Now, that’s what I call a high-quality showcase!
After taking in Sony’s State of Play, the Summer Game Fest and the Southeast Asian Games Showcase over the past couple of days, it’s fair to say hopes weren’t exactly sky-high leading into the Xbox Games Showcase. Sure, there’d be the odd gem or two, but if the past weekend has shown anything, it’s that the industry is currently in a state of ennui with most of the big launches a fair way away, and very little in the way of surprises up its sleeve. Of the scores of previews, trailers, sneak peeks, world exclusive announcements and such we’ve seen, less than half really grabbed my attention. And it was with that expectation that I began watching Team Green’s showcase.
That meant there was very little time to prepare for what is probably going to be my most-awaited game from now until its launch (sorry, Pragmata). Blending a visually stunning setting with an intriguing concept, myriad gameplay loops and a truly ambitious central conceit (that of manipulating time in different ways), Clockwork Revolution is definitely one to keep a keen eye on.
The Outer Worlds 2 was the first of two games to enjoy its own little mini showcase (or ‘direct’, if you prefer) and it looks to have expanded on the original in every single way including the price tag unfortunately (making it the world’s first $80 Xbox game). But the good news is that Obsidian appears to have dug deep in terms of really fleshing out the RPG elements, the combat and the environments. And it’s out in only four or five months!
The other game to get its own mini showcase was Grounded 2 — the trailer for which reminded me of Infinitesimals at the Summer Game Fest. This is more classic Honey, I Shrunk the Kids territory than the aforementioned one, and looks like a grand old time. Not for the first time during this event did I find myself resolving to give the original game a go before the sequel releases.
Next up, from Don’t Nod — one of my favourite studios despite recent missteps — came a trailer for Aphelion. A narrative-driven sci-fi adventure made in collaboration with the European Space Agency, this has all the makings of a title I can see myself frequently revisiting. Move aside, Life is Strange. Maybe.
And then came Mudong: Two Hearts. Its Splinter Cell meets The Division 2 feel had me engrossed from the start. But then you throw in the element of a second character (something the ‘two hearts’ part of the title hints at as a matter of significance) and some sort of virus that makes people attack in anger à la 28 Days Later, and you’ve got a real cracker on your hands.
Rounding off the list of what excited me most was also one of the stranger games I’ve seen teased in recent times. I speak, of course, of There Are No Ghosts at the Grand. I don’t think words can adequately describe the insane mishmash of gameplay genres, styles and concepts at play here, so you’re best advised to watch the trailer for yourself:
All killer, no filler?
I was pleased to note that the Xbox Games Showcase contained a vast majority of games that actually looked cool conceptually, and weren’t just a handful of Soulslike/lites or colourful multiplayer shooters. Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf looks like a visual delight and provided a timely reminder to play the first one. Rebel Wolves’ (ex-CDPR) The Blood of Dawnwalker looks a bit rough around the edges, but intriguing enough to warrant keeping a look out for. Ninja Gaiden 4 was unmistakably Ninja Gaiden fare with a couple new weapons and tricks, but very little evolution in terms of form. Keeper, a game in which you ostensibly play a lighthouse keeper or a lighthouse, was shown off, and it does look fascinating. A magnificent cinematic trailer for Call of Duty 7: Black Ops dropped and, considering its futuristic setting, just might make me take a break from my FPS aversion.
The cycle of Xbox games appearing on PlayStation continued with the upcoming Gears of War Reloaded, making the vaunted franchise the latest to appear on Sony consoles. But, it wasn’t one-way traffic in this regard, with Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and Square Enix presents Game of Thrones Final Fantasy XVI set to drop on Xbox in the near future. And speaking of Xbox, the ‘This is an Xbox‘ theme (that weakens the technologically magnificent Xbox Series X with its every iteration) was carried further with the announcement of the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X. We’ll dive into the finer points of the handheld device in a different piece.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has a DLC titled The Order of Giants on its way this year. Game Freak (you know, the studio that made Pokémon) has a brutal action RPG called Beast of Reincarnation coming next year. Speaking of, there’s a new Pokélike in town (or there will be soon) called Aniimo, and thus far, its most memorable aspect is that it sports enemies called Alpha Tubsters. What else? What else? High on Life 2‘s coming, but I wasn’t a fan of the first, so I’ll probably give it a miss. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy was unveiled, so too was the remake Persona 4 Revival. Cronos: The New Dawn with its The Callisto Protocol, which left me cold. And a bunch of titles — Fallout 76, The Elder Scrolls Online and Sea of Thieves — announced expansions.
Overall, this was a pretty tantalising exhibition of what’s coming on the Xbox, but I was left with one very important question: Amidst all this revelry, where the hell was the Fable remake? You can check out the entire showcase right here:
