E3 2018 has come and gone, and now it’s time to take a look at the absolute best games that came out of the show. Some games were announced, some were fully revealed after an earlier announcement, and some had deeper dives available in support of releases coming up this year. Regardless of where the game is in its development and release cycle, these are the 45 coolest, hottest, best video games that were shown at E3 2018 (in alphabetical order).

My brother Kyle and I also did a breakdown of every E3 press conference on a recent episode of The Shea Hates Everything Podcast, so check it out and enjoy the list!

Anthem

My excitement for Anthem seems to rise and fall with the wind. After an initial announcement a few years ago, the more we’ve learned about the game, the closer it’s seemed to align with Destiny. That isn’t inherently a bad thing, but so far, no game has fully realized that concept. Destiny has had two tries and they still haven’t done it. The Division 2, at least, seems to be doing better the second time around.

Still, this is a Bioware game being made by the “A team,” so there’s some hope. People that played the game at the show are raving about the mechanics, saying the shooting and flying feels better than in any previous Bioware game. For me, as long as they continue the legacy of crafting deep worlds filled with interesting characters, I’ll be happy. I just wish I was still as head over heels about Anthem as I was at first reveal.

 

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

I loved Assassin’s Creed Origins, but wasn’t sure I would be ready for more of the same game in just a year’s time. I changed my tune a bit as the months wore on, hoping we’d see a direct sequel starring Bayek and Aya (and maybe the ability to play as both) to be released in early 2019. One year of development just isn’t enough time to make meaningful gameplay changes, and there was so much content in Origins that I didn’t really need more so soon.

Well, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is kind of like the worst of both worlds in that it doesn’t star Bayek and Aya, and it’s coming out this year in a very similar world with very similar gameplay. And yet, here I am being pretty excited about it. I’m curious to see how the dialogue options work, since at first blush they seem more akin to the pretty meaningless options in Uncharted 4. However, I’ll say that if Ubisoft puts out another similar Assassin’s Creed in fall of 2019, I’ll be right back to my old “burnt out” feeling on the series.

 

Babylon’s Fall

There’s still a lot we don’t know about Babylon’s Fall after its announcement at the Sony press conference. Given that it’s a Platinum game — and that we saw some action during the reveal trailer — it’s probably safe to assume that it’s an action game of some sort with a focus on sword combat. I got a definite Dark Souls vibe from what I saw, and it would be very interesting to see Platinum take on some RPG mechanics.

There’s a very cool trailer breakdown over at Game Informer that I recommend to anyone that wants to learn more about Babylon’s Fall’s timeline and events that may take place during the game. Until we see more, it’ll mostly be speculation, but given the pedigree of the studio and the craziness of the trailer, there’s more than enough to be excited about with Babylon’s Fall.

 

Battlefield V

I’m not sure why EA decided to show Battlefield V the way they showed it. At its own press conference, we got a multiplayer hype trailer that, despite looking cool, didn’t give us any context for the new modes, gameplay changes, or feel of the game. Then at the Microsoft press conference, we got another trailer that was a quick hitter on one of the stories we’ll see in the single-player campaign. After the show, a bunch of YouTubers put out gameplay videos where they talked about what they had played and some of the minutia.

If EA wants to use influencers for its marketing, fine. I tend to think the YouTuber video advertising stuff is kind of slimy because there still aren’t great FCC guidelines, but that’s a rant for another day. What’s weird is that they still barely showed anything at E3, which is when they have guaranteed millions of eyes on Battlefield V, which is releasing in just a few months. All that aside, I’m liking what I’ve seen of Battlefield V. The new modes and scale of the game seem awesome, and I love the exaggerated WWII vibe. I just wish I didn’t have to work to actually find that content.

 

Battletoads

Phil Spencer and Microsoft have been teasing a new Battletoads game for what feels like years at this point. Now, it’s finally happening. I have fond memories of banging my head against the infamous sewer level, just like everyone else. It was even worse when playing with friends.

We know very little about the game at this point, but it’s fair to assume that it’ll be taking the classic characters and aesthetic and updating them with some modern side-scrolling mechanics. I don’t know how a Battletoads game will work in the here and now (partially because the original is so outdated and partially because I’m not so sure it was ever a good video game). But hey, I’m curious to see them take a crack at it.

 

Click through to the next page for more amazing games from E3!