Hiya!

E3 2017 is over and… it was a rather big disappointment. Don’t get me wrong. There was still a lot to love this from this year’s presentations but everything just felt rather underwhelming. There weren’t exactly any real terrible moments but there weren’t all that many high points as well. Well, actually, there are a few of each. Let’s go look at the hits and misses from this year’s E3.

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New Fighting Games

Hit: Dragon Ball FighterZ

I don’t think anyone was ready for this. I knew this game was being made and I was eager to see what the guys over at Arc System Works, the same team that developed the awesome anime fighter BlazBlue and Guilty Gear, can do with the Dragon Ball license. But I don’t think anyone was ready for how good it looked!

This game just looked incredible at any level. If you’re a Dragon Ball fan, this is definitely the fighting game you’ve been waiting for. If you’re a graphics whore, this game just looks so unbelievably crisp and fantastic in motion, you’ll probably orgasm just by booting the game up. And if you’re a fighting game fanatic, you’re gonna love how crazy and insane it looks.

It’s probably going to play a whole lot like Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which means I’m going to be terrible at the game in keeping track of all of the insane action on the screen. But I’ll still probably have a whole lot of fun playing Dragon Ball FighterZ in spite of this.

Miss: Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Story Demo

Speaking of the Marvel vs. Capcom game…

Now, the game is still is obviously ready and it’s still early in development, but I did download the Story Demo that was made during E3 and it didn’t excite me. The actual fighting game portion was fine for the most part but the computer AI was incredibly easy and you could just mash buttons to beat it… except Ultron Sigma, who didn’t take all that much damage when you hit him and could react to most everything you did.

But the biggest failure of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite’s Story Demo was how poor the actual story seemed. Each cutscene just had the characters call each other’s name so there was hardly anything that made me want to watch them. But the worst thing was the loading screens before the match! They’re just so long and take you out of the moment! You would think Capcom would figure out a way to load all the things they needed in the background while the cutscenes are playing like how NetherRealm Studios implement their story modes with Injustice and Mortal Kombat! I hope Capcom does make the story more interesting and keep the loading screens to a minimum!

Oh, and what did they do to Chun-Li’s beautiful face?

I know the game is just in it’s early stages but Dragon Ball FighterZ is around 20% done and it looks amazing? I can’t… I can’t.

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New Game Announcements

Hit: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

You know, I just might get a Nintendo Switch now because of this game. And I have never owned a Nintendo console in my 20+ years of existence. I know Nintendo makes great games but there has never really been a killer game that’s called out to me like Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle before. It’s weird that, of all of the classic games that the House of Mario has put out, it’s this game that I found interesting enough to pluck down the cash to get one. Not Super Mario Odyssey. Not Metroid 4. Not Legend of Zelda. Nope, I gotta have that weird crossover game with the Rabbids… and I don’t even care for the Rabbids because I think they’re annoying!

In all seriousness, there is indeed a lot to love from Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. The gameplay looks really good and the strategy element of positioning your characters and doing teamup moves looks well integrated into the battle system. The graphics do look adorable to a degree that I don’t really find the Rabbids all that insufferable. And I’ll bet you’ll get a cast of characters you can mix and match before marching into an arena so it should be fun to find the best team for each map. How much is a Nintendo Switch again?

Miss: Starlink: Battle for Atlas

Oh, look. Another video game where you have to, not only buy the actual game and the system to play it, but you have to buy little figurines as well in order to get the most out of it. And Starlink: Battle for Atlas makes it seem like Ubisoft is doubling down on this because, not only do you have to get the figures, you’ll also have to get the ships as well.

Basically, this is Ubisoft’s entry to the entire toys-to-life genre. The thing that really irks me about this is that the rich gamers are the ones who are going to be able to get all of the ships and all of the pilots. Essentially, it’s like buying DLC packs but with the extra issue of finding a place to actually store them on your shelf. Also, this is a type of game that seems weird because, I don’t know, shouldn’t you be able to collect game accessories in the game itself while playing the game and not having to buy them? Maybe it’s just me but I don’t get it.

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Huge Surprises and Hype Moments

Hit: Miyamoto at Ubisoft Press Conference

Ubisoft had a really big day on E3. You can already tell they were going to have a fantastic E3 Press Conference right from the start because they managed to get Nintendo’s very own Shigeru Miyamoto to start off the show!

Did you hear the entire crowd go wild when Mario’s father was introduced? I’ll bet no one expected Shigeru Miyamoto, the man who’s become synonymous with Nintendo to appear in another E3 Press Conference other than Nintendo’s very own! But there he was! And he was all smiles and playing it up to the crown. That was one way to really get everyone’s attention and it sure got mine!

Okay, Miyamoto was there to plug a game for the Nintendo Switch and it was indeed a game that features Mario. But it was nice to see both parties put aside their supposed rivalries and come together to give us this really awesome shot, of all things, Miyamoto with a weird gun.

Miss: Microsoft reveals a real car

Cars are cool and all but I don’t watch E3 Press Conferences to look at cars. I guess Microsoft didn’t get the memo.

It was supposed to be a groundbreaking moment and I guess the head honchos of Microsoft expected this to grab headlines all over the world that Porsche would reveal its new supercar at E3. But the entire thing just fell flat because no one in the press conference was remotely interested in the real car. That’s because they actually wanted to see the virtual car running in Forza Motorsport. There were some “ooohs” and “aaaahs” just before and after the reveal. But I don’t think the gamers really cared for this beast of the car.

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Press Conferences

Hit: Devolver Digital or Ubisoft Press Conference

This is how bad the E3 Press Conferences have gotten: the fake one by Devolver Digital had the best one this year. Not Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo. Not EA, Bethesda or Ubisoft. No, it was the parody E3 Press conference by indy game publisher Devolver Digital. You know why? Because it was just so fun to watch!

It was a parody on how over the top E3 Press Conferences have gotten and, in a year when every other press conference was rather subdued and devoid of any really big announcements, Devolver Digital injected E3 with a good, hard dose of levity and fun. The final minutes were a little over the top and I do wish they ended the “press conference” differently but the entire thing was funny for what it was.

But, if I had to pick one of the “real” press conferences regarding who had the best show, I will have to give it to Ubisoft this year. The show was definitely more focused on the games and shining the spotlight on their upcoming games. But, like the other shows this year, it was rather bereft of any killer surprises, Ubisoft just so happened to be the best of the crap.

Miss: EA Press Conference

This year’s E3 was rather disappointing to me. There were only a few things that really captured my attention or made me scramble on Google to search for the latest news on the games shown… besides Dragon Ball FighterZ, that is. But the biggest downer in my opinion was EA’s Press Conference. The guest speakers were rather lame, like the YouTuber I never heard of fudging his lines when he got on camera.

God, I really felt for the guy because you can see it in his face that he knew he messed up! But he wasn’t alone. A lot of the presenters just came off like awkward newbies that didn’t know how to read the crowd. I guess that’s the difference when performing in front of a crowd of thousands on stage and when being broadcast all over the world without the benefit of editing out the bad takes.

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This year’s E3 was pretty much a wash for me. There were hardly anything that excited me this year and most of the presentations were pedestrian to say the least…

…but let me take one more look some new Dragon Ball FighterZ game footage again.

At least we got this in 2017.

What were some of the highlights and lowlights of this year’s E3? Let me know in the comments section below!