E3 2017: Ubisoft Conference

     This year, Ubisoft brought the fire. Not to say that their show last year was terrible, it was perfectly fine, but this year, they really pulled out all the stops. they started off with Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, and to say that the game was a pleasant surprise is putting it lightly, the bright colors and well done dialogue free storytelling mixed with the SRPG gameplay, makes it look like it will be quite the fun experience when it realeses 29, Aug, 2017. From there they moved on to an Assassin's Creed: Origins trailer, that should have been the reveal, it is looking good, it is good to see the direction the series is headed.

     The Crew 2 was revealed, and they have increased the number of motorsports, to include boats, planes, and bikes. It looks vastly improved over the first game, it seems to have gotten an increase in budget due to selling well enough. Though there is not really much detail given, the story "The King Of Racing" aspect seems weird, though judgement will be held till more information is given. The release date is set for early 2018, and you can sign up for the beta at thecrewgame.com/beta. There was a short, yet entertaining trailer for South Park: The Fractured But Whole showing a bit more of the story, and character interactions, while entertaining, not particularly interesting personally, but it does look well made, with a release date of 17, Oct, 2017. The next thing shown was a strange VR experience called Transference, more of a reveal trailer, and not much was really give, but looks interesting, with a release window of spring 2018. 

     They went straight into a reveal of a new IP called Skull And Bones, a game that seems they took the boat segments from Assassin's Creed 4 and made a multiplayer focused game out of being a pirate in the early 1700's. The game looks really slick and stylish, and while the game itself looks fun, personally not one for specifically multiplayer focused games, while that may not be the case at release, due to the game not releasing until at least fall 2018. You can once again gain access to a beta type experience for the game at www.skullandbonesgame.com. Just Dance 2018 was revealed in standard fashion with dancers, and music, not much else can really be said. A quick trailer was given for a South Park themed card based RPG on mobile, titled South Park: Phone Destroyer, once again, South Park is not personally interesting, it looks well made. 

     After that, they introduced a new IP, titled StarLink: Battle For Atlas, which is another game that has a release window of fall 2018. Aside from the art style, and science fiction feel to it with fighter ships and space combat, is the added of physical toy fighter ships that can be augmented with extra parts that change the appearance in game. The strangest, or coolest, depending on your opinion, is the ships themselves will attach to the top of your controller, though there is a digital option for those who do not wish yo collect toys to play the game. Other than it coming to all consoles, and first to the Switch, little information was given. A short announcement of an Olympic themed DLC for Steep, releasing in December titled Road To The Olympics. After that they showed a decently detailed trailer for Far Cry 5, the best part of the whole conference was the surprise reveal of Beyond Good And Evil 2. Developed of course with Michel Ancel, and his team, it is a prequel to the original game, that takes place before the birth of Jade. They showed an amazing trailer that gave a taste of their plans for the game is exciting. While there is no indication of any sort of release window, like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Shenmue 3, that is perfectly acceptable because the more attention the game get, the better it becomes. 

     In conclusion, as it stands Ubisoft has raised the bar significantly over the others this year, There was a small amount of slow going midway through, but the energy and presentations were energetic and passionate. While their normal hostess of Aisha Tyler was absent, for whatever reason this year, they did a good job of keeping it interesting without forcing it, and the only true competition to them presentation wise at this point, is Sony. 6 pm is the time the Sony conference starts, and the hype level for it is in the stratosphere see you there!
~こゆうきあいはら「Koyuuki Aihara」