Thursday, June 2 Sony’s State of Play showed off what’s to come for the PlayStation brand.
We take a closer look at the biggest announcements from Sony’s State of Play.
Resident Evil 4 Remake
After remakes of the first three entries of Capcom’s storied franchise. It was only a matter of time, when Capcom would give its crown jewel a makeover. Resident Evil 4 is a titan in the gaming industry, the father of the third person shooter. And simply a landmark title though and through. If you play Resident Evil 4 today, might seem a little clunky but that doesn’t mean it isn’t excellent. Far from it. Like most of Capcom’s games from that area, it focused on tight gameplay that rewarded patience and flawless execution.
While RE4 was also when the franchise dipped more and more into the action genre. From the looks of it, the Remake seems to be more focused on atmosphere and the body horror the games have been perfecting in the last two entries. And there seems to be more of an emphasis on Leon S. Kenedy as a character, and the horror’s he experiences in Racoon City. Lets just hope that Capcom won’t double down on the wackier aspects of Shinji Mikami’s masterpiece. Because if I can’t roundhouse kick zombies, what is the point?
The title is also be at least partially supported by Sony’s new PlayStation VR 2 platform. And following Capcoms trend of announcing games with a relatively close release date. Resident Evil 4 Remake will be released on March 24, 2024. Is is gonna be a PlayStation exclusive though? Or will it follow the original’s root and sooner or later be released on every platform under the sun.
Resident Evil Village is Going VR
While Capcom has announced a while back they were considering DLC for Resident Evil Village. It was no surprise that they’d announce another VR version of Ethan Winter’s nightmares. Back in 2017, Resident Evil 7 released with a PlayStation exclusive VR mode. Probably one of the biggest titles for VR at the time, making full use of PlayStation’s initial VR headset. This time around, Capcom seems to have done their homework. While the first person perspective is nothing new for Resident Evil, the main source of inspiration seems to Valve’s Half Life: Alyx, released in 2020. Lots of interactivity with the enjoinment, reloading your weapons authentically and even dual wielding!
So if you haven’t experienced Resident Evil Village yet, it might be worth holding off on it for the VR version. But Capcom has yet to make any announcement about whether this is going to be DLC, a free update or if its exclusive for the PlayStation version.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Ch2 – Retribution
Zombie games with VR support seem to be a running theme for Sony this time. For those not in the know, Saints & Sinners is a VR survival game set in the Walking Dead universe, if that wasn’t obvious by the title. The first title of Skydance Interactive’s series was a breakout hit, once VR technology, especially on the PC got rolling. The first chapter managed to accumulate lots of praise for its interactivity and the freedom it offered players. Now a second chapter will release later this year. It will also be available for the Oculus Quest 2 and Steam.
No Man’s Sky VR Update
Hello Games No Man’s Sky is also getting a VR makeover. After its botched release back in 2016, no one expected the turn around that the space survival game had since then. Not only is it now available on most plattorms, it has also received a slew of free expansions. Elaborating on the title even further. Now VR seems to be the next big step for the title. But we’ve yet to hear when this VR version is going to release and if it’s gonna be available for other platforms.
Horizon Call of the Mountain & Free Update for Horizon Forbidden West
Not long ago, Horizon was just a single title about robot dinosaurs with impressive graphics. Now after the second installment released just a few months ago, Guerrilla Games is ready to turn their world into a full blown franchise. Starting of with Horizon Call of the Mountain, another title for PlayStation’s next gen VR platform. Similarly to the other titles we’ve discussed so far, there seems to be a lot of inspiration being taken from Half Life: Alyx here. Not only do you have to manually craft, climb and shoot arrows with your own hands. There also seems to be an emphasis on interactivity with the world around you.
But that’s not all, during the State of Play, Guerrilla Games released a new update for all versions of Horizon Forbidden West. Adding a bunch of new features like a performance mode, new weapons and achievements. There is also a New Game+ mode that goes perfectly with a newly added difficulty with even more to come!
Spider-Man Remastered is Coming to PC
After getting a slight make over for the PlayStation 5, Peter Parker’s adventure by Insomniac Games is finally getting a PC release. After God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted and others. Sony seems to relax now on their exclusive policy. Maybe we can even squeeze a simultaneous release for the next Spider-Man game on both platforms soon. No matter what, the PC version looks amazing and we can’t wait so see how the title will perform once cranked to the max. And it will release relatively soon on August 12, this year. But there has been no indication so far, if Spider-Man Miles Morales, the standalone DLC is coming to PC any time soon.
Stray
Here you slip into the role of a curious feline in a strange, decaying city. The title is developed by a relatively new studio from France. And is the kind of artsy stuff that I like to see big publishers like Sony promote. There seem to be elements of environmental puzzles, dialogue choices and stealth in here. So we’ll give the good old ‘Adventure Game’ stamp of genre. But who wasn’t already sold on it the moment you realized you’ll play the cat? Better yet, the title will release on July 19. For both PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Steam. PlayStation Plus subscribers will get the title for free!
The Callisto Protocol
While looking like an intriguing nightmare, Callisto Protocol looks like the spiritual successor to Dead Space. Which will soon also get a remake. And after a quick search, I found out that Callisto Protocol is most likely a spiritual successor of Dead Space. Given that the studio behind it, Striking Distance Studios is founded by Glen Schofield of Gex: Enter the Gecko fame. Well and he also made the two good Dead Space games. Which to this day are underrated landmark titles of the horror genre in my humble opinion. And even if you don’t like getting spooked, the depressing Sci Fi atmosphere is already very intriguing, as is the visceral combat.
The game is supposedly going to release some time this year, but we’ll keep you updated here on ESTNN as soon as we know more. The title will be available on the Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.
Rollerdrome
When I first saw this, I though this was just a sequel to the recently released Sable. And I could not be more wrong. This title comes from Roll7, who some of you might know from OlliOllie fame. While this isn’t a sequel to Sable, its also inspired by Jean Giraud stunning art. This clean look of a retrofuture already has me hooked, no questions asked. But then there is the gameplay. Which looks like Tony Hawk on roller-blades, with machine guns and robots. (My inner twelve year old was freaking out just saying that.) And it’s gonna be released relatively soon. August 16 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Steam.
Eternights
Another title that falls into the ‘They made this just for me’ kind of niche. Eternights seems to pull alot of inspiration from the visual novel Tsukihime, which later blossomed into what we now know as the FATE franchise. Those games were playable novels and dating sims which included some combat scenes that the player was not able to take part in. But Eternights seems to have seen that, and figured if we just do Tsukihime, but as a crazy action game with a dating sim, that could work right?
And with a little luck, this could be to wacky japanese action games, what Persona 5 was to the JRPG. If the words FATE and Tsukihime haven’t sold you on this yet, you might yet be saved. But I suggest you keep an eye on it, if you have any love for this kind of stuff. Eternights is set to release for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC (Both Steam and Epic Game Store) sometime in early 2023.
Street Fighter 6
Finally we get to see the highly anticipated Street Fighter 6. And while there was not much to see in terms of the actual street fighting, it oozed style. Something its current installment wasn’t exactly lacking in. But this one seems to take its notes from the previous two entries, Street Fighter Third Strike and Street Fighter IV.
What stood out was some kind of hub that the player was able to explore. A mode that they call the World Tour mode. And we also know that both Ryu and Chun-Li are back, joined by newcomers Luke and Jamie. Street Fighter 6 is set to release sometime in 2023 and making an educated guess here, we’ll probably get a release date by the time the Capcom Pro Tour 2022 comes to a close.
Tunic’s PlayStation Debut
Indie title Tunic from developer Finji is going to make its PlayStation debut on September 27 for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 respectively. The title is a modern spin on the formula of the Zelda titles on NES and SNES. But, it features not only a cute fox as the protagonist. It also has some stunning art, amazing music and is currently sitting on a 85/100 on Metacritic. But if you are spoiled and are in possession of a PC or an Xbox you can play Tunic today. Its available for Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X and PC. It’s even on Microsoft’s game pass for both consoles and PC.
Season: A letter to the future
Again we have to praise Sony for showcasing titles that are a little more out there. Now Season: A letter to the future seems to fall into the odd artsy game category. That might not stir the hardcore gamers. But I’ll be damned if it doesn’t look interesting. We get vibes from old Ghibli movies and everything else that falls into this weird genre that is cottage-core. You play a young woman who journeys out into the world before a mysterious cataclysm is about to wash everything away.
And its your mission to meet people, see as much as you can of this familiar, yet strange world. Only to document it, you get to pick and chose what memories, thoughts and images are worth preserving. While this is probably more out there for some, but will hopefully end up as an indie darling. Season: A letter to the future is set to release in Autumn of this year. For both PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC on Steam and the Epic Game Store.
Final Fantasy XVI
It’s almost been 2 years since we last heard from Final Fantasy XVI. Since then it was just rumors and producer Naoki Yoshida dancing around the topic. And while he said that we’d get a new trailer in Spring, to his credit he only missed the mark by a few days. (Summer only started yesterday after all.) But it’s finally here, the next entry in the stories Final Fantasy Franchise. Which looks and sounds a lot like another game Square Enix made a long time ago. A short look at who’s writing the game and who’s directing is reveals what we’ve suspected since we first laid eyes on this. This is The Last Remnant 2 in disguise! You can’t fool us Square Enix.
Anyways, set to release in Summer of 2023 Final Fantasy XVI will be the source for much excitement in the year to come. According to director Hiroshi Takai on the PlayStation blog the game is fully completed and playable. Now they will focus on polishing and optimizing the title. So far Final Fantasy XVI has only been confirmed to release for the PlayStation 5.
This sums up your summary of the State of Play of June 2022. For more gaming news and all your esports needs, visit us here on ESTNN