Hideo Kojima’s Absence
With an abundance of new Death Stranding footage during Sony’s E3 2018 Showcase, we were practically certain we’d hear from the man himself, Hideo Kojima, during the show. We sat through a banjo performance for The Last of Us Part II and a shakuhachi master set the stage of Ghost of Tsushima, but then we jumped right into Death Stranding with little to no fanfare. We soaked up an excellent new trailer, with bits of gameplay sprinkled throughout, but we didn’t hear from Kojima himself, not one iota.
While the developer did make an appearance during the E3 Coliseum 2018 talks as part of his own panel with director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, his attendance during Sony’s presentation, especially with a new look at Death Stranding on offer, was sorely missed. We were desperately hoping to hear more insights on some of the story, mechanics, and other aspects of the game from the visionary developer of the Metal Gear Solid series, but instead, we got no introduction to the footage, nor any follow-up from Kojima to help us digest it. Kojima is always a welcome addition to any conference, and we would have loved to have seen his ear-to-ear grin present the first deep-dive into Death Stranding.
Square Enix’s Entire Conference
We were all set for some big reveals during the Square Enix E3 2018 Showcase, namely in the form of a new look at the Final Fantasy VII remake, but unfortunately were left feeling extremely cold by the end of this meager presentation. All of us went in expecting the world, but ended up with a cavalcade of trailers for games Square Enix had already shown off ahead of its presentation, like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Just Cause 4, and Kingdom Hearts III. What’s more, the same Kingdom Hearts III trailer we’d just seen before was part of the show, albeit with a few additions here and there.
While there were a few new announcements like the strange The Quiet Man and new Platinum title Babylon’s Fall, it largely felt like a whisper in the cacophony of announcements during E3. We were hoping for some huge names to appear, namely the Avengers project around the corner, but instead there really wasn’t much new shared at all. It’s unfortunate, but at least we can count on Final Fantasy VII news coming down the pipeline someday, at least. Square Enix has always been about the explosive, show-stopping announcements in the past, and it just didn’t have the oomph of past engagements this time around.
Sony’s Strange Conference Structure
Sony typically follows in Microsoft’s shoes in terms of big, blockbuster presentations during E3, so this year’s show was a little strange. When the show began with folks being lead into a church-like area to see Gustavo Santaolalla and the introduction of The Last of Us Part II, it seemed quite promising. The next area showed off Ghost of Tsushima and a shakuhachi player after a brief intermission, but it all seemed to come crashing down from there, as Death Stranding and Spider-Man didn’t really get this level of attention. The show switched back to a small panel of PlayStation staff to discuss what was on-screen prior and to show off trailers for other games, none of which received any real extended time for viewers to check it out fully until after the presentation had ended.
What’s more, the small number of games actually shown during the conference was quite low in comparison to Microsoft’s this year. It seemed like a poorly-constructed format overall, and while we got some true zingers out of the mix like the Resident Evil 2 remake, some of the big games lost their punch when compressed into a frustratingly small show like this one. Hopefully, Sony returns to its stage show roots next year.
No Red Dead Redemption
With the excitement surrounding Rockstar Games’ upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2, it seemed almost criminal that we didn’t see hide nor hair of the highly-anticipated game at E3 2018. Alas, it was nowhere to be found, which was a massive letdown. The fact that we’re this close to release with an Oct. 26 date lingering over our heads is also a little worrisome since E3 would have been an excellent time to shed more light on what to expect from both its single-player and online components.
Rockstar was curiously missing entirely from the show instead, and all the conferences passed by without even so much a whisper about the prequel to Red Dead Redemption. It looks like we’ll be waiting quite some time before we hear more about it, but with every day marching even closer to the release date, it’s hard not to be a little concerned about its absence at E3.
No Rocksteady Game Announcement
Folks have been looking for a new Superman video game for quite some time, and for a while, it seemed like we might finally be getting one from none other than Rocksteady. The developer had announced that it was working on a new game, and we might even see it at one of the big shows this year. When E3 2018 came and went without so much as a whiff of an announcement from the developer, it inevitably led to heartbreak and disappointment from gamers over the world.
Of course, this is what happens when you give into rumors and believe everything you read on the internet, but given that rumors were circulating from employees at the company itself, it was hard not to give into the hype and look for some sort of new announcement from the developer. Rocksteady has since apologized for its lack of presence at E3, stating that the company is working on a new title in the meantime, while also listening closely to fan feedback. Perhaps we’ll still get that Superman game, but we’d settle for anything new from Rocksteady at this point, to be honest.
Published: Jun 20, 2018 01:01 pm