It's over. E3 2021 has come and gone, and now that the dust has settled, let's take a look at some of the best announcements from this year and the worst.
Elden Ring
There is no getting around it. This was a solid showing for one of the most anticipated titles from the team that brought you the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne and Sekiro. Technically, it was announced just a day before E3 began but the hype for it continued through the event.
The reason for that hype is Dark Souls Director Hidetaka Miyazaki teaming up with George R.R. Martin to bring this fantasy world to life. In true From Software fashion, it has exciting combat with a multitude of skills and builds to experiment with and in a first for the company, a huge open world to explore either solo or with other players.
Final Fantasy 1-6 Pixel Remasters
Square Enix seems to have really dropped the ball on this one. Fans were pretty excited to see the classic NES/SNES titles being brought into the new era with updated pixel art but then a collective sigh emanated from the room when it was announced for mobile and PC. For a classic series that has been part of every major console generation, it makes sense that fans were angry when they realised it will not be coming to any of the newer consoles.
To make matters worse, people actually dug into the trailer and analysed what little gameplay was shown to realise that it was actually worse than the previous updated ports of the game that have been released so far.
Halo Infinite
The Xbox and Bethesda showcase was the best at E3 by a mile. A lot of games got announced, Microsoft made the Xbox Game pass deal a lot sweeter and Starfield finally had a reveal and a release date. What people were most worried about though was Halo Infinite. Its troubled development has already been documented, so people were eager to see Master Chief back on his feet and swinging.
Though footage from the campaign was absent, the gameplay from the multiplayer looks really good. The game's multiplayer mode will also be free-to-play.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Granted, the showcase went on for a little too long and took up much of the runtime of the Square Enix conference but honestly, the game does look really cool. The gameplay they showed off looked a bit clunky at times but it is due out in October, so they still have some time to polish it up. The game looks stellar with really good looking environments and enemy designs and cast themselves look great to boot.
They also have Dan Abnett from the comic book series helming the narrative, so we know its in good hands. Besides, its Eidos Montreal and they know how to make a good game.
Babylon's Fall
Now we are not going out of our way to put Square Enix in a blender but this announcement was just awful. You would think a company would learn a thing or two after the terrible reception of Marvel's Avengers but no, they decided to take what was looking like an interesting game when it was first shown off in 2019 and turn it into a co-op 'live service' game with monetization and packs you can purchase for advantage over other players.
This one really came off as tone deaf and was immediately downvoted by almost everyone.
Final Form
This one caught us by surprise and is a cyberpunk shooter by the creators of Ruiner, Reikon. Though much of it was still a teaser, the few little snippets of gameplay look really interesting and the music just gives off a heavy Ghost in The Shell vibe.
Take-Two's Diversity Panel
You have booked a time slot on one of gaming's biggest showcases and have chosen to hold a panel discussing a very important topic that plagues organisations worldwide, the discussion of 'diversity'.
You then proceed to make one of the most boring PR Speak filled Zoom Calls that wastes everyone's time and fail to show any games whatsoever. Well played, Take-Two, well played. We are sure you have just made everyone hate 'diversity' even more now.
Metroid Dread
Nintendo's conference was a big hit with major announcements that included Breath of the Wild 2, Kazuya from Tekken joining Super Smash. Bros. Ultimate, a remake of the well-loved advanced wars from GBA and the hits just kept on coming.
The one thing no one saw coming was a new entry into a beloved franchise that picks up right where the last 2D Metroid game left off, 19 years ago!
It's safe to say Metroid Dread floored everyone.
By the way, a new Metroid Prime is still coming, how's that for icing on the cake?
Bandai Namco's The House of Ashes showcase
You really have to feel for the developers over at Supermassive Games. The Dark Pictures anthology are solid games with very interesting plots and narrative focused gameplay similar to the likes of Detroit: Become Human.
The House of Ashes looks really cool too with some really interesting story choices during gameplay but to cap off one of the biggest gaming events by dedicating an entire showcase to just one game was weak. The way it was handled has made it even worse, unlike Warner Bros. who also showed off one game but made it clear beforehand, Bandai Namco kept everyone in the dark leading to a lot of confused streamers and even more confused gamers.
What a sour note to end E3 on.
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