The funny thing about this State of Play is that I cannot tell you what the best game was.
Usually that is easy.
One trailer drops. Everyone talks about it for a week. Everything else gets pushed into the background.
That did not happen this time.
When the showcase ended, some people were talking about Wolverine.
Others were talking about God of War.
Horror fans were busy discussing Until Dawn 2 and Silent Hill.
A few people could not stop talking about Onimusha.
That is normally a sign that a showcase did its job.
Not because every reveal was amazing.
Because different players found different things to get excited about.
Marvel’s Wolverine Finally Showed Up
Let’s start with the game that many people have been waiting years to see.
Wolverine.
Not another teaser.
Not another cinematic trailer.
Actual gameplay.
And honestly, it looked exactly like the kind of game Insomniac would make.
Fast.
Brutal.
Aggressive.
The combat looked nothing like Spider-Man, which is probably the smartest decision they could have made. Logan fights differently. He should feel different.
The trailer also gave players a look at characters like Jean Grey while teasing familiar names such as Sabretooth and Mystique. More importantly, we finally got a release date.
September 15 is not that far away anymore.
God of War Closed the Show
Then came the moment that probably generated the biggest reaction.
God of War: Laufey.
I already covered the reveal in a separate article, so I will not go too deep here.
What surprised me was not that Santa Monica Studio is making another God of War.
It was the decision to build the game around Faye.
For years she was one of the most important characters in the series without ever really being in the spotlight.
Now she is the spotlight.
That feels like a bigger creative risk than people are giving Sony credit for.
And honestly, that is what makes it interesting.
Related:
God of War: Laufey – Faye Story Revealed
Horror Fans Had a Pretty Good Night
There is no other way to say it.
If you like horror games, this showcase probably worked for you.
Silent Hill: Townfall finally locked in a release date.
Until Dawn 2 became official.
Both games look very different from each other, but that is probably a good thing.
Horror has become much stronger when developers stop trying to copy the same formula over and over.
Silent Hill looks strange.
Until Dawn looks familiar.
That combination works.
Onimusha Refuses to Stay Quiet
I feel like every time Onimusha shows up lately, more people start paying attention.
Maybe it is nostalgia.
Maybe it is because samurai combat never really goes out of style.
Whatever the reason, Onimusha: Way of the Sword continues to look better every time it appears.
And shadow-dropping a demo immediately after the showcase was a smart move.
Players do not just want trailers anymore.
They want to play something.
Control Fans Finally Got More To Talk About
Remedy has a habit of making games that stay in people’s heads long after they finish them.
Control was one of those games.
So seeing Control Resonant appear during the showcase immediately caught attention.
The setting looks weird.
The atmosphere looks weird.
Honestly, if a Control game ever stopped looking weird, I would probably be worried.
September is suddenly becoming very crowded.
The Best Part Was Not a Single Game
This is probably my biggest takeaway.
The best part of the showcase was the variety.
Action games were there.
Horror games were there.
Big PlayStation exclusives showed up.
Smaller projects showed up.
There was a little bit of everything.
For a while, conversations around PlayStation have felt repetitive.
People would ask the same questions.
Where are the games?
What comes next?
What is Sony doing?
This showcase did not answer every question.
But it did something important.
It gave people things to look forward to.
That sounds simple.
It matters more than most companies realize.
Final Thoughts
I still cannot tell you what the best game of the showcase was.
And honestly, that is probably a compliment.
Some people will pick Wolverine, Some will pick God of War.
Some will pick Silent Hill.
Others will pick something completely different.
That is usually how the best showcases work.
Not everybody leaves talking about the same trailer.
Everybody leaves talking about something.
And after watching June’s State of Play, PlayStation finally has a lot of people talking again.
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