Planescape: Torment is my favourite game in the canon of the PC Point-And-Click RPGs. I loved the humour, and the plot was up there with the all-time greats. I also enjoyed the fact that you didn’t really have to fight, so it opened up the game a little bit more than other games within the genre.

                Well, this is the spiritual successor, and even if it’s only half as good as the original, it’ll be awesome.

               

22: Hyper Light Drifter (PC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmMosNHhyxI

                I think this ends up being one of those special indie games that come along and show the big boys how to do it, much like a game like Bastion. Everything from the beautiful visuals to the music, to the intense looking action… this is shaping up to be an epic adventure, and I certainly can’t wait to play it. That trailer is awesome.

21: Below (Xbox One)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVrVvw9etSk

                That video above is all I’ve seen about the game, and that’s all it took. I mean, it also helps that I was such a fan of Sword & Sworcery, so I have a tremendous amount of faith. Like Hyper Light Drifter, this will be special. It’ll be one of the games of the year.

                Even the view is a little bit different, it being more pulled out than most games. You have the team that did Sword & Sworcery, with Guthrie returning to do the music – I just can’t see how this can’t be amazing. It’s another reason why I need an Xbox One.

20: Transistor (PS4, PC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXq0yuW6BvM

                I’ve mentioned Bastion, and now we have the successor to that classic – Transistor. It looks to follow the same formula that brought Bastion to the dance, which is a wonderful story and fun action, but I’m not saying that they’re just using all the same tricks because they aren’t, such as the fact that it’s got turn-based strategy. To be hones the gameplay sort-of reminds me of Parasite Eve in ways, which is always a good thing.

19: The Elder Scrolls Online (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWXjzLEGV9U

As much as I try not to be excited for this game because of the monthly subscription fee, I can’t help it! I’ve always said that while the Elder Scrolls games are great, if they let me play with someone they’d be so much better. And sure enough, here we are, and this may be a game I wave my hate for monthly subscription fees and actually pick up.

18: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ_G6XiHoUA

               

                The only reason this isn’t higher is because I haven’t played the first or second games, and I don’t know if that means that I won’t understand the story in the third or not. I hope that they do a good job of introducing newbies to the series, plot-wise, because this game looks like it’s going to live up to the hype.

17: Watch Dogs (PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Your Eyeballs, Atari 2600, PS8, Xbox Two, Game Gear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPYgXvgS6Ww

                There’s this game that built a ridiculous amount of excitement last year, and then we thought we’d finally play it in 2013, but now we’re not. My hype dropped a little bit over the year, mostly because they were throwing so much into our face, but it’s hard to deny that Watch Dogs is going to do something original with the Sandbox genre.

                It’s also coming to everything so you’ll be able to play it.

16: No Man’s Sky (PC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRpDn5qPp3s

                This game came out of nowhere and blew people away. They promise to let you explore anything that you can see, and this is a really ambitious game for such a small team. There’s not a hell of a lot known about it so far, but it looks to be an awe-inspiring experience.

                 So make sure to tune in tomorrow for the final fifteen. Each day up until the new year there will be new content, so make sure to check out this blog everyday! After my most anticipated games of 2014, I'll have my miscellaneous awards for 2013 games, and then four days of listing my top 40 games of 2013.

On The Gamely Episode 5 -- VGX 2013, Metal Gear Solid 5, Starbound, EA, Nintendo And More!

Welcome welcome welcome, to yet another episode of On The Gamely -- a weekly show where we sit around and talk about video games. Some of the topics included this week are: VGX 2013 (and a bunch of announcements made during the show), Bravely Default, more EA bashing, Path of Exile, Staround, Nintendo being bosses, Metal Gear Solid 5 and more!

http://youtu.be/2j250G1426Q