Like Microsoft, Sony relied on a healthy helping of nostalgia to help raise hype for a new crop of exclusive titles, resulting in an exciting showcase.
I wonder what bookies' odds would've been, if they had any inclination towards videogames, of the following happening last night: FF7 remake, The Last Guardian AND Shenmue III. The existence of all three was confirmed in the space of about half an hour during Sony's show, turning what would've been a solid but unmemorable E3 display into one that will be remarked upon for years. If I tried my hardest to be cynical, I might suggest that it's a bit depressing that the loudest cheer of the night (by far) came in support of a remake. I guess people want this thing more than I thought.
The Last Guardian was the surprise starter, and it's six-year development hoodoo meant that it came as a huge surprise to most in the room, despite loud rumours of an appearance before the show. The game itself has Fumito Ueda's style all over it: grand, mossy architecture in a sparse but vast expanse crumbling as the character and their giant chicken-dog escort traverse it. The gameplay was very rote in the small section they showed, but with a vague 2016 release window I'm sure there's much more to come.
Guerilla Games' new IP, Horizon (the game has a totally unnecessary subtitle that works so well I can't even remember it), was one of my favourite new annoucements. What looks like a post-apocalyptic, open world robot-hunting caveman sim. It looks gorgeous and the story is something different. Go watch the trailer!
Another intriguing highlight was No Man's Sky. A live demo in which Sean Murray picked a totally random planet looks like proof of the game's supposed scale. There are countless planets, he says, that will never be seen by players. I'm still not convinced there's enough to do beyond fly down to a planet at random and look at the scenery, and the lack of even a release window was a brutal cocktease, but it's one I'll be keeping an avid eye on.
Media Molecule then arrived to fuck with everyone's minds. Dreams is the title of their next game. Maybe. I mean, it might be a game. There was a bit where someone was painting something with the PS4's motion controls, but so far this game is about as easy to pin down as a buttered ferret. Seems like there'll be LittleBigPlanet style collaboration and level sharing.
The only other memorable highlight was Uncharted 4, though not for the right reasons. An amusing technical hitch stalled the start of their closing demo, and while the demo itself was solid, the lack of any information or words on the game afterwards was a really sudden and disappointing end considering last year's Sony conference ended in a similar manner.
The other notable let-down was the lack of Project Morpheus. Everybody expected Sony to big up their upcoming VR set - expected to be released before the next E3 rolls around - but they barely mentioned it, simply referring people to showfloor demos. The challenge of demonstrating VR on stage perhaps proved too challenging for Sony - one area at least in which Microsoft has them thoroughly beaten this year.
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