Not-E3 2023 wrap-up: From mainstream to boutique | Kaser Focus

Following the dying of E3, the Summer time Video games Fest and its accompanying suite of exhibits have totally taken over the June gaming slot. This implies the final week or so is a glimpse of gaming’s foreseeable future, not less than as regards to its huge summer time showcases. So, with that in thoughts, how did the occasion go? In my view, it was a bit hit-or-miss — many of the huge exhibits gave the impression to be about launch dates somewhat than new sport reveals. Nevertheless, that’s nonetheless one thing and many of the video games proven appeared like enjoyable.

The occasion has turn out to be not a lot an occasion as an enormous Summer time Video games umbrella, with the showcases now turning into extra boutique and targeted. The publisher-specific occasions have been extra about gameplay deep dives, akin to these for Starfield or Murderer’s Creed Mirage. It’s good as a result of it permits extra time to concentrate on the video games, although it does make the exhibits a bit scattershot. And I nonetheless don’t approve of Summer time Sport Fest inserting two trailers for TV exhibits amongst the video games — together with one for the brand new season of The Witcher, a present that’s solely tangentially associated to video games.

Out of the video games we noticed, my favorites (if I needed to decide them) have been Mortal Kombat 1, Star Wars Outlaws and the Apollo Justice Trilogy. Whereas we knew not less than the primary two have been coming, it was nonetheless a delight to see them in motion (and naturally I’m at all times simply pleased to have extra Ace Legal professional). And I’d be mendacity if I mentioned I wasn’t thrilled to see my outdated buddy Murderer’s Creed return to its roots. Starfield additionally appears cool — I feel it’ll be a bit a lot for me, however a brand new IP from Bethesda is price attempting, not less than.

But when I needed to decide a winner out of all of the showcases, it’d be the Healthful Direct. There we bought a bunch of video games, most of them indies, that exactly match the exhibits mandate. We have been anticipating enjoyable, cozy video games, and we bought an entire bunch of them. And never all the identical cozy sport, both. There was Sticky Enterprise, a sport about working a TikTok-style sticker store; Lakeburg Legacies, a villager match-making sim; and 90s anime-style farming sport Fields of Mistria. When you have any urge for food in any respect for cozy video games, the present had one thing for you — and it actually had a lot for me.

What to play this week

What’s new:

• Layers of Worry
• F1 23
• Dordogne
• Park Past
• Fall Of Porcupine
• Jack Jeanne
• ProtoCorgi

New on subscription providers:

• The Vale: Shadow of the Crown (Xbox Gold)
• The Tremendous Spy (Prime Gaming)
• High Hunter (Prime Gaming)
• SteamWorld Dig 2 (Prime Gaming)
• Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Version (GeForce Now)
• Jet Dragon (Apple Arcade)