Sony Playstation is my main system, and I was excited to see the Sony Press Conference, which turned out to be more than what I was expecting, because we all know now that it was the most elusive company, releasing very few, if any hints on what major IP titles that were to be expected so-far. Sony usually disappoints in that it sometimes gives away too much, and it's hard to digest just what there was to actually review. Still, Sony tends to aggravate me with much discussion in everything but games, V.R., for a prime example of the peripheral apocalypse that is coming soon, is being forced upon us by industry standards. 3-D failed last year, so now they want us commit to V.R. Which makes wonder: why would I go out to by a 4K television, when all I'm going to see is a shitty little 4K screen that probably looks about as fun to wear for long periods of time than a giant toad sitting on my head? Why would I want to buy an awesomely huge television when I'll be forced to wear this shitty hardware on my head? Seems this push for VR, which has been around. Longer than most gamers have been alive, is going to pacify a minority of gamers that want change, but the majority don't want a VR experience, they want good games.
Sony was able to deliver a rather abrupt, and for them, that's an understatement, Press Conference, it was almost short enough, or rather, compiled enough to be a Bethesda or EA conference. This doesn't mean it didn't pack a punch, it packed a great deal of gameplay into a short time, it almost felt like I was watching a bunch of trailers, and with little interruption. The conference went well, quite well, and although I was not necessarily excited for everything shown, but I was far more excited than what even Bethesda promised to bring out, excluding perhaps a Skyrim remake.
The conference opens with a beautiful standard done by an orchestra and chorus. The opus opens up the scenes of a game that many were hoping for: God of War 4, which is a new take on the mythology, now turning to Nordic Gods and monsters. The game looks amazing, almost Game of Thrones meets Vikings, but it has a story that I want to play. Kratos has a son, and it seems the mother has died, and left her blade for the son, this gives me a bit of an idea on just what to expect: Kratos isn't some Greek tragic hero that is bound by vengeance, and forced to die, while having a brutal upbringing, and dare-I-say, origin story. The gods are completely different in Nordic Mythology. Odin, Frigga, Thor, and the likes are not of any semblance of the Greek mythology, and this game looks to seperate Kratos ins almost the same manner. I must admit, it looks damn good, the story may be one of the best of the series, and the fighting system seems slightly updated, although shades of the older system are seen throughout.
The gameplay shown is at least ten minutes in length, it follows Kratos and son enroute to hunt deer, which the son misses the shot,mbut both track it, similar to how you track the deer in the Last of Us, in-fact, that's exactly what it reminds me of, and I was quite impressed on just how beautiful the Nordic scenery looked. The game, if that's exactly how it will appear in the finished product, blows away the details of any current game I've seen on current generation systems. I was also impressed by the first mini-boss battle (and calling it a mini boss is a fucking joke) against a mountain troll. It reminds me of other God of War battles,mbut it's still done well enough to have kept me glued to the screen. The troll smashes the ice beneath them, and falls, but there is a back-and-forth between Kratos and his son (DISCLAIMER: I'm not entirely sure the character will be named Kratos, but it is universally accepted thwt it is going to be the name of the main character, and they do say Kratos, but time will tell.) survive the pitfalls, but the hunt goes on, as they converse further into the plot points, but then the deer is found, and the son takes aim, which leads me to believe you may be able, for a short period to switch between the two characters, hitting the deer with the arrow. The son then cannot come to kill the deer, so Kratos helps him finish the deer off, teaching a life lesson on survival and give-and-take of life. The game looks spectacular, and I wasn't sure I'd be as interested in the game becaue the last one was less than appetizing, but this game looks to be something different, more mature than the past games, and based more in the trend of the Viking/Game of Thrones/Barbarian themes that have been coming around. Also the dragon that helps close out the gameplay was fifty/fifty, but kept my enthusiasm alive nonetheless.
I've done reviews of God of War 2 years ago, and I wanted to do one of God of War 3, but I don't believe I got to it. I've been a fan of the games, but this one looks so unique, it may as well be it's very on IP. Overall the game was not a surprise, but it still surprised me on just how damn good it looks to be. Of course, we will have to wait until early 2017 to see if this is all hype, or a potential modern classic for the PS4.
Next, we saw some more of the Last Guardian, which will have a release date on October 25th, 2016. Now, I'm not sure this game will be deemed worthy of a preorder, because it is what is called in business a dog, and no, the pun wasn't intended. If anything this is a dirty, rabid dog, that either going to have a whole lot of bite, or a dog that is all bark, and well....becomes the greatest failure in modeling gaming history. It still looks amazing, and is still secretive, but this game is now over a decade old, and it was announced in 2009, this was a last generation console title, now reimagined as a Playstation 4 exclusive...such radical times we live in, and such a wonton E3 these past two years have been. I say this becaue very little has changed in the last year: the only game we are actually playing on our systems that was promised is Fallout 4, and everything else might as well have been announced as vapor ware. Still, Sony had left out that dreamscape game completely that Media Molecule had promised, and although Titanfall 2, with a single player campaign is guaranteed to come to PS4, there wasn't any news on Destiny, or other titles that are out and exclusive. With the Last Guardian a shoe-in for 2016, we may now see new games, and new systems seem inevitable now as well.
Then they showed off a great amount of Horizon: Zero Dawn. In the gameplay, it showed that you can take command of certain animal machines, and takedowns using different sorts of weapons, while collecting components. The game looks amazing for what it is, and it's been a long time coming.
Next was Detroit: Become Human, a new game from Insomniac Dreams,mshich looks amazing,mand kind of looks like a cross between Heavy Rain and Blade Runner. This game is essentially going to have at least five different endings for each scenario that plays out. The combinations are nearly limitless giving this game the most replay value I've seen in years.
Then there was mention of a new FPS called Farpoint, which is like a space exploration title. The mention of Playstation VR being release Oct. 13th at $399 was not a surprise,mbut the fact it will have fifty titles that will work, including, fallout 4, Bstman Arkham VR, FFXV, and many more. Then the announcment thwt Titanfall 2 would be coming to PS4, and would include a complete offline campaign mode was another shocking moment that left most people wanting more. The game looks bigger, and better than its prequel. Another game netizens for the VR headset was Star Wars Battlefrotn X Wing VR Missions, which also looked to be a serious contender.
I mentioned resident Evil 7 earlier,mbut of you have Playstation Plus, you can download the 17 minute teaser playable trailer now. Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens was up next, and this was cute as the usual Lego games are, but not my speed.
Finally, there was snoet gamplay showcase of Days Gone,mshich showed off the main character going into a saw mill after someone that he's trying to chase down and bring back to his base camp, but is overrun by infected people or zombies. The number of enemies on screen at once was nothing short of incredible, and I question if here's going to be a way for it to work, without crashing that is.
Sony killed it this year,mand I cannot wait to play a multitude of the games shown! I'll have more I apart 3, wheree I tackle Bethesda, EA, and Ubisoft. I won't be reviewing Nintendo's Treehouse because it's just too much to watch, and, and not enough time to write, plus half those games won't see the light of day until mid 2017.
Thank you so much for reading the Malacast Editorial!
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