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No E3…
But Still A Ton of Games to Share

What was initially thought to be a joke became a swift and appalling nightmare when the news dropped that there will be no E3 in 2022. E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo), the pinnacle of all video game events and oasis for gamers worldwide, was officially announced by organizers ESA (Entertainment Software Association) that it will be officially cancelled this year.

For those that do not know what E3 is and/or are hearing about this for the first time, it is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year for video games. This marks the third year in a row since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that the event would not be hosting any presentations or showcases. And to top this off…No virtual event announced. This was a strange move on ESA’s end as surely big name distributors like Square Enix or Capcom would love to tag their upcoming games to the most influential marketing event of the gaming year and gamers would be just as enthusiastic to see what to expect.

Worry not though as those same distributors hosted their own developer showcases and virtual events in place of E3. Here’s a rundown of the most notable as already mentioned previously.

Square Enix

● Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is part II of Final Fantasy VII: Remake and is a faithful retell to 1997 release FFVII, arguably the most popular installment to the acclaimed and long-running Final Fantasy series. After receiving widely positive reception, Square Enix dropped a trailer showing that this next installment immediately follows after the first game but with a story twist that deviates from the original storyline. In addition to deeper story content, players can also look forward to explore a wide open world that includes iconic locations of brilliant crystalline forests, war-torn barren wastelands (that’s probably home to giant snakes), and even impoverished but modest Steampunk themed towns such as Nibelheim (Cloud’s home), and many more. As of now, there is no confirmed release date for FF7 Rebirth, but it is speculated to arrive late 2023-early 2024 and is a PS5 exclusive.

● Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion. For Final Fantasy VII fans, just the title Crisis Core (CC) is enough to jump off the seat. Since FFVII gets its own remake, the developers of Square Enix thought it would be a great idea to give its prequel Crisis Core one too. Just like the original game, CC follows the story and perspective of Zack Fair, a Soldier for Shinra, teased love interest of Aerith Gainsborough, and the one who gave the iconic buster sword to Cloud Strife who is the main character of FFVII. Here, players will assume control of Zack and learn the life of a warrior for a corrupt mega-corporation and how the events of FFVII came to be, even diving deeper into the origins of iconic villain Sephiroth (spoilers? They better not be).

Capcom

● Resident Evil 4 Remake. Zombie killing is the staple of Capcom RE installments and the studio has been killing the gaming scene with their remakes. With the success of RE2 and RE3 remakes, fans were wondering if RE4 would get some love as well. It definitely does. Just like the original release and like RE2, players are back in the shoes of fan-favorite Leon Kennedy who goes on a rescue mission to save the president’s daughter from not only zombies (wouldn’t be an RE game without them) but a malicious cult based in a village in Spain. RE4 was praised for its upgraded graphic design, cinematics, and combat mechanics so it comes as no surprise as well as a most welcoming one to see it remade with the next generation engines of video game designing. Resident Evil 4 Remake is due to launch on March 24, 2023.

● Resident Evil Village: Winter’s expansion is an enhanced version of the 2021 release of the same name (minus the Winter part). The original was praised for the story, world-building, combat game play, and, of course, it’s characters (eyeing the beautiful 7 foot vampire lady with the nice hat). Since then, fans have been practically begging for more content of the game and developers Capcom delivered with the announcement of the Winter’s Expansion (WE). In addition to the original story-line, WE adds another story that follows right after the events of Village in which the players control a new protagonist, the spunky teen Rose Winters, daughter of the RE7 and RE8’s protagonist Ethan Winters. Here, Rose has to explore the consciousness of a super-colony known as the Mold and confront the monsters within in hopes to control her zombie powers, at least that’s what the trailer suggests. Aside from a new story to explore, the game adds some fun new features that’ll be as delightful to play with as the game is terrifying and action-packed. WE comes with a third-person perspective mode, something that fans have requested in the past and Capcom were happy to make happen. It also comes with a new game mode called Mercenaries, a fast-paced combat mode in which players must fight hordes and hordes of zombies similar to that of Call of Duty’s Zombies mode but with a cool twist gamers can play as popular characters Chris Redfield, who has been featured in the Resident Evil series since immemorial, and two more characters that received widespread praise: Heisenberg and Lady Dimitrescu who are two of the four lords of the titular village that serve the big bad Mother Miranda. Resident Evil Village: Winters’ Expansion is scheduled to be released October 28, 2022 so keep the baby close and a trusty pistol on-hand because ravenous zombies will be right around the corner.

Sony Interactive Entertainment

● God of War Ragnarok is an upcoming Sony exclusive release that has been highly anticipated since God of War (2017) first came out. As soon as gamers finished the main story and went back for all of the collectibles, they were itching for more content. The developers purposefully leave teasers within the game itself of what to expect in future installments that not only include more regions to explore in the Norse setting but also other cultures worldwide that hint that battling the divine doesn’t just stop with Greek and Nordic mythology. God of War Ragnarok is marked for November 9, 2022 so save the date and get the Leviathan Axe ready (boy).

Overall, even though there was no E3 this year, gaming news is always available to ramp up the hype. Keep an eye out for these games, more information will be available below. Until next time, remember to always stay KindaGeeky.

SOURCES

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

● FFVII Rebirth Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_4CkyOmuuU&vl=en

● https://www.laptopmag.com/news/final-fantasy-vii-rebirth-everything-we-know-so-far

● https://amp.square-enix-games.com/en_GB/news/final-fantasy-vii-rebirth

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion

● Crisis Core: FF7 Reunion Trailer - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7fgQj72_uHo

● https://amp.square-enix-games.com/en_GB/news/crisis-core-final-fantasy-vii-reunion

● https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/crisis-core-final-fantasy-7-reunion-release-date-trailers-gameplay-news/?amp

Resident Evil 4 Remake

● RE4 Remake Trailer - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j5Ic2z3_xp0

● https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/resident-evil-4-remake-everything-we-know-so-far-1652144/