Ganepark32 Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) Fable is back then, from Playground Games. Very short teaser there so guessing it must be some ways off. Not a huge amount of first party titles shown that are brand new, especially for launch even if they're saying over 100 games for the Holidays on Series X. Was expecting/hoping for more. But I guess the roots are only taking now for their acquisitions and turning that round for content. Wouldn't say it was a dud but they didn't have anything that really stood out, though I'll happily take Stalker 2. Edited July 23, 2020 by Ganepark32
Happenstance Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 Thought that was a massive dud of a stream. Nothing I really want to play. 2
killthenet Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 Yeah, it seemed to have all the same problems their showcase a couple of months ago had - not enough gameplay and no surprises (Fable is one of the worst kept secrets in the industry). The Medium probably had the best showing, looks like a very interesting game, but they haven't really given me much reason to pick up an Xbox beyond wanting to play Senua's Saga.
Glen-i Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) Honestly, Dragon Quest XI S was the biggest surprise for me and I already played it in 2D on Switch. A little part of me wanted PS4 to miss out on it because it'd be really funny. But it's nice they're finally getting to play it. The Medium is a cool concept, hate horror games though, so never gonna play it. Edited July 23, 2020 by Glen-i
Cube Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 Everwild is the only thing that looked remotely interesting, but absolutely no details on what kind of game it even is. 1
Scratch Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 Halo Infinite looks pretty good to me! Classic Halo gameplay with a new mechanic (the grappling hook). This is exactly what I like from a new game in an existing series - the same game but with new levels and some new mechanic to mix things up a bit. I don't want them to dramatically change the gameplay, if I wanted that I'd play a different series. And I'm SUPER happy they're releasing it on Steam. I just hope the Steam release isn't some weird modern wacky thing where you have to own and Xbox or stream it or subscribe to some paid "pass" service or something. And that the Steam release isn't too far apart from the console release. But so far pretty happy!
drahkon Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) That was...weird? Nothing that would make me get a Series X. If anything this showing only made me a little more interested in building a solid PC... Edited July 23, 2020 by drahkon
Kaepora_Gaebora Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 Only just back in from work and haven't seen it yet, but have seen a list of all the games shown/announced... I'll still get a Series X for my next gen fix but doesn't sound like much excitement for me, EverWild I'll be keen to look at but without a release date who knows!
Nicktendo Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 I think Sony had a better showing overall but I’m super hyped for Halo Infinite, like @Sckewi, I hope it comes to Steam. Nice to see a lot of new IP but nothing really grabbed me. Definitely didn’t sell me on a Series X but it’s good to see MS trying to go toe-to-toe with Sony on exclusives and first party games, there was a lot of variety in that pres. 1
Dcubed Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 Not a bad show overall; but nothing really mind blowing either. DQ11s is a big surprise though; would never have expected it! Hell of a get for Game Pass! And it’s pretty crazy that ALL of the games shown here will be part of the service!
Kaepora_Gaebora Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 Just watched the Halo Infinite video, looks like a return to classic Halo which I'll play through Game Pass regardless but doesn't completely grab me. EverWild looks like Breath of The Wild meets Destiny perhaps? Looks lovely but I'll be damned if I know what it's all about Not the most amazing of events however another great advert for Game Pass, all of them will be available on it! Starting to feel like when my free subscription is up, £10 a month will be well worth it. Looking forward to 'Grounded' on preview next week 💪
Dog-amoto Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 You’d have thought they’d have got rid of the pop up on their flagship game. It honestly looked current gen. Yes I know, Halo will be on Xbox One too but it didn’t look anything special.
Ganepark32 Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 Having some time to look back on things post showcase and while it was a decent event, I had expected more. We're still without dates for the Battletoads remake and the Cuphead DLC (which I suspect at this time may well have undergone the Hollow Knight Silksong treatment and may be an entirely new game/sequel now) but I don't really see any reason why a studio like Compulsion Games couldn't have shown something is Obsidian can show a game that will no doubt be a late 2022/2023 title in Avowed off. I was already sold on the PS5 and it was always the one I'd likely pick up at rhe end of the year, price and money permitting, but I was needing to see something the really pushed me to consider picking up a Series X but I've not seen it despite seeing several games that I'd happily play (The Medium and Everwild as examples. Heck, with all the expansions for Destiny 2 coming to Gamepass I might jump back in there). I use my Xbox One but given that all of those games will be coming to Gamepass and will be playable on the One, its easier to stick with that until they show something that really shows a need to upgrade. I don't think that's the type of event that would push someone to consider the Series X later in the way and even if Microsoft are holding some stuff back (and they definitely are because Fable has been known about for nearing 2 years now with active development for a lot of that do its beyond the point of a CG trailer at this point. Likewise, The Initiative's game while likely to be a late 2021/2022 game is playable now so they're sitting on it for a later date), they really shouldn't have sat on most of it and shown upfront that they really are committed to making up for the lack of strong first party support this gen. Gamepass is still the difference maker as I see it, though Sony may alter PSNow somewhat to bring it somewhat more in line but not entirely. If Microsoft maintain the All Access bundle for the Series X at launch, where you sign on to a 2 year contract at say £40-50 a month and get Gamepass Ultimate included then that could move some units. Its certainly something I've talked to my partner about and could be something I see families doing end of year especially in light of the current pandemic, furlough and unemployment situations. As I say, out of the gate I won't be dropping the likely £500 on the console as I have Gamepass on my One but if I didn't have either, I don't think I could honestly say I'd seen enough to convince me to get on board. I'd suspect another event coming after Opening Night Live which ends Summer Games Fest so late August/September. As an aside though, can they both stop dilly-dallying and just announce a date for the console launches. We know its likely to be November, probably between Nov. 6th and 20th to get it out before Thanksgiving in the US but this being tight lipped about the specifics that consumers want to know so they can plan around purchasing is silly, especially as both Microsoft and Sony are trying to wait each other out to either undercut or to soften the blow for the cost of their hardware.
Julius Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) Missed out on watching live earlier, but watched the stream immediately after finishing work, then got caught up on the pre-show information. Yesterday, I said I wanted to come out of this wanting to buy a Series X, and I genuinely meant that. It would mean more games that I'm interested in playing, and would be great for Xbox fans. I'm in on day 1 for PS5, so while this wouldn't necessarily be a launch purchase, I'm ready to be swayed to pick up a Series X. But did this particular Showcase make me want to buy a Series X? Not in the slightest. I think they've completely dropped the ball again, and I have little confidence that their next showing will be much of an improvement. Which is a real shame. I'm not here to throw shade at Xbox - I want them to succeed, competition is great for this industry if nothing else! - but I do want to try to voice why I think it fell flat for me, and I'm sure many others. Firstly, I like Phil Spencer. I think he's a great guy from the podcasts I've heard him on, the projects him and Xbox lead for inclusivity in gaming always put a smile on my face, and having brushed up on my gaming history since joining here, absolutely think he's the right guy to lead Xbox. Purely as a consumer though? Pretty hard for me to ignore the hypocrisy on show when he has called out timed console exclusivity before, yet it was plastered all over this event. It just doesn't sit right with me whenever someone advocates against something and then clearly supports that same thing. As for the actual show, it started off really poor for me. I mentioned yesterday I have no real investment in Halo, having only dabbled with the series before when at friends' houses growing up, but wanted to see Infinite shine and show itself off. Xbox needed to send a message with their marquee franchise and tentpole generation launch title! I know that it's cross-gen and is being held back by the capabilities of the Xbox One to some degree, but it doesn't come close to what Sony's first party have managed to get out of the PS4 this generation (I'm not even talking about The Last of Us Part II here, or even Ghost of Tsushima which released a few days ago! But games which are a few years old at this point like Horizon Zero Dawn), or even other major third party developers (looking at you, Rockstar and Red Dead Redemption 2) from their open worlds. Animations, character models and effects looked dated compared with other AAA offerings this year, and while I can clearly see it's them returning to their roots, the little that we saw looked sluggish and repetitive. There was no urgency at any point in the demo either, which I think made it all the more apparent. Think back to the demo at E3 2018 that Sony had for TLOU2, and the way they orchestrated a sense of urgency by having Ellie not have a flawless time. Now think of this, and how I can't remember Master Chief taking any big hits whatsoever to his health. Also, opening with what clearly looked like a CG cutscene (could be wrong on this, but if that's in-engine it's clearly set up differently to the gameplay we saw) and then going into the demo wasn't a great decision either, because it sets the wrong expectations. It also took me out of the demo completely when we got to the top of the ride up on that platform and the music swelled with the view of one of the flattest and least interesting open world vistas I've seen in a game in years. It looked so generic to me. And the rest of the show was pretty similar to that to some extent for me. Poorly paced from the off, too many people turning up just to give their projects lip service (not what we're here for). Too many CG trailers, too many games which weren't shown effectively as being next gen (or even up to par with the end of this one), but then being surprised when some big ones weren't coming to the One, considering just how much support has been talked up for the next few years (State of Decay 3, Everwild, the next Forza Motorsport, Avowed, As Dusk Falls, Fable). I get it, COVID will have delayed things, but we got only got dates (I'm not just talking the day of release, but even a window or year!) for like 5 different things here. I don't think any game was shown off particularly well, and so many of the games featured here were things that we've seen before. And then of course there's Fable, the worst kept secret in the industry for the last few years. If you ever have a "one more thing", read the room and don't pretend that we haven't know about it for years, put together a trailer for literally anything else in development which you think could sell and bring hype raining down, and move Fable up into the middle of the show. I know @Ronnie took issue before when PlayStation hadn't revealed much of anything new from a first party perspective from the end of 2017 up until the PS5 event last month, and while I was more optimistic, I agree that some of those announcements were made a bit too soon. Not calling you out here by the way, but in the end, I think we can both agree Sony were just holding things back until the PS5, and we know there's still more to come, and can have some degree of confidence in them to deliver with whatever comes next after last month's showing (even if there were one too many indies, and one too many games which look like they'll never see the light of day). I don't just want to be down on this event before I get to what I think the main problem is, so what actually did grab my attention? Well, as @Glen-i and @Dcubed mentioned, the announcement of Dragon Quest XI S coming to Game Pass is a pretty massive deal (though I have become less and less of a fan of how Square Enix have rolled that game out as someone who supported it when it launched on PS4 - I get it, they build a different version from the ground up, but still runs me the wrong way). Turns out my Dragon Quest XII example yesterday actually wasn't too far off, but it's a shame this wasn't part of the main show, though it makes sense considering that it doesn't seem like it will be much improved in how it runs over the Switch release.Loved that game, glad more people will get to play it. I liked the art style for Everwild, interest has been piqued, but as others have rightly mentioned, it still feels like we still know so little about it. Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis and Crossfire X were also big ones for me, both being high energy trailers where I got a good sense of what the game was like, and actually came away wanting to check them out (also the music in that PSO trailer was brilliant). I don't think it's a coincidence that the high energy trailers were the ones that got me back on the hook for that final 10 minutes, and I honestly think that trailer for Yakuza 7 from the other day should've been shown here first too, seeing as it was very action heavy (a little deceptive considering it'll be turn-based, but not the point) and has that English dub now. Anyways, the big issue I think that Xbox has kind of stumbled into, and that I think was the main takeaway from this event, is that while being slated as a look at Xbox Game Studios titles ahead of the start of the next generation of games, this was focused on promoting Game Pass above all else. Big AAA first party titles like Halo Infinite look dated because developers have very little incentive to optimise them for the next gen console they're supposedly here to promote, and while I think Xbox is making the right move by leaning into Game Pass as a longer term strategy, it's come at the detriment of their brand image as a whole, illustrated no better than by how their first party titles are perceived. Not pushing forwards and optimising titles like Halo means that "The World's Most Power Console™" is only really appealling to the small minority of gamers interested in power above all else who want a cheap alternative to a gaming PC, and of course those already invested in the ecosystem (who likely don't have or want a gaming PC), because it means little if it isn't running some of the best looking games. For the person who wants to mention Cyberpunk 2077, my point is that while it will likely run best of the consoles on Xbox Series X, we see one game from CDPR a generation at this point, and so is not a good indicator of support for that. It's in this weird middle ground for me because of this, and seemingly for many others too, where their indecisiveness on their direction has landed them in a tough spot. The only potential saving grace for someone like me who does want an Xbox to play the Halo games for the first time, among a small number of their other legacy titles, is the potential of something like Lockhart, which is still, of course, MIA. Overall, viewing this as a fan of the medium, considering it as an event for showing off games for the next generation and for showing off the Series X, I think Xbox took quite a few missteps this time around. The lack of a price here too means that the ball is now seemingly back over in Sony's court while we wait on the price announcement for next gen consoles and, presumably, another PlayStation showing in the coming months. Edited July 24, 2020 by Julius 2
Ronnie Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 48 minutes ago, Julius said: I know @Ronnie took issue before when PlayStation hadn't revealed much of anything new from a first party perspective from the end of 2017 up until the PS5 event last month, and while I was more optimistic, I agree that some of those announcements were made a bit too soon. Not calling you out here by the way, but in the end, I think we can both agree Sony were just holding things back until the PS5, and we know there's still more to come, and can have some degree of confidence in them to deliver with whatever comes next after last month's showing (even if there were one too many indies, and one too many games which look like they'll never see the light of day). To be clear, sure it was a little annoying seeing their last few E3s focused on the same games over and over but I was more surprised that Sony hadn't revealed a big new game in three years than anything else, it hadn't felt like that long. Anyway I'm not sure them revealing PS4 games too early has much to do with PS5 though? They seem pretty separate strategies.
Julius Posted July 23, 2020 Posted July 23, 2020 7 minutes ago, Ronnie said: To be clear, sure it was a little annoying seeing their last few E3s focused on the same games over and over but I was more surprised that Sony hadn't revealed a big new game in three years than anything else, it hadn't felt like that long. Anyway I'm not sure them revealing PS4 games too early has much to do with PS5 though? They seem pretty separate strategies. Oh yeah sure, my bad. And I mean, while separate strategies in some ways, getting those games announced early and setting expectations for what was coming in the last few years of the PS4 left them with space to have their audience wanting - and expecting - more when it came to the PS5 unveiling. That would have been part of an overall strategy, including their focus on well defined generations, and I doubt that anything that we've seen so far from their first party studios coming to PS5 would have been intended to be developed with the PS4 in mind. They've given themselves plenty of time to run down the clock on the PS4, and it's clear that they had a clear cut off point for their first party games in mind a few years back. But anyway, what did you think of Xbox's showing Ronnie?
Ronnie Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Julius said: Oh yeah sure, my bad. And I mean, while separate strategies in some ways, getting those games announced early and setting expectations for what was coming in the last few years of the PS4 left them with space to have their audience wanting - and expecting - more when it came to the PS5 unveiling. That would have been part of an overall strategy, including their focus on well defined generations, and I doubt that anything that we've seen so far from their first party studios coming to PS5 would have been intended to be developed with the PS4 in mind. They've given themselves plenty of time to run down the clock on the PS4, and it's clear that they had a clear cut off point for their first party games in mind a few years back. It's just a shame Sony had to cancel later E3s and PSX's (presumably) through lack of content. I still think they didn't need to reveal everything years ago and had a bit more of drip feed of information, but then that's just my personal preference, I much prefer as short a reveal > release window as possible. As for Xbox I think it was a mistake to separate their "first" and third party showcases into two separate videos, I think it would have been a stronger package putting them together. The show itself was objectively decent, though nothing that really interested me personally. I'm not into Halo at all so that did nothing for me, though it still looked pretty fun. That Rare game was the highlight (and it seems a lot of people agree, no surprise given this is a Nintendo site), but it's hard to get too invested without knowing what the game actually is. I wasn't expecting much from the show because Xbox's strategy of buying studios is still years away from having a tangible effect on the market, and frankly Game Pass is so amazing that's the reason to own an Xbox for me, regardless of what they showed today. Edited July 24, 2020 by Ronnie
Sheikah Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 I've watched through this now and was thoroughly disappointed. There was so little there that demonstrated the power of the Series X, and indeed that's true as all first party games will run on Xbox One too. Right now I cannot see a reason to pick one of these up at launch. I cannot understand why they thought it would be a good idea to release cross-gen first party games. The whole point of being the console manufacturer is that you back your new console with unique games to show off its potential and attract customers. Microsoft's decision to do this is baffling. Halo also looks like it hasn't really changed much in over 10 years. This is something I have felt about Halo for a while, actually. Overall this wasn't just an issue with the graphics of these games; the games themselves felt flat, as did the presentation in general (like the amount of devs spending time talking about their games). When you think back to the Horizon 2 trailer, Microsoft had absolutely nothing on that level to show here. Based solely on this, if both consoles are priced similarly I expect Sony to run away with it again. Microsoft will do well on the value proposition with Game Pass and I expect that will see them through, but man, this presentation was sorely lacking for me.
Dcubed Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 (edited) While I do feel that Sony had the better presentation overall (certainly the most hype inducing; the decision to separate first and third party content on Microsoft’s side was not a smart one), I feel that Microsoft gives a more honest presentation of what to expect within the first year of the console’s life. As per usual, Sony are selling their console on nebulous Hopes And Dreams (with CG trailers of games that won’t be coming out until 2022 at the earliest); and while it is arguably a more effective strategy than honesty, honesty always wins out for me personally. At least with Microsoft’s showcase, even with the CG game trailers, they’re not pretending that any of these games will be launching any time soon. Both consoles will have a very anemic lineup of exclusive titles for those first two years or so. There was never any way that they could avoid this, especially considering the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Edited July 24, 2020 by Dcubed
Sheikah Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 While I do feel that Sony had the better presentation overall (certainly the most hype inducing; the decision to separate first and third party content on Microsoft’s side was not a smart one), I feel that Microsoft gives a more honest presentation of what to expect within the first year of the console’s life. As per usual, Sony are selling their console on nebulous Hopes And Dreams (with CG trailers of games that won’t be coming out until 2022 at the earliest); and while it is arguably a more effective strategy than honesty, honesty always wins out for me personally. At least with Microsoft’s showcase, even with the CG game trailers, they’re not pretending that any of these games will be launching any time soon. Both consoles will have a very anemic lineup of exclusive titles for those first two years or so. There was never any way that they could avoid this, especially considering the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The thing is though, at least Sony will have a handful of big games that they developed to properly take advantage of PS5 by end of next year, including Horizon 2 (which looks amazing) and Ratchet and Clank. Based on Microsoft's presentation they will have nothing they developed themselves by next year that truly looks next gen. It feels like there is very little reason to buy a Series X within the first year or so. Out of interest, how did Sony present their games as if they were coming out sooner? Both Microsoft and Sony were showing trailers for games that they didn't attach a date to. Microsoft also showed CG teasers for games that won't be out for ages - like Fable.
Goron_3 Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 Microsoft have such a weird approach to next gen. First off, GamePass is so great and offers terrific value. The downside to it on XBO is that Microsoft majorly lack enough first party exclusives, but if they can rectify that issue then I'm sure many gamers will purchase a next gen Xbox, even if it's a Lockhart, just for GamePass. Speaking on Lockhart, I'm a bit gutted they didn't mention it as we know it's in development. I've only got a 1080p TV and so I don't see any reason to buy a series X when I'm not hooked in by the software. Lockhart + GamePass will get me interested. Software wise.....Sigh. I'm so done with how every game trailer now needs to look like a film trailer. I understand the need for CGI trailers but when we're this close to launch I'd just like to see some hands-on footage. On game we did see gameplay for is Halo. I've never been a big Halo fan but I did play Halo 3 online back in the day and thought it was absolutely incredible. Infinite looked...okay. It's clearly a current gen game which is being ported over to next gen and whilst I'm sure the gameplay will be good I wasn't particularly impressed with how the game looked. 1
Aneres11 Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 I felt like there were more interesting looking games here than what Sony showed off. Probably an unpopular opinion. I still will go PS5 as I know the games over time will likely be better. But I liked a lot of what I saw yesterday, although the majority of it the interesting looking games were just story scenes rather than gameplay, which wasn't helpful. It was much much better than I thought it would be anyway whereas for PS5 the only thing that really hyped me was Ratchet.
drahkon Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 7 minutes ago, Aneres11 said: Probably an unpopular opinion. UNPOPULAR OPINION - PEOPLE MAY LIKE WHAT SOME OTHERS DON'T This is how you should've started. Social media/reddit-style 8 minutes ago, Aneres11 said: I felt like there were more interesting looking games here than what Sony showed off. The thing is, most of those games will be available on PS5 (or PC) eventually. The actually XBox Series X exclusives are not so interesting (at least to me; maybe you were talking about those). I think this showing should've been called "Game Pass Show". Game Pass is available for PC, right? It's an incredible deal, and with that stream it made me a little more interested in it, but to be honest...I'd much rather build a solid (and reasonably priced) gaming PC than get an XBox Series X.
Jimbob Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 The way Microsoft have been doing Gamepass, it seems the best way going forward to experience what Xbox has to offer. From yesterday, nothing really stood out to entice me to get a Xbox Series X (so far). I might get one when Fable comes out, quite enjoyed the series on the 360. And i'm interested in playing Ori, but that's on Gamepass already which i can play on the laptop when needed to.
Cube Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 12 hours ago, Ganepark32 said: Gamepass is still the difference maker as I see it, though Sony may alter PSNow somewhat to bring it somewhat more in line but not entirely. While it doesn't offer bran new first party titles, PS Now is already more in line with GamesPass, with the option of downloading games. The first game I tried with GamesPass was Forza Horizon 4, which kind of put me off GamesPass because it came across as absolutely desperate to get you to buy DLC for it, it felt like I was playing a mobile game. GamesPass seems like it will end up putting more importance in "games as a service" type games - something which they mentioned Halo Infinite will be.
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