Here’s a Rundown of Everything Shown at Sony’s State of Play [06/08/2020]

On Monday of this week the official PlayStation Twitter made a post announcing another of their Nintendo Direct inspired State of Plays.

State of Play returns Thursday at 1:00pm Pacific!

What to expect:
▪️ A focus on upcoming PS4 & PS VR games
▪️ A few quick check-ins on third-party and indie games from June’s PS5 showcase
▪️ No big PS5 announcements!

Tune-in details: https://t.co/kgrDFZsHd2 pic.twitter.com/9AIPFnh3CT

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) August 3, 2020

Quick to set expectations Sony wanted to make some things clear. Despite it’s estimated 40-minute run time this was not going to be like June’s PS5 showcase; the only PlayStation 5 games that would be shown were ones revealed two months ago, the main focus would be remaining PS4 and PRVR games and, most importantly, there would be no big PS5 news. So don’t go expecting the long-awaited price of the next-gen console to be announced. However, there was still a fair deal of anticipation. Bar Marvel’s Avengers and Cyberpunk 2077, what’s left on the PS4 slate? What are the plans for for phasing the PS4 out? And would we see gameplay of games like Marvel’s Spider-man: Mile Morales, or mysterious projects like Capcom’s PRAGMATA or Square Enix’s Project Aitha but most importantly… WOULD THERE BE MORE BUGSNAX?! All was to be revealed.

I didn’t think this was a thing the world wanted but I guess sales of the N’Sane Trilogy put to that not being the case.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

Activision's golden boy team for remakes, Toys for Bob, started off the show with the return of Crash, while the series has never quite died, with spin-offs and even toys-to-life stint, Producer, Lu Stutter, was keen to make it clear this was a sequel to the original franchise. What this meant was there was a huge focus on the game having a fixed camera that shifts perspectives and classic styled Crash levels with tough as nails platforming. They also announced that the costumes which occasionally popped up in previous games are to be expanded as a core feature being purchasable throughout the game, and were adamant these would have no effect on gameplay and wouldn’t cost real-world money. New playable characters are sure to pique the interest of long time fans. And the demo was rounded out with confirmation that Activision's other go to remake team, Beenox, is helping develop more difficult post-game levels, which not only invert levels but also completely change the artstyle and themes of the levels. With the game launching on October 2nd it’s likely to be one of the last big hurrahs for the PS4.

We’ll finally get to behold the beauty of Helmut Kruger up close!

HITMAN III

IOI interactive was on hand to show off HITMAN III, the first game in the franchise they are set to self-published, but not in the way most were expecting. Instead of getting a gameplay demo, we got a big surprise, the entire HITMAN trilogy will soon be playable in VR. And while the trailer showed off some classic straight-faced social stealth we all know what the real draw of this mode will be... I can now throw burgers at head’s elusive targets in VR like a bad vaudeville act. HITMAN III is scheduled for release in January of 2021 but IOI has yet to announce if that is when the VR mode will arrive too.

Braid: Anniversary Edition

A remake of Jonathan Blow’s seminal indie hit will be arriving in 2021 with an updated artstyle, focusing more on the paintbrush design and less on the 8-bit qualities of the 2008 release, and apparently comes with the most in-depth developer commentary ever, if that’s your sort of thing.

The Pathless

Matt Nava from developer Giant Squid was on hand to show off gameplay of this recently announced, mysterious, freerunning, archery auto-shooter. There was a very good boy/girl of an eagle shown off too for even more fluid traversal. The Pathless looks like a chill and meditative journey,  quite unlike anything seen since the days of Echo the Dolphin and Rez, coming Holiday 2020.

This game looks endearing as hell and I can tell you right now it will beat my ass.

Spelunky 2

Yet another classic indie game showed up with Derek Yu dropping by to show off a bunch of gameplay of the sequel to his indie classic. Spelunky 2 seems to be a massive expansion of what made the first game so special, brimming with personality and adding more shopping mechanics, NPCs, a home base full of playable characters and even online multiplayer. This game has been incubating for a long time but will finally arrive on the 15th of September this year.

Genshin Impact

After being dubbed a Breath of the WIld clone upon its announcement, Genshin Impact sought to distinguish itself from Nintendo's Switch mainstay. While the trailer was undeniably similar in tone, multiple playable characters, varieties of gameplay and combat options and a pretty cinematic looking story made it stand out. The trailer sets a high bar for the previously mobile developer, MiHoYo, but the Shanghai developed game is looking more and more promising in the run-up to its Autumn release on PS4

Aon Must Die

Focus Home Interactive is set to publish this stylish beat ‘em up from new studio Limestone Games. The trailer showcase some beautiful fights and cutscenes in a neon-lit cyberpunk world along with a moody story all set for a 2021 release.

Anno Mutationem

A self-described 2.5D action platformer from Chinese indie dev ThinkingStars was shown off next. The game will see players move around 3D environments where you can interact with NPCs and the such but will change to a “2D Battle Mode” when entering combat. The game has a fascinating look, combining low poly models and pixelated sprites for a unique artstyle and is releasing in December of 2020.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to go to Bugsburg!

Bugsnax

Young Horses, of Octodad fame,  already proved their game is endearing with the help of Kero Kero Bonito’s awesome tunes at the PS5 showcase but now they’re here to show off some gameplay their new game. This humorous trailer, which I won’t spoil too much if you haven’t watched, showed off what you be doing in the game, including building out the town of Bugsberg and some very Pokémon Snap-equse photography. This weird, weird game continues to look like a delight and is scheduled for release this holiday on PS5.

Vader Immortal

This VR game has been expanded greatly since its original release as a glorified tech demo on PC and now it’s fully formed it is coming to PSVR. Lightsaber battles galore and recognisable sights and sounds from the Star War universe will be beamed directly into your eyes on August 25th.

In the words of that on raptor in Dr. Grants dream in Jurassic Park III, “ALAN!”!

CONTROL: AWE

Remedy and 505 Games had quite the surprise when they showed up with a trailer for CONTROL AWE. After the quite bland looking CrossfireX campaign they showed off at Xbox’s showcase in July this trailer was as weird and creepy as you’d expect from the people behind Max Payne. The trailer confirmed the much hinted at shared Remedy Universe when it flashed a glimpse at an older, bearded Alan Wake, who was on hand to urge Jessie to “stay in the light”. The second and final major DLC for one of the best games of last year arrives on the 27th of August.

Auto Chess

Once a hugely popular DOTA 2 mod, Auto Chess, is getting a console release on PS4. After quite some time in Early Access on PC, the once hobbyist modders of China-based Drodo Studio look to get their game to a full release soon. How an auto battler will play on consoles remains to be seen but we’ll know more on the 31st of October

The Pedestrian

Indie platform-puzzler The Pedestrian is coming to Playstation with VR support. The game that sees you taking control of street signs and stick people was a sleeper hit when it arrived on PC earlier this year and makes its console debut in January of 2021.

This is a really weird thing to be making, its not just me right? Like properties the genre, all of it.

Hood: Outlaws & Legends

Sumo Digital, likely happy to be away from their contract work on the ill-fated Crackdown 3, had a new PS5 game to show off. What seems like a licensed Robin Hood universe game is surprisingly a Hunt: Showdown multiplayer experience where teams of bandits will group up against AI to steal a treasure only to be pitted against other human players. Snippets of gameplay were shown but it was hard to tell how representative of the final product this was. The only release window given was 2021.

TEMTEM

The early access smash hit on PC makes its way to console! People who like Pokémon seem to adore this game and that good for them, considering how many diehard fans received Sword and Sheild and it is nice to see an accessible turn-based RPG like this on something other than a Nintendo platform. However, there is still much that needs to be added to the game to make it feel like a full-blown experience before its release sometime in 2021.

Godfall

Keith Lee of Counterplay Games had an in-depth look at the Gearbox published… “looter-slasher”, Godfall. Captured on a PS5 dev kit the first time most will notice is the game looks very pretty. There was a lot shown but to start after showing off the four basic environments a developer was yet again intent to state that the game had no microtransaction. The devs seem plenty excited with a deep dive on two of the game's five weapons types and a huge amount of details on how much of the combat works. And while the game looks like a neat mix of Monster Hunter and Warframe via a character action game, it is still definitely easy to claim that it all comes off a bit generic. However, after finally getting a better look at it Godfall looks interesting and with a relatively slim announced line-up for holiday 2020 on the new consoles it's nice to see a game that is trying to take advantage of the new tech at that time. No firm date yet, but you can only imagine that it will likely launch with the new consoles.

And that was Sony’s State of Play for the 6th of August 2020. Similar to Nintendo’s recent Nintendo Direct Mini this show felt like it was where a lot of E3 fodder landed. However, there were still plenty of nice surprises and proof there’s definitely going to be games to keep us all tied over until the launch of the net gen. The big questions still remain around those new consoles and time is running out for them to be answered. Price, release dates, backward compatibility and services all remain a mystery and it is between Xbox and PlayStation to see who blinks first in this ever lasting Summer of gaming news.