It's that time of year again! Mike from Foul ENT is here to take you through the biggest event of the gaming calender; E3! Read on to see the highs and lows of Nintendos's Digital Event!
Since Nintendo only really showed off two games this year, long awaited The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Pokemon Sun and Moon, we'll instead be detailing the good and bad details of the two games
THE GOOD
Zelda: BOTW - The Title
Image Credit: kotaku.com
The brand new title and logo are finally here! The logo gives us a theme of nature and using the environment to your advantage, which is totally reflected in gameplay we've seen so far. The wild is real, as is survival. A whole new approach to Zelda from the ground up, or so we've been led to believe. It's a change of pace, but a welcome one!
Zelda BOTW - The Beginning of the Journey
Image Credit: twitter.com/nintendo
So there is voice acting in this game. wow. Well, not from Link, obviously, but it's there! This is pretty unusual for a Zelda game. A disembodied female voice woke Link up from some sort of watery sleeping chamber inside a location called the Shrine of Resurrection. The new key item, Sheikah Slate, was revealed, a mixture between magic and technology. After a brief order to save Hyrule, Link climbs his way out of the Shrine and into the Great Plateau, the key location of the demo. From what we can tell, the Kingdom of Hyrule has fallen and decayed over time. What looks to be the Temple of Time has become an ancient ruin. The world belongs to nature, which is kind of amazing.
Zelda: BOTW - Traversal and Terrain
Image Credit: twitter.com/nintendo
Traversal was key as a part of this demo. Link can now jump, scale and climb surfaces, including mountains, rocks and castle walls. This is coupled with the inclusion of a Shadow Of The Colossus style stamina gauge, that will therefore limit how long Link and traverse surfaces for. Link is also able to freely swim, although swimming quickly does deplete stamina. Link can also para-glide from high surfaces using a rudimentary glider, echoing back to Skyward Sword.
Zelda: BOTW - Eqiupment
Image Credit: twitter.com/nintendo
Interchangeable clothing and armour makes its return, with Link being able to change each part of his outfit rather than grouped armour sets. Similarly, weapons are plentiful, with swords, spears and sticks appearing in the demo. The weapons also deteriorate over time as well, meaning that you will need to use whatever tools you find all over the map.
Zelda: BOTW - Scale of the World
Image Credit: twitter.com/nintendo
Holy crap, Hyrule is huge! The Great Plateau might be the only location for the E3 demo, but it is pretty massive. In the world, Link is able to set fire to flammable objects like grass, chop down trees and use the timber as walkways, gather resources and food for crafting and health items... Hyrule truly does feel alive this time. It's a seemingly alive world, with monsters also vying for survival, rather than just being in the way between you and Ganon. The game also features a day/night cycle with an in-world clock, dynamic weather and environmental effects this will have on Links gear and performance.
Pokemon S&M - New Battle Screen
Image Credit: kotaku.com
The new battle screen is gorgeous. The button layout is vastly different on the bottom screen, which also now shows the opposing Pokemon too. And, as heavily rumoured, circle platforms around the Pokemon are gone, the trainer stays in the battle areas and the backgrounds are dynamic to the areas and time of day. When in a trainer battle, the other trainer also stays in the area! You can also now get detailed move and status information on the fly as well through the use of information buttons. And in a surprise move, you can also see how many stages a Pokemon has raised it's battle stats, such as attack and defence, just by tapping the sprites on the bottom screen. Simply gorgeous.
Pokemon S&M - New Pokemon
Image Credit: twitter.com/pokemon
It's what we all wanted! New Pokemon! After an encounter with a wild Ledyba, our next new Pokemon was revealed in a battle; Yungoos! It was a mongoose-like Pokemon with a dorky toothy smile. Annoyingly, the feed cut away from the Pokedex entry to talk about the Rotom Pokedex, so we couldn't decipher it's typing, ability or stats. Sneaky bastards. However, it was revealed on Twitter to be a pure Normal type.
Image Credit: twitter.com/pokemon
Our second new Pokemon was the woodpecker Pokemon; Pikipek! As theorised, this is the reigons native bird Pokemon was that was shown off in the initial reveal trailer. This Pokemons typing was revealed on stream, it's Normal and Flying type!
Image Credit: twitter.com/pokemon
In a Twitter exclusive trailer, a third new Pokemon Grubbin was revealed! It's a pure bug type. We also got a reveal of Magearnas soul heart ability in a double battle, which was nice!
Pokemon S&M - Battle Royals
Image Credit: twitter.com/pokemon
Oh man, a brand new battle type! Battle Royal pits four trainers against each other all at once! All moves are still one on one but winners are calculated using a system that pulls data from how many Pokemon you have knocked out and how many you have remaining. It's unclear whether this new battle type will play into the story, but it is confirmed as a multiplayer battle type. Also, this sneak peak also revealed that costume customisation IS returning! Double bonuses!
Pokemon S&M - Start of the Story
Image Credit: kotaku.com
We got some live, unfiltered gameplay from the very beginning of the game, showing off the trainers starting house, village and a first route. As predicted, the dynamic camera angles are in effect and the new style of combined overworld and battle sprites are in effect; no chibi art style here. We caught a few wild encounters, as well as a new system that indicates when you're about to enter a trainer battle.
We learned a bit more about the story and characters. Early in the game, you attend a festival intended for Pokemon battling with Professor Kukui, Hala, Lillie and Hau. Hala is in fact NOT a professor, but instead a powerful trailer from Alola. Your trainer and Hau will take part in a battle to commemorate the beginning of your journey across the region. There are several mentions of a deity figure called 'Tapu Koko' as well, which surely acts as a tribal-like god, no doubt connected to the Strange Souvenir from X and Y.
We learned a bit more about the story and characters. Early in the game, you attend a festival intended for Pokemon battling with Professor Kukui, Hala, Lillie and Hau. Hala is in fact NOT a professor, but instead a powerful trailer from Alola. Your trainer and Hau will take part in a battle to commemorate the beginning of your journey across the region. There are several mentions of a deity figure called 'Tapu Koko' as well, which surely acts as a tribal-like god, no doubt connected to the Strange Souvenir from X and Y.
Pokemon S&M - Legendary Phases
Image Credit: twitter.com/pokemon
Oddly delivered through Twitter rather than the on stage demo or trailers, our legendaries Solgaleo and Lunala will receive special formes, or 'phases', respectively called Radiant Sun and Full Moon. These echo back to Mega Evolution and Primal Reversion, which may also link into the mysterious stone on the trainers bracelet. Curious...
THE BAD
Zelda: BOTW - Lack of Music
Image Credit: kotaku.com
Eiji Aonuma and Bill Trinen both confirmed that the lack of an ever present soundtrack is wholly intentional, but but game just feel far too silent for something so majestic. Apparently, music will appear at key parts of the story with an emphasis on blending it into the ambience, but Zelda doesn't feel like Zelda without a grand sweeping score. Not a deal break, but a disappointment for sure.
Pokemon S&M - Boring Dev Discussions
Image Credit: twitter.com/nintendo
So, I was super duper hyped for the reveal of more Pokemon Sun and Moon information. However, the initial dry, boring developer chat swiftly dulled my hype for an engaging presentation for the newest game in one of my favourite franchises. I appreciate Masudas input on the development, but it was super dull before the footage arrived. It dragged and dragged and I was certain that Nintendo's entire Treehouse event was to be a Q&A session. As you might be able to tell, that didn't last long, but it was super dull damnit!
Both Games - Pacing and Presentation
Image Credit: nintendo.com
The Treehouse and its more laid back style of presentation is not exactly new. It follows almost all Nintendo Directs and presentations, but making the Treehouse the main focus this year is maybe a little bit of an oversight on Nintendo's part. The Treehouse does not compete with the flashy, tight presentations of other publishers and software giants, purely because it is not intended to do so. Those of us used to the formality of trailers, release dates and price points from our E3 experiences, however, will find this style of presentation frustratingly slow and long. Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of info to be had, but Jesus guys, we're two hours and a half removed from your start time and your Treehouse is STILL going on! I've probably missed loads of details just cause I'm trying to get this article out the door! Something a little snappier would be appreciated in the future.
THE VERDICT
Nintendo are very keen to assert that they are different. Bringing only one game to the showfloor, showing only one trailer, giving a relaxed fully in depth preview of the two biggest upcoming titles. They aren't here to compete. They're here to demonstrate. But ultimately, they ARE going to be compared to their peers. And in comparison, although the info dump and demo time far outranks that of it's peers, the presentation style of Treehouse is not something that wows or excites audiences. It is more relaxed, and that's okay. It's just not playing in the same court as the rest of the big players, nor does it want to. To summarise though, the two games that were shown off at least were substantial slices of proper gameplay that gives us a truly real idea of what the games will play like. And in the end, that's all we ever asked for and expected. Nintendo continue to operate in a league of their own, but their ignorance of the competition may continue to be the gradual decline of Nintendos relevance in the core gaming scene.
By Mike Owen
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games