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The hits and misses of Gamescom 2017
We've just wrapped up another games show, and found plenty to keep us busy in Cologne, Germany. Gamescom might not have the flagship reveals of E3, but all the major games makers are here -- and they usually have plenty to show off. Whether it was VR tasters, indie hits of the future or adding drama to the beautiful game, there's likely something for everyone. Here's what wowed -- and what underwhelmed -- the Engadget team. And don't forget: You can check out the rest of our coverage right here.
The director of 'Final Fantasy XV' isn't finished yet
Final Fantasy XV was a long time coming. After a decade of delays, it's not surprising that both Square Enix and the game's director, Hajime Tabata, are saying they aren't finished with Noctis and his bro squad. With not even a whisper of Final Fantasy XVI, the rest of this year (and part of 2018) is focused on the Final Fantasy XV universe: PC versions, more chapter expansions, more mobile iterations and a multiplayer mode. I talked to Tabata, the man who steered the 15th iteration to the finish line, here at Gamescom and he explained what worked, what didn't and somehow tricked me into evangelizing about that mobile game. (Unfortunately, he didn't say a thing about that bizarre Assassin's Creed collaboration, mere hours before it was announced.)
'Dishonored' gets unleashed in 'Death of the Outsider'
Our next taste of Dishonored isn't DLC -- it's an entirely new standalone title called Death of the Outsider, which lands on September 15th. That might seem like an odd move for developer Arkane Studios, but it probably makes sense. Dishonored 2, like the original game before it, never quite reached the audience it needed to. The series built up a loyal fanbase (myself included), but it's typically been overshadowed by bigger, flashier titles. So for one last hurrah in the Dishonored world, it makes sense to take a stab at a cheaper ($30) and smaller experience. Who knows, if it succeeds, perhaps the series would fair better with bite-sized entries, similar to Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.
The new story mode in 'FIFA 18' is all about choice
The Journey was one of the best additions to FIFA 17, crafting a dramatic but believable story around a rookie football (sorry, soccer) player in England. With FIFA 18, EA is building on the mode with a "second season" for rising star Alex Hunter. It promises a "global" story with more football clubs, branching pathways and some character customization, culminating in a campaign that should feel less scripted but no less cinematic.
'Assassin's Creed' is crossing over with 'Final Fantasy'
So this is weird: Square Enix and Ubisoft have announced that this month will mark the beginning of crossovers between Assassin's Creed and Final Fantasy. Yup, really. "This collaboration is the result of being huge fans," Ubisoft Montreal game driector Ashraf Ismail says on the UbiBlog. "There's a lot of respect between the two teams and we couldn't be more thrilled with the opportunity to pay homage to each other's work."
Microsoft's Xbox One X is still a tough sell
We get it, Microsoft. The Xbox One X is a beast! It'll run games in native 4K! (Not like that sometimes-4K from the PlayStation 4 Pro.) It's basically everything we've ever wanted, spec-wise, from a video game console. And yet, many aspects of the Xbox One X still fall flat, even though we're just a few months away from its November 7th release. That was more clear than ever at Gamescom this week, where Microsoft kicked things off with an overly long presentation that didn't give us many reasons to actually get excited for the One X.
Wait, 'Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition' is actually fun?
A part of the Final Fantasy XV universe (it's a thing), I wrinkled my nose at the news of Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition for smartphones. I've completed the game on PS4, have played through the episode content and will be playing the multiplayer add-on once I'm back from Gamescom, but this left me cold. This was a corporate mobile cash-in that vaguely tied into the original game, one that would relentlessly nudge players to either buy in-app items or the full console version. Nothing was appealing about this, whatsoever. That was, until I played an early beta on FFXV Director Hajime Tabata's phone. I was rude, it was in the middle of an interview but, hey, it was actually a lot of fun. Wait, what just happened?
'Dissidia NT' tries to add MMORPG dynamics to a fighting game
Fighting in Dissidia NT, coming to the PlayStation 4, is mayhem. Six characters from the Final Fantasy universe, of varying levels of popularity, are rushing one another, launching giant magical projectiles, charging up summons attacks and watching their backs as they do it. While the first two Dissidia games on PSP were one-on-one affairs, this time you're part of a trio. And similar to Overwatch and other competitive team games, characters are meant to work together in unison. Each is assigned to one of four classes, and that decides their play style, weaknesses and strengths. You can also choose your attacks, buff skills and summons on top of that. In short, the demo I played was a complicated introduction -- even for someone who had played the last two Dissidia games to death. Director Takeo Kujiraoka told me that the UI has been simplified from the arcade version, with Koei's Team Ninja helping to ensure the battle system is a balanced one. But with three times as many players on screen, Dissidia NT is a now a competitive team fighter, and there's an awful lot to take in all at once.
'Fe' is a stunning adventure about connecting with nature
Once, Andreas Beijer snuck up on a deer. He remembers tip-toeing through the forest, always downwind to ensure it wouldn't pick up his scent. "I managed to come really close," he says. "I could almost touch it, before it noticed me and ran away into the forest." Beijer is a creative director at Zoink Games, an independent studio in Sweden. His team grew up playing in the woods and wanted those experiences to shape their next game. "We were free," Klaus Lyngeled, the company's CEO and Creative Director said. "We could just run out in an area, play around and not have our parents look at what we were doing."
'Life is Strange: Before the Storm' is all about being a wiseass teen
Before she was the absurdly cool burnout who stole our hearts in Life is Strange, Chloe Price was just a normal, melodramatic teenage loner trying to cope without her best friend. Chloe doesn't have the ability to rewind time, like the original game's lead Max Caulfield. But, in the prequel Life is Strange: Before the Storm, she does have an impeccable wit and the courage to tell anyone off. As you'd expect, those are traits that can both help her and get her into more trouble.
'The Evil Within 2' is better because it spaces out the scares
The Evil Within 2 is weird, gross and scary, but that's okay. It balances all that with exploration and figuring out what the hell is going on. I can then get back to fleeing disgusting buzzsaw creatures -- or occasionally stabbing them in the chest -- at my leisure. The Evil Within was never about cheap jump scares, but the game was so consistently tense and bleak that many found it pretty hard to play through. The sequel, playable at Gamescom this year, looks to be a refinement of the original, making it altogether more playable, even if there's still usually something trying to kill you at every turn.
'Ruiner' is not just a cyberpunk 'Hotline Miami'
Ruiner might be one of the most eye-catching titles showcased at Gamescom -- something that's hard to achieve when every company is bombarding you with posters, flags and bags at every turn. The aggressive, manga-style protagonist and angry catch copy are difficult to ignore. It's also the first title to come out of Reikon studio, an indie Polish team founded by veteran gamemakers that had previously worked on The Witcher, Shadow Warrior and many more. (I really liked Shadow Warrior, okay?) Cofounder Magdalena Tomkowicz explains how she had grown tired of big gaming projects and wanted to recover the passion of making a game: This top-down shooter / slasher is the result of that. The Hotline Miami comparisons might be fair at the simplest level, but Ruiner seems to take that top-down gameplay mechanic in a very different direction. Oh, and a bunch of angry techno soundtracks alongside sharp character and environment design help drive things along, even if it can be a little overwhelming at times. Shoot, slash, dash and let the blood splatter.
'Shinobi Striker' makes 'Naruto' a serious online fighter
Naruto is in a strange place right now. The long-running manga series ended in early 2015, before its anime adaptation wrapped up in March this year. The spiky-haired ninja saved the world and achieved his dream of becoming the Hokage, or rather the leader, of the Hidden Leaf village. But now there's Boruto, a new series about his boisterous son. Both the manga and anime are relatively new and it's not clear just yet if either will replicate the success of the original series.
‘Swords of Ditto’ scratches that retro ‘Zelda’ itch
Washed up on the beach, you, young boy/girl/robot, are the hero that will save the island of Ditto. Or you'll fail and plunge the land into a hundred years of darkness until another hero is born. OneBitBeyond's The Swords Of Ditto lets you control one tiny adventurer at a time, and if when you die, the Big Evil (some sorceress of some kind) fries you on the spot, you won't live to fight another day. However, someone else will claim your hero's sword and continue the struggle. That's the crux, but it's how OneBitBeyond has executed it, in a top-down action RPG that leans heavily on SNES-era Zelda (and some Secret Of Mana), with a punchy cartoon style that belies the small team behind it all.
'Star Wars Battlefront II' adds tactical weight to space combat
As my T-65B X-Wing glides into view, I survey the scene up ahead. TIE fighters chase after nimble A-Wings, a flurry of green laser fire in their wake. A group of X-Wings circle an Imperial Cruiser, unloading proton torpedoes in a desperate attempt to lower the Empire's defences. To my left, I spot some TIE Interceptors headed toward my fellow X-Wings. Instinctively I barrel forward and harry them before a well-timed missile turns my ship into space debris. My heroics were short-lived, but I'm soon able to pick a new vehicle and rejoin the fray, gaining my revenge on the TIE Bomber that so casually stopped me before.
HP's Omen X is a monstrous, customizable gaming laptop
While companies like ASUS, Acer and NVIDIA are working on making gaming laptops thinner and lighter, HP is going in the opposite direction with its huge Omen X Laptop. It weighs a whopping 10.8 lbs, which is close to other 17-inch gaming notebooks. In exchange for being unable to carry it easily, you get an incredibly customizable notebook; one with enough graphics horsepower to handle anything you throw at it -- even 4K gaming.
Ubisoft's next ‘Anno’ game relives the age of trade and empire
The Anno RTS series focuses more on civilization-building than straight-up combat, and its later editions explored that premise centuries into the future. But the franchise's next entry casts back a couple hundred years to the past when mankind's maps weren't fully filled in. Today at Gamescom, Ubisoft announced Anno 1800, putting players in charge of nations setting sail for trade and diplomacy.
'Final Fantasy XV' comes to your phone this fall
Square Enix is bent on bringing Final Fantasy XV to every platform imaginable, and that includes the phone in your pocket. It just unveiled a Pocket Edition of the road trip role-playing game that will hit Android, iOS and Windows 10 (yes, despite its dwindling influence) this fall. Its first episode will be free to play, while you'll have to fork out an unspecified amount to continue the tale of Noctis and crew. The title includes the "main story" and characters, but don't expect a carbon copy of the game you can buy on your console.
'State of Decay 2' forces you to pick who becomes zombie food
State of Decay 2 wants you to decide who lives or dies -- and deal with whatever happens next. The sequel aims to double down on what made the 2013 original work: a more sophisticated game world, and both more elaborate skill trees and settlements, whether that's medical facilities or just better zombie-deflecting defenses. The invasion may be delayed, but you'll be in charge of your own survival when it finally hits in 2018. I got to see the game in action here at Gamescom, and if you've ever wanted an alternative to The Walking Dead where anyone and (nearly) everyone could die, this is for you.
Linksys’ new router puts your gaming needs before everyone else’s
You might not think twice about your router (unless it crashes), but gamers looking for every edge do. For those folks, Linksys has unveiled the $300 WRT32X Gaming Router, a model it developed in collaboration with Rivet Networks. It uses that company's "Killer Prioritization Engine" to reduce ping times by as much as 77 percent, Linksys claims, provided you have a Razer, Alienware, MSI or other PC with the same tech.
