E3 Day 2 Impressions

After I calmed down a bit from last night's Sony press conference, it was time for both Nintendo's and Square Enix's press conferences.  Like yesterday, I'm going to share my thoughts about the conferences.

Nintendo: This was a Nintendo Direct presentation.  I originally watched this on Nintendo's website, but there was a lot of lag and I missed a lot of stuff.  Thanks Youtube for posting this immediately afterwards, now I got everything.  They show Pokemon X/Y right out of the gate with new footage.  Announced a new Type: Fairy.  Super effective against Dragon types.  New feature: Pokemon-Amie -- a way to bond with Pokemon (similar to Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance with the Dream Eaters).  Releases October 12.  Super Mario 3D World.  Trailer looks cool.  Can play as Mario, Luigi, Toad and Peach.  Each character has their own unique abilities, like Toad can run faster than the others.  New feature: Cat Mario!!  Mario can clime up walls and scratch enemies with his claws.  This suit better be in the next Super Smash Bros. game, that's all I'm saying.  Releases in December.  Mario Kart 8.  Tracks look like they go sideways and upside down.  I'm excited for this.  Will be for Wii U.  Releases Spring 2014.  Wii Party U.  80 different party games.  Was originally going to release this summer, but will release in October and Wii Fit U in December.  An new Art Academy game.  Miiverse tool releasing this summer.  3rd Party Releases include: Assassins Creed 4 , Batman: Arkham Origins, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, Deux EX: Human Revolution - Director's Cut, Disney Infinity, Just Dance 2014, Rayman Legends, Sonic Lost World, Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure, Disney's Planes, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Skylanders SWAP Force, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and Watch Dogs.  eShop titles include: Ballpoint Universe, Cloudberry Kingdom, Coaster Crazy Deluxe, DuckTales: Remastered, Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara, Mutant Mudds Deluxe, Oddworld: New 'N' Tasty, Scram Kitty & His Buddy on Rails, Shovel Knight, Spin the Bottle: Bumpie's Party and A World of Keflings.  Zelda: The Wind Waker HD.  Takes place on the open sea.  Releases in October.  Wonderful 101, a superhero-type game, releases in September.  Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze.  Has new camera features.  Releases in November.  Bayonetta 2. New trailer and gameplay looks cool.  Releases in 2014. X, A game that deals with mechas, released in 2014.  Speaking of Smash Bros., Super Smash Brothers coming in 2014.  Trailer for this is so cool.  Adding Mega Man and Villager from Animal Crossing to the line up of fighters.  Finally, we went behind the scenes at Nintendo's booth.  Rating: 8/10

Square Enix: When I talk about Square Enix, I basically mean Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy.  Those are the only two franchises I really care about the most.  I know that there are other titles that are produced with SE, but I'm mainly going to talk about KH and FF from here on out, unless a other title from them catches my eye.  The Future of Final Fantasy event started.  Here are some things from that via FinalFantasy.net: 
• A montage of new titles is playing: FFXIV, FFXV, FFX/X-2, LRFFXIII, and KHIII.
• Incoming CEO Yosuke Matsuda takes the stage.
• Square Enix is glad to work with Disney again on Kingdom Hearts III, hope they can meet fan expectations.
• “The Crystal’s Call” Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn playing. Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida on-stage too.
• It’s in-game footage from FFXIV: ARR. Airships, Garleans, Cid, Cactuars, etc.
• Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will release on PlayStation 4 in 2014.
• Final Fantasy XV trailer from Sony’s press conference is playing.
• Final Fantasy executive producer Shinji Hashimoto takes the stage.
• Final Fantasy XV will be coming to Xbox One in addition to PS4.
• Another Final Fantasy XV trailer is playing similar to the older Versus trailer will in-game footage.
• Underwater scenes from the E3 trailer, Noctis swimming and so on. Some stealth gameplay too?
• Lightning Returns time. Producer Kitase takes the stage.
• Kitase comments on FFX/X-2 in that fans will appreciate the new life breathed into these HD remasters.
• Lightning Returns is the last Final Fantasy on current gen hardware.
• The team is working hard to deliver an open-world experience.
• Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD trailer is now playing.
• Kingdom Hearts III time, and Hashimoto-san is back on stage.
 CEO of Disney Interactive John Pleasants on stage with Square Enix CEO Matsuda.
• He’s very excited to work with Square Enix on Kingdom Hearts III. An older Sora with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy awaits.
• Kingdom Hearts III will come to Xbox One.
• Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III will release in Japan on Xbox One, fyi.

• Sequels to Final Fantasy XV could happen, like Final Fantasy XIII.

• The world of the “Versus epic” is large.
• Final Fantasy Versus XIII’s development was expanded, and it took time to evolve to Final Fantasy XV.

• No plans for KH1.5 or 2.5 HD on Xbox One. Maybe after KHIII releases.
• The staff of Final Fantasy XV is largely the same, but has been grown significantly.
• Final Fantasy XV has action-oriented gameplay, but that doesn't mean it will be that way for FFXVI
• They hope the action-style combat of Final Fantasy XV will not disappoint traditionalists, and they are look forward to hearing feedback.
• Kingdom Hearts III is being developed by the Osaka team.• Final Fantasy is always evolving, and they think for FFXV an action-oriented evolution is a good one.
• Hashimoto to PS4 fans about FFXV/KH3 on XB1: first time they’ve revealed a game for multi, rather than announced later. Please understand.
• Hashimoto-san will keep Nomura on busy and on-schedule (along with the many staff supporting him.)
• No comment on WiiU ports.
• Final Fantasy XV uses the Luminous Engine. Agni’s Philosophy is a -tech demo- and not a game.
Hashimoto cannot comment on Pixar in KH3
Story details about KH3: Believing light and darkness must remain in balance, Master Xehanort seeks to spark war against guardians of light and the "Key to Return Hearts," while King Mickey and Riku search for previous Keyblade wielders.

Rating: 10/10

E3's not over yet and I'll post it if there is something there that appeals to my interests.  Well, that's it for me for now.  Next set of blogs, I talk about things you may have missed while everyone else was paying attention to E3.

-Ray-

E3 Day 1 Impressions

Summer time.  My favorite time of year.  And when you think of summer, you think of barbecues, pools, the beach and lots of fun stuff.  When I think of summer, I think of all that stuff I just mentioned and E3.  For those of you who don't know what that is, E3, every year, showcases the future of gaming.  I'm going to write my thoughts about what I saw in the order of the press conferences, which I am watching through IGN.

Microsoft: I woke up late for this, so I didn't get a chance to see it.  And that's okay, really.  I'm not a Xbox fan. Rating: 0/10

EA: OMG SPORTS!! And here are some other games that aren't sports related, like Battlefield, Need for Speed and Dragon Age, but we're going to show them really quick so we can focus on what you really want to see, MOAR SPORTS!! (I'M LOOKING AT YOU STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT!!) Also Mirror's Edge 2??  Coming...when it's ready.  EA's version of Nomura's favorite phrase: "Please look forward to it (laughs)."  Rating: 4.5/10

Ubisoft: That Rocksmith game looks pretty cool.  Not going to get that though.  Don't have the money for a guitar.  Don't care about Rayman; The Crew looks really good -- a different type of racing game -- Might buy this one; I'm going to buy Watch Dogs come hell or high water; YAY ANOTHER JUST DANCE GAME (end sarcasm); The Mighty Quest looks cool.  I mighty play it.  Trailer was hilarious;  Don't care about Raving Rabbids; Don't care about Assassins Creed -- although the trailer is fabulous --  Let's hope AC4 doesn't disappoint fans like AC3 did when it was released; Trials looks cool. Trials Fusion is (I think) for all consoles and Trials Frontier is for smartphones, except mine, because I have a crappy phone; A new game from Tom Clancy called The Division.  Gameplay and trailer looks awesome.  If I wasn't really horrible at shooters, I'd pick this up.  Rating: 6/10

Sony:  This conference started 20 mins late.  Opening sequence was cool.  I don't have a Vita, so this doesn't really appeal to me that much.  I do want to get one eventually.  God of War 1 and 2 HD and Final Fantasy X and X-2  HD are coming.  The Last of Us releases this Friday.  I'm not into zombie anything really, but the graphics look gorgeous   Puppeteer kinds looks like Little Big Planet to me.  Rain looks cool.  Not sure what it's about though.  Beyond Two Souls looks awesome.  Might pick this up.  Grand Turismo 6 -- just another racing game to me.  I do like racing games, but more like fun ones like Mario Kart.  Having played both Arkham games recently, I'm excited for Batman Arkham Origins.  I miss Kevin Conroy's voice already, but I think I'll get used to the guy who replaced him.  I always liked the 60's TV Batman series, so they're releasing a skin for it.  The last time I saw that suit in a game was Batman: Rise of Sun Tsu for the PS2.  GTA 5, not for me.  And now for the console reveal...HOLY SHIT!!  SONY TAKE MY MONEY!!  TAKE IT NOW!! $399.  Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited available on Day 1.  Announced Redbox Instant by Verizon coming soon.  Pay Per View Events coming soon.  Also Flixter coming soon.  This trailer for The Order 1886 is beautiful. Killzone Shadow Fall footage. DriveClub (which I've never heard of until today  Apparently, this was announced in February  footage. Infamous: Second Son.  I want this.  This is so far the reason I want a PS4.  Maybe another game will change my mind??  Knack.  This looks pretty cool.  This game was announced in February but this is the first time I've heard of it.  KIllzone, DriveClub and Knack is a Day 1 release.  Infamous is coming in February 2014.  The Dark Sorcerer looks cool.  Trailer was funny at the end.  Transistor from SuperGiant Games.  The artwork is beautiful.  Gameplay looks very different that what we're normally used to.  Don't Starve looks okay.  Octodad looks weird.   Secret Ponchos looks different.  And more Indie games that most likely, I'm not going to play.  All PS4 exclusives.  Diablo 3. AND NOW WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR: TETSUYA NOMURA AND FINAL FANTASY VERSUS 13!!  NO, FINAL FANTASY 15.  NEW TRAILER SINCE GOD KNOWS WHEN!!  SQUARE ENIX, TAKE MY MONEY, MY VIRGINITY AND WHATEVER'S LEFT OF MY SANITY!! OH MY GOD!!  KINGDOM HEARTS 3!!   I'm excited for that and by excited I'm deafening everyone within a 3 mile radius with squees.  Please excuse me while I scream from the rooftops.  And a mention of KH 1.5 coming this September.  Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag gameplay.  Looks cool.   More Watch Dogs footage. And this is where they lost me: MOAR SPORTS!! And now The Elder Scrolls: Online. Coming Spring 2014.  Cool trailer.  Mad Max.  Dude, just ran the other dude over.  Sony supposed used games, doesn't need to be connected, Playstation Plus transfers over to PS4.   Bless you, Jack Trenton, bless you.  Destiny gameplay looks badass.  I wasn't really paying attention after this because of my fangirling over KH3.  I apologize for making y'all deaf. Rating: 10/10.

Sony had the best conference out of the three that were shown today.

Are there any games that I mentioned you're looking forward to??  Disagree with me on some (or everything) things I said??  Let me know in the comments below and I'll do my best to reply to them.

Will Nintendo and Square Enix wow me, like Sony did tonight???  Watch my blog tomorrow for more E3 awesomeness.  See ya!!

-Ray-

Welcome to my blog

So this is going to be really short.  I really don't write anything.  So I'm going to try and change that.  My next set of posts will be about E3.