Hours of conferences, revelations of games in shambles and trailers by the hundreds… Since June 7, video game news has been in turmoil with a series of events organized by the publishers who occupy the slot deserted by E3 , the traditional Los Angeles Video Game Fair struggling since the Covid-19 pandemic.
If the Summer Game Fest, the nickname of the opening night, was very disappointing, the conferences that the main video game publishers held all weekend showed that the industry had regained the hair of the beast, after two post-lockdown years marked by cascading postponements.
The day after a Microsoft event with a muscular program and just after the “Ubisoft Forward” conference, the Pixels service of the World made a first assessment.
The return of flagship licenses
- “Fables” (Microsoft, 2024)
The publisher Microsoft relies on the quirky humor that defined Fable (2004) to present his reboot. In this very cinematic trailer, British developers Playground Games are very comfortable with the direction of comedic actor Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd).
- “Star Wars: Outlaws” (Ubisoft, 2024)
in the galaxy Star Warsthere are two categories of video games: those that offer to wield lightsabers, and those that do not. Outlaws falls into the second category. This open world game concocted by a Ubisoft studio puts us in the shoes of a smuggler. Its action takes place between the films The Empire Strikes Back And Return of the Jedi.
- “Sonic Superstars” (Sega, Fall 2023)
The blue hedgehog does not seem out of breath. Movie star and tireless surveyor of the open world of Sonic Frontiers (2022), here he is backtracking to his favorite genre: the lateral movement platform game. Sega Superstars presents itself as both a tribute and a modernization of the first Sonic The Hedgehogthanks to which Sonic became famous in the 1990s.
The beautiful surprises
- “Baby Steps” (Devolver Digital, 2024)
Walking is an automatic action in a video game. except in baby steps, whose character is no longer able to put one foot in front of the other. Controlling each of his legs individually, each step is a small victory for the player. After QWOP (2008) or Getting Over It (2017), Bennett Fody signs a funny exploration game, frustrating but ambitious.
- “Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector” (Fellow Traveller, no release date)
Citizen Sleeper had its place in the lists of the best games of the year 2022. Halfway between the management game and the visual novel, it shone with its multi-branching story, its anguished SF and its visual universe drawn by the cartoonist Guillaume Singelin. Enough to fuel high expectations for this sequel.
- “Jusant” (Don’t Nod, fall 2023)
The French publisher Don’t Nod takes the astonishing gamble of transposing the climbing game into a fantastic universe, which evokes the animated films of the Ghibli studios. Promising to mix action and puzzle, it offers a unique approach to adventure gaming: vertical exploration. A title that promises to be dizzying.
- “Clockwork Revolution” (Microsoft, no release date)
With a character with sideburns, its steam engines and its streets of Haussmann influences, Clockwork Revolution is heading towards steampunk, a genre that is characterized by an uchronic vision of the 19e century. This production piques our curiosity because it is eyeing the side of Bioshock that time loops of death loop.
Those from whom we were waiting for news
- Avowed (Microsoft, 2024):
Swords, armor, magic, caves infested with monsters… Avowed seems to tick the most classic boxes of medieval fantasy role-playing. But the craftsmanship and razor-sharp writing that sets Obsidian Entertainment apart (Fallout New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, Penance) inflate expectations. Some even hope to see in it the worthy heir of Skyrim (2011), the sequel to which we have not heard since its announcement in 2018.
- “Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth” (Sega, 2024)
Series Yakuza although it has been renamed Like A Dragon, his self-mockery remains intact. The eighth canonical episode of Ryû ga Gotoku Studio’s series shows the tattooed Ichiban in the simplest way. Announced for early 2024, this gangster game should be revealed in more detail at Sega’s RGG Summit, scheduled for June 16.
- “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” (Square Enix, early 2024):
Final Fantasy VII (1997) is the subject of a singular form of remake: Square Enix modernizes this monument of Japanese video games by declining it in the form of a trilogy. Four years after a very successful inaugural episode, the formalization of this second part was the high point of the Summer Game Fest conference.
And also :
- Metaphor: Re Fantazio : behind this sibylline title hides the project Re-Fantasy, eworked out by three thinking heads of personas 5. Enough to make all fans of Japanese role-playing games salivate.
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora : it will be possible to slip into the skin of a Na’vi from December 7th. This film adaptation Avatar in open world games by Ubisoft is an invitation to explore the planet Pandora on land, in the air and under water.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 : pilot of Canadair, celebrity jet, transport vehicles or rescuer… New trades will be accessible in the brand new Microsoft flight simulation signed by the Bordelais of Asobo, which will be released, one suspects it , in 2024.
- Human Fall Flat 2 : new giggles in perspective with this sequel expected for 2024 of the most hilarious game of 2016, which consists in handling very clumsy soft men.
- 33 Immortals : One for all, all for thirty-three… such is the number of players who will have to cooperate from the intriguing rogue-lite of the Montrealers of Thunder Lotus (Spiritfarer), scheduled for early 2024.
