Charles's Best of E3 2018: Mutants and Netrunners and Samurai, Oh My!

There was a ton to take in during E3 2018, so much that I ended up missing a whole lot of it. As others get their lists in, I expect that they'll be wildly different. For me, I got hands-on time with a game that is expanding on tactical turn-based combat in a wonderful way and the rest of my list is peppered with games that have massive potential.

Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden

This tactical adventure game is my personal game of show for E3 2018 hands down. It blended stealth, exploration, and tactical combat in the slice of gameplay I broke down in my Mutant Year Zero hands-on preview and I need more. If you take a peek at the tactical spy game I fell in love with at PAX East, you'll start to notice a trend.

Sable

This beautiful indie popped up on screen very briefly during the Microsoft E3 2018 briefing and I was immediately enamored. Thankfully, the game was given some additional shine during the PC Gaming Show and I'm really excited to check it out. 

On the Sable steam page, the game is described as a coming-of-age tale of discovery told through exploration across an open world desert. The art design is striking and the exploration gives me Journey vibes but with the added excitement of the hoverbike seen in the trailer above. It also features original composition you can get a taste of in the trailer's song, which was made by Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast. I can't wait to follow along with this character as she discovers the history, people, and culture of her clan sometime in 2019.

Sea of Solitude

I've been pestering Cornelia Geppert about her beautiful game since 2015 and I was absolutely ecstatic to see it hit the stage during the Microsoft briefing. Sea of Solitude explores a world where humans turn into monsters when they get too lonely and you play as Kay, who needs those monsters to change her back. It's a seemingly simple premise with wonderful visuals and I wish I could fast forward to its release.

Ghost of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima is a significant departure from Sucker Punch's typical game and we all got to really witness how far of departure in the gameplay debut shown during Sony's E3 2018 conference. The brief bit shown above alludes to a pretty massive world with some interesting player choices that will influence the experience as the open area is invaded over time and it'll be interesting to see how it all translates. 

Cyberpunk 2077

If you've even peeked at any coverage of E3 2018, you've seen people gushing over Cyberpunk 2077. Count me as one of those people, even though I only know what happened in the gameplay demo from the description of others. The game is based on the pen and paper game written by Mike Pondsmith and, though I've never played it, I've become enthralled with the Cyberpunk world and narratives via my experience with the Android: Netrunner living card game spin-off of the original Cyberpunk game.

CD Projekt Red has an incredible wealth of content to tap for this experience and it seems like they're aiming to give players a lot of freedom to explore and engage with the world and rules Pondsmith penned. If the development continues to improve from their Witcher series, we may end up with one of the most incredible feats in gaming. I can't wait to see more.

Stay tuned to Shacknews, engage with us in Chatty, and look out for more E3 2018 coverage!

Charles Singletary Jr

News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.