The Biggest Surprises from E3 2019

“Enter the Gungeon: House of the Undead” (2020) Last year if someone told me that “Enter the Gungeon” would be getting not only a Zelda spin-off but also an arcade cabinet? I would have been asking them what they’ve been drinking lately … and where I could get some, but here we are. It’s a pretty sweet looking cabinet at that too, when was the last time we saw an announcement for an Arcade machine at E3? “Panzer Dragoon” remake (2019) Of all the franchise revivals we’d have wanted to see, we certainly weren’t expecting to receive this one. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Panzer Dragoon was a trilogy of rail shooters released for the Sega Saturn, as well as a 4th game on the original Xbox. As a remake to the first game in the series, fans of 3D rail shooters (like myself) will want to keep an eye on this one. “Gods & Monsters” (2020) As soon as this trailer dropped, the comparisons to Breath of the Wild were nearly immediate, a vibrant art style set in a Greek mythological world, only for the trailer to be over just as we were getting curious? What a tease Ubisoft! Even more surprising is that the game has got a February 2020 release, which isn’t too far away. Now you really have us curious guys. “Trial of Mana” (2020) & “Collection of Mana” (2019) (My reaction) Yeah I’m a fan and I’m not afraid to admit it. The original game “Seiken Densetsu 3” for the SNES was the sequel to the already amazing “Secret of Mana” yet it never saw a release outside of Japan. But not only are we getting what is now “Trial of Mana” in a full 3D remake, but the original is also available on the Switch right now as part of the “Collection of Mana” If you have a Switch I’d highly recommend checking it out. “Eldin Ring” Two names that got us hyped for this title: Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creator of the Soulsborne genre of games. And George R.R. Martin; the writer of the “A Song & Ice and Fire” series a.k.a “Game of Thrones”. True there were leaks ahead of time about this crossover, but considering this: we also heard leaks that Shigeru Miyamoto was going to be on stage at the Xbox presentation, did that happen? As much as we’re excited to see this collab George, wasn’t there a certain book or two that you were supposed to be writing? You better not be getting sidetracked too much. Terminator Everywhere When he appeared once during the Microsoft conference, we thought … yeah ok … a “Gears of War” tie in with “Terminator Dark Fate”, sounds tacky but cool. But then he showed up again during Ubisoft’s presentation, this time as a crossover for with “Ghost Recon Breakpoint”. Its not unusual for marketing companies to propose the same tie-in campaign with multiple outlets, but the fact that this happened on the greatest gaming stage of all certainly would have made things awkward. “Breath of the Wild 2” (TBA) We all know how incredible “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” was, but we were not expecting to hear about a follow-up to that landmark title so soon, especially seeing as the “Link’s Awakening” remake still isn’t finished yet. But not only is this a new 3D Zelda game but it’s a direct sequel to “Breath of the Wild”. So much we need to know: Is that Fi we hear? Will we be playing as both Link & Zelda this time? Is that Gannondorf? So many cryptic hints. Keanu Reeves (“You’re Breathtaking”) Oh Keanu … why are you so perfect? Is there really anything else I can say about this walking piece of perfection? Ikumi Nakamora Before E3 2019, few would have even known about her, but after her presentation during Bethesda’s presentation. …. KAWAII. When dealing with the endless barrage of corporate public speakers, to see Ikumi’s natural yet nervous presentation was so incredibly endearing, and well worth all the fan art she’s been receiving. Here’s hoping we see more of her in the future. Banjo-Kazooie in Smash THEY DID IT! The sons of bitches finally did it. The one character that has been heavily requested since the days Melee is finally coming to Super Smash Bros Ultimate, after being held hostage by Microsoft for years, is this the end of nearly 2 decades of disconnection between Rare and Nintendo? Original composer Grant Kirkhope seems to think so.