Xbox (XBOX) had their showcase and these are the games that stood out to me:
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy. I haven't played the prior two games, though I do mean to check them out. They just look a bit dark, you know, with all the gothic rat plagues. And I've nothing against that per se, it's just I sometimes need games for their escapism. Resonance puts something dark in a sunny setting, so I can get behind that more. In fact I really, really like the look of this setting. This is the most exciting one from the showcase to me, the trailer showed so many things I'm interested in; a blend of Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider/Uncharted, and very much its own thing too.
Fable! And Hayley Atwell's in it! I'm glad to see Playground Games continuing to put British actors in the series. I'm looking forward to Richard Ayoade's performance, too. I just... I just wish they'd showed us more gameplay. This game has had cinematic trailers for years, but only one gameplay-focused showing. I really want this game to be good, I enjoyed the original Fable games a lot – particularly Fable 2 – but the lack of gameplay makes me a little nervous. Still, quite a bit of time before it releases.
Senua. This one surprised me. It was so long between the first two games, I didn't think we'd see a third so soon. Some outlets are reporting it as more of a competitor to God of War, and the developers have said this has new and more engaging gameplay compared to the other games. I'm curious, but I hope they don't lose any of the heart of those first games, including the earnest depiction of the character's mental health. (Fun fact: my phone's autocorrect changed "Senua" to "Denis". Now there would be another interesting character for a Celtic game! Denis.)
Magician's: The Devil's Deal. Maybe? This could be good? The characters looked a bit Dishonored, the gameplay a bit BioShock. Researching the devs, they put out City of Brass in 2018, listed as a game from senior BioShock developers. So I'm very curious about this one, but I think it's still early days to see what kind of game this actually is.
Now bear with me here. Clockwork Revolution has been on my watchlist for years. Last year's trailer, I really liked. I was excited. And a bit disappointed that there was no release date. Yesterday's stream gave a release date of 2027, but the trailer didn't wow me like before. The characters felt a bit forced, to me. If it worked for you, good for you! I just wasn't clicking with what I was seeing: it seemed like the devs had an idea for a game, showed off that concept years ago; then developed the gameplay and that was last year's trailer; and then they needed a story to fit the gameplay into and they came up with a gang of too-cool-for-school... thugs? to fit into it. Look, maybe this was one side of the game/characters, maybe there are other sides. I'm still somewhat interested, but it was a bit of a disappointment. (One character is voiced by the same actor who plays Neuras in Metaphor: ReFantazio, though, so that's a win.)
Rounding out the list: Bad Magpie and Vivarium. Both with charm, the former was humorous even if I've no idea what is going on; and the latter is probably not a game I'm going to play, but its Heidi and My Neighbour Totoro aesthetic was eye-catching. I might give it a go if it's good.
And that's that! There's also some gameplay for – checks notes – Exodus that I want to watch, but otherwise I think most of the streams have wound up. A lot of cool things to play coming out. Have fun!
