5 features from E3 2018 that won’t be as good in the final release

The game industry unveiled its best and brightest prospects this week at E3. While everything on display was impressive, with some titles blowing fans away, gamers are more than cautious about hype. With downgrading and overhype defining the current generation of consoles, it is assumed that the shine and polish of the E3 demos is not indicative of the final release. Here's five of the most breathtaking new features from E3, that probably won't be this good in the final release.

Graphics

Starting with an easy one, this applies to pretty much every game. The main complaint that has broken the optimistic spirit of this time of the year is graphical downgrading. With games like Metro: Exodus, Bioware's Anthem, Gears of War 5, Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 4, Death Stranding and a brand new Halo, on a new engine, all looking like the best games these consoles have to offer, players should lull their expectations. As the community saw with games like Watchdogs, The Witcher 3 and Aliens: Colonial Marines, which was so heavily downgraded it was sued for false advertising, what is presented at E3 isn't the best indication of the release graphics. In the cases where the graphics do meet the standard set at E3, there have also been cases where the performance takes a backseat.

Metro Exodus. Source: Deep Silver

The Last of Us Part II - Animations

The most impressive feature of The Last of Us Part II's demo was the seamless transition between animations. Whether it was Ellie dodging towards a wall and slamming into it or an enemy swinging and knocking a shelf down by accident, every interaction between the moving characters and the world was organic and flawless. While this has always been a standout trait in NaughtyDog games, the jump from Uncharted 4 is so massive that it's easy to be skeptical of the E3 demo. The animation to pick up arrows, for example, is completely different depending on the speed Ellie is moving and what she is looting, either a body or a quiver. It's amazing, a little too amazing.

Source: NaughtyDog

Fallout 76 - Story

From the trailers and announcements, the multiplayer-only Fallout 76 follows a quest to explore the unexplored West Virginian wasteland. However, don't expect a typical Fallout narrative focus or story. The focus on multiplayer means that it is the stories that players craft with friends that really makes the game. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, this isn't what the Fallout series is built on. The whimsical charm of Fallout might still be there, but Bethesda are planning on having no NPCs outside of Robots, which means the whimsical characters that define Fallout is missing. The "overseer's quest" will take you through six distinct regions, but the stories of these regions is for you to discover, not for you to forge like in the single-player RPG style games that precede 76.

Source: Bethesda

Ghost of Tsushima - Effects

One of the biggest surprises this E3 was Sony's Ghost of Tsushima. The gorgeous graphics were one thing, but what was absolutely breathtaking was the lighting and particle effects. The way the sun cut through the trees to shine and illuminate the mud puddles in the battleground, with soft pedals blowing down in the wind, was stunning. However, this is a console game and considering the textures, environments and character models alone are at such a high standard it's hard to believe that these effects and these graphics will run together. Something's gotta give and as gamers saw with The Witcher 3's E3 downgrade, it's normally the glossy and unnecessary effects.

Source: Sucker Punch

Super Mario Party - Switch Mapping

One of the features Super Mario Party highlights immediately in its trailer is for multiple Switch consoles to connect and literally map out minigames. While there's no doubt this will be in the game, the significance that the trailer gives it won't be. At best, this will be a fun gimmick, but at worst this could be a shoehorned feature that's so forced it detriments the game. Mario Party is a standout party game, and the idea that Nintendo fans will want to play this portably goes against the reason the game is fun. It's coach co-op at its best and as such the Switch mapping feature won't really matter like it does in the trailer.

Source: Nintendo

Pokemon: Let's Go - Poke Ball Plus

A few weeks ago, Gamers Classified wrote a list titled "5 Pokemon game peripherals that never get used". It was inspired specifically by the announcement of the Poke Ball Plus. While at E3 Nintendo confirmed the Poke Ball Plus will come exclusively with Mew inside, this doesn't change the fact that the bulkier and less intuitive version of the PokeWalker will be just another Poke dust collector. Its functionality in the game is as another joycon, which every Switch owner already has two of, and way to make the game more portable, which every Switch is capable of doing. Good try Reggie, but no-one is sold on this one.