E3 2021 was a welcome one after the conference's absence in the summer of 2020. Game announcements are always something to look forward to, and last year's coverage surrounding the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 kept things interesting, but there's nothing quite like an entire week dedicated to the industry's upcoming releases.

Summer Game Fest: Kickoff Live! served as an unofficial start to E3 2021, delivering some of the most memorable moments of the week in a show not officially associated with E3 - including a long-awaited Elden Ring gameplay trailer two years in the making. Other long-dormant games also saw the light of day at E3 2021, including Starfield and the Breath of the Wild sequel.

Related: Nintendo's BOTW 2 Direct Was E3 2021's Most Viewed Stream

The best conferences of this year's E3 came courtesy of Microsoft and Nintendo. The joint Xbox and Bethesda showcase delivered on the exciting prospects of Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax Media, Bethesda's parent company. Nintendo's E3 Direct continued to leave the rumored Switch Pro a mystery, but the company gave Switch owners plenty to be excited about, both new and remastered. Specifics on all the biggest announcements of E3 2021 can be found below.

Best Of E3 2021 - Xbox & Bethesda Conference

Halo Infinite Master Chief

Bethesda's Todd Howard started off the Xbox and Bethesda showcase with a bang, finally delivering more footage of Starfield three years after the sci-fi RPG was announced. There had been a number of supposed leaks since the teaser trailer, but the E3 footage delivered an official look at Starfield's universe and provided a release window of 2022. Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds 2 was another sci-fi RPG present at the showcase. The first game successfully delivered on its "Fallout in space" concept, and there are high hopes for the second game to expand on its predecessor's strong foundation.

Multiplayer games appeared during the conference as well, including Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer - a series first. Infinite's campaign got a second trailer during the presentation, but its multiplayer also received a comprehensive overview all to itself the next day. Battlefield 2042 made a surprising appearance on Xbox and Bethesda's stage, too. This was the first look at 2042's gameplay, which promises to deliver unprecedented scale to a franchise that's already built its reputation on large, sandbox combat.

Related: Biggest Game Reveals & Moments From Xbox's E3 2021 Showcase

Xbox's Forza Horizon 5 made a big splash at E3 this year, taking home the E3 Awards' Most Anticipated Game award after showing off its realistic visuals and open-world gameplay. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, a follow-up to 2009's Call of Pripyat, impressed with great-looking visuals and gameplay of its own, likely reassuring fans wary of whether it could live up to its predecessor. The newest game from Arkane Studios, Redfall, closed out the show. Its unique world blends magic and guns with vampire hunting and promises to deliver Arkane's signature immersive world design.

Best Of E3 2021 - Nintendo's E3 Direct

Metroid Dread Gameplay And Enemies

Nintendo kept The Legend of Zelda fans in suspense until the very end of the E3 Direct, when it finally showed another trailer for the upcoming sequel to Breath of the Wild. The follow-up is still without a public name, since its title is being held to avoid spoilers. While fans didn't get a specific release date either, the trailer showed off various new BOTW 2 gameplay features.

Another classic Nintendo series was featured, too - this time with a brand-new game reveal in Metroid Dread. While still waiting for more information on Metroid Prime 4, many fans were shocked to learn the fifth mainline 2D Metroid game is coming this October. Other notable series were treated to announcements during the E3 Direct: Tekken's Kazuya was revealed for Smash UltimateSMT V got some new gameplay and a release date, and the WarioWare series is making its way to Switch with WarioWare: Get It Together!

The E3 2021 Nintendo Direct also included a few notable remasters; Mario Party Superstars is bringing five classic N64 boards and 100 series mini-games to Nintendo Switch, and Super Monkey Ball 12, and Deluxe are getting remastered in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania.

Best Of E3 2021 - Other Major Highlights

Avatar Frontiers of Pandora landscape

While Elden Ring was likely the most anticipated of the show's reveals, Summer Games Fest's kickoff featured other notable games. Hideo Kojima made an appearance to deliver an utterly confusing teaser trailer for Death Stranding Director's Cut, which will bring PS5-exclusive enhancements to the game. The Metal Slug series made a return with a trailer for turn-based strategy game Metal Slug TacticsJurassic World Evolution 2 will let players once again construct and manage their own dinosaur amusement parks.

Related: E3 2021 Is Full Of Early Access Games

Announced at Summer Games Fest but elaborated on during the Gearbox Software presentation, fantasy Borderlands spin-off Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is set to release in early 2022. James Cameron's Avatar is taking another stab at video games with Ubisoft's Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, in which players will explore Pandora from the first-person perspective of a Na'vi. Eidos-Montréal and Square Enix revealed the upcoming Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, a single-player, story-driven adventure across the cosmos that many are hoping will deliver the superhero team-up experience Marvel's Avengers failed to.

These are just the biggest names in a week chock full of announcements. There were plenty of indie games announced at E3 2021, and other AAA games too. E3 usually delivers at least something for everyone, but it's the blockbusters and long-awaited games that make the biggest waves. Pandemic-related industry issues are certainly still being felt, but it was great to have E3 2021 bring so much excitement this year.

Next: Biggest Games Missing From E3 2021