Let's discuss the Xbox Games Showcase

The original games showcase for the Xbox Series X was, disappointing to say the least. Very few games were actually shown off and there wasn't much in the way of actual gameplay, instead it was mostly just cinematic trailers. To make matters worse, Sony's event was much better and actually showed off more interesting stuff. Now I had my issues with the event which you can read on the post I made for it but, despite it's faults, it was a much better showing than what Microsoft had. So Microsoft have decided to give it another go with another showcase which is basically what their E3 conference was going to be before E3 became another CoVid-19 victim. And this event was a lot better. While it still relied to heavily on cinematic trailers it did at least show off some actual gameplay. It was a good showcase and in some ways, was actually better than Sony's offering. But let's go through the event it self and see what it had to offer.

Before we get to that I want to quickly discuss a game that announced during the pre-show,. There were a few games shown off like Hello Neighbour 2 and a Dragon Quest XI port for Xbox but the one that stood out to me was Balan Wonderworld.

Developed by Yuji Naka, the same man behind Nights into Dreams, Billy Hatcher and Sonic the Hedgehog, the game looks like a fun throwback to 3D platformers from the PS2 and GameCube era which is right up my alley. I get Nights vibes from looking at it but it's still got it's own unique style all the same and it looks great. I like the transformation gimmick, reminds me of 40 Winks actually, and the levels look very creative. The pop ballad in the trailer is also super cheesy and I wouldn't have it any other way. The game looks like a ton of fun and is coming to all modern platforms. I'm definitely keeping my eyes on this one.

Alright, on to the main event. Unlike my rundown of the PlayStation event, I'm actually re-watching the event while writing this down. Consider this my second impression if you will. Ok let's begin.

And we kick things off with a gameplay demo for Halo Infinite. Makes sense to get this out of the way since we already knew about it. Full disclosure, I've never played a Halo game so I have no idea what's going on in the story, I heard Halo V had a really bad story but I don't know why. So I can't tell you what's going on other than Master Chief is with some Mexican guy and the two have crash landed on an alien planet. The Mexican guy seams really shaken up by this but Chief is just cool and collected the whole time. It looks like Halo is going for an open world this time around. A science-fiction Far Cry if you will. Also there's a Warthog you can drive around and the controls look really jank. Apparently that's just a thing with this series, shitty driving physics. The action looks, well it looks like Halo. Really don't know what else I can say about it. Looks like Chief is packing a grappling hook now, that's new I think. Hey anything with a grappling hook is alright by me. Then there's an Alien at the end talking about stuff I don't know about and that's the end. I wish I could tell you more but, it's Halo just with an open world design. Do you like Halo? Then you'll probably like this. It certainly looks pretty, I can give it that at least. It's coming out in the Holiday period so it looks like this is the big Christmas title for them.

Then we get a trailer for State of Decay 3. Not much to talk about with this one. Just shows a woman surviving in the woods before she gets attacked by a zombie deer. The deer does look really freaks and the image of it munching on a wolf is admittedly pretty creepy but also darkly humorous at the same time. Other than that I got nothing. Never played State of Decay, not really my thing, but I'm sure fans will be happy.

Then we get a talking head segment with Phil Spencer talking up the event. These are always the worst parts of these things. It's also curious that he's introducing this now after we've already had 2 trailers. Why didn't he come on after Halo, that would make more sense from a pacing perspective. But now I'm just nit-picking. He talks a little about Xbox Game Pass, saying that every game showcased will be available on the service. OK, that's a good idea. Xbox Game Pass does seem like a pretty cool service and it's good to see them showing more support for it. Apparently everything will play better on Xbox Series X. according to Phil the Series X which will offer unmatched fidelity, performance, precision and immersion. The first two I get but what the hell does precision have to do with this? I feel like Phil only had the first two to say but he added the last two on the spot to make it sound better. We then get a look at the inside of the console, as if we're supposed to know anything about this shit. I'm looking at it right now and I have no clue what any of it does. What is the point of showing it off? Also, I don't know why, but Phil is squinting really hard in the presentation. No idea why, maybe there was a light in his eye or something. Dude looked like he wanted to go to bed.

Next we get a trailer for Forza Motorsport. It's a racing game alright. Do you like racing games? Then you'll probably like this.

Next we get a new game by Rare. Really nice to see these guys making games again that aren't shitty Kinect titles. The game is called Everwild and it looks really nice. Graphically it's gorgeous, not sure why one of the creatures has a Lorax Stache but whatever. Sadly we don't get any gameplay for this thing. Looks like an adventure game but that's about all I can say. It looks pretty but what is the game? Show me the game!

Next we have Dontnods new game. These guys seam to be a company you either love or you hate. I only briefly played Life is Strange and I didn't care for it. Dontnod are like Telltale games if it was run by hipsters. The new game looks like it's about a brother and sister dealing with stuff from their past. Every game showcased so far has looked really good except for this one. The animations look very awkward. Also the voice acting for the brother is pretty bad from what little I've heard is pretty bad, he does not sound like he gives a single fuck. The game is called Tell Me Why and it comes out August 27. if you're a fan of Dontnod then you might be interested in it but I doubt this will win people over. Wasn't impressed with this one. Quick aside, I checked out the trailer on YouTube and half of the comments are Backstreet Boys references. Now that's funny.

Next is another talking head segment with Gennadiy Korol from Moon Studios. They're working on a version of Ori Will of the Wisps for Xbox Series X. I did get to play the first Ori game when it came out on Switch and I didn't care for it all that much. It wasn't bad but it did little for me. Will of the Wisps does look like it's addressed some of my complaints with the original though so I'm glad it's being updated for the new console. Most of the segment is just talking up how good the Xbox Series X is, talking about how it offers framerates and fidelity never thought possible. Maybe I've seen way too many of these conferences but most of what he said felt like marketing speak to me. If the Series X really can do all the things he said it can then that's great but until I get my hands on it and see it for myself it's all just empty words.

Next we get some DLC for The Outer Worlds with the Peril on Gorgon expansion. Still haven't played this yet but I'm glad it's getting more content. Comes out September 7th.

Speaking of Obsidian, they have a few new games to show off next with the first being Grounded. Looks like a fusion of Minecraft and Honey I Shrunk the Kids. I really like games that play with the idea of being tiny so this piqued my interest. Trailer was cute too, had a little humour thrown in which was nice and we even see a Battletoad at one point. Definitely looks aimed at a younger audience but does look interesting. It's coming out really soon on July 28, so just 4 days away at the time of this writing, as an early access title.

The next game the showed off was a big fantasy RPG they're working on called Avowed. This was just a teaser but it looks like an Elder Scrolls type game. Considering the current state of Bethesda, having some competition in the first person fantasy RPG genre might be a good thing. At least it's not another fucking re-release of Skyrim.

Another talking head segment with Matt Booty. This segment is just Matt talking about how they're working with indie developers including a new studio called Interior/Night. We get to see the new game they're working on called As Dusk Falls. It, doesn't look good. Like, at all. It's being billed as an “interactive drama” similar to what Dontnod does but this looks way worse. The whole thing looks like a slide show presentation, still images of the characters with no animation except in the backgrounds. This looked so cheap I thought it may have been done this way just for the trailer, but no, I think this is what the actual game is going to look like. Are you kidding me? Even visual novels look better than this and most of them are just character portraits talking to each other. It looks like it's going for a motion comic look to it, you know that thing the tried to push in the mid 2000's before we realised it was stupid and the quietly went away. It looks like they had no budget, actually scratch that it looks like they managed to go under no budget. They've somehow made the first faux-budget game. I'm sure some will be interested in this but I wasn't impressed with this one.

Next is another talking head segment with Ninja Theory. It's about the next Hellblade game going over that it's set in Iceland and there's a behind the scenes video you can check out on their YouTube channel. Not much to this one. Why did they even bother?

Next is a trailer for Psychonauts 2. Never played the first one but it's been on my list for a while now. The sequel looks really good too. It's very trippy which is to be expected from the series and the levels look as creative as always. The level they showed off is based on 60's hippie culture and even has Jack Black singing a song in it. Wonder if they'll do another Brutal Legends game after this? Anyway, this game looks like fun and I'm glad to see more 3D platformers out there but could we please get a port of the original on Nintendo Switch please. Really want to play that one.

Goddamnit, another talking head segment. This time it's with a woman named Sarah Bond. This one is the most pointless yet. She says that they're partnering with a bunch of people and then announces Destiny 2 is coming to Xbox Series X and game pass with a new expansion. Do people still play Destiny 2? Because I remember when the game first came out a lot of people weren't keen on it. These talking head segments are just the worst but she does reveal that the next few games are being built to launch exclusively on Xbox consoles. Now the wording for this is pretty vague, I don't know if they mean that they're a launch title or if they're timed exclusives but given that all the games are from Xbox Game Studios I'm guessing it's the latter. The vague wording of it makes me nervous but if these are all launch titles then that's a good thing.

The first launch title is a game called S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2. Never heard of the first one but apparently it was a first person survival horror shooter with RPG elements set around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Looks like it's a bit of a cult classic so it's nice to see them bring it back. This looks like it could be a good one for survival horror fans.

Next up is a Warhammer game, Darktide. Looks like another horror title but the Warhammer license should help it stand out. Didn't see much gameplay but it looks like a squad based shooter. Not much to say on this one since I'm not huge into Warhammer. But it says it's coming in 2021. So it isn't a launch title? It's just launching on Xbox first. I knew that phrasing from earlier was intentionally vague. Unless it means early 2021 so it's more of a launch window game.

Next up we have, Tetris. Ok so it's a sequel to Tetris Effect called Tetris Effect Connected. From what I can gather it's basically Tetris with Co-op and with new giant Tetromino's. What else can I say, it's Tetris. It is a holiday title so at least it will be available at launch.

Now we have a game called, The Gunk. That's a terrible name but at least it's not as bad as Returnal. This game caught my eye because it's from Image & Form Games, the same guys behind the Steamworld series. I'm actually a big fan of that series so it's nice to see them trying something different. This is their first 3D game and it looks like a decent little 3D platformer. I get serious Mario Sunshine vibes from this since the goal of the game is cleaning up an alien goo infecting the planet you're on. My only complaint is with the character designs. It looks like they went with a Chibi look but then gave up halfway. It's not very appealing. Other than that it looks pretty good.

Next we have, another horror title? Christ what is this, the 5th one so far. In all seriousness though this one looks pretty cool. The game is about a young girl who exists in two different dimensions, one that's like our world and a darker world with fantasy elements. and you control both at the same time, or swap between them it isn't made clear. The game apparently runs both dimensions simultaneously which is really impressive/ the premise looks very interesting, reminds me a lot of Silent Hill. It's called the Medium and it's one to keep an eye on for Survival Horror fans.

This next game was a surprise, it's an update for Phantasy Star Online 2 called New Genesis. It's nice to see Microsoft trying to appeal more to a Japanese market. The game itself looks pretty dope too. Looks like the world is going to be massive with giant monster fights. It also looks like you have a lot of mobility options. It's set for a 2021 release. Beginning to think that “Console Launch Exclusive” might not mean what I think it means.

Next we have a first person shooter called Crossfire X by Remedy. Looks like it's got a lot of action but every time I hear the name I think of this.

I'm sorry I can't help it. Remedy are a solid developer and it's nice to see shooters are embracing more over the top action so this should be great for shooter fans. It's coming out in 2020 too so that's another launch title for the Series X.

After that we get another talking head segment with Matt Booty. He goes over the games showcased with 10 World Premiers and 22 console launch exclusives and then goes over game pass again. He also says that games on the Xbox One will be playable on the Series X with enhancements. The backwards compatibility is one of the big selling points for the Series X in my opinion. Booty even says that with game pass, the Series X has a launch line-up of over 100 games. Fucking yikes. Granted they aren't exclusive to Series X but that's still a lot of games to have at launch. We also got one last trailer to wrap everything up. And it's a teaser for a new Fable game. It's nice to see them bring this back.

So that was the Xbox Games Showcase. How was it? Meh, it was ok. It wasn't anything spectacular but it wasn't bad by any means. In terms of how it stacked up with the Sony presentation, it was better in some ways and worse in others. In terms of variety I think Sony had the better offering. Not to say Xbox didn't have variety because it did. You had a racing game, some platformers, but it also had a little too much emphasis on shooters and horror games. Not that there's anything wrong with those genres but it felt like there was a little too much of them. Now where Xbox took home a victory was in the exclusives. Everything showcased today was a console exclusive for Xbox, outside from the fact that they're coming to PC they won't be releasing on any other console. This is what you want when selling people on a new console. Actually it turns out New Genesis might be coming o PS4 and Switch according to the Japanese website but I'm not sure if that's only in Japan since it was only on the Japanese website. little confused on that one.

Now in terms of system sellers, this is where it gets hard for me to judge. For me personally, none of these games made me want to buy an Xbox Series X. They weren't really games I'm personally interested in. The Gunk and PSO2 looked cool but I'm not gonna buy a new system for them. That being said, in a general sense the Series X has a pretty good launch line-up. Halo Infinite alone is going to sell units but Crossfire X looks pretty good, Tetris Effect Connected looks pretty good and with the game pass and backwards compatibility the Series X has plenty of games to play on it. Really it's the backwards compatibility and game pass that makes me most interested in this thing.

That being said, while the games looked good overall the presentation could have been tighter. The talking heads segments added nothing and could have been removed entirely, something about them just feels so corporate. I get you want to sell people on the power on the console put let the games do that for you. Aside for Tell Me Why and As Dusk Falls every game looked amazing graphically. I also felt like there were a few too many cinematic trailers but at least it wasn't all they had. They balanced it out with some gameplay as well.

So yeah, the event was ok. It was certainly a lot better than the last showcase but it wasn't anything mind blowing. As of this moment I'm still undecided in what console I'm going to get, if I get any. I'm probably gonna wait a few months and see how things play out before I decide which one I get. Right now I'm leaning towards PlayStation 5 if only because it has a few more games I'm interested in, but that backwards compatibility is very enticing so I can't say for certain right now. I think I'll stick to the Nintendo Switch for now since there are stills games on that I still haven't played yet. But, what did you guys think of the Xbox Showcase? Did it meet your expectations or leave you feeling disappointed? Until next time, remember to stay safe and have fun.