Xbox Games Showcase: Everything you need to know...
What’s goin on everybody, Wav3yGawd here! Xbox had their games showcase that should’ve been at E3 this year via online streaming in July of 2020.. Most of Phucaname watched this as a squad, similar to the PlayStation showcase last month. I personally was really looking forward to this because I was hype ever since it was announced. It has been looking like Xbox is trying to recover from the horrible loss they took in the current gen launch in 2013. I already decided I want both consoles like I had with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One because I want both sets of exclusives and what each has to offer. The showcase had a lot of information, so let’s go over the announcements.
Before the actual show was the pre show and there were 3 announcements in particular that got me really hype for the non E3 presentation.
-Balan Wonderland (2021)
-Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition (coming to Xbox One, XBox Game Pass and Microsoft Windows 12.4.2020)
- Exomecha (2021)
Baland Wonderland is a 3D action platformer and is being developed by Square Enix and looks anime influenced, so anime and platformer?! That already got my attention so that is something to look forward to! Dragon Quest is one of the premiere JRPGs on the market with a huge fan base and Xbox must be wanting to expand their audience because they announced the newest installment in the series will be coming to the console, Windows PC and Xbox Game Pass! I actually have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate so I will probably give a try, even though I always feel weird playing JRPGs on Xbox. Exomecha was the final game announced in the pre show that kind of caught my attention, it is another fps but the gun choices look interesting and it looks like a new IP. I enjoyed the games at the pre show, but let’s get into the main show!
To start off, Xbox finally showed what EVERYBODY was impatiently waiting for! They finally showed off gameplay of the next installment of the console exclusive Halo Infinite!
They showed off a cinematic scene which looks like the beginning of the game as well as 10 minutes of showing off the world and enemy combat. They also showed off the map which looks like they could be taking the semi open world approach which is very different from the games before.The gameplay looked interesting, however I never played a Halo campaign only a few minutes of multiplayer in Halo 4 (please go easy on the shame), but to me it doesn’t really look next gen and it the graphics look current gen. Although, I am excited for all you Halo fans out there!
Shortly after the anticipated gameplay of Halo Infinite, Xbox pulled out their premiere racing gaming Forza Motorsport. It really showed off all the power inside the Xbox Series X but again I am not much of a racing gamer. Only racing games I’ll play are Crash Team Racing, Diddy Kong Racing (NINTENDO PLEASE MAKE THIS REMAKE I BEG OF YOU) and Mario Kart.
Then Xbox had the best news of the whole showcase to me, the Executive Vice President of Gaming at Microsoft Phil Spencer announced that everybody with the Xbox Game Pass subscription can play EVERY GAME THAT IS ANNOUNCED IN THE SHOWCASE! Which basically means, every game that is shown in the showcase will be coming to Xbox Game Pass, first and third party alike. That seems like the best deal Microsoft could make right now, they will be able to entice people to play their games for a monthly fee of $10 which is not a bad deal at all.
There were many other big announcements today, one of them being another look at the sequel to the Cult classic game Psychonauts, Psychonauts 2! This was announced last year at E3, however showed that Jack Black will be in this title. Very little gameplay was shown, but it will be coming to game pass so I will of course give it a shot.
Also Destiny 2 will be the next multi platform game coming to Xbox Game Pass! The fps looter shooter will be coming to the service in September with all the DLC and expansions which will be available in the game including the recently announced Beyond Light expansion that was delayed from September 22nd to November 10th! While Destiny 2 will have all the DLC and Expansions, the Season Passes will be sold separately. Everwild is another game that looks interesting because of the art work, no gameplay was shown but I will be keeping an eye on this one!
Here are a list of other games that were announced:
- State of Decay 3
- Tell Me Why (Chapter 1 available 8.27)
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps coming to Xbox Series X (will run at 120 fps)
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (Console launch exclusive)
- The Outer Worlds - Peril on Gorgon DLC (9.9.2020)
- Grounded - 7.28.2020
- Warhammer: Darktide
- Tetris Effect (Holiday 2020)
- The Gunk
- The Medium
- As Dusk Falls
- Hellblade 2 (will be taken place in Iceland)
- Avowed (Obsidian new RPG)
- Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis (Expansion coming 2021)
- Crossfire X Campaign (2020)
Before the showcase was over Microsoft had one more announcement! It has been almost 10 years since the release of the beloved Action RPG Fable III, and it has been rumored that Fable can be coming in the next gen. Well the rumor turned out to be true and it was confirmed today! No release date yet but the announcement by itself will ease the Fable fanbase.
Overall, I honestly thought the showcase was...just ok. I was excited for the fan bases of the two beloved titles Fable and Halo. However, with all the gaming studios they purchased recently I was expecting some great titles being shown and I was kind of let down. For example, Xbox just bought Ninja Theory which made Hellblade 2 so you would think we might get some exclusive gameplay, NOPE! All we got was that it is taking place in Iceland...really y'all?! Or using valuable time to talk about...Tetris?! *Sigh*, but if you haven’t seen the showcase, you can check it out below! What are y’all thoughts on the showcase?! Did it make you want to rush out and pre-order an Xbox Series X or are you just going to stay with the Xbox One? Or maybe build a PC, let us know! Until next time y’all, this is Wav3yGawd saying PEACE!