Developer_Direct ’24 Impressions

So there we have it, the second DeveloperunderscoreDirect is in the books. Xbox set the bar high with the inaugural outing last year, revealing more information on Redfall, Minecraft Legends, Forza Motorsport, and ESO, as well as the huge surprise release of the highly acclaimed Hi-Fi Rush. While we didn’t get a shadow drop, the Developer_Direct format feels like it was fine tuned this year to offer an even better look at the games we’re going to be playing soon.

There’s no doubting that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was the star of the show, and you can count us in with the internet at large at being blown away by what we saw. Machinegames already had a place in our hearts with their excellent Wolfenstein reboot titles, and taking what made those games great (brilliant balance of stealth and action, a really well told and performed story, gun and movement controls that felt right, punching Nazi’s) and transposing it onto one of the biggest movie franchises in the world can only be a good thing.

There was a lot of hubbub about first and third person pre-reveal, and we’re glad to see MG taking a hybrid approach, with first person gameplay complimented by third person for more cinematic moments. Those shots where Indy was using his whip to fight enemies before punching them in the face looked incredible, and obviously the opportunities for traversal using it are vast.

Having a younger Harrison Ford was less of a uncanny valley shock to us having recently watched the latest film (The Dial of Destiny, in which Ford is digitally de-aged for a good portion of the runtime), and the ever-present Troy Baker’s young Indy voice is (at least from the trailer) more than good enough to suspend our disbelief.

The strength of the Developer_Direct is not just showing the game, but letting those behind the screen share their enthusiasm, and the team from Machinegames seem to be super stoked to be working on this franchise along with Toss Howard. The Direct as a whole balanced this aspect nicely, with each game getting a fair shot of gameplay time alongside the talking heads, each of which let their excitement shine through even as they were reading clearly bulletpointed marketing beats.

Outside of Indiana Jones, we got much better looks at Ara: History Untold, Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga, and Avowed, as well as a surprise addition of Square Enix’s Visions of Mana.

Again, this format let each game shine without really having one stand out over the other (outside of Indy). We really appreciated the far deeper look at Hellblade 2, a game long in development and one that we’ve been waiting for since we roll credits on the original release. The tech looks utterly stunning, the world and characters having a realistic, yet otherworldly, look to them. It was awesome to see them speak on the work being done with mental health experts and sound design to try and help people better understand psychosis and its effects on people, and yet there’s also improved interactions, combat, and more to make it an enjoyable, as well as affecting, experience. We’ve only got a few months to wait for it – the release date was revealed to be May 21st – and they’ve confirmed it’ll be roughly the same length as the first game, clocking in around 6 hours which is great news.

Avowed has us very intrigued too, with it’s mix of open-ended dialogue and vast but not-quite open worlds. The demo shown here had moments where it fell a bit flat – some of the combat looked a little stilted – but Obsidion have a great track record at creating rich, compelling games full of brilliant systems and stories. When they focussed on one characters particular twist to a quest we had hoped they’d show us a couple of simple examples of outcomes, but alas, we were left with our minds wondering at the possibilites. Still, a fantasy RPG that won’t take up 100+ hours of our life while still offering in-depth worlds and characters? Sign us up.

I can’t really speak to Visions of Mana or Ara: Untold History as, truth be told, they are not my strong suit at all. Each got plenty of detail and time, and there seems to be a lot of good stuff here for those who are into 4X games or JRPG titles. While not my cup of tea, it’s great that Xbox gave these titles as much space and love as the other three, exposing them to a whole new audience and hopefully making some new fans along the way.

All in all, we think it’s safe to say this is one of Xbox’s better showings in recent years. A broad range of games, all confirmed to be coming this year, that were given just enough space and time to shine without overbearing the audience or each other. There’s still a lot to learn about each game as we wait for them to release, but what a great way to kick off 2024. More of this please, and here’s to great games no matter where you play!

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