I wasn’t really planning to do any sort of write-up regarding the specific conferences themselves, instead saving those thoughts for the podcast or a surprise Twitch stream with Joey and Zack around 8pm ET on Monday, June 21st. I do have a general E3 essay incoming, but it’s more a series of questions and considerations regarding the exposition’s purpose and why it feels so underwhelming compared to years past. There are no real answers to be found, but it’s a thought exercise I yearned to spill out onto the world anyway.

This morning I discovered that Shamus has pointed people over this way for potential discussion on Capcom and Nintendo’s events, capturing me completely unaware. Grateful, though! It just wasn’t something I was planning on.

While it is likely too late to capitalize on the spotlight shown my way, I figured I might as well go ahead and provide what has been advertised. With my own little spin, of course. There’s plenty to discuss regarding Capcom and Square Enix’s reveals, and much speculation to be had regarding Nintendo. Forgive any typos, grammatical errors, strange phrases or weak wordings, as this will be a “one draft” item. I’ve not done one draft in a long time, but what can be done under such short notice?

That all said, let’s get to it.

CAPCOM

I’ve wanted Capcom to have their own conference at E3 for a very long time. They certainly had enough titles they were releasing during the years of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 to host a show alongside Ubisoft. They’ve since changed their strategy, focusing on fewer but better titles. In 2006, the company had released eleven titles, excluding ports and remasters of classic content. In 2020, they released five brand new games, and three of them were for mobile phones. The only new titles were the Resident Evil 3 Remake and its multiplayer pack-in, Resident Evil Resistance. In fact, looking back on the last few years, Capcom has primarily been releasing remasters or ports to fill out their calendar, with an average of two or three major releases in any given year. This is the first year in which they’ve had a slew of fresh, attention-grabbing titles to release. Resident Evil Village, Monster Hunter Rise, and Monster Hunter Stories 2 are all big releases worldwide, while the Great Ace Attorney bundle is effectively a two-in-one deal for Western fans that never received a localization of the original Phoenix Wright spin-off series.

They are no longer the developer or publisher capable of spitting out multiple titles a year, but that’s been okay. This new, slower-paced Capcom has focused on quality-over-quantity, and nearly every fresh new release offers a lot of playtime. The question, then, is why bother with a presentation at E3?

I can only think it is one of convenience. They are already planning several streams throughout the year to celebrate the anniversary of the Resident Evil franchise, and they’ve already released monthly promotional videos discussing their regular updates to Monster Hunter Rise while promoting the upcoming Stories 2. The decision to do an E3 stream was likely one of efficiency while also hoping to bring fresh, new eyes to what has and would be releasing. This feels like a gross misreading of the room, as the majority of people tuning in are going to be current fans, and those fans are going to be seeking exciting new announcements. The intent to release downloadable content for Resident Evil Village is not as exciting as footage of downloadable content, or announcement of a VR mode. As much as I love the Ace Attorney franchise, it is an awful game to demonstrate. Not only is it text-heavy without voice acting, the fun is also in solving puzzles. The demonstration was bound to bore those with less interest in adventure or visual novel style games.

All I’m saying is, if you’ve played Resident Evil Village, then you know how pants-crappingly terrifying this place would be in VR.

To me, this was not the E3 for Capcom to demonstrate anything. As I stated, they don’t develop the same quantity of games at once these days, and they also don’t tend to announce games that early. With the exception of Pragmata, Capcom has regularly announced their games less than a year before release. They also have a tendency to release games in the earlier half of the year, with Monster Hunter Stories 2 and Great Ace Attorney being the latest releases since Mega Man 11 in October of 2018 – and that’s only if you count any of those as major.

Odds are, we’re at the end of a marketing “phase” and can expect no other titles from Capcom in 2021. We may begin to see the beginning of the next “phase” of releases by Gamescom at the end of August, or Tokyo Games Show during the last weekend of September. I think it’s more likely that we’ll see announcements bundled into a Nintendo Direct, a Sony State of Play, or something like the Video Game Awards. Regardless, we’re not going to see a new marketing blitz until the latter half of the year, and you can expect those games to be released in the first half of 2022. As for what we’ll see? Well, there are rumors abound of Dragon’s Dogma 2 being made in the RE Engine, but until I see it with my own eyes I refuse to believe. In truth, I wouldn’t want to predict anything more than a Resident Evil or Monster Hunter game of some sort by this point. Those are their two most profitable franchises, and while Devil May Cry is starting to gain some traction, we also witnessed a potential conclusion to the series as a whole. It’s tough to know what’s in front of us, especially with some of their directors, such as Hideaki Itsuno, vocally considering how close retirement is approaching. I’d love to see the man work on a new Rival Schools/Project Justice, or for Dragon’s Dogma 2 to be made a reality, or a Devil May Cry 6, and so on, but most of all I want the man to work on something he can feel passionate about and satisfied with before he retires.

The last I’ll say about Capcom – and I sure said more than I had anticipated – is that I lay most of the blame on unchecked expectations on the games press. Not only are the press given access to materials ahead of time regarding what to expect at many of these shows, Capcom had publicly stated that they’d be demonstrating the four games we already knew about. Many of the press hosting the E3 Twitch stream were privy to the schedule and therefore should have known that Capcom’s stream was only approximately thirty minutes long. They should have been able to put two-and-two together and realize that there’s no way Capcom is going to have a slew of announcements while covering those four games. At best there’d be maybe one surprise announcement, but it’s dangerous to go speculating as to what that single announcement could be. Therefore, rather than rampant speculation over whether they’ll announce a new Onimusha entry or not, they should be setting audience expectations and limiting their speculation to just what we know.

It’s a shame when I, a hobbyist and enthusiast of games, am able to do a better job informing my friends not to expect much than a group of supposed journalists that are paid to inform (or so that’s what they ought to be paid for) and are also privy to more information regarding the matter than I am. While I still believe Capcom would have been better served having no event at all, I believe the press should have done a better job managing expectations than… well, whatever it was they were doing.

SQUARE ENIX

I want to begin by first stating titles like Final Fantasy XVI and Forspoken were never going to be shown here. Sony has them gripped in its iron fist of timed exclusivity, and we can only speculate as to when that will conclude. Early reports stated XVI was only for six months, but as we see with Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade, Sony is not unwilling to find ways to extend an exclusivity window out even further. Fans will have to wait for a port no less than six months, meaning December 10th is the earliest you can hope to purchase the game on either Xbox or PC. This is also why there was never going to be a PC release announcement for the remake at E3. No, we won’t see Final Fantasy XVI until Sony’s next big State of Play presentation. Forspoken looks as if it is further out, so while I wouldn’t rule out seeing that in the near future, I also wouldn’t count on it.

It was important to set expectations for the Square Enix presentation, but not in the same manner as Capcom’s. The original gameplay reveal of Babylon’s Fall looked just like the sort of character-action combat players were anticipating when it was announced. The trailer was packed with fast-paced action, the high-tempo metal soundtrack enhanced the adrenaline, and the combat footage was edited to emphasize swift strikes, graceful dodges, and heavy killing blows. One has to wonder if it was the person who put the trailer together that was more responsible for building hype than the gameplay itself. Regardless, fans largely dismissed the four separate figures standing at the bottom of the tower, or otherwise speculated excitedly and favorably as to what possibilities lay ahead.

Then, after two years, they finally revealed more of the game, and the simultaneous worldwide deflation of excitement as the developer mentioned “live-service game” could be heard from orbit. The footage on display looked far slower, the special effects cluttered the screen, and the environments looked as if they’d been knocked down to their lowest possible settings. The music failed to add any excitement to the combat footage being demonstrated, and the disembodied dialogue spoke gibberish that conveyed nothing.

What even is happening right now

It’s possible this was just a bad trailer. It is also true that certain types of gameplay just do not demonstrate very well. There’s a reason you don’t really see Bayonetta wandering the streets of European Inspired City in trailers, despite a good portion of that wandering making up gameplay. Even character-action games need some downtime. Nevertheless, the graphical downgrade and the sudden appearance of loot did the game no favors.

Square Enix failed to set expectations two or three years ago. It is clear that they announced it very early in development. It is also now evident that Square Enix was always intent to have Platinum make an “MMO” or “live-service” type of game. They needed to be clear what type of game this was going to be from the very first day. The trailer we saw in 2019 was likely after some of the combat had been finalized, but it is quite possible none of the multiplayer or alternate classes had been implemented yet. The players were hoping it was demonstrative of the final product, and instead it was less of a vertical slice and closer to a functional prototype.

The audience for Platinum style games was never going to respond well to the news of the “live-service” element, but more footage of gameplay could then stand a chance to change their mind. I imagine this demonstration has instead lost them potential sales. Admittedly, Babylon’s Fall was the only game I was sincerely hyped to see before E3 had even begun, and now I’m uncertain if I’ll even purchase it. I have signed up for the Beta, but for whatever reason I can only choose one platform to participate with despite owning both a suitable PC and a PlayStation 4.

While my disappointment in Babylon’s Fall is on Square Enix for failing to clarify what sort of game they were making early on, it is my fault for developing any expectations for the “Team Ninja developed Souls-like Final Fantasy based on the setting of the original game”. When I first read the leak, my mind began racing as to what such a title could look and play like. The Dark Souls franchise has a very specific aesthetic, and when my brain latched that onto the 2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons inspired creatures and world of Final Fantasy on the NES, I couldn’t help but get excited. Team Ninja is also an excellent action game developer, and while I have not played Nioh or its sequel, the games certainly look to retain that same polish I knew from Dead or Alive Ultimate on the Xbox and Ninja Gaiden 2 on Xbox 360.

Yeah man, that’s totally what I had in mind when playing the original Final Fantasy on the NES.

What we instead got was Tetsuya Nomura’s inability to draw anything that even remotely looks like it’s actual flippin’ fantasy, combined with the nonsense dialogue of Kazushige Nojima when not held in check by Hironobu Sakaguchi or Yoshinori Kitase. Neither one of these names was responsible for Final Fantasy VII being such a great and memorable game, but it certainly feels as if they’ve been taking the credit for the past two decades. In fact, aside from Sakaguchi, I’d describe each man as a prime example of how you can successfully fail upwards at Square Enix. You’d think they’d shove Nomura into a corner office after failing to ship Final Fantasy XV for roughly a decade, but instead they keep giving him opportunities. As for Nojima, he somehow managed to found his own company that can be outsourced, meaning he’s now in a position to write bad stories for other companies as well.

The visual aesthetic of this game looks terrible. It has absolutely nothing in common with the look of the original Final Fantasy. The voice-acting may be better in Japanese, but the writing is just as obnoxious even without understanding how to speak it. From what players have stated regarding the demo – which, by the way, was corrupted on its first day of release and therefore unplayable – it is effectively a reskin of Nioh 2 rather than being its own thing. I can only imagine Sony didn’t try to grab console exclusivity on this game because even they recognize it may be a failure at launch.

All of that said, I have not played the game myself. It is possible it is actually rather fun to play. Perhaps I should snag Nioh 2 on sale to see if I even like Team Ninja’s take on a Souls-like. I doubt I would ever purchase it, though. I would instead wait for it to show up on Game Pass, as Microsoft seems to have a pretty decent relationship with Square Enix for now. Clearly not as good as Sony’s, but decent enough that many of their titles are popping onto the Game Pass service. I can easily see Stranger of Paradise showing up six months to a year after release.

There’s really not much more for me to comment on. I am not the biggest fan of the original Life is Strange, and every subsequent title has had little interest to me. I only find it curious that the official sequel by Dontnod, the same team that made the original game, is missing from the remasters and rereleases. If the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection is modifying the sprites in the same manner as Final Fantasy V and VI on Steam, then Square Enix has managed to perfectly monkey paw one of my greatest desires for the past several years. To everyone complaining it’s not on consoles, I can only say “be glad, you don’t want this version anyway”. Hopefully I’m wrong, but from rewatching the trailer, I’m not so certain I am. I was not a big fan of the Avengers Beta and steered away from its retail release, and though Guardians of the Galaxy looks like it could be better, I am unwilling to take that risk when there are far more interesting games releasing this autumn.

The only real highlight for me with Square Enix was the brief glimpse at the Legend of Mana remaster, and that’s largely because they are faithfully bringing a game I loved on the original PlayStation onto modern platforms. In fact, it’s not just a game I loved, it’s a game I never expected to see again. Square Enix seems to treat so many other classic properties with respect, it makes me wonder if whoever is in charge of Final Fantasy secretly hates it.

NINTENDO

The day before the Nintendo E3 Direct, I told a friend of mine that we shouldn’t expect a “Switch Pro” announcement. There was no way Nintendo was going to announce and demonstrate a brand new console and a series of games for it and the holidays in a forty minute presentation. It turns out I was right, and I once again have to wonder why I am able to set these expectations so well while the games press seems to do nothing but spit out false leaks and speak irrelevance during their own hosted shows.

Nevertheless, I do believe a new Switch successor is coming, and I do believe that would likely explain anyone’s dissatisfaction with the event. Of course, Nintendo really does have such an odd, diverse audience that it is difficult to tell what is or isn’t a “good” presentation from them. For many, there’s a lot to love in Nintendo’s line-up for the remaining year. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is the sort of acknowledgement of an otherwise dead franchise that F-Zero fans have been begging for. Despite looking like it ought to be DLC for the current entry out on Switch, Mario Party Superstars seems to have a lot of fans excited. Of course, it seems odd to me that No More Heroes 3 only showed up during the Treehouse segment of the event rather than the Direct proper, but it’s nice to see it was recognized at all. There was a new Super Robot Wars game announced in the Japanese version of the Direct presentation, but those titles are unable to officially release in the West due to the nightmare of licensing they present.

Like many, Metroid Dread is the game I am most looking forward to from Nintendo, but I also think it’s not the best game to lift up as your big holiday release. Not only does the side-scrolling nature fail to convince many that it’s worth the full $60 price tag, it is part of a franchise whose total sales, encompassing every entry ever released, fails to crack even the top five of the best individually selling Nintendo Switch games currently released. Metroid may be my favorite Nintendo property, but it is also one of their worst sellers.

Now, there’s admittedly not a lot of evidence that Dread is their big holiday release. Typically the only games that get showcased multiple times during their Treehouse segments are the games they hope to push most fervently that holiday season, and this year Metroid Dread was the only title to get such treatment. Alternatively, it could be that they only did this because the crowd watching E3 are most likely to get excited by Metroid Dread than nearly anything else. Games like Mario Golf: Super Rush and Mario Party Superstars are for the television ads and other mainstream marketing methods.

Nonetheless, it feels like a lot of Nintendo’s biggest, heaviest hitters are destined for 2022 or beyond. We won’t be seeing Breath of the Wild 2 until then, Splatoon 3 won’t be seeing release until after this year, and Bayonetta 3 continues to be a no-show. There are also a lot of other, more “core gamer” properties that have been absent for a time or have rumored sequels, such as another entry in the Fire Emblem Echoes line of series remakes.

Honestly speaking, they almost had me believing we’d see some sort of Switch 2 at this moment.

Really, Nintendo has been in this strange sort of “core game” draught since the end of 2018, and while Covid got a lot of the blame for why Nintendo hasn’t released anything of significance (to a particular enthusiast crowd), I feel it is far more likely that games targeted towards such demographics would require more powerful hardware than what the Switch can provide, especially at the performance standards typically set by the company (but seem to have been an issue during this generation). Unfortunately, there’s no proper concrete evidence. While Samsung announcing plans to use their new OLED screens in game devices lent some weight to an earlier Bloomberg report that those very displays would be used in a new model of Switch, but they could just as likely be for the SteamPal, should those rumors prove true. Otherwise, many speculators are looking towards Nintendo’s own comments regarding the global chip shortage as evidence that Nintendo is potentially preparing a new console for launch. In reality, they could simply be building more special edition units of their Switch or Switch-Lite hardware.

Though I believe Nintendo’s presentations and software line-up have been weak compared to the full breadth we saw on the much maligned WiiU, and especially compared to the solid slew of releases in 2018, I cannot prove that they are only so weak due to Nintendo holding games off for a new console. If they are, however, then I would expect – or at least hope – that it will be one of the best debut years of a console in my lifetime.

That’s about all from me for now. Look forward to a new Eh! Steve! Podcast tomorrow where Steve and I try and hit the games that excited the both of us most, this blog on Monday for other thoughts regarding the event as a whole, and then the Twitch channel that evening (June 21st) 8pm ET for a lengthy discussion on E3 as a whole with my friends.