Sony’s State of Play
Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
Sony’s latest State of Play dropped this morning and included footage and teasers for 10 different games with varying levels of hype. As each of these presentations have dropped over the last year I feel like they’ve been met with largely with indifference. Most people are use to one or two big reveal trailers or presentations a year and they’re filled with the biggest announcements. Since Sony and other publishers have started doing videos every 3-4 months, they don’t usually have as many big reveals and I think people are still trying to adjust to that idea. I’m at the point now where I get it and don’t expect to be blown away by every State of Play or Nintendo Treehouse. With that in mind, the games and trailers shown in this months State of Play still land with varying degrees of success with me. So, let’s take a look at each title and see how they score on your hype meter.
Untitled Goose Game
Untitled Goose Game is coming to the PlayStation, which I can’t find any issue with! It’s been a hit everywhere else and while it’s not really my kind of game I do enjoy the clips and the memes. These type of pick up and play anywhere kind of game where you just cause havoc and have fun are exactly the type of game we need more of. As gaming continues to bridge generations and ingrain itself more in the mainstream people who don’t consider themselves gamers become just that and it’s normally because of games you can easily get into like Untitled Goose Game.
Spellbreak
This was a game that intrigued me but it might be just a little bit too late. Spellbreak is the latest in a very, very long line of 2019 Battle Royals, but it’s focus is on fantasy and spell casting. Realm Royal cashes in on the same sort of aesthetic, but Spellbreak seems to go full Harry Potter. Players are slinging spells, fireballs, lightning bolts, teleporting up, down, backwards and forwards. It’s anime levels of epic and powerful and easily sets itself apart from even Realm Royal. One year ago, I would’ve been extremely hyped for this, but I think the Battle Royal fad is starting to wear and just the idea of that style of game play exhausts me. Do I want to load into a giant map and spend 10 minutes getting all my stuff just to be a loot pinata for Dumbledoom69? Not really.
Dreams
Dreams is less of a game and more of a vessel for the creation of games. It’s been early access for awhile already and there have been some amazing creations that have came out of it. This is the one that could potentially have the biggest impact going forward as it opens more doors and creates more opportunities for creators to share their visions with the world. I’ve already seen some very impressive footage of games I’d try in a heartbeat.
Superliminal
This one is a bit harder to describe, so just watch the trailer. I get a very Portal-esque vibe from it and since playing Remedy’s hit Control from earlier this year that plays with the concept of reality and what’s real this has pique my curiosity. The trailer shows just enough that I’m willing to invest my hard earned money just for the price of entry and to see exactly what this game is about and just how far down the rabbit hole it’s going to take me. I don’t say this often with Virtual Reality given how most VR games wind up today, but I’d love to try this game out in VR.
Paper Beast
I’m going to seem like a bully here and I apologize, I’m sure the developers behind Paper Beasts put a lot of work into and are all talented individuals. The problem is that these “VR Odyssey Experiences” are all we get for VR, that or games that also available in VR like Resident Evil 7. Virtual Reality is never really going to take off until we have a game that convinces a majority of the market that it’s worth picking it up. Games like Paper Beasts just reminds me that there’s all this development happening and so few people are going to be able to experience it. Alas, it is a gorgeous game, giving players the ability to explore and interact with a world full of beasts made from crumbled up paper.
Kingdom Hearts 3 DLC: Re-Mind
The people who are still under the effects of the Kingdom Hearts kool-aid are flipping out over this, but it just seems like more incoherent nonsense. It’s a Disney meets Square Enix except we took out the Square Enix adventure. Every line of dialogue is a mad libs where we substitute in words like ‘family’, ‘heart’, ‘light’ and ‘love. I hope for the sake of the fans that are still invested in this story that Kingdom Hearts starts to make up some kind of ending instead of presenting more and more questions and convoluted plot holes. People seem to be OK with it so far though, so why break what seems to be working for them?
Predator Hunting Grounds
Dead by Daylight has been gaining a lot of popularity and along with it, these 1 v 4’s have started to pop up all over the place. I don’t think any other intellectual property is quite as suited for the killer verse four other people as Predator is. The only real issue I have is that it looks kind of clunky like it was developed for the early PS4. Even in this State of Play trailer it shows off weapons and gives us a look at three pretty basic weapons. I expect the Predator’s to have a plethora of tools at their disposal to make mince meat out of the marines. The concept is aces but the execution in the trailer leaves a lot to be desired. I can easily see this being a disappointing flop.
Babylon’s Fall
This one may be my breakout favorite of the showcase. Created by Square Enix and Platinum games Babylon’s Fall gives off a bunch of a different vibes. I was getting callbacks to Bayonetta, which makes sense since it was one of Platinum Games biggest hits. I was getting aesthetic vibes that reminded me of Nier: Automata, which may not have been my cup of tea was undoubtedly an amazing game. The combat was reminiscent of Final Fantasy XIV which I’m split on. Overall, all of these games did well and I think makes Babylon’s Fall worth picking up.
Resident Evil 3 Remake
Here is the biggest surprise of the State of Play, but in hindsight maybe we shouldn’t be all that surprised by it. Project Resistance is revealed to actually be a remake of Resident Evil 3. The game has been in rumored development for some time and given the success of Resident Evil 2 Remake it’s really no wonder it followed. What is surprising is how quickly this one is being turned around with a release date of April 3rd. 2020. Anyone who loved the original or got hooked on the franchise with the remake is going to want to pick this up on day one. Nemesis is about to infect the nightmares of a whole new generation.
Ghosts of Tsushima
We’re left at the end of the State of Play with but a single trailer for Ghosts of Tsushima and a tagline that tells us to tune into the Game Awards on December 12th for more details. Ghosts of Tsushima looks beautiful, but I’ve never been one for Samurai games, there’s also the likelihood that it’s going to be very, very Dark Souls-like and I just really suck at those games.
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