This year’s Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit 2018 (ESGS 2018) continues ESGS tradition of maintaining high levels of excitement across convention days. The event started at an all-time high courtesy of demonstrations, displays, and showcases. However, gamers and adventurers who made the trek to SMX Convention Center in Pasay City for ESGS 2018 Day 2 met more thrills courtesy of tournaments and exclusive insights from industry peers.

Day 2 of this year’s ESGS 2018 doesn’t fail to deliver expectations. Presenters, exhibitors, and guests surprised gamers and enthusiasts in the convention center with quite a number of offerings. Here’s the What’s A Geek! crew for a short recap of the day’s offerings:

ESGS 2018 Day 2: What Do We Play Now?

First-timer Rhenn’s initial reaction on ESGS was: “Oh. Look at all the stuff I can’t possibly buy.”

For Day 2, it’s transformed into: “Oh. Look at all the games I can’t play all at the same time.”

And the reaction makes sense. At the time of writing, staffers Rhenn and Emile talked about ways on tackling event coverage. The challenge remains the same: “What exactly do we cover (coverage) anyway?”

EGSG hooks in players and enthusiasts like that. Staffers from the site and their friends had fun not just because there’s a lot of things to do. It’s fun precisely because it’s hard to choose. You can’t tackle ESGS the same, because players are fundamentally different.

The Many Dimensions of Gaming

Perhaps what’s interesting with ESGS is its drive to bring some of the best minds in local gaming today. This extends not just to players, but developers and business figures as well. Some developers and players interviewed by our staff have opinions on development and gaming that can be considered fresh, unique, and extremely honest. For instance:

• Folks behind Tales From The Gamemaster took a gamble that involves presenting their game to a more global audience. The game sets itself in a fantasy world of mages and wizards where an “arena” apparently has more sinister goals than to just have competitors fight for fame and status. What’s interesting is its combat system, which purely consists of a built-in collectible card game system.
• Pawikan Patrol tries to help with the cause to help Mother Nature through pawikan conservation. Tabletop Traveler Mikey’s game involves using a card game to help teach and entertain people of all ages regarding the basics and fundamentals of Pawikan conservation.

Tournaments Galore!

Resident fighting game enthusiasts Emile and Temujin took the rounds exploring various fighting game festivities in Day 2 of ESGS. What’s perhaps interesting is the abundance of fighting game tournaments today. Games such as SoulCalibur VI and Tekken 7 have become highlights of today’s tournament festivities. Interestingly, other games remain hot for a lot of gamers. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, CrossFire, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Ragnarok Mobile, and Project Xandata remain popular for gamers in Day 2 of the festivities.

Square Enix For Left Alive

Square Enix executive Shinji Hashimoto and Armored Core producer Toshifumi Nabeshima went to #ESGS2018 for Left Alive.

Players shouldn’t go into Left Alive thinking it’s an action game. Based on exclusive gameplay footage, apparently, the game has a huge emphasis on tactical gameplay with survival elements. This is courtesy of the game’s setting and premise, which sets it in a post-apocalyptic Earth. The three main characters, who the Square Enix guests touted as “special” in their own way, will affect the salvation of two warring factions.

Square Enix takes Left Alive for a spin thanks to its tackling of multiple genres. The production team’s experience with both Armored Core and Front Mission made the mecha aspect of the game both realistic and unique in their own way. While the Square Enix guests didn’t mention specifics on the “relevance” of mechas to the story, the controls and m enough to make their use entertaining. Apparently, players can also steal the mechs of their enemies, which can make customizaton quite interesting.

Aside from mecha and robots, the survival emphasis makes for interesting approaches to gameplay. Players have to think twice before solving the challenges of the game. The survival twist to the tactical action “shooter” premise gives players a ton of opportunities to explore their way through levels. Aside from going in guns blazing, some levels do offer players opportunities to be more creative. They can set traps, or even go through a level without having to engage in combat.

Story also takes a huge priority in Left Alive. Square Enix teased that choice plays a huge role in the significance of the story. Although how much influence choices have to the overall story or difficulty have yet to be revealed.

Players can expect a February release for console, and a March release for PC!

Knowing The Industry Behind The Scenes

Aside from games and other offerings on the ground floor, players and enthusiasts can be enamored by industry figures talking about the “latest” in the gaming and technology scene. Aside from the primary ESGS Press Conference this year, some brands offered press conferences and their own programs for enthusiasts to explore. Some of them include brands such as MSI and AOC, which offered the media first glimpses of their various technological offerings for gamers. On AOC’s end, for instance, gamers from the media got introduced to newer curved and flat screen offerings from their exclusive gaming Agon line.

Meawhile, Ubisoft Philippines will have a two-day event to coincide with ESGS. Oct. 27’s developer conference allowed fans to meet and greet some of the budding talent of Ubisoft Philippines. Meanwhile, aspiring professionals who want to enter gaming can join Oct. 28’s porftolio presentation day.

About ESGS 2018

The Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit 2018 (ESGS 2018) was held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City this Oct. 26 to 28, 2018. Gamers, adventurers, and enthusiasts got treated to a slate of offerings this year, including various exhibits and showcases, the latest buzz in the gaming industry, and hanging out with developers and other gaming icons. Stay tuned for What’s A Geek! coverage of ESGS 2018’s final day.