Back on July 11th, 2020, Playstation finally pulled back the curtain on the Playstation 5. I wanted to sit back, take it all in before giving our thoughts on the whole presentation. For me personally, this was one of their best “State Of Play” type presentations to date. There were a few spots where I did feel underwhelmed and that was more by the game they were showcasing than the presentation itself. I loved how they kicked off the presentation with a montage of games from the 25 years of Playstation history, starting off with Nathan Drake and moving throughout their first party studio games. They moved right into arguably one of the great selling games of all time, Grand Theft Auto V. This marks the third generation of gaming consoles that will see GTA5 on it. They announced that PS5 owners will get GTA5 Online for free and that PS4 owners will receive a million credits per month until the launch of the game in 2021.
One thing I love about Playstation over Nintendo and XBox is the variety of the exclusive games that they bring to the console. They did not disappoint with the games they had on showcase during the reveal event. The first of the Playstation Studios games to be shown off was Spider-Man: Miles Morales. It scheduled as a Holiday 2020, aka launch window, title. It was a little confusing during the announcement if it was a full or some form of expansion. It was revealed the next day that Spider-Man: Miles Morales would be a stand alone game, but more in the vain of Uncharted: Lost Legacy. Following on the heels of Spider-Man: Miles Morales we are treated to another Playstation staple, Gran Turismo 7 from Polyphony Studios. As expected, Gran Turismo 7 looks insanely beautiful and it looks like they are putting a lot into it from the detailed landscaped, to the interior and exterior of the cars. They didnt stop there with the exclusive train by next showing off Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. This is truly the first time we are able to see what the Playstation 5 truly can do. One of the big things that Sony has touted about the PS5 is the lack of load time with the SSD. Insomniac showed this off as it demonstrated in-game action. Ratchet was able to move back and forth between dimensions with no load time at all, whether that was in heavy action or simply falling through the dimensional rifts. All consoles need new IP if they are going to grow.
One thing with Playstation is that you can always expect that they will always have new IP from their worldwide studios to support their already established franchises. Head of worldwide studios, Herman Hulst, introduced a new IP, Returnal by game studio HouseMarque. The game seems like a mix of Death Stranding’s weirdness and the Tom Cruise film Edge of Tomorrow. The game was extremely as you would expect from a worldwide studios project. Returnal demonstrated third person action during the trailer in which we got to see the gun combat in the game, which seemed very fluid even with a lot of enemies on the scene.
Continuing the trend of Playstation Studios games debuting during the event was Astro’s Playroom. This game looks like a platformer in the vein of Mario Odyssey. It was later confirmed that Astro’s Playroom would be coming preloaded on every PS5. This will definitely help to have a game playable right out of the box. Following months of speculation, viewers were treated to the newest Blue Point remaster, Demon Souls. The original, heralded game is coming to PS5. In the trailer, it truly shows off the work that Blue Point has done with the game. Honestly, they continue to set the bar higher every time they remaster a game. If the studio names sounds familiar, its because they were the studio responsible for the Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection and Shadow of the Colossus remasters. Closing out the Playstation Studio exclusives was a trailer for a game that is near and dear to me, Horizon: Forbidden West. We see Aloy traveling to the western parts of the US including San Francisco. New machines were introduced as well as Aloy being able to swim under water. Much like the first game, Guerrilla is making a stunning game that definitely is not going to be short on peril.
Now you cant have a great system without smaller, more indie titles. Annapurra has been great at bringing smaller titles like Dounut Country to the Playstation platform, to which they had a couple to showcase. The first was Stray. The trailer followed a cat as it moves around a dystopian world inhabited by robots. I think this is an intriguing concept and this is one game I am looking at picking up in 2021 to see what the story really is. Ember Studios was another great looking AA title coming to PS5, Kena: Bridge of Spirits. A fantasy action game with an animation style similar to the Fable games. It is the story of a young girl that looks to be trying to save the world from a dark force. Ember Studios showcased a couple of Kena’s power as well as the combat. The game is stunning and I personally cannot wait to play the game. Another title that was on display was Little Devil Inside. It is an intriguing game that looks to be dealing with the inner thoughts of an older man as he moves throughout the day.
To be truly successful, every console needs third party studios support. Long time Playstation partner, Square Enix, had a trailer for a new Playstation exclusive, Project Athia. We were able to see a little bit of the world that Luminous Productions has built. It is extremely beautiful and detailed. Outside of this, we don’t fully what the store is other than what seems to be an action/adventure fantasy game. As we get closer to launch, Square Enix will reveal the official name for the game as “Project Athia” is just a working title. Oddworld Productions showcased the return of Abe, with Oddworld: Soulstorm. There has been no mention if this game will come to XBox, so of now, this game looks to be another PS5 exclusive.
It was also announced that two games published by Bethesda, Ghost Wire: Tokyo and Death Loop, would be exclusive to the PS5 as well. Gearbox published game Godfall also revealed a new trailer. This game was first revealed during the Game Awards as a PS5 exclusive. The hip-hop track threw the trailer off for me. The game looks mildly entertaining and will definitely find its audience at launch. Rounding out third party games was the reveal of Resident Evil: Village. This game is s direct sequel to Resident Evil 7 and will retain the first person perspective of RE7. The game also marks the return of Chris Redfield to the series. Unfortunately we do not know whether he is a good guy or a villain in the game.
Now in Playstation “State of Play” fashion, Sony had one more thing to reveal, and that was the console. More specifically the consoles, as well as the accessory line launching with the console. For this generation, Sony will be offering two versions of the console, one with a 4K blue ray disc drive, as well as an all digital version. Breaking with the tradition of their consoles being a grey or black at launch, the console is a striking white with black accents. It is definitely a larger console when compared to the PS3 and the PS4 Pro, and that is due to the internal components including the thermals. Sony also showed off the new Pulse 3D headset, media remote, charging dock, and new HD camera.
Overall, after rewatching the presentation multiple times, I am just as excited now as the first time I saw it. There are so many games to look forward to, not only at launch but coming in the near future. Yes the console looks different than every other console that has come before it. Playstation Studios has always delivered great first party studio games, and this presentation did not disappoint. My only knock on the presentation, which is very minor, is that we did not get a launch date or price point for the console. For me, with the current economic situation and being approximately 5 months from launch, having a price point would allow people to save up for the system. That being said, this is a great time to be a part of the gaming and Playstation community. Playstation 4 had the slogan “Greatest Awaits”, well I think that greatest is coming with PS5. I definitely cannot wait for the holidays get here to continue playing my favorite franchises.
