As far as next-gen consoles go, it seems that the PlayStation 5 is taking its games rather seriously. With a launch line-up that included Demon’s Souls and Spider-Man: Miles Morales (review), Sony is looking to bolster its already massive game library. With the company’s State of Play presentation, it's becoming clear that Sony is concentrating on delivering epic gaming experiences. If you missed the event, here’s a sweet round-up of everything that was announced at Sony PlayStation’s State of Play presentation.
One of the most-anticipated titles for the PS5 is Arkane Studio’s Deathloop. The game was first shown off a few years ago, and it immediately reminded fans of Dishonored. Given that Arkane are masters at stealth gameplay and massive, sprawling levels, it will be interesting to see what the studio has cooked up for us this time. The game follows an assassin who is contracted to eliminate 8 targets but finds that he is also being hunted. The characters look rather generic with a generic black guy and generic afro-haired black woman, but we’re waiting to see how the game actually plays.
The OG mascot of the PlayStation is back with another rip-roaring adventure in Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time (review). We don’t have too many excellent platformers out there with Mario Odyssey being the best of the lot, but we’re glad to have another entry in the genre in the form of this game. The visuals look crisp and really sells the world of Crash. The gameplay looks to be a throwback to classic Crash with detailed and treacherous levels thwarting your every move!
There have been a lot of people who are hyped for this game but personally, it just looks like any other third-person shooter with a fresh coat of alien paint. The movement is derivative and the mechanics just look so dull. Even worse, it's some kind of Rouge-like level design and that just means the designers are lazy and can't be bothered to craft meaningful levels, letting the algorithm do the work for them. Your mileage may vary with this game but for me personally, give me Elden Ring, any day, twice on Sundays.
When we were still mashing on the original PS One controller, we all wondered how awesome it would be if games actually looked like cutscenes, back in the day. Well, with how games look these days, that’s a moot point. Kena: Bridge of Spirits is what we would have imagined when we were kids. The game is absolutely gorgeous, with a very Disney/Pixar art style that just shines through every frame. Players looking for a deep adventure should find the ‘scratch for that particular itch’ in Kena: Bridge of Spirits.
In what looks to be a martial arts extravaganza, Sifu clearly captures the feel of those early kung-fu movies, drenched in gritty corridor fisticuffs, ala Oldboy. We’re not sure what to make of this game because we just have not seen enough. But from what we can ascertain from the trailer, Sifu looks to channel the energy seen in old kung-fu movies but with a modern, brutal twist.
Probably the least interesting game of the lot Solar Ash looks like a hodgepodge of disparate ideas that just don’t seem to blend. We have a bit of that ‘ooohhh’, ‘woooow’ factor that a game like Journey provided but also the lack of real combat has us raising our eyebrows. The developers stress the mechanics of movement, but it truly looks like a game that is completely missable, if we’re being honest. Nothing really stands out about the game.
Oddworld, as a franchise, has been around for decades and even though it may not have achieved the notoriety of games that came out around the same time, it has always had a loyal and dedicated fanbase. With beautiful visuals and that platforming gameplay we all love, Oddworld: Soulstorm looks to be another cracker in the franchise.
We thought that with a name like Knockout City, we’d finally get a next-gen boxing game but no, instead what we get is dodgeball. Yes, you read that right. Knockout City looks to be another Fortnite, Splatoon clone that is as dull as it is uninteresting. You may find some lineage from its fast gameplay, but we can’t see anything here that really catches our eye.
A strange indie hit, Friday Night at Freddy’s was not really a game. It was more like a point and click adventure without pointing and clicking and adventure. It catered to the jump scare generation and follows depowered protagonists in games like Amnesia, where you are literally hiding all the time. This just looks like another generic entry into that franchise.
Who doesn’t love the Final Fantasy universe and the fact that we’re getting a remake of one of the best games in the franchise is just the icing on the cake! With upgraded graphics and animations, the game looks to be a nostalgic train ride that we’ve all been waiting for. With a launch scheduled for both the PS4 and PS5 modern gamers will finally be able to experience the epic adventure that is Final Fantasy VII (review)!