18th Impact: video games in all their forms
Between the 30th anniversary of FINAL FANTASY, The Legend of Zelda masterclass and Kazutaka KODAKA’s presence, the 18th Impact was full of amazing video game events. The associations were also there with a lot of crazy animations!
The video game photo album
Focus on the guests
This year, Japan Expo was honored to welcome three emblematic figures of The Legend Of Zelda: Eiji AONUMA, producer of many games of the series including the latest, Satoru TAKIZAWA, the artistic director of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Yusuke NAKANO, the illustrator of the "Ganon Fight". During an outstanding masterclass which gathered 4,500 attendees, they invited you to trace the evolution of the art of The Legend of Zelda series with four iconic games, Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild. And as a European exclusive, you were shown the first images of the second DLC of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which revealed that Princess Zelda would have an important role to play.
Creator and screenwriter of the Danganronpa series, Kazutaka KODAKA met you at a panel to present you the very last game of the series, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. It was the perfect time for you to ask him all your questions and get goodies from the game!
Anoop SHEKAR and Ryan McCABE, respectively Studio Designer Director and Senior Designer for Volition, revealed for the first time in Europe Agents of Mayhem during a panel on Thursday.
On the publishers’ booths
SQUARE ENIX went all the way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its iconic series, FINAL FANTASY. With over 100 demonstration consoles, seven playable demos with several exclusivities and the final of the FINAL FANTASY TRADING CARD GAME, it was impossible not to notice the famous video game company. You could test as a European exclusive DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY NT as well as LOST SPHEAR, a poetic work made by the creators of I AM SETSUNA available as a world exclusive. Players who couldn’t wait to discover FINAL FANTASY XII: THE ZODIAC AGE had the opportunity to play it a week before its official release. As for FINAL FANTASY XV fans, they could try the two latest DLCs of the game, GLADIOLUS and PROMPTO episodes, as well as KING’S KNIGHT -Wrath of the Dark Dragon- on iOS and Android.
You had the chance to meet the famous Shinji HASHIMOTO at a signing session. Brand Manager of the FINAL FANTASY series, he signed exclusive lithographs. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the saga, the MO5.COM association proposed to discover once more the FINAL FANTASY games of the series in their original version. Three movies were projected in the video room: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE and KINGSGLAIVE: FINAL FANTASY XV. On Friday and Saturday, you could attend the national FINAL FANTASY TRADING CARD GAME contest finals which gathered the 24 best French players.
On the occasion of the 18th Impact, the Ubisoft booth proposed to try two games before their official release. Dance lovers could kick up their heels with Just Dance® 2018 on the latest hits as well as some classics. For the first time in France, you could play Mario + The Lapins Crétins® Kingdom Battle, a game both crazy and astonishing, on 14 Nintendo Switch consoles. A giant statue of Lapin Kong, located between the booths of Nintendo and Ubisoft, had been made just for the occasion. And you could get a world exclusive collection of the Mario + The Lapins Crétins® Kingdom Battle figurines in the Ubicollectibles™ store.
In addition to its Legend of Zelda masterclass, Nintendo had many surprises in stock for you at its booth. Video game contests were planned every day to make you win Nintendo Switch consoles as well as the games you played: Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Pokémon Moon and Sun, 1-2 Switch and ARMS. Kosuke YABUKI, the producer of ARMS, had rewarded the winner himself and met you at a signing on the Nintendo booth.
More events and gaming
Together with Nintendo, the escape game creator SCRAP had prepared a very special game for you: Defenders of the Triforce, an escape game which immersed you in the world of The Legend of Zelda.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of FINAL FANTASY, FF Museum had organized an exhibit which gathered goodies from the 15 games of the cult series. You could also take part in the different animations on their booth to discover the saga in more playful way.
The 18th Impact marked the 100th anniversary of Japanese animation. And the video game area was not the last to join in the party! R-Cade organized Retrogaming Animé 100, a never seen before animation where you faced top players and festival guests at arcade games adapted from the greatest anime.
The MO5.COM association too proposed you to relive your fondest memories as a gamer with the best retro games. And on Sunday, it’s on the Yuzu stage that the Bomberman pros faced each other in order to win the Saturn Bomberman contest.
For those of you who like futuristic games better, InfiniVerse’s booth was made for you! You were provided with a dozen of virtual reality games for a unique gaming experience.
With its six thematic areas, the APOIL association invited you to have fun on no less than 26 games with various styles which surely enchanted everyone.
On the booths of DDR Belgium and Epitanime-JVM, music lovers could show off their artistic skills with the best music games.
As for the youngest visitors, Nintendo specially had prepared video games on the kids area. Viz Media Europe had even set up two Nintendo 3DS consoles just for them!
On the Saiko ! Japan area, the Chara-Design Department of Kyoto University of Art and Design dispensed classes on video game graphisms. Chara-design, animation and infographics were among the topics tackled by the university.
As a world exclusive, you discovered the ambitious project of Hazem HAWASH, the director of the Enigami studio: Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom. This game, which development you had followed at Japan Expo, were presented by the development team during a panel discussion.
For the second year in a row, Japan Expo supported independent studios and developers by promoting their games through the Video Games Springboards. And this year, you could discover 18 original creations! You could tried:
- B4C Schrödinger Warfare and Resonant Souls by WTVR
- DragoDino by TealRocks Studio
- Genetic Disaster by Team8Studio
- Hyperun by Concrete Games
- Outskirts by Rezo Zero
- Samurai Riot by Wako Factory
- Skybolt Zack by Isart Digital
- Sumocrats by Ark Rep
- Super Maki Golf by Paul MAURIER
- The Ultimatest Battle by Ediogames
- Shogun no Kamigami, Vondrake’s Dungeon, A Thief Melody, oQo, Watch Club et Forsake The Grave by the Toulouse Game Dev collective
- Vanishing Stars by NINPÔ