Ghosts of Tsushima Opens the Show, Release Date Firm
Ghosts of Tsushima has big potential. It’s a perfect recipe for a great game: a studio that’s renown for superb gameplay, having blown us away with the combat and traversal mechanics that defined the Infamous series, married to an awesome historical setting and story premise. Indeed, despite not knowing a great deal about Ghosts of Tsushima, that alone has us hyped for Sucker Punch’s upcoming game.
That said, we’re chomping at the bit for some gameplay.
Our bet is that Ghosts of Tsushima is Sony’s big opening trailer. We’ve seen plenty of Spider-Man, and both Death Stranding and The Last of Us Part II are more likely to finish the E3 conference. A gameplay reveal mixed in with another tone-piece story trailer would really set the tone for the rest of conference, particularly if there’s a firm release date that flashes up right at the end.
Dreams Release Date
Media Molecule’s Dreams has been a Sony exclusive long in the making. So long, in fact, that we’d be lying if we said we didn’t doubt it would ever see the light of day at one point or another. But Sony has been pretty bullish about Dreams’ potential, and at last year’s PSX we got a relatively deep dive into the potential of the upcoming game and what it’s all about.
That last point – what the game is actually about – was probably the biggest point of concern for many prior to that moment. Because, at times, Dreams looked more like a funky piece of tech or a creative software program, rather than an actual game. Of course, we’re not actually 100% sure that PSX necessarily cleared up that particular concern, but what we did see did look impressive and was perhaps the first time that we started to get our head around why Dreams might be a big deal.
Yet, there’s no doubt that the time has come for Media Molecule and Sony to deliver on the potential of Dreams and get it out in the wild. This year has to be the one where we’re finally given some gameplay to sell us on Dreams, and a release date to get excited about.
FromSoftware’s New IP is Shown, And it’s Tenchu
Geoff Keeley certainly wasn’t lying when he said that last year’s Game Awards show would pack a punch when it came to game announcements. But, arguably the biggest takeaway from the show was the shortest and most insignificant trailer: a world premiere of FromSoftware’s upcoming project. We don’t even know the name or the setting, but there’s been plenty of speculation. For our money, it’s a rebooted Tenchu game, and it might yet be destined as one of PS4’s swansong exclusives.
What we’re seeing in the trailer isn’t entirely clear, but the Japanese writing and musical instrumentation, and the words “Shadows Die Twice” lead us to believe it might very well be the resurfacing of the Tenchu franchise that has long been absent. Others are convinced it might instead be a sequel to Bloodborne.
In all honesty, we wouldn’t be upset with either outcome.
Death Stranding Gameplay Shown Extensively, Kojima on Stage
The man, the legend that is Hideo Kojima is sure to make a rockstar-like appearance on stage again this year, isn’t he? We sure hope so, and we also hope that he’s bringing more than just another bizarre tone piece for his hotly anticipated title, Death Stranding. Two years after we first caught a glimpse of this intriguing new game, we’re more than ready for a deep dive into gameplay this time around.
We already know the game is certainly playable thanks to comments made by Sony executive Mark Cerny, whose seen over an hour of Death Stranding running in-engine. But we want to see it for ourselves! Especially considering that the nature of its actual design is completely up in the air right now. Kojima’s close friend Norman Reedus divulged information earlier this year pertaining to “collaboration” as a key part of the game design, so we’re absolutely dying to know what Death Stranding is all about.
With most of Sony’s hand already on the table at this year’s E3, surely we need a substantial look at gameplay to raise the roof to past E3 conference levels of excitement?
RE2 Remake Trailer, Coming First to PS4
Where oh where is Resident Evil 2 Remake? It seems like an age ago that Capcom announced arguably its most popular game in the series was being remade for the current generation, and yet we’ve seen absolutely nothing since.
But the project is certainly in the works and recent rumors suggest Resident Evil 2 Remake might be a complete reimagination, using the over-the-shoulder camera of Resident Evil 4 in tandem with a complete graphical overhaul. Hideki Kamiya, a developer of the original title, suggested that the over-the-shoulder perspective was “fine,” though not in an official capacity related to Resident Evil 2 Remake.
Fans of the original version of the game will fondly remember it as one of the PSOne’s hallmark titles, and so we’re certain that if Resident Evil 2 Remake is at E3, it’s coming to Sony’s stage.
New Bluepoint Remake Shown
Bluepoint is fast forging a reputation for itself as one of the gaming industry’s most illustrious studios. Remarkably, though, not because of any unique content that they’ve actually made. Rather, it’s a master of painstakingly remaking some of the most iconic and beloved games in beautifully rendered current generation graphics. Most recently, the Shadow of the Colossus Remake, which looked utterly stunning on PS4 while somehow still maintaining the magic of the original. Before that, Bluepoint Games produced a stunning HD collection for both Metal Gear Solid and Uncharted, as well as lending their technical expertise to critically acclaimed games such as Titanfall.
In a market flooded with remasters that are often nothing more than ports of the original games, Bluepoint Games has really demonstrated what a true remake should constitute. So with success after success under its belt, we’re all wondering what the next big project for the studio is. And from the sounds of it, that project is something sure to wow us according to Marco Thrush, the studio’s President.
There’s no better stage for Bluepoint Games’ latest project than Sony’s E3 conference, and we’re pretty sure it’s likely to be another of Sony’s notable IPs.
Horizon 2 Teased
It’s hard to think of many new IPs that have attracted such notable critical acclaim and commercial success as Guerilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn. Absolutely one of PS4’s defining exclusives and one of the highlights of this whole console generation, Horizon Zero Dawn is sure to become an icon of the industry for years to come. It’s only been less than 18 months since its launch but we’re certain that Sony greenlit a sequel instantly.
When we consider that games like God of War, and especially Death Stranding, were first revealed years before their final launch, is it so hard to imagine that a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel could get a tease this year? On the contrary, a short teaser trailer teeing up the next installment of Horizon Zero Dawn might well be on the cards. And if you want our more outlandish prediction, perhaps we’d see a full announcement and trailer reveal in 2019, coinciding with the PS5’s big reveal?
KH3 Shown, Final Fantasy VII Remake Continued Development Confirmed
At long last, the wait is over. And it has been absurdly long. Kingdom Hearts 3’s labored development cycle has reached parody levels of timeframe over the years, but we’re pretty confident that 2018 is the year we’re at last going to explore the gorgeous Disney/Square Enix mashup. The window has, indeed, been confirmed as later this year, though surely the date-proper will be announced during Sony’s conference, along with a substantial new look at gameplay and its RPG systems.
But wait, there’s more! Speaking of games far too long in development, the mystery surrounding Final Fantasy VII Remake needs to be quelled to some extent, and we’re betting on an appearance of some sort this year. Are we likely to see anything more than a short trailer tease? Probably not, but we’d suggest that something along the lines of a tone piece and a reassurance that the project is still certainly on its way is more than likely. Particularly so, after the bizarre situation with CyberConnect’s previous efforts reportedly being scrapped and the entire project being reworked from the ground up in-house at Square Enix.
Spider-Man Deep Dive
Spidey is making his way to the PS4 this Fall, for certain, so we’re likely to see the most substantial gameplay and story details for it out of all Sony’s big exclusives this E3. Of course, we’ve already seen quite a bit between the various trailers and the Game Informer coverage earlier this year, so what’s there to get excited about?
Well, for one, exploring some of the nuances of the game’s various mechanics and how they operate. Spidey’s various abilities, and how they translate in-game to systems such as stealth, traversal, and combat within the content of a main mission or side quest would be great. A day in the life of Spider-Man, if you will.
As for the story, we’re still totally in the dark as to who Spider-Man’s main antagonist is, so revealing his adversary seems like a sure bet. That’s going to give us a much better understanding of how this Spider-Man game fits into the wider lore of the comics, and other potential characters and storylines that might overlap.
Given that we’re already so up to date with Spider-Man and it’s the only exclusive with a firm release date, it seems likely that it’ll form a fairly chunky middle section of Sony’s E3 conference.
TLOU2 First Gameplay, 2019 Launch Window
Two tone-pieces down and The Last of Us Part II is really no more or less appealing than it was before it had even been revealed. Without sounding cynical, nothing that we’ve seen so far really does anything more than tell us what we’d already presumed to get from a sequel to Naughty Dog’s most accomplished franchise. Besides, story, characters, and the thematic tones of The Last of Us Part II are hardly aspects of the game we’re in the slightest bit concerned about. We know Naughty Dog write fantastic stories, what we desperately want to see is gameplay.
E3 2018 is surely the conference to reveal the first snippets of how this new generation of The Last of Us plays. Will stealth and survival horror elements still play as central a role? Are we going to get a package that delves deeper into crafting mechanics? And is the game going to feature larger environments to explore, as we saw in Uncharted 4? There are so many questions we’re salivating at the prospect of discovering the answers to.
Our prediction sees Naughty Dog’s title close out Sony’s E3 press conference, with the icing on the cake a launch window. Our bet? Fall 2019.
Published: Jun 7, 2018 09:02 am