Yesterday's show wasn't that bad. If you care about games in general and not just about exclusives, then yesterday's PlayStation Showcase was really good. However, it doesn't matter what we care about. The purpose of the showcase was for PlayStation to show off the games their first-party studios were working on. That's what we saw in their last showcase in 2021, which was excellent. Since last week, when it was announced that PlayStation would be doing a showcase this week, our excitement went through the roof and we all started making predictions. Before I talk about all the games we were expecting to see last night, let's touch on some of the games and some extra stuff that we all got to see.
One game that caught the attention of many gamers was Phantom Blade Zero. Those who know me would tell you that I like nothing more than a third-person action-adventure game with sword combat. I buy such games instantly. What I saw from the gameplay reveal of Phantom Blade was satisfying sword combat with super fast character movement to take on multiple enemies. In my opinion, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice by FromSoftware offers the best sword-fighting gameplay mechanics among all of the video games. Phantom Blade has the potential to rival or dethrone Sekiro in terms of sword-fighting gameplay. This was an excellent reveal and I'm looking forward to playing this game whenever it comes out.
You could argue the biggest or the best reveal last night was the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Fan or not, it is really good to see one of the most impactful games of all time come to modern-day consoles and be experienced by the gamers who weren't around for the original game back in the early 2000s. The best part is that this game will also be available on Xbox and PC, which means more players will get to experience this awesome game. I am not a fan of stealth games so I will be missing out on this, but I'm very excited for those who can't wait to play this for the first time or experience this again for the tenth time.
Lots of other really cool games were shown during the showcase. We saw Dragon's Dogma 2, Alan Wake 2, Assassins' Creed Mirage, Hell Divers II, Immortals of Aveum, Marathon, Sword of the Sea, Foamstars, and a bunch more. Almost all of them are multiplatform games, and again, that is not a bad thing if you are a real gamer. My favorites were Alan Wake 2, Immortals of Aveum, Phantom Blade, and Spider-Man 2 (will discuss more on this). Alan Wake 2 looks like it is going to be a solid action-horror game as the gameplay and the world look very intriguing. Immortals of Aveum is going to be a blast to play as the gameplay looks fast and very satisfying. Sometimes I just wanna play the game for just its gameplay, and I think Immortals is going to give us that.
Let's talk about the main event. The game that according to many save the show. Spider-Man 2! The first game (Spider-Man 2018) is one of my favorite games of all time as it was just amazing from start to finish. It has a great story, excellent writing, a beautiful setting as Manhattan looks gorgeous and lively, amazing characters, top-notch gameplay, and fluid traversal. We know Spider-Man 2 is going to take the gameplay to another level and boy did the gameplay reveal delivered on that. Playing as a Symbiote Spider-Man is going to give the players a whole new set of moves/combos to use against all the bad guys and all the supervillains. The moves that were seen during the gameplay presentation really got me saying damn' at least fifteen to twenty times. So in the game, Peter Parker's attitude has changed because he has been infected with Venom Symbiote and now it is up to Miles Morales to make sure Peter/Spider-Man doesn't do anything that he would regret. Everything about this game is screaming greatness and I can't wait!
Now let's talk about the negatives. Street Fighter 6 and Final Fantasy XVI are right around the corner as they are releasing in less than a month and they both are going to be the biggest games of the year, no doubt. We didn't tune into this showcase to see these two games as we have already seen the gameplay for both and we have already played the demo for Street Fighter 6. We wanted to see gameplays and cinematic trailers for games that we haven't seen yet. I and thousand other gamers really wanted to see Wolverine gameplay. It has been almost two years now since we saw a teaser trailer for Wolverine and nothing since then. Some of us wanted to get an update regarding Stellar Blade's release date, as it is apparently coming out this year. Stellar Blade and Spider-Man 2 are coming out this year and we still don't have a release date for either? That's just odd. By the way, who in the world asked for a movie trailer for Gran Turismo? I know it is a big PlayStation franchise but I don't believe anyone wanted to see a MOVIE trailer during this gaming event.
Yes, there is an audience for PSVR2, and the PlayStation team did mention that they were going to show off some games for it during the showcase. That's fine but they dedicated a good decent time of the showcase towards PSVR2 games. They could have cut some of it and used a couple of minutes to just give us a teaser for the next Naughty Dog or Bend Studio project. We know both of those studios are working on something. Naughty Dog and Bend Studio are two of the most beloved studios among PlayStation gamers. Naughty Dog's last game came out in 2020 and the last Bend Studio game came out in 2019. Yesterday would have been perfect for either of them to show their next project.
If there was nothing new to show, then PlayStation could have at least given us an update on Death Stranding 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Rise of the Ronin, The Last of Us multiplayer game, or Lost Soul Aside. Most gamers don't even know what Lost Soul Aside is about. It is a PlayStation console exclusive which is set to release sometime next year. It is an action-packed third-person game, and it gives a lot of Devil May Cry vibes. Go watch its gameplay trailer from two years ago on YouTube and see how gorgeous it looks.
Overall it was a decent show. If you ask me how I would grade it on a scale of one to ten, I would give it a 7/10 or maybe 7.5/10. The expectations were high and PlayStation mostly delivers. The lack of games from their own first-party studios was the reason why this show was just an average PlayStation show. If this wasn't a PlayStation Showcase and let's say it was a part of the Summer Games Fest 2023, then I believe everyone would have given a 9/10 or 10/10 score for all the cool games that were highlighted during the show. I hope Xbox doesn't do the same during their own showcase on June 11th, 2023.
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