June is an exciting time for gamers as the litany of conferences that replaced E-3 dominate the first half of the month, and the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase provided the most E3-like presentation out of the whole conference. Streamed on June 12 at 1 p.m. EDT on the official twitchgaming channel, YouTube, and Xbox channels, the show gave many of the best gaming announcements of this season.
Along with this showcase, there was also another presentation on June 14 at 1 p.m. called the Xbox Games Showcase Extended, which featured more announcements and in-depth looks. Even before that, this presentation had multiple worthwhile announcements including Diablo IV.
Minecraft Legends Is A New RTS From Mojang
Scheduled to release in 2023, Minecraft Legends is an action strategy game that takes place within the Minecraft Universe. Created by both Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive, the game follows the customizable protagonist as they fight to save the Overworld from the evil piglins and their Nether corruption.
As the player explores the world, they’ll need to gather resources in order to build defenses. There will also be various characters that the player will meet and form alliances with, which will make up the armies. Multiple players can also play together as either allies or enemies.
As Dusk Falls Is A Uniquely Stylized Drama
Releasing on July 19, As Dusk Falls is an interactive drama adventure game that utilizes a unique art-style that combines both still images and animation. Although objects such as cars are animated normally, each character’s movements are portrayed as multiple still-images that are meant to mimic graphic novels. Though potential players are divided about this design choice, it’s obvious that this style has made the game stand out at least.
Beginning in 1998 with a robbery in a small town in Arizona, the game follows two families over the course of thirty years, and the player’s choices determine the fates of all the characters. Similarly to the Supermassive Games title Hidden Agenda, up to eight players will be able to play together and vote on which choices will be made.
Ravenlok Is A Reimagined Fairytale
Developed by Cococucumber, who also created the 2021 turn-based adventure game Echo Generation, Ravenlok is an Alice In Wonderland-inspired action RPG that’s planned to be released in early 2023. The game follows a young girl who falls into a magic mirror that sends her to a fallen kingdom that has been cursed by Caterpillar Queen.
As she explores this fantasy realm, she will meet various unique characters and complete quests for them in order to unlock their secrets. She will also need to fight enemies, battle ginormous arena-based bosses, find new weapons, and gather items that will level up her skills.
Become The Shadows In Ereban: Shadow Legacy
Ereban: Shadow Legacy is a science fiction action-adventure stealth game that doesn’t have a release date yet. The game follows a young woman named Ayana, who is the last descendant of an ancient race known as the Ereban, as she tries to uncover who she is and what happened to her people. As she explores the world and searches for remnants of the Ereban, she will also uncover the secrets behind the cryptic energy megacorporation called Helios.
Using the mystical Shadow Merge ability, Ayana can literally become one with the shadows, which can help her hide, sneak up on enemies, and travel to places that would normally be impossible. During the journey, players can decide whether to kill or avoid enemies and can use items to create various gadgets.
Flintlock: The Siege Of Dawn Combines Magic With Guns
Scheduled to release in early 2023, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is an open-world action-adventure RPG that features both magic and guns, a newer combination for the genre. Because the army of the undead has escaped from the afterlife, most of humanity has been destroyed and a coalition army has been established as a final effort to retake the world of the living.
As a member of the coalition named Nor Vanek, who is joined by a magical fox-like companion named Enki, the player must battle and defeat the old gods and their armies. Using magic, axes, guns, and more, the player will explore the dangerous world and uncover its secrets.
Fight Vampires In Redfall
Created by Arkane Studios, who also developed Prey and the Dishonored series, Redfall is an open-world supernatural action-adventure FPS that’s scheduled to release in 2023. Taking place on the island town of Redfall, Massachusetts, the game follows four unconventional heroes as they fight against the army of vampires who have blocked out the sun and cut off the town from the rest of the world.
The four main characters include Devinder Crousley, who is armed with his own inventions, Layla Ellison, who has telekinetic abilities, Remi de la Rosa, who has a robot companion, and Jacob Boyer, who has a vampiric eye and a spectral raven. In both single-player and co-op playthroughs, players can experience their unique abilities and upgrade them to suit their style.
New Footage For Hollow Knight: Silksong
Created as a sequel to the award-winning metroidvania Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight: Silksong is a 2D action-adventure metroidvania that’s set to release sometime within the next 12 months. The game follows Hornet, who is the princess-protector of Hallownest and the half-sister of the Knight from the first game, as she is taken to the kingdom of Pharloom, which is “haunted by Silk and Song.”
Unlike the first game where the Knight descended to the depths of Hallownest, this sequel has the player slowly climbing to the top of the kingdom to discover why she was brought there. Using her needle, Hornet will fight over 150 new foes, meet new characters, and complete quests.
Persona Games Being Ported To Xbox And Windows
While the Shin Megami Tensei franchise and its spin-off series Persona have a long history, the franchise began receiving mainstream popularity after Persona 3. During the Xbox & Bethesda presentation, it was announced that Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal will be available on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Windows, and Xbox Game Pass. The Persona 5 Royal ports already have a release date of Oct. 21.
Along with this, another significant announcement during the presentation was that Xbox Game Studios is partnering with the iconic game developer Hideo Kojima to create a new game. According to Kojima, this untitled new game is something he has wanted to make for a very long time.
Necromancer Class Announced For Diablo IV
Diablo IV is the upcoming action RPG dungeon crawler that’s part of the historic Diablo franchise and set to release in 2023. Taking place after Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, the game follows the Nephalem protagonist as they travel across the world of Sanctuary, defeat monsters, complete quests, and eventually stop Lilith, who has recently returned.
During this showcase, it was announced that the Necromancer class will be an available class in Diablo IV, which joined the other already announced character classes of Barbarian, Sorceress, Druid, and Rogue. The presentation also showed off some new gameplay.
Gameplay Footage For The Highly Anticipated Starfield
Scheduled to release in 2023, Starfield is an open-world RPG and the latest major project from Bethesda. In this completely new universe from the studio, the game takes place in the year 2330, and humanity can now travel across the universe and has settled in many planets outside of the solar system. Beginning as a space miner, the customized player character will join a group of space explorers known as Constellation, who search for rare artifacts across the galaxy.
Players who have wanted to see actual gameplay from the title finally had their prayers answered during the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase. This long gameplay trailer showed that the game will allow players to visit multiple planets, explore various cities, meet NPCs, and fly their spaceship throughout space; although the promise of being able to visit over a thousand planets has divided viewers who envision this potentially slowing down the game.
