Three days of Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit 2018 (ESGS 2018), and three days of sustained momentum. Gamers and adventurers who made the effort to go to SMX Convention Center in Pasay City will likely get not just EXP, but a healthy dose of activities in the last day of the convention. Interestingly enough, Sunday caps ESGS 2018 Day 3 with exciting tournament thrills, showcases, and exhibits.

October 28 caps three (3) days’ worth of activities, gatherings, and talks with gaming enthusiasts, local and international gaming icons, and other members of the geek community. Here’s the What’s A Geek! crew with our coverage on the last day of this year’s ESGS 2018.

ESGS 2018 Day 3

What’s perhaps interesting with ESGS is its many, many, many festivities. This makes for quite a unique experience for everyone, regardless of how you approach your day. It’s best tackled as a three-day experience, though one day can be more than enough to get your gaming fix.

More Indie Games To Explore

Both the Indie Fiesta and the independent dev showcase got crowds lining up for various games. This isn’t because there’s not much else to do in the other booths, but the sheer depth of some games can be captivating. Some games we’ve tried include:

• Jank-Fu, a Microsoft Kinect-based game where players can use actual body movements to strike opponents down.
• Sam’s Odd World, a third-person platformer banking on huge nostalgia factors. Gamers will notice a ton of references on rules and lore on various games as Sam uses his gadgets to save his loved one.
• Moment is another student game, albeit made in Game Jam 2018. This is a 48-hour marathon where gamers have to conceptualize a game in two (2) days based on a theme given on the event itself. Moment is a puzzle game that involves color matching and shape matching mechanics.
• Aether is a unique take on the beat ’em up and platformer genres. In this game, you control a scientist that will have to fight an evil corporation so they won’t abuse a newly-discovered element.
• Crop Circle Warriors is a good alternative to side scrolling platformers, as three (3) space police officers take on a zombie monster invasion on Earth.
• Furtive is a stealth game catered to tweenies. It involves combining the efforts and special abilities of three (3) anthrophomorphic animals. They need to steal or fight their way to solve puzzles.

Players Can Still Test Their Skills

Tournaments and arenas remain ongoing for players to try out and enjoy. While Playbook, Mobile Fighting Game Arena, and Road to the Nationals have their separate events, players still duke it out in various booths.

Exhibitors to pay close attention to at this time of ESGS included the Republic of Gamers, HP Omen, Predator, and other brands focusing on peripherals for gamers. This is courtesy of various games and tournaments held for players to be able to try out these products properly.

With 2B announced for SoulCalibur VI, next year appears to be quite the exciting time for ESGS. Even Oct. 27’s fighting game tournaments had players still retain momentum today, especially when supporting favorite players in their matches.

Tapping Into Nostalgia

What perhaps caught a lot of people’s attention across ESGS 2018 will be a particular Gravity booth. It’s not because of the loud music or the many television screens, but rather the familiar poring and art style from Ragnarok. Folks from Gravity visited the Philippines to promote Ragnarok M: Eternal Love. This serves as the official “return” of the acclaimed MMO to a more modern market.

In a media conference, the game appears to be Gravity’s way of “paying it back” to gamers. They said it’s through the “eternal love” they received that they got to maintain the spirit of pushing through with the game.

It’s also the same spirit that they want to emulate in a new setting. It appears gamers will experience improved graphics and more optimized controls for the game as a whole.

Stay tuned for our article on the full extent of the discussion.

About ESGS 2018

This caps the What’s A Geek! coverage for this year’s Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit 2018 (ESGS 2018). Gamers, enthusiasts, and other adventurers gathered at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City for the three-day event. The convention, which occupied all four (4) lower halls of the convention center, treated gamers to a slew of gaming-related offerings, including tournaments, showcases, demos and trials, and even exhibits.