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THE MECCA OF GAMINGWith E3 last month, the game industry is abuzz following all the showcases, gameplay, and announcements. And why wouldn’t it be? This is looking to be another excellent year in gaming.

E3 is a platform for the industry to talk to the world, an opportunity to showcase the innovation and art that will define the next year of interactive entertainment. It provides a light for where gaming innovation is taking us, not just for gamers, but industry professionals as well. It’s an opportunity for professionals to see what other companies are doing and how they are leading the charge into the future of gaming.

For many professionals in the industry, E3 is a time of elation mixed with exhaustion as teams prepare for the largest gaming event of the year. It’s an opportunity for publishers, developers, and retailers to meet. And it has traditionally been a place where deals and connections are made behind closed doors. As a gamer though, I still view it as the industry’s annual Mecca; where everyone in the industry comes together for one purpose: to showcase their love of games.

There was a lot of exciting coverage this year with many great titles on the horizon, but as a single-player gamer at heart, there were a couple titles that I completely fangirled over.

Lara Croft becomes the Tomb Raider.

Crystal Dynamics has slowly been building Lara Croft’s character to become the Lara we know from PlayStation 1--- and I gotta say, I think we’re here. The first installment of Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider trilogy focused on a young, naïve Lara being hunted and forced to learn how to survive. The second title embodied Lara’s independence and need to set out on her own. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is all about mastery. As seen in the gameplay footage, Lara is no longer the prey. She has become the predator and she is not trapped in the jungle with Trinity. They are trapped in the jungle with her.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is set in a fictional lost civilization in Latin America that blends Incan, Mayan, and Aztec influences. Tombs and puzzles will be more prevalent and deadlier than ever before. This makes me happy to hear, since I miss the longer, intricate puzzles that dominated the original PS1 Tomb Raider. Also, instead of the quick "fetch quests" that we saw in Rise of the Tomb Raider, side quests will be multi-step stories, where you can learn more about the community and the history behind this world.

As Crystal Dynamics has taken their time layering the scars upon the mercurial adventurer, I look forward to seeing Lara Croft take the final steps to become the Tomb Raider she’s destined to be.

'Through the Valley: The Last of Us 2'

Five years later, and The Last of Us is still one of the greatest games in video game history. Its ability to evoke strong human emotions such as compassion and tenderness makes it a unicorn in this industry.

E3 showcased the first gameplay trailer of The Last of Us II and if there is one lingering impression from it, it’s the starkness and grimness of the violence, which Naughty Dog VP, Neil Druckmann, says is the point. The game is designed to make you feel uncomfortable.

If the first game’s over-arching theme was the primal idea of love and the unconditional love of a parent for a child, then the second game’s primal theme is hate. Something we’ve all experienced when we see injustice being committed and something that’s easy to lose control of. Druckmann’s aim in TLOU 2 is to make the player feel that and to reflect and show the consequences of violent actions.

Unlike other games, where violent action is not intended to be meditated on, here it is different. It’s grizzly and slow, with all the messy intangibles of real violence for you to reflect on. It’s not supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be engaging– to make you feel these moments, which can be hard to watch (as it should be with human suffering and cruelty).

These are the concepts that no other studio has been able to master in a game quite like Naughty Dog. For me, The Last of Us Part II is undoubtedly my most anticipated game to come out of E3. Taking place four years after the first game, I’m ready to walk in the shoes of Ellie and see how the world has turned her into the resilient, survivor she’s become today.

GAME ONWhile Shadow of the Tomb Raider and TLOU2 may be at the top of my most anticipated games to come out of E3, there were still several other notable titles worthy of the hype.

'Cyberpunk 2077'

CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is a FPS with heavy RPG-elements whose gameplay trailer left the audience in awe. It’s an ambitious crawl through a seedy city’s underbelly in a grimy, dystopian future. From the creators of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, this expansive story-driven, open world RPG is certainly one to watch out for.

'Assassins Creed: Odyssey'

Ubisoft’s Assassins Creed: Odyssey was announced and the trailer looked breathtaking. Set in Ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian War, for the first time you get to choose a male or female protagonist. Ubi’s also hitting hard on the RPG-elements with individual pieces of armor, dialogue trees, and romance options for your character. Interestingly, though, it’s set several hundred years before the creation of the Assassins (AC: Origins). While only a theory, since we saw the birth of the Assassins in the last game, I wonder if we will see the birth of the Templar in this one.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

Beyond Good and Evil 2 was announced last year at E3 as a prequel to the 2003 game, Beyond Good and Evil. This year Ubisoft showed off a new trailer that wowed long-time fans of the game. It’s confirmed that both Jade and Pey’j will be in the second game, but Jade isn’t the girl we thought we knew. It seems that she was once deemed a "nemisis" and the trailer ends with Jade rushing toward Pey’j wielding a katana with rage in her eyes. Intrigued, I can’t wait to learn the origins of one of my favorite space operas.

Stay tuned each month as I use this platform to discuss, ponder, and illustrate the complexities within the game community and industry. If there are any topics you’d be interested in reading about or seeing discussed, please don’t hesitate to reach out!