2023 Showcase review (Part 1)
So, showcase game by game as promised.
Fable - haven't played a single game in the series and not gonna play this one either. Gameplay wasn't shown which is a bit disappointing but anyway, as I see from the reactions in Xbox community it was a great choice to start the show with.
South of Midnight - another CGI trailer for a game that is not coming out until 2025 most likely. Don't really personally care about it, because just like with Fable, haven't played anything from Compulsion.
Star Wars - Outlaws - the worst one in entire show. Xbox, please don't waste showcase time on Ubisoft ever again. I love the original Star Wars trilogy, but Ubisoft being a developer behind a game is a huge red flag for me.
33 Immortals - this game looks interesting, has nice art style, even though I'm not sure how it will be playable with this 33 coop players feature. Might give it a try if I don't forget about it by the time it comes out and will not have anything more interesting to play.
Payday 3 - don't care about this franchise tbh. Another weak game in the showcase IMO.
Persona 3 Reload - day one for sure. Persona 3 is the best Persona game, so it's nice to see it being refreshed for modern platforms. The only downside though is that once the rumours have started to circulate around this remake, I feared that Atlus will change way too much and spoil this brilliant game, like Square Enix did with FF7. But turns out, that it's quite the opposite, and they are playing super safe to the point that it probably might be a 1:1 recreation of original game on Unreal Engine. A bit of missed opportunity as the game would benefit from certain gameplay reworks. They could have done something with Tartarus but it looks like they didn't.
Avowed - this is the game that has certainly grown on me during this trailer. I wasn't interested when it was first shown, but now I might give it a try.
Sea of Thieves - Monkey Island DLC - I understand that SoT is a very popular game, even though I can't care any less about it, but I think DLC stuff can be announced with simple social media posts and not waste showcase time.
Flight Simulator 2024 - a lot of improvements over 2020 it seems. Makes me think that it might be PC only, but who knows. 2020 didn't run too well on consoles. Probably not gonna play it, as 2 hours in 2020 was enough for me.
Flight Simulator - Dune - same as with SoT, but I love Dune movie, so I'll give this DLC stuff inclusion a pass this time
Hellblade 2 - I loved the first one and it was one of the very few announced XGS games I plan to play at some point. Graphics captured on Series X looked good, but still no gameplay is a bummer. This game will make a reappearance next year I guess though, so there is still time for gameplay footage.
Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth - happy for all Yakuza fans. This is a franchise that I really wish I would like, but I couldn't get into it after few attempts unfortunately. Great announcement anyway
Fallout 76 - Atlantic City - see SoT comment.
Path of the Goddess - something new from Capcom with an interesting setting. Doesn't look like it's an AAA game, so it's nice to see Capcom trying to make smaller titles.
Forza Motorsport - looked absolutely amazing, too bad auto simulators ain't my thing.
Elder Scroll Online Necrom - same as SoT and Fallout 76
Overwatch 2 - Invasion Update - same as SoT, F76 and ESO
Persona 5 Tactica - getting a bit sick of Atlus milking Persona 5 tbh. But the fact that it's a strategy game in Persona 5 world, makes it day one.
Starfield - just like with Fable. Never played BGS games and zero interest in this one, but looking at the reception, everyone is impressed with how good it is. Hopefully BGS and Xbox deliver and the game will be super successful huge Xbox title for this year.
Jusant - I think I missed the second part of this trailer, but nothing that caught my interest. Average indie game
Still Wakes Deep - more or less the same as Jusant. Not memorable game from the show.
Dungeons of Hinterberg - love the games with such style. Might give it a try in the same circumstances as 33 Immortals.
Cyberpunk 2077 - Phantom Liberty - I liked CP2077, it was bashed online totally undeserved. Will play this DLC for sure, maybe not at launch though. Bringing back Keanu Reeves once again was a good move as well.
Cities Skylines 2 - the game looked good for what it is, but I never played these type of games.
Metaphor: ReFantazio - the best announcement of the show as stated earlier. After years of silence about Project Re:Fantasy, never could have imagined that it will be officially unveiled at Xbox show. Looking through the trailer, everything screams like it will be another Atlus masterpiece. Nice to see that it is still based on the core turn-based SMT style mechanics. Calendar system and bonds from Persona are here as well. This is definitely the most wanted game for me from now on and nothing will probably top it by far. P.S. It's also great to see that this trailer is one of the most watched from all the games shown at the showcase. The game gets attention it deserves.
Towerborne - also was quite unmemorable unfortunately.
Clockwork Revolution - the moment I saw this game, I thought that it was Bioshock Infinite 2 or something like that. Looks promising, but we probably won't see it until 2025 as well.
