Hello hello, and welcome back to our E3 liveblog series. This time we’ll be covering the E3 2021 announcements for the second day, which is when things really kick off on the PC front. Before starting this liveblog we’ve already had a look at Naraka: Bladepoint, but a few of the big companies have their showcases today. We’ve got Xbox & Bethesda up first, Square Enix right after, a quick look at Back 4 Blood after that, and then the PC Gaming Show and the Future Games Show. I’m (incredibly optimistically) hopeful that a few of these will be a bit quieter.
Today’s liveblog might be a bit more staggered if I need to shift over to news, and/or take a break for 10 minutes. The latter will possibly happen during Back 4 Blood as our crack news squad can likely handle that by themselves, but we’ll see how things go. Otherwise, the usual: latest updates are at the bottom, and you’ll need to manually refresh the page to see changes.
12:52pm — Kicking off the liveblog quickly to get things set up while we wait for the Xbox & Bethesda showcase, where I imagine we’ll be seeing Starfield and Deathloop and a bunch of other things. Unfortunately, on heading to the stream, I caught three seconds of Twitch chat before I could close it and I’m pretty sure I lost a few dozen IQ points. I don’t have that many to spare, honestly.
12:56pm The talking heads are currently going on about Deus Ex, so here’s a nice screenshot to break up this wall of text. I’d quite like to see a new Deus Ex game, but it seems very unlikely. I’d be very happy to eat those words, though. While I hate “what’s your favorite game” questions (as does anyone who’s played hundreds or thousands), the original Deus Ex would consistently make my top three.
I actually am asking for this.
1:00pm — Oh good lord, the PC Gaming Show will apparently have… was that 39 game trailers? This is going to be painful. Exciting, I’m sure, but painful.
Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase
1:01pm — I’m already annoyed at the E3 hosts, but “annoyance” is my default state so that probably means they’re doing just fine. I’ll note that they’re allowed to continue talking about the PC, though, because everything on Xbox is coming to PC anyway, so. Anyway, here comes the first show! Which is apparently rated 18+, so if you’re under that age and watching this, you know what you did.
1:03pm — Todd Howard is talking about how great games are. I’d make a joke about him announcing Skyrim for something else, but 1) that joke is dead, and 2) it’s probably accurate so it’s not even a joke. They’re kicking off with Starfield, which has been one of the worst kept secrets in gaming.
1:05pm — Apparently, “the hardware, the technology, and the team” for Starfield were only available now. I guess programmers, artists, and the like were all pretty terrible in the past. I can guarantee I’m going to come back to this point pretty soon.
Xbox and PC for this. The trailer was… kind of unimpressive, but it’ll be playable day one on Xbox Game Pass.
1:08pm — So while there’s general talk about how great games are, I’m just going to point out that if Starfield is indeed an open universe, that’s been done since the ’80s. Even putting aside Elite there’s Sundog, MegaTraveller, Star Control… hell, even Mass Effect had explorable planets. Sort of.
1:09pm — Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl is up now, with “console launch exclusive”. I suspect that still means PC day one, though.
1:11pm — Looks a lot more scripted than the original in some of the encounters and interactions, but this definitely evokes the same feel. Low-tech irradiated horror, with a big wide open world visible in the long views. We even got a glimpse of the Bloodsucker, which is pretty much the iconic Stalker enemy.
April 28 2022 is when it’s out, and you can play it day one on Xbox Game Pass.
1:14pm — Bethesda has said “Get out of here, Stalker,” and moved onto Back 4 Blood. Which is interesting as that’s got a big showcase of its own later today. New trailer, anyway.
1:17pm — Trailers coming thick and fast, with Contraband. That might be a new announcement? Co-op game, anyway. And now we’re onto Sea of Thieves, so presumably an update to that.
Holy shit, it’s a Sea of Thieves crossover with Pirates of the Caribbean. That sounds suspiciously like Johnny Depp, too. It might be a very good sound-alike, but regardless, wow. It’s the sort of crossover that seems like a blindingly good fit, but it’s not one I was expecting.
Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, with an original story, coming free to Sea of Thieves on June 22.
1:20pm — Entire Yakuza saga on Game Pass today, including Yakuza: Like A Dragon which is one of my favorite games of the last few years. Mild spoilers in that trailer, but it’s a great thing nonetheless.
1:22pm — And now Battlefield 2042. No time to breathe with this conference, apparently. It’s a lengthy trailer with explosions and grappling hooks and stuff. So, uh, great! I do like grappling hooks. October 22, 2021. We might’ve known that and OH GOD ANOTHER TRAILER ALREADY.
1:25pm — Twelve Minutes, coming August 19, from Annapurna and now another new trailer.
1:25pm — It’s Psychonauts 2! Yay!
1:27pm — Psychonauts 2 on August 25. Yes.
1:28pm — 10 more games coming to Game Pass, including Doom Eternal, but more importantly Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics. Haha, and Skyrim is 10 years old this November. I guess that’s the obligatory mention of it for this conference.
And a plug for Fallout 76, which Bethesda promises still has people playing it. So now we get a trailer for that and what’s coming. Looks like Brotherhood of Steel stuff.
1:31pm — It’s Fallout 76: Steel Reign, a free expansion. Plus an expedition to The Pitt in 2022, so Philadelphia.
1:32pm — The Elder Scrolls Online is also getting content and updates, but this is mostly just talk about optimized wotsits for the shiny new consoles.
1:33pm — Oh come on. Another trailer, this time for Party Animals, coming 2022. Looks like an arcade brawler, with some Fall Guys-ish physics.
1:35pm — Ooh, Hades. New content, maybe?
1:35pm, again — Nope, just physical console dates. But that’s fine because oh look another trailer. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Todd Howard. At least then I’d have something to ignore, so I could find the time to add some screenshots and trailers here.
1:37pm — Trailer for Somerville, which is coming in 2022 and that’s nice and all, but this flood of trailers is making me think these things really need to be paced better. I don’t have time to care about one thing or think about it for a moment before the next one kicks off.
343 is on stage now, anyway, so probably some Halo Infinite bits.
1:42pm — Halo Infinite launching this holiday — both the campaign, and the free-to-play multiplayer — which lots of people at PCI are excited about. Not me, though. I’m old and grumpy and I glare at Halo from behind my window, waving my walking stick at it as it plays near my lawn.
1:43pm — Alright, fine, I admit it. This multiplayer trailer actually looks pretty damn good.
1:46pm — Diablo II: Resurrected is coming on September 23. Wasn’t actually expecting to see that at this showcase.
1:47pm — A Plague Tale: Requiem, coming 2022. I heard almost nothing from that because the trailer’s audio was stuttering like mad, so not much else to say except, y’know, rats. And now Far Cry 6.
Quite a neat, new trailer, with emphasis on the weapons, vehicles, and general blowing up of things. A backpack with a rocket launcher built in, while fires them up in a spray. And… a combat rooster? One of the Fangs For Hire? Oh wow.
1:51pm — Slime Rancher 2, coming 2022. I still haven’t played the first one, but I know a lot of people will be excited by a sequel.
1:52pm — On with yet more trailers before we have a second to breathe. Shredders is a snowboarding game of some sort, with a hefty focus on tricks. Doesn’t look as arcade-y as something like SSX, but the trailer looks decent enough. Coming in December.
1:54pm — Atomic Heart, a very stylish looking first-person open-world ARPG. Going to keep my eyes on this one.
1:56pm — Let me think about these trailers, please! Replaced now, coming 2022. Again, looks super stylish; it’s got a neon-soaked comic-book feel to it, and it’s a side-on platformer/action game. And now… oh no, it’s Grounded. I fear spiders.
1:57pm — Seriously, look at these timestamps. Anyway, this is the Shroom & Doom update for Grounded, coming on June 30. Adds achievements; pets; the ability to sit down; mushrooms; and the Broodmother, a new giant spider which is horrifying. Here it is in arachnophobia mode so as to save my sanity.
Not posting up the version of this screen without arachnophobia mode on, because I don’t want to have a heart attack every time I scroll down the page.
1:58pm — Among Us is getting 15-player lobbies with three imposters. Think we knew that?
1:59pm — Ooh, Eiyuden Chronicle. This is the Kickstarted thingy that looks like Suikoden and thus immediately garnered my attention. A sprite-based JRPG with a hundred recruitable characters, in short. Eiyuden Chronicle Rising is coming 2022, and Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (the actual thingy) is coming in 2033.
2:03pm — We’ve had The Ascent and Age of Empires IV. Remember how I complained yesterday about how Ubi’s pre-show was an hour of pointless boredom? I actually miss that. It gave me a moment to think.
Now we’ve got a very self-aware trailer mocking slow-motion animation in trailer, lens flares, the Inception audio noise, and early trailers with no gameplay ready to show. And it’s… whoa. The Outer Worlds 2. I actually wasn’t expecting that. I look forward to annoying the internet by enjoying it but being slightly underwhelmed, once again.
2:05pm — Microsoft Flight Sim now; presumably the launch trailer for the Xbox version. Nothing to see here. I mean, obviously there are things to see here: there are pretty planes and gorgeous scenery. But it’s already on PC.
2:07pm — I spoke too soon. There’s a Top Gun: Maverick free expansion coming to Microsoft Flight Sim. That was not a crossover I was expecting.
2:08pm — Forza time, with a very pretty trailer. I feel like I’ve probably typed the words “very pretty trailer,” but I’m not quite sure what else to say about some of these, and that’s assuming I have enough time to say anything. It’s Forza! There are cars going vroom, very loudly, as they move very quickly across what looks like an open world. Horizon, then?
Yep. Forza Horizon 5, coming November 9. It’s set in Mexico.
2:10pm — There’s a campaign mode where you explore the rainforest and find places for the festival to expand, which is quite a neat twist on the usual. The vid shows the player finding some Mayan ruins, which are presumably going to have cars smashing into them in the middle of races, because Forza players are very good at smacking into scenery. Hell, the video also has people going over sand ridges in the desert, leaping their cars over people on the road. Seaside towns, as well as the “grand caldera” volcano. This is apparently the highest point ever in a Horizon game, and the view distance will let you make out… well, everything. Like Guanajuato City in the far distance, which you can also race through.
There’s a new AI system that apparently tracks your status and the status of others that’ll help you link up with people to play together. Not sure how I feel about that. Apparently it’ll pay attention to the sort of stuff you play, and suggest you invite people who like that stuff when events of that ilk kick off. In this instance, they’re playing a Horizon event where they have to smash through piñatas placed around the region to earn points. And there’s an events lab that lets you create your own races and minigames, right down to smacking through bowling pins.
Volumetric lighting, god rays, and ray tracing. Looks pretty, for sure, and considering how much I enjoyed Forza Horizon 4 despite not really being a racing game fan, I think I’m in for this.
Thank you for giving me a few minutes to breathe instead of dropping nineteen trailers in fifteen minutes.
2:17pm — And a final goodbye from Todd Howard, reminding us that Fable and Perfect Dark exist, amongst other things. I’m waiting for the “and one last thing.”
2:18pm — “Before I go, there’s one more thing.” Heeere we fuckin’ go.
2:19pm — Shooter by Arkane, and it’s not Deathloop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pWjcqXnP2g
2:22pm — Vampires, cultists, cute little robots, and powerful weapons in the modern day. Redfall, coming summer 2022.
Right. That’s one conference out of the way. We’ve got a little bit of time before Square Enix, so it’s time to go back over all that news, flesh things out a bit, and maybe grab a snack before that kicks off in… just under an hour? I’ll see you all then.
Square Enix Presents
3:10pm — Nearly Square Enix time, everyone. This is going to be a bit of a mix: there’ll be some stuff that’s definitely on PC, some stuff that’s probably on PC, and some stuff that’s going to be hard to decipher until I get a press release. Plenty to expect, though. Final Fantasy XVI is pretty much a given, for starters, and I’m sure we’ll see something on Final Fantasy VII Remake even if it’s only a rehash of what the company pushed out over the last few days — although I’m hoping for that PC announcement, at last. What we probably won’t see is Final Fantasy XIV. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Endwalker trailer pop up again (and I’d be quite happy, both because it’s a moment to breathe and I get to enjoy it again) but we almost certainly won’t be getting any actual news on that front.
Final Fantasy isn’t the only thing on their docket, of course; Eidos stuff, Marvel properties, Life is Strange, and plenty more. There’s an awful lot of stuff that we’re very likely to see. I’m just hoping it’ll be paced better than Bethesda/Xbox managed it.
3:17pm — It begins!
3:18pm — Starting with world premiere of Eidos-Montreal’s new title, and it’s a Marvel thingy. It’s… Guardians of the Galaxy. Ooh.
3:20pm — It has the movie look, but not the faces of the actors. Definitely has the vibe, too: lots of humor, and Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out For A Hero as the music. October 26 release date! Sooner than expected.
3:21pm — It’s a single-player, third-person action adventure in which you play as Star-Lord. You’ll always have the rest of the Guardians around you, and you can make decisions, both with humorous and more serious repercussions. “Offer to sell Rocket” popped up as one decision, for instance.
Star-Lord’s got his blasters, he can slide, he has jet boots, and he can call on the other Guardians and use their moves. They haven’t been together for too long by the time the game begins, so while it’s not an origin story, they’re not a fully established team at this point. If this has half as much licensed music as these trailers do, I’m gonna be pleased.
Hahaha, now they’re deciding how to make money. The team are arguing; you can interject as Peter to decide who to listen to, and… Groot suggests selling himself to Lady Hellbender. And then the team starts arguing whether Groot or Rocket count more as a “monster” to be sold and then busted out. Okay, tonally at least, this looks spot on.
In combat, it looks like you can call on any of the Guardians at any moment, each of whom has four abilities that can be called on. Seems like you’ve got a combo system going on too.
3:30pm — “Rocket is furious that you let Drax throw him.”
The audience will remember that.
3:32pm — Oh wow. A “huddle up” super move, where… Star-Lord raises his Walkman and Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation starts blasting out as you power up. Yep, this has the tone down. Not certain about the combat, if only because the damage output seems relatively low, but I’ll figure that out when I get my hands on it. And I do mean “when,” because I’d be intrigued if I was only listening to this.
3:36pm — Two remasters now. A peek at Legend of Mana, and pixel remasters of Final Fantasy 1 to 6. Those remasters are coming to both Steam and mobile, which mildly terrifies me, because the mobile ports of the other Final Fantasy games have been varying levels of painful. Still, at least they’ll hopefully keep the look right.
3:37pm — Marvel’s Avengers updates now. Cosmic Cube is coming this month, with the Scientist Supreme creating a superweapon. Wasteland Patrol is next, with an all-new Patrol Mode, with exploration-based rewards and randomized boss fights. And then War for Wakanda after that, which is a lot more sizeable, to the extent it has its own trailer.
That’s a full expansion, but is still free, and adds in Black Panther and, yes, more content.
3:41pm — Er. Hitman? Agent 426, following 47’s disappearance, and Diana’s voice actor is… Oh, never mind, it’s a mobile game. Ignore. Also, a mobile NieR game; NieR: Reincarnation. I’ll stop talking about this mobile stuff now.
3:43pm — Babylon’s Fall now, from Platinum Games. Let’s see how this goes.
The dev interview isn’t giving too much info. High fantasy atmosphere, apparently, which we can see in the visuals, so it’s not cartoonish. Oh, and it’s being developed as a live-service title. But that aside, what I’m mostly hearing is “it’s a hack-and-slasher, and there’s customization, and the Gideon Coffin on your back is a thing.” But then all you really need to say is “Platinum Games” and I’m in.
3:48pm — Life is Strange: Remastered Collection, now.
3:50pm — I maintain that this may be one of the most pointless remasters I’ve seen yet. Life is Strange is such a stylized game that it doesn’t really need vastly improved graphics, and… well, the “then-and-now” screens mostly just showcase better lighting. Which is okay, but I’m honestly having a hard time deciding which I prefer. That’s coming September 30, anyway.
Improved animation and lip-sync, apparently, which might be okay? But it’s hard to tell from this.
3:51pm — Now a first look at Life is Strange: True Colors. Protagonist Alex Chen has psychic powers, so we’re going to get a look at that. You can see people’s auras to get an insight into their emotions, and they’ll offer up new dialogue options and events. You can, for instance, uncover someone’s secret that their partner probably needs to know; after that, you can decide whether to keep it to yourself or reveal it.
When you encounter a strong aura, you can connect with the character’s emotions, generating a “nova” — turning the world into a reflection of their psyche. You’ll see fragments of their memories here so you can find the root of their problems, but some of these are dangerous.
Looks interesting. Not sure it can recapture the magic of the first, but I’m hopeful. It’s out on September 10.
3:55pm — And now the Team Ninja Final Fantasy game, with a lot of angry people talking about KILLING CHAOS. It’s got a very Final Fantasy XV vibe to it in character design and voice acting. I’m not seeing much in the way of the Warrior of Light here, but some real brutality. Our protagonist just grabbed a werewolf-thing by the jaws and wrenched its mouth open until it exploded.
Oh hey, but there’s Garland! These characters are claiming they’re the Warriors of Light, and Garland is claiming he’s Chaos.
Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise. Coming 2022. Demo available soon on PS5.
3:58pm — Oh, and that’s it. Well. Okay then.
4:05pm — I liked what I saw, though I’m not hugely sold. Guardians could wind up being a bit eh. Life is Strange is… well, it could go either way; that comes down to writing and characters. Stranger in Paradise is a nice idea, but again, I wasn’t exactly blown away. Maybe that’s just because I’m not sure I want a grimdark Final Fantasy I, though. Tetsuya Nomura character designs are always a plus.
Still, no Final Fantasy XVI, only a tiny reminder of Final Fantasy VII Remake, and they didn’t even want to spend two minutes to show the Endwalker trailer. I am the sad.
Next big conference up is the Back 4 Blood thing, which may not be livebloggable. So we might be back with this for the PC Gaming Show next, which is in around 90 minutes.
PC Gaming Show
5:30pm — And it begins, with… yep, a cheesy MST3K style. I, uh, I’m not sure how I feel about this.
5:34pm — We’re opening with Naraka: Bladepoint, which has a bit of a question mark over it, if only because it had its own dedicated segment at the beginning of the day. Still, this does look neat. Looking forward to trying it out for myself, given time and sanity. A battle royale with more of a focus on melee combat sounds good, and the martial arts theme is very much my jam. Open beta starts on June 16, so maybe I’ll find the time then.
5:36pm — That’s either two or three plugs for sponsors and partners within the first six minutes. That may be a record for this E3, so far. (I’m not counting Geoff Keighley’s Cash-In Machine, because that was technically before E3.)
5:38pm — And now, Steve Piggott from Torn Banner Studios to talk about Chivalry 2, which is already out. The post-launch plans apparently include different medieval eras, which sounds quite neat. And now… a trailer for Chivalry 2. Which is already out.
5:41pm — Dying Light 2 is up next, but first, another plug for Intel!
Wait, this isn’t Dying Light 2. Did they mean “please keep watching for another few minutes, Dying Light 2 is on the way”? Because either Dying Light 2 has seriously changed tack, or this is cartoony, ramen chef brawler Rawmen.
5:43pm — Yep, Rawmen. And now Dying Light 2.
Apparently, the virus has spread, with chemicals dropped on the city causing the virus to sink into the ground and go much further. People live on the rooftops now to stay clear of the monsters, and protagonist Aiden is apparently the only one who dares brave the streets, as he’s out there looking for his sister.
The real question of “can I dropkick zombies off rooftops” remains, though. I’ll find out on December 7 when it releases.
5:47pm — And we’re back to plugs and competitions.
5:49pm — Humankind, the lovely looking 4X, is up now. And they’re revealing… a Frankie Ward AI persona. And closed beta access via Twitch drops. Uh.
Well, the closed beta starts now, apparently, but I think we knew that already.
5:51pm — A quick trailer for They Always Run, followed by a plug for GeForce Now. Special word from Valve soon, but first, Orcs Must Die! 3, which seems dangerous. Never put “Valve” and “3” in the same sentence. Bad things will happen.
Apparently, Orcs Must Die! 3 is coming out on July 23, despite having been out on Stadia for like a year. Fun series, though.
5:55pm — Vampire: The Masquerade — Swansong now, also known as “the third non-visual novel Vampire: The Masquerade game coming out that I can think of right now.” Looks alright, though I’m wincing slightly at that walking animation. Early days, though; I’m sure that’ll be polished up.
Now, footage of Gigabash, a multiplayer brawler based around kaijus.
5:58pm — Lemnis Gate trailer now, which is a very neat-looking turn-based FPS with a beta coming in July. However, we have gone several minutes without a plug for one of the sponsors. The PC Gaming Show may get yanked off the air shortly.
Lemnis Gate is set in a 25-second timeloop; one player takes a turn and plays for 25 seconds, and then the other player takes a turn, playing out in that same period. Then it’s your turn again — once more at the start of that 25-second time period — but with a different character, so you can intercept and mess with what your opponent did.
6:01pm — Next Space Rebels, which is a thing I… haven’t seen before? And that trailer did not help. I have no idea what it is.
And back to the competitions and plugs!
6:04pm — Trailer for WarTales, coming out later this year. It’s an open-world medieval RPG about a company of mercenaries.
World exclusive reveal of Ixion now. You’ll be building and managing a space station, and also cleaning up after previous failed expeditions. Cinematic trailer, though, so while it looks quite nice, I’m still sat here wondering how it plays.
The cinematic trailer has us blowing up the moon, though, so that’s neat! Ixion is coming in 2022.
6:09pm — FAR: Changing Tides gets a trailer.
6:10pm — Another game reveal. Lakeburg Legacies, this time. This looks… interesting? Halfway between The Sims and Crusader Kings, with you creating and controlling characters in a medieval setting, and deciding how their lives play out.
6:13pm — Now we’re talking about MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, which came out in 2019. Yes, okay, it had a Steam release a few weeks ago, but come off it.
6:19pm — I realize I probably shouldn’t say this because it’s the PC Gaming Show and thus it’s the one of relevance to us, but… this has been pretty boring and lifeless, thus far. I’ve liked the looks of a few of the games, but they’ve largely just been quick trailers and that’s it. And then that’s all followed by plugs and shilling.
Hello Neighbor 2 is coming out in 2021, by the way, and apparently involves you pranking your poor neighbor.
6:21pm — Jurassic World Evolution 2, with a pre-rendered trailer. Is this the same one we saw the other day? I think it is.
6:23pm — Now we’re talking about what Twitter thinks, but thankfully, that’s been cut short by a quick trailer for the seven million games New Blood Interactive is releasing, and has released. They’re going by too fast for me to rattle them off, but there’s a good mix of stuff there.
“It just wouldn’t be the PC Gaming Show with a new New Blood supercut,” says Sean Plott. It wouldn’t be the PC Gaming Show without plugs and lots of dull filler, and– oh no it’s Dave Oshry.
6:25pm — Okay, I’ve gained some respect for Dave Oshry after that skit of him being kicked off the show.
6:26pm — It’s Gabe Newell! What’s he announcing? Is it something important and big?
6:27pm — No, he’s just pointing out that Steam Next Fest is on next week, where you can play game demos. We knew this already. Well, that was terrible.
Alpha game footage for a bloody third-person hack-and-slasher now, with big swords and bigger enemies. Soulstice, apparently. That… actually looks pretty great. Coming 2022; I’ll be keeping my eyes on that one.
6:29pm — Hardware now. An Impulse glove that reads your mind or at least uses some sort of tech magic to detect that you’re going to click before you click, saving you entire milliseconds. And, uh, monitors. And… things. I’m still waiting for something to grab me.
“For those of you left standing,” host Mica Burton says. Well, I’m sitting, but my eyes are closing. It’s a Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters teaser, and it’s… teasing a full cinematic trailer. So it’s a teaser for something that’s not gameplay footage. Hnngngrnn.
6:34pm — I don’t know what this is, but it looks surreal and open and shooty and Russian. So, STALKER or Metro or something. That’s a vibe I can get behind. It’s called Pioner, apparently, and it looks like it’s worth some attention.
6:36pm — Next up, we have a little live-action skit for EVE: Online, while a giant banner cutting off a quarter of it tells you to buy Civilization VI on the Humble Store. This appears to be a nod towards the EVE Academy, a way of getting new players into the game.
I love hearing the stories that come from EVE, because its chaotic open nature leads to some really insane player-driven manipulations and events, but I never managed to get into it. And now, LOADS OF TRAILERS IN RAPID SUCCESSION, and I’m so tired I read “procedurally generated” as “poorly generated.”
6:41pm — World premiere of Chernobylite‘s grand finale mission, The Heist, which sounds a bit spoilery to me. I keep meaning to play Chernobylite — again with the surreal/open/shooty/Russia vibe. Full game coming this summer.
6:42pm — We have now moved onto plugging the Future Games Show, which is coming up next. But first! Another world premiere. It’s a pixel-y RPG, with an Octopath vibe. Real-time and turn-based tactics combat, which mostly makes me think of the Mario RPG combat style. Music by Motoi Sakuraba of Dark Souls fame. And it’s called… Sacrifire!
Oh. It’s on Kickstarter, so it’s not even confirmed yet.
6:46pm — “This is it, you guys!” IT’S NEARLY OVER? “This is your final chance to vote for which MechWarrior 5 PC is going to be made.”
Oh.
Sadface.
6:48pm — The Wandering Village looks neat, if I understood correctly and you’re basically city-building on top of a dinosaur. Also liking the look of the grim, surreal, cyberpunky Death Trash that’s on now. That’s coming to Early Access on August 5.
6:50pm — “The moment you’ve all been waiting for!” Ah, the highlight of the show, and it’s… oh, it’s the MechWarrior PC build again. This isn’t actually about the games, is it?
6:55pm — This is a reminder that pacing actually matters in these shows, and spamming out five trailers in a row is not a good way to do these things.
So there we have it. Project Warlock 2 ends the show. I guess it technically ended with a bang, because that’s certainly a very explosive and shooty game.
Either way, I think that’s easily the worst show yet, and that makes me sad. So many possibilities for PC things to show off and do, but instead it was largely poorly paced, full of plugs and adverts, and then rapid-fire trailer spam. And as I love the PC, quite like the hosts, and quite like the look of a lot of those games? That makes me even sadder.
The Future Games Show is up next. The liveblog may continue with that; we’ll see. If it’s anything like the PC Gaming Show, there’ll be more sighing than reporting. If not, tomorrow’s big ones are probably Take-Two in the early afternoon, and Capcom a few hours after that. I may or may not see you shortly!
The End
7:15pm — Nope. Troy Baker and Laura Bailey are both lovely and great, but thus far this seems to be a similar vein of rapidly hurling out trailers, largely for indie games. We’ve got another little nudge of Jurassic World Evolution 2 with some actual gameplay footage, but I’m not convinced there’s going to be anything huge here.
So, with that, the liveblog for day two comes to a close, and probably the liveblogs for E3 2021 as a whole. Tomorrow we’ve got Take-Two and Capcom as the biggies, with a few other segments that might have some neat and relevant bits and bobs (Mythical Games, Indie Showcase, Freedom Games, Razer.)
On Tuesday, the big one is Bandai Namco; aside from that there’s Nintendo which isn’t of great relevance to us. So this is likely it for the liveblogs.
We will, however, be watching the shows, and bringing you all the relevant information. So do stay tuned, and remember to check out our main page to see all the news popping up as fast as we can crank it out. Thanks for sticking with us, and we’ll see you again for the rest of E3 and — hopefully — throughout the rest of the year.
Published: Jun 13, 2021 12:59 pm