Ubisoft Forward June 2021 Thoughts and Selections
In previous years the Ubisoft E3 showcase exceeded my expectations, but the Ubisoft Forward 2021 in June 2021 was a different story. Although multiple games and software were announced that interested me, the void of any update on Beyond Good and Evil 2 was supremely disappointing. Not a single thing to show for it. Additionally, apparently I overlooked the confirmed release delay of Skull & Bones until 2022 in May, but there was nothing about that either this year. Skull & Bones had a major showing a few years ago, but last year we got no update either. I’m looking forward to that game, but since it will be delayed I will have to update my ‘Game for Game’ (Hype Ranking) List for June 2021 and replace it later in the month after E3.
That’s not to say I didn’t see anything interesting. I’m not a big first-person shooter gamer, but I was generally impressed with what I saw from Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Extraction. Some of the level design seemed very similar to Escape from Tarkov, but the enemies seemed very unique and interesting. The cinematic presentation for Far Cry 6 was interesting, but failed to do much to sell me on the game with gameplay related stuff. The Ubisoft Forward presentation featured a lot of DLC that I don’t really care about. including more Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla DLC that I have no interest playing because the game felt boring and long already. This is the one time not having a new Assassin’s Creed game ready may backfire, To top it all off they announced Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora as their big announcements, but I also don’t give a damn about Avatar either. I may be one of the few people in America to not completely watch Avatar because I was bored in the beginning. This was not a gameplay trailer and just a cinematic showing 2022 as the release year.
Despite the disappointing presentation, a few things caught my interest. Here are my selections:
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
The first Mario + Rabbids game was one that I wanted to play due to the tactical nature of it, but I never ended up with a Nintendo Switch. This new version Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope takes place in space and it looks very interesting. The gameplay seems a bit more fluid than a stiff grid, but it’s hard to tell. I really like the story presentation of this one and look forward to learning more about this in the future. Maybe by the time this releases in 2022 I’ll have the rumored new Switch!
Riders Republic
Riders Republic is one game that I may definitely play this year. It’s a racing experience with lots of user multiplayer options. I don’t know how long a game like this can hold my attention or retain enough users for a good experience, but if there are other titles coming out within a month of it then another Ubisoft+ subscription may be worth the try when this releases in September.
Rocksmith+
I’ve never tried Rocksmith, but I’ve heard a lot of good things. Rocksmith+ is a subscription based service that seems to have a lot of cool options to help learn how to play guitar. I don’t know if this is something I will do right away, but I have a guitar laying around that I can always try to use it for it. I was most intrigued by the visual aids shown in the software to help learn.
