Sony E3 – Mixed Reactions
Sony’s press conference garnered some mixed reactions last night. Between Final Fantasy Fishing and the QTE-laden Marvel Spiderman trailer, you could be forgiven for mistaking the Japanese electronics giant for Microsoft.
PLAYSTATION VR $400 DOLLARS pic.twitter.com/8X9m7Uh3gO
— C I N D E R ✖️ (@Cinder_4K) June 13, 2017
Even non-partisan trailer-sharing YouTube channels were having fun with the YouTube video description.
“So it’s Final Fantasy 15, right, the fishing bit, but you do it in VR. This is truly what the next generation of gaming is all about”
‘All about the Games’
While Sony’s tightlippedness pre-conference was taken by many to mean a host of big titles were on the way. The truth was a little different. While fifteen games and two DLCs was a low tally, quality beats quantity as Nintendo can attest to.
However, the vast majority of these titles made celebrated appearances last year and are due in 2018. Some had no date at all. The presser had minimal keynote speaking but what little there was seemed to repeatedly try point out that PlayStation has loads of games while the Xbox has fewer. We can assume the speech was written before Xbox dropped 42 games, of which 22 are technically exclusives. But not really exclusive as many are timed and a few are PlayAnywhere titles, leaving seven true Xbox One-only titles.
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (DLC)
- Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds (Standalone DLC)
- Days Gone
- Monster Hunter World
- Shadow of the Colossus
- Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite
- Call of Duty: WW2
- God of War
- Detroit: Become Human
- Destiny 2
- Spider Man
- Skyrim (VR)
- Star Child (VR)
- The Inpatient (VR)
- Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV (VR)
- Bravo Team (VR)
- Moss (VR)
There are some amazing titles that Sony can boast as their own. Let’s have a quick rundown of games that aren’t VR fishing or a game getting a third release. Looking at you, SotC.
God of War
One of the highlights of Sony at E3 was surely our surly Kratos’ father-son bonding. We saw a soft side to Kratos before showing us his very, very tough side in a 5-minute trailer with plenty of gameplay.
God of War is now set in the world of Norse mythology – we’ll visit the Nine Realms and chill out with Viking gods. The camera set-up has also changed to a more ‘cinematic’ and contemporary style.
Horizon: Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds
Not long after Horizon: Zero Dawn‘s exalted release, the many Aloy fans can hop into her snowshoes and head off map to The Frozen Wilds. The trailer shows new weapons, news foes and a little story happening.
The Frozen Wilds arrives on PS4 out sometime this year and that’s all we know. Soz.
Days Gone
After months with a few previews and little info drops, Days Gone was much anticipated. It did not fail to deliver – the gameplay was on show in a big way. Along with a nugget of possible plot to work with and a display of the kind of zombie numbers we can expect at the party. The game isn’t too unlike zombie, open-worlder State of Decay crossed with a little style and a lot of money.
Detroit: Become Human
If anyone was confused/mystified by what D:BH was before E3, they are likely more so now. With little in the way of tangible gameplay on display in a GAMEPLAY trailer, I am thinking Heavy Rain. Some people will love that type of storytelling, will bask in the meaningful decision-making and incredible cinematic visuals.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (22 August 2017)
Having ended the series proper on a high, Naughty Dog’s spin-off comes at us with welcoming arms and eager eyes.
The trailer is a teasing testament to what a talented crew can do, visually, with this generation of console hardware even on the ‘limited’ budget this cut-price standalone probably had. We already knew the skeleton of the story but this trailer drives homes how ‘Uncharted’ the Lost Legacy is with nary a Nate in sight. Led by familiar faces and packed with overblown Hollywood action tropishness, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is another highlight of Sony at E3.
Marvel’s Spider-Man
I wasn’t sure what to expect aside from ‘Spider-Man: Arkham City’ and I wasn’t too surprised. The trailer shows us some smooth webslinging, what we can expect in combat (lots of it, yay) and a few too many QTEs for some people.
So many people, in fact, that Insomniac’s community manager James Stevenson had to clarify that some of the trailer’s second-half stream of QTEs was actually Spiderman selecting slinging points and some fortuitous timing.
Monster Hunter: World
With a premise and plot simple enough to fit into the title, Monster Hunter: World will probably divide opinions regardless of its quality. World brings the franchise back to a non-Nintendo home console for the first time in a decade so more than 100 people can enjoy it.
The open world looks stunning and with a reasonably robust looking survival model hinted at. The oh-so-2017 graphical sheen on the Goliaths waiting to be Davided by you is truly a sight for sore eyes. If you have never been a ‘Hunter fan, take a look at this… please?
Capcom vs. Marvel: Infinite
Despite a name taken from the big barrel o’ generic series titles, Capcom vs. Marvel: Infinite was very well received. By me.
The eye-melting fighter is not a PS4 exclusive but given its 19th September release, it will probably have those extra pixels you like on Sony’s machines while not having a special Xbox One X edition as the console releases 6th of November.
PlayStationVR at Sony E3
With a strong start and some mildly-killer apps PSVR is blowing up and Sony weren’t afraid to show off some highly playable games, a guaranteed hit and the seed of a great meme.
Skyrim VR might be a nigh-on six year old title but experiencing it in virtual reality should be incredible and I imagine that a high percentage of PSVR owners will buy it. The idea of traipsing at speed over undulating terrain in VR might make a few people queasy but you know you want to. Bethesda are giving us the full game and all DLC spruced up on a vague date in November.
Bravo Team will exploit Farpoint‘s Aim controller and given Farpoint’s incredible control scheme, I have to admit it has me excited. While Farpoint was one-v-many and linear, the Bravo Team trailer seems to promise a more ‘traditional’ shooter with larger levels, contemporary weaponry and team-based combat.
Supermassive Games also revealed a prequel to Until Dawn in the form of The Inpatient which takes place 60 years before UD inside a twisted mental hospital. The psychological horror yarn is the first ‘proper’ VR entry into the franchise as Until Dawn: Rush of Blood was an on-rails gallery shooter.
Exclusive Content for Weighty Non-Exclusive Titles
Many would say they don’t care that the other platform are enjoying an extra map, set of guns or a longer open beta but that is sour grapes. Both Call of Duty:WWII and Destiny 2 hawked their wares for Sony at E3 and the PS exclusive content isn’t half bad.
CoD offers a beta on 25th August to PS4 players with no word on other platforms. That doesn’t mean Xbots and PCMR will miss out but it’s likely to be an early and extended access for Ponies. Now you can take to Twitter and pretend you don’t care.
Destiny was at home on PlayStation as it pointed out quite a lot and to be fair, the graphical disparity and exclusive content back this statement up. Destiny 2 gets a weapon a map and some other fancies to sweeten the deal but it remains to be seen if the game will be at its visual best on Xbox One X.
Y U No Gran Turismo?
While there was some great stuff there – could we not have had GT Sport in the Sony E3 main-show?
That’s All Folks
That’s my highlights of Sony E3 and it wasn’t as bad as social media said it was, now was it? If you fancy a look at the rest of Sony E3 have a peak below our suggested video…
