This year’s E3 is a wrap! So much to have seen and learn from E3 2016 with all the gaming goodness displayed within the LA Convention Center. While it was tough to compose a list of just five trailers from all the great footage shown at E3, I had to narrow down my choices to the cream of the crop. At least of my crops anyway.
The order in which these trailers appear don’t have any significant meaning behind them. My order literally came down to which title appeared in my head first. Time has come for my favorite E3 2016 trailers to be known!
5. Bound
Exclusive to the PlayStation 4 is Bound, briefly glimpsed in Sony’s indie game montage during their E3 2016 press conference. Published by Santa Monica Studios and developed by Plastic, Bound is a twisting and always shifting platformer where players control some sort of ballerina entity. As the unknown ballerina figure, players navigate the animated environment while performing classic ballerina moves such as the Grande Jeté.
The cel-shaded visual is the perfect art style to adapt for Bound. Throughout the reveal trailer, it becomes fairly obvious that nothing remains still for too long. The world around the ballerina moves with fluid grace, just like the protagonist herself.
“Bound transports you into a beautiful, fantastical world that exists in the mind of a woman revisiting the memories of her childhood. You’ll use dance moves to traverse vast environments filled with platforming challenges. As the game progresses, the introspective story unfolds through powerful metaphor and imagery, adding emotional depth to the protagonist’s journey.”
No release date has been given but on Santa Monica Studios’ webpage, the words “Coming Soon” can be found among the game’s description. For those who are interested, be sure to follow Plastic on their Twitter account.
4. Persona 5
Atlus knew the fans wanted to see more Persona 5 and boy did they show off some good stuff. Before E3 2016 kicked off, Atlus announced that Persona 5 would release in the west on February 14th. However, Japan gets to play Persona 5 four months in advance… lucky S.O.Bs.
Anyway, gameplay footage for Persona 5 made appearances all throughout E3. The art style for this game brings me such pleasure, mostly because the style reminds me of anime series Baccano and Durarara. I’m also interested in the theme surrounding Persona 5.
Persona 3 had a dark, somber vibe, Persona 4 was still dark but had a chipper feel to its world. With Persona 5, the protagonists and (if this makes sense) the artwork has a brashness to it. I’m a sucker for certain anime styled artwork and Persona 5 has it right.
Not to mention, the gameplay for Persona 5 looks to be downright entertaining. The combat as special moves, stylish finishers and anime violence that’s perfection for me. As the protagonists lead a dual life between ordinary high school antics and being Phantom Thieves, the question that remains is why? We’ll find out early next year!
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild
Leave it to Nintendo to make grown men jump up and down with joy; we haven’t forgotten about what Twilight Princess did to some men. At E3 2016, Nintendo didn’t have themselves a conference like Sony or Microsoft but instead decided to show off a few future titles. It was on everybody’s mind whether or not we would see a new Zelda title…Nintendo did not disappoint.
Nintendo took their legendary franchise and seemingly changed a few things. The trailer begins with a mysterious woman saying “Open Your Eyes”. We soon find out that she’s talking to Link, the series’ mainstay protagonist. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wind is a beautiful game to look at, both in motion and through screenshots.
And I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest Zelda fan but Breath of The Wind looks to be a must play title for everyone. My Wii U is often left to the sidelines but I’ve been making a more conscious effort to give it a fair share of my time. Breath of The Wind is definitely going to be getting a lot of playtime from me.
What I like about this game the most is how players are dropped into the world with no instructions of what to do next. This allows us to explore the world of Hyrule at our own pace, piecing together what we should do, though this is already known. We, as Link, must gather enough strength to eventually challenge Calamity Ganon, which is the cause of Hyrule being left in ruins.
This matter of letting the player make their own way through the land, calls back to the original Legend of Zelda where, it too, put players into the world with no guidance. When Breath of The Wind hopefully launches in 2017, I’ll be sure to lose myself in the ruined world of Hyrule.
2. Detroit: Become Human
As soon as the trailer ended, the first word out of my mouth was “What?!”. Not a bad kind of what either but more like a “Why isn’t this game out now” kind of what. Detroit: Become Human is the upcoming title from Quantic Dream, the developer behind games such as Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls.
I caught a heavy similarity between Become Human and the film Blade Runner as the concept feels extremely connected. The reveal trailer shows Connor, a negotiator who just so happens to also be an android. The trailer shows how Connor must convince another android to release his human hostage before plunging both of them off a building…and fails.
But then time rewinds and shows what Connor could have done differently to change the outcome. Investigate the crime scene to change how the confrontation between androids can play out. I can definitely see Become Human having a TON of replay value if the trailer holds true to the actual content. So many outcomes to be had and choices to be made…little wonder why the game is titled ‘Detroit: Become Human.’
1. We Happy Few
We Happy Few feels like a combination between Bioshock, Dishonored and a subliminal message to leave the drugs alone kids. We Happy Few is brought to us by Compulsion Games as they introduce us to a alternate World War II world in 1964 where citizens take their “Joy” drugs to maintain bliss. This mandatory rule of taking Joy is heavily enforced and anyone caught not taking their drugs is labeled a “Downer”.
As Arthur Hastings, events unfold where he stops taking his Joy and soon begins to see the world how it truly is. This of course gets him labeled as a Downer and Arthur must escape town before he is caught. We Happy Few may remind me of Bioshock and Dishonored but the game won’t have the same structure.
This title is psychological thriller rougelike where the layout of the town is changes its look with every new game. Players will have to blend in by taking measured doses of Joy to throw off the scent of his Downer behavior. I may not have an Xbox One or PC to play We Happy Few when it comes out but this game is definitely high on my list of need-to-play titles and easily my favorite thing out of E3 2016.
And that’s it people! So many games I wanted to include in my list but the name of this segment is Fanatical Five, so it would be quite odd to have more than five trailers here. E3 2016 showed off so many good titles coming in the near future and also those titles not coming out for quite some time. I have a feeling my backlog is going to become even more jam packed in the days to come.
Be sure to comment on what games or moments captured your undivided attention from this year’s E3. Happy Gaming!
