TechRaptor's 10 Best Games At E3 2019 And All Our Nominees

Published: June 21, 2019 2:00 PM /

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While the showfloor of E3 2019 may have been a disappointment in comparison to previous years (it was quite empty in some spots), the amount of stellar games on display was not. We saw nearly 50 games at the show we felt were worthy of being nominated for the best games we saw at E3 2019. From that list, we narrowed it down to our top 10, which you  can find below. Below our top 10 you'll find each of our nominees. These are all worth keeping an eye on!

Control

By Sam Guglielmo

Control is a video game where you get to a door that has a poster of a dude on it. Then you open the door and the dude who's on the poster is standing behind the door in the exact same pose as he was in that poster. I could tell you about the shifting environments, the tight fast-paced gunplay, the awesome powers, and the beautiful graphics. But I'll have an article that does that. Instead I'm using this best of spot to tell you about Ahti, the janitor. Ahti's ability to mumble Finnish proverbs in broken English is second to none, and the time I got to spend with him made me genuinely happy. Ahti himself deserves the award, and I only wish I could give it to him directly. So I give it to Control, the next best thing.

Read more about our experience with Control here.

https://twitter.com/TechRaptr/status/1139238943239626753

Cyberpunk 2077

By Andrew Otton

There's not much I need to say here to convince you why Cyberpunk 2077 is on this list. If you've seen the gameplay footage from E3 2018, you'll understand. This year, they had another 50 minute presentation full of a ton of new information. The worldbuilding, immersion, and attention to detail are on some of the highest levels we've seen in a game. And we haven't even seen all of it.

Cyberpunk 2077 will continue to be at the top of my most anticipated list until it releases in April of next year.

https://twitter.com/TechRaptr/status/1139241737619148805

Darksiders Genesis

By Andrew Otton

Darksiders Genesis takes place before the main Darksiders games take place. The horseman are new to their job and just coming to terms with what it means to be one. Genesis will be the first game spending a lot of time with the final of the four horseman, Strife. He's a gun-toting, lithe fighter on the battlefield, which is a near complete opposite to the other horseman you can play in Genesis, War.

Genesis is also going for a more humorous tone, provided in great part by Strife, who is very much the foil to War's dour stoicism. From the demo I saw and played, Darksiders Genesis perfectly brings the gameplay and combat of the Darksiders series to the isometric view. And in many ways benefits from the new point of view, which the developers speak about in our interview with them.

Read more about what we saw of Darksiders Genesis here.

https://twitter.com/TheEvilChris/status/1139210297837703168

Doom Eternal

By Alex Santa Maria

The follow up to TechRaptor’s Game of the Year in 2016, Doom Eternal didn’t have to make up a lot of ground. It just had to add a bit more on top of its amazing shooting and character building. From what we played at E3 2019, Eternal goes above and beyond. Tying itself even more closely to the classic entries in the series, Eternal looks to be the exception to the rule that lightning doesn’t strike twice. If it all pans out, iD Software will deliver a killer end to the generation that FPS fans won’t soon forget.

Read more about our hands-on preview with Doom Eternal here.

https://twitter.com/TechRaptr/status/1139298579934273542

Final Fantasy VII Remake

By Nick Maillet

Like most kids who grew up in the 90s with a PlayStation, Final Fantasy VII was the first JRPG I was ever exposed to.  So naturally, like millions of others, it holds a very special place in my heart (and inked into my arms forever). When Square Enix initially announced Final Fantasy VII Remake back in 2013, I was elated but skeptical at the same time. Video games have come a long way since 1997 and like many others I was worried that a remake would lose some of what made the original so special in favor of flashy combat and quick time events. 

Thankfully Final Fantasy VII Remake not only feels like a modern action game, but it also keeps the ATB and turn-based mechanics from the original in a new and creative way. Everything from the visuals and music, the revamped cut scenes, and how Barret and Cloud talk shit to each other throughout the boss fight brings life to the classics JRPG in ways I never expected. In short, Final Fantasy VII Remake is better than it has any business being and I’m more than fine with that.   

Read more about our hands-on preview with Final Fantasy VII Remake here.

https://twitter.com/TechRaptr/status/1140052613788065792

Judgment

By Robert Scarpinito

When people think of open-world games, the trend always goes for bigger, wider maps full of markers. Ryu ga Gotoku Studio takes the opposite approach to its open worlds. The recent Yakuza games saw a smaller open world densely packed with personality and charm, and the upcoming western release of Judgment carries that same charisma.

From Judgment's E3 demo main menu, you could jump right into a bit of the story. It started off with a cutscene that led straight into combat. While in Yagami's shoes, you'll feel like an athletic powerhouse. He takes a more agile approach to combat, using his legs to pull off fancy kicks and acrobatic maneuvers. Above all, you'll feel like a one-man army.

Additionally, the new detective work makes a welcome change to the Yakuza formula. The gameplay feels more mature, as you have to critically think about who to suspect based on police sketches and physical attributes. It elevates Ryu ga Gotoku's work to a new level, but the studio hasn't forgotten the wackiness that gives its games their unique identities. Judgment is just around the corner, and we can't wait to get our hands on it.

Read more about what we saw of Judgment here.

https://twitter.com/TechRaptr/status/1139250836209467392

No Straight Roads

By Nick Maillet

I'll be honest here, going into No Straight Roads I wasn't expecting much. Since the game is dubbed as a "Music-Based Action-Adventure," I was expecting your typical hack and slash with an emphasis on rhythm and timing.  As always I was wrong.

No Straight Roads is one of the best music games I've played in years, from its unique stylized visuals that are a nod to Jet Set Radio Future and other early 2000s Japanese games, to its carefully crafted soundtrack and intuitive gameplay. Combat in No Straight Roads is simple, and while it doesn't require you to be proficient in musical timing, and even if you were the least musically capable person ever, No Straight Roads makes keeping in time easy with visual prompts and easy to recognize musical cues during combat. The animation is interesting and a definite nod to Dreamcast era titles such as Jet Set Radio Future, but it's still original enough to not feel like a direct copy of anything.  

No Straight Roads is one of those few independent games that has that perfect blend to keep gamers engaged and tapping their foot along.  In other words, it’s like a really catchy hook in a song. Once you hear it that first time, you just want more.

Read here to find out more of what we saw of No Straight Roads.

https://twitter.com/TechRaptr/status/1140058923426361344

The Outer Worlds

By Alex Santa Maria

Considering how Bethesda has treated Fallout: New Vegas in the greater Fallout franchise, I think it’s fair to say that we weren’t going to get a game like that for a good while. Thankfully, the developers at Obsidian still wanted to make that style of game, so we have The Outer Worlds to look forward to. A spacefaring open world tale, Outer Worlds takes everything players love about Fallout’s open storytelling and adds smart mechanics to facilitate even more open gameplay. Do you want terminals? Advertising on your loading screens? Dialogue checks and charisma characters? Obsidian has it all. While the concept might not be original, the graphical and features update should make players excited to blast off into The Outer Worlds later this year.

Read more about what we saw of The Outer Worlds here.

https://twitter.com/TechRaptr/status/1139272478851682304

Psychonauts 2

By Sam Guglielmo

We've been waiting a long time for Psychonauts 2. Thankfully, it has been worth the wait. I saw a solid hour from the game, and I came away super impressed, enough so that I'm calling it a game of the show. Fun platforming, expanded combat, crazy environments, likable characters, and humor—it's a formula that does wonders, and I absolutely loved getting another look into one of my favorite worlds. It's easy to worry that all that time in development wouldn't lead to anything worth playing. Don't. Psychonauts 2 is the mind bending adventure you need.

Also Tim said there would be at least five Meat Circuses, so that's cool.

Read more about what we saw for Psychonauts 2 here.

https://twitter.com/TechRaptr/status/1139240274981457926

Scavengers

By Austin Suther

It's not often that you can pick up a game before its release and say, "I just experienced the beginnings of something great." When I left the E3 booth for Minwinter Entertainment's debut title, Scavengers, I knew I experienced something great. Midwinter Entertainment is a Seattle-based indie team comprising industry veterans, with a pedigree including games such as the Halo series and Battlefield. This all-star cast knows what makes games good, and I can tell. Scavengers has elements from survival games, battle royales, and competitive third-person shooters, and it all meshes together wonderfully.

Scavengers is what the developers call co-opetition, meaning there's elements of PVP and PVE gameplay. Your small crew is tasked with collecting a resource found throughout a large map while competing against other teams with the same objective. You'll also encounter plenty of AI including wildlife and enemy factions hoarding valuable resources and loot. Scavengers is so refreshing because working with your teammates is paramount to survival. You can transfer over excess ammo, weapons, or materials to a needy friend. Firefights are brutal without the aid of your allies, so going off on your own to an enemy stronghold with the hope of loot is foolish.

If you're not a fan of watching a hunger gauge or monitoring your character's body heat, you'll be happy to know that gunplay feels beefy. There's also a variety of characters to choose from with different abilities and class-specific weapons, so fans of hero shooters will feel right at home. Scavengers has a way to go before its release, but the potential I saw in the game left me so excited to see the future of this title—it's going to be big, so keep your eyes on this one.

Read more about what we saw of Scavengers here.

https://twitter.com/play_scavengers/status/1139223087080038400

And here are all of our nominees, close to 50. I won't bother listing the the above again, so here are all the nominees aside from the winners listed above. Every single one of the below impressed us and we will be keeping an eye on each of them as they continue development.

Here's the complete list with links to either previews or information from demos/presentations we received. This will be updated over the coming week.

If you want more info on the above games and see more of our E3 coverage, check out our E3 2019 Coverage Hub.

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


Andrew Otton
| Editor in Chief

Andrew is the Editor in Chief at TechRaptor. Conned into a love of gaming by Nintendo at a young age, Andrew has been chasing the dragon spawned by Super… More about Andrew