Xbox Showcase, all the games: at last some hype?


AKA The clear winner of this Game Fest

The Xbox Showcase + Starfield Direct thumbnail

Boy oh boy here we are. Honestly, what we’ve seen so far in this totally-not-E3 season hasn’t been particularly interesting. But then again, my depressed ass hasn’t felt much hype in a long time, so maybe I’m biased.

To be even more honest, what I was really interested in was the Starfield Direct, and I had half a mind of skipping this Xbox Showcase. It would have been a mistake. For as much as I dislike the current trend of consolidation and buyouts, Microsoft went up gobbling up some of my favourite studios and IPs over the years. And, while the issues with the pacing of releases are there (although, it would seem without a substantial financial impact), this year, we got to see some really cool stuff. Let’s explore it together.

Fable

AKA It’s not the same without him

A screenshot of the new Fable trailer, featuring Richard Ayoade
Playground continues the tradition of casting famous voices, and in this case faces, in Fable.

First of all, the game looks good. The trailer is captured in-engine, showcasing detailed models and textures, moody lights, popping particles and vivid colours. It’s all very “flagship” looking. Nice and proper.

Richard Ayoade’s presence as a gardening-obsessed giant is curious. The series had already dabbled with casting great British comedians before (from John Cleese to the excellent Stephen Fry), and this is hugely on-brand for a Fable game. Ayoade brings his trademark frustrated composure; seeing him is always a joy. I’m a bit iffy about using his likeness for the character, it feels a bit too close to stunt casting for my taste, but it’s definitely not a deal breaker.

To be honest, there’s not much else to take away from the trailer. The game will keep the ironic edge its predecessors had, and there are Heroes and Balverines. We are sadly going back to the traditional fantasy medieval-renaissance mish-mash, leaving behind the industrial revolution setting of Fable 2 and 3, which is really a shame. There seems to be a greater focus on classic fairy tale ideas, with the aforementioned giant and beansprouts (and the tone of the original announcement trailer), which is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s right there in the title Fable.

On the other hand, I fear Playground might go the easy route and simply do a Shrek with the serial number filed off, which would be truly boring. Don’t get me wrong: Shrek was a fun, great movie. Twenty years ago, when it came out. That kind of sarcastic, deconstructionist approach has been beaten to death by now.

We see some glimpses of combat, but not enough to judge. We’ll absolutely need some raw gameplay at this point to get a feel of the fighting and, more importantly, an idea of how Playground Games intends to update what, for me, has always been the core of Fable‘s greatness: social interaction.

For all his faults, Peter Molineux always dreamed big, and for that, I always respected him and his teams. One of his greatest intuitions was the understanding that the next step in the evolution of videogames is tied to the ability to interact more profoundly with the NPCs. Relationships are how we ground ourselves in reality, and the series (despite severe issues) has tried (or better: hoped) to explore this realm. I hope this reboot will keep pushing the envelope instead of being your standard soulless AAA action-adventure with a sprinkle of RPG on top.

Watch the trailer here.

South of Midnight

AKA Instant add to my playlist

A screenshot of the South of Midnight trailer, featuring a zombie playing the blues.
The mesmerizing art style, and the stop motion inspired animation don’t miss their mark in South of Midnight’s announcement trailer.

Great trailer. I haven’t been mesmerized like that in a long time. Its quasi-stop motion style oozes the same creative vision that Compulsion Games put into its previous work, and I’m genuinely curious to see how they fare with Microsoft’s money.

While the trailer is quite cryptic, showing us our protagonist and the kind of voodoo-inspired world she lives in, the developer website clarifies that it will be a linear-ish action-adventure with a focus on magic. I dig that. It reminds me of SCE’s Primal from 2003 (which I’ve been playing after being sold by this excellent review).

Wishlisted.

Watch the trailer here.

Star Wars Outlaws

AKA The Revenge on 1313

Screenshot from the Star Wars Outlaws announcement trailer.
Kyle Katarn who?

We finally get to see the long-rumoured Massive Entertainment Star Wars Game(TM). Don’t know. I still don’t know if I care about the galaxy far, far away. Of all Massive’s works, I only tried for a bit a demo for The Division 1. Eh. Apart from jokes about Amy Hennig’s cancelled project, I’ve nothing to say. Keep an eye on it if you like Star Wars. Not enough lightsabers for me.

Watch the trailer here.

33 Immortals

AKA walking on thin ice

Gameplay screenshot of 33 Immortals, showing a group of players running across the dungeon.
Aren’t they cute?

Thunder Lotus Games is one of those studios I feel I should like but can’t muster the strength to check out. Their games look gorgeous and have good reviews, but they always seem to be lacking in ambition. Which is understandable, given it’s an indie studio.

This new outing is a rogue-lite with a focus on co-op multiplayer. Not my usual jam, but something I should probably check out in the future.

No, scratch that. It’s inspired by the Divine Comedy. Dante Alighieri is a fucking character in it. I’m incredibly peculiar about adaptations of what is probably in the top 3 works of art ever produced by humanity, and my Italian sense tingles when the topic is raised, I’m sorry. I won’t be able to give it a fair shot without some serious work. Time to call my therapist.

At least he’s not dressed like a fucking crusader this time. Good job guys, love ya.

Watch the trailer here.

Payday 3

AKA Righteous redistribution of wealth

Payday 3 trailer screenshot. A big dude shooting. Dunno.
You know what to expect.

Not much to say. Never played the previous games. Everyone knew this was coming when Epic started giving away Payday 2 for free a couple of days ago. Won’t spend money on it, but will probably check the free one out of curiosity.

Watch the trailer here.

Persona 3 Reload

AKA It’s not a remake, it’s a RELOAD

Baffling design decisions aside, the game receives a charming (HD) coad of paint.

I recently picked up Persona 3 FES (the PS2 version) on my spanking new Steam Deck. Haven’t gone too deep, I got sidetracked by Persona 5 in the meanwhile, but I’m seriously digging the series so far.

This remake has already sparked some controversy amongst the uber-fans for how much it takes of P5’s visual language, some announcements about recasting (which, honestly, is understandable: the original came out 17 years ago) and some extra content that appeared in ports being cut, but nothing I would consider a dealbreaker.

The trailer was published by mistake last Friday, but seeing it in HD is nice. It seems solid so far, but I’d still wait for a more financially stable time to buy it. Frankly, I’m down just for the soundtrack.

Watch the trailer here.

Avowed

AKA Check your hype

A shot of coloured mushrooms in Avowed's fantasy world.
Getting trippy, eh?

I like Obsidian Entertainment. Their games usually range from smart-but-flawed to really good. In their DNA, there are RPG royalty genes. I absolutely love first-person RPGs, they make me feel all tingly in my crotch. But I’m in love with a very particular brand of first-person RPG (that will appear later), heavily systems-driven with a sandboxy aftertaste that almost no one seems to want to make. When I meet a game that looks like that but doesn’t play like that, I’m always sad.

That was my main issue with The Other Worlds, but that game was made when Obsidian was still an independent studio. I want to hope that with Microsoft’s support, they’ll be able to soar higher. I also understand that I can be unreasonably picky when it comes to this genre, so we’ll have to see and try not to dream too much about what it could be but accept what it is.

What it is, for now, is a not-very-impressive trailer. On a technical level, it doesn’t really feel like a flagship title, but it’s honestly not an issue. The world looks a bit generic, but it shares Pillars of Eternity‘s setting, so I’m sure that the personality and creativity will come out once we get our hands on it. There’s a focus on magic, which has piqued my curiosity: there surely seems to be a level of creativity in the spells, and the choice to feature them so heavily makes me hope we might see some crazy shit.

Still, I’m happy with what we saw and will gladly wait for more info.

Watch the trailer here.

Sea of Thieves: the Legend of Monkey Island

AKA A match made in heaven

Guybrush Threepwood playing with dolls in Sea of Thieves' latest trailer.
Look at him! He’s so blocky!

I own Sea of Thieves. What I don’t have is a group of friends that also bought the game, so my experience with it is very limited. I don’t really like PVP and don’t care very much for multiplayer games. That said, I feel this new collaboration with the Monkey Island IP makes more sense for the kind of game we have than the last one (a Pirates of the Caribbean crossover), and I’m always happy to see Guybrush.

I might try it, even if the comedy in the trailer landed a bit flat.

Watch the trailer here.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

AKA Vroooooooooooom

An elicopter rescuing tourists in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
The game looks so gorgeous my GPU exploded.

Eh. Planes, I guess.

Watch the trailer here.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

AKA So I should listen to the voices after all?

Senua in a cave for Hellblade 2's latest trailer.
Senua ponders whether playing in the puddle is a good idea.

A console needs a Viking mascot. It’s the law. Sometimes the Viking is actually Greek, sometimes it’s Norse.

I don’t know. Hellblade was an excellent game, and I have no doubt the sequel will be too. The trailer looked great, and the acting was top-notch. It looks very… moody. Which is to be expected, but I’m not currently in a mind space where I can deal with this kind of stories without spiralling. It will do great, but I’ll have to wait for better times before giving it a go.

Watch the trailer here.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

AKA Yakuza goes west

Shot of a nude japanese man on a beach. A bottle of sunscreen covers his pudenda.
#relatable

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has been hard at work, announcing two new chapters of their crime brawler series. I’m not an expert on the franchise (it looks interesting, but there is so much shit to play!), but if I’m not mistaken, this is the protagonist of the last mainline Yakuza game, right? The JRPG one? Where the protagonist hallucinates half of his power-ups?

On a technical level, it’s nothing to write home about. But the complete absurdity of the character and the trailer has sold me. I’m curious.

(BTW, I think this is supposed to be Yakuza 8 and not a spin-off? I’m not sure.)

Watch the trailer here.

Fallout 76: Road to Atlantic City

AKA Have we stopped with the hate boner?

Pip Boy in the trailer for Road to Atlantic City, Fallout 76's latest expansion.
The song was meh.

I love Bethesda games. As I said, they make me tingle in the jingle. I guess it’s what you people call love. I also like the world of the early Fallout games. But, somehow, I’ve never been able to get into the modern ones. They are nice but don’t hype me.

Still, I think I’m one of the few Fallout 76 apologists around. I think it is one of the least offensive marketing-driven and management-mandated games around. It’s a silly multiplayer survival game with a touch of Bethesda jank. And it’s getting a new expansion. Not much to say. If you like that stuff, you’ll play it.

Watch the trailer here.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess

AKA Look at the creepy hands!

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess displays a creepy world inspired by japanese folklore.
It looks pretty! What is it?

I’m not sure about this game. Its visual direction seems nice, but it’s obviously a lower-budget title. It looks like an honest action game with some mechanics about recruiting people to help you fight creepy monsters. Probably not a day 1 game.

Watch the trailer here.

Forza Motorsport

AKA VroooooooooooomEVEN LOUDER

A car in Forza Motorsport. Don't ask me what car is it, I have no idea.
I think, althoug I might be mistaken, that that’s a car.

Nice ad, GM.

Watch the trailer here.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom

AKA Ignore the tentacles. Can I get you some moon-sugar?

Unholy abomination Hermaeus Mora stares at an elf in ESO Necrom cinematic trailer.
Yoooooo Hermy how you doin’?

ESO. It’s ESO. The world of Elder Scrolls, with all the stagnating trappings of the post-WoW theme park MMO that has forgotten it’s supposed to be an RPG and a virtual world. This time we go back to Morrowind and fuck around with best boy Hermaeus Mora. Nothing offensive, but I’m too jaded to be able to enjoy this genre as much as I did when I was a kid and could still dream.

Watch the trailer here.

Overwatch 2

AKA Leave him alone, he’s already dead!

It's a picture of the cast of Team Fortress 2 under the Overwatch chapter. I'm so funny. Ah. Ah. Ah.
Updates on the second game in the beloved multiplayer shooter series.

Overwatch. It’s Overwatch. It looks gorgeous, but it’s still a multiplayer hero shooter at its heart. I don’t give a fuck about the hate boner everyone has, but still not going to play it.

Watch the trailer here.

Persona 5 Tactica

AKA How to milk your franchise

The cast of Persona 5 Tactica, in all their chibi glory.
Yeah, I’m not sold.

Atlus keeps going on, but this has to be the least interesting game seen in this showcase. It’s a tactics game where the Persona 5 cast is transported to another world in a chibi art style. Simply: why? What’s the point?

I’m baffled.

Watch the trailer here.

Starfield

AKA OH BOY YES PLEASE DADDY TODD GIVE IT TO ME

An astronaut on an alien planet watches another alien planet on the horizon in Starfield.
I need to taste that thick field of stars.

Ahem.

Yes. Nice trailer, but it’s just an appetizer for the Starfield Direct that followed.

In brief: Bethesda makes what can only be described as the imperfect manifestation of my platonic ideal of videogame. Starfield looks like the next evolutionary step towards that ideal. I liked the focus on the “we’re going to explore the galaxy” rather than “this could end humanity”, which reared its ugly head at the end. I’m biased. I’m loving every minute of it. I’m going to preorder this, and I have no shame.

I’m hype incarnate.

Watch the trailer here.

Jusant

AKA Heave ho boys

The protagonist of Jusant stands on a crag in a cliff, where a hanging town has been built.
The game looks beautiful. If it’s going to be good remains to be seen.

Dontnod is one of those studios I like no matter what. They feel like an old friend. I can’t help but smile when I see a new announcement. Jusant is not an exception.

I really dig its meso-south-american aesthetic. The trailer gave me classic collectathon vibes, even though the game will surely not be like that. The focus on climbing and traversal is something I’ve always been partial to. My only worry is that the gameplay could feel too shallow if that’s the only thing you do. But I’m curious anyway.

Watch the trailer here.

Still Wakes the Deep

AKA Is this going to be spooky?

The oil rig in the ocean where Still Wakes the Deep takes place. Surrounded by creepy mist.
The setting is the most striking part of this trailer.

Just like Dontnod, Compulsion and Obsidian, The Chinese Room is one of those teams I’ve always had some sympathy for. And this new game seems interesting. Trapped on an oil rig, trying to survive. Perhaps there are monsters. Very atmospheric. I hope there’s going to be proper gameplay too, as I’ve grown a bit tired of the walking sim formula. Still, best of luck.

Watch the trailer here.

Dungeons of Hinterberg

AKA I forgot about this

The protagonist of Dungeons of Hinterberg in front of an alpine vista, next to some cable cars.
Without Youtube’s awful compression, the game looks even prettier.

Not much to say. Looks pretty, looks very indie, with a light Möbius feel. I’m not too sure about the gameplay, as the trailer doesn’t really give much info, but I’m guessing some kind of Zelda-lite? Think I’ll pass for now, thank you.

Watch the trailer here.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

AKA Complex feelings

Idris Elba as one of the characters of Cyberpunk 2077's expansion: Phantom Liberty.
Is he romanceable?

I love the Cyberpunk TTRPG. I’ve been fascinated by Night City for over a decade. But I also can’t bring myself to love CDProject games. I forced myself to play the three Witcher games several times without success. I finished Cyberpunk 2077; it’s in many ways a step up from the other franchise (thanks in no small part to not FINALLY being able to sorta-create my character. Fuck you, Geralt), but it was still with a great sense of longing for what the game could have been with a proper suite of modding tools and a more sandboxy approach. Basically, I used to dream of a Bethesda Cyberpunk and got this. I know, I’m unreasonable, but life’s like that.

It didn’t help the fact that, in my mind, Night City was generally a much more gonzo place than what we got. Still, I had fun with the game, and the trailer promised more of the same, which I’m on board with. Probably not a day-one buy, but I will check it out later.

Watch the trailer here.

Cities Skylines II

AKA I still haven’t bought all the DLC for the old one, ya bastards

A city built in Cities Skylines 2.
Alongside the facelift, Cities Skylines 2 receives a more in-depth simulation that surely will not burn your PC.

I suck at city builders. But I still love City Skylines to bits. We knew this was coming, and the trailer didn’t give much info, but I’m gonna keep my ears open.

Watch the trailer here.

Metaphor: Re Fantazio

AKA I’m loosing count

Screenshot of a battle in Atlus' new game, Metaphor: Re Phantazio
Oozes style from every… tongue?

Wow. Atlus didn’t hold back this year. I’ve been getting into JRPGs lately, a genre I’ve never really interacted with beyond Pokémon and Final Fantasy VIII, and Atlus games have proven to be often fascinating projects.

I’m already in love with Metaphor. Aesthetically and thematically, it looks great. I’ll wait for the reviews, but I’m very interested.

Watch the trailer here.

Towerborne

AKA I’m not sure what the tower’s for

The heroes charge into battle against lizard monsters in Towerborne.
The jury has not decided yet.

Alongside Dungeons of HinterbergTowerborne is the only real dud of this showcase. It seems to be a co-op side-scrolling brawler, with perhaps a touch of management or 4X around the tower lightly implied? Or am I reaching too hard?

As things are now, it’s not really my jam, and the art style shouts too much “mobile game” for my taste. Still, Stoic Studio is an interesting dev, and I’ll happily be proven wrong once this comes out.

Watch the trailer here.

Clockwork Revolution

AKA All in due time

The steampunk city where Clockwork Revolution takes place.
Steampunk time travel RPG? Cool!

InXile. Another piece of RPG royalty. This game has been rumoured for AGES, and I’m happy to finally see something. The setting looks great, the time travel mechanic is intriguing, and the devs are reliable. It gave everyone a strong Bioshock feel, but I think the similarities will only be surface-level. Still, very hype; my only real worry is that we’ll be stuck with a predetermined protagonist. All footage seems to point to that, and it’s one of the few things I truly hate in my RPGs, but if the game is good and the character is not unbearable (right, Geralt?) I’ll gladly play the game anyway.

Watch the trailer here.

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