Hello! I will be sharing with you the excellent time I had at the Gamescom event which took place in Cologne, Germany. I was present there from 25th to 27th August.
For anyone who does not know what Gamescom is, here is a brief explanation:
Gamescom is the biggest known gaming event in the world, in which hundreds of publishers, developers, and companies present their games, most of the time still in closed alpha/beta but sometimes already finished games, and let you have a chance to play them. All kinds of games are made available here, but to further entertain the crowd of expectant gamers, events are being held on many stands. Some brands and publishers here often throw goods to the watching crowd, or some lucky guys can come on the podium and grab some big rewards. It can go from Shirts and goodies over actual game keys and up to highly prized goods like keyboards, headsets, and so on.
Other events are being held in a specially prepared Congress Hall, where you can also watch players challenge each other or big YouTubers, influencers, and other known personalities.
You can explore more about Gamescom by clicking here
First Day at Gamescom:
The east entry gate at opening time (9 AM)!
I used my first day to naturally rush to the merchandise area first thing in the morning. For some, it might be kind of wrong, but the merch area is also very quickly sold out of many items, despite this being the first morning! I was very surprised at which rate some goods were gone.
First, I went to the Genshin Impact stand because I was interested in what they had to offer. At 10 o' clock I already had to wait roughly an hour before I could finally buy something!
Here are some photos I took from the stand (plus the waiting line to grab some Genshin merch):
Here we have a stand that is likely present every year at Gamescom, which offers amazing merchandise in terms of figurines. But in comparison I could recognize that this one seller did sell his figurines at a higher price than what you can find in online stores and did not buy any from him. I do have high respect for his marvelous collection though!
In the end, I found a few other stands with figurines and one which sold many lucky bags at different prices. I did take two big lucky bags that gave a guarantee of 1 high-value figurine and a total of four figurines, one Re-Zero bag, and one Isekai bag.
In addition to these beautiful figurine stands, there were a sizable number of stalls with all kinds of goodies. From clothing to Dakimakuras, from badges to big plushies, from Kimonos to lovely cat ears.
Second Day at Gamescom
On the second day, I used to scout out the different halls and which games there were to be tried out. I did have a hard time getting through the avenue because not only was it horribly crowded, but the security also kept changing the hallways, making them one way only and so I did lose my orientation quite a few times not knowing where to go. It was really exhausting!
In the end, I did try out Company of Heroes 3, a game franchise developed by relic and published by SEGA which I am really looking forward to, with a new way of playing Real Time Strategy games.
I am positive that this game will be a title that I will actively play, I really liked the new features they added - enhanced combat strategy, a dimensional campaign map asking for further enhanced and double-edged strategy, and improved graphics quality and effects.
The thing that I find really appreciable is that for this title the developer team let the fans actively take part in the game development, thanks to limited event where you could play through showcase content and give opinions, report bugs, make suggestions, etc...
Right after I was done with my Company of Heroes 3 experience, I grouped up with a friend I met in the game "Isekai Demon Waifu" for the first time. I enjoyed the time with him, and we did a quick walk through the entertainment halls to see what was there to see, but he wasn't ready to queue and try out for a game. We also went through the merchandise area again together.
After this I went to the Genshin Impact stand. I played through the new update which brought a big new area with new characters, new enemies, and a new type of element.
Aside from the playable area, a band named "Starrysky" performed a live concert. The band took the current Genshin Impact theme songs and sang them in their own version which I personally found very nice.
I also used the time to watch over the different games at my disposal to aim for which game I want to try out directly at the opening time of my third day.
I did lurk out Skull & Bones from Ubisoft, Gun Grave Gore from STUDIO IGGYMOB, and One Piece Odysseys naturally from Bandai Namco.
Third and Last Day at Gamescom
On my last day, I headed on over to Skull & Bones and there was already a good line standing at my arrival. Luckily, I had to only wait 15 minutes to get inside the walls and this is where I realizedrealize it was only a presentation for the game. Videos and photos were not allowed, so I could only take one at the start from the scenery they installed.
The presentation seemed pretty cool, which got me intrigued by the game. After the presentation was done, we could give our opinions to the Ubisoft team and developers present at Gamescom which is cool.
Later, in the afternoon, I saw that the waiting line was different, and it seemed like they installed PCs again to have the game played inside. The waiting line reached 2.5 hours at this point, which made me a bit sad because that time was a bit too long for me considering I had no foldable chair with me.
Once I was done with the presentation of Skull & Bones, I went straight on to One Piece Odyssey's booth. A good line was already formed there but I had to wait less than expected from the Bandai team, they estimated 1.5 hours of wait time, but I had to only wait exactly 1 hour, so 30 minutes less. The demo I could play was great, the graphics were alright and the demo, the tutorials in game and all the different combat styles were nice. The thing I hoped would be different in this game was different role-playing. I would have preferred to be able to fight with all kinds of attacks as we do use them freely. I still enjoyed the experience I got from One Piece Odyssey; it seems like a fun game, so I am likely to buy it when it comes out for PC.
Next, I moved on to Gun Grave Gore and waited around 30 minutes, just to have a really smashed-up time with this game. It is actually a pure Bullet Hell First Person Shooter... and well, the experience I got with this surely was HELL! It proposes many combat features and strange abilities which I am not familiar with (likely from its previous games in the franchise which I too am not familiar with), a lot of blood spilling and bullets, bullets, and even more bullets. The game itself was playable on a console, which to top it off I am really bad with, but I could somehow manage to progress through the playable area.
Trailer Gun Grave Gore:
Many other games were playable but those did not really interest me, here are a few screenshots of different other games (but not all of them):
Over the 3 days, I took pictures of a bunch of Cosplayers. Some were basic, others were really well-made, homemade, and had impressive costumes.
My favorite one was the blue Zombie! Why? Because she really did put herself into the role of a zombie. She moved like a broken zombie, she acted like a zombie, and she did truly reincarnate as one. It was marvelous!
I did end up buying a lot more merch than I first intended to, and not only by a little. I was so immersed in the merch since the place where I am living literally has nothing in anime merch and conventions that I just wanted to buy as much as possible.
I bought a few Lucky bags so most of what I had was a surprise even for myself, but here is a recap of the most beautiful merch I bought/earned:
*A couple of NSFW pics in this slideshow:
Final Thoughts on my Gamescom Experience:
Gamescom really is an experience you absolutely must have. I had someone ask me, isn't it better to just buy merch on a web store? I answered "Yes, it is, but doing the experience of being here at a convention, being in the center of it all, participating in all kinds of events, this is something that you cannot experience from watching a video on YouTube or buying merch on an online store."
Having this experience for me was like being free and able to do whatever I wanted.
Gamescom is a place where you can let yourself go, you can wear the weirdest of clothing, no one will badmouth you or laugh you off, and you can cosplay something that does not fit you at all. Who cares? The costumes are great, that's what counts the most!
It is, in simple words, a place where you can be free and be yourself.
I am happy I could have this experience.
The only downside you have to deal with is just this one thing:
CROWDS...CROWDS... AND MORE CROWDS!
HELL, EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK AT!!!