E3 2016: What Didn't Suck

Anothe E3 came and went. This year's E3 has been basically about one thing basically: games, games, games. Noone really left me surprised as each press conference and Nintendo Treehouse was all about giving gamers a ton of games and content to keep you entertained for the next year. What didn't suck? Let's see.

Crash is Back

Nostalgist of 90s video games rejoice! After all of the internet wishing and maybe thousands of mail Sony has gotten from you, they have finally caved in and Crash is finally back! Not in a brand new game, but instead his first three games are going to be remastered for the PS4. I remember playing these games on my PlayStation so I'm just as excited to play these remastered games as well. It's going to be interesting to see how everything will look. Hopefully this would lead to a revival of new Crash Bandicoot games in the future and the remakes would be Sony testing the waters to see if how he will do in this new generation. Until the remasters come out, you can get your Crash fix

Sea of Thieves

Rare is back with this game which was announced last E3. This time around we got to see actual gameplay. You get to see characters interact in town, swim in the sea, and of course drive and fight in pirate ships. It's nice to see a glimpse of what the game is about and what you can do. Hopefully no bears ruin this game, birds too.

Final Fantasy XV

We've seen the battle system before. It is moreso like the the battle system of previous games but a bit more fluid as you a switch between combat and weapons. This time around the is based on how you make combos switching from different attacks. This time around we actually got to see a boss battle against Titan. To see it the party battle something as huge as the Titan boss is something impressive.  Bottom line it does look cleaner and gorgeous just like everything else in the game. That and over 100 hours of gameplay I'm completely stoked to play this when it comes out.

Resident Evil 7

Much to everyone's surprise we're getting another Resident Evil game. It looks very different from the other games, especially the recent ones, as it's not so much action-horror. It seems to be going back to its roots, which is a good thing. A really good thing. The game is covered in so much mystery with Capcom just giving you a demo of you wondering around in a spooky old house. Regardless with what we've been giving and not knowing how this will fit into the main series, it does look cool. It is giving the series a new breath of life, after choking on Resident Evil 6.

God of War 4

As you can guess this E3 was full of surprise announcements. One of these was a new God of War. So this time around Kratos is a new daddy. The gameplay was pretty much new. Everything has been reworked including the Spartan Rage-timed ability. You gain knowledge points on weapons as well as craft resources. This game seems to be as Kratos said in the demo a new beginning as not only is the battle mechanics are new, you are in a new environment. This time around you'll be battling Norse gods and monsters, you know because you killed all the Greek ones. This overall looks great. Can't wait to see more.

The New Spider-Man Game

The teaser trailer looks crazy. The game is a joint project with Marvel, Sony, and Insomiac games. All we got was a teaser, but it showed a lot. The game does have a lot of potential that we're excited to see how it turns out.

The Last Guardian

We got to see another trailer of The Last Guardian. We got to see a bit more this time around. The art looks more colorful. Aside from looking at gorgeous scenery your character will be encountering other birddogs, which may try to eat you. Overall it looks beautiful.

Pokemon Sun & Moon

Nintendo decided to show us some gameplay of the upcoming Pokemon Sun and Moon. They tweaked the battle gameplay a bit. If you battled a previous trainer or another pokemon in the wild, you have an indicator of what moves work were really effective against that pokemon. We also got a peak of how the pokedex will work and it seems to be more organizing even indicating the evolutionary family of the pokemon you caught. We were also treated to our "Pidgey", "Rattata", and "Caterpie", of the Alola region: Pikepek, Yungoose and Grubbin.

Death Stranding

We got a stunning trailer without any gameplay. Even though the trailer didn't show any gameplay you can get some ideas of what the game is about. It looks to be another game where you scavenge for thing like Far Cry Primal which isn't a bad thing. It does seem nice to see that a collaboration between Kojima and Norman Reedus work after all after the cancellation of Silent Hills and PT. It looks great and we can't wait to see actual gameplay footage. Afterall we know it will be amazing since Kojima is involved. We get treated to a naked Norman Reedus so that's also a big plus.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

We finally got to see the new Zelda and it holy crap does it look good. This time around the new Zelda seems to be more technology based as Link will be going around all over Hyrule with his Shiekpad Pro accessing towers and dungeons, called trials. As true to Aonuma's word everything you see you can have access to and climb. They also tweaked clothing around this time gaining some RPG-ish rules to it. Some clothes help you in some environments. Also Link will have to forage and hunt this time around so he can have maximum health. You do get items as well as finding and crafting items to help you on your quest. There is a stamina meter that when low or out it limits Link. Breath of the Wild is giving a new spin on the franchise with it being vastly different than the other Zelda, also with Link jumping for the first time. The demo Nintendo provided as grand as it was was barely one percent of the game. Can't wait to see more.

Was there aanything I miss? Leave your comments.

Games We're Checking For in 2016

2016 is here and that only means one thing. No, that not that resolution to lose weight or quit smoking, video games. 2015 was kinda ok. We got Fallout 4, Star Wars Battlefront and Bayonetta is finally in Smash Bros. 2016 is looking to be even bigger and better. Here's a list of games we cannot wait to play this here, or at least hope they won't be delayed and we'll actually get to play this year...

Star Fox Zero

It's nice to see that the Star Fox series isn't gone, forgotten, and only relevant in Smash Bros games, sorry F-Zero. we were teased about a new potential Star Fox game all the way back in E3 2013 when Shigeru Miyamoto showed us a small demo in a Nintendo Direct. Star Fox Zero plays a lot like the earlier Star Fox games like Star Fox and Star Fox 64. It also incorporates a bit of mechanics from the cancelled Star Fox 2 for the SNES like the leg Airwing. Miyamoto states that Zero isn't a reboot, but more of an reimagining of the Star Fox 64 game where each mission is more episodic than 64's cinamatic approach.

Yooka-Laylee

We all remember playing Banjo-Kazooie on the N64. We also missed playing it after Rare was bought be Microsoft and haven't done much with the franchise. Yeah we did eventually get Nuts & Bolts but it wasn't the B&K that we weren't used too. Well fortunately Platonic Games, former employees from Rare, has heard your cries. As stated above the gameplay of Yooka Laylee is very reminiscent to Banjo-Kazooie as its your traditional 3D platformer where you will have a ton of things to collect. It even has you transform into various things, like Banjo-Kazooie. When it ended its Kickstarter, it made over three million, so it's an understatement that people are dying to have this game.

No Man's Sky

No Man's Sky is simply beautiful and stunning. The game pretty much involves you exploring different planets in search for material and lifeforms.You are dealt with an enormous sandbox of planets and star systems to explore all which seems to be individual and running independently in real time. As almost as the universe you are exploring in the game, the possibilities of what you can do in this game is endless.

Legend of Zelda Wii U

There is not much that can be said about this game as Nintendo has been pretty much hush about it. All we know is that the thing of the new Zelda game is all about exploration. Zelda Wii U is pretty much going back to the roots of the original Legend of Zelda game where the its just you exploring a large Hyrule map, except this time the map is much, much larger. Zelda Wii U gives us what is possibly the largest map of Hyrule in the series ever.

Doom

It's been awhile since we had a new game in the Doom franchise. A matter of fact almost twelve years. The game has been in development ever since 2008. Years went by and people got worried that the game was probably cancelled. The folks at iD decided to start everything from scratch in 2011 and that is how we got this. They've seem to have gone back to the basics and there is nothing wrong with that at all. It plays like old Doom and looks like new Doom. What's more to ask?

Uncharted 4

If you're new to the Uncharted series it is basically you, as Nathan Drake, going through exciting levels where everything is action packed and there are always surprises at every turn. Nathan's almost like an Indiana Jones, that steals. This time around Drake has been out of the thief business for three years. He is now getting back into the business after his long lost brother suddenly shows up. It is supposedly the last Uncharted series Naughty Dog will be working on so if that isn't a reason to buy I don't know what is.

Cuphead

I'm pretty much excited about this myself. Cuphead gives us a return of the shoot em' up genre. It's pretty as well with the classic 1930s cartoon animation. Seriously, it's like Mickey Mouse meets Contra.

Final Fantasy XV

Believe it or not, we've been waiting for this game for so long. The current and fifteenth installment of the series was once suppose to be Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which we thought we would never get after many postponements from Square Enix. Well we can now have a sigh of relief as it is now here and it is definitely will be releasing in 2016. Like Zelda Wii U, XV will be all about exploration. You and your party will be traveling across a huge map full of destinations and secrets that you will find and explore. What's different than the other series is that artistically the world you are in is a mixture of our world and the fantasy world, meaning that you'll be able to see giant admantoise  as you're driving down a highway and will actually encounter goblins, a staple enemy of the series, in caves. We were able to play a demo earlier and it was ok. Can't wait to play the whole thing in its entirety.

The Last Guardian

After years of postponement and tears of hope we have our prayers answered. Not much has been heard of this game for so long, we even thought that this game would be quietly cancelled, until it was recently revealed at E3 in 2015. The game has been in development hell since 2007. Helmed by director Fumito Ueda, Guardian will look and play just like popular and well renowned games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. You're a boy who has to navigate and solve puzzles through a giant ruin with this giant dog-chicken creature.

Dark Souls III

Unlike a lot of these games listed, we weren't really waiting for years or a long period of time to finally get to play Dark Souls. That doesn't mean that people have not been clamoring for another game in the series. Being the fourth installment Dark Souls III pretty much plays like its predecessor II, which I don't know how good that is being so damn hard. What's new to the series is a new gaming feature Ready Stance in which you can deal more damage to an enemy as well as faster combat gameplay. So if you like the last Dark Souls game, or just like dying over and over again I think you would love this.

What games are you looking forward to playing the 2016?

LGBT in Video Games: Has It Gotten Better?

     Recently it has been announced that an upcoming game for the Nintendo 3DS, Fire Emblem: Fates, will allow same sex marriages. This is a big thing considering last year we had the big incident with another 3DS game, Tomadachi Life. If you don't remember, there was a bit of controversy when Nintendo made a statement that it was going to fix a glitch that would allow people to marry the same sex in Tomadachi Life. Nintendo later on, after seeing the backlash, apologized and said that they will include same sex marriages in later games. Reflecting on this, I have to wonder if as a gay man and an avid lover of video games, has things gotten better for me? Am I being represented?
     Same sex relationships isn't the new frontier in video games. It has been in games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Just after the Tomadachi Life controversy Square Enix allowed same sex relationships and weddings in its Final Fantasy XIV MMO. There was even a pride parade supporting this. This seems very profitable in games that let you customize your character, but what about games that don't?
     As being represented in games we have come a long way. Over the years, we have had gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters represented in games. Has it gotten better? In some ways it has. The roles of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders in video games has progressed over time. The most obvious example has been The Last of Us. The Last of Us was one of the games where they had people who were LGBT, not only Ellie and Riley, but also characters Bill and Joel. Mortal Kombat X was the most recent game where one of the new characters Kung Jin was implied to be gay in a cinematic and was later confirmed to be gay by one of the creators. These characters were written as people you can see being real genuine people instead of stereotypes that often end being portrayed in video games, but in media as well.
     While this is still good, the progression is still slow and being represented in games still seems to be a closeted thing. Gay characters are in games, but mostly they end up being supporting characters and rarely do we ever get them to be protagonists, people we control in the first place and the majority of the game. Don't get me wrong, it is nice to see people who are gay in video games, but I would like to see me being represented more than just a supporting character.
     I'm not going to lie as society progresses, we see more demand for art and media to progress as well. We are starting to see this in games, just like we're seeing better female representation in games thanks to Anita Sarkessian who has been advocating feminism and pretty much has been laying down the issues of negative female tropes in video games. Just like that,we are starting to see the ball roll a bit faster. When we see more games with protagonists who are gay, that's where I can see progress.