E3: Day One – June 2nd, 2009

So I arrived in L.A. on Monday pretty damn late and got settled into my hotel.  It was definitely the calm before the storm of video game info, which due to a combination of jet lag and just plain fatigue is a bit overwhelming.  I enjoyed a heaping bowl of ramen at Daikokuya and went to bed unsure of what the next day’s events would contain.

Tuesday I arrived at the Los Angeles Convention Center around 11:30 and grabbed my media badge. Yeah, I missed Sony’s press conference which sucked, but sacrifices had to be made according to E3 shuttle services.  Inside I basically followed the masses waiting for the doors to open.  It was a long wait, but there was a lot to take in: advertisements, other journos, and just L.A. in general.

Once the doors opened, I started in the South Hall, since I wanted to take a look at Square Enix’s booth, which was sadly crippled by a fear of swine flu.  After cutting through several other booths, I reached the Square Enix booth only to find that taking photos was off limits – lame.  Luckily, I uh… “found” some photos:

Square Enix Employee: “I sure hope no one is taking a photo right now…”

After taking a walk around and playing Final Fantasy VII on the PSP for nostalgia’s sake, I decided to take some time out to watch the various trailers on display on Square’s big-ass screen.  The most exciting of the bunch was without a doubt the new trailer for Final Fantasy XIII, complete with English voice acting for every known character.  Part of me was hoping that the game would have optional Japanese dialog since I think a Blu-Ray disc could handle the extra contents.  However, after hearing the English voice acting for the game, I think I could live without it if I had to:

I don’t know where Square Enix finds these quality voice actors…  They should definitely share their source with a few other localizers who seem to only be able to find monotone hacks.

After that, I decided to check out the West Hall which boasted more of the big name companies like Sony and Nintendo.  On the way in, I couldn’t help but notice Bethesda’s relatively eye catching booth.  Please note that this photo doesn’t really do it justice:

They showed a few vague trailers for some titles they have in the works including Brink, Rogue Warrior, and Wet.  Most of these trailers I had seen before, which was kind of a let down.  I was hoping for something concerning Fallout: New Vegas, but sadly the only Fallout news was a trailer for the new DLC of Point Lookout:

This trailer was basically the highlight of Bethesda’s booth for me.  I found it pretty creepy – maybe it has something to do with my fear of people who live in the deep South.  Does anyone else think that the logo looks pretty lame?

Shortly after checking out Bethesda’s booth, I began getting demands via Twitter for some decent PSP Go images/comments.  Sony’s area was pretty impressive and the section displaying the Go had a good sized line which I braved to try out the only new hardware worth mentioning at E3.  Here are some images of me with the PSP Go:

I know some people out there are complaining that they couldn’t possibly wrap their minds around the button logistics of the PSP Go, but I honestly had no issues.  It felt pretty natural for me playing Gran Turismo, which is saying a lot since when it comes to racing games my skills are lacking.  It also felt light considering there was an enormous cable jutting out of the back.

I know there is the whole debacle over the $300 price tag and the fact that the actual UMD drive was removed.  Honestly, you aren’t gonna find 16 gigs of flash memory much cheaper than $200.  It’s basically an iPhone, minus the phone, with better graphics and controls.  It will be good for some, others probably won’t give a damn.  I think Sony was smart to do this since the whole UMD movement doesn’t seem to have taken off the way I am sure they had hoped.

After Sony, I had to hit up a near, dear friend of mine: Atlus.  Their booth was pretty popular as there was a lot to see and do.  A quick walk through revealed a sadly ignored demo version of the Japanese Shiren the Wanderer for the Nintendo Wii.  I guess the percentage of people who go to E3 that care about rogue-like games is pretty low.  When the Atlus rep assigned to the game heard I was familiar with the series, his eyes lit up at the prospect of someone not being like “OMG I DIED WTF!”:

I had a lot of fun playing this game.  It was nostalgia-inducing since it’s still a Shiren game, but according to the Atlus rep, there are loads of new features.  One of the biggest changes concerns Shiren’s allies who can be controlled if necessary, which is great when you’re in a pinch and they decide to do something absolutely idiotic.  It felt fun on the Wii, too, which I think really helps counter any frustrations that come with rogue-likes.  I am so glad Atlus is bringing this over – your loss, Sega.

Next I played a bit of Persona for PSP and Devil Survivor.  Both would definitely be fun if I could sit down and focus on them.  The environment of E3 makes focusing on text-heavy games a little tough.  It basically brought my concentration down to an ADD-like state.

After that, I noticed a spot had cleared at the Demon’s Souls booth.  Salivate.  I played first as a warrior class character who wielded a large polearm/spear.  I was a tad disappointed there was no jump command as I just really felt like I should be able to jump.  Still, there is more than enough to compensate.

I checked out a few blood spatters which revealed how others before me had met their end.  I then climbed pretty high up in some castle where I met my end to an archer I didn’t even see.  After that, I decided to try a thief who proved to be more fun since they are more agile and their weaponry isn’t as cumbersome.  I got pretty far before getting killed by some flaming arrows.  Still, I wanted more.

After walking around a bit, I was shocked to discover a tiny wall displaying some NIS America titles in the works. I really wanted to get my hands on A Witch’s Tale since I don’t really know what to expect from it in terms of story and controls. From what I played, it definitely looks like it will be another characteristically cute, witty NIS game.  The main character Lidelle is controlled on the bottom screen with the stylus and although I didn’t get to check out the battle system, I liked what I played.  I was kinda hoping to check out the upcoming Sakura Wars title or Phantom Brave port but neither was available.

The last title of the day really worth mentioning was Muramasa: The Demon Blade.   There was quite the gathering around Ignition’s booth just about all day, and for good reason. I think this game was the most fun I had at E3. The controls were great and the game is as gorgeous as all the scans and screens had led us to believe.

An in-depth tutorial brought you up to speed on everything from moving and jumping to deflecting shuriken.  There are also a bunch of special attacks that can be executed depending on a few respective gauges and sword management.  The demo ends with a boss battle that was tough but enjoyable:

As you may be able to tell, I played as Kisuke.  Sadly, I didn’t play through Momohime’s story, but there is still time.  The demo does offer both explaining that different areas of Japan are explored depending on the character you start with.

E3 has been a lot of fun and I wish I could have gotten this article up sooner.  The jet lag will just suckerpunch me at random times, so when my brain says enough, it’s enough.  Well, that about sums up the first day, but I will give a run down of day 2 soon.  What will it include, you ask?  Oh, a little something about giant cows and maybe even some hilarious images of protesters if I am feeling generous.

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