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Qazi’s Disposable 2022 – Highlights

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Preface: managing my expectations

When I concluded my round-up for 2021 on this site, I explained that I initially thought the year would be uneventful as we wait for 2022 to deliver. However, they’ve both been equally great – I had a lot to fondly look back on at the end of last year… and at the same time, there have been a few releases this year that I either lost interest in or didn’t have time for. That’s not to say that I don’t have a “Qazi’s Disposable 2022” highlight reel to talk about, however. Let’s begin.

Qazi’s Disposable 2022: Watching

Qazi's Disposable 2022

As with most years, my 2022 has been spent doing a lot of catching up. My Prime Video subscription – combined with a busy Blu-Ray release schedule – means that I’m rarely short of things to watch, and so my film highlights have included some recent physical media releases as well as the occasional curio that I’ve streamed. For instance, I finally surrendered to the hype and bought Encanto following its disc release on February, and even though you could tell where it was going, it was still a fun ride. The premise initially sounds quite outlandish, following the lives of a family of gifted individuals… however, the plights facing each member – concerns of meeting expectations, of expanding horizons – can be relatable. I also rolled the dice with The Matrix Resurrections – it worked well as a reboot and was more interesting than the second and third films, but it definitely went to some weird places. I enjoyed the moments of self-referential meta commentary, and of course the action scenes were immaculate, but at times it did feel a little bit self-indulgent. A far more successful evening with Keanu came when I finally watched the copy of Bill & Ted Face The Music that I’d been waiting on for months – most of the jokes landed well, prior knowledge of the other films isn’t compulsory and I enjoyed the way in which the narrative kept shifting focus between Bill & Ted’s adventure and the journey that their daughters were going on.

The curios I watched were more random and slightly trashy, and most of them were watched on Prime Video. For example, one of the last films I watched before writing this was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Until now, the only Terminator films I had watched were the first two, and I had the feeling that sci-fi fans would probably want me to pretend that any other movies after the second don’t exist. Personally I didn’t think it was a disaster, but it’s definitely not necessary viewing. The T-X is an impressive machine but it doesn’t quite have the menacing presence of a T-1000. However, the time-jumped John Connor was likeable enough, and a spectacular road chase scene in the first half of the movie felt like a cute homage to T2’s equivalent. Also, I’ll give an honourable mention to the 2014 Riley Stearns film Faults; a story about a man hired to “deprogram” a daughter influenced by a cult. Whilst it was no classic, the premise and the performance made it very compelling to watch, and the fact that the two lead characters had various quirks and flaws gave the story some surprising levity.

Qazi’s Disposable 2022: Listening

Qazi's Disposable 2022

The first thing that came to mind in my music-oriented draft for the “Qazi’s Disposable 2022” document was that this was the year I dropped Spotify. Well, for the moment. Following the Joe Rogan controversy and community fallout, many people on Twitter campaigned to persuade people to use alternative streaming services, and the truth is that since February of this year I’ve listened to most of my music through Tidal. The algorithm hasn’t always been as great at recommending things, but I discover music through Twitter and Youtube as well, so as long as you find ways to help yourself, there’s no massive loss. Honestly though, it’s been pretty good at streaming the random bass music that I find out about on Twitter – the range of artists and labels is a lot broader than I initially feared.

It hasn’t been a big year for new releases but what was there was fine. After all, I can’t complain about getting a new Leftfield album in December – four months after seeing them at Lakefest, in one of the best live music sets I’ve been to. Outside of that, I enjoyed “Closer” by Noisia, as well as various EPs from Wilkinson, Logistics and more. Right now, the “Forms” EP from Bungle is probably my favourite release of the year, but Leftfield’s “This Is What We Do” is a very close second. On a more personal note, I also got hold of an actual CD player after years of listening to music on my desktop. The humble Bush CD-78B-BTFM boombox I selected is hardly going to make the walls shake with bass, but it’s a lot more convenient than using my PC for everything, and the added bonus of Bluetooth means that I don’t have to listen to so many tunes on my mobile.

Qazi’s Disposable 2022: Playing

Qazi's Disposable 2022

Paradoxically, this year in gaming was simultaneously extremely busy for me and somewhat quiet. At the time of writing I’ve only bought about three “games” that were actually released this year, with one being an expansion (Destiny 2: The Witch Queen) and another being a re-release on new formats (Persona 5 Royal). So it’s no surprise that the only brand new 2022 game I’ve played – Elden Ring – has overshadowed everything else. Even though my initial playthrough lasted just over a month, the experience stayed with me and made a lasting impression. What could have been a miserable time exploring an open world full of impossible encounters ended up being revelatory; defeat wasn’t a mere setback anymore – it was an invitation to explore elsewhere in the game’s open environment. Simply put, Elden Ring’s world shames the icon-filled maps of Ubisoft and Rockstar, whilst also feeling more refreshing than From’s earlier dark fantasy action RPGs.

A few months ago I also covered my experiences of a classic Square RPG on this site, with my belated look at Final Fantasy V Advance. I wasn’t expecting anything too mindblowing from the game – especially not after trying FFVI and Chrono Trigger – but I was pleasantly surprised by the depth offered by the job and ability system. With the power to take a learned ability from one job and keep it whilst learning a new job, a character can have several specialties (a thief who knows white magic, or a monk who can use summons) – and this opens up a lot of options during combat. It’s a lot more enjoyable than using jobs in something like FFI or FFIII, and although the story wasn’t that exciting, it made the gameplay frequently feel rewarding.

I’m expecting my gaming year to be more interesting in 2023, even without an Elden Ring on the horizon. I didn’t want to make too many impulse purchases this year, or end up with too many half-finished games – but it’s allowed me to fully appreciate the games that I have made time for, at least.

Qazi’s Disposable Miscellany: Streaming

Okay, it’s not exactly a conventional part of an annual round-up, but I did enjoy doing some more streaming this year. My setup has barely changed from before – most of my streaming is on PC only, with the help of XSplit and Twitch – and I’m still not ready to start offering voiceover or facecam just yet, but there’s something about the promise of streaming a game that incentivises a player to persist with it. The majority of this year’s streamed footage came from Final Fantasy III – a game that I gave up on many years ago, but managed to complete in June. It’s not really the best RPG I’ve played, and it can be a bit of a slog, but the way it was left unfinished had haunted me for too long. I’m glad that I finally have some closure, but I want to keep doing more broadcasts, and I definitely have one or two more streams in mind for the new year.

Moving forward

I already have some plans for 2023 – an endless backlog of films I want to watch, some gaming/streaming pet projects I have vague ideas about… and I’m sure that more new tech, in some form, is inevitable. 2023 could just be another year of me making up for lost time whilst catching up on old things, but I hope to cover some new experiences too. As always, thanks to anyone who’s read, shared or commented on our content, and we hope you enjoy the festive period and the new year. Also, make sure that you take a look at Dan’s Disposable 2022 for an alternative take on the year in entertainment.

Elden Ring: Choose your own death

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“I could be doing something better with my time” – it’s a mantra I find myself recalling when playing certain games. They tend to be older games from the 80s and 90s, when everything was built around the free time and unlimited patience of a younger gamer. If you try to play something like Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins today you’ll die to things you weren’t mentally prepared for, and will have to take a more considered approach next time. The only problem is that these deaths happen all of the time… not that much of an issue if you have the aforementioned luxury of free time and patience, but when life commitments and other interests begin to intrude on your gaming time, you start to think that you’d be better off playing something else. Elden Ring changes this, however: in delivering such a densely-packed open world, you can simply choose to do something else in the game.

Elden Ring – map it yourself

Elden Ring

Other dark fantasy action RPGs by From Software have had intricate interconnected worlds before, but even those tended to leave you choosing between the critical path and a few supplementary diversions. In Elden Ring there are times when you feel like if you just point your character in a given direction and ride into the unknown, you’ll find an entirely new zone, or a new boss encounter, or an underground catacomb. In a more linear game, you might make a mental note of the mistakes you made on your way to – and during – the next compulsory boss blocking your progress. With Elden Ring, you’re not just learning from the critical path; you’re mapping out your deaths and discoveries. Sometimes quite literally – the incredible map in the game lets you add custom markers, and every time I die, I can add a skull icon right next to where I fell and dropped my runes. I don’t need to tell myself where my runes are (the game stamps its own unique symbol on the map for this) – the skull icon is my way of telling myself that I will die if I head into that area. After enough hours, more and more icons litter the map screen. More skull icons pointing out unfinished business I have with a boss, or diamond icons in areas where I can quickly make thousands of runes if I can survive in a particular area.

Elden Ring does present a critical path of sorts – many of the checkpoints offer a general direction for the player to go in if they want to make new discoveries. It’s a welcome inclusion that prevents players feeling totally lost; at the same time, you can choose to ignore them. The game is filled with loot and riches and chests that offer awesome gear and items, but some of the best things I’ve found in the gameworld have been the “map fragments” that reveal more detail in the player’s map – more new places to explore, with enough illustrated detail for a player to (hopefully) work out how to get there. After digging around I’ve found that I’m pretty much at the end of the core story (although there are still optional things to go back to) and my map is peppered with checkpoints, merchants, NPCs and more. I couldn’t possibly recall how I got around the map or the order of the bosses I defeated (although I imagine PSN’s trophy list would help) but this simply wouldn’t be possible in one of the earlier, more linear games.

Your new favourite fighting game

Elden Ring

When I played the Elden Ring beta last November I summarised my impressions with a hope that the open world could keep players busy if they’re not ready for the tougher battles. And so far, the full game is… well, it’s doing its best. There are still mandatory boss encounters that feel intimidating even when you think you can’t possibly be any more prepared, but you often have enough resources at your disposal to come up with potential solutions. The character I’m using has been levelled up in such a way that he has a high Strength stat, meaning that he performs well when given a slow but hard-hitting weapon. I’ve also pushed the Endurance stat up a lot so that he can carry a big shield and block plenty of attacks before there’s any risk of a “guard break” (each blocked attack costs stamina – which can be regenerated by lowering your shield – and at zero stamina the shield arm will fly back and the character will be vulnerable.) Consequently, when I’m in a battle I’m looking for opportunities where an enemy can’t do anything – when they’ve performed their own attack and have to return to a “neutral” position before their next action – and bringing out my slow attacks in these instances. This style of play brings to mind some of the fundamentals of the fighting game genre (Street Fighter, Tekken, Killer Instinct): in those games you’re always waiting for opportunities to capitalise on the bad decisions made by an opponent, and it’s no different in From Software’s action RPGs, except your opponent isn’t Ryu or Kazuya, but a horrific yeti creature several times your size, or an agile human enemy on horseback. Even so, the gameplan remains the same – be patient, wait for openings and strike back. And afterwards, your reward might simply be a chest item or a dropped weapon, but the real rewards are those scenes that show another new path opening up.

Elden Ring – a new standard

Earlier this month my Twitter feed would occasionally show a retweeted news item about Elden Ring that mentioned another broken sales record or a new milestone in units shifted and positive review scores, and that can only be a good thing. Elden Ring isn’t just setting the bar for any developer that chooses to put an open-world in their game: it’s throwing out over a decade of From Software’s own more restrictive game design and providing what is arguably a more accessible experience (compared to From’s other action RPGs, at least) through its open world. Yes, there are still roadblocks in the form of mandatory encounters, but you can go in a different direction and make progress in another way… eventually, that initial roadblock will be less intimidating. Developers have been trying to capture the success of From’s action RPGs for years – in the meantime, From have stepped into the crowded field of open-world gaming and set a new standard on their first try.

You can find out more about Elden Ring on Bandai Namco’s website.

Qazi’s Disposable 2021 – highlights from the year

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Where to begin? Once again it feels like entertainment has played an essential role in making life more manageable this year – with our homes being as much a place to work and be productive as they are to unwind, it’s been important to make time for the things we enjoy. The modems and routers in homes haven’t just been helping remote workers stay connected during the working week, but they’ve played host to an abundance of streaming and gaming – enough to provide a welcome escape from the four walls that we’re becoming so familiar with. I was already contemplating some of the highlights of the past twelve months before I began drafting notes for the inaugural “Qazi’s Disposable 2021” round-up… and if you’ve followed the published articles on this website then you might have an idea of what to expect. Let’s begin.

Qazi’s Disposable 2021: Watching

Qazi's Disposable 2021

I’ve been in the mood for a lot of light and mindless entertainment this year – it’s just that it’s ended up being some extremely well-produced light and mindless entertainment. On the one side of this spectrum, I’ve made time to check out some old comedies that I missed back in the day, such as the Adam Sandler power-fantasy “Click” and Zachary Levi in “Shazam!” (I also watched “Space Jam: A New Legacy” recently, which was a welcome escape into surreal cartoon nonsense.) On the other side, I’ve been watching out-and-out action flicks – the spectacular “Godzilla vs. Kong”, the magnificent “Nobody” and the “I feel obliged to watch this after the Dark Knight Trilogy” viewing of “Suicide Squad (2016).” I think that “Nobody” was easily the highlight: a one-man revenge story that at first had me expecting John Wick, but Odenkirk’s character brings an entirely different flavour to the format. Looking back, I felt that Keanu’s films started to lose their vibe with the sequels, whilst Nobody feels as fresh as Wick 1.

Qazi’s Disposable 2021: Listening

It’s been a bit of a low-key year for my usual musical favourites – I’ve been listening to more EPs than anything else, and one of the few big albums was “Not Forever” by The Upbeats – something I already covered in August. At the same time, those EPs have contained a lot of new favourite songs; in particular, I enjoyed the “Clairvoyant” EP by QZB, Machinedrum’s “Psyconia” and “Compassion” from Special Request.  There have been a few sour points during 2021, as I’ve seen some of my favourite artists move away from music and into NFT production (a move that necessitated some tidying of my custom Twitter feeds so that my interests in music news are better catered for), but the majority of the people I follow have continued to produce excellent music. I was kind of let down by technology during this year – my phone either lost tracks I’d added to my library (due to syncing issues) or drained its battery alarmingly quickly – but I feel like I’ve still been able to keep up with the music I care about.

Qazi’s Disposable 2021: Playing

It was always going to be hard for 2021 to match the previous year’s output – a year that gave me three excellent JRPGs in FFVII Remake, Persona 5 Royal and Yakuza: Like A Dragon – even so, there have been a few highlights worth talking about. I managed to get into the beta for Elden Ring before its release next year, and even though the beta testers were trapped within the confines of its invisible walls, the beta worked well as an early pitch for the full game – teasing explorable catacombs, the “spectral steed” that can be summoned and the possibility of simply pointing your character in a different direction if you find a particular location too challenging. Whether or not I’ll be able to endure a full game of this remains to be seen, but I look forward to finding out. Elsewhere, Neo: The World Ends With You finally provided more of the unique RPG gameplay offered by the 2007 DS game, but with streamlined gameplay that accommodates a single screen.  Whilst it suffers from some pacing issues at times, the enjoyable battles easily outweigh the frustrating ones, and the overall aesthetic makes every battle a unique spectacle. I also have a few honourable mentions that weren’t really covered on this site: in particular, the adorable and hilarious Deltarune Chapter 2, the stark but compelling R-Type Final 2 and the “Connected” update to Tetris Effect. Oh, and my completion of Chrono Trigger was also a satisfying milestone – one more game on my JRPG bucket list that’s been conquered.

Where next?

To be honest, I was expecting this year to be a bit of a stopgap before some big hits threatened to arrive in 2022 – however, I’ve ended up with a lot of things that have made this year another great one. Next year I’m hoping for most of my evenings to be consumed by Elden Ring, I’ll be continuing to catch up on various old movies, and I may have some more personal streaming sessions planned. We’ll see. Until then, thanks for continuing to read and support our content – don’t forget to take a look at Dan’s round-up of the year – and we hope you have a great 2022.

Preview: Elden Ring beta impressions

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Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to take part in the Elden Ring beta and take a look at From Software‘s latest dark fantasy action RPG. I’ve always had mixed experiences with their other games, but there have been enough enjoyable experiences to keep me interested in whatever they do next. Elden Ring will be released on last-gen and current-gen consoles – as well as PC – in 2022, and I don’t doubt that it will devour hundreds of hours of fans’ lives as they pick apart the world and face whatever challenges await them. I don’t own a current-gen console yet, and my PC will be able to run the game in theory, but if I can enjoy it on a last-gen platform like the PS4 I was using this weekend, that will be more than enough. What follows is a short account of my experiences with the Elden Ring beta (during the hours when I was able to play) – I’ll try not to use too many references to other From games so that readers don’t get too lost, but stop reading now if you want to go into the final game blind.

Guidance in the Elden Ring beta

Elden Ring beta

As you start the Elden Ring beta, your journey as the “Tarnished” begins quite abruptly. You configure your options and pick your player class (classes are essentially initial “character builds” with stat points distributed between various attributes – although you’ll gain more points to spend as you level up throughout the game), and then you’re dropped into the first environment and discover your first site of grace – essentially a checkpoint that you can activate to replenish health, level up (when possible) and manage certain aspects of your character’s belongings. The first location you’re in is a well-lit cave area, and after a few run-ins with enemies, you open the door to Limgrave and get your first chance to explore part of the game’s striking open world. It’s here where you discover a site of grace that reveals a “grace guidance” system – golden rays that flow from a site of grace and give a vague hint of where players might want to direct themselves. It’s a nice way of giving players a gentle nudge in a particular direction, but since the Elden Ring beta was broken up into limited time slots I imagine a lot of players wanted to find their own paths.

The open world provided in the Elden Ring beta was more of a chunk of the open world than a full experience – players eventually found themselves rubbing up against impassable walls – but there was still plenty to see and do. A map is available from the outset and highlights various points of interest. Furthermore, players are able to place markers on the map that act as custom waypoints. When your character dies in Elden Ring, they have the option to respawn at the last site of grace that the player visited. The experience points gained from battle are lost if not spent, but can be retrieved if a player navigates from the site of grace to the location where they died. Not only does this emphasise the importance of studying the map for safe routes between a site of grace and a player’s unspent experience, but it also encourages players to know their surroundings. I would often pre-emptively create custom markers close to where I wanted to go, if I could see various enemies patrolling and didn’t rate my chances of survival. At least this way, I had a record of where I was trying to go, and I prevented myself from blindly wandering about the place.

Trusty steed

Elden Ring beta

As you explore the world, you can run into enemies hanging out on their own, “patrols” of enemies that need to be approached methodically, and larger enemies that feel more like mini-bosses. The basics of combat have you equipping armour, weapons and shields, attacking and blocking as necessary, or manoeuvring and rolling to create space for your character. The class I used was an “Enchanted Knight” and had limited magic projectiles in addition to their armour, shield and sword. The resource management and the large groups of enemies can lead to overwhelming situations, but the open world allows players to plan their attacks more carefully, whether that means avoiding enemies entirely or taking them by surprise. Players also have access to a “spectral steed”, which is essentially a horse that can be summoned to allow greater mobility around the world. Sometimes this is useful when you just want to get to a custom marker you’ve placed, but it also helps players who want to make a quick retreat. Whether you’re retreating or just covering ground, there are various items that can be discovered, such as upgrade materials or things that can be traded. In a way, I can say that I rarely felt like my time spent with the Elden Ring beta was “wasted” – even when I wasn’t figuring out a particular enemy encounter, I was still finding new areas as I explored the map, or picking up things that I found on the ground.

One aspect of the open world that I find most interesting is the presence of various caves and catacombs. Sprinkled around the environment are entrances where you can head underground and explore what’s essentially a self-contained dungeon – one where you can navigate your way around, deal with enemy encounters, maybe find items and ultimately face a boss for a chance to grab more rewards. I found that the range of challenge presented on the plains of the open world could be overwhelming at times – maybe I’d just be dealing with a few human enemies, but then I’d head in a different direction and run into a dragon. The caves and catacombs, on the other hand, can be treated as something to be taken in isolation. They’re tight and satisfying challenges and I hope that completing more catacomb experiences will allow players to explore the open world with more confidence. When the full game is released and those impassable walls fall, I’m already considering the possibility of seeking out more of these underground entrances and building my character through these experiences.

The Elden Ring beta – a positive start

I think that if you’ve never been too keen on From’s games because of their reputation for challenge, it might be worth considering Elden Ring. No matter what I was struggling to do in one area, it wasn’t long before I found myself being distracted by another part of the map. The map and custom markers prevent players from being completely on their own (and as mentioned, they’re a great “mental checkpoint” if you don’t rate your chances of surviving an area), and there will surely be a healthy community for co-op multiplayer when the full game is out. If the open world is dense enough to keep players busy with manageable activities as they build up their characters in preparation for more formidable ordeals, it could be a great experience.

The Elden Ring beta was played on PS4 for this article – the full game will be released on February 25th 2021 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC. More information can be found at Bandai Namco’s website.

Stream life: Qazi’s E3 2021 notes

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Well, it wasn’t that bad after all. With the presentations of E3 2021 moving to dedicated streams rather than a stage show, there were fears from past attendees that it would never quite be the same again. For the rest of us, however, it was business as usual – the streams provided by the various hosts were more than sufficient. Whenever E3 comes around, the whole process threatens to feel more like a responsibility than a spectacle; customers patiently waiting through hours of – let’s be real – adverts, in case something surprises them. Personally, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be looking forward to now – after the recent highs of FFVII Remake, Persona 5 Royal and Yakuza Like a Dragon I was hoping to discover new things to get excited about again. Happily, I could relax: looking over the paper titled “Qazi’s E3 2021 notes” there are definitely a few things worth talking about.

Qazi’s E3 2021 notes – Elden Ring

Qazi's E3 2021 notes

Qazi’s E3 2021 notes begin with Elden Ring. From Software’s new game was first announced in 2019 – billed as a new “dark fantasy action RPG” created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. I might not the hugest fan of From’s games and their appeal to me can be hit and miss, but I’ve enjoyed them enough to want to keep an eye on new announcements. The new trailer showcased horse-riding, some slick melee combat (with a hint of magic, or enchantment) and some surprisingly fluid movement. If the final game plays as good as it looks, it seems like we might find ourselves in control of a capable and agile protagonist – putting more pressure on the player to make the most of their character’s abilities. However, From’s dark fantasy action RPGs have a reputation for being challenging experiences, and there’s still a lot about Elden Ring that’s unknown: what is the penalty for failure? How well will it accommodate players who are fans of GRRM but only have a passing interest in videogames? The marketing blurb hints at “open ended” gameplay where one can define their playstyle and “chart their own path”, but it could be no more “open ended” than From’s other games – where a player has to choose one of several taxing challenges to overcome. One positive piece of information (that may have been announced before and I missed it) was that the game would be multi-platform and cross-generation, launching next January on Xbox Series, Xbox One, PS5, PS4 and Steam. So if you’ve been waiting on that new-gen console purchase, at least you know that you’ll be able to play this on something you already own.

Qazi’s E3 2021 notes – Tunic, The Ascent

Qazi's E3 2021 notes

One game name that I didn’t expect on the “Qazi’s E3 2021 notes” list was The Ascent. I had barely been following this game before seeing the trailer and I only half-knew the name from chatter online, but it looks like a gorgeous piece of cyberpunk RPG shooter action from an elevated perspective. Maybe it won’t be the most cerebral thing out there, and I caught some lighting and textures that made me fear for my ageing desktop PC (my specs are somewhere between the minimum and recommended) but it could be another thing that I can add to my Steam wishlist and then forget about for months. Speaking of my wishlist, another game that’s been on there for a while is Tunic – it received a little slot during Summer Game Fest, as well as an Xbox exclusive demo. This might not be much more than the demo I played a while back, but it’s nice to know that the game is still alive.

Qazi’s E3 2021 notes – Replaced, Phantom Abyss

Qazi's E3 2021 notes

Phantom Abyss was a game that came to my attention in late May – a procedurally generated “runner” game with asynchronous multiplayer, it asks players to sprint through dangerous gauntlets of traps and obstacles that wouldn’t look out of place on an Indiana Jones set, and retrieving sacred relics. Branching paths force players to make quick decisions, whilst the titular phantoms are the ghosts of other players and their previous efforts – essentially, you’re navigating obstacles with your character and also viewing ghost replays of others. (I’m curious about how phantoms work with procedural environments, but maybe the generation is based on a set of “segments”, with ghost replays representing players’ attempts through one particular segment.) The game is available on Steam Early Access this month, with the Steam store page suggesting a June 22nd release date.

My main notes end with a short mention of Replaced, described by developer Sad Cat Games as “a 2.5D Retro-Futuristic Cinematic Platformer” that will be released next year on Xbox, Steam and Epic. With its striking lighting, cinematic use of focus and pixel characters, it drew a lot of comparisons to The Last Night: the Odd Tales game announced back in 2017. With moody shots of a character running through the woods, cryptic scrolling error messages in red system text and panning views of run-down streets (all set to a synthy soundtrack), it’s hard to blame people for making comparisons, but hopefully this game doesn’t disappear into the void. (And – like The Ascent – hopefully it’s playable on this creaky old PC…)

Honourable mentions

There were a few other notables throughout the various shows but none of them caught my attention like the games mentioned above. The Square Enix presentation actually took a little time to show Neo: The World Ends With You, Nier Reincarnation and Babylon’s Fall… but with Babylon’s Fall still looking like it’s quite early in development, and Neo: TWEWY and Nier Reincarnation (hopefully) arriving soon, there weren’t many new reasons to get excited if you had already been following these games. I think Forza Horizon 5 deserves a mention just for its scale and detail – I haven’t played a Forza game since Motorsport 4 on the 360, so maybe it’s not that much of a leap for some, but the variety of locations on offer make it feel like you’ll be playing for some time before things start feeling samey. And as I write this, I’ve just caught up with Nintendo’s main presentation – as a company that relies strongly on proven IP I wasn’t expecting them to show off anything too outlandish, but there was an intriguing new 2D Metroid, the glorious return of Wario Ware in a brand new game, and another long-overdue look at Shin Megami Tensei V.

Wrapping up

Generally, the previews gave me a lot more than I was expecting, with the hype being brought by several brand new games rather than merely sequels and extensions of games that I already know. I may still be on the fence about my next console purchase, but I’ve got more to think about now, as well as a few things I can enjoy on the hardware I have at the moment. As always, leave a comment if you’d like to talk about your own E3 2021 highlights, and hopefully we can look forward to these games and more in the future.

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