Sony have always been a big part of my life, ever since I started getting into gaming at around 5 or 6 years old. I’ve always owned a PlayStation of some sort, and some of my favourite games are/were Sony exclusive. 2016 was a huge year for Sony; they put on a killer show at E3 2016, opting to focus squarely on games (which, at a games convention, is the right move to make in my opinion), and then followed up with an awesome show later in the year with PlayStation Experience.
We had a full gameplay demo for a new God Of War at E3, as well as a teaser for The Last Of Us II at PSX later in the year. These two alone had the audiences in an uproar of excitement. We also got a trailer for brand new IP, Days Gone, Death Stranding got another weird as heck trailer, and we saw a heavy amount of games coming to VR.
Oh yeah, and Crash Bandicoot! How could I forget? All in all, last year was killer for Sony and full of surprises, but can they keep the momentum going this year?
What we KNOW
Whilst nothing has been “confirmed”, we have a pretty good understanding of what we can definitely expect this year.
Let’s get the big ones out of the way first.
We can anticipate to see more of Days Gone, the brand new IP mentioned above. The zombie filled adventure got a lot of coverage last year and turned a lot of heads, especially when it started showing off the potential it has for the new PS4 Pro hardware. The full gameplay video from last year was as nail-bitingly intense as it was exciting.
The new God of War will make an appearance this year. Arguably one of the best IPs in Sony’s library, the gameplay trailer had audiences stupidly excited to come back to the adventures of Kratos, who now rocks a killer beard, but also has a child with him.
The grim atmosphere of the 10-minute trailer could see us explore the more human side of Kratos, which I am all for. We can expect a new trailer, lots of information and hopefully a release date.
Lastly, for the big releases, we have The Last Of Us Part II. Naughty Dog usually work in threes, and given the originals success,a follow up to the critically acclaimed 2013 survival horror adventure game seemed inevitable, but still came as a surprise to audiences watching at PSX.
Whilst the trailer from last year revealed that main characters Ellie and Joel are still alive and involved in this adventure, not much else is known about the game as of yet. We can anticipate to hear more about the story this year, as well as another trailer. I personally feel as though we wont get a release date, but I’m always open to being proved wrong!
How could I not mention Death Stranding? Aside from being the one game I am the most excited about, we hardly know anything about the latest project from Hideo Kojima apart from the fact it is weird AF.
The two trailers that have come out certainly show that it’s creepy, but haven’t actually revealed anything about the kind of game it is, so we can hope for a gameplay trailer at the very least (though a release date would be swell).
We can also expect to hear more about the cyberpunk thriller Detroit: Become Human, coming to us courtesy of Crystal Dynamics. After a dramatic reveal last year, we can expect to see a new gameplay trailer, learn more about the plot/characters, and potentially get a release date too. Let’s just hope this one is better than Beyond: Two Souls hey?
Crash Bandicoot should be one of the bigger moments at E3 this year. Being one big nostalgia trip for everyone, we can most definitely expect another trailer or two to come out at E3 before the game launches later in June. And who knows, with Crash getting a trilogy HD remaster, maybe a Spyro the Dragon collection isn’t too far down the pipeline?
We should also hear more about the Spider-Man game coming exclusively to PS4, which garnered a lot of attention last year, mostly for not looking like the previous 5 or 6 Spider-Man games.
What we HOPE
To better phrase that… what am I praying to hear about?
Firstly, I was hoping to hear more about Shenmue 3, since the game pretty much went silent after the Kickstarter was announced. Unfortunately, that won’t be happening this year.
The one thing I am hoping to happen the most, and have been for over 10 years, is a sequel to TimeSplitters, or even a HD remake of the trilogy. This game holds a special place in my heart, I have fond memories of bringing my PS2 over to a friends house and playing the second game until 3am, so a follow up would mean the world to me.
Now what am I hoping for that is actually practical? I’m glad you asked.
Rumours of a Bloodborne follow up have been circulating pretty much since release of the original game. With the Dark Souls series coming to an end recently, it’s not completely out of the question to see a follow up to the Gothic horror hack and slash, especially with the leaked Chinese poster that made the rounds online recently.
I’d also like to see a more exclusive indie titles available on PlayStation. Sony have worked with Devolver Digital (who have their own presentation this year) before in scoring console port exclusivity (sucks to be you, Microsoft), and a wider range of games and developers would certainly give Sony a huge advantage in appealing to indie developers.
Apart from those two (well, three) predictions, I’m not really sure what to expect. There will definitely be a focus on PS VR, I imagine, with that needing some more momentum after almost a year on the market. But, much like last year, Sony tend to leave plenty of surprises for those involved, so I guess we will have to wait and see what comes of the event!
The Sony E3 press conference will be taking place Tuesday June 13th at 11am AEST.
About the Author
Dylan Fewings
When he isn't studying at University, you can probably find Dylan absorbed in a JRPG, adding more albums to his record collection, or watching old school horror flicks with his cat.
