The questions will haunt us for weeks to come. You will be quietly enjoying a game of Overwatch and it will come at you from the side. You will lay down to sleep and it will be emblazoned across the inside of your eye lids. When you least expect ,it the headlines on your favourite media outlets will read “WHO WON E3 2017?” and you will be crippled by indecision.
As the week wraps up I’m not here to tell you who did or didn’t win, I mean we all know who lost here in Australia — our sleeping patterns. What I do want to do though is reflect back on what Sony, a company I’ve supported since the PSOne, brought to the table in this, the 2017th year of video games.
So the question is what did Sony bring to the table and to be honest the answer is — not much we didn’t already know about. However I don’t see this as a weakness for the company. Keeping in mind that since the 2016 E3 conference, Sony hosted their own event, PSX, at which we got some major announcements like The Last of Us Part II and Uncharted: Lost Legacy. This left this years E3 to be less about new announcements and more of a focus on fleshing out all the titles we already know are on their way.
What didn’t work.
Nadine and Chloe have me extra excited about Uncharted: Lost Legacy, they’re easily two of the best characters from the franchise — in my opinion. However even with a gorgeous opening musical number and water display, it just felt lacklustre to open the show with a trailer we knew was coming. The trailer did add some great insight into the dynamic of the pair and gave us a villain but featured barely any gameplay.
Following on from that we got a trailer for The Frozen Wastes, a Horizon: Zero Dawn DLC. Seriously guys? Again, Horizon: Zero Dawn is a great game and Aloy is ace! But DLC for a game that came out in March isn’t a show stopper, especially when it’s a fairly vague trailer. There will be snow and machines, that much I can confirm.
The show as a whole also had lots to show in terms of VR. Some of the titles they showed where great — and then there was FFXV VR: Monsters of the Deep. Look I’m sure that a market for fishing games exists, but I’d love to see the Venn diagram that shows fans of fishing games and fans of foppish J-Pop boy bands. Also in my bad books, Skyrim VR, look Skyrim was a great game and it changed gaming and so on and so forth, but please Bethesda. LET IT DIE!
I’ve also got to ask, Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite, what did you do to Chun Li’s face!? Then while we’re asking questions. Call of Duty: WWII — did you do your own homework or have you been copying your notes from DICE?
What did work.
Look we got off to a slow burn at the beginning Sony but then it happened, my life had purpose again, with one sweeping landscape I knew what was coming and I wanted to cry — Shadow of the Colossus is getting a remake.
Shadow of the Colossus is a masterpiece that will forever hold a special place in my heart, apologies to the Blockbuster I rented it from as a teenagers and then “lost” — I was happy to pay the fine as distributors had already sold out of the title and we were told it just wasn’t coming back. A few years ago we already got a remastered version of Shadow of the Colossus and it was glorious — however rather then just remastering the game this will be rebuilt for the current HD console. Shadow of the Colossus was a classic, that become a cult hit, very much due to it’s limited availability. Now another generation of gamers can play what I hands down would say is the best video game ever made.
God damn I’m gonna watch the trailer again now.
The show also ended on a highlight with more gameplay and info on God of War, which does away with a numbering system because they hate our archiving systems, and the show stopping trailer for Spider-Man. These are two big heavy hitters so it’s a pity that they aren’t coming until 2018. Spider-Man games are super fun and fingers crossed for some HD Kraven the Hunter chest hair. Meanwhile the God of Wars series became a little graphic in it’s last trilogy I do love Norse mythology and I’m excited to team up with Jörmungandr to kick Odin’s arse, he’s had it coming for a while.
Also I cannot wait for the VR chance to be a chaperone for a tiny mouse knight in Moss and gift high levels of violence to red glass mannequins in last years new take on FPS, SUPERHOT.
Also massive props to Sony for actually having some great stage pieces — music, pyrotechnics, props and acrobatic performers. It’s something we really didn’t see any of the other conferences do and it just added a nice level of showmanship that they really didn’t need to do. So we’ve got what didn’t work and what did so all that’s left is…
Something in the middle
“The brooding scruffy 30’s something white man who has become detached from society? I’ve read this story before, I’ve watched this story before, I’ve played this story before!”
Days Gone is a big title for PlayStation and it is pushing the hardware to great lengths, heaps of things happening on screen and looking gorgeous. The zombies interact in a new and interesting way and I like the use of sound. But my god could the main character be any more boring? The brooding scruffy 30’s something white man who has become detached from society? I’ve read this story before, I’ve watched this story before, I’ve played this story before!
Aside from this though the game could be fun. During the show floor later they showed off how changes in the environment can change how you play with regard to snow, rain, time of day and so on.
The Detroit: Become Human trailer showed heaps of variety which was exciting, but we’ve been burnt by David Cage before so even thought AI stories are some of my favourite I will be cautious going into this one.
We also got a look at PlayLink, which gives us games where we use our smart phones as the controller for some couch co-op party games. It looks fun but we’ll have to wait and see how it’s effectively implemented and what kind of pricing scheme they have in mind for products that can’t have to much longevity.
I was really happy with Sony’s showing — people seem upset that they didn’t show any The Last of Us Part II or the rumoured Bloodborne 2, a game I’d argue we don’t need. For the most part though it’s smart of Sony to keep some stuff up their sleeves for PSX in December, which I will be watching with excitement.
About the Author
Cameron Honey-Swain
Cameron knows what he loves. Witches, animated ducks and a strong burly female protagonist. When he isn't effortlessly defending Dragon Age II he is bothering either his husband or one of his many fur children.
