Considering the coup that was 2015 for the PS4 and Sony in general, where they consolidated a dominant hold over the game Industry via announcements of some of the most significant upcoming gaming titles like FINAL FANTASY 7 REMAKE and SHENMUE 3, things seem to have cooled down for the company in general ( Both of those titles were conspicuously absent in their conference this year).
It’s understandable. The PS4 being so far ahead of it’s competitions, it’s possible that the company feels less pressure now that it did during launch. Without a doubt, Sony is going to win this console generation so it’s perhaps decided to take it slowly. The only way to describe their E3 2017 showing was: ‘Just about OK’. It was a fairly compact showing that went along at a fast clip with no “Holy Crap!” moments, but there were still games that were worth keeping an eye on:
Uncharted : The Lost Legacy
I’m a casual fan of Uncharted at best and this looks like more of the same old, over-the-top summer blockbuster fun. I’m intrigued by the India setting and exploration of Hindu Mythology (for obvious reasons) but this looks like more of the same. If anything, it seems built for the fans and that’s a good thing.
Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5xsS1WZA54
I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of Guerrilla games’ celebrated open world title but the DLC seems right in line for people who enjoyed it the first time. Good news for them.
Days Gone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uED22JERB8
During it’s unveiling at E3 2016, I was in the bag for this one. Mistaking it as an open-world LEFT 4 DEAD. My bad though, as this seems to a fairly generic third-person Zombie action game that’s trying wayy too hard to be The Last of Us 2 (Which surprisingly, wasn’t at the show). We’ll see.
Monster Hunter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXB2IHLm4m0
This was the best thing I saw on the show. After spending years on Nintendo platforms, MONSTER HUNTER is once again back on the Playstation, with a dynamic looking world, meaty combat and a variety of monsters. Add to that the prospects of going monster slaying with fellow hunters over PSN, colour us excited.
Shadow of the colossus (remake):
I guess that’s why THE LAST GUARDIAN took so long? Jokes aside, it looks great. But did anyone really ask for this? It looks just like a visual update on the PS2 version and that game still hasn’t aged looks-wise.
Marvel v Capcom: Infinite:
The CG trailer was great, filled to the bring with cameos from dozens of fan favorite Marvel and Capcom icons. But after Street Fighter 5, I’m hesitant to give Capcom any of my money. The Demo is now available on PSN. I’ll see what I feel when I download it.
Also, that final lead-up should have totally built up to a Devil May Cry 5 reveal and it didn’t. Boo.
Call of Duty: World War 2:
The trailer isn’t as big of a joke as the Infinite Warfare one, but playing moody, modern rock music over WW2 footage means that perhaps Activision is still kind of clueless. The visuals seem to be nicely updated from the previous iteration but I’ll still pass. Like every year.
VR blowout:
As expected, Sony did their best to pimp up their VR endeavors and the result was…mixed. I’m not sure how many people want to play Skyrim again (let alone in VR) and I’d rather that Square Enix properly finish Final Fantasy 15 as a whole, rather than keep making ‘fishing’ spinoffs but I am very interested in ‘The inpatient’, a first person horror VR title that looks really intriguing and ‘Moss’, a zelda’-esque title starring a cute mouse that looked, well…cute.
The one that caught our attention was ‘Starchild’, which looks like a very cool 2D side scroller with delectable atmosphere that reminds me of Metroid (more specifically, Super Metroid). The neon visuals hooked me and I enjoyed the weird art design. I’m very,very interested.
God of War 4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyfeHouV7_M
For many, this was THE most awaited game of Sony’s E3 and I won’t argue with them much. While last year’s E3 trailer looked fairly lukewarm, I was happy with Sony Santa Monica’s decision to display much of new (and more close quarters) combat system that still looked brutal and weighty as well as the stellar production values and the studios’ usual twisted art design. This still seems like an action-heavy title and not the linear ‘parenting simulator’ that I had feared. And that giant talking snake was great.
Spider- Man:
This was clearly what Sony intended as their show-stopper and sure enough, the great visuals, animation and attention to detail are there for all to see. The overall game though (for me at least) seems to have a ‘been there done that’ sort of vibe. It looks like a strange hybrid of Batman Arkham and the Beenox Spider-man games and doesn’t quite feel like the ultimate Spidey experience that all of us were promised. The constant use of QTE’s wasn’t helpful either. On the flipside though, we were really impressed by the production values and the incredibly large- scale of the set pieces. Here’s hoping there’s much more to the game when it launches.
All in all it was a fairly mediocre showing for Sony this year. We were surprised by the absence of many important titles like SHEMUE 3 (or remaster), FINAL FANTASY 7 REMAKE and THE LAST OF US 2. We’re still big fans but this just wasn’t Sony’s year I guess.