Aaron Lee presents his top 10 showings from this year’s E3. Tweet your own picks to @BoarGames!

Bloodborne  (PS4)

Sony’s signature new exclusive comes in the form of Bloodborne, formerly known as Project Beast, from, uhh, From Software, of which Dark Souls players should be familiar with. As with From’s Souls games and their reputation for being unforgiving action-RPGs and dark, moody, gothic settings, Bloodborne appears to inherit that very spirit, and places players within another dark, moody setting, and this time seemingly a steampunk environment. Imagine a typically fictionalised depiction of the environment that Jack the Ripper operated in, and now add in an endemic plague that transforms denizens into mindless beasts.

Fans of Dark Souls, and fans of blood will likely find sanctuary here. Bloodborne, as the name suggests, does not hold back on the gore, and the cascades of blood from cleaved enemies will likely play an integral storyline thread and gameplay mechanic. Producer Miyazaki stated that this time, gameplay will be more “aggressive” than From’s predecessor titles, and presumably this relates to the complete lack of shields in the game. Gone perhaps is the need to critically time blocks with the shield while watchful eyes slowly and meticulously figure out the enemy’s attack pattern. Bloodborne’s hunter protagonist wields both a shotgun and what looks like a saw cleaver, and the emphasis is diverted to combat of a more fast-flowing, aggressive nature.

Interpreting Miyazaki, is this simply going to be closer to Devil May Cry than Dark Souls? It is unclear, though with Miyazaki’s stewardship, I am very optimistic that Bloodborne will continue to possess the similar methodical element of combat, albeit now with emphasis on speed and timed parrying. One glance at a giant lycanthrope-like boss is an encouraging sign that as well as parrying, the player will have to draw upon certain abilities to survive the fight. If the player character’s combat style is more aggressive, there are grounds to assume that enemies will reciprocate. After all, Miyazaki is very aware of how From Software came to be a household name in the gaming industry, and the surprise success of the Souls series. From’s success has come from truly challenging the player, and bets are on the table that Bloodborne will not forget that.

Fans of the Souls series are already excited for this. For everyone else, if you have a PS4, or are thinking of acquiring one, and you wish to take on a challenging action role-playing game, this one is for you.

Out: TBA 2015

Batman Arkham Knight  (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

The creators of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City are back. Rocksteady have elected to forego the PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware for new hardware, with the result being a truly next-gen Gotham City experience. Those who have played Arkham City will know that its game world was a closed area of Gotham, built to purportedly house the criminally insane in one place. Arkham Knight blows open the gates, and the entirety of Gotham will be available to explore, and approximately five times the size of Arkham City.

From the gameplay demo, Gotham looks (and I am not resorting to hyperbole) incredible. From the flurry of lights permeating the night sky, the dizzying heights of its skyscrapers, the verticality of Wayne Tower, the danger-filled, dystopian streets, and its dark alleys, this is the definitive Gotham. The footage shows Batman leaping off Wayne Tower, before meeting terminal velocity during the descent, and the cape opens, allowing Bruce Wayne to serenely glide around the metropolis, passing neon light after another, before dropping onto the middle of a road as the summoned Batmobile swerves round the corner to pick him up.

Yes, I said the Batmobile. It will now play an integral part of the gameplay. As well as being able to grapple and glide around, the Batmobile will be available at the player’s beck and call to get around the crime-ridden city streets. If the player so wishes, Batman can launch himself out of the vehicle with the press of a button, sweep through the air, and with another push of a button, and grapple back into the vehicle seamlessly. Additionally, the Batmobile is armed with weaponry of its own, and at another press of a button, Batman has a Bugatti Veyron and what is essentially a battle tank all in one.

Arkham Knight is set to be the final game in the series, and it looks set to be the best of the four.

Out: TBA 2015

No Man’s Sky (PS4; other platforms to follow)

Usually, big-budget games at the helm of some of the biggest developers and publishers attain much of the press’s focus and the coverage. No Man’s Sky came from nowhere in an earlier reveal late last year to surprise the entire game industry, and it went on to become one of the starring titles at this year’s E3, despite the fact that it is an indie time from a tiny starting developer in Guildford.

The unique selling point of No Man’s Sky is its focus on infinite discovery and exploration. Infinite procedurally generated planets dot the game’s universe. Players can come together to explore uncharted worlds and species, appropriate resources, dive into alien oceans, and engage in space dogfights. All in one game created by a few programmers. No one planet is the same, promised Hello Games. Even though the game is reliant on procedural generation like Minecraft, there is a huge wealth of variety involved that every planet will feel like a new one, and one worthy of exploring.

There is so much more I want to see, but for the time being, I can dream of being a Han Solo, except with less Millennium Falcons, Chewbaccas and Stormtroopers. If this game can be as groundbreaking as Minecraft, imagine how long its lifespan will be.

Out: TBA

Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

As a tremendous fan of Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii, it delights me to see a sequel that logically builds on its predecessor’s strengths without constantly reinventing the wheel each time like Final Fantasy. Xenoblade brought to the game a truly bizarre world made up of two fossilised gods’ bodies, with individual limbs comprising huge open areas to explore. Xenoblade Chronicles X logically takes it to the next step with a true open-world experience, taking place on an alien planet that humans are attempting to colonise after the extinction of Earth itself. If it goes well, this could be Japan’s answer to Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Witcher 3.

Nintendo demonstrated nearly an hour’s worth of gameplay content, and despite the Wii U’s lower muscle compared to the PS4 and Xbox One twins, it does not diminish how astounding this game looks. From a vantage point in the walls of the main city of Neo-Los Angeles, huge stretches of the alien landscape and the fauna can be seen, showcasing the draw distance. Scale is the key word in regards to this game. Nintendo showed the avatar player running up to an enormous brachiosaurus creature by a watering pool, only to be the size of its toes. Even this dinosaur is dwarfed by its surroundings. The player can happily leap off cliffs, and traverse virtually everywhere that is geographically possible.

I have yet to even mention the mechs. Unlike the first Xenoblade, this game allows players to command a Gundam-like robot. It can engage in combat, presumably to salvage losing battles against entire brachiosaurs for instance, and it stands to reason that they can also be used as transport means to glide around the vast landscape. Imagine perhaps, an MMORPG’s sense of scale. It irks many players to have to constantly run around when a mount is not at hand. How many of those games could have benefitted from a Gundam robot of your own? Exactly.

This is Nintendo’s own Final Fantasy, and in many respects, Monolith has easily managed to out-Square Square-Enix. If Xenoblade Chronicles was the defining RPG for the Wii, this spiritual successor will be the defining RPG for the Wii U.

Out: TBA 2015

The Legend of Zelda (Wii U)

Father of the Zelda series, Eiji Aonuma, stated his desire to overhaul the regimented core design of Zelda. Fans meanwhile, have long dreamt of a more open-world Zelda, one with the whole of Hyrule at their fingertips. He unveiled exactly that, and revealed the next entry in the Zelda series, albeit one still without an official subtitle. Unfortunately, while footage was sparse, Aonuma candidly explained that it was genuine footage, as it will appear in the final product. Look at the sprawling verdure landscape with the beautiful grass in the foreground and the mountains in the background, he called our attention to. Previous hardware have constrained Nintendo’s full vision, so he explained, and with the Wii U hardware, they can finally create a Zelda that can overcome conventions, and create a seamless open world to surpass even Wind Waker.

The art style may divide fans, but to most people, it is an absolute delight to lay eyes on. It is a halfway house between Skyward Sword and Wind Waker. It is beautifully cel-shaded, but unlike the latter, it retains the proportions of the Wii entries. A gorgeous open-world Zelda with the ability to travel around on Epona? Who would not be excited?

Out: TBA 2015 

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