It’s been over a year since the last big PlayStation Showcase (6.11.2020). That showcase was our first look at some upcoming PlayStation 5 games (a few which we’re still waiting for). At the very end of the showcase we got that super fresh console reveal, where the PlayStation 5 emerged from a strange structure of moving molecules.

Yesterday, we had our first true PlayStation 5 Showcase since then. Sure, we had some special State of Plays and deep dives into certain games (Horizon: Forgotten West & Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart), but this was definitely the “Big show” we’ve been waiting for. After sitting out E3 and the other “big” gaming conferences, Sony brought the thunder!

Let’s go over some of the big announcements from yesterday’s PlayStation Showcase:

The showcase started off with this PlayStation commercial. I did not know it was a commercial at first, because it featured tons of PlayStation IP and imagery. I was thinking maybe this is a special new game. Something like a PlayStation All-Stars or some Sony Smash Bros clone. I started thinking it could be some sort of high stakes chess game, because of all the Kings and Queens. In the end, it turned out to be just another high-budget ad for PlayStation, a very cool one.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake

I’ve always heard great things about Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I even own the game on Steam and I did play it for about a week or a few nights many few years ago. Although, I remember enjoying it I didn’t really give it too much time. I’m excited for this remake and to see that game with all new “next-gen” visuals.

This was only a teaser announcement, which means we are most likely still a long ways out from the actual game. I’m happy that I can actually jump into the original KOTOR and KOTOR II right away. I’m down for pretty much anything Star Wars, so I know that I will most likely give this game a try. I’m ready to see some gameplay. So far, this was a dope teaser.

Project Eve

Let me start off by saying that the graphics in this game are stunning. The trailer opens with a alien monster boss fight, before the main character (aka Eve) is hurled into the vacuum of space. Throughout the cinematic everything slows down to focus on the beauty. Later on, in the trailer we saw some gameplay and more that really make this look like an action-packed adventure. I definitely got some NieR: Automata vibes from this game, in the fast-paced fighting and the overall design of the world.

I always want to enjoy these big Action RPG games and want to get into them, but anytime I try I end up falling off. I hope this one will be different.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Tiny Tina has always been my favorite part of the Borderlands series. I’m so stoked that she’s finally getting her own game — and not another side quest. This game features some great voice talent (other than Ashly Burch as Tiny Tina) — Andy Samberg, Will Arnett, Wanda Sykes. I do like that they seem to be headed in a different direction, and not just repeating the classic Borderlands looting and shooting formula.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands also features a fun, fantasy world element. I just hope it won’t fall into the same problems as Borderlands 3 did for me. The problem was that there was way too much to loot in Borderlands 3 (and possibly Borderlands 2, as well). It got annoying to keep track of all of the different weapons, when you can only hold so many. The character customization was also way too much (or maybe I just didn’t care for it).

However, I’m still ready to give Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands a chance. It seems this game has enough to set it apart from the previous games in the Borderlands Universe, but we’ll find out soon.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands releases on March 25, 2022.

Forspoken

My initial impressions were that this was going to be a Life is Strange-type story game. What we got in the end looks to be much more exciting. It begins with a women who is stuck in a bad place in life and is trying to escape. What happens next though was completely unexpected to me.

She is sucked through a portal into a different world — a medieval world. This game has a very A Kid in King Arthur’s Court feel to it, except the main character Frey Holland (voiced by Ella Balinska) embraces the world and her powers and has to embark on an adventure.

I did look up the voice actor because I thought she sounded sort of familiar and what I learned was that the lore of the game and world was created by none other than Gary Whitta (Creator and Host Animal Talking, Co-host Kinda Funny Games & writer of Star Wars Rogue One).

Dragons, magic, fantasy. This game truly excites me and I’m ready to jump in to the world of Forspoken in Spring 2022.

Alan Wake Remastered

I’ve been slowly playing through Alan Wake on PC for a few years now — very slowly. I started a while back, but took a break and once I played some Control on my PlayStation 5 I was reminded that I never finished. I don’t know if this game needs a remaster, I feel like it still looks great for a 2012 game.

It is great that the series is coming to PlayStation though, and I’m pretty sure that means we’ll be getting more Alan Wake in the future — possibly across all platforms. Although I’m not ready for an remastered Alan Wake, that doesn’t mean the world isn’t.

As someone who also calls myself “a writer,” this game has a fantastic story. I love that Alan is a writer of Thrillers and in the game he’s thrown headfirst into his own real life Thriller. Playing this before Control, I noticed some of the influences. If you haven’t played Alan Wake and you’re a fan of Control then you should definitely pick up Alan Wake Remastered next month.

Since I’m almost done with the story I will continue my non-remastered journey in Alan Wake — hopefully some time soon. If you haven’t played any of these games (Alan Wake or Control) and are into psychological thrillers, they are both great. Especially for someone like me who wants to be into horror games, but just can’t handle true horror.

Alan Wake Remastered is out on PS5/PS4 in less than one month on October 5th.

Ghostwire: Tokyo

For the longest time I thought Ghostrunner (2020) and Ghostwire: Tokyo were the same game. So, anytime I heard talk about Ghostwire: Tokyo I thought, ‘isn’t that game out already?’ Now, after seeing a proper trailer and learning the difference, this game looks wild.

I love this spooky, bright Tokyo where you may be the only human left and everyone else seems to be some kind of Halloween Town creature. The visuals in the trailer look great, but when it switched to first person mode I got some serious Zenyatta (from Overwatch) vibes, but with more abilities. It’s also great to see another Bethesda published game headed to PlayStation consoles.

Ghostwire: Tokyo is coming in Spring 2022.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

While Marvel’s Avengers (the game) looks more on the serious side, I like that we’re also getting a separate Guardians of the Galaxy game. While the game does seem to feature an epic superhero adventure, these characters also bring some fun, humor and a killer soundtrack.

I’m excited to see this interpretation of the Guardians of the Galaxy. When Marvel’s Avengers (the game) was first announced there was a lot of backlash from the community, due to the look of our beloved MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) heroes. We shouldn’t want the same exact heroes and stories in our games, comics and movies. Sure, they can all take inspiration from each other, but it’s more exciting to see different interpretations of our favorite superheroes.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy will release on October 26, 2021

Bloodhunt

A few months ago I got to participate in a closed alpha of Bloodhunt. One thing I really loved that I haven’t really experienced before in a game was launching myself across rooftops and from up above to the streets to attack humans in this game. It has that true enhanced vampire movement you see in movies.

The vampires in Bloodhunt are heavily customizable, from cosmetics to abilities to weapons and so much more. The game also features a few classes to choose from depending on how you want to play. If you’re really into vampires Bloodhunt really gives you the vampire experience.

Bloodhunt will come to the PlayStation 5 in 2021.

Deathloop

After some delays and many trailers and previews, we are now less than one week away from the release of Deathloop. Every time they show us more gameplay, I feel the same way.

BT (Before Trailer) – No more trailers. I know I want this game. You don’t have to convince me.
AT (After Trailer) – Damn! That was a sweet trailer! Show me more! I want this game right now.

This game mixes so many gameplay elements that I love — Rogue-likes and FPS (first-person shooters). Plus, it adds that extra special sauce with the Julianna character who can come in and ruin your whole run, either as an AI character or an actual human player. The game also features strange cults, cool music and some lovely design and art direction.

Deathloop releases next week (September 14th) on PlayStation 5 and I can’t wait to finally play it.

Tchia

This game trailer starts off with playing the ukulele (Ellie-style in The Last of Us Part II) by picking your chord progression. I can’t wait to see what kind of songs we get from the fans (via YouTube videos) with this ukulele mechanic. The trailer alone features island life, city life, undersea adventures and so much more. Plus, you can take control of different animals and creatures within the world.

The music and art direction are so very charming and sweet. This seems like a super chill adventure game where you can explore a wonderful world. I’m getting some serious Moana vibes along with some The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and more.

Coming 2022.

PS STUDIOS SHOWCASE

Next we went into the PS Studios Showcase and got some first-party reveals, trailers and more for some big games that are a bit further out. These are the main PlayStation 5 system sellers.

Marvel’s Wolverine

Anytime they begin a teaser like this with the Marvel logo it’s always fun to go through your superhero library in your head and guess all of the possible subjects. I went through a few, but was almost convinced this was a Punisher game. Of course, that was until we saw Wolverine’s signature claws.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a dope Wolverine game. The last great Wolverine game I remember playing was the X-Men Origins: Wolverine (movie tie-in game) — one of the few games that was much better than the movie. Wolverine has always been one of the top most fun heroes to play as in video games.

This teaser didn’t show us much, but having Insomniac behind this game (Marvel’s Spider-Man & Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart) brings me a great amount of joy. It will probably be a while, but I can’t wait to see more and some actual gameplay.

Gran Turismo 7

Gran Turismo 7 finally got a release date and it’s early next year. I’ve been playing Gran Turismo Sport (2017) for the past few years and it still looks and feels amazing on my PlayStation 5. One thing that makes me want to move on to Gran Turismo 7 is the use of haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers.

Gran Turismo 7 looks to add more customization for cars, new tracks and a different UI layout. There’s going to be even more city scapes for photo mode. We’re going to see some sick new future and concept cars. They also mentioned they’d be pulling the favorites from the entire franchise. The use of haptics and adaptive triggers will give different cars a unique feel.

Gran Turimos 7 is coming early next year on March 4, 2022.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

When I finished playing Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, I called that the next game would be Spider-Men. Although this isn’t called Spider-Men, it is called Spider-Man 2 — as in two different Spider men? We did see Miles and Peter working together.

I would love to get a Spider-Men online co-op experience, but only if they can make it feel as good as the two first games have felt. Still it would be nice to get a game where you switch between the two heroes. Or perhaps one of them will be inactive. The last part of the trailer revealed who the big villain will be — Venom.

We have a long time to wait for this next Spidey adventure since the only release information we got so far is 2023.

God of War: Ragnarok

Boy! Is now a young man. I thought perhaps in the next God of War entry we’d be playing as Atreus. This trailer showed off so much that’s familiar from the first God of War (2018), with also showing off some of the new abilities, areas and content. We also have some new exciting characters — Thor (voiced by Ryan Hurst), Odin (by Richard Schiff), Try (by Ben Prendergast) and Angrboda (by Laya de Leon Hayes).

This is also the first time I heard that Cory Barlog was not the director of the game. Instead Eric Williams will direct who’s been part of the God of War team throughout the entire franchise. I’m excited to see where he takes this one.

---

Overall, this was definitely one of the best Showcases we’ve seen lately.

You can watch the Full Presentation below:

The Leftovers:

Rainbow 6: Extraction takes the Tom Clancy Universe into the paranormal.

GTA V enters its third console generation. I first played GTA V on Xbox 360 and it has been an active best seller since.

Kid Amnesia Exhibit is some sort of Radiohead video game experience.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection brings the last two Uncharted games to PlayStation 5.