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Top 10 Most Notable Absences from E3 2017

Where were they?

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The Last of Us Part II

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the last of us part ii

The Last of Us Part II was revealed just 6 months ago at PlayStation Experience and we were told at the time that it was in “super early development” but many fans still expected Naughty Dog to go into more depth on the Sony stage at E3.

Perhaps they would go into the story of the game and how it differs to the original, or maybe we would have got a quick first-look at The Last of Us Part II’s gameplay. However, since the show, Neil Druckmann has said that they wanted to leave the spotlight on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Maybe PSX in December is a more realistic time for us to see more.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2

Yes, Rockstar Games tends to stay away from E3 due to how well its games perform without too much promotion, but Red Dead Redemption 2’s close ties to PlayStation had many people expecting it to show up at Sony’s conference. Since the game’s announcement, we have seen just one teaser trailer that presented the setting and how beautiful the world will be but showed nothing about the characters or story. With multiple characters appearing in that teaser it was possible that we could play as more than one of them, or even none of them.

Also, since it was recently delayed until 2018, it would have been a great time to get fans excited again with some story information or an extended gameplay video. Hopefully Red Dead Redemption 2 isn’t delayed multiple times as the last two Grand Theft Auto games were and we will see it in the first half of 2018.

Dreams

dreams-ps4-screenshot-06

We have to see more from Dreams eventually. Although it wasn’t officially revealed until E3 2015, we heard that Media Molecule were working on it in 2013 while they finished Tearaway. A beta was due late last year but we never saw it and the developer has been silent since. The game had been confirmed to be coming to PlayStation VR so some expected that aspect to be shown off this year. The VR segment of the show, featuring Skyrim VR and other titles, would have been the perfect place to show off Dreams. They have since said that they hope to share more about the game later in 2017. Maybe PSX would be the perfect time.

New Sucker Punch Game

Infamous: First Light, Sucker Punch’s last release, came to PlayStation 4 in Aug. 2014 as a standalone add-on for Infamous: Second Son and we have seen nothing from the studio since.

We don’t know whether they’re working on a new IP or another Infamous game, but many thought that it may be the brand-new announcement to come out of Sony’s E3 2017 show. They have certainly been working on something for a few years so it cannot be long until we see it in action. Shuhei Yoshida also said after the conference that Sony were holding back exclusives to show at another time. He said that they “chose not to show” certain titles during E3 and that we would see more from them later in the year. Hopefully PSX 2017 will be when we see what they held back.

Super Smash Bros. Switch

Super Smash Bros

With Mario Kart 8 already on Switch and Pokken Tournament coming soon, many assumed that Super Smash Bros. would be the next Wii U title to make its way over to Nintendo’s new console. It would undoubtedly sell fantastically if it did, so the fact that it didn’t appear during Nintendo’s E3 Direct may point towards an entirely new Smash Bros. for Switch.

That may be the case and could be similar to their plan with Pokemon. Some fans were upset that Ultra Sun and Moon aren’t coming to Switch, but Nintendo revealed that a core Pokemon game is being worked on for Switch. They could have the same planned for Smash Bros.

Shin Megami Tensei 5

Shin Megami Tensei for Nintendo Switch

A Shin Megami Tensei game was originally announced at the Nintendo Switch reveal event. The teaser trailer we were shown revealed nothing about the game other than the fact that it will be developed using Unreal Engine 4 but fans of the series hoped that we’d get an update on it at Nintendo’s E3 2017 conference.

Shin Megami Tensei 4: Apocalypse, the last game in the series to release, came to the 3DS last summer. Atlus did recently say that they weren’t sure whether or not the next game in the series would come to the West but, either way, it has been six months since we heard anything about it and details were limited at the first reveal.

From Software’s Next Game

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Of all the Sony E3 predictions for games that had yet to be announced, Bloodborne 2 or another From Software title seemed like a certainty to many. From Software are said to be working on more than one game and the Director of Dark Souls 3 said that he wanted to make the “game that he wants to make now,”  and that he isn’t concerned whether it is Dark Souls or not.

It has been over 2 years since the first Bloodborne released and over 14 months since From Software’s last game, Dark Souls 3, released. With so many new exclusives announced over the past year, and considering the success of the first Bloodborne, it felt like E3 2017 was the first time to reveal the sequel. Hopefully it is just a matter of time until we see it From Software’s next game, whether it be a new Bloodborne game or not.

New Splinter Cell

With two Tom Clancy titles releasing in 2016 (Ghost Recon: Wildlands and The Division) and the increasing popularity of Rainbow Six: Siege, many thought that now was the perfect time for Splinter Cell to return. 2013’s Blacklist was underwhelming, so maybe Ubisoft is planning on changing direction with the series.

At least we know now that they are “not forgetting Splinter Cell.” The IP as we know it doesn’t fit the open-world mold of other Ubisoft games, but the stealth focused linear structure could be a refreshing change to the sprawling open world’s Tom Clancy games have recently featured.

Visceral’s Star Wars

The expectation is that Visceral’s single-player Star Wars game will release next year so it made sense for fans to expect to get an update on it at E3. However, since so much focus has been placed on Star Wars Battlefront 2, EA may not have wanted to confuse gamers by talking about two Star Wars games so close to each other.

Having two games set in the same narrative universe, albeit with entirely different focuses, could prove to be a huge marketing challenge. Maybe the next time we see Visceral’s Star Wars game will not be long before its release.

New Dragon Age

dragon age: inquisition

This November will mark three years since Dragon Age: Inquisition, which is nearly the same period of time as between Inquisition and Dragon Age 2. A writer has said that BioWare is working on the next title, so it was fair for many fans to hope that it would appear at E3.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of it. Inquisition was popular with both fans and critics so it would make sense for Bioware to capitalise on the popularity of the series.

About the author

Twinfinite Staff Writer

Tom Hopkins

A Film and English graduate from London who plays far too much FIFA. Playing Games since 1999. Favorite Genres: Third-Person Action, Racing, and Narrative-Driven.

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