E3 2018 has been a bit of a biggie in terms of new game announcements, despite the amount of leaks that made it all seem pointless for it to even exist. But, for FromSoftware fans like myself, it has already been a wild ride, with both the full announcement for “Shadows Die Twice”, now revealed under the complete title, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, as well as a re-release of FromSoftware’s 2004 mech game, Metal Wolf Chaos, following a bit of teasing.

So, it looks we’re getting the best of two very different aspects of FromSoftware. The harkening back to their silly, wild mech days, and the reaching out to future evolution of the Souls genre.

Amongst all the excitement, however, it’s easy for known information to get shuffled around all over social media. To circumvent that, here’s what we know so far about both FromSoftware titles.

“Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice”

“Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice”, 2019

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE.

• Sekiro is a collaboration between developer FromSoftware and publisher Activision. The two have a previous connection with the Tenchu game series, which shares some thematic elements with Sekiro.
• The game is being directed by Souls and Bloodborne creator Hidetaki Miyazaki, who has previously directed all “Soulborne“ games with the very notable exception of Dark Souls 2.
• According to Miyazaki, the game will explore themes set in fictional 1500s Sengoku Japan, as well as themes related to “ninja”.
• The game’s premise, according to the press release, involves “a hard-hearted warrior whose mission is to rescue his master, a young lord, and exact revenge on his arch nemesis”. The protagonist is described as a “one-armed lone-wolf”, and is referred to as “Sekiro the Wolf” on the Japanese website. Currently unknown if this is a specific fixed male character or customizable like in Souls games.
• Fextralife has some translations (might contain spoilers for those who want to go in completely blind) from the official Japanese site of the game that explain the story and setting (the land is apparently called “Ashina”) a bit more.
• The gameplay, if not already obvious from the trailer, will be based on the Souls and Bloodborne style with some added elements of traversal and stealth. From the press release: “Fans of FromSoftware will find familiarity in the gritty gameplay found in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice where combat reigns supreme. Players will enjoy combining new features, such as vertical traversal, with visceral head-to-head battle..”
• There is an emphasis on the character’s left-arm prosthetic as a variable weapon. Souls had shields, Bloodborne had guns. Looks like Sekiro has a magic arm.
• The press release also describes the game as a single-player title, with no word whether the game will have Souls-style multiplayer connectivity like PVP invasions and co-op.
• Sekiro is planned for a 2019 release for Xbox One, PS4 and PC (Steam).

“Metal Wolf Chaos XD”

“Metal Wolf Chaos XD”, 2018

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

• Metal Wolf Chaos XD is a remastered release of the cult classic mech shooter Metal Wolf Chaos, originally developed and published by FromSoftware in 2004 for Xbox in Japan only.
• This re-release is a collaboration between publisher Devolver Digital and developer General Arcade (who have worked on other remasters such as Pathologic Classic HD and Shadow Warrior Classic Redux). FromSoftware’s direct level of involvement in development of this re-release is unknown, though it’s important to note that it is their own IP.
• According to the Steam page, a list of upgrades in this remaster includes “refined controls and gameplay, a new save system, and 4K + 16:9 support for modern displays”.
• Despite being a Japan-only release, the 2004 version had full, but hilariously campy and weird, English voice acting. According to the trailer, that will remain intact!
• I’ll just throw this in here: Metal Wolf Chaos is an insane, bonkers, patriotically-fuck-yeah-American-by-way-of-Japan third-person-shooter gem. Its story involves the fictional 47th US President, Michael Wilson, a relative of Woodrow Wilson (because that matters for some reason), getting in a mech to fight the government and take back America after being usurped by Vice President Richard Hawk. Yeah.
• Hilariously, the tagline plus website redirect for this re-release is “Mech America Great Again”.
• Here’s a fun fact I’ll add here: Miyazaki was a designer on this game. Think about that for a second. Things have changed.
• Metal Wolf Chaos XD is planned for a 2018 release on Xbox One, PS4 and PC (Steam). Price-point unknown.

Unless something crazy and new (like maybe Bloodborne 2?) is announced at Sony’s conference on Monday, this has already been an interesting E3 for FromSoftware. This article will be updated if new information regarding these titles is announced during E3. Plus, if you like Souls games, you might like GoombaStomp’s “The Fire Keepers” podcast.