After watching Microsoft’s press conference Chris and EJ sat down and shared some quick thoughts about some of the things they saw and how it did or didn’t hit their feels.
Xbox One X Reveal
EJ: The design ended up being very similar (if not basically the same) as the dev kit minus the display on the front. All in all it’s very nice in size and style, but I agree with Chris in that something a bit flashier/different would have been nice.
Chris: Sleek, small design, with hip vapor cooling. I wish it had looked a bit different from the S model.
EJ: The name sends a confusing message much like the PS4 Pro. This is the world we live in now Chris, the .5 consoles.
Chris: Agreed. One X Was already a Three Days Grace album! Scorpio was already well known, stick with the code name for once.
Forza 7
Chris: Zzzzzzz Wha-? Forza? Porsche? I honestly don’t care for sim racers. The game looked great, I will say that.
EJ: What happened?! I dozed off….
Metro Exodus
Chris: Looked great, and I’m happy it went back to the creepy scavenging style of the first game! Why is it exclusive though?
EJ: I don’t think it was exclusive. All this “exclusive” talk but most everything was timed. I just saw where it said “world premiere” but didn’t specify. Considering all the past games were multi-platform my guess is that it’ll be the same here. All in all though, it looks pretty sweet now that it’s open world!
Assassin’s Creed Origins
EJ: Not much new here kids, move on. Seriously though it looks okay I guess. It’s good the series took a break, but doesn’t seem this one brings much new to the table. That big snake at the end is cool though….
Chris: What can I say, it is Assassin’s Creed. The fighting system looked a bit more brutal. I hope some emphasis on the Egyptian gods are here, sort of like the Greek/Roman gods in the previous versions.
Player Unknown Battlegrounds
EJ: I’ve yet to play this one. Looks like it could be hectic fun, but I’d prolly just end up getting it on PC * cough * Steam sale * cough *
Chris: As I don’t play PC much, this is neat. Do I see myself playing it often? Probably not.
Deep Rock Galactic
EJ: Interesting style, but obviously not taxing the hardware. Still looks like it’d be fun with friends and some good exploring. I’m sure all our friends like backpack and map will be there…
Chris: Definitely seems to cater to the Minecraft/No Man’s Sky audience that got no true multiplayer.
State of Decay 2
EJ: Honestly, I didn’t play much of the first one. So I’m not super excited about it personally, but it looks pretty solid. The “build your own community” schtick looks pretty nifty still yet. This was one of the few games I saw that had some dips in framerate.
Chris: I am excited for this one. I really wanted co op from the first game, so I will gladly buy this for some fun co op action.
DBZ Fighters
EJ: Sadly, this was one of the first things that didn’t say 4K or HDR on the info. I’m hoping it has both of these though. I’m not a big DBZ fan, but I love me some Arc System Works. Here’s to hoping this is a solid fighter. Perhaps even solid enough to see some tourney action.
Chris: Totally agree. It should be a decent 2-d fighting game instead of the button mashing 3D DBZ games.
The Last Night
EJ: This one looks really amazing to me. It has a great blend of pixel art with 3D depth. That Blade Runner feels gots me. On my radar HARD.
Chris: This looks like Flashback to me, but with some Blade Runner/Fifth Element direction and color scheme. I am also excited for this one.
The Artful Escape
Chris: What the hell did I just watch? Am I pregnant now?
EJ: Yes, Chris. But don’t worry, I’ll be a great father…
Code Vein
Chris: Love the direction it is taking, will buy regardless though. Xbox Enhanced like the PS4 “boost mode” maybe?
EJ: Ya, I’m sure it’s something along those lines. Looks a lot like Dark Souls and Tokyo Ghoul had some kinda weird baby. This is fine.
Sea of Thieves
Chris: I hate games with sailing in them. It utterly turns me off from the game. But, being shot out of a cannon looked fun, and the fact that if you stayed behind on the ship, you could be a jerk and leave your friends would be fun too.
EJ: Similar to my thoughts on Deep Rock, this game is probably only fun with friends. Looks very streamer friendly. Maybe we’ll have to stream this in the future….
Tacoma
Chris: Looks like a neat, futuristic Rapture style setting, with some odd interactions. I will look into this a bit more I think.
EJ: Def some walking simulator action going on here. I like my walking sims, so I’m down with this. Loved me some Gone Home.
Super Lucky’s Tale
Chris: Conker? No? Generic Project Spark style made game? Yep.
EJ: OH GOD MY EYES
Cuphead
Chris: This has been a day one purchase for me since the start. How long has that been again?
EJ: They first started talking about it around 2014. Definitely didn’t think it would take this long, but hopefully it will have been worth the wait. I heard no online play though…
Crackdown 3
Chris: I was not a fan of the other Crackdown games. I get the whole- this should be everything you want in a co op game- but it just felt stale. Not to mention the non stop orb collecting. The destructible environments look great, so it should make for some fun here and there I guess. Terry Crews looked almost lifelike!!
EJ: Ya, I’m with ya Chris. I’m sure it’ll be a good romping good time, but not much going on here. Do love me some Terry Crews though. I hope no one got caught on fire from all those pyrotechnics on stage…
Sizzle Reel!
EJ: [Takes deeeeep breath] Okay we got…..Unruly Heroes, Path of Exile, Battlerite, Surviving Mars, Fable Fortune, Observer, Robocraft, Dunk lords, Minion Masters, Brawlout, Ooblets, Dark and Light, Strange Brigrade, Riverbond, Hello Neighbor, Shift, Conan Exiles. Phew that’s a lotta neat looking games. Nice to see a mix of ports and new stuff.
Chris: Showing off a decent mix here, from indie to PC games, there were enough to catch my attention for sure. Still no Conan Exiles wang slider for consoles yet? Fail.
Ashen
EJ: If this is truly a console launch exclusive in the sense it won’t get a same day PC release date, I’m def picking this one up considering how hardcore I am about my “Souls” games. Def like what’s going on with the art
Chris: Agreed. This had my attention more than most games. I am hoping to see more as the week unfolds.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Chris: Square hitting it home by not showing anything remotely rpg-esque on the old Microsoft stage.
EJ: You watched this trailer, but you’re still hungry.
Shadow of War
Chris: Interesting upgrades to the “Nemesis System”. Seems to be pumping up what the Xbox One X can do. We shall see…
EJ: “You have not known suffering!” he says. Ya I have, I’ve been watching this press conference.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Chris: Give me more games like this please. That art style.. The colors… And the fact that Ori made you feel all the emotions from such a tiny game.
EJ: I’m with ya Chris. This thing looks absolutely gorgeous. The live music that accompanied this got me right in my feels.
Anthem
Chris: I think we might actually get a Destiny with both story and graphics, coming from Bioware. Something Bungie has yet to do with Destiny.
EJ: I have some hopes for this one. Not high mind you, but as you said Chris, it looks like it could have everything the first Destiny game lacked in the sense of story. There was a bit of texture pop-in, but it’s still early on!
Overall Impressions
EJ: I definitely saw some things I really liked such as Ori, Deep Rock, and Anthem (though it’s not Xbox exclusive). My expectations were kind of high. Sony is winning out and I think that kind of competition leads companies to push out higher quality games. I think exclusives are what it comes down to with Sony and Microsoft, and it felt like they really didn’t bring their “A” game to this one. Lots of game said “exclusive” when a majority were timed exclusives. Much like the PS4 pro it seems not all games will support 4K on the Xbox One X and it just sends a muddled message to consumers. Also like the Pro, it’s hard to reconcile with the necessity unless you have a really nice setup at home. Hopefully we can expect bigger and better things in the future though.
Chris: EJ and I are both in agreement here. Where are the killer games that make you want to drop $500 on the Xbox One X? I just didn’t see it. If Sony had to push a potential red button for their E3 conference, I would say they all breathed a sigh of relief, and then laughed. I thought they might drop the PS4 Pro to $350, but after that conference, I ask myself why? Granted the PS4 Pro pulled the exact same thing, with no killer games aimed at you to buy it, but I also ask myself why Microsoft didn’t learn from Sony’s mistake? The world may never know.
