Another chapter of E3 is in the books, prompting us to think back on how each company subverted our expectations. E3 conferences generally consists of a company dumping out their puzzle pieces, and putting them together for you on stage to show the larger picture of what they’re bringing to the consumer.
But occasionally, there are missing pieces, or extra pieces we weren’t expecting to plug into the picture. In particular, Sony had a pretty grand view of their final product. There was no shortage of theatrics to their presentation, and although they said they would be focusing on the four pillars of their near future, we all assumed correctly that there would be more shown in between. However, there were several alterations to their final picture that we hadn’t expected. I’m going to take a look at some of the specific reveals and omissions that surprised me this year.
No trace of Red Dead Redemption 2
The rumor mill has been buzzing about this one for the better part of two decades. Resident Evil Remake was released in 2002 on the Gamecube, and widespread acclaim followed. It was visually gorgeous, added plenty of new content while staying faithful to the base game, and was genuinely terrifying. It was only a matter of time before RE2, a much more popular game in comparison, received the same treatment. Years passed, but the passion from the series faithful never waned. Fast-forward to 2015, when producer Yoshiaki Hirabyashi officially announced the Remake was beginning development. Over the following three years, we hadn’t seen a scrap of information, until the surprise reveal trailer at E3. If the PlayStation 1 Easter Egg in the trailer is any indication, this game definitely aims to retain the magic of what made Resident Evil 2 such a classic.
No new details on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake
On the other end of “remake reveals announced in 2015”, we have FF7. The entire premise of this remake is a divisive issue for fans of the original. One one hand, the original was a beloved classic that introduced many of us to the series, and JRPGs entirely. But on the other hand, the various spinoffs (Advent Children, Crisis Core, even Kingdom Hearts) took some interesting liberties with the characters, and changed the overall tone of the series. Add to that the fact that the game was rumored to be episodic, then not, and now seemingly on hold, there is room for very cautious optimism about what the final product will be.
Control
We’d heard murmurings about a new game developed by Remedy rumored to appear at E3 this year. Microsoft’s conference felt like the safest bet for a reveal. Remedy and Microsoft worked together on recent console exclusives such as Alan Wake and Quantum Break. In fact, Remedy hasn’t developed for a PlayStation console since 2003’s Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. But Sony surprised us with the reveal of their newest game: Control. The trailer didn’t give much information about the story, but I was still very much intrigued by the world building and strange mechanics they showed.
What were you surprised by at Sony’s conference? And what did you want to see, but didn’t? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to follow us on social media!
