The Impact Factor

E3 2015: Games With The Biggest Impact

Perspectives

E3 2015 is still going strong and I just can’t stop thinking about it. Setting up my two computer + tv stream-watching battle station, live tweeting each and every press conference, and talking through my thoughts at the end of each day was fantastic. Even as I sit at lab writing this, I wish I were at home watching all of the great gameplay demoes, and hearing developers talk about their new games at E3. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to go to give you all impressions and written pieces about the show floor itself! A man can dream!

As you all know, as part of this blog, I like thinking about the aspects of video games that leave the biggest impact. Almost always, the games announced or shown off for the first time at E3 have the longest lasting influence on the industry in the months to follow. E3 2015 is one the best E3’s I have seen in my several years of closely following the event. We were treated with a bevy of fantastic looking games that made enthusiasts and press alike excited. When I went back through all the games that are being shown this year, I wanted to highlight a couple that had the biggest impact.

‘Impact’ here is completely subjective. I enjoy certain genres of games, and I’m certainly a fan of particular franchises and developers. But in this Perspectives piece I wanted to share with you all the games that will have the biggest impact on me in the year to come. Whether they are from a franchise that I hold dear or a long dormant developer, showed me something new and innovative, or that I think will be important for the future of video games; no title is too large or small to include on this list. Without further ado, here are The Impact Factor’s E32015 games with the biggest impact!

NOTE: These are not ranked. I’ve put them in alphabetical order below.

Beyond Eyes

(by Tiger and Squid)

This game looks extraordinary. I’m always interested when a unique mechanic emerges simultaneously in several, unrelated, games at the same time. Here, that mechanic is blindness (seen recently in Perception). Beyond Eyes explores the beauty of sensing the world around us, using sound and tactility to fill in the blank spaces. The aesthetic of Beyond Eyes is this beautiful hybrid of The Unfinished Swan and an impressionist watercolor painting. I cannot wait to play as Rae and discover the colorful wonderment, and dark unknowns, of an unseen world.

Cuphead

(by Studio MDHR)

Cuphead is one of the most visually striking games I’ve ever seen. The entire game looks like a 1930’s Disney cartoon. And when I say that, I really mean it. Cuphead is almost indistinguishable from those old animations. Even though I’ve watched the trailer several times, I still cannot tell what is gameplay and what are animated cutscenes. Cuphead is an exciting new platformer / bullet hell that looks to take a cohesive artistic vision for gaming to a whole new level. Early hands-on impressions say that Cuphead is as fun to play as it is to look at. I find that hard to believe, because this game looks scarily good. Try showing this to a non gaming enthusiast and see what they have to say. I bet they’ll be impressed.

Enter the Gungeon

(by Dodge Roll)

Enter the Gungeon is a game that made me stop what I was doing every single time it was demoed at E3 2015. Above all else, Enter the Gungeon looks like a game that is unapologetically fun. The game is a mashup of all the best pieces of other games and genres: dungeon exploration from old school The Legend of Zelda games, bullet hell and shoot ‘em up mechanics that draw inspiration from games like Ikaruga, procedural generation and crazy weapons from The Binding of Isaac, and skill intensive dodging that draws from Dark Souls and its use of invincible frames. The list could go on and on. I play games for a lot of reasons, but having fun is generally chief among them. Enter the Gungeon looks to fulfill that purpose perfectly.

Fallout 4

(by Bethesda Game Studios)

My early prediction was that Fallout 4 would be game of the show at E3 2015. Though some big surprises that seem perfectly tailored to hit me right in the sweet spot usurp this honor from Fallout 4, what was shown looked exceptional. I have been eagerly awaiting the next entry in the lauded Fallout franchise, and Fallout 4 looks like everything I wanted and more. The exploration, world building, emergent narratives, and gunplay look better than ever. Design intelligence drips off every corner of Fallout 4 with choices made in character creation, crafting systems, and dialogue trees. How can you watch Fallout 4 footage and not have a big smile on your face?

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

(by SquareEnix)

This is one of those games that hit me right in the fandom. I’m not ashamed to admit that I am a passionate Final Fantasy fan. I’ve played 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, & 13. From everything that I’ve seen, FFXV is looking great too. FFVI is my favorite of the series, and in my top ten games of all time. But Final Fantasy 7 is a game I hold really close to me heart. Like so many others my age, Final Fantasy 7 was my first big RPG on the PSX and certainly one of the first 3D JRPG’s I ever played. From its characters to its world to its battle system to its soundtrack, everything about Final Fantasy 7 is nostalgic in all the best ways. Fans have been clamoring for a remake forever, especially because going back to Final Fantasy 7 can be pretty rough. The early 3D era polygonal graphics, bad translation, and poorly optimized performance are a bummer. This remake has been a games industry bigfoot: something I never thought would happen. But it IS happening. It’s REAL. And from what they showed at the Sony press conference, I have a LOT to be excited for.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

(by Guerrilla Games)

If not for another long-anticipated-thought-dead title on this list that I’ll get to below, Horizon: Zero Dawn would probably be my E3 2015 game of the show. Everything about this roughly 7 minute demo spoke to me. The game is a mash up of everything that I like: RPGs, open world exploration, deep & interesting lore, 3^rd person shooting, and of course, sci-fi robot dinosaurs. Even just the last part of that list alone would have stolen my attention. The team at Guerrilla Games are insanely talented, and though I liked Killzone 2 and Killzone: Shadow Fall, I have been excited for them to branch out for such a long time. Horizon: Zero Dawn looks unlike any other AAA game I’ve seen in years, maybe ever. It looks big, it looks fun, and looks innovative. If nothing else, my recent love affair with Monster Hunter made me even more excited to try to take down the mechanical monstrosities that rule Horizon: Zero Dawn’s primitive world. Horizon: Zero Dawn is the kind of surprise that makes E3 what it is. I cannot wait to get my hands on this bold new title.

Street Fighter V

(by Capcom)

I love fighting games. As I kid, whenever I got the chance, I dropped quarters like crazy into Street Fighter II cabinets. Street Fighter, among a handful of other franchises like Tekken and the Marvel Versus series, created my lifelong love affair with this underappreciated genre of games. Despite all my best efforts I could never get fully into Ultra Street Fighter IV. The game was incredibly complex, and it was overly difficult to reach an acceptable level of competency. Strong defensive mechanics like FADCs, crouch teching, and tons of options selections slowed down the gameplay by punishing aggression. From everything I’ve seen, Street Fighter V is moving towards a faster future, where combos are short and skilled aggressive play is rewarded just as much as skilled blocking. Talk emerging from E3 about having more targeted combos, instead of frame-linked combos, is great to hear as someone who, while not bad at performing complex inputs with strict timing, is not the best at it either. And all of that aside, Street Fighter is my fighting game franchise of choice, so just seeing this new game, with its new engine, and new take on classic characters is great. I’m 100% on board.

Tacoma

(by Fullbright)

Fullbright looks like it will go two for two with Tacoma. I played through Gone Home with Justine and thought it was absolutely phenomenal. Gone Home did something exciting and new, giving me a complex story of family, love and struggles with identity through the exploration of a detail-rich house that occupied a unique place in time and space. Gone Home is a game everyone should play, and a title that made me excited for the future of video games with what it did for storytelling and its use of gameplay in unexpected ways. The next title from Fullbright is the intriguing Tacoma, where instead of exploring an empty house in the mid 1990’s, you explore a space station set some 70-80 years into the future. Listening to Steve Gaynor describe what Tacoma is trying to accomplish, providing a commentary of a potential future for humanity, has me downright giddy.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

(by Naughty Dog)

I don’t even have that much to say about Uncharted 4. Uncharted 2 and 3 are some of the best games on the PS3. It’s been a long time since the third, so my excitement has built up for this last installment for a couple years. Uncharted 4 looks exactly like an Uncharted game, which is great. Playing through these Naughty Dog gems is like living through an Indiana Jones movie: they’re funny, fast, and fun. I’ll pick up Uncharted 4 day one. Naughty Dog just doesn’t make bad games.

Unravel

(by Coldwood Interactive)

Unravel was the most exciting game shown at EA’s press event. In an event that is so often filled with cynicism and games that feel like cash grabs, Unravel is a title that felt genuine, touching, and whimsical. Utterly devoid of any games cynicism. Unravel is a puzzle platformer where you play as Yarny, a small doll made of yarn, that unravels as you move throughout the world. If the presentation is to be believed, Unravel will spin a yarn (sorry, I had to) about the path you take through life, love and loss, and the impact you make on others through the choices you make. Games that can explore complex human emotions through simple and effective game vehicles always have the potential to be remarkable. Unravel came off as authentic and earnest, and I cannot wait to learn more about it.

The Last Guardian

(by Sony Japan Studio)

Writing this little blurb feels hard to believe. The Last Guardian is real, has Fumito Ueda at the helm, and is coming in 2016. With how long that game had been gone from the public eye, I really thought it would fade into oblivion. I am ecstatic that the game still exists, that it retains the original spirit and look from when it was first announced, and looks to continue Ueda’s legacy. Ok, before I get too far, I know this is out of alphabetical order. It was un purpose. This has been my most anticipated game for years. The Last Guardian is without question my E3 2015 game of the show. It’s the game that will make the biggest impact on me and, I hope, on the games industry. Shadow of the Colossus is my favorite game of all time. It’s beauty, simplicity, world, design, colossi, storytelling, everything, is fantastic. Shadow of the Colossus is an unmatched experience in gaming. Nothing else is like, or will ever be like, Shadow of the Colossus. I trust in Ueda’s vision for The Last Guardian, which will almost certainly involve a fascinating world, hidden lore, genuine portrayals of human emotion done with unparalleled finesse, and gripping intrigue. I get goosebumps just thinking about the gameplay shown at Sony’s press event. I’m going to go and watch it again. I cannot wait to have this game in my hands.

And that’s it! What are the E3 2015 games you all thought had the biggest impact? Or will have the biggest impact in the months and years to come? Did I miss a game you thought was special? Please let me know! Feel free to leave a comment below or tweet @alexsamocha.