Tokyo Game Show 2024 Previews #1

We attended Tokyo Game Show 2024 and played some exciting titles of all sizes! In this article, Brando shares his impressions of four of the best games from big name publishers he tried out on the show floor. Smaller indie title previews will be in a follow-up article here. All release dates and platforms listed are current as of October 27, 2024.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

A remake of the 2004 game METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER. The same gripping story and engrossing world, but with all new graphics and 3D audio that enhance the jungle atmosphere. Get ready for the ultimate survival stealth action experience.

Releases in 2024 (tentative) on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows.
Official site: https://www.konami.com/mg/mgs3r/us/en/

The TGS demo starts at the very beginning of the game, and ends when Snake opens the door to find Sokolov. The intro cutscenes roll in full HD glory, and it’s striking how good everything looks. The jungle is lush and overflowing with vegetation. Crocodile maws ripple with polygons. Snake’s face is more realistic, yet still familiar. All the characters look “as you remember them” with nostalgia goggles on. There’s more detail, yet everyone is stylized enough to avoid looking unnatural. The original voice lines are unchanged, as is the overall gameplay and level design. The controls are familiar as well, with a couple QOL improvements. For example, you can choose between classic and modern control schemes, and there’s a quick option to switch your camouflage in the field, without going into the pause menu.

It seems like a great remake for purists who enjoy the original MGS3 gameplay and story-wise, but want to revisit it with a fresh coat of paint.

Even Snake is having fun!

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam

Professor Layton and Luke face new puzzles in a fresh setting. Solve epic riddles as you progress through the story of this puzzle/fantasy adventure.

Releases in 2025 on Nintendo Switch.
Official site: https://www.layton.jp/jouki/en/

Professor Layton fans have waited a long time, but the new game is here and it delivers.

New World of Steam picks up one year after the events of Unwound Future, the final game in the original trilogy (released for the Nintendo DS way back on September 12, 2010). Professor Layton and Luke arrive in Steam Bison, America, a peculiar town with advanced steam machinery everywhere. The town design is beautiful and the art style in general retains its 2D-ish charm, though the models are now in 3D.

In the demo I walked around town a bit for some intro cutscenes and dialogue, and solved a few introductory puzzles. The puzzles feature the same logical deduction with twists that the series is known for, but there is one striking difference. With the move to Nintendo Switch, there’s no longer a stylus to draw on the screen with, so it felt slightly less intuitive to operate.

The first main puzzle has you connecting points on a 2D grid with wires. If this were on the DS, you could draw a quick line between points to connect them, but with a controller, you need to select your first point, then tap over horizontally and vertically to highlight the second and third point, and then press A to confirm. Not a deal-breaker, but something that takes more getting used to than freely tapping and dragging. This affects some puzzle types more than others. For example, multiple choice selections are still a breeze with the new control scheme.

There’s still a “memo” feature for jotting down notes on a puzzle, but doing it with joysticks is far more finicky than with a stylus. I could see heavy users of this feature opting to play through the game with a physical pen and paper nearby instead.

Minor controls note aside, overall this looks like a grand return for the series!

DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake

A stunning reimagining of the beloved masterpiece and narrative beginning to The Erdrick Trilogy. Experience this HD-2D version of DRAGON QUEST III that provides a unique three-dimensional feel by adding 3D effects to pixel-based backgrounds.

Releases November 14, 2024 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam, and Microsoft Windows.
Official site: https://dragonquest.square-enix-games.com/games/en-us/dragon-quest-123-hd2d-remakes/

I haven’t played a Dragon Quest game since Dragon Warrior I & II on the Game Boy Color, but this was a really charming demo. Classic 2D turn-based RPG gameplay, with gorgeously detailed pixels in all the sprites and a lot of nice features sprinkled on top. Shadows and environmental effects give it a quasi-3D feel. You can fast forward cutscenes. You can dash instead of walking. You can change the battle speed mid-battle. Many enemies NPCs have voiced dialogue. Mini-maps have objective markers. You can even “memorize” things people have said, as an easy way to note down NPC dialogue lines to recall later.

All in all, a beautiful remake of a classic game, with options you can use (or ignore) to adjust how much modern approachability you want in your experience.

I wasn’t allowed to take pictures at the TGS Playstation booth, so here’s some nice official key art.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

After losing his memory, Goro Majima, a once-feared legend in the yakuza world, sets sail in search of treasure. A spin-off of the Like a Dragon series, taking place after the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (2024)

Releases February 21, 2025 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Official site: https://ryu-ga-gotoku.com/pirate/asia_en/

Whatever you think of the Yakuza games, you’ve got to hand it to the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio production team. In an age of bloated budgets and delayed releases, they not only continue to release one game a year (at least), but they actually moved this game’s release to a week earlier than planned (originally February 28).

Part of what makes the studio so prolific is their judicious asset reuse. This spin-off takes place in Hawaii (reusing the setting from the previous main game, Infinite Wealth) but stars fan favorite one-eyed yakuza Goro Majima. Accordingly, this game uses the series’ classic beat-em-up action combat instead of the RPG combat of recent mainline entries. Majima gets his traditional “Mad Dog” fighting style, but he also gets a new pirate-themed moveset, which is a fun way to shake things up. The minigames from recent mainline entries are here too: Majima Kart, Crazy Eats, casino gambling, you know the drill. There are at least some new settings though, like the pirate town Madlantis, hidden away in a submerged cave and built around a wrecked tanker. From the overall feel of the demo though, this is The Yakuza Experience, a fun romp for fans who know what they want.