Best of E3 2018: All the games Stevivor nominated

E3 2018 took place last week, and Stevivor was proud to pick a selection of ‘Best of’ nominees for the first time in the site’s history.

Stevivor was able to formally nominate titles that we had 5+ minutes of hands-on time with to the Game Critics Awards. As such, we’ll detail if we had hands-on or hands-off time with the alphabetised list below.

Stevivor’s Best of E3 2018

• Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
• Control
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Destiny 2 Forsaken
• Dreams
• Forza Horizon 4
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Hitman 2
• Just Cause 4
• Kingdom Hearts 3
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• Rage 2
• Resident Evil 2
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Spider-Man
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
• Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
• Transference

And before anyone asks — we didn’t nominate titles that we didn’t get to learn more of; this means that games like Fallout 76 and The Last of Us Part 2 weren’t considered as Stevivor only had access to gameplay or reveal trailers shown off at pre-E3 press conferences.

Now, on to the list!

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

Odyssey steps it up from Assassin’s Creed: Origins, this time functioning as a full-fledged RPG. We were excited by Odyssey‘s protagonist, Kassandra or Alexios, alongside the game’s new dialogue system and Conquest mode. Check out our E3 2018 coverage here. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Control

Control is best described as the super-powered combat from Quantum Break mixed with the spooky supernatural elements of Alan Wake. In short, it’s everything that Remedy does so perfectly well, this time available as a multiplatform release. Get excited.

Read our Control preview here. (Stevivor went hands-off with this title.)

Cyberpunk 2077

After years of hype, we finally got our first glimpse of Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay and it’s everything we wanted. The look and feel of Blade Runner mixed with the intricately designed quest system of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it’s hard not to recommend this game as one of the best we saw at E3 2018. (Stevivor went hands-off with this title.)

Destiny 2 Forsaken

Destiny 2′s course correction is in full swing, and the Forsaken story mission and new Gambit mode we played demonstrated the title is well on its way to begin to satisfy its fans. We can’t wait to get our hands on Gambit (again) and the new Guardian supers. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Dreams

It’s hard to full appreciate how complex, yet simple, Media Molecule’s Dreams actually is. Quite literally, the sky is the limit with the game — and we were able to have Dreams‘ ins and outs explained to us by people with seemingly boundless creativity. This is one to watch out for — find out why here. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Forza Horizon 4

https://youtu.be/VmQNo8xtcAg

Crazy speed, the beautiful British countryside and dynamic seasons — Forza Horizon 4 continues the franchise’s proud tradition of immersive, enjoyable gameplay. We can’t wait to jump behind the wheel of this one. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Ghost of Tsushima

We appreciated the beauty and complexity of Ghost of Tsushima ahead of a behind closed doors look at the game last week, but said additional look REALLY got us excited for the title. Look for Luke’s impressions soon. (Stevivor went hands-off with this title.)

Hitman 2

IO Interactive is back, this time partnering with Warner Bros. for Hitman 2. We got to spend twenty minutes with the upcoming title, and delighted at the ways in which Agent 47 could assassinate his target. We also dressed up as a flamingo, and hey, who doesn’t love that? (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Just Cause 4

Rico Rodriguez returns for another action-packed adventure fueled by Avalanche Games. We were thoroughly impressed with the amount of mayhem we could muster in our short hands-on period with Just Cause 4. (Stevivor went hands-off with this title.)

Kingdom Hearts 3

Sora, Goofy and Donald are back, this time joined by the likes of Toy Story, Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen and so many, many more Disney properties. Our hands-on time with the title demonstrated how much Kingdom Hearts 3 is a love letter to Disney nostalgia, paired with rewarding combat from Square Enix. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori and the Will of the Wisps didn’t disappoint, offering the challenging platforming found in the original Ori and coupled with a new, heartwarming story to match. We left our hands-on demo wanting to loop back around to play more. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Rage 2

Fast-paced combat, quirky weaponry and an expanded colour palette made Rage 2 stand out from the pack. As Luke wrote in his preview of the game, Rage 2 is unexpected from Bethesda, id Software and Avalanche Studios, but certainly welcome. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 2 was a surprise at this year’s E3 2018, and a welcome one at that. The game mixes the (horrific) beauty of RE7 with the camera of RE4 and manages to stay true to the original RE2 all throughout. This one is Steve’s favourite game of E3 2018 — find out why here. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

From Software has partnered with Activision to bring us Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and it looks fantastic. Set in a fantasy world inspired by 1500s Japan, this is one Dark Souls and Bloodborne fans simply won’t want to miss. (Stevivor went hands-off with this title.)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Lara Croft returns with the third instalment in Crystal Dynamics’ soft-reboot. This time developed by Eidos Montreal, we were excited to find Shadow of the Tomb Raider‘s E3 2018 demo was strictly based inside a tomb and featured puzzles over combat. It was great. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Spider-Man

Spider-Man does whatever a spider can, offering satisfying web-swinging with combat that borrows from Rocksteady’s Arkham franchise. Luke went back four different times to be able to play more of Spider-Man at E3 2018. Read what Luke thought about the game right here. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

This one’s a no-brainer, guys and girls. Every fighter and stage from previous Smash Bros. games, but on the portable Switch? Yeah, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is as good as you were hoping. Even on a Pro Controller rather than an ol’ GameCube one. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2

The Division heads to Washington, DC and brings improvements to gameplay alongside exciting new encounters. We especially enjoyed working as a team of four at the crash site of Air Force One and look forward to similar encounters next year at the game’s release. Check out our E3 2018 coverage here. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Transference

Quirky and original games are our cup of tea, and Transference easily fits that particular bill. Playable in or out of VR, we appreciated the tense setting and pristine sound design that accompanied this mystery thriller. Read our preview of the game here. (Stevivor went hands-on with this title.)

Expect full previews of the above titles, alongside a host of additional E3 2018 coverage, in the weeks to come.