Gamescom 2023! Let's talk about it.

     Gamescom is always a fun time, and is hailed as the largest gaming convention, even if the games that I'm really interested in typically don't get much screen time in the opening ceremonies. There is always a mix of all different genres though it does seem like there are more shooter games than anything else. There's nothing wrong with that, I know that many times, games like that sell much more than other genres, but I really love some of the weird or out of left field things that are revealed in shows like this one. This probably won't be too long of a post considering the games that I was really interested in were restricted to a fairly limited selection, but I'll do my best to cover as much as I can as we go into this!

Games for everyone!

    The Geoff-Keighley-led show began with a short piano performance of the theme song of Starfield, followed by a short promotional video (with no gameplay) and a short interview with Todd Howard, one of the biggest names in Bethesda, as well as the games industry as a whole. Starfield is the first original Intellectual Property from Bethesda since the early 2000's, and it seems like they're really going all out with it, but it really doesn't look like a game for me. I'm very excited for everyone to enjoy it when it comes out at the beginning of September though. Little Nightmares 3 was a surprise announcement right after that. According to the developer, the first two games were also revealed at Gamescom, so this was the perfect place to announce the third one, which has local and online co-op, a very exciting development in the series. Black Myth: Wukong continues to look pretty impressive, especially considering the game studio developing it is a pretty small indie one in China. It doesn't really look like my thing, since it seems to take a lot of inspiration from Souls-like games, but I think it's definitely one to keep an eye on. They showed off a new trailer for Killing Floor 3 (which I think we already knew about), the "Anniversary Edition" of Age of Empires IV, which is coming to Xbox, and Crimson Desert which is an open world game, looking to be maybe in the vein of Breath of the Wild or Genshin Impact, though it was somewhat hard to tell what it was from the trailer. Speaking of Genshin Impact, Hoyoverse showed up in a big way, showing off three games that they're currently working on: the aforementioned Genshin, the new Honkai Star Rail, and the soon to come Zenless Zone Zero (or ZZZ). Honkai Star Rail was revealed to be having a beta test on PS5 beginning on August 23 at 10 AM EST, which is a pretty exciting development for me. My friends and I may play that some together once it gets on PS5, since we played a good bit of Genshin Impact together, and still do a bit every now and then.

    Tekken 8 was one of the high points for me in this presentation, the game just looks pretty awesome, and I loved when Kuma was revealed to have a fish that turns into a rocket and blasts into an enemy. The goofiness of Tekken has always been one of the greatest strengths of the franchise, so I hope it continues to lean into the absurd nature that it has always had when it comes out on January 26. Sonic Superstars finally has a release date, and it's October 17. I'm really excitied to play it, especially to see how the co-op elements work out. It's always been a struggle to keep the speed element of the Blue Blur when you toss in multiple characters, but I hope they'll be able to figure it out, since the game looks gorgeous. I'm not quite as sure about the battle mode that they announced at the event, but hopefully it will be fun. I have to admit that I will probably wait for a bit on this one since Super Mario Bros. Wonder is coming out on the 20th along with Spider-Man 2, but I'm still very excited. While on the topic of Sonic, Geoff also showed off a trailer for the last update of Sonic Frontiers, where it looked like Sonic went "Super Sonic 2," (if we're following "Dragon Ball Z" terminology) though I'm really not sure what this means for the story. I think this update is when we'll be able to play as Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, which is more than enough to get me excited over when it comes out on September 26! We saw some more footage of Assassin's Creed: Mirage, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (which isn't to be confused with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 which is a different game with the same title that came out back in 2011 for PS3 and Xbox 360), and the remake of Lords of the Fallen, which all look pretty good, but I would be lying if I said I was interested in any of these. Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a new update along with the Phantom Liberty DLC, they're increasing the amount of vehicle combat, allowing weapons to be mounted onto the cars themselves, and also reworking the police mechanics somehow. The DLC as a whole looks pretty cool, though I'm not the right person to talk about this game, since I haven't played it and it's not really my kind of game.

    Ed Boon came out on stage and revealed a new trailer for Mortal Kombat 1, which is looking absolutely bonkers. They showed off Sindel, Shao Khan (I think), and Raiden gameplay, with Sindel being helped by a centaur mixed with a scorpion? It looks pretty nuts and I'm very interested in seeing what the game holds when it comes out on September 14. Just a quick note, that game is obviously way too violent for kids, it's ridiculously over the top with the gruesome death animations, though that sorta goes without saying because that's what the "Mature" rating is for! Ara: History Untold looks like a Sid Meier's Civilization game, which is fine with me, because it looks like a lot of fun! If there are two wild card games that I would advise keeping your eye on, they would be Last Epoch, which is a Diablo-style action RPG game, and Thank Goodness You're Here. I have no idea what that second game is about, but I love the animation style, which looks like a cartoon from the 2000's "Cartoon Network" era. It's quite possibly going to be inappropriate for younger players since the trailer says that it's rated M, but again, it just looks like a lot of fun, even though it doesn't really show what the game is about. Dustborn is another game to look out for, there wasn't a lot to go on based on the trailer, but the protagonist looks to have some power over words where she can suggest for people to do things or react to things in a different way. I also love the cell-shaded artstyle of that one, somewhat reminding me of the Borderlands series. To wrap up the show, Sam Lake came out with a new trailer for Alan Wake II, and as you can imagine, the game looks extemely weird and trippy, which you would expect for most of Remedy's games at this point! I'm very excited for that one as well, though of course, it's also coming out that same week as Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Sonic Superstars, and Spider-Man 2.

    Well, I thought I would be able to keep this post short and sweet, but as it happens, I had a lot of thoughts about this show, even though I didn't think I did when I began writing! I always tell you that I'm very excited whenever new information on games in general comes out, and this is further proof of the accuracy of that statement! I always want to be surprised by new games that look awesome, and though for me, it's much easier to get excited about sequels to things that I love, I just love surprises a lot of times. Game showcases like this one and the Summer Game Fest are good at that, even though they tend to trend more to the AAA development side of things. My fingers are always crossed for another Nintendo Direct, especially since in years past we've typically gotten one in September, but we'll have to see if that's in the cards for this year. I hope you all enjoyed the show, and there are a lot of great things coming up just beyond the horizon, which is extremely exciting for sure!

    Thanks so much for reading my pretty in depth report on Gamescom's Opening Night Live, friends! Do you get excited for game conventions like this as well? Is this just me? Let me know somewhere, along with what your favorite announcement or trailer was! I hope you're all having a great week, and thanks so much for all the support once again! Until next time, I'm Jonathan, a Self-Proclaimed games reporter, and I'll talk to you again soon!