We’re a couple of days and/or weeks removed from E3 madness, and while gamers, journalists and influencers from all over the world are still roaming the halls in Los Angeles playing the latest upcoming titles, the rest of us are left to stew over everything we’ve seen. And there was a lot! Playstation hit us with Gameplay from some of the absolute gems of their first party studios while new studios acquisitions graced Microsoft's stage alongside Xbox tentpoles and Nintendo dropped Smash. All of Smash. So. Much. Smash.

This is the first real E3 we’ve been able to experience together at The Arcade Vaults, so we thought it’d be fun to hear from some of our friends, volunteers and regulars about the industries biggest event!

So, its Chris M here today with the standout game of E3 (fight me Tom), The Last of Us Part II.

One of the most popular and annoying questions that comes up in this world of gaming we love, is "What is your favourite game?". Its a downright impossible question to answer without a multitude of caveats, so I often split the answer into two parts - modern games and retro games. Avoiding the latter for the moment, hands down The Last of Us is my favourite game without a moment of hesitation. I first played it on the PS3, moved quickly to get the DLC Left Behind and clicked "buy" far too quickly when they remastered it for the PS4. I've replayed it multiple times on the harder difficulty levels (still getting choked up at multiple points during the game) and I've persuaded all of my PS3/4 owning friends foolish enough not to already own it to get it.

And yet I didn't want to play a sequel.

Many fans of the game seem to agree (myself included) that its a story that doesn't need to be told. It ended perfectly and a sequel feels like its following on a story for the sake of $$$$. And then all the supposed back room shenanigans at Naughty Dog behind the scenes during the development of the game seemed to confirming my worst fears. Then the first trailer dropped and whilst it was a stunning visual masterpiece, I still didn't feel it. Something was amiss.

Then watching the amazing opening of Sony's footage of the game I realised why the first trailer didn't resonate with me - it was missing the heart and soul from the first game, something that was earned and we as players became invested in. It was only a trailer after all. And I came to the conclusion that despite myself, I now clearly was looking forward to playing because I was overjoyed to see Ellie have a such glorious moment! The gameplay looked much like I expected (and I don't doubt there will be more surprises in store on that front), but the thought of the game suddenly filled me with excitement. And not a single Clicker in sight yet!

I can't wait to get back to the world of Ellie and Joel and it goes without saying, its a well done move from Sony and Naughty Dog (ignoring the strangeness of their conference overall of course!).

The Last of Us Part II still hasn't got an official release date, but expect it sometime late this year or early next year.

Chris M is the owner of The Arcade Vaults. When he's not lugging around kit for events and pop-ups, he can be found volunteering for Games Wales and trying to persuade people that gaming is awesome, retro or otherwise!