E3 2021 Predictions And Wishes

Years have gone by since we’ve heard anything from legendary game developer Ken Levine and his team at Ghost Story Games. Back in 2017, they were looking to hire artists to work on an immersive sim that may or may not be a first-person experience in a sci-fi setting. There are a lot of questions surrounding the project and time has only left room for more. We haven’t heard much from the 2K-owned studio composed of former Bioshock developers from Irrational Games. Will this be the year we finally find out what Ken’s idea of “narrative Legos” are, or do we have to wait in the dark a bit longer?

No longer a fabled project, we’ve known for a while about the existence of Playground Games’ take on the Fable franchise since the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020. We’re hoping development has been good to Fable and it will be ready to be shown at the Xbox event on June 13 at 10 a.m. PT. We don’t know how much DNA is shared with the original trilogy, but given the one trailer we have seen so far, it looks to keep its tongue firmly in its cheek. We did get one tidbit recently regarding the use of the Forza engine to power this anticipated sequel. We can’t wait to have a good look at what we assume is Albion and the surrounding fantasy world brimming with enchantment.

This one is slotted firmly in the category of “worst kept secrets in games that we hope are true.” Reports have been running wild for a while now about a new Switch model releasing later this year. This new revision is rumored to replace the original docking Switch model and give the hybrid some sweet new specs. The device itself is supposed to have a new, larger 7” OLED display sporting 720p resolution, coupled with 4K output when docked to a television. Details have slipped over the course of months, but Nintendo has stayed quiet. We think E3’s Nintendo Direct is the perfect time to unveil this console update. Switch Pro, Super Switch, whatever they want to call it is fine with us, especially if they pair the announcement with a proven console seller along the lines of…

What better game to usher in fresh, upgraded Switch hardware than the sequel to the game that launched with the Switch back in 2017? The unnamed sequel to Breath of the Wild was announced two long years ago at E3 2019, and since then we’ve waited for new information. Nintendo has been incredibly tight lipped outside of saying we would know more this year. What we do know about the sequel involves Link and Zelda exploring a crystal-lit cavern where a curse-riddled sage is sealed away. Do we get to explore more of Hyrule’s subterranean realm? Will Zelda finally be playable in a mainline game? Is this sequel a co-op experience? We are in the midst of celebrating The Legend of Zelda’s 35th anniversary, and that would be one heck of a way to honor the princess we’ve known and loved for so long. We hope to see more on Tuesday, June 15 at 9 a.m. PT.

Square Enix is fresh off of releasing Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on PlayStation 5 this week, and we’d love to see what the future holds for Cloud and his materia-equipping crew. We don’t expect to see a release date, but a tease from Testuya Nomura for the much anticipated sequel would be a big E3 hype moment. Please show us a bit of the world outside of Midgar and that big ol’ snake! Square Enix is holding its E3 2021 Showcase on Sunday, June 13 at 12:15 p.m. PT.

Sony doesn’t have its own event scheduled for E3, but PlayStation is listed as a participant in Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest. What could Sony be bringing to the party? Admittedly it’s not a massive prediction, but something people have wanted since the PS5 was unveiled: an all-black PlayStation 5. Sony recently announced a couple of new colors for the DualSense controller, and the Midnight Black would look mighty handsome next to a matching console. If, you know, they’ll be in stock. 

Mother 3 was released 15 years ago in Japan, and never saw the light of day overseas. It’s time. This is the year. Nintendo announcing Mother 3 in any form on Switch would be a historic moment for this year’s E3. The odds aren’t in our favor for this one given the track record of it not happening yet, but we’ll keep believing.

This is a bit of an odd prediction. We know Project Triangle Strategy is a new game from Square Enix, and the newest in their line of HD-2D games that started with Octopath Traveller. The art style is an awesome way of translating SNES and PlayStation visuals to work in a 3D world. From this visual design, Project Triangle Strategy looks like it could be a sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics. And it should be. Our prediction for this is for Square Enix to ditch the complicated code name and bestow upon it the Final Fantasy Tactics name. PTS’s political nature and familiar grid-based gameplay would fit well as a Tactics game, and probably bring more eyes onto the game by name recognition alone.

Intelligent Systems has a hot hand right now, coming off of the releases of Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Paper Mario: The Origami King. While this team has been pumping out Fire Emblem games consistently, it might be time to visit another tactical franchise that’s been dormant since the Nintendo DS days. There haven’t been any rumors pointing to Intelligent Systems working on anything in particular, but a return to the Advance Wars universe and implementing what they have learned with Fire Emblem in recent years would be an interesting turn for the developer to take. The personalities of the different COs were a big part of Advance Wars, and building that out and adding more complex interpersonal character dynamics and relationships would breathe new life into a beloved franchise. If this were to happen, it would be at Nintendo’s Direct on Tuesday.

This prediction is a little bit of a softball, but something we hope Capcom has been planning to implement. Since the day Resident Evil Village was announced, we’ve wondered whether it would have Resident Evil VII’s game-changing VR implementation. Many swore it was the way to experience RE7. With Village being a direct sequel and currently without the popular VR mode, we’re guessing the situation is more of a when than an if. Does that mean Capcom is waiting for new VR hardware like the PSVR successor Sony announced earlier in the year? It would make sense considering the previous PlayStation partnerships. Capcom announced it will have news of some kind for Resident Evil Village during its E3 2021 Showcase on Monday, June 14 at 2:30 p.m. PT.