A Breath of the Wild sequel, Keanu, and much more.
E3 2019 may have lacked some major names – notably a host of missing, upcoming video games – but that didn’t stop the yearly event from delivering a number of delightful surprises that were, to quote one of this year’s biggest surprises, breathtaking.
There may not have been a last-minute Sony surprise during E3, nor an unexpected new console reveal (Project Scarlett’s reveal had been in the cards for a while), but that didn’t stop these seven surprises from causing the IGN E3 newsroom to erupt into cheers, and hopefully delighted you, too.
Banjo-Kazooie Joins Smash Bros. Ultimate
Nintendo took home the award for Best Surprise at The Game Awards in 2018 for its announcement of Persona 5’s Joker as a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character. (OK, fine, I was the one who gave it that award, and the company mailed back the trophy I tried to send them,) And, had it not been for the company’s own massive reveal at the end of the Direct, Banjo-Kazooie’s reveal as the third Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character would have been Nintendo’s biggest surprise at the show.
Banjo’s inclusion, in addition to being a major fan-service moment, is huge for a couple of key reasons. One, it marks the return of the beloved bear and bird to a Nintendo console after years being absent ever since Microsoft acquired Rare. Two, Microsoft acquired Rare — this is the first character owned outright by another first-party company (Microsoft, in this case) to allow one of its characters to participate in the all-out brawls of Nintendo’s fighting game.
Whether it marks a conclusion for now or simply another step, it’s yet another nice sign of Microsoft and Nintendo working together across console-party lines to deliver what players want most. Now, if only we could get PlayStation to let Kratos get in on the fun.
Breath of the Wild 2 Announced
Up until the end of its E3 2019 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo hadn’t really blown us away with an unexpected first-party reveal, instead opting to highlight already announced games. That all changed when the Direct concluded with one of the biggest “One more thing” announcements in years — a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the most celebrated games of the generation, and to see Nintendo opt to do a direct sequel was undoubtedly one of the outright joyous moments of E3 2019. And though we only have one teaser trailer to go off of, that hasn’t stopped us from delving deep into what we already may know about the Breath of the Wild sequel, nor prevented the internet from rehydrating Ganondorf. We don’t know when to expect Breath of the Wild’s sequel, or what the game will be about, but our interview with longtime Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has shed some light on what games have inspired the Breath of the Wild sequel team, that BotW 2 isn’t related to Majora’s Mask, and some comment on whether the Zelda sequel could introduce co-op.
Cyberpunk 2077 Gets Keanu Reeves
Cyberpunk 2077, pretty much an unstoppable force in the industry since its full unveiling at E3 2018, stole the Microsoft show with the debut of its newest cast member — John Wick and The Matrix actor Keanu Reeves. (Now we know there was a double-meaning to Cyberpunk’s Matrix anniversary tweet not too long ago.)
While IGN had a chance to speak to Reeves about his role as Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077, he first stole the show at the Microsoft E3 2019 press conference, offering a reciprocal call of being “breathtaking” to a fan in the auditorium and, just generally, delivering an honest enthusiasm for his role and the game.
We saw a bit of his character in the E3 2019 Cyberpunk 2077 demo, too, hinting at the central role he’ll have in the first-person RPG. But it will be hard to live up to the sheer joy of seeing Keanu step onto the stage for the first time to the roar of the crowd. All it needed was a good pup by his side.
Elden Ring Confirms George R.R. Martin/FromSoftware Collaboration
Despite a pre-show leak, official confirmation of beloved RPG makers FromSoftware teaming up with beloved fantasy writer George R.R. Martin for Elden Ring is still one of the best shocks of E3 2019.
Yes, it probably means The Winds of Winter was pushed back a bit (more than it was already, that is), but Martin has undoubtedly proven himself a master world builder, crafting the intricately detailed and rich A Song of Ice and Fire universe. Game of Thrones and its on-screen version of Westeros worked so well at its peaks because of the groundwork Martin laid in his book series.
And marrying a rich, fantasy storyteller with FromSoftware, who has created impressively detailed worlds in the Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro franchises feels like a match made in heaven, or hell, given both Martin and FromSoft’s love of punishing storytelling. FromSoft imbues its worlds with incredible detail that allows the story to be explored at the player’s pace, layering information and storytelling into everything from abandoned notes to environment design to enemies. While we haven’t seen much of Elden Ring yet, it’s certainly set itself up to be one of the most interesting worlds we can’t wait to explore. And probably die over and over in while doing just that.
The Unexpected Scope of Final Fantasy VII Remake’s First Episode
We’ve known for some time that Final Fantasy 7 Remake would be episodic, but with confirmation of its March 3, 2020 release date, we also got word of what exactly FF7R’s first episode will entail. And the breadth of content is, as the title of this feature suggests, pretty surprising.
The first episode will be entirely focused on Midgar, the first region of the original Final Fantasy 7. While common agreement among IGN staff is that this area would last you about six or seven hours in the original experience, Square Enix is promising a full Final Fantasy experience, and two Blu-ray discs worth of content, in this first episode alone.
That’s a bold promise, and a surprising indicator of what Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s ambitions are. Square is seemingly filling out its established world with more missions, more details, and more character work than fans have ever gotten before, and the prospect of that could make for a thrilling and familiar-yet-unexpected adventure.
We’ll have to wait to see if the new material lives up to how fondly we remember what’s come before, but at least now we won’t have to wait long to find out.
Microsoft Acquires Psychonauts Developers Double Fine
Microsoft picking up new studios is no surprise, given that the company acquired so many new Xbox first-party studios last year, but the who of this year’s acquisition was definitely unexpected — Psychonauts developers Double Fine.
It’s a bit of a full circle moment for the studio, given that the original Psychonauts got off the ground because Microsoft was going to publish it (the company later dropped the publishing rights). Double Fine has maintained its independence since then, even publishing games under the Double Fine Presents banner to help other indie developers.
But Tim Schafer and the team will now be an in-house Microsoft studio — though don’t worry, Psychonauts 2 is still being published across multiple platforms.
Microsoft Flight Simulator Takes Flight Yet Again
Microsoft had plenty of surprises at E3 2019, but one that may have flown under the radar (get ready for more puns) for some definitely piqued our interest.
Microsoft announced a revival of Microsoft Flight Simulator, a series first published in 1982, which will mark the first entry in the series since 2012’s Microsoft Flight.
The franchise is Microsoft’s oldest published series, long before Xbox was on the minds of players, and so it’s a nice, welcome dip into the past that will, hopefully, stick the landing (I told you I wasn’t done) when it launches.
What was your biggest surprise of E3 2019? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check out the most popular games of E3 2019.
Jonathon Dornbush is IGN’s News Editor, PlayStation lead, and Beyond! host. Talk to him on Twitter @Jmdornbush.
