SpawnStaff Picks: Top 6 Games We Can’t Wait To See at E3

We all know that E3 is the biggest time of the year for gamers, websites, developers, companies, and all other forms of gaming media. Every year it seems to get bigger and bigger, increasing the excitement tenfold. The expo is growing in size and as much as we all wish to be there, it simply isn’t possible for most of us. So we are left to gaze at our computer screens, watching live coverage, and reading all kinds of articles about what Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and more have unveiled. Each year these companies bring their A-game to show off their most prized games to the gaming public and we here at SpawnFirst wanted to share with you, the gamers, what we cannot wait to see at this years E3. Here is our list:

Logan Moore – The Legend of Zelda: Shard of Nightmare (Rumored Title)

The Legend of Zelda series is my all-time favorite. Without Ocarina of Time on the N64, I probably wouldn’t be the gamer that I am today. This year at E3 will bring the arrival of a brand new Zelda game and I couldn’t be more excited. I have watched the E3 press conferences every year since I was about twelve or thirteen. Even though Nintendo has a history of letting me down at E3, I still always get most excited to hear what they will announce. I still remember when Twilight Princess was announced and fan boys within the crowd wept. Then I remember a couple years later when Skyward Sword was revealed and I lost my mind at the thought of one-to-one swordplay.

My favorite E3 memories always seem to involve a Zelda announcement in some way. So what do I expect this year? That’s the question I keep asking myself. Once again, Nintendo has opted out of doing an actual press conference in favor of their own Nintendo Direct. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed this last year because I thought that they spent more time focusing on the games portion of the company rather than their sales numbers. This year however, we all know that a new Zelda game will be revealed. With the Wii U in trouble and my own personal system gathering some dust, this needs to be a massive unveiling for Nintendo. In my opinion, they need to go back to the roots of what makes the series so good.

No gimmicks and no unique features that set this one apart from the rest of the series. If the game that is shown is even slightly reminiscent of the Zelda tech-demo that was shown a few years back, then nothing could make me happier. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and contemplate the thought of a Zelda game in High Definition to make me as excited as a schoolgirl.

Rudolf Van Wyk – Far Cry 4

The beautiful and lush jungles of the Rook Islands, concealing not only the ruins of ancient Chinese and Rakyat temples, but also Japanese WWII bunkers, still sprouts in many of our minds. The reveal of the insane pirate warlord, Vaas and his definition of insanity heralded the start of one of the most fun to play FPS campaigns in recent memory. It’s been two years since Far Cry 3‘s release, and once again we are being graced with another vivid entry. This time, it’s time to pack in extra warm and learn to tame elephants, because the franchise is once again hopping for a series of islands to a more inland territory, this time in the fictional region of Kryat, wedge into a space between the Himalayas and some more jungles. And while there might not be pirates there’s a despotic warlord.

There’s lots of reason to be excited about Far Cry 4. For one, pre-ordering the Limited Edition will include the return of an old and hard-to-forget character from the Rook Islands – Hurk, who was included in the special DLC pack called Monkey Business. In addition to three exclusive single player missions, a nice weapon will be added to the player’s arsenal A Harpoon Gun. And heck, with all the gameplay elements from Far Cry 3 making a return, snowy mountains will be perfect scenarios to kill unsuspecting guards and blame it all on man-eating yetis. Also, elephants, plus a mounted 50 cal equals a jungle tank on four legs.

John Finch – Super Smash Bros

E3 is going to be awesome this year! We’re in the first year of new consoles and it’s time for developers to drop the big guns. Dropping those big guns would seem to be the most important for Nintendo. Nintendo is clearly the company whose gaming front is suffering the most. Nintendo Wii U sales suck, the 3DS is only finally picking up steam and their console is yet again about to be outdated. How do they keep up? The answer is a title like Super Smash Brothers. They need a console seller, an Uncharted or a Halo. A game that is so freaking cool you want to drop the dough to buy the system just to have it. Super Smash Brothers COULD be that title. That’s why I’m excited for SSB at E3. SSB is an amazing franchise. It’s known for bringing friends together only to tear them apart.

It’s a game with a whole level dedicated to turning off the items and calling out that one friend who won’t stop talking crap. “You. Me. Final Destination. Let’s go.” It’s fast paced action is blended together almost seamlessly with clear art direction and (mostly) balanced characters. SSB Wii U only looks to improve in those areas. The new characters have me excited, ESPECIALLY Little Mac and Greninja, and they look to be maintaining character balance. Updates to assist trophies, final smashes and older characters have me excited to try out old characters like Sheik and new characters like Mega Man. Even minor additions like tripping have been removed, a great move by Nintendo because dashing across the map as Captain Falcon at a key moment only to trip could be frustrating or even match changing.

I’m looking forward to seeing how beautiful some of my favorite characters and maps look on the Wii U. New items like the back shield and the bullet bill could really change some of the game’s mechanics. For those who like playing with poke balls (ME) the differentiation between poke balls and master balls is pretty cool. We all already flocked when a momentum shifting poke ball showed up, but knowing that’s it’ll be rare only increases the incentive. It allows me to maybe pass up a more risky standard poke ball and instead focus the master balls. I think Nintendo desperately needs these titles to sell well, and to drive sales of their hardware. That’s why it’s E3 showing is so interesting. It almost feels like the life of these consoles could depend on this game.

The only other big Wii U games are Wind Waker, Mario 3D World and… ZombiU? I don’t know, it’s just not an extensive list and if this long awaited title isn’t great a lot of people may never buy the Wii U. I don’t think I will unless SSB looks good enough to convince me. Look to Nintendo’s E3 press conference and they’ll be making a big deal about their new characters, levels and efforts to balance the games out to convince hardcores to come back to Nintendo.

Keegan Roser – DriveClub

I am normally not a huge fan of racing games, that said, I have enjoyed the time I have spent with many of the Need For Speed titles. I hope DriveClub will take me to a whole new level. I played Gran Turismo 4 on my PlayStation 2 more than any other game, along side Final Fantasy X. I just could not believe the immense experience that the Gran Tursimo titles delivered, especially on PS2. To me, DriveClub looks to deliver the same immense experience but on an entirely new level.

The developer teams now have more advanced technology to work with; which means grander ideas can come to fruition to make the game stand apart from any other racing title out there. DriveClub was originally supposed to be a launch title for the PS4 this past November, but among the likes of a few other PS4 games it got delayed. I don’t mind when a game gets delayed as long as it’s only a minor delay. A prime example of what I dislike from delays: The Last Guardian. Delaying a game can only mean that the game was not ready for launch and needed to be worked on further. What would you rather have, a game that has numerous bugs and issues that requires copious amounts of updates to fix it, or a game that was delayed a few months that will be much better for it? I’ll take option B every time.

DriveClub looks to be an incredible experience not only in graphics, but gameplay as well. I really like the fact Sony is granting dedicated servers to this game and I also like the whole ‘club’ theme of the game. You will be able to join one club at a time and race other clubs for money, all in game of course. The game will also feature a great deal of customization which is always a good thing. People like to make things their very own, and it’s why you see character customization in a large amount of RPG games as well. All in all, I believe DriveClub will be worth the delay and I will be happy to wait a little longer for a much improved and better game for my PS4.

Reuben Williams-Smith – Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

 Hotline Miami was not a game anyone expected. A strange beast, mixing top down action with rudimentary stealth, and rapid fire trial and error game mechanics, adding in gallons of pixelated viscera and drenching the resultant torrent of addictive violence in a neon haze that left anyone who played it simultaneously nauseated and entranced. It emphasized a perfect mixture of twitch reflexes and forward planning. Your enemies die in one hit, but so do you. And you will die, quite a few times on each new level before you work out the guard patterns, the weapon placements (which are randomized to stop you ever getting too comfortable) and the single perfect sequence of movements to leave you the victor amongst a pile of your brutalized enemies. In short, it was fantastic. And the upcoming sequel looks to outdo its predecessor in every way, with a storyline as twisted and gameplay as relentlessly violent as you’d expect from the series that brought you their patented “smash your enemies head against the ground lots of time until it dies” maneuver.

The original was already a game with everything turned to 11, so Dennaton Games seems to just have made 11 even louder. Very few games can make the player feel as confused, anxious and exhilarated as Hotline Miami, and that doesn’t look set to change now. In a world dominated by first person shooters and endlessly iterated sequels, truly original games are rare. Hotline Miami was just such a game and the sequel, while perhaps not as original, is sure to have more interesting ideas in one level than most games manage in their entire series. That and a lot of head stomping, which is always nice.

Evan Hallman – Persona 5

I cannot give Atlus enough of my money. To illustrate this point: I own Persona 3 on three different systems. This wasn’t replacing broken copies or anything: I just wanted to buy more copies. So, with several new Atlus, and specifically new Shin Megami Tensei, titles on the horizon I’ve already thrown more wallets than I care to mention at Atlus’ doors. Since the cult success of Person 3 and the mainstream success of Persona 4, Atlus and Shin Megami Tensei (a franchise so vast I couldn’t possibly list all of the entries here but encompasses such games as Persona, Catherine, Devil Survivor, and Soul Hackers, among others) have been steadily gaining popularity in America. The last Shin Megami Tensei game released in the US was Shin Megami Tensei 4 for the 3DS which, true to form, was a dungeon crawler about demons and moral choices on the spectrum of law and chaos. Atlus has been throwing out a lot of games in the past few years to capitalize on P4‘s popularity, but their next game that is on everyone’s mind is Persona 5.

The Persona series is about a group of teenagers, who by night go to a horrible nightmare dimension and fight monsters bent on the destruction of the world, and during the day they attend high school and it’s a dating sim. Sounds nuts, but it works. The “dating sims” aspect strengthens your characters for the dungeon crawling sections and provides some of the best character development seen in gaming. A lot of the characters stories are truly endearing, and much less creepy than it sounds when I characterize it as a “dating sim.” Though little has been released about P5, it’s already looking very promising.

It’s been six long, agonizing years since the release of P4 and P5‘s American release is most likely still about a year away, but it is definitely worth the wait. If you’re into dungeon crawlers or Japanese RPGs, this game (the whole series!) is an absolute must have.

E3 will fill our gaming hearts with much to talk about and many things to look forward to. It’s an exciting time of year to be a gamer; especially since this is the first E3 since the latest consoles have launched.

What are some of the games you are most excited for? Are there any rumors or leaks you expect to be true, or not? What are some games you expect to see at E3 this year?

Let us know in the comments below.