E3 2016 Nintendo Treehouse Live

E3 2016 Nintendo Treehouse Live

 

Pokemon Sun and Moon

 

This game is offering great entry level play in addition to numerous improvements and returning features in the series. The trainer customization returns.

 E32016Pokemon1.jpg

This also introduced 3 new Pokemon from the new region. These were just the basic starting forms of them, but it did offer some insight into what we could expect in terms of the native Pokemon to this new region. These Pokemon are the Normal Flying Woodpecker, Pikipek. This bird fights by spitting up seeds at high speeds.

Yangoos Reveal

The second new Pokemon revealed was the Normal type Yungoos. This Pokemon can have a new ability called Stakeout. By switching it in mid-battle you will give it an attack boost.

E32016Pokemon Grubbin Reveal

The final new Pokemon was the Bug type Grubbin. It uses threads to speed through forested areas. It has the well-known ability, Swarm.

 

There were a few reveals about the Legendary Pokemon. Magearna will be revealed in Sun and Moon. Its ability has been revealed to be Soul-Heart. It is a Steel-Fairy type Pokemon. This raises Magearna Special Attack one stage for each fainted Pokemon in the arena. This Pokemon will be given out via a QR code distribution that will happen at a later date. The unique legendary Pokemon, Solgaleo and Lunala were revealed to have new forms: Radiant Sun and Full Moon. Both give an impressive boost to what the Pokemon can do.

 

There has been another change to the battle interface. You can now look up the effects of each different move while in battle. You will be able to also see the typing of your opponent. Given there are nearly 800 Pokemon, that is a welcome change. It can also show the present state of your Pokemon. The Buffs and Debuffs are visibly tracked on a screen accessible while in battle.

 

The Pokedex, in addition to being possessed by a Rotom, has a few new features as well. If you catch a Pokemon with alternate forms or evolution it will display with a white Pokemon. This also works for Pokemon that function in pairs. It is designed to help encourage fans to collect all the Pokemon that they can. As you encounter Pokemon in your travels, it will also track what moves are weak or super effective against them. This makes it easier for you to choose what to use against your opponent.

 

There was also a new kind of battle introduced: Battle Royale. This can pit up to 4 Pokemon against each other in a free for all melee. This can lead to cases where numerous Pokemon are attacking just one or attacks flying everywhere.

 

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild

Throughout the game, there will be towns with people living in them. For the E3 version, they are focused on the game play and the exploration of the world. The story is very cool but for now, it is completely under wraps. The only story hints revealed would be that Link starts in the Resurrection Chamber.

 

This game will feature a number of breaks from the Zelda conventions, but it will also serve to keep the more important ones. This game will offer a more technological focus than we have previously seen in Zelda shirts. Link will now have clothing items to wear. Each of these will have different defense ratings, decreasing the amount of damage that Link will be taking. Link is also now able to jump on command, not just in scripted locations or at triggered points. In previous games, character or item names were used, this game, they wanted the focus on the world itself. The world itself offers very little in terms of the story. Much more is implied than the usual instance of being told what has happened to the land of Hyrule this adventure.

 

The dreaded stamina gauge does return while Link is climbing, but it drains much slower than it did before. It also recovers much quicker. The world is very interactive, being able to push around rocks and many other things. They did show a little bit of the world map. The starting area proved to be quite small to the world itself. Still, within that area, it would be impossible to explore in 20 minutes or less. There is going to be a massive world to explore, just as it has been mentioned.

 E3LoZBreathoftheWild2.jpg

They also show just how interactive the world. You can get Axes, cut down trees to gather firewood and branches. This will let you create items and bake food. Your weapons will also have durability, like the shields in Skyward Sword. You will be find and collecting weapons from your enemies and using those in battle. You will no longer be finding hearts in pots and grass. You will need to eat food to restore your health. This makes it more survival oriented. The shiekah slate, your interactive “stone tablet” shows the level of noise that Link is making and the present temperature. It is clear that this will be factoring into the survival elements of the game. You will need to change Link's gear to deal with the change in temperature. This can be putting on warmer clothes in cold area and changing your gear to deal with extreme heat as well.

 

There will also be a perfect dodge feature. This allows you to slow time when you manage a dodge at the exact right instance. This gives Link a major edge in any fight. It will not be something easy to master but a very vital feature to how things work.

 

One of the more subtle features is that Link can use their shield to “surf”. It will drain the durability of the shield. All gear has its own stats. Shield Surfing allows you to do other things, like archery and some combat.

  E3LoZBreathoftheWild1.jpg

The game does feature a cel-shaded look. This is not an animation style game, but wanted to use this art style and match it to the game play. It was easier to reduce the elements to make things stand out than adding elements. The music took a different approach as well. It too has a more open air approach. It will be dynamic. It is largely going to be an environmental approach. What music is in the game will be blended into that.

 E3LoZBreathoftheWild3.jpg

The devs showed off a second part of the Breath of the Wild. This segment was focused on exploration. The map offered in game actually have topographical information. You can see the rise and fall of the land itself as you explore. The game offers a lot of exploration as well. They also highlighted that the text bubble will only trigger the first time that you collect the item.

 

The monsters will actually have something of a community. They will actually stray more from their camps than they have in the past. You can expect to work more to evade your foes or defeat them. They will grab and throw dirt if you steal all of their weapons. You can set things on fire to cause distractions. You can use the Shiekah Slate to scout the location and learn about the HP (and difficulty implied).

 

The weather is dynamic in the world of the Breath of the Wild. It will change randomly throughout anyone's exploration of the world. This will change what each player will experience in the area. This creates more unique experiences for people. It will change at random throughout the day. This can be just a nice clear day or change to rain, making things slick and more difficulty to manage.

 

The third segment introduced Rune abilities. This allows Link to use Runes to move things that are blocking his way forward as well as letting him explore the world more. It does expand the options that the player has a lot. The runes are for more than just the shrine. This is for more exploration and finding the various hidden items. Each of them expands what you can do in the world and allow you to find even more secrets than most people thought were possible.

 

The fourth segment promised to talk about more of the details focusing on the combat elements of of the Breath of the Wild. The equipment has been shown to have its own stats, being either its attack or defense (for swords and shields respectively). You can also get temporary hearts. These are shown in yellow and will last until they are depleted in battle. They also, formally, introduced that the game will have one and two-handed weapons. Obviously, with a two-handed weapon, Link will not be able to use his shield. All the different weapons have attack-type attributes. These will let you adjust to the kinds of enemies that you are dealing with. What Link has equipped can change how his stamina will drain as well.

 E3LoZBreathoftheWild4.jpg

The next segment introduced the Amiibo functions. So far, they have revealed that Wolf Link Amiibo will introduce a partner character. Many other Amiibos will be available for use with this new Zelda game. The partner character will remain in until the partner has lost their hearts. There are a few more Amiibo which will be released soon. The first new one revealed was Archer Link. Next was Rider Link, with Link on his steed for this adventure. All of these have a great level of detail. The third was the Guardian Amiibo. This brings in the various colors and its fluid colors. It is unique in that its various legs are bendable. This amiibo will be posable. These amiibo will launch along side the Breath of the Wild.

 N

The segment following on the Legend of Zelda segment brought in Miymoto to talk about what shifts and returns there were in this game. They mentioned that a lot of this game was bring it the game back to its original NES roots. The games had become more sequential. This game is meant to bring it back to its free-roaming roots. There is no one way to go forward or progress. They took things all the way back to where things were in the beginning of the series. There was also a strong desire to return things to basic elements, to strip away the direct story telling and return it to the basic implied story telling of the first game. He is very happy with the various approaches that have become available. There is just so much to explore within this game. You can very easily wander off and get off your path. The world itself offers so much you can do. This is from the physics engine that allows you to create new situations.

 

From there, they moved onto showing off another Shrine where they will be getting a different rune than the ones shown before. This was the Stasis rune, letting you freeze an object in motion. It also allows you store kinetic energy to launch an item. This is proving to be a very interesting game with the game world showing a mix between magic and technology even more.

 

They moved onto a segment then focused on the new hunting and gathering mechanics. This is not the first time materials have been a component in improving items. This is the first time though that a Zelda game has featured them in this manner for all health restoration and giving more than just boosts or buffs to Link. These can give Link Strength or Speed Boosts. You can also use this to gain resistances against cold or extreme heat.

 

There is a big difference between Dungeons and Shrines. The Shrines will reward you with Spirit Orbs. These will give you access to unique items that will further aid in your exploration. The Shrines will also act as a Warp Point once you have done particular tasks. This gives you a way to quickly return to the Plateau as well as transverse the massive world that Link is in this time.

 

After the Treehouse team had shown off a lot of the Great Plateau, the starting area, for the following segment, they ventured beyond it. They say that the Plateau is less than 2% of what the game can allow you to do. As they built this massive world, they wanted to be sure that there was a lot to acknowledge the past of the series. They wanted to create a game where people could explore and “get lost” while trying to reach a place. More, intentionally taking the long route to explore the world around it. You will also find unique geography and geology throughout the various regions and areas. Where the player leaves the Plateau is going to set a lot of the world that the player will experience just after going through the introduction of the game.


Comments (0)

New comments are currently disabled.


Subscribe to me on YouTubeFollow us on Twitter!
Join our Steam group!