I’m pretty sure most people have this spot tightly reserved for a certain God of War for the PS4, but everything they showcased for that game seemed more like a tech demo wet dream than something that would be playable within the span of a year. In the more immediate future the one game that actually managed to look better than its original showing the year before was Ubisoft’s For Honor.

During this year’s E3 conference we got to see some of the single-player campaign mode in action, as well as a look at more of the cinematics and the story that compels the three factions – consisting of Knights, Vikings and Samurai – to fight.

For the very reason that For Honor has a clear and distinct release date of February 14th, 2017, and that it was actually playable in some capacity at E3, it easily makes the “Best of” list here at One Angry Gamer. Well, technically there is no list… there’s just For Honor.

I’m sure some of you might be thinking “But what about The Legend of Zelda?” Well, it’s true that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild absolutely exceeded expectations; but it’s still a game playing by rules we’re very familiar with. Everything is upgraded and better than ever, and it’s a visually breathtaking game, no doubt. However, it’s more-like The Legend of Zelda: Elder Scrolls Edition. If you’re familiar with Bethesda’s series then just imagine that kind of gameplay philosophy layered on top of The Legend of Zelda (minus item stacking in little huts, glitching through the world map and generally breaking the game logic with unforeseen bugs).

Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the direction they’re going in for The Legend of Zelda, but it just wasn’t the sort of thing that I’ve been craving from gaming for nearly two decades.

In the case of For Honor, it’s a little like Dynasty Warriors but it gives gamers three very different factions. What’s more is that it’s a hardcore sword fighting game. We don’t get these kind of titles very often where stance, balance, technique and reflexes all play a part in the outcome for potential victory.

It’s one of the main draws that had me hooked when watching For Honor. You can’t just mindlessly hack and slash everyone… you sometimes have to stop and engage in very technical, hard-hitting battles.

For gamers who wanted a more polished version of Blade Symphony or a more updated version of Bushido Blade, For Honor promises the kind of skill-based fighting that we’ve been lacking in many hack-and-slash games for years.

I suppose the reason For Honor is being awarded the “Best Of” for this year’s E3 is also that you can tell the animators and designers put a lot of time into making sure that the melee combat looks smooth, realistic and very visceral. One of the best things I can say about the game is that the animation blending between the strikes is absolutely perfect. Seeing the Viking tear through one soldier and dig his axe into the next without any frame-stutter, without any key frame hiccups, without any transition drops or freezing was a real delight.

The backbone of any hack-and-slash title is its fighting system and animations, and For Honor appears to nail both in spades (based on what was showcased at E3). Now this doesn’t mean that this will be a perfect game or it will live up to the hype. All this article is saying is that For Honor looked like a polished and playable game at this year’s big trade show, and it’s already the kind of game that I will likely add to my collection once it becomes available. So in essence, this is the best game of E3 coming out soon enough that I’m actually going to buy. And that’s a heck of a lot more than I can say for a lot of the other titles showcased at this year’s event.

You can learn more by checking out the game’s official website.