2009 – 2019: 6 Series That Are Still the Talk of E3 10 Years Later

Final Fantasy

While new Final Fantasy content also debuted at E3 2019, the most hype-inducing announcements of Square Enix’s conference were about remakes.

A new trailer for FFVII Remake dropped on Monday along with more info later in the week. Shortly afterward, the internet reacted in awe as a remake of FFVIII was announced.

Back in 2009, Final Fantasy XIV had just been revealed. By transforming the game into a new MMO experience it introduced a plethora of exciting features to devour your free time. FFXIV eventually launched in 2010 as one of the worst received titles in the series. However, Square Enix picked itself up and rebooted the game in 2013.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, as it’s known now, is a fantastic game that remains very popular. In fact, it just got a new trailer for its upcoming expansion Shadowbringers at E3 2019.

Halo

After developing the legendary Halo 3, studio Bungie broke up into two groups. One to work on Halo 3: ODST, and another to work on Halo: Reach. The latter of which was announced at E3 2009 with this tantalizing teaser.

The announcement of Halo: Reach kicked off a snowballing hype-train that eventually led to a total of $200 million worth of sales on day one.

Halo Infinite was announced at E3 2018, but we only got a vague trailer that mostly highlighted the new engine the game would be produced with. At this year’s conference, we got a trailer/release window, plot and design details, and info on how the game will be optimized for Project Scarlett. In other words, a lot to be hyped about.

The Legend of Zelda

“There’s going to be a sequel to Breath of the Wild.” That’s pretty much all Nintendo had to say to “win” E3 2019, but they took it one step further and gave us a new trailer too. Oh, and the also awesome (but unfortunately overshadowed) Link’s Awakening is heating up the show right now as well.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was featured at E3 2009, but the most exciting Zelda-related news at that conference came in the form of concept art for the upcoming Skyward Sword (although no title was provided at the time).

Skyward Sword eventually released in 2011, featured a non-linear world, and required the Wii MotionPlus to play. The critically acclaimed game also ended up as the basis for Breath of the Wild.

As producer Eiji Aonuma stated during the development of BOTW, the team’s primary goal was “to expand and make a better Skyward Sword.”

Borderlands

For most of its development, Borderlands was a lot more… brown and boring looking. It wasn’t until the game’s artists staged a sort of “subversive coup,” worked up a new cel-shaded presentation, and shoved it in director Randy Pitchford’s face that the game took on the unique look that we know today.

Publisher 2K showed off Borderland’s new look at E3 2009, and you can guess how it was received.

Now, Borderlands 3 looks more colorful than ever, both in the cel-shading aesthetic that it still proudly flaunts, as well as in its content. The newest information we’ve gotten from E3 this year is filled with new characters, weaponry, and locations.

Call of Duty

Like in 2019, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was announced shortly before E3 2009, and then more details were provided at the conference. MW2 was “arguably the hottest game of E3” according to IGN after showing off a new trailer and demo.

Now, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4… er… I mean Modern Warfare Remastered… wait, no, Modern Warfare is again the talk of E3 after its reveal at the end of May. The game promises a return to the darker, grittier essence of the series in addition to new features and improvements.

We got to take a quick look at a hands-off demo of Modern Warfare at E3 2019 as well, and it’s certainly the most intense and violent game we’ve seen in the CoD series. Whether or not that translates to it being a good video game, however, remains to be seen.

Star Wars

In 2009 BioWare was hard at work on what would become The Old Republic under the watch of publisher EA. At E3, the team showed off their work with over a dozen lightsaber-toting “Jedi” clamoring onstage to set up the first cinematic trailer.

Like Final Fantasy XIV, The Old Republic was a new MMO experience that also claimed to be “the largest voice over project in the history of games and maybe across all areas of entertainment.”

The Old Republic released to positive reviews in 2011 and has since received numerous expansion packs, the newest arriving in September.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order delivered a new cinematic trailer and a first look at extended gameplay at E3 2019 this week in addition to new details from developer Respawn Entertainment. It’s the team’s first Star Wars title, and there are now a lot of eager fans hoping that they deliver on November 15.