GBAtemp's E3 2017 Show Floor Coverage: Day 2 - Starstruck at the Nintendo booth
Day 2
Welcome back, everyone! GBAtemp’s E3 coverage isn’t over yet! Let’s get right back into things, and continue where we left off! The first day of E3 had come and gone, and by the time the second day had come around, most attendees were more prepared, this time around. The lines for the non-industry public were well-managed, as compared to the previous day, exhibitors were much calmer looking, and the media seemed to be settling into a stable pace. After spending most of my time yesterday focusing on the West Hall of the exhibit, I decided to scope out what the South Hall had in store. At least, after I made an attempt to get over to the Nintendo booth once more!
While 2016’s Breath of the Wild booth had been staggering, with wall decals, and rows of Wii U demo stations, there was no comparing that to what Nintendo brought out this year. Large decorations of characters and objects from Super Mario Odyssey were scattered about Nintendo’s giant booth space. Beyond the crowd of thousands of people, you could see mock-building layouts of “New Donk City”, and a huge television overhead, playing footage from the multiple game competitions that were being held. A woman held up a “queue full” sign, with a Toad on it, telling people to perhaps come back later, and that the line was at capacity for now. I’d barely managed to make it to the cutoff, and just like last year, a Nintendo representative sectioned the lines off by how long it would take to play the upcoming games. I made an attempt to peer overhead and see where exactly the line ended, but it was wall-to-wall people. Much like last year, I’d been put in the section of a four hours or more wait-time to get through the line. Determined, I at least wanted to stay as long as possible, in hopes the line would thin out and quicken before any meetings I had.
An hour later, and no such luck. No one even knew what the line they were standing was even lead to, they just knew it would get them a chance to see something, anything Nintendo related, and they were willing to wait all day long for it. Just as I was about to give up, a man walked up to a Mario statue, and began posing. The entire crowd whipped around to get a look at the person. Who was it? Charles Martinet! The very voice of Mario! How exciting! He waved at passersby, and took pictures with some of the younger attendees. Media crews abandoned everything they were doing to prop up tripods and cameras to record it all. And just as suddenly as he arrived, and enough people had gotten a chance to have a picture taken with him, he was escorted by Nintendo employees to the back of the booth.
Next, I walked by and looked at all the smaller companies booths, in all their glory. Capcom was nearby, with some well-detailed areas. Street Fighter was represented, with a hallway of televisions showcasing gameplay from each mainline game from the series. At the end, was a giant throne, and next to it, people were crowded around a competitive match from their upcoming game, Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite. Walking past it, you could see tall glass display cases full of merchandise from various Capcom series. A huge Mega Man statue, a fluffy Amaterasu plush from Okami, and expensive figurines from Resident Evil. A giant Rathalos statue was affixed to the wall of the booth, hanging above the crowd, drawing people in while looking menacing. While Capcom in general looked to not have too many visitors, Monster Hunter: World completely broke that trend, as people streamed in from every direction to get even a glance at some gameplay.
Although Marvel Vs. Capcom only seemed to attract diehard fans, one other fighting game seemed to steal all the spotlight. Dragon Ball FighterZ is truly a standout title from this year’s E3, and it deserves every accolade it’s gotten from the press. Fast, fun, frenetic, and beautifully animated, it captures everything you love about Dragon Ball Z. Like most Arc System Works 2D fighting games, it has a four button system, and plays incredibly smooth. While there have been many solid DBZ games in the past, and having played nearly all of them, I can confidently say that Dragon Ball FighterZ is the best so far at capturing the feel of the series in gameplay form. Six characters were available to choose from, with favorites like Gohan, Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu making up the roster. The art style looks exactly like the show, and everything is so smooth, with transitions from combat to super attack cutscene flowing seamlessly. If you’re a Dragon Ball fan, you’ll definitely want to pick this up when it releases.
Next up, was a meeting with Focus Home Entertainment, a publisher working on releasing upcoming games like Call of Cthulu, Farming Simulator 18, and A Plague Tale. Out of those games, they offered a private showing inside a small room, of a special E3 beta of Plague. A very enthusiastic team of French developers explained that Plague is about the story of a brother and sister, as they make their way through a war-torn France, on the verge of revolution, as a deadly rat plague begins to take hold of its citizens. Graphically, it had a very dark feeling tone, and it helped the game feel dramatic and foreboding, as the opening cutscene began. There is no combat in Plague, but you must solve puzzles to make your way past dangerous guards, and hoards of rats, both waiting to strike. It all had a very “Dishonored” feel to it. You, as the player, control the sister, while the brother is controlled by the AI. The developer commented that the actions you take in the story can affect his mood, and how he chooses to help you, which seemed like a very interesting mechanic. At one point, he mentioned that since your main character is a small girl, she is weak, and cannot fight. As the only female in the room, I must have given an odd look, for a brief second, as when everyone filed out of the room at the end of the briefing, the three developers all stopped me, and told me they wanted to make sure I didn’t think their game was sexist! Laughing, I told them I completely understood what he’d meant, and that I thought the concept of the game was great. After shaking my hand, and offering him my business card, I proceeded back onto the show floor.
I decided to take a break from the center of the booths, by going back to the lobby’s press-only room and relaxing. On my way, I heard a voice that sounded really familiar. Looking up, I was stunned to see someone from GameGrumps, their video editor, Barry. As a fan of GameGrumps, I was a little star-struck, and stared dumbly as he walked by. There were quite a number of stars at E3, within the crowds of people!
Last up for the day was Natsume, which sported an adorable booth setup, with a miniature lighthouse, and stuffed animals from the Harvest Moon series placed atop it. Though there were a few people playing their games, the most attention was turned towards the center, where those same stuffed animals, and other Harvest Moon related items were being sold. Natsume is celebrating Harvest Moon’s 20th anniversary this year, and they have an upcoming title to celebrate the franchise, in the form of Harvest Moon: Light of Hope. On demo was the Nintendo Switch version of the game, though it will also be releasing for PlayStation 4 and PC. Visually, it looks very much like a mobile game, in terms of how the graphics are stylized, and how the buttons are now context sensitive. You no longer switch constantly between tools, as pressing a will automatically switch to whichever item you need, depending on the tile you’re on. This almost feels like it cheapens the experience, by being less player-involved, and more of a walk-everywhere-and-press-a simulator. Interestingly, the romance candidates are all characters from previous Harvest Moon titles, paying homage to older games. The demo itself was quite short, limited to just a few hours of in-game time on the farm, and some characters to talk to. It didn’t leave the best impression, but hopefully we’ll see more content as the days tick down to the game’s release. They also had two different River City games, made by Arc System Works, and published by Natsume. From what I got to see, it’s very old-school retro looking, and plays like a classic NES-era beat ‘em up. The first game, River City: Rival Showdown, is a more serious game, while River City: Knights of Justice is a complete self-parody of the series, featuring a fantasy-style story and character design. Both will release by the end of 2017 for the Nintendo 3DS.
Day 1 Live Twitter Thread
