My Spell Check is Going to Hate Me: Xbox Partner Preview 03/06/24

Video games can be just as eccentric as any other artistic medium, and sometimes those quirks bleed into their titles (any Kingdom Hearts or Nier fans in the house?). The collection of games covered in this conference required having a dozen tabs open to check and double-check the most mundane grammatical details. Not just the spelling of foreign words and puns but what to capitalize, what words are actually acronyms, spacing, and colon placement (according to Google it’s Unknown 9, not Unknown9). 

Ultimately, it was worth it. 

Or I hope it was. 

Thank you for reading, by the way. 

Even though this event seemingly came out of nowhere, they sure showed a lot of cool stuff in 30 minutes. I’m aware more info was published on Xbox Wire for many of the titles shown today so some of my questions might already have answers. These are just first impressions to add some context to what you’ve already seen. I’ll wade into the interviews for the more murky announcements later. 

Unknown 9: Awakening 

From the first frame, it’s obvious the devs are following the Assassin’s Creed playbook (slinking across a balance beam, hiding in tall grass, shimmying along ledges, the vaguely Middle Eastern setting, etc.). However, deeper into the preview, more stands out–mostly in the form of combat using ghostly projections and some kind of energy shield. 

I’m going to immediately forget about this and reassess when more footage is released in the future. 

Sleight of Hand

There’s not much to deduce from this sleek cinematic–but my love of witches, cards, and stealth all tell me, with no bias whatsoever,  that there’s no reason this can’t be the best thing ever made. 

Matt Jarvis over at Rock Paper Shotgun seems to think this could be a spiritual successor to Metal Gear Ac!d. That feels like wishful thinking (and now I’m also wishing for that). 

Regardless, they have me on the hook and I’m not letting go. Bring on the gameplay trailer. 

The Alters

This looks weird and I’m into it. 

You are tasked with completing a mission on the harshest planet imaginable. To achieve this, you commandeer a giant wheel-shaped vessel populated with clones of yourself (you alter these copies by changing decisions you made in your past). I hope there’s a strong narrative to go with the robust base management and survival mechanics.

Is astronauts with bad marriages a trope? I don’t have trouble believing it but it feels like we’ve been hit with a flood of that recently. 2024 is going to be the year of Space Divorce. 

Creatures of Ava

Whoever put this conference together picked a good spot for Creatures of Ava. It’s more colorful and cute than the solar death and occultism of what we lead with (the protagonist literally pied pipers her way through lush environments followed by mini dinosaurs). The internet is already calling it a “cozier version of Palworld.” I don’t know if that’s a fair assessment yet or if we’re just getting lazy and are tired of comparing everything to Pokemon.    

Griefville x Roblox x Chucky thing

Griefville is what I call my life these days. 

Chucky is already in Dead by Daylight so I’m not sure what purpose this serves (other than to make the Chucky people more money). But I also accept that I’m not the target audience for this and that’s okay. 

The Sinking City 2

The second the Frogwares logo appeared I said it would be funny if this was a sequel to The Sinking City. Then boom, like clockwork, fish people rising from the muck. 

The original Sinking City is really interesting and really flawed. I’ll be curious to see what the developers focus on this time out (getting another crack at something this niche is increasingly rare in the game industry). This was easily one of my favorite surprises of the event. 

Final Fantasy XIV Xbox release

Just in time for Xbox players to get 10% of the way caught up before the Dawntrail expansion releases this summer. (No disrespect intended, I casually started last year and I’m still stuck  in A Realm Reborn).

I like that we’re just referring to FFXIV as a “life-changing story” now. Give Yoshi-P the Nobel Prize or something. Really, he deserves it. 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: The Legends of the Zone Trilogy

I looked up what that backronym stands for. Ready?

Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, and Robbers. 

I’ll say it every time, keep giving us new and accessible ways to play old games. 

This was also the point in the showcase where my power blinked leaving me without reliable internet. I had to watch the remainder of the event on my phone. Spoiler: that tiny screen did not do Monster Jam Showdown justice. 

Monster Jam Showdown 

I’m curious to try this because the physics of monster trucks seem like they would lend themselves to tipping over on every turn. The sense of speed also isn’t what you want (regardless of  how much blur they’ve added). Don’t believe me? Watch the trailer and tell me with a straight face these vehicles are traveling over 100mph. I could probably make the podium with a brisk jog. 

I recognize Grave Digger (See? I’m basically an expert on the sport) and there’s a shark truck. 

At the conclusion of this preview I turned to my sister and told her that I found her next game. She was not amused. 

Persona 3: Episode Aigis 

During the brief window I thought this was dropping today I felt it was perfect–for all the people who managed to play a 100+ hour RPG over the last three weeks. 

When the original Persona 3 was deluxified on the PS2, it included a lengthy epilogue called “The Answer.” This is some version of that. I remember it being difficult and combat heavy. It’s nice to have confirmation that it’s on the way. It looks just as moody and stylish as the base game. 

Don’t panic, it’s coming out in September. 

Persona might be the only franchise that can get me hyped for costume and music DLC. 

The First Berserker: Khazan

I have no relationship to the DNF universe but this looks cool. I like the bleak, dark fantasy setting against the subtle cel shading. It reminds me of Code Vein but less anime (only slightly less anime). 

I imagine its success will depend on its combat. I’m hopeful. The trailer made sure to include plenty of FromSoftware double door pushing.  

Frostpunk 2

I appreciate the balls it takes to reveal your release date before revealing what you’re selling (the Resident Evil 4 Remake premiere is the all-time best version of this). This is another strategy thing that I’ll probably never touch but I like the Frostpunk aesthetics (using the fractures on the surface of a frozen lake to represent choices and skill tree paths is especially nifty). I’ll keep an eye out for reviews in July. 

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU

Despite seeing this for the third time in four months this still looks great. With an April release locked in we should be able to avoid oversaturation (unless they find a way to sneak in a few more trailers in the next month–don’t bet against EA). 

The bright purple particles juxtaposed with a drying and dying world makes me think of Ori. There are worse games to be compared to in the Metroidvania space. 

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess 

Capcom had me at creepy, Asian mythology (to be fair, Capcom had me at Capcom). The real-time strategy and escort aspects shown today don’t interest me at all. At the very least, it has its own identity now and isn’t going to get lost in the character action game shuffle (which was my assumption when it was first announced). Being a day one release on Game Pass means there’s no risk in checking it out. I’m still in. 

God, I want a new Onimusha. 

I think it was just last week that I wrote we’d entered pre-”E3” purgatory (Pre3?). I’m already wrong–but I don’t mind being wrong if that means we get steady reveals like this. Not necessarily titles competing for game of the year slots, but satisfying (mostly less than 100 hour) experiences to fill in the gaps. 

Now if only we could get a Switch 2 confirmation (or a Silksong release date). 

I know, I’ll never be happy.