In February, I wrote about how more companies need to follow Nintendo Directs directions, including PlayStation and Xbox.
Over the last few years, Casa de Mario has perfected the art of well-edited, well-paced presentations that include a variety of games that appeal to a wide audience. By contrast, Xbox has had some pretty inflated 90-minute E3 showcases, while the various PlayStation State of Plays, though much shorter, are still pretty dull.
Fortunately, I’m happy to say that PlayStation has just unveiled what is easily its best gaming state to date, and one that makes me especially excited about its future.
In short: he nailed the revelations. Of course, these are to some extent subjective; interests can vary greatly depending on the person. But without a doubt, this State of Play was the most diverse of the PlayStation thanks to a solid mix of major franchises, smaller independent titles, and even new hardware. In this way, PlayStation touched on the key parts of its business and indicated how they will all play an important role in the future of the brand.
The show opened with the official presentation of a long-rumored game: the remake of Resident Evil 4, which will arrive in March 2023. It is difficult to underestimate the importance of this title: the original Resident Evil 4 is widely considered as one of the best games of all time, and had an incredible influence on the third-person shooter genre. Also, the team has done it behind the beloved Resident Evil 2 remake of 2019. Only the RE4 remake would have elevated this above most State of Plays, and that was just the beginning.
Right after, PlayStation gave some focus to PlayStation VR2, as promised. This is where the company seemed really aware of the right pace. In about six minutes, we can see four virtual reality titles: Resident Evil Village, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners Retribution, No Man’s Sky, and Horizon: Call of the Mountain. The Resident Evil 4 remake is also getting some sort of PS VR2 content that hasn’t been revealed yet, and after Resident Evil 7’s fear of virtual reality, I’m especially anxious to see what Capcom does with the new headphones . Overall, this was an effective way to make fun of some of the different experiences that gamers can expect without hindering the whole VR show. After all, virtual reality as a whole is still quite a niche, and we don’t really have a price or release date for PS VR2. Apparently, this was just to remind people that a new headset is on the way, which seems prudent at the moment.
After that, we’ve received confirmation that Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered will hit PC in August. It’s a smart move for the company, especially with the sequel coming next year. Miles Morales will also hit PC this fall to complete the collection. The involvement of PC ports in gaming status serves to reiterate, especially to console fans, that PlayStation games coming to PC are an important and growing part of the company’s business. I’m also always in favor of allowing more people to play, especially when they’re as wonderful as Insomniac’s Spider-Man titles.
From there it was just games, games, games, and lots of good ones, all in all.
As for the indie, we first had the promising adventure of the cat Stray, which will arrive on PS4 / PS5 on July 19. As an added bonus, those subscribing to any of the higher levels of the new PS Plus will even have the game at no extra cost. Tunic, the newly released and acclaimed Canadian adventure game, hits PS4 / PS5 on September 27th. Another Canadian game, Season: A Letter to the Future, had a trailer with a launch window in the fall of 2022, and it looks like a relaxing and fascinating cycling adventure. (It should be noted, however, that the leadership of developer Scavengers of Montreal was accused of abusing employees, and it is unclear whether there has been a significant change in the study). That doesn’t mean the developer of OlliOlliWorld Roll7 has a sleek skate game, Rollerdrome, which will hit PS4 / PS5 on August 16, or the new Studio Sai team is making an action dating simulator inspired by Persona, Eternights, which will be released on PS4 / PS5 in early 2023.
Of course, there were more AAA games on top of that impressive assortment of indies. Striking Distance, the study co-founded by Dead Space creator Glen Schofield, featured its survival horror space game, The Callisto Protocol, which seems like a worthy spiritual successor to its previous work. We will receive it on December 2, 2022 on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S and PC. And while it’s not my cup of tea at all, Capcom’s Street Fighter 6 had a pretty meaty new trailer, which is definitely a big deal for fighting game fans. It will arrive sometime in 2023 on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S and PC.
But it’s the closest show that made me absolutely jump out of my seat: Final Fantasy XVI. Since the action RPG was unveiled in the September 2020 PS5 Showcase, Square Enix has shown nothing more than the game, so fans like me more than a year and a half ago are screaming. a new trailer. Fortunately, we have this and more: a release window for the summer of 2023. Farther than I would have liked, of course, but Square Enix had said that the game was delayed by half a year due to COVID, so it is understandable. What matters most, though, is that it looks great. I confess I didn’t care much about Final Fantasy XV; the story of the game, the characters, the open world and the combat felt half-done in many ways. FF is my favorite series, so XV disappointed me quite a bit.
XVI, on the other hand, seems to be all that XV was not. And I have immense faith that he will do it, just look at the talent involved! Naoki Yoshida, the man who helped make Final Fantasy XIV one of the most important redemption stories in video games, is the producer. Hiroshi Takai, who has worked on classics such as Final Fantasy V and, more recently, XIV, is the lead director, while Kazutoyo Maehiro, who wrote the excellent Heavensward expansion of XIV, is the creative director and writer. Combat director Ryota Suzuki worked on a little action game called Devil May Cry 5, which should give you an idea of what the great battles of the 16th century should be like. And Masayoshi Soken, the magnificent composer of the 14th century, is in charge of the music of the 16th century, so expect some absolute hits. TL; DR: This game will be fire. It’s also a timed PS5 exclusive, which is very important for the PlayStation.
In the end, PlayStation achieved much in just under 30 minutes. He offered us a good combination of games that almost all of them will come out over the next 12 months, while showing more of his plans for PC and VR. Of course, there are still questions about when God of War: Ragnarok will come, among other new first-part titles. But we knew this State of Play would never be like that. As it was, a show focused largely on third parties, PlayStation absolutely crushed it and hopefully the future State of Plays will be so strong.
Image credit: Square Enix