These Are The Best Trailers That You Likely Missed During E3 2017
E3 has a tendency to bury the smaller stuff, but worry not.
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E3 is always the busiest time of the year regarding video game news. And because of that, sometimes things get buried. Or actually, a lot of things get buried. Whether it's localization announcements for niche titles across the world, debut trailers for independent games not paraded on big conference stages, newly released demo announcements (like for Nintendo's upcoming 3DS RPG Miitopia), or more.
Over here at USgamer, we were expectedly swamped at all hours of the day, but over the weekend I stumbled upon an announcement that I completely missed in the midst of the chaos. A game called Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin was announced for worldwide audiences, a charming independent side-scrolling platformer that doubles as a farming simulation of sorts, where the player cultivates a farm of rice in-between all the action.
The concept was endearing, and it inspired me to seek out more trailers that I completely missed during the week. Some entirely, some just missing coverage over on the site. Now that the busy week of incessant news hell has wrapped up, I figured I'd collect some trailers you likely missed too, to tidy them up all into one cozy spot. We've already done a couple conference-related wrap-ups, from our official E3 awards to our 10 favorite trailers overall from the conference, but these... These are the trailers you likely missed.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
We caught wind of Vanillaware's upcoming illustrated game a week before E3. But come E3 2017 we were treated with another teaser trailer for the upcoming title, which has been confirmed for release in Japan and western territories though with no release window. 13 Sentinels looks dramatically different from Vanillaware's past games (Dragon's Crown, Odin Sphere), taking place in a semi-modern world where enormous mechas exist. The trailer highlights 13 characters the player will "cross paths with," as well as the enormous titular mecha itself: 13 Sentinel. Atlus hasn't announced platforms in the west for the game yet, but in Japan the game has been confirmed for PlayStation 4 and Vita.
Call of Cthulhu
Oh buddy, someone's trying to adapt H.P. Lovecraft again. Call of Cthulhu is an upcoming game from developer Cyanide, the team behind Styx: Master of Shadows. Call of Cthulhu looks notably creepier than the team's prior games, with a clear sense of focus in terms of its gothic mood. The game follows private investigator Edward Pierce who battles with psychological terror as he investigates the death of a family on an eerie island called Darkwater Island (you'd think that'd be an ominous hint to leave immediately on its own). Call of Cthulhu looks like a horror in the vein of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, the type where you don't really fight back at all. Call of Cthulhu is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Hidden Agenda
I was surprised that Hidden Agenda was relegated to just Sony's pre-show for their big E3 press conference, rather than their main show. Actually, I was surprised to see all of the upcoming party-friendly Jackbox Party Pack-esque games of Sony's upcoming PlayLink stowed away to their pre-show. Alas, the pre-show was where Hidden Agenda thrived, and surprised both viewers and the people who got to demo it at E3.
Hidden Agenda is one of the upcoming games from the developers behind the criminally underrated Until Dawn (they're also making a generic-looking military PSVR game and an Until Dawn prequel for PSVR). The game's a party game technically, shown through a PS4 and played via people's mobile phones. It's an adventure game—similarly designed like Until Dawn—where players' actions drive the narrative forward, and choices are integral. But with this being a co-op-like adventure, players vote on options with their phones. Hidden Agenda will be releasing sometime this year.
Ooblets
I think Ooblets might be my most-anticipated game right now. It's a lovely combination of all the best bits of Animal Crossing, Pokémon, Harvest Moon, and probably other adorable games I'm missing. When I played it back at GDC this year, I wondered how all these elements—of monster collecting and battling, farming, and friendship making—would mix. And it turns out, they blend pretty damn well.
Ooblets showed two trailers this past week at E3, but the best was the longer one that made an appearance at the PC Gaming Show. We got more adorable glimpses of dancing, character customization, venturing into ominous dark forests. Ooblets is shaping up to be one of the most saccharine-looking games in recent memory, but it's still a ways off, with release coming in 2018 to Xbox One and PC.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
As I wrote above, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin took me by complete surprise. It's an independently developed game from Japan, following a harvest goddess as she battles demons and harvests rice to help her human neighbors thrive. The game alternates between the farming simulation and 2D platforming action, breaking up the game's pace in a unique way I've never seen before. According to XSEED, who are localizing the title, the game is "is an ode to the artistry of cultivating rice, and an engrossing simulation of the craft behind the agriculture." Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin will release in 2018 on PS4 and PC.
Unto the End
Unto the End follows a sad dad, a dad with a pension for vengeance. His family's been slaughtered by a creature, so here he is in the cold, dark world, searching for revenge to kill the creature that took away everything from him. Unto the End is a gory, 2D "cinematic adventure" game from 2 Ton Studios. It has no HUD, no levelling up, no currency, staying true to its "cinematic" nature. The game's story is driven by choice, according to its description, cluing that the player may have to make some tough choices over the course of the game. Unto the End is currently in development and will release in 2018 for PS4.