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Samurai, gods, big rosters – notes from my E3 2018

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Stepping out into the mid-June sunshine, away from the hype and noise that follows any series of E3 press conferences, I couldn’t deny that some of that hype may be rubbing off on me. Before we even get to my E3 2018, let’s remember that we’re already in the middle of what people are claiming to be a new golden era of gaming – one where modern classics are being released with uncommon frequency. Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Nier: Automata, Persona 5, Cuphead, Sonic Mania, Celeste – the list just keeps going, and it looks like the list will grow even more if my E3 2018 was anything to go by. Rather than one platform holder emerging as a clear winner or loser (and let’s not pretend that there haven’t been clear winners and losers in the past), my E3 2018 had Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo revealing exciting and interesting new games.

Microsoft favourites from my E3 2018

my E3 2018

The biggest reveal of Microsoft’s show was undoubtedly Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. A new IP from revered developer From Software, it promises polished third-person action with a samurai flavour. The trailer was only about two or three minutes long but showed the mechanical arm first seen in the “Shadows Die Twice” trailer, and its owner – a character who can go toe-to-toe with swordsmen, use said arm in a grappling-hook fashion to ascend to higher positions or cross chasms, and supposedly rise to his feet after being “killed”, which seems appropriate given the subtitle. Elsewhere, it was revealed that the once PS4 and PC exclusive Nier Automata would receive an Xbox port with the release of Nier Automata: Become as Gods Edition (perhaps to make up for Scalebound’s demise), so hopefully more people can enjoy the weird and wonderful combination of slick Platinum gameplay and distinct Nier quirkiness. Also of note was the first true reveal of Cyberpunk 2077 and news that Devil May Cry would be getting a new numbered sequel, but the lack of substantial gameplay footage for either game suggests that these are very early announcements.

Sony familiarity in my E3 2018

my E3 2018

By comparison, many people criticised the lack of new reveals in Sony’s conference; there were many games we already knew about from previous shows (such as Spider-Man, The Last of Us Part 2 and Death Stranding), and with the remake of Final Fantasy VII still early in development, there was little hope of seeing anything new from that game. Despite this, we did get confirmation of an exciting new PSVR title with From Software’s Deracine, reaffirmation that Mizuguchi’s The Tetris Effect still looks superb, and more gorgeous footage of Sucker Punch‘s Ghost of Tsushima. (As an aside, it seems that samurai games were the general theme of this year’s E3, with Tsushima, Sekiro and a trailer of Nioh 2 all making appearances somewhere amongst the conferences.) Another notable surprise was Remedy’s Control, a game that seems to combine shifting geometry with conventional gunplay and creative mind control mechanics. It was a fun looking title, even if it did make me wish for a sequel to Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy…

Nintendo’s contribution to my E3 2018

my E3 2018

As is to be expected these days, Nintendo combined the bizarre with the exciting, from making me question the need for a Pokéball peripheral used in conjuction with Pokémon Go (which will transfer Pokémon data from the mobile game to a new console game) when you already have wireless communication technology in your primary gaming devices… to the surprise reveal of Daemon X Machina, an exciting action game from Marvelous Entertainment that boasts bright and colourful visuals and shows off the kind of gameplay that brings to mind games such as Omega Boost and Transformers Devastation. Elsewhere in the show, the unveiling of a new Mario Party was hardly a massive surprise – at the same time, the immediacy and social nature of the series is an obvious fit for the Switch hardware – and the new Super Smash Bros seemed hell-bent on including every character from previous games in its roster, to the delight of series fans. It was also revealed that these characters will all be tweaked slightly, hopefully resulting in a balanced game and some exciting re-learning of old favourites.

The highlight of my E3 2018

my E3 2018

All of the three main shows succeeded in giving fans something to look forward to, but the reveal that interested me the most was Babylon’s Fall. This was one of the new announcements from a very short Square Enix showcase scheduled separately from the three main conferences – a new IP being developed by Platinum Games, Babylon’s Fall only revealed a glimpse of CG at the end of its trailer, but was introduced with text-heavy stills that promised a tale of clashing ideologies, of gods striking down against mankind, and of huge armoured characters and electric (or perhaps arcane) powers. It was perhaps the only trailer I went through frame by frame as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing, and it’s definitely something I intend to keep an eye on between now and its 2019 release.

Obviously, I saw some criticism levelled at the three main conferences as people collected their own thoughts on discussion boards and in social media – people claimed that Sony’s show repeated the same announcements as last year and didn’t have enough new reveals, or that Nintendo’s show needed to give fans more details about known games in development (precious little was seen of Metroid Prime 4, Yoshi, or Starfox Grand Prix)… Microsoft’s show was perhaps the most refreshing, but I noticed people claiming that their conference pushed 4K and the Xbox One X a little too much for owners of older Xbox models. Despite all of this, I’m remaining optimistic about the future of all three platform holders – there’s something for everyone to look forward to in the near future, and the absence of any big new hardware reveals (certain optimistic individuals expected the unveiling of a PlayStation 5 before the show commenced) suggests that the current generation still has some life left in it for the time being. As ever, let us know if there were any reveals that stood out for you in the comments below.

My highlights from the E3 2017 conferences

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As I write this, the last of the E3 2017 conferences has come to a close and – if you are to believe more cynical types – games journalists everywhere are scrambling to draft their hot takes, expand their wordcounts and plug whatever rubbish they were talked into endorsing via promises of promotional swag. Naturally the likes of Disposable Media are in a different scenario, since we’re a general entertainment website that features content from people who just talk about the things they like to talk about, but it would be remiss not to give the show some coverage. Despite the extent of my eighth-gen hardware being limited to a PS4, Vita and half-decent PC, I made time for each of the main shows – happily, it was worth it, as pretty much everyone presenting the E3 2017 conferences had games worth talking about.

E3 2017 conferences: new hardware and anime “FighterZ”

Let’s focus on the big three for now; there were other E3 2017 conferences but I’d like to cover their games individually as more news surfaces. Microsoft was the first to show their hand in perhaps the most conveniently timed show for people in the BST zone. As expected, they opened the show with news of the Xbox One X and proceeded to show off incredibly pretty Forza Motorsport 7 footage; it’s an obvious candidate for showcasing the graphical fidelity of new hardware, and the large fanbase will ensure it enjoys success on the system. Amongst the more predictable reveals – a new Assassin’s Creed, the aforementioned Forza segment – was news that the terribly-named PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was coming to Xbox, and no annual conference would be complete without the obligatory Minecraft segment. More promising trailers included Dragonball FighterZ (a 1v1 fighter based on an anime I barely follow, but the presentation and gameplay look superb), a new Life Is Strange game and the gorgeous Anthem, so there was a lot to get excited about. (Of course, a number of the games shown off will be multiformat, so it was worth tuning in to the show even if you don’t own an Xbox One.)

E3 2017 conferences: PSVR support and updated classics

Sony’s was the second of the E3 2017 conferences and, as is tradition, it went live during the small hours for UK gamers. Catching up with the conference revealed a mixture of familiar names (Days Gone, God of War), bizarre trailers (FFXV: Monster of the Deep) and some more daring ventures – a number of PSVR titles were there to reassure people that Sony weren’t about to let the headset follow the Vita into obscurity, and a PSVR update to Skyrim could be a huge hit depending on controller requirements and performance on various PS4 models. Another bold gamble came in the form of a new Monster Hunter – it seemed somewhat more simple and bombastic than the handheld titles, and observers have accused it of being a dumbing-down, but I’m curious to see if the new direction pays off. (On a personal note, I was happy to see a new FFXII: TZA trailer after my recent revisiting of the original, and news that Undertale is coming to PS4 may finally prompt me to try out the game.)

E3 2017 conferences: working titles and series extensions

The last of the E3 2017 conferences I watched was Nintendo’s, and whilst Microsoft was busy showing off a new hardware platform, the Kyoto giant was tasked with building the library of the console it released this March. Happily, they’re never shy of falling back on familiar names, and fans welcomed news of more Mario, more Zelda, and more Metroid. As a fan of the side-scrolling platformers I was particularly fond of the trailers for the currently-unnamed Yoshi and Kirby games (unless they really will be called “Yoshi” and “Kirby” as per the trailer outros.) However, with so much to play on my existing gaming hardware I’m still in no hurry to pick up a Switch.

In short, it’s a good time to be a fan of games. Everyone had plenty of trailers to show (and the ratio of trailers to preamble was most welcome) and I know I have a few more upcoming games on my radar now. As always, if you have any thoughts on the E3 2017 conferences that you’d like to share, leave a comment below.

Pokémon Picross (3DS)

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Picross e, then Picross e2. Picross e3, e4, e5 and – as you’d expect, e6. You’d be forgiven for thinking that developers Jupiter were stuck in a bit of a rut, but as a massive fan of the series of Japanese puzzles, you must understand that the inevitable e7 was high on my shopping list. Surprise! There’s no e7, as Jupiter have gone Pokémon, with Pokémon Picross.

Pokémon Picross: Can you tell what is is yit?

Can you tell what is is yit?

If you squint, it’s more of the same. Instead of the usual pixel art representations of toilets and anchors and chickens, they’re all Pokémon. You probably guessed that was coming. In itself, it’s not a bad thing as any more picross – to a picross aficionado – is always welcome. It doesn’t matter what the hidden picture actually is anyway, as it’s all about the journey. Snorlax or snooker table, who cares, right? Right. Especially since the game is free!

Only Nintendo stuffed the game full of IAPs, didn’t they. Artificial paywalls to progress, as already seen in other 3DS Pokémon games – Pokémon Rumble World and Pokémon Shuffle. In those games the in-app purchases merely served as ways of speeding up the game progress, and Shuffle at least was perfectly completable without ever busting out your eShop wallet. I was expecting the same here, and since I’d play only a handful of puzzles a day in the e-series games thought this would see me through. Sadly, this is not the case.

Pokémon Picross: The first one is always free

Liberally plying you early on with Picrites (the in-game currency) to show you how you can unlock more areas, puzzles and Pokémon slots, the flow soon slows to a trickle with each completed puzzle only rewarding you with 6 or 7. That’s a best-case scenario as in order to get the maximum number of Picrites from a puzzle you need to fulfill some requirements, such as use certain Pokémon. In turn, this leads to repeating the puzzles as you can’t always max them out on your first attempt. This might be fine in other types of games, but you really don’t want to be redoing picross puzzles. You wouldn’t redo a crossword, would you, and It’s the same here. To open up the next area of Pokémon, with each area home to around six or so beasties, you need a large number of Picrites. 70 or 80 for the earlier areas, and as you only get 6 or 7 per puzzle some quick maths shows there aren’t enough puzzles in each area to stump up the Picrites to unlock the next, and that’s before you start spending them on other in-game stuff. The solution: Pony up real actual money. Cunning Nintendo. A few more Picrites are handed out in the daily challenge puzzles, which are boring, randomly generated and pictureless, and you get a handful more for achievements, but it’s still not enough to get through without tedious repetition.

Pokémon Picross: It's a shame they missed a trick and didn't make the map itself a giant picross puzzle.

It’s a shame they missed a trick and didn’t make the map itself a giant picross puzzle.

The other changes to the standard e formula are less intrusive, with the puzzles themselves following the same style, right down to the same font, used in the older titles. Whereas before you had the option to automatically display one row and one column before you started, and had blue “number hinting” to help with determining if you had available moves, these features now manifest in the form of Pokémon moves. Collect the creatures by solving their puzzle, then set up to six of them (providing you stump up the precious Picrites necessary to open all the slots) at a time to be used during other puzzles. These moves can activate those traditional abilities as well as new ones, such as a “scattershot reveal” or a correction tool. Some have cooldowns meaning they can only be used once in a period of (real) time, and some only apply to certain puzzles sizes, so catching them all is once again on the cards. It’s actually quite good fun and a welcome twist. In fact, as you work through a single area you realise how much you’re enjoying it then BAM! You run out of energy.

Did I not say? I’m sorry. That’s right. Energy. Every tile you place in each puzzle drains one unit of energy, and you only have a finite amount. Before you even reach the paywall at the end of an area, you hit another paywall because you can’t play any more as your energy is depleted. You can wait until the next day for it to be replenished, of course, or you can splash out on some more of those naughty Picrites and bypass the forced pause in play. A double-whammy of painful penny pinching.

Pay ALL the money

One thing you can’t money your way out of is the control system. Although you’d expect that filling in picross puzzles with a stylus makes more sense than a d-pad and button combo, to someone who cut their picross teeth on Mario’s Super Picross on the SNES the stylus is An Unnecessary Item. In the e games, you can choose your input mechanism of choice, and in Pokémon Picross it would appear you have the same option. It’s a façade: You can only use buttons to solve the puzzles, and most of the rest of the UI requires a plastic stick or finger to operate. There’s no reason for it, it’s annoying, and it’s a thoroughly confusing design decision. It sounds a small complaint, but after you’ve pressed B for the n-teenth and “Use the stylus!” has flashed up yet again, it grates.

Pokémon Picross: Like previous games, puzzles vary in size.

Like previous games, puzzles vary in size.

As a free game it could get a lot of slack for things like this, but the game isn’t free. To get fun out of it you’ve no real choice but to buy some Picrites. When you look into the Picrite shop, you can see that if you spend enough money, they become free from then on, effectively buying the game outright. If you want to get onboard with this way of paying for your Picross game, it’ll set you back around £30. The older e titles are nearer a fiver. Just sticking Pokémon in it does not mean they’re worth an extra £25, especially since you can almost buy all six Picross e games for the cost of Pokémon Picross. And, frankly, that’s where your money should go instead.

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