Julius

Trailer for your perusal

Absolutely! Biggest hope for that game is that they modernise how the "Stars of Destiny" works, in that there aren't any characters that are permanently missable, and you don't need to seek out a guide for it. Still looks great though, hyped for it

I backed the Kickstarter so knew about the "delay" to 2023, but first we've seen of Rising. Looks sweet. Those sprites and animations, hell yeah, inject it into my veins

Yooooooo Eiyuden Chronicle!!! Was not expecting this, show me something Murayama and team

I mean, I think it's been the strongest and most consistent show so far this E3 (so far) - though I guess that's not saying too much this year - I was more speaking to what I know drahkon's tastes. Which I pray Square Enix will deliver on in 80 minutes

Far Cry 6. Time for a quick toilet break EDIT: Ubisoft giving Xbox the far superior trailer for their own game at E3 is the most Ubisoft thing we've seen for a while.

Not really? A pretty bad trailer for Starfield with a released date at the start (11th Nov 2022), some cool looking indies, Hades is coming to Xbox in August so maybe PlayStation then too? Oh and Halo Infinite MP will be free-to-play and a new story trailer for that too. EDIT: defer to @nekunando

Halo multiplayer being free is huge, but makes a lot of sense in this day and age. Hope it does well for them. Also that samurai helmet looked awesome.

Major Inside vibes, for sure, but it's not! We've already seen a few screenshots of their next game Also Halo now is odd, thought they'd close on this, at the moment we still have some 45+ minutes left. Hope they have something big to back them up at the end.

How do we add people on the forums to our Ignore list again?

No next-gen Skyrim announcement? Is...is this the good timeline?

Wowwwww. Got to wonder how much Pirates cost them. Makes a lot of sense though!

They did that stupid thing where they tell you how great the show is going to be before it starts, and how many games are coming up that are exclusive / coming to Game Pass. They really need to learn to let their shows and games speak for themselves.

Todd coming out first was...unexpected. Opening with Starfield means we can lock Halo in to finish the show, date + demo (today???) I'm guessing.

Oh yeah, for sure. Ubisoft were so desperate for a leak this year that Nintendo did it for them

Well damn, Microsoft really can't catch a break, can they? Not too long before so hopefully still isn't brushed aside by most as old news, but leaks like these - just before the event! - really blow. Thankfully it's a date that wasn't totally unexpected, so not too big a deal. Still hopefully have some cool Infinite news up their sleeves (a demo maybe?), but Starfield feels like the other game that they would probably open or close their show with tonight. That's the main reason I think it blows. Either way, starts in less than 10, hope it's a good one!

Probably the most controlled single match I've watched by an England team at a tournament in my lifetime - let's be honest that's not saying much! - a very solid showing, particularly that first 15 minutes. Kalvin Philips was excellent, MOTM stuff, very disruptive in the middle of the park, showed a lot of courage and positivity moving forwards. Feel like our weak link was on the left, Trippier didn't offer much going forwards and looked shaky at times at the back, would hope that we see Chilwell start in his place next time out, but I'm sure Gareth will continue to justify his presence with his previous tournament experience. Croatia never really got going, H-o-T you're right in saying they were toothless, think they miss the dark horse and wild card that Mandzukic was for them, he had a knack for pulling a goal out of absolutely nothing. Hopefully we only get stronger from here, think we've shown the other teams in our group that Croatia is there for the taking.

Only a few hours into this, and just got to the point where I've left the second world, but I'm having a blast. One of my biggest issues with Ratchet & Clank (2016) when I played it last month was that it felt a bit "floaty", a bit like a PS2 game (I know it's a remake, but still, it just felt a bit off at times); that's not an issue here, as there's a real sense of weight that I've got from Ratchet and Rivet so far. I did toy around with all of the modes, and went in thinking I'd go with Performance Mode, but like @Will I ended up going with Fidelity Mode. I might change it up later into the game, or if there's a New Game+/Challenge Mode to check out and I'm up for it, but the game is too gorgeous to not see it at its best (though for anyone playing in Performance or Performance RT, just remember it's like Miles Morales and checking out Photo Mode actually reverts to Fidelity Mode, which is always neat). The loading times are insane too, and there have been a couple of instances where I've been left in awe by how it's been used to transition to another scene (such as with a hard cut or a diagonal fade). Something that added to the game as soon as I was able to move around in the menu was the haptic feedback, it feels so damn good in this game! The adaptive triggers have been nothing short of wonderful too so far, whether it be pulling down halfway to shoot at a steady pace and then all the way to unload your ammo a bit faster, or pulling down halfway to show you the arc to aim your throwables before pulling down all the way to actually throw it. It takes a few minutes to get used to, but once it's clicked it clicks well, and it's tough to imagine playing this game any other way. The DualSense is front and centre in this game almost like it was in Astro's Playroom (I say almost because it's just shy of being there, which is crazy in its own right!) and has really elevated the experience so far. The screen is always packed with things going on, and that's not to say that the other game wasn't, but they've really turned it up a notch here. It's so vibrant too, serious eye candy all around. The direction of major setpieces has evolved massively since their last Ratchet & Clank game, no doubt learning a lot from their time on Spider-Man and Miles Morales, and it shows, as those moments are brilliantly paced and very engaging. The attention to detail (hair, fur, scales - pretty much every texture I've come across so far) has been insane. That this is Insomniac's second release in just over 6 months is mind-boggling! As a result I've been messing around with the Photo Mode a whole lot, and have already taken over 100 screenshots of the game - and I'm sure that there will be many, many more. In fact, based on my experience with Miles Morales back in November, as soon I loaded into the game for the first time - during the cutscene - I immediately opened up my controller layout and remapped to allocate Photo Mode to right on the D-pad (thanks Ghost of Tsushima for teaching me your ways). Me watching E3 trailers late at night The name's Lombax. Ratchet the Lombax. You can see Rivet's reflection on this guy's dome! So yeah, having a blast so far, despite it still being very early days. Very much look forward to playing more of this over the coming days, definitely hungry for more!

Samurai. Side-scrolling. Major Kurosawa vibes. This is easily my most anticipated of the games we've seen for the first time so far this E3. Anyone else keen on the look of this?

Less a groan on my side and more of an "Oh no, please don't" every single time they showed the Trader's Guild. Thank goodness they decided against it! I really hope Echo gets more screen time and is fleshed out more, because going into the show, he was the character we knew the most due to him being in The Clone Wars, and he's definitely seen some stuff. But he just comes across as stale here. I know he's just a "reg" and that the Bad Batch are exaggerated personalities by comparison, but he can hold his own, and deserves more time. He barely even spoke to Rex, to the point that if you watched this before The Clone Wars, you'd think they'd never met before!

Ubisoft Forward was a bit of a snore fest, if I'm being totally honest, and I was surprised by how few games we saw given that it ran for over an hour (and had a pre-show!). We finally got to see Rainbow Six Extraction, we got a weird look at Rockstar Plus, then it felt like a lot of updates on stuff we already knew about or updates for existing games: Riders Republic, Rainbow Six Siege, Valhalla, and Far Cry 6, amongst others. That Far Cry 6 showing was really weak - let's give you a new story trailer, show no new gameplay, and then tell you what's in the season pass? Yikes. Also, that Season Pass (playing from the perspective of the bad guys) I can tell is going to be bad news, I think back to what I heard about 5's story and villain, and I really don't think it's worth the effort to tell the story of a character like that. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope looked good, happy for fans of the first game with that one, bit of a shame it's 2022, but by all means let it cook. Terrible game title though. And hey, that Avatar game that's been in the works forever actually exists, which is a nice surprise. Have no idea what it's going to be about, what it plays like, or anything else you'd expect from a video game, so it didn't exactly get me excited. But it's nice to know it's on its way. My Totally Official Score: 6.0/10 Devolver MaxPass+ was a fun time, quite liked the opening bit, loved the running "Premium Purchase" gag, but it felt like it ended rather suddenly, and the bits they had during the show felt like it was getting in the way of seeing the games more than anything else. Which is a shame, because outside of the indie events we've had so far (I still haven't gone back to watch Day of the Devs or Tribeca!), I think this was the strongest showing all around in terms of the games that they had. Trek to Yomi, that side-scrolling samurai game, I am 1000% in for, it looks gorgeous and right up my alley. Death's Door looks fantastic after we got that first look the other day, happy to see it dated, and will keep it at the back of my mind for whenever I get a Series X. Inscryption with its PS1-looking horror vibes definitely kept me watching, and Demon Throttle looked cool, don't think going physical-only is the way to go for that game though. Most consistent showing of games, some funny bits, but I felt like it didn't need to be as long as it was. Still the best show of the last few days, though, and set the benchmark for me. My Totally Official Score: 7.0/10 So I'm not even sure why I watched the Gearbox E3 Showcase, but I did, and yes, I regret it. I now have a new worst games showcase after this. Randy Pitchford very awkwardly speaking with the cast of the film for way too long. Showing the trailer we saw at SGF Kickoff for Wonderlands again. Running the same snippet to announce Homeworld 3 not once, not twice, but three times in the same show, just with a different fact attached to it about the original game. Randy Pitchford returning and me wanting to set my face on fire at that point. Only things I took away were that Tribes of Midgard looks like a fun co-op time (but we already knew about it), Godfall is getting a PS4 version, and Gearbox had no reason to be here. At all. My Totally Official Score: 3.0/10 I'm 99.999999% sure we're getting a new trailer and potentially some gameplay for Bethesda's Starfield tomorrow, and probably a vague "It's coming in 2022" sort of deal. I have very little interest in their existing big RPG IP's, but there's something about this which has really grabbed me, so I hope it lives up to the hype. They've bought enough studios to fill up 90 minutes at least, and with no PlayStation at E3, they should be where third parties either not at E3 or on deals with PlayStation gravitate towards, so I'm pretty optimistic on Xbox tomorrow. It feels like the only place this E3 where we could see Playdead's or genDESIGN's (Fumito Ueda's new studio) next games turn up, both of which I am very excited for, so fingers crossed for those. But I swear if Phil opens up by saying "This is our biggest show, we have X number of games, X number of world premieres" I'm going to slam my head against a table. And while I'm optimistic on Xbox, Square Enix is the show which could make or break this E3 for me, and it follows around 45 minutes after Xbox's event ends. Regardless of how well Nintendo does on Tuesday, we've yet to have a great major show this E3 (including Summer Game Fest). One of Xbox or S-E has to knock it out of the park, and even as someone who wants Xbox to do well and is optimistic about them tomorrow, my hopes are completely pinned on Square Enix. We know we're getting Babylon's Fall and that new Eidos Montréal game there, the lack of a mention of Final Fantasy XVI in their press release for this has me pretty concerned, there's that rumoured other Final Fantasy game, and it's Final Fantasy's 35th Anniversary next year, so ports or remakes or something for the older games would be nice. Give me just one of those three Final Fantasy things and I'll be happy, but give me more than one and I'll be over the moon. High hopes for tomorrow, but it's tough to not be cautious after the last few days. I think the big thing missing from this E3 is just the lack of impressions, meaning there's just this void between shows. I know some companies have let press see or play things to preview their games, but it's few and far between. So let's see some demos drop tomorrow. I could see Xbox doing it, but come on Square Enix, pull that trigger too!

Swapped over to Easy Allies to watch the Gearbox stuff and Michael Huber's eyes are rolling into the back of his skull and there's a lot of very audible sighing going on. If you've lost the Being of Hype himself, you're not doing a good job. And I can confirm, it is not good. At all.

Yep, we got that date there: July 20th. Game looks fantastic. Will definitely keep this at the back of my mind until I pick up an Xbox at some point.

Did...did they just give Vivi a gun? What's with all of these Black Mages packing all of a sudden? Same And yeah, it's by far the most annoying part of Xbox and Keighley's presentations. Just play the damn trailers!

YES, after Ghost of Tsushima last year we absolutely need to see more samurai games! Very excited for Trek to Yomi