HOL

Since E3 is coming up (I think it technically starts on June 9th, but the actual meat of the announcements don't start until June 12th), I wanted to take the chance to gush about what I think is the most interesting upcoming game and to hear what other HOLers are excited about.

Death Stranding (PS4), the newest game from Hideo Kojima of Silent Hill fame, definitely looks like one of the weirdest games I've ever seen, but despite seeing so little of it (no gameplay has been released at this point, and even the cast seems confused about the premise of the plot) I have never been so excited for a game. There's a fair bit of pressure, since I believe SONY is planning to finally show some details about how the game will actually play, rather than just the (extremely cinematic but not very informative) trailers that they've released so far. There's a lot of speculation about what some of the major themes will be: humanity's extinction, male pregnancy, and the violence of war are all hinted at. Plus it helps that Norman Reedus (Walking Dead), Mads Mikkelsel (Hannibal), and Guillermo del Toro are all involved. I will definitely be making time to watching the PS4 presentations this year.

Does anyone have any particular games that they're getting hyped for? I'll admit that I haven't paid much attention to what other platforms are looking to announce, so it would be good to hear what people are keeping an eye on!

I'm really excited that Bethesda announced not only one Elder Scrolls game, but two! I absolutely loved Skyrim and can't wait to see what's in store for Elder Scrolls VI. The mobile game sounds intriguing as well. I generally try stay away from mobile games, but I'll definitely give this a try when it comes out.

I've recently come to appreciate science fiction a lot more (although I have yet to play a video game in the genre), so I'll eagerly be following news of Starfield.

I'm also curious to learn more about Microsoft's Cyberpunk 2077.

I'm looking forward to Square Enix's announcements. While I've only played Final Fantasy VII and roughly half of VIII, I'd love to see where they take the franchise next.

I hadn't really kept up with any news, so I had no idea if people suspected that a new Elder Scrolls was coming!! To be honest, I've played a lot of Skyrim, but I doubt that I've seen all of the things they've managed to squeeze into it. Along with GTA V, I'm pretty sure Skyrim has the most replayability of any game I can think of. I'm sure the new game will at the very least equal that!

I also really liked the stuff I saw for Beyond Good and Evil 2, and the moment after the Ubisoft presentation - where the presenters forgot to turn off their mics and were all squealing "We nailed it!" to each other - was adorable. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey is another one I was impressed with; my brother is dying of excitement since he loves everything to do with ancient Greece.

Of course, my main goal was to see the new stuff for Death Stranding, but I had mixed feelings about it. I'm still really interested in the game, but the gameplay they showed didn't give me much sense of how the mechanics work, so it was hard to be gratified by the new footage.

E3 2019 recently concluded, and there were a few highlights for me.

I'm especially excited to see Final Fantasy VII get a remake. Though it's the only Final Fantasy title I've played in its entirety, I still have fond memories of playing it and, in fact, got my hands on the movie linked to it. I was late to the party, having played it about a decade after it first game out, but even back then the graphics were showing their age.

One title that I'm curious about is Gods and Monsters, developed by the same people behind Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. The Greek mythology aspect really appeals to me and I love the idea of the game being open world.

Though I consider myself a casual Star Wars fan, I'm sorely tempted by LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. I loved LEGO's humour with their Harry Potter games, and I've been meaning to try out some of their other titles. With Fallen Order, the graphics look superb and the premise sounds intriguing.

Did any new releases catch your interest?