E3: Those were the biggest surprises at the game fair in 2021 (with video)

E3

Even if this year E3 did not take place in Los Angeles, but over the Internet and some publishers either did not even announce their participation in the first place or later withdrew, the famous game fair undoubtedly had a few highlights to offer. In addition to some titles that were eagerly awaited in advance, it was above all the unexpected announcements in 2021 that made the rest of the squad take the limelight.

In the special with video we present a small selection to you.

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Table of Contents

1 Metroid: Dread 2 WarioWare 3 A Plague Tale: Requiem 4 (Surprising) No surprise at Elden Ring 5 Forza Horizon 5 6 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora 7 Final Fantasy: Stranger of Paradise 8 Starfield appears exclusively for Xbox devices 9 indie titles steal the show

Metroid: Dread

Metroid Dread Source: Nintendo If you look at the line-ups of the biggest publishers, Nintendo certainly had the most surprising titles at the fair in their luggage. First and foremost is the Metroid that has just been conjured up from the hat: Dread. As with the first titles in the franchise, this is a 2D side scroller, which, however, does not have a retro look, but rather modern animations and cutscenes. You slip back into the role of bounty hunter Samus Aran, whose story could possibly come to an end in Dread. Chronologically, the title starts after Metroid: Fusion from 2002 and is actually the first offshoot of the main series since then that is not a remake or a port.

Metroid Dread is developed by the Spanish studio MercuryStream who, with Samus Returns, have already made a strong argument why they are exactly the right people for the job. The title will even appear this year, on October 8th, 2021.

WarioWare

WarioWare: Get it together! Source: Nintendo The next trailer from Nintendo came with two surprises: First, the announcement that the Switch with WarioWare - Get it together! receives a WarioWare title and, secondly, that Wario presents it himself - and speaks in full sentences. Most recently there were also offshoots for the 3Ds and the WiiU in the form of Game & Wario and WarioWare Gold, but the last masterpiece that bears the name of the farting antihero was Wario Ware: Smooth Moves for the Nintendo Wii. There, the console's innovative motion control was used to perfection. How and whether the peculiarities of the Switch will harmonize equally well with the chaotic gameplay cannot yet be said, but what was seen in the trailer looks promising. And just to be infected by the fun Wario spokesman Charles Martinet seems to have while setting the character to music, Switch owners shouldn't miss the commercial.

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A Plague Tale: Requiem

A Plague Tale: Requiem Source: Asobo Studio Rumors have been around for a long time that there will be a sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence. This has now been officially unveiled and is said to be called Reqieum. It continues the story of Amicia and her little brother Hugo, who are still suffering from a terrible curse and are haunted again by the plague. Like its predecessor, A Plague Tale Requiem will also contain a mixture of stealth, exploration and puzzle elements. The release is planned for sometime in 2022. A more precise time is not yet known. The game is to be released for the new generation of consoles, PC and Nintendo Switch.

(Surprising) No surprise at Elden Ring

That we would be presented with new material on Elden Ring at E3 was It's not a secret, but the title has slowly become a running gag on the internet in the last few months. Some even completely doubted its existence. After all, it wouldn't be the first work "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin is involved, which is taking longer than originally announced. In this respect, the absence of a bitter surprise is the real surprise.

That Bandai Namco not only presented us with a CGI trailer at the presentation at the Summer Games Fest, but actually brought game scenes with them that were high fantasy -The focus on the world and its dangers is also a positive sign.

Elden Ring Source: Bandai Namco Game Director Hidetaka Miyazaki's statements that Elden Ring is the culmination of his accumulated professional experience had previously already caused a lot of hype. Not much was known about the game, except that it came from the mastermind behind the Souls series and accordingly would contain many elements of the franchise. In the trailer, however, there are also a few completely new approaches to be discovered. In Elden Ring, players have the opportunity to comb the world not only on foot, but on the back of a mount. Elden Ring should also be able to be contested either alone or in online co-op mode. The multiplayer components should be much easier to access and more comprehensive than in the Souls games. Elden Ring is slated to be available for consoles and PCs on January 21, 2022.

Forza Horizon 5

It was not the announcement of Forza Horizon 5 that was a surprise, but rather the range of features, which it should contain. With the Event Lab, a powerful tool was presented with which dozens of activities and events can be created yourself, which will make the traditionally already bulging Forza Horizon even bigger. Another surprise is the release date, which was set for the year 2021, which very few would have expected.

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Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Frontiers of Pandora Source: Ubisoft The next game on our list is a real surprise, not because it was announced out of nowhere, but because most people had long since forgotten that Ubisoft is still working on it. Because Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was announced in February 2017 and has never felt mentioned by anyone since.

The trailer that has now been unveiled at E3 is not particularly meaningful, but just a sign of life of the Project. So far it has only been announced that this time we will slip into the role of a member of the Na'vi, i.e. the blue aliens. As such, we defend the planet Pandora from human colonialists. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is slated to appear on all new consoles and PC later this year.

Final Fantasy: Stranger of Paradise

Stranger of Paradise - Final Fantasy Origins Source: Square Enix Ein Another title that was surprisingly presented at E3 is Stranger of Paradise - Final Fantasy Origin. It's a Souls-like action RPG from Nioh developer Team Ninja that became an internet meme just as quickly as it was advertised. The cut scenes from the gameplay trailer shown are bursting with involuntary comedy because the main character Jack makes it clear at every opportunity that he has to kill Chaos. The deliberately dark tone, which doesn't come across at all, and the constant repetition of the same statement made the clip notorious overnight and caused numerous laughs and funny cuts on Youtube.

Starfield appears exclusively for Xbox devices

Meanwhile, Playstation gamers hoping to experience Bethesda's Starfield on the console of their choice had nothing to laugh about. In addition to a short trailer supposedly showing game graphics, it was also revealed at E3 that the science fiction RPG will be released exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox Series X and the PC. This was already speculated from some quarters in advance, but the confirmation still comes as a nasty surprise for many fans of the developer.

Indie titles steal the show

Sable Source: Shedworks Beside the Alleged top-class players from Microsoft, Square Enix and Co. were also presented numerous exciting indie titles at E3. These stood out with their uniqueness and often much clearer vision and took our hearts by storm.

Replaced is not only an absolute stunner, but also tries to tell an intelligent story in the alternate history genre, which is neat is full of cyberpunk elements.

Death Trash is a post-apocalyptic RPG in which you not only vomit at the push of a button, but also optionally go out in local co-op mode with a fellow player and experience the story together . Graphics and game world make an excellent impression in the trailer and demo and the name alone should be enough to arouse your interest.

Death Trash Source: Crafting Legends Devolver Digital's Wizard with a Gun also has a promising title. It is an online sandbox survival game in which you face the magical horrors of the wilderness alone or together and get better and better equipment and costumes for your character.

In general, the line- Up the indies so much that we can't even cover them all individually in this video. Firegirl, Sable, Death's Door, Somerville, Planet of Lana and the Phantom Abyss, which is already available in Early Access, all made a fantastic impression. We can't wait to get our hands on the finished games.