Back in 2018, Sony/PlayStation skipped E3 for the first time in over 20 years. They began skipping E3 to hold their own conference announcing their upcoming titles — The PlayStation Experience. It was a good idea, putting only Sony in the spotlight for their own event instead of competing with Microsoft, Nintendo and all of the other E3 Press Conferences each year.
Sony later stopped the PlayStation Experience and started putting out State of Plays instead (pre-recorded video conferences), every few months. These were in the style of Nintendo Directs (which we have seen more and more, especially since the pandemic).
The problem is we never really know when we’ll see a huge conference or a small one. We do get a small description on whether the current presentation will focus on one or multiple games and roughly how long it will last.
Yesterday’s presentation was not what I thought it was going to be. I later re-read the announcement which said there would be Deathloop gameplay along with some indie and third party titles. So, I guess I don’t know what I was expecting. Below is what we got to see during yesterday’s State of Play:
Moss: Book II
The presentation began with a sequel trailer to the PlayStation VR game Moss. I own the first game but with no PSVR I’ve never had the chance to play it. If I do one day get my hands on a PSVR (or the upcoming PSVR Mark II), I definitely have the original Moss on my list.
Moss: Book II does look quite fun, but from the trailer alone I don’t see the reason for it being in Virtual Reality. It seems like a simple 3D platformer. I’m sure the PSVR enhances the experience, making it more immersive.
Moss: Book II has no release date yet, but I’m sure it will coincide with the release of PSVR (Mark II).
Arcadegeddon
Arcadegeddon looks like a colorful, bright third-person arcade shooter. It seems to be like some sort of cross between Fortnite and Splatoon — featuring a horde mode, 4 person co-op, PvP modes and more. There’s also tons of loot to grab for all of the character customization.
Arcadegeddon is out on Early Access now.
Full game release in 2022 (PS5)
Tribes of Midgard
Tribes of Midgard showed up more than once during E3 this year. Yesterday, we got more news on upcoming seasonal updates and some of the first season’s features. Tribes of Midgard is an action survival RPG which can be played with up to 10 players. There is a session based saga along with an endless survival mode.
Tribes of Midgard will be released on July 27th for PS4 and PS5 (it’s also coming to Xbox consoles and PC)
F.I.S.T. (Forged in Shadow Torch)
When this trailer first popped up I was thinking it was more Biomutant or perhaps some sort of update. Next, the trailer jumped into F.I.S.T. – Forged in Shadow Torch gameplay. This game looks to be a sweet side-scroller where you play as a Cyber Bunny beating up tons of enemies– on land, underwater and all over the place.
I’m very interested in this game and I look forward to seeing more info before it’s release later this year.
F.I.S.T. – Forged in Shadow Torch is coming to PS4 and PS5 on September 7, 2021.
Hunter’s Arena: Legends
Hunter’s Arena: Legends looks to be a mix between a fighting game and a Battle Royale. Online matches can consist of real players and AI demons. While the game looks more of a serious type of fighting game it also has a goofier side with the character customization — “Disco balls and rubber ducks.”
The game features two types of Battle Royale modes — Solo and Trios.
Hunter’s Arena: Legends is coming to PS4 and PS5 next month.
Free for PS Plus subscribers in August.
SIFU
We first heard about SIFU many State of Plays ago. While we got new footage and a sort of explanation of the aging mechanic in the game, we also got news that the game would be delayed until 2022 (originally planned to release in 2021).
SIFU features sweet camera angles and fighting techniques. It’s like watching a stylized Martial Arts movie.
SIFU will now release in Early 2022 (PS4, PS5).
JETT: The Far Shore
The trailer for JETT: The Far Shore got me excited to learn more. The flight in this game reminds me of the beginning of Nier: Automata, but also a game I recently previewed LifeSlide. I also get some No Man’s Sky vibes from this game and the planet exploration, but with a totally different look and feel.
The flight mechanics in this game look stunning and fun on their own, but with the added alien planet exploration and battle there seems to be so much to discover. The characters themselves have a sort of creepy Russian doll art style to them. I like the laid back nature of the game too.
JETT: The Far Shore is set to release later this year on PS4 and PS5.
Demon Slayer : The Hinokami Chronicles
I know nothing about Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles but it seems to be based on some sort of anime adventure. I don’t see myself getting into this game, but I really dig the art style. The fighting style looks great and you get to battle a bunch of spooky demon monsters.
Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronilces will release October 15, 2021 on PS4 and PS5.
Lost Judgement
I remember hearing about Lost Judgement earlier, but this trailer totally surprised me. I first thought it was a trailer for a new Yakuza game coming to PlayStation. The trailer started off with a courtroom drama, with insanely realistic visuals.
In this trailer alone we saw parkour, martial arts, boxing, robotics, rhythm-style gameplay, motorcycle races, skateboarding tricks, dog walking, explosions and so much more. I have no idea what is going on in this game, but I am all for it.
Lost Judgement comes to PS4 and PS5 on Sept 24, 2021.
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut was introduced last month during E3. I skipped this game the first time, but am now interested in giving it a try.
The Director’s Cut adds new features, battles, mechanics, weapons and story missions. It also adds PS5 DualSense support which takes advantage of the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. I haven’t seen many games receive a Director’s Cut edition, but this totally makes sense when it comes to one of the biggest names in video games, Hideo Kojima.
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut comes to PS5 on Sept 24, 2021.
Deathloop
I don’t need anymore Deathloop gameplay walkthroughs and trailers to get me ready for this game. The art direction and music from the first couple of trailers already sold me on this game. I know we’re getting more and more of these videos just because the game was delayed a few months — I was about to pre-order it for the original release date, until it got delayed.
I did still watch this gameplay walkthrough and it did raise my hype level for Deathloop just a bit more. They mentioned that the game would take advantage of the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback of the PS5 which is great news. This may be the last Bethesda game we get on the PlayStation for some time after the Microsoft acquisition (especially exclusive to PlayStation 5).
The time loop gameplay looks sweet, plus I love the addition of Juliana (an assassin that can enter the loop to kill you, controlled by either a human or AI). This walkthrough showed a part of the game when you’re trying to take out the leader of the wolf group, which seems to be a sort of culty cannibal group. I can’t wait to meet the other groups.
Deathloop is coming exclusively to PS5 on Sept 14.
I was hoping for that “one more thing” announcement after Deathloop. Perhaps a Horizon: Forbidden West release date, or some news on God of War: Ragnarok, maybe something brand new. We didn’t get it. While this State of Play did feature a few brand new trailers, it also gave us mostly updates on upcoming titles we already knew about.
This was an “OK” State of Play overall, but i’m still waiting on that big-time “E3/PlayStation Experience” level State of Play to hopefully come later in the year — hopefully towards the end of summer.
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