Moving onto day two! This is where two of the heaviest of hitters presented, as well as where most of what I am personally excited for was shown. So let’s get started with the first Xbox and Bethesda joint showcase! Oh boy, we FINALLY got to see the actual gameplay of the highly anticipated Halo Infinite! This looks like a true return to form for the Halo franchise. After the disappointment that was Halo 5, 343 Industries had to do some damage control with the fans, and I would say that they are on the right track! Mixing the visceral gunplay that Halo is known for with a seemingly open world is a match made in heaven. If you thought it couldn’t get any better, let me drop this info for you. At launch, Halo Infinite’s multiplayer suite will be free to play for all players so get ready to team up with or go against your friends! Xbox has announced that this is the biggest setting that the Halo franchise has ever seen and I cannot wait to dive in! If all goes according to plan, we will be able to play Halo Infinite just in time for the Holidays of 2021! 

Next up, the elusive Todd Howard of Bethesda has finally given us info on what their next open-world RPG, Starfield, will be! Describing it as “Skyrim in space,” Todd Howard has said that this will be a slightly more hardcore role-playing game, giving the players almost free reign over the story they want to participate in and just who their character will be. Starfield will be exclusive to Xbox Series X, Series S and Windows 10. You will be able to play Starfield day one though with Game Pass, and day one will be Nov. 11, 2022 (for all my Skyrim fans out there, that is exactly 11 years since Skyrim’s release). 

This next game is one that I am very excited about. If you are a co-op game fan or just love shooting seemingly endless waves of the undead, then Back 4 Blood is the game for you! Developed by Turtle Rock Studios, known for the Left 4 Dead franchise, we are finally getting a new entry! Kind of. As this isn’t a true sequel to the Left 4 Dead series, this is a reimagining of the formula! The concept is simple, you and three other people team up to face off against an ever-growing zombie threat. How long will you survive? What this game adds to the formula though is a new PvP (player versus player) mode where one team plays as the humans, also known as The Cleaners, and the other as the infected (also known as The Ridden). I am very excited to give this game a try on Oct. 12, 2021.

Wrapping up day two, we have Square Enix. The biggest standout for me from this showcase was a new sequel to the Life is Strange series called Life is Strange: True Colors. Life is Strange is an incredibly emotional ride of a game. It really dives deep into the relationships of the characters and what they want out of this world while also dealing with some supernatural psychic powers along the way. In Life is Strange: True Colors you will be playing Alex Chen, trying to solve the mystery of her brother’s death. The stories Life is Strange is capable of putting out are always amazing and I expect this one to be nothing different. You will be able to play Life is Strange: True Colors on Sept. 10, 2021.

The last major showcase I would like to talk about is Nintendo Direct. Get ready to explore the expansive fields of Hyrule once more in the upcoming sequel to Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. I always get excited about a new Zelda game, and in typical Nintendo fashion, we only got to see a very vague trailer for the new game so we don’t really know what the story is yet, but come 2022 all will become clear. One more standout from this Nintendo Direct was Metroid Dread, a new 2D Metroid game putting you in the shoes of the legendary bounty hunter, Samus Aran. 

That covers it! A lot of good stuff is coming down the road and I can’t wait to play some new titles. Let me know what games you are excited about and we can have a chat about it!

Read about Day One!