Morning Friends! As promised yesterday I am returning to my shoddy coverage of E3 2021 this morning. As a kid I can remember the highlight of my year being when the Christmas “wish books” as they used to call them, started showing up and giving us a vision of all of the amazing things that were about to arrive that winter. In many ways E3 reminds me of that same process because we sit down and watch a glorified demo reel of all of the games that are going to be arriving somewhere on the horizon. Sure some of those titles disappear never to return again… but most of them eventually do see the light of day in the coming two years.
Of all of the shows in recent memory there have been three that really stood out as highlights of the E3 Experience. Those were Sony and Microsoft because they always pulled out the big guns to show off everything we should be salivating over. As far as individual companies though… Bethesda is the show that most had my heart in mind when it came to its specific brand of games. Sony seems to be completely absent this year, like maybe they didn’t get the memo that E3 was back on and everyone was participating… even Nintendo. This however is the first year with Bethesda and Microsoft sharing the stage and it was a very interesting experience. E3 had been a pretty lackluster experience, but this combined show made up for lost time.
Starfield
Unfortunately we still don’t know a ton of information about “No Man’s Skyrim” as Kodra refers to it, but we do have a release date. This is currently targeting November 11th of 2022 aka 11 years after the release of Skyrim. Todd Howard even drew the same comparison to it basically being Skyrim in outer space and if they can pay off on that concept I am entirely on board with this. I like the grimy lived in feel of the visuals of this game as compared to the slick, smooth and clean spaceships that we often get. Ultimately if they are going to make it to 2022 and maintain the level of hype they have now… they are going to need to strategically seed us with information along the way to keep us going.
Release Date: November 11th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Atomic Heart
A theme you are going to find out about me, is that I really am interested in eastern block/soviet era nostalgia science fiction. I find the concepts that get thrown together so interesting and so wildly different from the narratives that come out of the western story telling traditions. Atomic Heart looks to be this wild post apocalyptic Bioshock style game set in or around a post-soviet Russia. Wild robots, some friendly, some very not friendly… and interesting denizens like this brief shot of a lady that looks like she is about to bung you over the head with a ladle. I remember seeing this before, but I had not really been following it… and I am super on board with this brand of nonsense.
Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer
The Ascent
I’ve seen this game a few times but it still interests me greatly. It reminds me of Syndicate in so many ways or the modern Shadowrun turn based RPGs. Based on the visuals and demo reel I would guess it is something more akin to a Tactics game or X-Com. It seems like you get to build your squad and then go out on missions for fun and profit. Going to be completely honest though, the setting and visuals are what made me interested because I am almost always on board with a cyberpunk aesthetic. Definitely going to check it out whenever it launches, especially since it will be available on Gamepass.
Release Date: July 29th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Redfall
Sometimes a game comes along and I am uncertain how to feel about it. Redfall is one of these games. On some level it makes me think it is very much going to be a nostalgia trip back to the era when Left 4 Dead was king. Redfall describes itself as a co-op first person shooter but also Arkane goes into detail talking about how it will have loot collection and customization which screams something like a Destiny. Ultimately I think it all depends on how it feels and if it has compelling single player gameplay. Sure I like the notion of being able to get together with some of my friends and do co-op gameplay, but that is pretty much a pretty lie at this point. It is hard as hell to ever be playing the same game as my friends and even harder to get over the social friction required to actually be online and interested in playing the same thing at the same time. If this game gives me engaging single player gameplay… I am probably on board because I love what I have seen of the setting so far.
Release Date: Summer 2022 – Watch the Trailer
Replaced
There is this trend happening right now in games and I am loving it. I most closely identify it with Narita Boy and Octopath Traveller but it is this concept of 2D pixel graphics being influenced by a 3D world with shaders and VFX. The end result is this glorious aesthetic that is both retro and modern at the same time and it is showcased beautifully in Replaced. This game reminds me of a Castlevania game set in a post apocalyptic wasteland or maybe even a setting similar to the Crow movies. I am very interested and again since it is coming to Gamepass, I will at the very least install and check it out.
Release Date: Sometime 2022 – Watch the Trailer
Psychonauts 2
I am not sure what I need to say about this one. We have known a new Psychonauts game was in the works for several years at this point. It is just about to release since we have an August 25th date finally announced. Either you are a fan of this particular brand of humor and adventure or you are not. Double Fine creates a very specific flavor of game and I know that I will eventually get around to playing this one. The challenge however is I am not sure when. I am interested but probably not interested enough to push something else out of the way in order to play it. I am certain Thalen however will be trying his best to play this upon release because he is a huge fan of the series. I enjoyed the first game quite a bit but also am fine waiting awhile until I have a lull to pick it up.
Release Date: August 25th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl
I am extremely excited for this game, because I feel like I missed out on playing the first game. What I mean by that… is there is this entire era of first person shooter that is largely lost to me. I’ve become used to the specific control scheme that we landed on for this style of game, and going back to a game that controls differently than that… is just not something I can do anymore. As a result I am super interested in exploring this setting with modern controls. Again this feeds into that whole Soviet era nostalgia and narrative thing that interests me because the kinds of stories that get told are different than what I would normally expect. This is probably a day one game for me, especially since once again… it is on Gamepass.
Release Date: April 28th, 2022 – Watch the Trailer
The Outer Worlds 2
The Outer Worlds 2 wins the show for the absolute best trailer. If you don’t know what I am talking about take a watch. I loved the first game (and need to return to it and finish it at some point soon) and as a result I am super on board with a new one. I love this setting and I love the characters that came from the setting. Obsidian did a damned fine job of hatching a Fallout adjacent feeling environment that doesn’t just feel derivative and is instead its own rich setting. I am going to keep buying Outer Worlds games as long as they keep making them. I still hope someday to see a Fallout New Vegas 2 however since Obsidian and Bethesda now live under the same corporate umbrella. Please Papa Microsoft make this happen.
Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer
Contraband
This is another game like Redfall that I am uncertain about. The premise seems awesome… the folks that brought us the Just Cause games creating a 1970s era heist game set in a fictional country. The piece of that equation that I am uncertain about however is that it is ultimately a co-op experience which may or may not translate to single player gameplay. Once again I have friends and I have friends who game… but the likelihood of actually getting everyone to be playing the same game at the same time is next to zero. So this is really cool and all, but unless I can play it happily by myself without the need of other human beings that it is probably going to be a pass for me. Again however the existence of Gamepass allows me to dip my toes into a game like this without fully committing so for now… I am tentatively interested.
Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer
Fallout 76 Expansions
I have been recently back in Fallout 76 and the game is far better than anyone seems to give it credit. The introduction of NPCs went a long way to making this feel like a proper fallout game, and they continue to roll out new content at a regular cadence much like Elder Scrolls Online. So while I have not really interacted much with the Brotherhood of Steel content, I am interested to see more of it.
What really intrigues me however is something they announced branded an “expedition” and that we would be visiting The Pitt again. This was one of the better Fallout 3 expansions and it was a self contained area separate from the Capital Wasteland. This makes me wonder if this is ultimately going to be how Fallout 76 introduces new maps to the game. I am interested to see where they go with this concept and I would love to spend time visiting areas that we have in other games… in this prequel setting to see the forces that shaped them.
Steel Reign Release Date: July 7th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Expeditions: The Pitt Release Date: 2022 – Watch the Trailer
Halo Infinite
I have no idea why I am paying attention to this trailer or why I am even talking about it. I know that I do not like Halo games. I’ve known this for awhile now. I don’t like not being able to stick with only the weapons that I like as I make my way across the game world. I hate having to pick up random weapons and use them, especially the goofy covenant weapons. Knowing all of this… why am I still compelling to keep watching Halo trailers and get mildly excited by them? I mean it looks like a good Halo game for people who love Halo… and given that it is probably going to be available on Gamepass at some point… I will probably give it a try. Sometimes the heart wants things that the brain knows that it should not.
Release Date: Holiday 2021 – Watch the Trailer
There we have it friends… this is the show that restored my faith in the E3 experience once again. Sure I could cherry pick a handful of games that I was mildly interested in from the previous shows but this had things I was legitimately thrilled to see. There are times I have to admit I consider picking up an Xbox Series X, or at least trying to. Microsoft with its focus on Gamepass… really does seem like the winner of this generation. I’ve always backed Sony because it gave me experiences that did not end up transferring over to my platform of choice… the PC. However it seems like even that might be less of a thing as Sony seems to be courting that sweet sweet PC gaming dollar. If someone asked me how they could get the most bang for the buck I would not hesitate for a second to say that they should buy an Xbox Series X and Gamepass and then just play whatever gets released there.
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