I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say everyone here is looking forward to E3 next month and finally seeing gameplay to stuff like Starfield, Forza, etc. One area Microsoft have received a lot criticism for is a lack of gameplay at their shows but there’s a good chance they’ll put some of that to bed next month.
However you need gameplay that impresses. Hellblade 2’s showing in December i think divided a bit of opinion for perhaps not being full on gameplay as some were hoping for (and maybe the content of the demo itself) but to folks here what makes for a gameplay showing?
For Starfield there’s big pressure to impress but what would folks like to see that would make them think “yeah this is awesome!”? I know online comments isn’t always the best to go by but even for some of the biggest games you see comments like “this is boring” or “zzzzz”. If Starfield spends too long on a slow walking section to show off the atmosphere of a planet for example, would this be a good move or could they risk boring the audience for lack of apparent “action”? Even Forza got a bit of criticism for its deep dive last year with some feeling it went on too long.
Some games i feel don’t demo well and are a lot better when you’re actually playing them yourself. For something like Doom Eternal, due to its frantic nature it’s probably easier for that to wow viewers due to its non stop gameplay as opposed to a game that’s much slower paced.
Its a difficult one to get the balance right with. I would say the length of the demo plays a part but i remember many years back being wowed by the Halo 2 demo and i think that was about 9 minutes long but i suppose, rightly or wrongly, the genre of game you’re showing plays a bit part as well.