#yeah so what if i got into [long-running franchise] from playing [most recent installment]

[goldensunset]

anyway i can't stand gamer snobs

[cosmic-navel-gazin]

This is something a bit different from me, but in light of the recent announcement from Ubisoft that there’s going to be a remake of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time coming out in January 2021, I thought I’d share some thoughts.

(This started out small but got outta hand so super long post incoming, no spoilers for the games)

So first off, a bit of my history with the original game.

 I’m a big fan of the Prince of Persia (PoP) franchise, and I’ll fully admit that nostalgia plays a big part in it. You see, in many ways this 2003 classic was my real entryway drug into the world of videogames.

It wasn’t the first videogame I had ever played. My friends had consoles, there were some games on the school computers, but I didn’t own games as a kid. As far as my parents were concerned, these were all the spoils and soul damning devices of Lucifer himself. You know how it is, every generation goes through this thing of blaming all the world’s problems on a new artform: rock and roll, comic books and then videogames.

So yeah, a gaming console or buying games for the home computer was a BIG NO-NO! 

But of course, the more an authority figure says you can’t have something, the more you want and crave it. It was only a matter of time until the opportunity presented itself to me.

And then the day finally came.

It was just me and a couple of friends, going to this new magazine store near the school. And there it was: the dvd case that came with a gaming mag for like 5 euros if I remember correctly, stupid cheap for such a great game. 

There was doubt, there was fear, there was anxiety. I didn’t know much about the game, only the old 1989 DOS Prince of Persia:

This had the same name but looked different. I was seduced immediately.

The case stared longingly at me:

 It’s not my fault, I was bewitched and I bought it.

My symbol of rebellion, my first big transgression, and my first real treasured posession that I bought with hard earned money.

PoP:The Sands of Time was my original sin so to say:

Accurate representation of what happened that day

I furiously installed the game as soon as my parents left the house. Played it for a couple of hours and stood in awe at the thing - the cinematics, the cool parkour moves, the arabian nights setting, the time manipulation to undo mistakes when platforming or in combat, the Prince breaking the fourth wall saying:”no no no, that’s not what happened, let me start over” whenever I died and got a game over…

You have not experienced true fear if at some point in your life you didn’t feel the cold sweat running down your back as you hear the very distinct sound of your parents’ car arriving when you’re doing something “prohibited”.

 As soon as I heard that sound, I quickly quit the game, uninstaled it (I could not run the risk of them finding out I had tainted their machine with a videogame *gasp!*), and ran to my room to hide the game before opening the door for them. 

Neetheless to say, I never made much progress since I had to start over every time after quitting and uninstalling the thing. I would just play those first couple of hours over and over, never knowing how the story progressed, but I was happy all the same. At one point I knew every line of dialogue, every music cue, every sound effect of that beginning part. It would be some years before I got my first laptop and finally managed to complete it. 

All of this to say that the game means a lot to me. Not just as a product or piece of entertainment. This wasn’t casually playing on someone’s gameboy advance or PS2 to have a bit of fun and pass the time.

 This was more intimate.

 It was just me; the game; a dark room and a blanket; and a sincere and charming, simple but compelling story told seamlessly through mechanics that only enhanced it. This was me witnessing gameplay and storytelling going hand in hand in a way that even many of my other favourite games don’t do, or don’t do as well (there’s usually some disconnect where a game only manages to really excel at one but not the other).

Ok, so on the announcement and trailer:

As a big fan you might think I was super hyped for this. 

But I gotta say…no, not really.

I’m not super angry, but I’m not really excited either honestly. And I don’t think it’s just the rough and uncanny character models and animation that people are pointing out all over (although that doesn’t help).

I guess to talk a bit on that, I should stress out that my problem isn’t that it doesn’t look realistic enough. To be honest, and this is going to sound rich from a big Witcher 3 fan, I think that the gaming industry overall, moreso big tripple A titles, seem to have this unhealthy obsession with photorealism. Like, I don’t need to see the characters’s pores to care about these polygon people. Strong art direction is what I feel is more valuable. I just don’t think this arms race to photorealism is sustainable. Games are taking longer to make and fund, and I’d rather have dev teams spend more time polishing and refining the games’ mechanics and/or story if the trade-off is less “realistic” graphics.  

It might just be personal preference, but I wish we were getting more stylized character and world design. Go look at some screenshots for Pathologic 2, a game that came out last year that hits that sweet spot between full-blown cartoony/caricature and realistic by today’s standards:

And I think that is somewhat what they were going for with this remake’s character models (or I hope it was). But it’s still not quite there, hopefully they’ll work on improving those so they can hit that sweet spot also.

(in defense of my hipocrisy and love of The Witcher 3, I think the more realistic look was appropriate for the world they were portraying, it benefits from it. However I don’t think I would love it any less if it had less detailed models and environments)

One last thing on the graphics.

I will say this though, at least from the footage we see in the new trailer the team seems to be capitalizing on colour. Big vibrant reds, blues, whites and yellows in the environment look great, and really captures the 1.001 nights/arabian nights feel that I absolutely love. I appreciate that since there’s always this tendency for remakes to suck all the colour and life from the original (in both games and movies), regardless if it fits the setting and tone or not.

Anyway, I think the reason I’m very much without a big reaction is that I believe the 2003 original is a true classic, a masterpiece even - I guess I should stress out that when I say masterpiece, I don’t mean it’s perfect. Just that the whole is bigger and better than the sum of its parts, that the things it does right, it does so right, that it completely overshadows the flaws. 

The story, the art direction, the gameplay (the holy trinity of platforming, combat and puzzle solving), the brilliant introduction of the dagger of time as a gameplay and story mechanic (one of my favourite mechanics in all of gaming), the music, the charming duo that is the Prince and Farah, the tight pacing with the game being just the right length and not overstaying its welcome, the outstanding level design where you’re never stuck doing one thing for too long (the game is always juggling between combat, story, platforming and puzzles, mixing and matching)… 

Looking at all these things, I just really don’t think we need a remake because I don’t think there’s that many glaring terrible flaws that could justify it. 

Adding more scenes and content could be good, or it might backfire: bloat and ruin the game’s already excelent pacing and fluidity (which I think is the main keyword that better describes the original, everything flows superbly). The original was only 6-8 hours long and it is better for it. I’m not confident that adding dozens of hours of gameplay like the big tittles today would help at all.

The only real improvements I can see are: 

tweeking and perfecting the combat (I’ve seen it mentioned that they’re implementing a targeting system which sounds good); 

perhaps also better Farah’s A.I during combat when you have to help protect her from swarms of enemies;

Maybe throw in a couple more enemy types? The cut sand tigers for example? 

usual things like adding the option of subtitles, add the ability to skip cutescenes;

But other than that…

I don’t even think the graphics of the original look bad. They’ve aged of course, with the game being 17 years old, but still. I installed it last night and played through the first hour to take some screenshots and I think they’re still good:

I can understand the MediEvil remaster, the Spyro remaster or the more recent FFVII remake in terms of wanting to update the graphics. I can understand that not everyone can easily go back to these low poly lads:

 But this game? I know I’m influenced by nostalgia and all, but I don’t think it needs that makeover that badly, especially when compared to these other remakes and remasters. Funnily enough, I just noticed that these examples I just listed were all PS1 games. PoP: SoT was a PS2 , PC and Xbox game. PS2 era games have aged far better visually and don’t need that big a makeover in my most humble opinion.

It would be one thing if the original was out of print like a Rule of Rose scenario ,where you can’t find the game unless you go to ebay or something and it’s stupid expensive. Or if it was a pain to get running on modern systems like it was with Grim Fandango, until it got a remaster. 

But no, you can find the Sands of Time trilogy and the PoP (2008) reboot on GOG and Steam (on Steam only there’s also the PoP:The Forgotten Sands midquel). So there isn’t the usual problem of the game no longer being accessible to people who want to play it, which helps justify the need for a remake.

The original still plays nice, sounds nice and looks nice, so I guess this all goes to show that at the end of the day, this remake just feels a bit unnecessary to me, at least from what little the trailer showed (I would love to have my bitter cynical ass proved wrong though!). 

 Maybe I just have a superhuman tolerance for older games and how they look, I really don’t have that big a problem if the game itself is good or interesting, so I don’t always think older games need remakes.

Maybe my falling out of love with Ubisoft in this last decade has curbed forever any hype I might have for their announcements, even when they pull out my  son, my baby boy Prince of Persia out again.

 Maybe I’m just burnt out and too pessimistic about remakes, remasters and adaptations (although game remakes usually do better than film ones).

And this makes me a bit sad because I don’t want to sh*t all over the first piece of “new”  Prince of Persia content we’ve had since 2010??? Oof, it’s been a while.

Especially knowing that Yuri Lowenthal is coming back and excited to voice the Prince again. And I also don’t want to be too harsh since we’re looking at an alpha of the game. But so far I’m just very numb to this, I do seriously hope it turns out good and that they don’t rush it out the door. But I’m not convinced we need a remake in the first place. The original is a milestone, a game changer. I’d rather see a game that had great ideas and poor execution being remade than something people already love and consider a masterpiece.

 Guess we’ll see how I feel once more news and footage come out.

Oh and feel free to share your own thoughts on this remake. I’m curious to know what both fans and newcomers alike think.

small edit: I can’t believe I was just watching this Sands of Time playthrough on youtube and at one point it is said: “Another game that is designed similarly to this is Soul Reaver actually.” 

Of course! I didn’t even see it! All of my favourite things are connected!!! Maybe that detail was another thing that helped me getting really into Soul Reaver as I was first playing it.

[wavejhs]

Scream

Genre: Thriller/Horror

Pairing: Hoseok/Reader

Word Count: 2,812

Tags: Thriller, Horror, Murder, Some fluff, Angst

Summary: It's tradition for you and your boyfriend to have an annual movie marathon on the eve of your birthday. A mysterious caller makes it a night you'll never forget. Scream!AU

You've always thought it was a satisfying sound; the popping of popcorn as it gets cooked.

In the living room, the screen of your Smart TV displays the Netflix homepage. It's the eve of your birthday and you're getting ready to watch a scary movie. It's a classic slasher one. Your boyfriend had phoned you no less than half an hour ago, telling you he'd be present to hold you as you start your annual movie marathon. You appreciate it, knowing Hoseok wasn't a fan of the horror genre but he was willing to spend one night a year to watch scary films with you.

You make it up to him, though, watching cheesy romance comedies and action movies on his birthday. A balanced compromise means a healthy relationship.

You're walking back and forth between the kitchen and the living room, wanting to make sure you don't miss a spot cleaning up, making sure you've got a large enough blanket draping the couch for when the night gets chilly, making sure your beverages are ready. When you deem everything presentable, you focus on your TV, clicking the first movie on your list.

Your boyfriend lived a few blocks away from your house, usually taking him less than 10 minutes from his house to yours and you wonder what's taking him so long. You're just about to pick your phone up to dial him when it rings, startling you enough to fumble with it when it nearly slips out of your fingers.

It's an unknown number. Pursing your lip, you answer the call.

You clear your throat, "Hello?"

"Hello." It's a man's voice.

You wait for a response. When only silence follows, you shut your eyes, rolling them behind your eyelids. It's a prank call.

Trying to sound as polite as you can, even using your customer service voice, you follow with a, "Yes?"

It takes two seconds for the receiving end to answer. "Who is this?"

You absentmindedly stride towards your kitchen, checking on the popcorn in the microwave, "Who are you trying to reach?"

"What number is this?" The man's voice was deep and smooth, but had a gentle tone. He sounded like he was genuinely asking, and you start to think your assumption was wrong.

You hum patiently. "What number are you trying to reach?"

"I don't know."

You nod, still staring at the microwave, "I think you have the wrong number."

"Do I?"

You hum again, hanging up with a, "It happens. Take it easy."

Your lips lift in a soft smile, the conversation with the soft spoken stranger turning out to be one of the most polite ones you've ever had. It takes a exactly second for you to remember why you even had your phone in your hand and you unlock the screen to dial again when,

It rings. You pick it up.

"Hello?" You start, tentative.

"Why don't you want to talk to me?" It's the man again and you're starting to sense in the pit of your stomach that something might not be right.

"Who is this?" You reply, closing your eyes and taking a silent breath, telling yourself not to assume the worst every time.

There's a chuckle on the other end, boyish and light. "You tell me your name, I'll tell you mine."

Just as you start to ponder if playing along would get this over with, your microwave dings. You peek at it and take out the popcorn.

Walking to the cupboards where you keep your boals, you make a disapproving noise. "Hm. Yeah, no. Sorry, it's just..stranger danger. You know how it is."

"What was that noise?" Still smooth, still gentle. Still a mystery.

Rolling your tongue in your cheek, you bite and play along. "My microwave. I'm making popcorn."

"Oh," There's a rustle, "You watching a movie? I only eat popcorn at movies."

"Well yeah." You giggle, giddy at the thought of spending the night with your boyfriend's hands gripping yours tightly.

"Really? What kind?"

Grabbing the bag of fresh popcorn and transferring it to a bowl with one hand was inconvenient, but you'd rather deal with it than stop the conversation with a stranger whose tone of voice you start to feel is familiar, "Just a scary movie. Pretty old."

The man drawls the next question, "do you like scary movies?"

You nod, even though you think he can't see you, "Yup."

His voice is husky now, his words throaty and drawled, "What's your favorite scary movie?"

Oh, now he's flirting with you, you realize. It might be one of Hoseok's friends playing a prank on you, maybe even your boyfriend himself and you inwardly huff.

"I don't know. They're all different in their own way, so there's no way to compare."

"Well, you have to have a favorite."

"Uh," You wrack your mind for a title, "well there's a recent one I just watched. New to the slasher franchise. The Boy. Heard of it?"

"Ah, yes the guy hiding inside walls, stalking his own baby sitter."

You're in the living room now, bowl of popcorn in your hand and setting it on the coffee table. "Yeah. Brahms Heelshire."

"Brahms! That's right. I liked that movie, it had a nice twist."

"It did have a nice twist, the ending kind of sucked though." You glance at the clock and your eyes twitch, not looking forward to your boyfriend once again apologizing for being late.

"Maybe. Do you have a boyfriend?" Speaking of boyfriend, you roll your eyes. It's Hoseok now, you're convinced. Hoseok with a voice changing app.

"Yes." Not for long unless he gets arrives in less than a minute to save his ass. You don't notice the way your finger accidentally taps the 'End Call' button.

Your phone rings again and you answer on first ring.

"So sorry! Didn't realize I hung up."

"Tell me your name."

You want to scoff, instead you shake your head. "Why do you wanna know my name?"

"Because I wanna know who i'm looking at."

Your blood seems to have went cold inside you, goosebumps suddenly erupt throughout your whole body and you shoot up, looking around you.

You swallow a lump in your throat. "What did you say?"

"I want to know who i'm talking to."

"That's not what you said." You rush to open the small drawer installed in your coffee table, taking out a bottle of pepper gel before bolting to your front door to make sure it was locked. You turn on the light on your porch and see no one present. You turn it back off.

Walking briskly to the sliding door between the small garden and the inside of your house, you turn the light on too, but again, you don't see anyone present. You huff now, gripping your phone tighter.

"I have to go now." Your cold, shaking fingers struggle to remove the phone from your ear.

"Wait.. I thought we were gonna go out."

"I don't think so. I have a boyfriend."

The voice, previously so gentle, turns hostile and violent, "DON'T HANG UP ON ME."

"Gotta go." You force out, willing yourself to hang up.

"DON'T—"

Your shaking as you try to recollect yourself. Yoongi left a gun here, you think. Said it was for self defense and he doesn't go without it whenever he walks his girl home. The last party, he was showing off. He had a gun and he passed out. He left it and you were going to return it tomorrow. But it's still here. Still in the house. You could go get it.

You clench your eyes shut, panic consuming you the more you try to remember whether you placed it in your father's seldomly used vault or in your bedroom's private drawer. Both were at the opposite ends of the house. You were having trouble just standing.

The phone rings again and you're tempted to let it ring until it goes away.

But you have to know..

"Yes?"

"I told you not to hang up on me." The gentle tone is completely gone.

You clutch the pepper gel tighter in your other hand, making sure it was unsealed, ready to be used. "What do you want?"

"To talk."

"Well, dial someone else, okay?"

The voice sounds amused now. "Getting scared?"

You grit your teeth. "No. Bored."

You hang up immediately, tired and afraid.

You run to check your back door, finding it locked as well. All of the doors were locked. There was no way someone else could get in.

Just as you back away from the door, your phone rings again and you're fed up.

"Listen, asshole—"

"NO. YOU LISTEN, YOU LITTLE BITCH. IF YOU HANG UP ON ME AGAIN I'LL GUT YOU LIKE A FISH. UNDERSTAND?"

It's deep and it roars.

You suppress a whimper. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"More of a game, really." It's calm again but you don't trust it one bit.

"I'm calling the police. I swear. They'll trace this and i'm filing charges." You threaten, gripping on to one of the curtains to ground yourself.

"They'll never make it in time." It's dark, it's deep, and you're so scared.

You release a sigh, and you sound defeated even to yourself. "What do you want?"

It's deeper this time, more throaty, less human, "To see what your insides look like."

You fumble to hang up, letting the phone fly out of your hands right after.

Your hands are shaking but you shake your head in determination as you reach for it again. You dial 911.

"Hello, 911. What's your emergency?"

"Can't—No time, he said he was here. Someone threatened to kill me. Said—said he could see me. Think he can see me. Said he'd kill me. Please send someone! Anyone!" You whisper frantically, backing against a corner to avoid any surprises.

"I understand. We'll send someone immediately."

You nod, unable to find your voice to even thank the receiver.

As you're curled up in the corner, you bury your face in your arms.

Then, you remember.

Hoseok is supposed to arrive any second. If someone dangerous was waiting to break in, Hoseok would be completely unaware and helpless.

Your pacifist boyfriend Hoseok wouldn't have anywhere to hide. To run to. You know for a fact he'd be walking this late at night with his car broken down since the previous week.

Better if it was just you. Better if you didn't drag him in.

Trembling, you dial his number.

"Hoseok?" You jump when he picks up the phone.

"Yeah, honey? I'm so sorry i'm late! I'm almost there!"

"My parents are here!" You squawk, and in the back of your mind, you're taken aback at how easy the lie fell off your tongue.

"My parents are here and pissed. Have—have to cancel." With a shuddering breath, you whisper delicately, "I love you."

"Wait, what? Y/N? DON'T HANG UP ON ME!"

You hang up.

Your phone rings again and you already know it's an unwelcome call.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Who's there?"

"You should never say "Who's there?". Don't you watch scary movies? It's a death wish."

You loose your grip on the phone, letting it clatter to the floor just right by you. The voice buzzes. You tap the loudspeaker option.

You sigh. "What did I do?"

There's silence. You physically feel the energy draining out of you, the adrenaline taking its leave and in its stead, defeat. Your eyes are clenched shut, so that you don't have to see yourself die.

Your voice is croaky, and when you touch your face, it's wet with tears. You were crying? "There's must be something I did. Something I must've done for this. Can't you tell me?"

The phone clicks, signaling the call was ended from the other side.

You hear a crash from upstairs. The shattering of glass. You locked the doors, but the windows are breakable.

"Y/N!!" You hear Hoseok's voice, his fists banging on your front door. "LET ME IN!"

Multiple thuds from the other side. Hoseok was trying to break down the door.

It's too late. You hear footsteps approach you and you curl tighter around yourself, keeping your eyes shut.

You whisper then, "Get it over with. Just don't touch him."

The footsteps stop in front of you. "Sure. Loverboy's queued right after you."

It's like you've been brought back to life, hearing that sentence. You snap your eyes open and realize you're still gripping the pepper gel in your hand. You look up at your tormentor, sees a a shapeless silhouette with a mask on, a knife aiming to pierce through you but just as he gets close, you empty the bottle. Even through the mask. It has to have a hole for him to see, right? You hope.

There's a yelp from the masked man, and you dash towards your front door, your hands still shaking as you undo all the bolts. Hoseok looks red in the face, but you grab his hands to run.

"Fuck!" The masked man sputters, throwing his disguise down and upon hearing something hit the ground, you risk a glance behind you.

Your blood boild at the sight of a familiar face.

"Yoongi?!"

"Fuck. Who the fuck do you think? Fuuuck!" The man rolls on the ground, grunting in pain as he rubs at his eyes.

"Yoongi! I told you I didn't approve of this shit!" Hoseok growls, marching towards his best friend.

"Fuck you! It was you idea, asswipe!" Yoongi bites. "It was his idea, Y/N!" Yoongi chances a peek at you with one eye as he totally rats his best friend out, his whole face red and wincing, "Said you liked horror movies! Said this was foreplay for you! I'm the victim! I fucking climbed up with the tree that had a fucking bee's nest! I have ant bites all over my fucking ass! I have three splinters! Fucking hell! Ow!" He chokes on a sob as the gel finally settles in his eyeball.

"Wha.." You look at your boyfriend, confused beyond comprehension.

"Listen, I said it in passing and I was drunk! I didn't know they'd do this to you!" Hoseok raises up his hands in a defenseless manner.

"You scared the shit out of me, Yoongi!" You growl, marching towards where he's curled up into a ball, clutching his face in agony.

"God, please take me to a hospital." Yoongi pleads.

"You deserve this, you son of a bitch! I can't believe you took him seriously while he was drunk! You gave me that advice yourself!" You stomp on the mask he was wearing, picking it up to examine it just to throw it back to the ground in pure rage.

"So," Hoseok nuzzles his head against your shoulder, trailing kisses to your neck, "happy birthday?"

Yoongi huffs from his hospital bed as he watches the two of you practically melt into each other.

"Oh, shut it. You brought this on yourself." You stick out your tongue at your boyfriend's best friend.

"Whatever." Yoongi grunts, "Call Jiah. Tell her I have to cancel on our plans for tomorrow. My eyes hurt."

You giggle as your boyfriend's lips land on a ticklish spot behind your ear.

"Fine. Let me get my phone." You reach over to grab your bag and Hoseok whines at the momentary loss of your warmth. You stare at your phone, head tilting in wonder and you call out, "Hey Yoons, I can't believe you could say all that stuff."

Yoongi glares at you from his spot. "What stuff?"

"About gutting me and shit. That was traumatizing." You shake your head, and you miss the look of confusion shot in your direction.

"What?" Yoongi looks at you like you've morphed into a duck. "No I didn't."

You hum as your boyfriend resumes rudely ravaging your neck. "Didn't what?"

"Say that. I only called you twice. It was a prank call. I asked you if you had a boyfriend just in case you were playing Hoseokkie and you said yes so I clearly failed."

You feel your heart drop to your feet.

"Why did you break my window, then?" You whisper, pressing yourself closer to Hoseok as fear crawls back up your spine.

"What? I didn't. You said your parents' windows were never locked so I went in through there."

Your hands twitch, still holding your phone.

"Y/N? You okay?" Hoseok asks, wary of the way your face loses color.

You whisper, barely audible, "Someone was really there."

A few blocks away from your house, a girl grips her phone with a bloodied hand.

Your caller ID flashes on the screen. Too late.

(A/N: don't know if i'm making this a series. user @curlykoo who has since deactivated but complimented me and liked horror fics this is for u 💕 + most of the dialogue is actually from the movie itself!)

[eggoreviews]

My Top 13 Nintendo E3 Predictions!

It’s that time of year again lads. With Nintendo’s annual E3 blowout now just a week away, I thought I’d lay all my personal predictions on the table as to what we might see at this year’s viddy game christmas. I’m ranking these based on how confident I am about each prediction, so here’s hoping some of these actually happen!

13. SNES for Nintendo Switch Online

I don’t want to jinx things by saying this, but surely Nintendo have milked the NES for all it has now. I reckon E3 could finally be the time we finally get to move into 90s gaming. I really can’t think of anymore NES games they could shoehorn in, especially not first party, and I can’t imagine many more third parties are going to want to jump in. So mostly because we seem to be running out of passable games, my prediction is that June will be the final month of NES Online. But hey, you never know with Nintendo.

12. Pikmin 4

There’s been rumours floating around for a while now that Pikmin 4 is ready to go out and I really can’t think of anything better for a first/final reveal for the direct. If this happens, it’ll be nothing more than a trailer like Luigi’s Mansion 3 had in my opinion, but this is still a very exciting and plausible prospect.

11. Cadence of Hyrule drops during E3

In an unexpectedly brilliant move, Nintendo announced a crossover between their own Legend of Zelda franchise and indie studio Brace Yourself Games’ Crypt of the Necrodancer, with brand new Zelda remixes! This looks like great fun, but so far all we really know is that it has a June release date. Considering the odd quiet around the game, I reckon it’ll get a little dedicated section in the direct, followed by the announcement that it’ll release either straight after the direct or in the intervening days of E3.

10. Bayonetta 3 trailer

Another game that’s gone oddly quiet, Bayonetta 3 was confirmed with a teaser trailer alongside a switch port of the series’ second installment back in 2017, but we’ve heard nothing since. So finally, I think a first proper trailer will pop up, especially after the game’s explicit mention in the last direct in February, but whether or not the game will still release in 2019 (my thought is maybe not) is anyone’s guess.

9. Town info

After a brief trailer and a few synoptic details, Nintendo nudged us in the arm with the announcement of a Gamefreak game that isn’t Pokemon. And since we’ve heard nothing since September, I can see Town getting a second trailer, maybe a few more gameplay details and a vague release window. If not, I’d expect this one in the next direct.

8. Metroid Prime Trilogy

With the still relatively recent news that Nintendo is scrapping development on Prime 4 to pull in Retro Studios, I think Nintendo has been sitting on a Prime Trilogy remaster for a hot minute. And now with E3, the time when people probably would’ve expected Prime 4 to make an appearance (we now know that’s not happening), I think it would be the perfect time to make the announcement. To clarify, I’m almost 100% sure this is happening, it’s just a matter of when, but E3 is a safe bet.

7. Persona 5 for Switch

We’ve had someclues pointing towards this (Joker in Smash), as well as a legion of disappointed fans after discovering Persona 5 S was actually a Warriors game (which I am way too excited for and I can see that appearing in the direct too). But really, I think this is another one Nintendo and Atlus have been sitting on until E3, now that Joker’s in Smash and Scramble’s been announced, I can’t see why they wouldn’t finally announce it.

6. Smash Bros. amiibo

With news of more amiibo coming from the last direct, I’m fairly certain that we’ll get some firm release dates for Squirtle, Ivysaur, Snake and Simon Belmont. I also reckon that we’ll get a brief look at the final wave of base roster amiibos, which will be made up of Dark Samus, Chrom, Richter and Incineroar. As for Joker, I think they’ll hold off on him for now, as it’s less likely his amiibo will be finished up due to his character being finalised much later than the others.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening info

I’d say the Link’s Awakening remake is fairly likely to get a spot in this direct, though I can’t imagine it’ll be an especially long segment. My thoughts are that we’ll see another trailer showing off some new gameplay, followed by a release date. And that’s an exciting prediction for me because this game looks incredible.

4. Smash reveal: Banjo & Kazooie

I’m pretty much 100% on the fact that we’ll see a Smash reveal for Fighter Pack 2 at the end of the direct, so I thought I’d go a step further and try to predict who it will be. With Nintendo and Microsoft’s strong relationship as of late and VP of Microsoft Phil Spencer going on record as recently as 2018 stating he’d be chill with B&K joining the fight is good news for Banjo fans. It’s pretty safe to say there’s a pretty overwhelming fan demand for them too, and it certainly wouldn’t be out of the question for Nintendo to pick them if they’re wanting to bring the hype for E3. As a couple of placeholders though, I’ll say 2B from NieR: Automata or Erdrick from Dragon Quest in the event Banjo misses the cut.

3. Astral Chain info

Astral Chain is the first of 3 games I can see getting a fairly beefy segment in this direct, as so far we’ve only seen a trailer and the game is out August 30th, likely before the next direct comes around. So this is looking to be their main chance of exploring what Astral Chain is going to be and how it’s going to play. Definitely something to look forward to, because I’m loving how this game looks so far.

2. Luigi’s Mansion 3 info

Yeah these predictions are getting fairly, you know, predictable at this point, but I did say least to most confident and these top ones are almost guaranteed to happen. I don’t think this will get quite as much screentime as my top pick, but Nintendo have already reaffirmed that this is still slated for 2019 so a gameplay breakdown, title reveal and release date confirmation do seem to be on the cards. At a guess, they’re probably going to want to cash in on the Halloween aesthetic, so late October as a release seems likely to me.

1. Animal Crossing info

Of course this is here. And of course it’s going to happen. I think Animal Crossing will end up taking around 5-10 minutes of the direct at least, with a proper title reveal, trailers, gameplay, release date, the works. Because we haven’t even seen any gameplay for this yet and it’s arguably Nintendo’s most anticipated title so I think they’re gonna want to shine the spotlight on this one, especially since they seem to be handling Pokemon Sword & Shield outside of the main directs.

So there’s my best guesses for next week’s direct! Got any predictions or big wants of your own? Drop them in the comments! And make sure to check back next week for my breakdown of everything that got revealed. Oh, and one last thing, make sure to keep your hype levels healthy so you don’t get let down on the day.