Today, Sony held another PlayStation State of Play presentation, showcasing upcoming games and making some announcements. You can watch the entire State of Play below or read the highlights and watch individual trailers beneath it:
First came a trailer for a free Astro Bot DLC coming sometime in the fall featuring ten new bots and five new speedrun levels. I saw a Helldivers 2 space marine in there, presumably one of the new bots. This isn’t really my type of game, so the trailer does nothing for me.
Next came a reveal trailer for The Midnight Walk, a creepy-looking “dark fantasy adventure” for the PS5 and PlayStation VR2. This game was hand-crafted in clay, and then 3-D scanned to create a stop-motion look, and the effect is eye-catching. I’m impressed with the look and tone of The Midnight Walk, as well as that creepy music; this could be fun. The Midnight Walk will be available in the spring of 2025, but you can wishlist it now.
That was followed by another action horror game, Hell is Us, this one with some sci-fi elements mixed in. While not as novel as The Midnight Walk, Hell is Us looks like it could be fun and atmospheric, with some creepy-looking monsters. I like the simplicity of the creatures with holes in their faces and torsos. Hell is Us is coming to the PS5 in 2025.
Based on a book by Dmitry Glukhovsky called Metro 2033, Metro Awakening VR is yet another action horror game, this one a first-person shooter/stealth game. This was a short trailer, but the game is suitably unsettling. Metro Awakening VR will be available on PlayStation VR 2 and other virtual reality headsets on November 7, 2024.
An action fantasy RPG, ArcheAge Chronicles sends you off to explore a mysterious land and fight all kinds of monsters and other enemies. It looks pretty cool, with fast-paced action and some neat visuals. ArcheAge Chronicles is coming to the PS5 in 2025, but you can wishlist it now.
Next came the current bane of Nintendo’s existence, Palworld. The beloved “Pokémon with Guns” game from Japanese developer Pocketpair is now available for the PS5, as this quick teaser announced.
This is a remaster of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete from the PS1, with new features like updated visuals and widescreen mode. It is coming to the PS5 in the spring of 2025. This is… not my thing.
Radical Reptiles is a new DLC for Shredder’s Revenge, which, to my shame, I still haven’t played, although it looks like a blast. Radical Reptiles adds Mondo Gecko and Mona Lisa as playable characters and a remixed soundtrack. This is available now.
This is a DLC for the upcoming Sonic X Shadow Generations featuring Keanu Reeves as the voice of Shadow, whom he’ll also play in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the movie. Sonic X Shadow Generations will launch on October 25, 2024, for PS4, PS5, and pretty much every other console; Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Movie Pack will be included with the digital deluxe edition of the game and will be widely available on December 12.
This is a turn-based RPG from Square Enix coming to the PS5 on December 5, 2024. Meh.
This extended trailer gives a taste of the cinematics and combat for a game many seem to be dreading. It’s clearly an attempt to counter the bad press the game has been getting (not from mainstream games journalists, of course, but from people gamers actually listen to). I like the look of the dragon they’re fighting, and the combat looks decent, but that one character that’s been all over social media is weird. Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be available for PS5 on October 31, 2024, inviting many trick-or-treat jokes they probably don’t need right now.
The Lake House is an expansion for Alan Wake II, and the trailer doesn’t reveal much of anything. This will be available in October.
The next chapter in the Hitman saga is coming to PlayStation VR 2 in December 2024. This one puts you firmly in Agent 47’s shoes, allowing you to carry out assassinations personally. If you’re into virtual reality, it looks like fun. (The guy puking with darts in his head is pretty funny.)
Next came an announcement trailer for a remaster of the first two Soul Reaver games from the PS1. The graphics are an upgrade, for sure, but this looks… not great. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered will be available for the PS4 and PS5 on December 10, 2024.
A horror survival game said the be inspired by PS1 titles, Fear the Spotlight comes from Blumhouse Games. It’s hard to say much about it from this trailer, but the release date is October 22, 2024, and it’ll be available for the PS4 and PS5.
This open-world sandbox game is about building an island. It looks boring as sin to me, but if it’s up your alley, Towers of Aghasba will debut in early access for the PS5 in November 2024.
This is a new limited edition wireless controller with Fortnite designs on it that you can pre-order on October 3, 2024. Also, Lego Fortnite will have a split-screen mode coming in October 2024. Swell, I guess.
This new addition to the action franchise will launch for the PS5 in January 2025. I’ve never played any Dynasty Warriors games, but it looks pretty cool to me.
Again, I never played any of these games, so my perspective is limited. I like some of the monster designs, but otherwise, it doesn’t look like much to me. Monster Hunter Wilds will be available for the PS5 on February 28, 2025, but you can pre-order it now. The pre-order comes with bonuses like the Guild Knight Set of layered armor, the Hope Charm talisman, a digiital mini art book, Felyne armor sets and weapons, and save date bonuses.
A Lego version of the Horizon games, this one looks like it’s mostly for kids, with dance parties and goofy humor amid the Horizon locales. The digital deluxe edition comes with a roller coaster. Neat. Lego Horizon Adventures will be available on PS5 and PC on November 14, but pre-orders will begin on October 3.
This remaster promises “more than ten hours of re-recorded conversation” and “countless graphical improvements that bring the game to the same visual fidelity as Horizon Forbidden West.” I think people are wary of these remasters nowadays, and I expect Horizon fans will be waiting to see which features have been “modernized,” particularly all those “re-recorded conversations.” Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered will be available for PS5 and PC on October 31, 2024, and gamers who already own the original version on PS4 will be able to upgrade to the PS5 remaster for $9.99.
Stellar Blade will feature updates, including a photo mode (to the surprise of no one, Sony decided to show this off with Eve in buttoned-up business attire and a casual t-shirt and jeans ensemble), plus the game’s original soundtrack on streaming services. A DLC called Stellar Blade x Nier: Automata, combining the two action sci-fi game worlds, will be available in late 2024.
The PS5 is going to be available in a few different colors, which you can pre-order beginning October 3 if you care about this sort of thing.
This is a sizzle reel of games that will be available for the upscaled PS5 Pro, mostly because Sony desperately wants to make this overpriced upgrade of a console look more necessary than it is. Good luck with that, guys.
This is the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, and coming after that amazing game, it had better rock hard. There’s not much of a sense of what it’ll be like from this trailer, as there’s no combat or stealth shown. It’s just beautiful landscapes and samurai looking like samurai; the new hero is a woman, and she’s got a wolf companion, but since there’s no gameplay outside of traversing the island, it’s hard to tell how that will play out. Ghost of Tsushima was awesome, so Sucker Punch has more than earned the benefit of the doubt, but it’s got a lot to live up to. Ghost of Yōtei will be available on the PS5 sometime in 2025.
And that’s all for the latest PlayStation State of Play. This one was a mixed bag, with some great-looking stuff, some whiffs, and a bunch of games that don’t register much at all.
Let us know what you thought of today’s PlayStation State of Play in the comments!
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