We get it. You’re tired. It’s cold. In a perfect world, you’d have stayed up past your bedtime to watch the PlayStation Showcase at 10 PM on a Wednesday evening. But, noone is perfect. Fortunately (for you), we did stay up to watch what Sony has cooking for the PS5 (and PS4, apparently? Do developers still do tha- … — Oh, yes.) By the end, we’d gotten over an hour’s worth of trailers, along with a piece of gameplay here and there. Developers love to throw out “Not actual gameplay” huh?.
If you’d like to see the entirety of the showcase, you can do so right here. We won’t be covering the whole event. Instead we’re cherry-picking the most interesting presentations. If you don’t see your favourite trailer in this roundup, we’re sorry that you have bad taste. That also means we won’t be including Assassin’s Creed: Mirage in this list, no matter how bad it looks.
Ghostrunner 2 – There are bikes now?
Possibly the announcement that caught us most off-guard was Ghostrunner 2 – not that we’re complaining. We’re pretty new to the Ghostrunner party, falling in love with the first game’s Cyberpunk façade, brilliant parkour mechanics, and so-so story. For years, the sequel has been masked in secrecy, though last night’s reveal finally gave us some idea of what to expect. For one, there’s a bike now, a new (and much-needed) dialogue system to immerse us in the story that bit more, and a world that’s far larger than the Dharma Tower to which players were confined in the first game.
This could be a sequel that makes the Ghostrunner series a household name, just like Ubisoft did with Assassin’s Creed 2 all the way back in 2009. We didn’t get much in the way of a release date, though we know it’ll be hitting the PS5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC later this year.
Phantom Blade Zero – Kungfupunk
In what appears to be a spiritual successor to Sekiro comes Phantom Blade 0, an entirely new game from the minds of S-Game, and a rebirth of the Rainblood series which has so far, been confined to the mobile market. No longer, as this is the game “that we always wanted to make, and present it to the world as a new PlayStation 5 game.”
Players take on the role of Soul, an Assassin that’s serving under an organization known as “The Order”. He’ll traverse the world of the Phantom World, encompassing a universe “where many kinds of powers emerge.” According to the developers, we’ll be treated to Chinese Kung Fu (or Kungfupunk, if you will), steampunk contraptions of varying degrees of intricacy, and “arts of the occult” – whatever that means. Soul has 66 days to live, starting a clock for players and adding an extra level of tension to the mix.
Phantom Blade 0 currently has no set release date (or even a release window) to get excited about. We’ll just have to wait and see what S-Games brings us next.
Sword of the Sea – Journey, is that you?
This. This is it. Sword of the Sea is Giant Squid’s next venture. You may recognize them as being the creator of Abzû, The Pathless, and, of course, Journey. This is clearly the developer’s most ambitious game to date, with what appears to be an open world that’s teeming with passion, hoverboards, a fascinating art style, and some of the most lo-fi beats you’ve ever heard. Plus, there are floating dolphins. What more could you need?
You are the Wraith. Your task? Restoring life to the desolate world around the player, with the help of the Hoversword (yes, we said Hoversword) which, apparently, “controls like a snowboard, skateboard, and hoverboard all in one.” As you traverse the world, you’ll uncover secret worlds, half-pipes, and submerged ruins.
As for when we can actually give it a shot, we can’t be sure. Neither Giant Squid nor PlayStation has announced a release date or release window. Fingers crossed for a 2023 release.
Read More: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review – Tears of Joy
Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater – what’s that triangle for?
It’s been nearly twenty years (nineteen to be exact) since Konami dropped Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater on the PlayStation 2. Now, finally, Konami is bringing us a remake in the form of Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater (the Δ means ‘Delta’) because, at the end of the day, this is still the only way to release another Metal Gear game that’ll actually be any good.
All we got was a brief CGI trailer (remember that “Not actual gameplay” phrase we mentioned?) that pans through a jungle, with Snake watching from afar while the series’ classic theme plays. Even though we were only four at the time of the original game’s release, we couldn’t help but get a little excited about the gorgeous-looking remake.
Despite the trailer’s short length and CGI-ness, it wasn’t the only Metal Gear announcement we got. We got a quick teaser for the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1. – a collection comprised of the first three games in the series. Note the use of Vol. 1 – leading us to believe that a Vol. 2 could possibly free Metal Gear Solid 4 from the PS3-shaped prison it’s currently stuck in.
Konami is keeping everyone in the dark on release dates, though it promises it’ll have more to share soon in the way of gameplay and releases.
Bloodborne 2?
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Spider-Man 2 – Going 100 Miles per hour
Finally, the trailer we were all waiting for: Spider-Man 2. And… we got it. We got a look at one of the game’s main villains, Kraven the Hunter, and the beautiful (yet still CGI) look that he’ll be bringing to the game which appears to be ripped straight out of the comics. But that’s not all we got. If it was, the Spider-Man subreddit might’ve just lost their minds.
Following the Kraven the Hunter trailer, PlayStation dove right into a ten-minute gameplay demo for Spider-Man 2, showing off Peter Parker’s black Symbiote suit, a new enemy faction (working under Kraven), and all of the moves that come with it. The demo soon made the switch to Miles (mid-game), allowing the player to get closer to the action and allowing Parker time to catch up to the fray. Oh, and both Spider-Men have wingsuits now. Rad.
We were a little disappointed by the demo’s lack of gameplay, falling into the trap of quick-time events that we disliked in the first game. Still, it’s clear this was made for the PlayStation Showcase, we don’t mind a few cinematics here and there. Insomniac Games failed to give us a firm release date, doubling down on the “Fall 2023” release. At least we know it’s coming this year.