E3 2015 has come to an end. Hopefully, you were able to catch up on all the shiny attractions this year’s edition had to offer, because there were tons. In the spirit of catching up with that, some of our editors mused about what made the convention worthwhile and what didn’t pan out so well.

Angelina

E3 did a good job this year catching the attention of many gamers including this one,  here is the best of of E3.

Unravel:

There should be no surprise that this game is on the best list; this was one of the biggest bright spots of the EA conference. This game showed yarn-based platforming, adventuring and exploring in a way we hadn’t yet seen, even with the announcement of Woolly World. It was warm, it was bright, it was fun and it was heartwarming. It was obvious that the developer truly put his heart and soul into it, which was wonderful to see, especially when his publisher is the soul crushing leviathan that is EA. This game quickly captured the hearts of the audience and it softened the pain of listening to awkward interview with Pelé.

For Honor:

A higher budget Chivalry where you can play as a male or female knight, have far more realistic sword fights, and have four player co-op with friends? Yes, please. This game was demonstrated live on stage which, for E3, is saying quite a lot.  The way the characters moved and struck one another looked like real sparring and on a next gen console it will no doubt look utterly stunning. 

All of Microsoft’s Indie Titles:

Microsoft went out of their way to show off their indie titles and all of them looked fantastic. It’s nice to see games like these get showcased at E3, and between Cuphead, Tacoma, Beyond Eyes, Rise and Shine and countless others, Microsoft really showed of some interesting titles. While there are plenty of AAA titles for us to be look forward to in the upcoming months, these indie titles gave a taste of something different.  That’s something I’m completely fine with.

Rise of the Tomb Raider:

While many are still disappointed about it being a timed exclusive to the Xbox One, there is no denying that the trailer for Lara’s newest adventure was a great reveal.  Lara is still recovering from the events of the Island and is trying to find her purpose again, which looks like she does by exploring some more tombs.  While no on-stage gameplay was actually shown, just seeing Lara back in action showing initiative and doing what she does best, being an explorer, warmed my heart.

Dark Souls 3 Announcement:

I have to admit I was worried about them announcing this, but from what I can see the series is still trying to keep with the lore and rich history of the previous games.  No gameplay footage was shown, but if their intention was to get me hyped for another Souls game: well congratulations, mission succeeded.

Backwards Compatibility for the Xbox One:

Well, this is something no one expected. After being pariahs of the gaming world not too long ago, Microsoft decided to sweeten the deal of buying an Xbox One by making some of your games backwards compatible. They will be slowly updating it so more and more of the games can be compatible as well, but this reveal came right out of nowhere, not that it isn’t a good thing. for all of those who bought an Xbox One and have nothing but compatible 360 games for it, that means they could possible sell their 360 to get some extra cash for more games

Star Fox Zero:

Well this was a pleasant surprise: Platinum Games and Nintendo are teaming up to make a Star Fox game, one that embraces the previous title Star Fox 64, while adding some new content.  While it looks like it’s going to be a little strange to use on the gamepad, it is nice to see a beloved IP from Nintendo being resurrected after somewhat stagnating over the ears with only a remake of the N64 game to show for it.

Star Wars Battlefront:

Look at you EA, you’re showing actual gameplay that you’re playing on stage!  You get a cookie!  Jokes aside, this was easily one of the best parts of their conference and them showing off the beauty that was Battlefront was fantastic to see, mooks getting blown up, blasters, lightsabers, Hoth, Vader, Skywalker and so much more. Hopefully they won’t ruin it with DLC but this is EA, no point in holding our breath here.

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst:

Everybody knew Mirror’s Edge would come in at some point, and even if it’s sandwiched in between sports it was still worth the wait. We were introduced to Faith once more in a now open world city, fighting against the evil cooperation that controls it. Not with guns but with parkour and her sweet martial arts moves.  While we were only given a taste, it was a taste worth remembering.

Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water:

The critically acclaimed and fan beloved Fatal Frame game was given more footage at this E3 and the game looks delightfully spooky. As a longtime fan of the series, I’m more than happy that it’s getting released over here in the west and hopefully that means Nintendo might port over the Fatal Frame 2 remake for the 3DS over here if this game does well. The marketing for it has been pretty great and while there wasn’t a playable version of it on the floor, the fact that they showed more gameplay footage of it is a good sign. That means they’re taking the series more seriously as a universal franchise hopefully.

Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness:

Other than the really silly title, Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness was one of the few things at the Square-Enix Conference that really caught my eye. Being a fan of the series, it’s nice to the see it getting the next gen treatment, even if Square-Enix didn’t really show substantial game footage it was nice to see it just be announced.

Angela Bassett in Rainbow Six Siege:

Now it’s not uncommon for video games as of late to hire award winning actors to play characters but during the ISOFT conference, seeing Angela Bassett step up on stage after we just saw her in the Rainbow Six trail was stunning. Even in motion capture you can see all the effort she puts into her performance; she’s not phoning it in because it’s a video game, she’s actually excited to be on the project. Rainbow Six Siege of course looks amazing, as do all of the other Tom Clancy games, but that’s almost a given. The fact that miss Angela Bassett agreed to come to E3 is a feat that I wouldn’t mind seeing again.

Fallout 4:

Everything about it looked and sounded like the game was going to be Fallout 3 but with some considerable improvements. The dog cannot die now, you have a fully voiced character and you can build base camps and little towns you can defend. There’s countless more things we could go into, but overall Fallout 4 looks like yet another game to look forward to if you like sand box open world western RPGs.

All of Sony’s Conference:

Sony blew up E3 with the various reveals; Horizon: Zero Dawn, a Final Fantasy 7 remake, Shenmue 3, The Last Guardian and so much more. People knew this was going to be a big year for Sony, but nobody knew just how big. A lot of what they announced people didn’t think they’d ever see, and now with all the hype building around them, Sony created the buzz they needed to get people excited about PlayStation again.

With every best of list, there has to be a worst of section and well E3 had it's fair share of questionable decissions this year.

Jason Derulo:

Okay Ubisoft, I know that you love your guest stars and your Dance Central, but did you have to bring out a live performance of Jason Derulo? The performance he gave was so phoned in and it sounded like he couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket even if he wanted to. It’s amazing that auto-tune can make you famous? Well at least he did say that his niece plays the game and he was “looking forward to it.” But boy was that performance cringe worthy.

Square Enix’s presenters:

There’s this magical thing when you’re presenting. It’s called show, don’t tell.  This is why Square Enix hasn’t had an E3 conference up until this point, because they don’t know how to present their games, they just talked forever and ever. They didn’t give people what they wanted until almost the very end, and even that was all pre rendered gameplay footage which, if we’ve learned anything from past E3’s, means absolutely nothing. I know people are excited about Kingdom Hearts 3 and I’m excited about Star Ocean 5, but all because I’m happy they announced something doesn’t mean I’m not nervous about how the game isn’t going to turn out like that. If Colonial Marines has taught us anything, it’s to not believe trailers or pre-rendered gameplay footage.

Nintendo and Toys:

The appeal of Ammiibo’s and Skylanders is pretty understandable, they are toys and they are also part of a game.  It’s gaming merchandise at a lower price (If you can get directly from the store that is) that also gives you some DLC. Now what landed it on the worst list? There’s just too much. Nintendo is oversaturating things now, and what makes matters worse is the fact that there’s a shortage of Amiibo’s already, announcing new ones isn’t going to help you and announcing new Skylanders stuff makes it worse. What should have been announced is “We are going to mass-produce more Amiibos so everyone can get the one they want rather than scalpers destroying the market,” but nope, that would make way too much sense, right Nintendo?

PC Gaming Show:

Footage of games we’ve already seen and some indie games. It was more boring than bad, but the fact it seemed like it deliberately wasted our time was what earned its place on this list. It seemed more like an advert spot than anything else, and this is at a show that’s deliberately there to build hype up for things people can buy.

EA and Sports:

EA, come here for a second, sit down and listen to advice from an old gaming lady who has many words to say but often can shorten them into one singular sentence. Do you want to know how you conference could have been improved? Well do you EA? Well listen closely.

Stop talking about your sports games for 30 minutes and show your other games.

The amount of sports games EA showed at their conference was absolutely mind-numbing. It’s obvious it’s one of their biggest money makers, but the thing the show did not need to devote a huge chunk of it to sports in its entirety.  It’s like midway through the show EA completely forgot about every other game and shoved Mirrors edge in the middle of sports conferences and then Battlefront at the very end. They ran overtime because they wouldn’t stop talking about sports, Pelé and this beautiful game of theirs.  It was enough to make someone want to claw their eyes out with just how boring it was. We thought Square Enix idly talking was boring? That’s nothing compared to EA talking about sports. There’s more than just your sports audience EA, try to remember that!

Adam:

This year at E3, we’re promised a large assortment of new titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Recore, as well as new information on older games. Surprise reveals of many other games such as South Park: The Fracture but Whole, The Last Guardian and Final Fantasy 7: Remake had consumers gripping their seats. However not everything was spectacular and some announcements were focused on fads and gimmicks. Now E3 is over and after the glorious event, filled with new games and surprises, it’s time to discuss what was the best and worst of E3.

Triple-A titles:

Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Bethesda, and Square Enix delivering what fans have been clamoring for. Incredible triple-A titles that consumers have been demanding for, such as The Last Guardian, Fallout 4 and Final Fantasy 7: Remake all had consumers cheering in excitement: rushing to their nearest online enabled device to reserve their special edition copy. Whereas last year, triple-a titles generated a terrible reputation of being repetitive and unfinished products saturated with microtransactions, it would seem that the next major lineup of large franchises will attempt to redeem this portion of the video game industry.

More About Amiibos, Less About Video Games:

Star Fox Zero was finally revealed by Nintendo, but this highly sought after title couldn’t stop Nintendo’s steady downhill slide. A high emphasis on Amiibos and strange titles such as Yo-Kai Watch, Metroid Prime: Federation Force and a Mario Party rendition of Animal Crossing, Nintendo’s lineup for the upcoming year was sorely weak.

It’s clear that Amiibos are the major selling point of the company, attempting to shovel down the consumer’s throat that these optional figurines are becoming more mandatory. Locking away exclusive content not through DLC but Amiibos, releasing cards in the place of unavailable figurines.

Virtual Reality, is it just a fad?:

3D displays and Motion gaming has been replaced with virtual reality. Microsoft showcased their new HoloLens, impressive on fronts of how the future of video games could be presented. Shuhei Yoshida went on to explain that games centered on Sony’s virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus, are currently in development. And of course the Oculus Rift is still in the center of all this. Although these various companies have shown how alluring it is to play older titles using these devices, becoming fully immersed into these fictional worlds, it has yet to find a proper place in gaming except as a novelty item. After all, video game companies attempted to push 3D capabilities and motion gaming, now it looks like they’re trying to convince consumers that these expensive accessories are required. 

That wraps up our views about E3 2015, but we’d like to hear what you thought as well, of course. Feel free to leave a comment with your best and worst memory of this year’s gaming convention extravaganza. There better be a lot of love for Fallout 4, Kingdom Hearts 3 and the Last Guardian. We have been waiting long enough!