It’s that time of year where the streets of Tokyo are flooded with the best of games and otakus. So its basically every day in Tokyo. With the resurgence of classic PlayStation games and the popularity of the Switch this year’s Tokyo Game Show was pumping with action. Filled to the brim with indie, mobile and blockbuster titles alike, it was hard to know what to visit first. So here’s our list of some of the best things at Tokyo Game Show 2018!
Ace Combat 7 by Bandai Namco
The Ace Combat series has always delivered satisfying aerial dogfights, with players desperately chase after aircrafts at breakneck speeds, weaving in and out of incoming gunfire, and opportunistically launching missiles to swat their target out of the air. However, what really makes this series hit hard with fans is the melodrama and surprisingly human stories that are occasionally told in between the bombastic jet-on-jet showdowns. To ensure fans won’t be disappointed, Ace Combat 7 returns to its roots in the universe of earlier entries in the series, which means there’s more of an opportunity to get weird and cheesy with the story, which is exactly what everyone wants. For those who can stomach the speed and neck-breaking twists and turns, Ace Combat 7 will also have a PlayStation VR experience when it launches.
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: January 18th 2018
Catherine Full Body by Studio Zero, Atlus
Catherine: Full Body is much more than just a remaster of 2011’s sleeper-hit puzzle adventure Catherine. Following the tale of Vincent Brooks a 32-year-old man facing a midlife crisis. In his attempt to escape from a more serious commitment with his girlfriend Katherine, Vincent goes for a drink and ends up sleeping with the blond and beautiful Catherine. An affair ensues and Vincent has to juggle both women while deciding which of the two is his true love. Over 20 new anime scenes have been added and the story has been changed to make room for the addition of a brand new heroine character named ‘Rin‘ who more than likely may be the third woman in this tricycle.
Platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
Release Date: 2019
Days Gone by SIE Bend Studio
https://youtu.be/D7c3ZngNJwE
In the high desert of the Pacific Northwest, Days Gone is an open-world action game set two years after a mysterious global pandemic has decimated the world, killing most but transforming millions into mindless, feral creatures called Freakers. At TGS, Bend Studio released a demo that showed of a 15-minute long gameplay that featured the protagonist Deacon St. John bounty hunter. Using a mixture of stealth and action, Days Gone is not your average zombie apocalypse game. The Freakers have their own ecosystem and behaviour patterns and they come in hordes.
Platform: PlayStation 4
Release Date: February 22nd 2019
Dead Or Alive 6 by Koei Tecmo Games, Team Ninja
Dead or Alive 6 is the first mainline entry in the series in six years, and the first for the current console generation, running on a new engine that allows for visible damage on fighters. Dead or Alive 6 seems to be focusing on a more brutal and technical approach than its previous entries. Starring usual favourites such as Kasumi, Hayate and Ryu Hayabusa, fans can expect another exciting fighter with plenty of stages, characters and costume customisation to look forward to.
The fighting of Dead or Alive 6 should feel familiar to those that have played the series before, but there are two new systems at play for veterans to explore: Fatal Rush and Break Gauge. Fatal Rush is a mechanic that lets you initiate a series of heavy, slow attacks that deal a lot of damage. While the Break Gauge, once full, can be used to break free from holds and combos to interrupt your opponent’s momentum and regain the upper hand in a fight.
On top of that we got another announcement that a Dead or Alive Festival will be held at the Ochanomizu Sora City Conference Center in Tokyo on November 18th. where a new female character will be released.
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: 2019
Death Stranding by Kojima Productions
Death Stranding launches a brand new trailer to a massive crowd at Tokyo Game Show 2018 and I’m still no clearer as to what is going on. At this point, we should just stop asking questions and just let Kojima-san continue to dazzle us.
In addition to their already prolific star studded cast, the trailer now introduces Troy Baker – voice actor of Joel from The Last of Us as some sort of gold masked game master? What’s happening now? Is he from some rival delivery company? What world is that hellbeast from? Does he have a baby too? What are those black oil creatures coming out of the ground? So many questions and absolutely zero answers.
Along with the trailer the studio announced actor Tommie Earl Jenkins will be joining the craziness that is Death Stranding in his own role as a black skull mask dude.
Platform: PlayStation 4
Release Date: Who knows really
Déraciné by FromSoftware
FromSoftware is mostly known for the Souls series of games, but if you look back in the studio’s history you’ll find an eclectic mix of games across a wide range of genres. While the upcoming Sekiro (check out our highlight from Gamescom) seems to follow in Souls‘ footsteps, Déraciné is a PSVR game that veers in a very different direction.
Players take the role of an unseen faerie who appears in an old secluded boarding school where six boys and girls and their aging headmaster live. It’s pitched as an adventure game and while the details remain a mystery, it’s clear that the game is going for a foreboding and mysterious approach to its storytelling.
Platform: PlayStation VR
Release Date: November 6th 2018
Devil May Cry 5 by Capcom
Capcom has made a big deal about Devil May Cry being back in a big way for the fifth entry in the mainline series and, based on what’s been shown so far, it seems like a return to the over the top, quintessentially Japanese take on action that fans have come to know and love. While Devil May Cry 4‘s Nero is technically in the lead protagonist role, the series’ flamboyant favourite son Dante will also be returning for another outing.
At Tokyo Game Show, Capcom revealed a new character, V, while also unveiling Dante in playable form. Familiar yet fresh, he boasts his broadest moveset yet and to top it off it’s placed in a ludicrously good-looking game. With photo-real elements mixing well into Devil May Cry‘s typical bold style.
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: March 8th 2019
Dragon Quest Builders 2
The original Dragon Quest Builders was something of a surprise when it released–most people expected it to be nothing more than a simple cash-in on Minecraft‘s success. It turned out that surface level comparison belied the game’s distinct Dragon-Quest charm and true RPG-like qualities, and Builders ultimately earned a reputation all its own. The main premise of this sequel is to make the empty Monzala Island a lively place with people. In order to do this, the main story will have you venturing out to other places in the game world and helping the people out there.
Platform: PlayStation 4, Switch
Release Date: December 20th 108
Judge Eyes by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, SEGA
Announced at the Tokyo Game Show conference, Project Judge(or Judge Eyes) was revealed today by Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi. On its surface, Judge Eyes seems like a more serious project from the developers. You play as a lawyer and investigate murders, but also use drones to find out if husbands are cheating on wives and drop kick hoodlums in the street, for some reason.
There aren’t many details revealed for the upcoming detective thriller from Ryu Ga Gotoku studios, however, screenshots that have shown up following the announcement suggest features such as branching dialogue, combat mechanics, and stealth aspects. While players seem to be placed on the other side of the law this time around, Yakuza’s action-adventure beat-em-up style is still on display.
Platform: PlayStation 4
Release Date: 2018 in Japan and 2019 everywhere else
Kingdom Hearts 3 by Square Enix
After more than a decade of waiting Kingdom Hearts 3 is just within arms reach. Square Enix has really upped the ante with the inclusion of some of Disney’s biggest titles such as Big Hero 6, Toy Story and Frozen into the Kingdom Hearts world.
At Tokyo Game Show we’re treated to an even closer look at the upcoming game with a bunch of gameplay footage. In this clip, Sora is facing off against Aqua from Birth by Sleep as she is overcome by the Darkness. If you have no idea what I’m talking about and have just plain forgotten all the characters and storylines, well we don’t blame you but you can play catch up in our article Kingdom Heart’s Convoluted Story Explained here.
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: January 29th 2019 (fingers crossed)
Ninjala by GungHo Online
What happens when you cross the cartoony antics of Arms with the calculated multiplayer zaniness of Splatoon? It might look something like Ninjala, GungHo Online‘s upcoming multiplayer action game.
Ninjala projects the same candy-coated attitude of Splatoon, but its PvP battles are designed around a very different set of mechanics and rules that distinguish it from Nintendo‘s light-hearted shooter. Rather than pit players against each other with ranged weapons, every combatant blows bubblegum bubbles to generate melee weapons of relative strength: the bigger the bubble, the stronger (and slower) the weapon. There’s an inherent risk to the process as well–you will get trapped by your gum should another player knock you out of commission.
It’s too early to tell if Ninjala‘s mix of presentation and game design will rise to meet the expectations from its perceived visual mimicry of Splatoon, but based on the extravagant booth at TGS 2018, it’s clear that publisher GungHo is betting big on its flagship 2019 Switch release.
Platform: Switch
Release Date: January 29th 2019 (fingers crossed)
Resident Evil 2 Remake by Capcom
Capcom released a brand-new Resident Evil 2 Remake trailer at Tokyo Game Show and it was… different. There’s some impressive graphical overhaul and beyond the familiar faces and monsters, it’s hardly recognisable from the original 1998 release. According to Capcom, the “game has been completely rebuilt from the ground up for a deeper narrative experience. Resident Evil 2 offers a fresh take on the classic survival horror saga with breathtakingly realistic visuals, heart-poundingly immersive audio, a new over-the-shoulder camera, and modernized controls on top of gameplay modes from the original game.” There are new puzzles to solve, areas to explore and surprises for both new and old players of the series.
It’s good to see Capcom returning to its Resident Evil roots: combining survival-horror gameplay full of scares and paralyzing horrifying monsters with an emotional and personal story full of memorable characters. It’s definitely a step in the right direction from Resident Evil: Umbrella Corps.
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: January 25th 2019
Warriors Orochi 4 by Koei Tecmo
Out just a few days from now Warriors Orochi 4 had a huge presence at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, no doubt in proximity to its launch date. The Orochi series takes place in an alternate dimension where Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors characters fight side by side at the behest of the one, the only, Zeus, the Greek god of thunder. There are 170 characters available for you to play from both games as well as from the previous Orochi games as well as amazingly those from Greek mythology.
Orochi 4’s new combat system is a way to make things consistently more spectacular, rather than more skill-based. Every character now comes with a ‘Sacred Treasure’ weapon alongside their standard murder tool of choice. Tied to an always-building meter this lets you pull off a series of magic moves that are, almost universally, hilariously dumb. Involving a skateboarding Tadakatsu Honda, flaming boars and electrial globes. It should be fabulous chaos.
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Release Date: September 27th 2018
