Perfect Dark finally being announced is delightful to me. I've had a hard time getting it out of my brain, which is just running rampant with speculation as to how it'll actually play. Regardless, the IP has a very high standing in my mind despite me only enjoying one of the two games that have released within the series, and really, really finding Zero disappointing (even at the time of its release in 2005). Still, I've craved a return of Perfect Dark, I'm kind of excited by the reports that it's a third-person stealth-action game. In an ideal world, to me they just kinda take heavy inspiration from Metal Gear Solid V but utilize dense urban environments instead of open natural ones, and tweak gameplay to compensate for the increased amount of obstacles, and generally favor a vertical level design as well -- that would be one of my absolute dream games come true. ALAS, I am not necessarily casting my own desires on what the actual final game is -- I'm just wicked excited that Perfect Dark is finally officially coming back in some form and I'm just very eager to see and hear more.
Back 4 Blood was super cool looking. Unfortunately, after having time to think about it, I don't think my adult life will really lend that game the same level of stature that the Left 4 Dead games held when I was in college and could reliably call on 2 or 3 buddies at any given time I wanted to play Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. If I had that lifestyle still, I'd be through the roof excited about it, but as is, I'm not so sure -- online gaming's historical toxicity is a thing that I can no longer tolerate so the idea of matchmaking with randos is completely out of the question. The game looks wicked cool, I just know I'll never be able to play it in its ideal fashion.
And Crimson Desert was surprisingly neat looking. I'm not 100% sold on it just yet but it seemed... very fun, and visually enticing (hoping some performance issues get sorted out by the time the game actually releases though).
That about covers my own really interest in the reveals part of the show, and all three of those games were rather front-loaded. I'm curious how the next Mass Effect game is going to shape up but I'm not terribly enamored with that particular teaser.
For the awards side, it was ... okay. I'm not upset about any of the particular wins, but there is an inherent loss of a sense of ceremony from the pandemic-related safety measures. I would not have had it any other way all things considering and don't blame Geoff or any of the nominees or presenters for its kinda "superficial" feel this year, but aside from devs of Among Us getting a bit emotional during one of their wins (I believe the multiplayer game of the year), I didn't feel like it really had any super special-feeling moments, even if the nominations and wins still do hold the intention of being a gesture of celebration and praise. The awards side seems to always do better with crowds, with the opportunity to see everyone gathered and sharing in the ceremony of it all, and again, I'm not suggesting that anyone should have ignored the pandemic and done a gathering anyway, but I just felt a certain lack of pageantry that's just inherent to the present situation when things have to shift in that manner and it was just okay, I feel.
