This special E3
What I’m Waiting For is doubling up on the amount of games being covered.
Usually there would just be two, but since I’m not covering thoughts from a
previous version, I can afford to double up. I don’t think any of these things
I’m covering will be surprise – except maybe one – so let’s take a look at the
news games from E3 that I’m waiting for.
I’ll just get
this one out of the way with first. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The fact we don’t
have any footage doesn’t quell the want for the game, nor does it supress ideas
on what it could be about. All we know – from the official site – is that it
follows a surviving Padawan of Order 66 shortly after that Order first fell.
We know there are
surviving Jedi of Order 66. The second-tier canon had a lot of surviving Jedi,
and even a few in the primary canon are known. But each survivor has a
different story to tell. Since Caleb Dume – better known as Kanan Jarrus – has already
had his story told, I highly doubt we’ll be getting that story in a different piece
of media. That gives us a lot of freedom to explore where this Padawan goes.
My first thought
is that it could follow a similar direction to that of the story found in Dark
Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader – where a few survivors try to find other Jedi
but come to realise that doing so puts themselves in greater danger. The entire
plot of the novel has relevance within primary canon with the mention of Murkhana
and some business that Vader handled in the Tarkin novel.
There’s plenty of
other ways to handle such a story – even tying it into the Siege of Mandalore
if they wanted to – and I’m not going to mention all of them. I’m just noting
that the story had better be a good one. Since this is a fair way off from a
release, the first we’ll probably be hearing more about it is Star Wars
Celebration in April.
I’m a big fan of
Forza Horizon. I bought the Xbox 360 for the original and fell in love with it,
and while I passed on the second, I soon bought it and an Xbox One [specifically
the Forza Motorsport version] in 2016 just for the arrival of the third.
I’m all set for
the arrival of the fourth at the beginning of October, then, and this is
looking to be the largest of the series. Seasons arrive to give the world some
visual flair and a change of events per season means there’s plenty to
experience. Drivatars are still in the game for races, but the world will be
populated by real players. Not to worry though, as they cannot mess you around
unless a part of your co-op lobby, and you can revert to a Drivatar-populated
world easily if you want to avoid seeing the randomness of others.
And as you’ve no
doubt seen, that world in this game is the UK. We’ve already seen Scotland and the
Lake District, but there’s a lot more for this country to offer, and with the
visuals already looking vibrant it can certainly deliver. The visuals of the
world are important, but so is the things to do. The Horizon Festival is now a
year round party of automotive fun, with houses able to be bought in the cities
and the countryside to live during the year-round festivities. While we don’t
have all the details, I suspect the idea of the Festival is being changed up
yet again for the better – expanding on what the third gave us but having it
all open from the start.
The radio
stations of the Horizon Festival are an important part of the experience, and have
expanded each game. I suspect there’s not going to be much in the way of new
additions this time, with the third game only adding one new station [not
counting the Groove Music station]. I’m always tuned into Horizon Pulse, and it’s
introduced me to several bands now in my music lists, chief among them
Chvrches. For a new station, I wouldn’t mind one catering specifically to the
old British rock classics, as I quite enjoy that particular genre of music.
Super Mario Party
releases a few days after Forza Horizon 4, and is set on a return to the
classic formula. I’m not a super fan of the series, having only had one per console
on DS, 3DS, and WiiU. The DS game had that classic formula in place, and while
I’ve had fun with the other two games, I’ve felt that the board game mechanics
haven’t been the same. They felt more linear and restrictive, while the DS game
had a lot more variety.
There’s not much
that can really be said about it, but with what we’ve already seen it looks like
the boards and minigames are offering variety. We’ve only seen two of those
boards and a few of the minigames, along with the new multi-Switch games. The
concept here is that two Switch consoles are linked and placed together to
create a wider field of play, act as puzzle pieces, and possibly other ways. It’s
a concept that was hinted at from a patent that Nintendo filed, and it looks as
though that is finally a reality.
As for what the
game includes, there’s eighty new minigames, possibly eight to ten total boards,
and a wealth of characters both playable and non-playable. You’ve got the usual
lot like Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Yoshi, along with the outliers such as
Boo, Koopa, Shy Guy, Dry Bones, and new additions Goomba, Monty Mole, and Pom
Pom. Toad has now become board game host again, with Toadette acting as star
guard, and Lakitu and Kamek as helper and hinderer respectively.
It’ll be good to
get back into the Mario Party, and also see how this rebooted series progresses
in new games. These games are always good fun with friends, and this has one
extra feature to do so in terms of online. While it is only minigames available
to be played, it could expand in later entries to have online focused modes.
While I have
little to say on this one, Daemon X Machina looked fun with an action-packed
trailer, with the gameplay showing off just a bit of what is available in the
full game. Seemingly based on the Armoured Core series, it features mech suits
and fighting and an interesting visual of red and orange for its world.
Why I’m waiting
for this one is more to see what it evolves into as a full game. The teaser was
enough to get me interested in the world, but I want to see exactly what it is
I can do within this world. There’s the fighting against enemies and using items
within the world as weapons, but what of the other mechanics? What sort of
missions can we be expected to take part in and will there be any side missions
to make exploration worthwhile?
There’s a lot to
be wondering about this game, including whether we will be able to organise some
co-op bot-beating, but there’s time for seeing more on it next year. Hopefully the
next time we see this game it has another trailer, this time focusing on the
world and the lore of it. Probably wouldn’t make for as exciting a trailer, but
it would get deeper into the game.
And that’s four
games that I’m waiting for. Each of them offers something different, and it is
no contest which I’m most excited for [hint: the one releasing the soonest].
This just covers the new stuff, though, with those we already knew about
getting me more excited for them.
What I'm Waiting For Series