Yesterday, Sony gave us our second State of Play of 2021. It was primarily focused on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart — my most anticipated game of the PlayStation 5 generation. But, before we get into that let’s start with the two smaller reveals that came before.

SUBNAUTICA: BELOW ZERO

Subnautica: Below Zero is a sequel to 2014’s Subnautica. The game is coming to both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, but will take advantage of the PS5’s new features (haptic feedback, 4K visuals, 3D Audio and more). I’ve never really known much about Subnautica, other than it takes place in the deep, deep ocean. This trailer has me excited to finally give the original a try.

I already own Subnautica on PS4 and PC, so why not give it a try? It has now been confirmed to me this series consists of spooky under the sea games. The deep ocean is already a scary place, I don’t know why they’d have to add freaky indoor monsters and creepy ladies to this world?

I look forward to playing some Subnautica very soon, possibly this weekend.

Subnautica: Below Zero comes to PS4 and PS5 on May 14, 2021!

AMONG US

I’ve only played Among Us a handful of times, and I’ve done so on my iOS devices (iPhone and iPad) because it’s free-to-play there. I thought about purchasing this game on my Nintendo Switch, but even for $5 I won’t really play it much on my Switch.

Among Us is a fun, goofy time as long as you’re playing with friends. I think it’s cool that this small, simple game has become so popular. AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) has even streamed some Among Us on Twitch. It’s nice to see this game get on another platform and if I get into it later on at least I will have more choices of where I pick it up.

Among Us is coming to PS4 and PS5 some time this year, and they’re even brining Ratchet and Clank skins.

RACHET & CLANK: RIFT APART

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the true next-gen only experience I’ve been waiting for on my PlayStation 5. Yes, I bought my PS5 last month, but only because I was lucky enough to find one online on my first try. My goal was to hold out a bit longer, but no longer than the release of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. This is definitely a game that I will be playing on day one.

The gameplay video alone showed off some stunning visuals. They showed some Ratchet & Clank (2016) gameplay right after the gameplay reveal and I could easily notice the differences. I’m so ready to see that PS5 SSD (Solid State Drive) hard at work in this game, as I travel through rifts instantly jumping from planet to planet.

The gameplay looks very similar to Ratchet & Clank (2016), but with some slight changes in mechanics and some next-gen upgrades. The last game felt great, but when facing off against multiple enemies it was tough to keep out of harms way by just moving and jumping around.

The addition of dashing and wall runs seems to make Rachet a bit more mobile while fighting. The dash animation showing multiple Ratchets as he moves from point A to point B just looks so great. Dashing looks like one of those game mechanics I will never get sick of (Just like Miles’s laid back hop off of buildings in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales).

Ratchet is known to use multiple advanced weapons. He has his signature OmniWrench, the Pixelizer, Plasma Striker and one of my favorite video game weapons of all time — the Groovitron (which launches a musical disco ball forcing your enemies to dance). This game not only promises to have all new weapons, but also use the PS5 DualSense controller in fun new ways. The haptic feedback and adaptive triggers will work together to make each weapon feel unique.

They also introduced the new female Lombax from another dimension, Rivet — voiced by Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect, BioShock Infinite, Overwatch). She is a great compliment to Ratchet’s James Arnold Taylor (Clone Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Johnny Test) and Clank’s David Kaye (G.I. Joe, Transformers, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver). Since the last game was released alongside Ratchet & Clank: The Movie, they had some Hollywood talent including Paul Giamatti, Rosario Dawson, Eric Bauza and more. I’m excited to hear who else is voicing characters in this game.

The last game also had beautiful, movie-quality cutscenes throughout the game. They were not only stunning visually to look at but also silly and funny. I can’t imagine how good the cutscenes are going to look in this game in 4K with ray tracing and all of the latest next-gen technology.

I don’t know if you could tell but I am so ready to play this game. I even re-downloaded the 2016 Ratchet & Clank because I feel like I may play through the whole game again some time before June (maybe a few times. Maybe get that platinum). I’m also excited to see how Ratchet & Clank (2016) looks on my PS5 with the new visual updates.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is coming exclusively to PlayStation 5 on June 11, 2021.

NO MORE ONE MORE THING???

Once the Ratchet & Clank gameplay part of the State of Play was over I was (and I’m sure many of us were) expecting the classic, “Oh yeah, here’s one more thing.” And, I was expecting that thing to be Hades on PS4 and PS5. I do own and play Hades on my Nintendo Switch a bunch, so I don’t really need to own it anywhere else. I just thought it would be nice for those who are waiting.

What a great time to reveal that, coming off of the heels of a game of the year and tons of other awards at the DICE awards. Oh well, I guess it will come soon…

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Normally I might say, “Aw man, they only showed us three games in this State of Play,” but they told us it was mainly a Ratchet & Clank event and we got those two extra announcements. I was very happy with this State of Play and I am so ready for it to be June 11th.

I’m also guessing there will be a summertime or pre-summer State of Play with bigger reveals and world premieres of upcoming PS5 exclusive games. Until then I’ll be playing the PlayStation 4 games I missed on my PS5 as I wait for the return of Ratchet and Clank.