Alright back on track, now where was I? Ah, yes, Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Well, here’s the conference again. Skip to 2 hours in if you want to go along.
After Lara showed us how much of a business she means we got a trailer for a skate-based game Session, set to the rap of the unmistakable Eminem. Not much to say on this as the trailer was sparse on gameplay, but the market has certainly been starving for some good skate-based titles.
We then received a trailer for the upcoming MMORPG Black Desert, with the beta beginning this fall. It looks promising for an MMORPG with spiffy graphics and what looks like elements of a fighting game (although the characters stand exceptionally still).
And then… And then oh boy. Oh me oh my. The rumors were true. The stars were right. I present to you… Devil May Cry 5:
I am sooo excited you guys. The most amazing return to form. After the trailer was shown, Hideaki Itsuno, the director behind Devil May Cry 5 and most of the games in the series came on stage to tell us that this is indeed a direct continuation to Devil May Cry 4, a “true sequel” in the series, although the influences from the Ninja Theory’s reboot are undeniable, the game looks much more realistic than previous titles.
Getting back to the conference, after that bombshell of a reveal we got a short trailer for the upcoming expansion for Cuphead (introducing a third playable, female character) and a charming platformer Tunic. There’s a lot of really good, smaller titles in Microsoft’s lineup this year, it please me greatly.
Next we were shown a fascinating project by Namco Bandai, in collaboration with Shonen Jump- a manga and anime publication. Essentially- all the iconic heroes of the popular anime and manga promoted by Shonen Jump meet in Jump Force to duke it out in our world in the greatest crossover bonanza since Marvel vs. Capcom.
Next a reveal of the sequel to the parkour-intensive survival zombie FPS, Dying Light. The trailer and the follow up by Chriss Avellone, the game’s narrative designer, put a large emphasis on the involving story shaped by your choices. I would very much like that, a story-heavy survival zombie game sounds good after State of Decay 2.
Then they revealed, in a joking trailer, something absolutely nobody asked for but now everybody secretly wants to see- the return of Battletoads, a 30-year-old NES classic. Well that’s nice. I’m sure Bubsy will appreciate the company.
Then, as predicted, a reveal trailer for the upcoming explosions and grappling simulator Just Cause 4. It’s fast-paced, quippy and explosive, just like the game itself. I’ll let it speak for itself:
We then received a lot of new information from the Gears of War franchise. Rod Fergusson bamboozled everyone by starting simple with a new mobile Gears game and X-com style Gears Tactics, before actually revealing Gears 5, to the grand ovation from the people in the audience. Dodged a bullet there Rod, for a moment I felt I was going to have to complain about Gears of War falling behind.
Finally, the conference ended on CD Project Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 trailer, arriving after 5 years of radio silence, which I will add at the end. It was actually quite the show, with lights flickering giving this idea of “hacking” the broadcast.
All in all a conference chock-full of goodies. For me, Devil May Cry 5 was the absolute highlight, but there really was a truckload of great titles showcased. Microsoft has certainly not lost their touch.