The Oracle

Brad's E3 Post-Mortem

Brad Lohr, The Oracle - May 14 '00

The big day, or something. Here's one of the things I've been looking forward to doing for quite a while, I guess.. the column after the big E3 show.. tellin' what I saw, what I liked, what could be better, what couldn't be better.. you know. Stuff. So here goes!

** Brad's Big Bad E3 Post-Mortem **

Now these go in no particular order, they're mostly just as I thought of them.. and I may miss some things, I mean, I'm only human... er.. I shouldn't have told ya'll that, should I have... :P

• Enix: Let's see.. the games, Valkyrie Profile, my opinion.. "yum". It's got a side scroll feel and looks to have some nice integration of the 2d sidescrolling with the battles, and well, the idea of training humans is just ... (grin) in a weird way, entertaining. This looks to be a good game, without a doubt. They were also showing off Dragon (Quest/Warrior) 7, and it was looking very good. If you're a Dragon Warrior fan, you'll love it. If you're not a Dragon Warrior fan, you might be after this game. Last but not least, definitely not least, as this was my personal favorite game they were showing: Torneko. Yum. For some reason the battle system in Azure Dreams really got me into this genre, and well, Torneko looks to have the right kind of humor mixed with a battle system I can just go with. It's tactical, it's turn based, and he smashes a claymation slime up against a wall. Bravo, Enix. :)

• Atlus: Atlus had three main things showing that I paid attention to, Rhapsody, Ogre Battle 64, and Persona 2. Persona 2 looked and felt a lot like the original, which I didn't mind so much, and 2 looks to improve on, and expand where 1 left us, gameplay wise. I don't know much about the story, but give this consideration if you're a Persona fan, or just lookin' for something different. Ogre Battle 64. Another yum award winner. It looks really good.. graphics wise. The gameplay seems fairly smooth, and integrated with the N64 nicely.. don't know anything about the story, as I didn't have much time to play it, but it makes me kinda wish I still had my N64. As for Rhapsody.. while this game looks like it's just for girls.. it's got a definite pull for other audiences as well. Don't give up on it. Also, those of you who love the japanese music.. you'll have the option of playing the musical sequences in either English, or Japanese... woot!

• Blizzard: Oh, Blizzard knows how to turn us on. Warcraft 3 had to be the shining example of super-neatness that was on the floor at E3. It looks -beautiful-.. the gameplay is totally standard Blizzard, that is, above average in every way... they've got new stuff in there, (5 races! .. Human, Orc, Demon, Undead, and one left unannounced..) the movie was nothing less than awe-inspiring, and .. well, I'm definitely getting that game. Diablo 2 was there as well, but I really didn't pay as much attention to it. I saw it.. it looks good, and as I hear, is already in beta testing.. and well, Blizzard may only put out 1 or 2 titles a year (if that).. but they ALWAYS put out a nice quality product, so I'm more than likely picking up Diablo 2 as well... besides, Marek's gonna have it, and he's going DOWN. ;)

• Interplay: Well, we saw a whole load of stuff from Interplay. Neverwinter Nights looks to be what people have been trying to do for ages now: bring AD&D -completely- over to the computer, and make it easier to do, more immersive, and just downright kickass. And if they pull off what they want with NWN, they'll have done it. It looks great, and the guys over there definitely know what they're doing. It'll be a good introduction to the world of the new 3rd Edition AD&D rules, too. Yum. Baldur's Gate 2 .. how can I say this.. ALRIGHT!!! .. Minsc is coming back for more! That in and of itself makes the whole game worthwhile for me. They've done tons of work with updating the grahpics and making everything look cooler in a game that already looked cool. Can't go wrong there.. they're also adding a lot more of the kits and stuff from AD&D, very nice.. not to mention the best part: The experience cap has been bumped up a few million points. Yup kids, you can now have a level 20+ character! woo! I also saw Fallout Tactics, but didn't get to play, nor watch anyone else play for long enough to make any solid choices.. but the existance of such a game brings hope that Fallout will be continued, and done well.. we can only wait.

• Konami: If you saw the MGS2 video, and you're an MGS fan, you already know what's up. But the only game I really played was the Gradius 3&4 collection.. and well, I love Gradius. I can't wait. :)

• Eidos: While Heather was trying to take pictures of the new Lara Croft (don't ask me, mmkay?) I got to play Soul Reaver 2. The game plays almost identically to its predecessor, except for 2 things. It's faster.. and smoother. Very nicely done.. and while I didn't get enough time to grab any of the storyline out of it.. (and I really do want to know what they did, story-wise), it looks like that's a sure winner for fans of the Kain series. I'm hoping for a nice PS2 port, personally. :)

• Square: Chrono Cross. Yum. Yum. Get it. It looks good, and while the people walk a little slow.. having 40-something of them really makes up for it. I liked this game, and played it for a few minutes just about every time I walked by the Square booth. I can't wait for this game. Let's see, Parasite Eve 2 was on display there.. if you liked PE, you'll like PE2. I think it looks a bit better, personally, and well, I never really got to play it, so.. dur, not much to say. Legend of Mana on the other hand, I got to play a bit of. Doesn't seem to break away from the good ol' feel of SD games, and I'd say I'm kinda looking forward to it.. the art is beautifully done.. and while I've heard some less than perfectly positive rumors about it.. if you're a fan, don't let it get in your way. Threads of Fate was.. interesting. I played for a bit.. didn't seem too bad.. but not the perfect-10 winner, if you ask me. Don't know why.. just threw me an odd, "uh okay" feeling.

• Agetech: Armored Core 2! Armored Core 2! Armored Core 2! Armored Core 2! Armored Core 2! It's just like the original.. only.. better. New stuff, new graphics, cleaner AC control, and well, the game rocks. It just.. ROCKS.

• Nintendo: The only real game I played in Nintendo's section was Starcraft64. It just didn't do it for me. The control isn't nearly as good as you can get with a mouse, and well, after like 6 months of playing SC on the computer.. I just wasn't impressed with the console port. You want to play SC, get on a computer. Plain an' simple.

Well, maybe I'm just forgetful, or maybe I really did get all the stuff I paid attention to.. but that's all I can think of at this time.. that's a lot though. :) There's yer impressions.. and well, I'll get on to the column now... and yes, I'm aware how ugly that long bar on the left side looks. I'M SORRY OKAY.