Hiya!

So last week, I talked about CGI and how I’m totally fine with movies flooding the screen with computer graphics instead of practical effects. I also mentioned that a lot of people were getting hung up on Sony for using CGI in their new Ghostbusters film even though I do think they’re kind of good. And speaking of Sony, you know what they just did a few hours ago? They held their annual press conference and I just so happened to watch the entire thing! We have a lot to go through so let’s go look at what Sony had in store for this year’s E3 show!

Well, you can’t say Sony doesn’t know how to start a show! They open a show with a full blown orchestra playing for us. I was almost going to rip them a new one since it didn’t make any sense. But everything did become clear when the song they were playing became the background music for Kratos telling his kid that he’s ready to hunt! We have a new God of War, ladies and gentlemen!

I have a lot of say about this but I’ll keep it brief because, well, this is just the start of the show! Anyway, this new God of War seems to ape a little from The Last of Us as the demo showed Kratos mentoring his no-named son much like how Joel acted like a father figure to Ellie. However, the fighting still looked brutal and, dare I say, more realistic?

Next up, Sony showed a trailer for a new property called Days Gone… which also looks like another Last of Us ripoff. But, instead of the hero having to protect a child like the new God of War, Days Gone looks like it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world not unlike The Last of Us. Hmmm, I’m starting to see a trend here.

Afterwards… be still my beating heart! They finally have more footage for The Last Guardian! I’ve been waiting for this game for so long! I’ve almost given up on it being released on the PS4! There was a time when I though they may just skip Sony’s current console and start getting it ready for the PS4 Neo or whatever their next console is going to be called! Looks like I’ll only have to way until October 25 to see if The Last Guardian was worth the (extremely and arduously) long wait!

We next got to see another gameplay demo for Horizon: Zero Dawn, which is another post-apocalyptic game but without the human zombie. We apparently have robot zombies, though. Oh, they can refer to them as Corrupted but you and I know they’re robot zombies. I do have to hand it to the guys who planned the Horizon: Zero Dawn demo, though. They were very subtle in making the world look massive and unbelievable without actually pointing them out. They just let the gameplay tell you. Show the map so you see how huge the game world is. Show giraffe robots without actually scanning them to make them look like it’s an ordinary sight in this new world. Show us the dialogue wheel so you see you can choose how to respond. I was initially indifferent to Horizon: Zero Dawn. But this demo made me change my tune!

Now, I love me some Heavy Rain because of how the choices you make actually affect the story and it looks like Quantic Dream is at it again with Detroit: Become Human! Much like Heavy Rain, Detroit: Become Human looks like it’s going to revolve around several protagonists. Last year, they already revealed Kara. During this E3, we got to see Conner, an negotiator android! The trailer focused a lot on how the choices you make in the game will change how the story goes! Can’t wait for this one as well!

We then got a trailer for Capcom’s upcoming Resident Evil 7 and it looks like their returning to survival horror instead of the action shooter the later games were like! I honestly couldn’t be happier! I think a lot what made Resident Evil great got lost with the fifth entry of the game as it focused too much on blowing up zombies instead of making you want to run away from them!

However, it looks like they’re taking more inspiration from P.T. rather than their older games. It’s looks more like a cerebral kind of horror game with a lot of focus on exploration just like P.T. Also, it looks like it’s going to be played from the first person viewpoint, which can be a little jarring for Resident Evil fans. Still, I’m excited, especially since you can play the entire game using the PlayStation VR. Honestly, this may be the game that would make me buy a PlayStation VR but I’ll go try out the demo since it’s available right now!

Oh, and nice segue to PlayStation VR, Sony! They promoted the PS4 as a “fixed” platform so devs can really start sinking their teeth into the ability to program PlayStation VR games without fearing that the console would become obsolete. Sony then made it clear that the $400 PlayStation VR system will launch in October 13 with 50 games! The price point is a little high, in my opinion. And, besides Resident Evil 7, which won’t be available next year, none of the VR titles particularly interested me. The space FPS Farpoint looked okay. So did Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR and Batman: Arkham VR. But the game that disappointed me was Final Fantasy VR Experience. I don’t think it’s going to be all that interesting to go through a Final Fantasy world in VR. Just my opinion.

Sony then showed us a duo of Call of Duty games. The first one, Infinite Warfare looked cool since it’s set in space! The second, Modern Warfare Remastered looked boring. But maybe that’s because I’m not a Call of Duty fanatic. However, Infinite Warfare looked interesting since it looked like an honest-to-goodness futuristic shooter! The action looked impressive and it looked like there are going to be a lot of ways to take out your opponents creatively!

I guess all Crash Bandicoot fans leapt up for joy with the reveal that all previous Crash Bandicoot games were all going to be remastered for the PS4. I’m happy for them but not particularly excited because I’m kinda tired of remasters! Give me new games! Oh, and Crash is going to be in Skylanders… which transitioned nicely to the announcement that you can now create your own Skylanders with Imaginators. I’m kinda afraid about this because I can imagine all of the penis monsters some sick gamers are going to create! Oh, you know that’s the first thing that went through your mind as well! Don’t deny it!

They then did a quick trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Like the previous installments of the Lego games, Lego The Force Awakens looks like fun! And the demo is available now? Oooh! Better start getting those demos!

The thing that probably got the most hype was Hideo Kojima appearance. Honestly, it looked like Hideo Kojima was some kind of rock star or legend… which he is so I can accept the superstar entrance. It actually looked like he was overwhelmed by the ovation he got! But, of course, he wasn’t there to just soak up the applause. He was there to promote his and Kojima Productions new game, Death Stranding! Oh, the trailer didn’t reveal anything, like what the game is all about or how you’re going to play it. But it has a naked Norman Reedus! So, that’s something!

Following up Hideo Kojima and Death Stranding is pretty much impossible so, yeah, I guess a teaser for Insomiac Games upcoming (and untitled) Spider-Man game. It’s probably going to tie in to Marvel’s Spider-Man Homecoming movie somehow. The game did look like a lot of web-swinging enjoyment, though.

Now, we’re at the end of the show! I wondered how Sony was going to close out their E3 Press Conference. Will we see a teaser for a new entry in The Last of Us? Or how about new gamplay footage for the Final Fantasy VII remake or a new trailer for Shenmue III? You know, the things that won E3 for Sony last year!

Unfortunately, we got none of that. Instead, we got gameplay footage for one of the game they featured earlier, Days Gone. Honestly, I’m kind of disappointed as I was expecting a huge bombshell to be dropped to close the show. Still, it was nice to see what Days Gone was going to be like. And, if the tidal wave of zombies is any indication, it looks like it’s going to be a stressful and fun game.

Overall, I think Sony did an amazing job with this year’s E3 presentation. It was a little bit more low key than last year because of the lack of true crowd pleasers like Final Fantasy VII Remastered and Shenmue III. But the games that they did show were fantastic.

I did watch the Microsoft presentation and I can say that I enjoyed what Sony showed us much more. Why? Well, even if Sony just showed us trailers, they gave us trailers that make it seem their games had fantastic stories. And I’ll talk more about that next time!

Byee!

What did you think of Sony’s E3 Press conference this year? Let me know in the comments section below!