Here are some of the titles that we got to check out in a bit more detail:
Asura’s Wrath
At the Capcom booth, there were two levels playing for Asura’s Wrath. Unfortunately, we lucked out and landed up with the same level that was on show at E3. Fortunately, it’s still ridiculously awesome on a totally over-the-top and exaggerated level, and the new level was on display at the Capcom media room.
It was a different boss this time, but the overall premise was still pretty much the same, while still showing off the same penchant for remorseless action and destruction. You beat the hell out of the boss until you can activate your ‘burst’ attack, which would initiate a quick time event. This boss was actually much tougher than the previous one, with much more relentless attack patterns and the need for you to pray on openings. Upon dropping the boss life bar, the over-the-top cinematic sequences kicked into gear. And again, the demo finished on a cliff hanger…
Eh, stopping that wasn't so hard...
One of the exciting aspects to be revealed during E3 was that Asura will not be the only playable character, as it seems that his primary ‘rival’ will have a big role to play in the grand scheme of things as well. While another aspect could be a little bit of a downer - it has been confirmed that there will be sequences between the boss battles that have you beating down enemy hordes. Maybe that was the only way to increase the play time, but it was almost a refreshing prospect that the game would show a series of exaggerated boss battles. Having seen more of the game, and a lot of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations over the two TGS days, the familiarity between the two became quite clear… which makes sense when you consider that the same developer is at the helm.
Street Fighter X Tekken
If the humorous trailers and back-and-forth banter is anything to go by, it seems that Street Fighter head honcho, Yoshinori Ono, and Tekken supremo, Katsuhiro Harada, get along quite well. So well, that their games have been joined together to create the venture: Street Fighter X Tekken. While the mix doesn’t necessarily ‘fit’ together at first glance, this first playable showing did show off some promise.
From the play time that was on offer, the game so far seems surprisingly well balanced and neither side seems to have an overt advantage or disadvantage. All the characters that we took for a spin are surprisingly well utilised so far. As would be expected through, the flavour is definitely geared more towards Street Fighter in terms of fighting mechanics, but the Tekken fans will get their own back eventually. Mind you, it was a bit weird seeing the exaggerated reactions and cartoony animations on the faces of some of the Tekken characters…
That style is odd...
Devil May Cry
The Devil May Cry reboot wasn’t available for hands on yet. As explained by the Capcom PR, they want it absolutely spot on before putting it out in public. Instead, the game’s producer, Alex Jones, came out and gave a presentation on some of the ins and outs of the controversial title.
Probably the most interesting comment, came when asked about the process of getting Dante to the point that he is now. He explained that the process of getting Dante ‘right’ was extremely lengthy and there was a lot of back-and-forth between Ninja Theory and Capcom before both sides were able to agree on the final version. He articulated how exciting and scary the process was, with the analogy of being allowed to drive your dad’s Ferrari – he’s encouraging you to have fun but will kill you if something goes wrong.
The first bit on display showed off the city from the trailers. Apparently, this city is ‘alive’ and will often try to stop Dante. Furthermore, Ninja Theory wanted to focus the design on making it look like an actual city, while retaining some of the gothic elements from previous titles. In this section, we were given more detail on the combat, which will have a heavier focus on aerial combos, and being able to string and continue your attacks from the air. The demo showed off a Dante that was able to zip around the air and pick off enemies from most vantages (with a grappling like device), while also being able to switch between a sword, a hammer and a scythe on the fly. However, it was discerning that a lot of the enemies were being grappled from off screen, while things such as scoring systems and difficulty are totally unknown for now.
This game isn't shaping up too badly.
Next, we were shown the Limbo area. The design of this part of the game was much more open and abstract, though we were primarily shown some more combat sequences. In between this, Jones talked about how the game will still have Dante’s full complement of angel and devil powers, which was capped off with a demonstration of ‘white haired’ Dante. Finally, a return to the city area showed off what happens when the city tries to stop you – it will transform in real time and literally try to close you in. What followed was quite an exciting action sequence that showed off a well-paced and well-designed chase that looks like a good addition for variety.
Dragon’s Dogma
Dragon’s Dogma is a huge risk for Capcom, and the E3 showing was rather confusing and off-putting. Thankfully, the director and producer were on hand in the media room to give us a presentation on some of the game’s intricacies. And it’s great that they did, as it gave the title much more context and a lot of things make much more sense now.
Firstly, they went into the heavily detailed customisation features, which were actually quite impressive in their depth of pre-sets, and then the further potential to change them. This even goes into details that allow you, for example, to give your character elf-like ears or dwarf-like stature. Changing body constitution is meant to have an effect how your character moves and plays too. Apparently, every single character in the game (NPC) has been created using the customisation tools.
They then went onto to explain how the different classes will be played. The class that you pick will play an important role in building your team. For example, if you are a magician, your attack and defense are quite poor, so you will need warriors to help protect you. Furthermore, everything is done in real time, so magician attacks can be charged and aimed for power and accuracy, meaning no need for more mechanical measures such magic bars. Similar to Shadows of the Colossus, all characters will be able to mount and climb major enemies, in search of weak points. It was explained by the developers on hand, that this was done prevent taking down enemies by hacking at their ankles.
These guys gave us some reassurance that the game is decent.
Speaking of your team, it’s a single player game but there was some more explanation given to how the pawn system will work. Aside from balancing the classes in your team, this mainly involved how you can recruit them, how they will improve and the bonuses you'll get if you allow them to be available for hire to other players online. An interesting example was if a pawn had fought a particular enemy in another player’s world, they will give you tips on the enemy’s weak points. There is no online multiplayer, but the pawns can be shared online to give rise to a huge network.
The demo showed off a lot of the aspects talked about above, as well as the interesting little detail that the NPCs were staring at our character, because she was walking around half naked. Apparently, this specifically created for the TGS demo to show off the in-game immersion. Furthermore, we were shown how you can interact with your surroundings, pick up side quests, recruit new pawns and during a battle with a Cyclops, we were shown how the battle could be hastened by knocking it off the cliff side from the mountain road we were on. Clocking in at a minimum of 50 to 60 hours, Dragon’s Dogma now actually looks like it will have something decent to show for everything that Capcom is putting into it.
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