Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's story is as follows:

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided directly follows the aftermath of the Aug Incident, a day when mechanically augmented citizens all over the world were stripped of control over their minds and bodies, resulting in the deaths of millions of innocents. The year is now 2029, and the golden era of augmentations is over. Mechanically augmented humans have been deemed outcasts and segregated from the rest of society. Crime and acts of terror serve as a thin veil to cover up an overarching conspiracy aimed at controlling the future of mankind

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will be released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. 

As I hope you can tell from that lengthy introduction, Life is Strange: Before the Storm centers around Chloe Price, as well as her unlikely friendship with Rachel Amber. All is not right in Chloe and Rachel's worlds, though. With Chloe still dealing with the death of her father and Rachel discovering a devastating secret about her family, the two must confide in each other and face their demons together. Immediately I found the premise to be much more enthralling than the original, but after completing Episode 1: Awake, I knew with absolute certainty that developer Deck Nine were the right choice to create this prequel.

Anyone that experienced the original is familiar with Chloe's rebellious personality, but Before the Storm allows the player to understand why Chloe has this attitude. This is mainly due to Chloe's friendship with Rachel. We see much more sensitive side of Chloe that is brought out by her feelings for Rachel. While the interactions between Chloe and Rachel feel genuine, the speed at which their friendship progresses seems unnaturally hasty. By the end of this episode, their friendship has only lasted for about a day, and they're already much closer with one another than I've ever been with my any of my friends. Surely Chloe and Rachel's friendship will have its ups and downs over the course of these next few episodes, but it would have been nice to see a more realistic path from strangers to best friends.

The scenic little town of Arcadia Bay returns in Before the Storm and is either paradise or perdition depending on whether or not you're a student at Blackwell Academy. The stylized graphics and modern point and click gameplay popularized by Telltale's The Walking Dead also make their return from the original Life is Strange. And while Before the Storm doesn't add anything new to this recent sub-genre of games, it never really had to. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Everything you've come to expect from this type of game is here: explore an environment, examine and interact with objects, then speak to a character or exit said environment to continue the story. It's understandable that some people have become fatigued by this style of gameplay, but they're missing out on an exceptional story with Before the Storm.

Player choice was a major narrative and gameplay mechanic in the original that makes a return in Before the Storm. Whether it's something seemingly minor or something blatantly obvious, the choices you make in Life is Strange: Before the Storm all have consequences. Of course, since this a prequel, Max Caulfield is not in the picture and there are no time altering powers for the player to utilize, but Chloe has a power of her own; her attitude. 'Backtalk' allows the player to turn Chloe into the rudest 16 year old imaginable to verbally force her way through specific encounters.

Backtalk is used as both a narrative and gameplay mechanic. In a narrative sense, Backtalk plays a large role in player choice and consequence. And in terms of gameplay, you can use Backtalk to easily bypass potentially longer sections of the episode. You may find that someone you were rude to in order to get through a section of the episode easier is someone you really shouldn't have been rude to later on. There's only a few moments in Episode 1 that allow you to use Backtalk, but it's clear that there will be repercussions in the following episodes for using it. The exclusion of time altering abilities elevates the feeling of needing to face reality and consequences to heights not seen in the original Life is Strange, and that's crucial for any "coming of age" story.

Perhaps it's just me, but I found a large amount of the dialogue in Before the Storm to be painfully cringeworthy. I like to think that I'm 'hip' and 'with it,' but I've never met another human being in my life that spoke even remotely similar to how characters in Before the Storm speak to one another, and I live in California; the birthplace of all popular slang words. To blame Deck Nine for this would be misguided. Lest we forget that the original Life is Strange developers, DONTNOD Entertainment, sewed these cringe seeds hella deep.

On top of well written characters, Deck Nine also did an incredible job with Before the Storm's soundtrack. Had they gone with only melancholic tunes to match the depressing tone of Chloe and Rachel's stories, it would completely negate their punk, rebellious personalities, and if they had gone completely with a punk rock soundtrack, it would take away from many of the somber moments found in just this one episode alone. Luckily Before the Storm has a perfect combination of chilling melodies and rocking tracks to properly convey the appropriate emotions for each scene.

Returning to Arcadia Bay with a 16 year old Chloe Price as our hero was a great idea, and if the quality of this first episode is any indication, Deck Nine were the perfect choice to take the reigns of the Life is Strange series. Working in tandem with a beautiful location and a properly utilized soundtrack, Life is Strange: Before the Storm is perfectly capable of eliciting the emotions applicable to any given situation. While the unnatural speed at which Chloe and Rachel's friendship progressed at was a tad bit off putting, I'm still very much excited to see how their relationship will play out, and how they both deal with the curveballs life threw at them. If you've played through the original Life is Strange, you know where both of these characters end up, but it's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

Cyberpunk 2077

I love me some good old-fashioned Sci-Fi, but if there is one thing that I need in order to get REALLY invested in it, it is aesthetic. Cue Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red; when I first saw the game, I was not expecting an 80's punk rock style RPG mixed in with shooting elements. But in all honesty, I didn't know what to expect since this is my first experience with this game. If the immense praise that The Witcher 3 got is any indication of this game's quality, then I'm sure to pick this game up on day one, assuming I have the cash.

Kingdom Hearts III

The epic conclusion to one of the most beloved crossover game series of all time, Kingdom Hearts III by Square Enix and Disney is sure to sell like hotcakes. I have played a few games in this series and I've tried to make heads or tails of the overly convoluted plot, but to no avail. Hopefully this game will tie up some much needed loose ends so we can finally get the closure we've all been waiting for this January.

Starlink: Battle For Atlas

If any of you were hoping for anything to fill that Star Fox shaped void in your life, this game might be able to pull that off. Starlink from Ubisoft is an open-space adventure game mixed with Star Fox style dogfights and a toys-to-life-based vehicle customization, but thankfully the game does not require the use of the figures to unlock everything. They still look quite nice though and with the Switch version having Star Fox exclusive content, you might actually want to plunk down the $75 for the game's starter edition this October.

Cuphead: The Delicious Final Course

I LOVE Cuphead; everything from its gameplay, music, and art style has proven to me that classic animation is not dead. So imagine how elated I was when the trailer for the game's DLC dropped. The fact that we're getting a FULL new island with new weapons, bosses and a new playable character just shows that this game is a labor of love that deserves every dollar thrown at it. For me, 2019 can't come soon enough.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

I may not be a big fan of the Dark Souls series, but I love Bloodborne. Yes its difficulty is more forgiving than Dark Souls, but I was more drawn in by the setting and atmosphere than anything else. To me, dark medieval fantasy has been played to death, so the Victorian era horror that Bloodborne offered was a breath of fresh air. Hopefully the feudal Japanese theme that Sekiro will offer will do the same thing that Bloodborne did for me, plus I'm really looking forward to using that multipurpose prosthetic limb that the main character has.

Devil May Cry 5

I have a confession to make: I have only really gotten into one game in this series, and it was the DMC reboot by Team Ninja Theory. I'm not sure what the general consensus is regarding that game, but I had a lot of fun playing it; it reminded me a lot of Bayonetta in its presentation. Now I know that Team Ninja Theory isn't working on the latest installment in this series, but considering how similar the gameplay looks I'm sure that I'll have just as much fun, if not more.

Spider-Man

This is a bit of a big hurdle for me. On the one hand it's Spider-Man; a comic book series that I have loved since I was a child, but on the other hand it's a licensed game; a mark that usually doesn't bode well with me as most licensed games never really do too well, but damn does this game look GOOD. Insomniac did a fantastic job in capturing the look and feel of the Spider-Man comics and the updated costumes of the villains in this game look amazing. I also love that the game has heavy stealth elements and the combat makes use of the environment. I may have to bite the bullet and buy this game because it is starting to make me think that maybe licensed games now have a chance at being genuinely good.

Babylon's Fall

Very little was shown about this game other than some of the game's backstory and the developer behind it, Platinum Games, but considering that Platinum is the same company that has given us Bayonetta, Vanquish, Nier: Automata, and The Wonderful 101, I am more than certain that this game will be a great, fast-paced, high-fantasy action game. I'll be sure to get this game day one as well, once again assuming I have the cash.

Doom Eternal

Doom 2016 was a great way to breathe life back into a mostly dead game genre, arcade style FPS, and now that the game is getting a sequel, I can only hope for one thing with the new entry: More of EVERYTHING. I want to see more weapons, more gore, more demon types, more locations, and most importantly more insanity. Only time will tell, but if the previous game is any indication, I could see the Doom Slayer getting revenge on Samuel Hayden for trapping him back in Hell.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate

As if this was even a surprise. I can't wait for this game and so far the only things we know about it is that it has over 65 characters, over 80 stages, every character from the previous 4 and half games will make a return plus Inkling, Daisy and Ridley, 8-Player smash will make a return, several characters had some major tweaks to their movesets, many final smashes were overhauled to speed up the fights, and some new items, pokemon and assist trophies will make their debut in this entry. Besides amiibo support, we don't even know anything about any side modes, collectibles, or single-player stuff and I'm STILL excited. December 7th will be marked on my calendar, and I will be waiting.

So that's my list. I am likely going to go broke in the coming year or so trying to get all of the games I'm most excited for, and I only listed my top 10 here; there are many more that were shown at E3 that are now on my wish list. I just hope I'll be able to at least get the ones listed here, but until then, I'll be seeing you.