Like, so much more. It’s almost inconceivable how much Sony packed into its PlayStation Experience 2016 keynote this weekend. Seriously, why do we even have an E3 anymore? (Or at least the one we’ve come to know over the past seven years.) Between this, Nintendo’s various Direct and Treehouse streams, and the like, we already get the bulk of the same announcement experience in much more efficient forms while demos and followups just go out in emails. Done!
But seriously, if you didn’t catch what Sony threw down, get ready. It’s a killer move pushing their console to the forefront of discussion with last minute holiday shoppers running out of options and time to talk themselves out of buying a PlayStation 4. It’s a nice way to capitalize in their market lead and strong imminent lineup.
Anyway, let’s watch some trailers! (If you want to catch up on the Day One and Day Two live-streams, you can check the PlayStation YouTube channel.)
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy — Announcement Trailer
Now that’s how you open a keynote. Hell, that’s how you make a gameplay trailer. Let the mystery build. Create intrigue. Who is this woman? Where is she? What is this red door? This is brutal but beautiful footage. What unknown game could this be?
Well, the answer is Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, a new Uncharted from Naughty Dog. Or maybe it’s DLC for Uncharted 4. I mean, it’s standalone and will be sold independently online and in stores, just like The Last of Us: Left Behind eventually was. And given how great that was, this greatly interests me as well. An entire project dedicated to exploring two of the best but underrepresented characters of the franchise? Hell yes. It hits the PlayStation 4 next year.
The Last of Us Part II — Reveal Trailer
Speaking of The Last of Us, here’s the official reveal of the sequel. Which, I guess, we knew was coming all along, but we never had any idea as to what it was going to be. Some thought it would be more Joel or maybe someone we hadn’t seen before. But now we know.
Just, ugh, shit, Naughty Dog is so good at trailers. Look at this. Look at it! Slow revelations everywhere. The Fireflies logo. The guitar. The scar over her eye. And gosh do they make guitar strings look good. Sure, a weird thing to notice, but someone put a lot of work into that model and vibration tech. No release date yet.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite — Reveal Trailer
I don’t know how many of you grew up in or around arcades, but my memories of them were distinctly categorized into eras. First were licensed goods like The Simpsons and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And then it was stuff like House of the Dead. Finally and perhaps eternally, it was Marvel vs. Capcom 2.
I’m not saying this is a huge deal, but it is pretty effing cool that Capcom is still pursuing this franchise. It never exploded, necessarily, as a series despite its diehard fandom and endless amount of forum avatars. And I’m sure the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe made this a much tougher proposition in many ways. (Like, that is straight up an MCU Iron Man.) And fuck yeah Captain Marvel. It comes out for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC sometime next year.
Let It Die — Launch Trailer
This has been an oddly long time coming. Grasshopper Manufacture announced way back in April of 2013 under the name Lily Bergamo before being renamed, delayed, and now finally out on the PlayStation Network for free. But what is it? Well, that’s a very strange answer.
You’re a skateboarding punk reaper in a Dark Souls-like future world. And the price tag of zero dollars seems more like a gameplay strategy than a sales one; you will die a lot as you are want to do in a Souls game (there’s even a guide), but each time you die, your data gets uploaded and you become an enemy in other players’ games. Sounds worthwhile to me.
Windjammers — Announcement Trailer
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. If you haven’t ever played Windjammers, get ready to have your disc blown clean off. It’s an impossibly deep competitive multiplayer game where you play a weird, coastal frisbee-soccer hybrid thing. It’s twitchy and methodical and one of the best things you can put your hands on.
I’d love to know how this came about, though. My money would be somehow on Giant Bomb influencing some decisions being made over at Sony. Not directly, mind you, but certainly in the way the Moon creates tides. Many of their best streams have included them just playing Windjammers for hours on end. No release date, but it will be coming to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy — The Comeback Trailer
Sorry if this counts as overwhelming you with Naughty Dog, but this is kind of important. (Not to mention this collection is actually made by Vicarious Visions.) But my gosh does this look good. It looks like their tore it all down and built it all back up completely from scratch. That is straight up incredible.
Who knows if the gameplay holds up, though. Just the small bit you get to futz around with in Uncharted 4 was enough for me. Like, yeah, nostalgia is fun and all, but wow was that borderline tedious. But I do like that in the video description is this gem: “Now you can experience Crash Bandicoot like never-before in Fur-K.” No release date, but it will be coming to the PlayStation 4.
Absolver — PlayStation Experience Trailer
I am still so very excited for this game and I have very little reason for it. I’m not entirely sure of the pedigree of the studio (though their About Us page is 100% fantastic), I have no idea how the game actually plays, and it’s somewhat antithetical to many of the games I’ve been enjoying in recent years. But there’s still something to this.
It’s an online multiplayer RPG, but it features what is supposed to be a nigh intimidating melee combat system of stance changes and weapons and whatnot. And it’s all real-time, too, so wherever the RPG components fit it, I’m not sure. But I love the prospect of intricate online duels, watching for feints and baiting attacks. That is my full and total jam. It’s coming to the PlayStation 4 and PC next year.
Nier: Automata — PlayStation Experience Trailer
Now this is looking like the proper PlatinumGames experience we’ve all been missing. Sure, Transformers: Devastation was pretty good and Bayonetta 2 wasn’t all that long ago, but something has to come along to wash the taste of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan and Star Fox Zero out of our collective mouth. It’s an itch and scientifically needs scratching.
And this (along with the similarly impending Scalebound) seems like the exact backscratcher we’ve been wanting. Look at her kick all that ass and, I dunno, surf all that sand. Seems pretty neat to me. It’s coming to the PlayStation 4 and PC on March 7, 2017.
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom — Evan’s Choice
First off, this game looks tremendous. The art style was something worth praising back with Wrath of the White Witch for PS3, and I’m glad to see their cup still overfloweth with art direction. It’s great how some of it does look like actual cell animation.
And I’m definitely ready to dive back into that world. I still think about the story of Wrath of the White Witch from time to time. Hopefully they fixed the enemies, though. Good gravy was some of the combat frustrating. The systems were good, but jeez the things you were fighting could be an absolute pain. It should come to the PlayStation 4 in 2017.
Knack 2 — PlayStation Experience Trailer
Do you guys remember Knack? It was a PlayStation 4 launch title directed by the man Mark Cerny himself that looked like a tech demo title upon announcement (look at all the discrete components we can make Knack out of!) and never really progressed past that upon release. It’s pretty unfortunate because there are some good ideas tucked away in there but hidden under generic, mundane, boring layers of story and environments.
So enter this trailer. Still looks very pretty, but most noticeably is that the levels (or parts of levels, rather) we see are, like, interesting. Check out that factory thing in the middle. And the combat genuinely looks engaging. (Is that a martial arts trial? And a mech battle?!) Not sure who was asking for co-op, though. Or that Junior Senior song. Anywho, it comes out for the PlayStation 4 at some point in the future.
