E3 is back this year and we have some high hopes for the big reveals the digital show could bring us!
After missing out last year, we are back on the Road to E3! All month long we’ll be sharing articles related to the big gaming event, hosting streams, and other goodies right up to our extensive coverage of the digital event itself in June.
E3 is an event we always go into hopeful. After all, it’s an event based on surprises and big reveals, so it’s understandable that we all have a list of things we really hope to see at the event. Despite being all digital this year, this year is really no different, and our gaming staff has come together to share their biggest hopes for the event:
Jordan
Mass Effect – Yes, I know it was just revealed and even got a little teaser. Hell, I completely understand that we probably have a few years before it releases and that Dragon Age 4 is on the horizon first…but I don’t care. Mass Effect is one of my favorite gaming franchises, and the fact that we’ll be returning to our galaxy (as in the original trilogy) has me salivating for more. Hell, I don’t need much, maybe just an official title/treatment and I’d be one happy camper.
Metal Gear Solid Remake – Yes I know Konami already announced they aren’t participating but I’m not giving up hope of seeing some official news about a Metal Gear Solid remake. Rumors have been circulating about this for a while, and there’s way too much smoke for there to be no fire on this one. Considering the odds that it’s reportedly being made by a different developer, I’m crossing my fingers it will make an appearance.
Star Wars – As revealed earlier this year, with the license open up to more publishers, there’s a whole bunch of new Star Wars games in the works. E3 feels like the perfect time to finally give us some information on them. While many (like Ubisoft’s) are probably still several years away, there’s plenty they could talk about; hell, even some basic title cards would be amazing.
What I’m really crossing my fingers for, is an official Knights of the Old Republic remake/reboot announcement. Not only because this would confirm one of our original exclusives (which has been backed up by many), but I just want to see it!
Nintendo x Xbox – Nintendo and Xbox have been fairly cozy in working together, and I’d love to see that partnership go even further. Personally, I’d love to see these companies come out and announce GamePass being available on the Switch. Being able to play from that library, especially the classic titles, on the go via the Switch would be all sorts of amazing. Considering Microsoft is already branching out to mobile platforms via the XCloud, it feels like a match made in gamer heaven.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Although Spider-Man: Miles Morales launched just a few months ago and Insomniac’s focus is all about Ratchet & Clank at the moment, I’m dying to see what’s next for Spider-Man. We know there’s a full sequel (not a spin-off like Miles Morales) in the works, and I would love to see them blow the house down with a reveal trailer at E3 2021. I wouldn’t hold my breath for any big gameplay, but even just a teaser revealing the new villains/story, would win the show.
Honorable Mentions: Xenoblade Chronicles X Remaster, New Fire Emblem, GTA 6, Deep Down (lol), Bioshock
Katy
Ark 2 – More information about the sequel to Ark Survival Evolved plsssss
Witchbrook – The developer and publisher Chucklefish, who helped port Stardew Valley to console, announced a few years ago that a magic school life sim similar to Stardew was under development. We have gotten glimpses of the game since it was first announced in 2018, which includes an art redesign that was revealed in April of last year. I included Witchbrook on my Most Anticipated Games of 2020 like a fool and I am willing to go out on a limb again and hope for a release date at E3 this year.
New game by ConcernedApe – This is a pipedream, but just knowing the creator of Stardew Valley has been working on a new game for some time gives me deranged hope that we will maybe get a teaser. The game celebrated its’ fifth birthday in February and what better way to celebrate than to finally reveal his next title.
ConcernedApe has been hard at work bringing new life to Stardew Valley since it first launched in 2016, completely changing the game through quality of life updates, post-game additions, new explorable (and farmable) areas, and more. CA announced in 2018 that his continued work on Stardew meant he would have to put his new (and secret) game on hold until he could put together a team to take care of maintenance and more for Stardew, ideally in 2019. CA has mentioned in the last year that he has been working with a small team for some time, so perhaps time for a reveal is neigh? If not, I’ll continue enjoying Stardew until he’s ready.
God of War: Ragnarok – I KNOW, I KNOW. Sony isn’t showing at E3, but I’m hoping for a State of Play around E3 that will give us some more details on the latest game in development in the critically acclaimed God of War series.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus – No Pokémon announcement has had me feeling quite like a kid again like the news that an open-world RPG Pokémon game is actually being developed by Nintendo. I know the Sinnoh remakes are exciting, but Pokémon Legends: Arceus has the chance to become my favorite Pokémon to date if it’s done right.
Matt
Final Fantasy VII Remake Part II – Recently, Final Fantasy VII Remake director Tetsuya Nomura came out and announced that development on Part II is running smoothly. He also revealed that the game would start directly where the upcoming PlayStation 5 version of the game, Intergrade, ends. Obviously, it created a question of “What new footage could we possibly see at the end of Intergrade?”
With Intergrade releasing on June 10 and E3 2021 running from June 12 to 15, it may be a bit too early to show footage of the game, but that won’t stop me from hoping to see glimpses of the big open world outside of Midgar. I’m talking about the giant speared snake, the Golden Saucer, Costa del Sol, all of it. Will it happen? Probably next year, but I’m so excited nonetheless.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 – It’s been confirmed that Nintendo will be at E3 2021. It’s been two years since they showed the initial footage for the game. So, history suggests that we’ll get more footage this June. However, history also suggests that Nintendo will leave it out to have its own Direct. Nintendo has a tendency to just do their own thing. So, nothing is ever really a sure thing with them.
I hope they’ll deliver a new trailer for Breath of the Wild 2. That would be unbelievable and I will absolutely lose my mind to see more of this dark, strange sequel, and potentially some gameplay as Zelda. Shoot, they could just show a graphic that has a release date and nothing else and I’d be jumping for joy. You just never can tell if that’s what Nintendo is planning for this E3 too.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 – Unbelievably, it’s been about four years since Ubisoft announced Beyond Good & Evil 2. Since then, we’ve only really seen a handful of updates. While all the updates have been incredible, it’s been quite a long time since we’ve had another update. For the last two years, Ubisoft has come out and said that Beyond Good & Evil 2 would either not be at E3 or that they’d provide an update when they had one. So, I really hope that this is the year that we see more. Even if Beyond Good & Evil 2 doesn’t release until 2022 or 2023, that’s fine. This is an ambitious title, after all. It would just be nice to have some sort of update.
Update on New Metroid Game – Back in 2017, Nintendo announced that they were developing Metroid Prime 4. However in 2019, Shinya Takahashi, Senior Managing Executive Officer announced that development would be starting over from the beginning with Retro Studios, in large part due to the lack of quality of what they had at that time.
It’s been two years since Retro took over and my hope is that this is the year that we finally get an update on Metroid Prime 4. I don’t expect or even hope for much. I would just like to see something, anything, maybe just a cinematic trailer.
Xbox Game Pass on Nintendo Switch – Ok, so this one is completely out of left field and is likely a pipe dream. However, could you imagine if towards the end of the Nintendo Switch E3 event, there was the trademark snap followed by that familiar Xbox tone and then highlight reel of Xbox Game Pass? That would be insane.
Nintendo and Xbox have a great relationship. It’s not one of those rivalries like that of Sony vs Microsoft. For instance, they’ve released several Xbox exclusive titles on Nintendo Switch, but not on any PlayStation. So, it stands to reason that Nintendo and Xbox could come to an agreement to bring Xbox Game Pass to Nintendo Switch.
It’s arguably the best gaming streaming service, with a ridiculous amount of games at a cheap price for Xbox, PC, and Mobile devices. So, why not also on Nintendo Switch and cut Nintendo in on the profits? Win-win. Will it happen? Probably not, but it’s a heck of a thing to hope for.
Dustin
Splinter Cell – Ubisoft has been teasing it the past 2 years, and it was all but confirmed last year. They have the team behind it, it’s just a matter of when we will see it. Much like MGS, just simple remakes would make me happy here. And I seriously hope it’s a linear game, not some open world title.
Metal Gear / Silent Hill – If anything I’d jump out of my seat if Konami itself was just sold to someone viable, but simply seeing Metal Gear or Silent Hill by another studio would be fantastic. The last generation of consoles didn’t even see any re-release of the franchises at all. If it’s from Konami though the hype won’t be as grand, they have been recklessly killing their franchises for some time now. Which is why it’s good news they skipped E3, that means if these show up it’ll be by another studio.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Online) – I know there will be a new Call of Duty at E3, but all signs are pointing towards WWII yet again and I wasn’t a big fan of the last WWII game they made. I much prefer modern combat, and truly believe the last Modern Warfare was the best the franchise has been in a long while. Since we are not getting “MW2” I would like to see the remastered MW2 get the online component added finally, or at least re done in the MW engine in some way.
Resistance Reboot – Insomniac did an amazing job with Spider-Man, and I’m sure Ratchet will be thrilling again too, but my favorite franchise from them was Resistance. They have been spreading hints over the past year on their social platforms, so it has to add up to something, right?
S0LEB
Metal Gear Solid (PS5/XBox Remake) – We have been wanting to make the Metal Gear Solid series to make it return for years, especially since the horrible situation that happened at Konami years ago. Now, we’ve had tons of rumors back and forth about the possibilities of the game actually coming to life.
Remakes have become a big thing in the industry, and yes it gets tiring, but when a remake is something like Metal Gear (which is one of the best series of all time) we can’t help but get excited for what is to come. With the new graphical power of the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC we can only imagine how amazing this game will look and play!
God of War: Ragnarok – Though PlayStation has not been at E3 since 2018, I can only hope we get a new look at the upcoming sequel in the soft reboot of God of War. The ending of God of War (2016) left a lot of questions for fans, with the appearance of Thor, and many other looming questions. I hope to see more Viking themes, gods, and other appearances of characters from the past games this time around.
Call of Duty WWII: Vanguard – There are almost too many rumors around the next Call of Duty, some saying its MW 2 Remastered, a lot of other sources saying it is a follow up to WWII. With Sledgehammer games helming this project I can only hope that we return to WWII. Sledgehammers Call of Duty WWII was a visual masterpiece and not just took WWII style games to the next level, but reintroduced Zombies like we have never seen before. There are circulating rumors though that WWII will not have its own multiplayer, but have MW2 Remastered multiplayer instead. I really hope this is not true. The multiplayer for WWII was one of the best and the overall upgrade system was top notice. Here’s to hoping that Sledgehammer games sticks with the original and gives us the full WWII experience many fans want!
Honorable Mentions: Battlefield 6, Ghostwire Tokyo, Dying Light 2, Chivalry 2
Becky
I can’t believe it’s almost time for E3 2021 already. While I haven’t gotten to spend as much time on video games as I would’ve liked so far this year, I do have some things that I would like to see mentioned or revealed at this year’s show:
God of War Ragnarok Gameplay – We all know that God of War: Ragnarok is coming, but we don’t know that much yet about what the game will look like and I hope that at E3 there’s a gameplay reveal for the sequel to the hit God of War game that saw Kratos go up against the Norse gods.
Star Wars Goodness– It might be too soon for this, but I would love for there to be any update about Jedi Fallen Order 2. The first game is one of the best Star Wars games I’ve ever played and it would blow my mind to get any glimpse of the sequel.
In the name of all things holy to Star Wars video games, please let a remaster of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed be announced for the PS4/PS5. Fans have been begging for a remastered port for years and even though the PS5 has been launched, it’s not too late to give PS4 fans a chance to play the beloved game on their consoles as well.
Dragon Quest XII – I will die happy if I see anything promoting Dragon Quest XII. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age was one of the best games I’d played in years and I’m itching to get back to that world ASAP. I don’t care if it’s concept art, a teaser trailer, or what, I need confirmation of Dragon Quest XII!!
Persona 6/Persona 4 Remaster – It would also be really cool if E3 confirmed that a sequel to the hit game Persona 5 was on the way. OR, barring that, if it was announced that Persona 4 was being remastered for the PS4/PS5. Either scenario would make me very happy.
Street Fighter VI – Having recently introduced myself to the world of Street Fighter through Street Fighter V Champion Edition, I’m curious to see if a sequel is announced any time soon. There’s definitely more story to tell after the events of Street Fighter V and it would be great to see Street Fighter VI announced.
Having missed out last year, we have high hopes for E3 2021. While it’s always better to temper expectations, we had fun letting our hopes run wild! What games are you hoping to see showed off at E3 this year?
