Video Games on My Radar That Appeared at E3 2018

In 2005, E3, for me, was an exciting time, in part because of a Tekken trailer, not labeled Tekken 6, just a cool animation of Jin Kazama. Through the four and a half years that followed, a lot happened in waiting for that game and in my own life separate from that game. In particular, my father was diagnosed with leukemia around the same time Tekken 6 arcade released in November 2007, and he passed away around the same time as Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion was announced in August 2008. I mention that because in 2008, that’s where my mind was, and it helps give context to how and why I approach any E3 or similar event since 2009 when Tekken 6 was finally released and far from the game I hoped it would be. Put simply, my feelings about Tekken 6 are very intense, and I would prefer to not have that kind of intense negative feeling about a video game ever again. From that experience onward, I do my best to not hype for anything or keep my anticipation and expectations tempered, my excitement to a minimum.

So, the other day, when I explained to my husband my lack of hopes for E3, the next thing I knew I was listing off a lot of things that are on my radar and of interest, I just tell myself not to bring expectation with them.

With that in mind, here is what did catch my interest at this year’s E3.

Kingdom Hearts III

Apparently, I missed the already announced, before E3, release date of January 29, 2019. That’s one day before my birthday and gives me a timeline of completing the older games I’m still playing on the PS4 version of Kingdom Hearts HD I.5 + II.5 ReMix. I am on break from KHII and hoping to get back to it soon, once I’ve decided a more concrete plan or at least made it a little further in recording and posting my Let’s Play Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix videos. I was happy to see Larxene and Axel. They did not appear together but made appearances.

There were 3 trailers that I know of, here they are:

Here is a screenshot of Axel:

While I was searching for a screenshot of Axel, this shot of Riku caught my eye. It’s a good shot in my opinion.

Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition

I played Tales of Vesperia in 2016 and quite enjoyed it. It was my first Tales game, second being Berseria. I liked it enough that I’d be happy to play it again on a PS4 though now that I think about as a type this, that is signifcantly lessened by Bandai Namco’s common tactic of disallowing PS4 share clips and screenshots for much of Tales of Berseria and Tales of Zestiria. I do not expect that to much change. It comes out this winter, whether that is winter being the end of 2018 or beginning of 2019 remains to be seen. Here is the trailer:

Soulcalibur VI

A new trailer for Soulcalibur VI came out with a release date to boot! It comes out Friday, October 19, 2018. My husband described a tempting collector’s edition with a Sophitia statue and art book but also convinced me to wait because it is a bit over-priced all things considered. UPDATE: A previous version of this post said it included a season pass. It does not, so it is definitely not worth it then. So, I may actually wait a bit to buy and play this one. The trailer starts off with who I assume is Siegfried and almost-ends with Nightmare, implying a transformation. Unlike the Tales games, Tekken 7 allowed PS4 share option in a lot more of the game so I have the same expectation for another fighting game. Although no character creation has been shown, if there is one, I would very much like to show anyone I make. And if anyone from Namco or able to reach Namco can put in this word for me, I would like to make characters with Jin-style hair. You could do it in Soulcalibur III but not IV or V. The last installment was especially frustrating because you could even buy Jin-based clothes and had a Devil-Jin-based move set yet could not make Devil Jin.

Anyway, here is the story trailer:

That’s it. There are other games I’m watching from afar or that weren’t present, but these are the games I am more likely to play, possibly even within the next year.