E3 2014 Awards
July 7, 2014 – E3 2014 has come and gone — yes, we know it's now July — and we deliberated quite a bit on our annual show awards. Below you'll find the results of weeks of discussion, and what we felt were the best representations of each category on hand at E3.
Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)
Best Traditional RPG of E3 2014
One surprise to us all was that E3 2014 was, in a way, a coming out party for Xenoblade Chronicles X. The game formerly known as "X" or "that next MonolithSoft game" finally gained an official title, and we saw not only a fair amount of footage from the game's cutscenes, but plenty of real gameplay footage as well. Suddenly this Xenoblade follow-up seems like a real game, and we couldn't be more excited for it.
It took plenty of fan campaigning to get the original Xenoblade to North America, but with the sequel getting such a debut at a North American venue, it looks like Nintendo of America isn't going to make us beg for this one.
Runner-Up: Dragon Age Inquisition (PS3/PS4/360/XBOne/PC)
Taking cues from The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, Dragon Age Inquisition features absolutely massive maps with tons of intricate details. We got to see the countryside by the city of Redcliffe (which fans of Origins will remember had a bit of a zombie problem a few years ago), and it was easy to feel lost and overwhelmed with the sheer size of everything. Encampments, lush foliage, giant hills, rabid bears, and the city itself all help make the world feel alive in the way Kirkwall never did in DA2. Needless to say, we're looking forward to seeing if Inquisition really does combine the best parts of the first two games.
Read more in our preview...
Read more in our preview...
Bloodborne (PS4)
Best Action RPG of E3 2014
After numerous leaks, teasers, and an amazing CG trailer at Sony's press conference, we were shocked to see a booth dedicated to a ten minute hands-off demo of Bloodborne. Right away, Hidetaka Miyazaki's influence permeates the environment and tone. The Demon's and Dark Souls director chose to take his vision into a new era inspired by 19th century London. Top hats, fancy trousers and intricate carriages are all the rage, but this still feels like a dark fantasy straight out of the twisted director's nightmare.
Read more in our preview...
Runner-Up: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4/XBOne/PC)
CD Projekt RED is putting everything they have into The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, perhaps because this is Geralt's final adventure. It deserves to be everything that The Witcher embodies, but bigger, better, more emotional, and more technically impressive. The trajectory of Geralt's story — from humble origin to incredible sequel to next-gen open world — has been just as grandiose as the view of capital city Novigrad from a distance, which is just one of the many wondrous sights shown during the E3 2014 gameplay demo.
Read more in our preview...
Read more in our preview...
Mordheim: City of the Damned (PC)
Best Strategy RPG of E3 2014
Games Workshop's Warhammer megafranchise isn't the easiest thing to get your hands on. Tales of the company's ironclad grip on its intellectual property are a thing of legend, which makes the story of Mordheim: City of the Damned all the more impressive. The intrepid code warriors of Rogue Factor took a major chance and put together a working prototype of their game before even securing the rights to the property. Fortunately for them, Games Workshop liked what they had put together, and now here we are, with an impressive strategy/RPG hybrid in the works. The risky but rewarding persistent nature of combat and the faithful recreation of the refined play mechanics of its tabletop parent look to be a winning combination, and the team's passion for the material and desire to continually add to the game after release definitely make this one we'll be keeping our eyes on.
Read more in our preview...
Runner-Up (TIE) Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (3DS) & Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited (PS Vita)
While most companies saw fit to announce their upcoming titles before E3 began, Nintendo's turn-based strategy/shooter hybrid Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. was a surprise mid-show announcement. The comic book art atyle is interesting, though we weren't sure what to make of the game until we saw it in action. And then learned that S.T.E.A.M. is being developed by Intelligent Systems, of Fire Emblem and Advance Wars fame. Now we're on board.
Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited continues the trend of releasing home console Disgaea games on handhelds with new features. We had the opportunity to sit down at E3 and spend some time with early missions and new features included in the port. It's the same Disgaea 4 you've already seen, but with enough new features that might just make it worth a purchase.
Read more in our preview...
Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited continues the trend of releasing home console Disgaea games on handhelds with new features. We had the opportunity to sit down at E3 and spend some time with early missions and new features included in the port. It's the same Disgaea 4 you've already seen, but with enough new features that might just make it worth a purchase.
Read more in our preview...
The Devil's Men (PC)
Best Graphic Adventure of E3 2014
There's a new adventure game coming from the writer of Memoria — one of the best adventure games of all time. We weren't shown much gameplay of The Devil's Men, but there's an emphasis on investigation, gathering information, and making decisions like the ones outlined above. There's a more realistic than usual inventory: a large bag that can't hold ridiculous items like ladders and boulders. It's like a little joke for the adventure game community, but details like this make a game. Combine the promise of interesting gameplay and solid writing with the novel idea of not one, but two female protagonists, The Devil's Men is in our radar (which, sadly, will also not fit in our bag of items).
Read more in our preview...
Runner-Up: Read Only Memories (PC)
Billed as a "cyberpunk adventure game starring queer-friendly characters," Read Only Memories is one of a small handful of games to prominently feature LGBT themes. ROM isn't shy about flaunting its inspirations — cult classics Snatcher and Policenauts, to name a couple — while maintaining a wholly unique identity with fascinating thematic material that many game writers are still afraid to explore. For example, instead of creating a token "gay character," the writers would rather craft a character with his own quirks and aspirations who merely happens to be gay. Combine this refreshing take on these themes that are so rarely seen in the industry with a solid adventure title, and you have a unique game to look forward to.
Read more in our preview...
Read more in our preview...
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PC/PS3/PS4)
Best MMORPG of E3 2014
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn may have released last year, but that didn't stop the game from being a prominent fixture in Square Enix's booth at this year's E3. Similar to titles like Guild Wars 2 (and WildStar; see below), Square Enix understands the importance of adding content regularly to keep players engaged. E3 2014 featured the debut of several of the upcoming additions in patch 2.3, and teasers about the future, such as the addition of Rogue and Ninja in this fall's 2.4 update, and the long-awaited upcoming introduction of elder primal Shiva into Eorzea.
Adding such an extensive amount of content to a game (Seriously, look at these non-complete patch notes) every few months is no small feat, and made it worthy of such recognition to earn our Best MMORPG of E3 award. Now if you'll excuse us, we have chocobos to train and a Lord of Levin to battle.
Runner-Up: WildStar: The Strain (PC)
One of the first games we got a peek at during this year's E3 was Carbine's WildStar. We got a firsthand glimpse at the game's first major post-release content update, The Strain. The titular strain is a corrupting virus whose impact is felt both in the story and aesthetics of the new content in the update, which starts with two large new zones. Alongside those new playgrounds to bounce through, the developers are adding a host of new costumes, housing elements, mounts, items, and emotes (including a delightful Alien-style chestburster expression). Like Final Fantasy XIV, it looks like Carbine isn't slacking in content additions to its newly-launched MMO, which is exciting for current players and should make the game evermore enticing to potential players.
Read more in our preview...
Read more in our preview...
Bloodborne (PS4)
Best Overall Game of E3 2014
It would be easy to describe Bloodborne as another Souls game, and it does appear to have more than a little in common with Miyazaki's previous work. Yet there seem to be a great number of new ideas and advancements to the proven formula. Questions, of course, remain. Just how varied are the rest of the areas? How is multiplayer integrated into the experience (if at all)? Our presenter promised there were additional weapons to be found and played with, leaving us hopeful that a high level of replayability and player agency will be present. With a release date, amazingly, scheduled for spring 2015, we expect to see a lot more of Bloodborne's particularly brand of nightmarish action very soon. Sleep tight...
Read more in our preview...
Runner-Up: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)
Seriously, did you not watch that gameplay footage yet? For our money as RPG fans, this is going to be the best reason to own a Wii U, and the game simply cannot get here soon enough.