Sony’s E3 press conference was nothing short of awesome. They left no question unanswered about the PS4 in relation to the Xbox One. While the show did not quick off very strong. By the end they changed all that around, which I will get to later.
Sony started off the press conference by talking about the Vita, and that more games will be coming to the handheld iin the near future such as God of War 1 and 2 HD, Killzone Mercenary, Final Fantasy, Flower, and a plethora of indie games. So, basically just confirming that the Vita is still in this portable handheld war just as much as ever before.
Following the Vita portion Sony started getting into PlayStation 3 games. Even though Sony is rolling out a new console, they had a great lineup of upcoming PS3 games. First, they showed The Last of Us. The Last of Us is a game from Naughty Dog, the developers behind the hugely successful Uncharted series. Like usual when Naughty Dog develops a new game they go all the way with it, The Last of us being no exception. The Last of Us is more of a survival-horror, action game with parts of just trying to escape from the crazed inhabitants by the skin on your teeth, to some little set pieces. Any fan of Naughty Dog’s past work should look forward to what’s in store for them in The Last of Us.
Sony had a few other PS3 games to show like Rain, a game where you play as an invisible child who can only be seen when it rains. The trailer didn’t show much else besides exploring the world and interacting with the environment but it did look very interesting and unique to say the least. Beyond Two Souls was also there in trailer form. The game stars Ellen Page and is being made by Quantic Dream, the people behind Heavy Rain. The gameplay style looks like a natural evolution of how Heavy Rain played, and will involve some kind of supernatural element. The last big PS3 game would have to be Gran Turismo 6. It’s been built from the ground up with an all new physics engine, suspension engine, basically the whole game has been rebuilt for a more realistic experience.
It wouldn’t be a next-gen console press conference without some games to go along with it. Sony showed off a new PS4 game called The Order: 1886, a shooter type game set in an old english steampunk world. The trailer showed a group of people fending off groups of monsters. The Order: 1886 trailer had this survival-esque feel to it, since nothing else was shown there’s not much to go off of. However what was shown looks interesting and a game to definitely look forward to.
Quantic Dream, the development team behind Beyond Two Souls also showed off a PS4 work-in-progress tech demo running in real time. The tech demo featured an old man performing a ritual with a goblin type creature to his side. It then cut and broke the fourth wall as the game pulled back to be a movie/tv shoot of video game characters in a video game. It’s definitely more light-hearted than most of Quantic Dreams stuff and looks like it’ll be more approachable by a younger audience as well as the older. Whatever this game ends up being will be exciting since it’s always a good sign when game developers try out new things.
Sony then switched it over to the indie devs and showed off some great looking indie games coming to PS4 later this/next year. Transistor, Super Giant Games new cyberpunk game had a new trailer and was announced that it will be coming to PS4 first over any other console. That then kicked off the rest of the indie games that were shown off. Some of the highlights of these were definitely Octodad: Dadliest Catch which is…well, I guess a game where you play as an octopus trying to be a father to humans. Um, yeah, the trailer just had octodad flailing around the game world just being weird. I don’t really know what to make of this one to be honest but its the weird stuff that usually turns out to be the best. The other “big” indie game there was Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty. A remake of the old PlayStation 1 game Oddworld. It’s being made by series creator Lorne Lanning and looks to bring Oddworld to a new generation of gamers as well as the old ones. Oddworld was a great game, and to have it remade and look better for new stronger hardware can only lead to good things.
Square Enix then took the show floor with Tetsuya Nomoura taking stage via video where he showed two highly anticipated games. Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which was revealed to be officially renamed to Final Fantasy XV, and Kingdom Hearts III. Both of these games got such huge applause that you would’ve thought that each person found a million dollars under their seats. The FF XV trailer a few minutes long showing a absolutely stunning visuals compete set in a hybrid world filled with huge modern cities complete with traditional Final Fantasy castles, kings and great landscapes. A few minutes of gameplay was also accompanying the trailer. Final Fantasy XV looks to be a note from Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core on PSP and looks to have an active battle system. So no more just staying in one spot attacking, getting hit, rinse and repeat. It looks fast paced and looks like it might have the potential to be the next best Final Fantasy game since VII. Kingdom Hearts III was a little bit more brief only showing a trailer with the previous titles of the series scrolling up, then ending on the title: Kingdom Hearts III which was then accompanied by a few seconds of gameplay. Again, just like FF XV, Kingdom Hearts III looks incredible. It’s cartoony style looks just incredible with the power of the PS4. Both of these games are heading to the PlayStation 4 so make sure to be on the lookout for both of these titles when they launch.
Following the first look at gameplay of the Bungie and Activision developed Destiny, Sony ended the conference on a very high note. Sony came out and said that the PlayStation 4 will not have any form of DRM or used game restrictions. So your PlayStation 4 will be just like your PlayStation 1, 2, and 3 meaning if you want to buy a used game, hey, go right on ahead. Also they said that there will be no online requirements or anything like that. Basically the PS4 will not have any of the terrible restrictions of the Xbox One. Sony did say that you will now have to play for online play. The online pay will now be a feature of PlayStation Plus, so if you already have PS+ then you are set. Considering everything that the PS4 does and does not restrict you from doing, I think that’s a small price to pay. Finally Sony confirmed a release window of November 2013 and gave a price. The PlayStation 4 will be launching for the fairly low price of $399 and will be available for purchase later this year.
