After fumbling the announcement of its updated PS5 Pro, Sony came back with some serious heat in its latest ‘State of Play’ event, which is a semi-regular sizzle reel showing what is coming to the platform.
In the publisher’s September showcase, we saw a ton of exciting announcements, from new games, to release dates, to downloadable expansions, to remasters. There’s a lot to get through, and we’re only talking about the creme of the crop from the event, so strap in!
‘Monster Hunter Wilds’ Gets A Release Date
Probably the game I’m most looking forward to next year, Capcom has finally graced us with a release date for the long-anticipated Monster Hunter Wilds: February 28, 2025. That’s way sooner than we were expecting, and basically confirms what we’ll be doing for the first half of the year.
If you’re not familiar with the Monster Hunter series, you play as a hunter who seeks to protect a particular town from the deadly creatures of the wilderness.
While it’s certainly possible for people and monsters to live in harmony, there is always something going on that has riled them up and made them unpredictable, so you have to hunt them down, skin and debone them, and turn their parts into stronger weapons you’ll use to take on bigger and badder creatures. It sounds like PETA’s nightmare, but there is actually a theme of environmentalism and living in harmony with nature sprinkled throughout.
Plus, you get to do it with some wild weapons, like a lance with a gun attached to the end, a pole that you throw bugs from, or a huge set of bagpipes that you smack into a dragon’s head. It’s magical. Monster Hunter is a series well-known for its intense but strategic gameplay, and definitely isn’t for the feint of heart, but Wilds looks set to be the most approachable game yet. If you’re on the fence about trying the series out, this game might be the one to jump into.
The game is coming to PS5, Xbox Series S and X, and PC on Steam.
‘Ghost of Yōtei’ is a ‘Ghost of Tsushima ‘sequel set 300 years later
Ghost of Tsushima was a breakout hit for Sony studio Sucker Punch who, until the game’s launch, had made a name for themselves making the Infamous series. All that work building believable worlds game to the fore in samurai-simulator Tsushima, and now the team is set to expand on that world in a sequel: Ghost of Yōtei.
Yōtei is once again set in Japan, and will seemingly take place mostly around Mount Yōtei, a famous mountain in the country’s far north. You will play as a samurai hunting people in the north, according to the announcement trailer, and will get access to flintlock firearms, which makes sense as the game is set in 1603 – about 300 years after the original game is set.
We have a little snippet of gameplay footage in the trailer but it mostly looks like an improved version of what we saw in Tsushima, which is definitely not a bad thing, though it seems you’ll also have the option of dual-wielding katanas.
The original game was a huge hit for Sony, and Yōtei looks like it’ll build on what made Tsushima so good. If you can’t tell, we’re excited. If we can get our hands on a Sekiro-style grappling hook it’d maker the game even better.
The game is coming exclusively to PS5 in 2025, though I’d expect a PC release the following year.
‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ is Being Remastered
An odd announcement, but one that is very in keeping with how Sony is treating its games at the moment, the original Horizon Zero Dawn is being remastered for PS5. Sony claims the game will be brought up to the standard of its sequel, Forbidden West, with added motion capture, improved dialogue and graphical fidelity weaved into the 2017 game.
The announcement was essentially just confirmation of information that had already leaked, but it does show Sony’s hand a bit more: the company seems obsessed with making sure all of it’s major titles are constantly updated to the most recent industry standards. They already remastered The Last of Us, and the recent Spider-Man games, and there are rumours of even more on the way: Day’s Gone, The Order: 1886, and Detroit: Become Human.
Sony… Bloodborne is right there. Please, I beg you.
The game will be launching on October 31, and will be available to anyone who purchased the original across PS5 and PC for an upgrade fee.
‘Alan Wake 2’ is Getting Some Spooky DLC for Halloween
2023’s critical darling Alan Wake 2 is getting some new content, namely the Lake House Expansion, which is taking us back to Bright Falls one more time. The mood is decidedly spooky, and it’s dropping in October – perfect for all you Halloweenies.
In the expansion you’ll be playing as FBC (that’s the Federal Bureau of Control) agent Kiran Estevez, rather than the titular Alan Wake, and will be exploring an “eerie new location on the shores of Cauldon Lake… where reckless experiments have caused reality to collide with the Dark Place”. If none of that means anything to you, you should probably play the original game and its sequel soon (and throw in Control for good measure, they’re all connected.)
What this means for you will be a lot of tense exploration, some over-the-shoulder shooting of SCPs, and most likely some dark shit. Can’t wait.
Sony dropping Remasters of ‘Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver’ 1 & 2 this December
Perhaps to show off its own version of vampires before Nospheratu and Salem’s Lot launch next year, Sony is dropping more remasters! This time though, the games need a new lick of paint, and probably some gameplay touch ups while they’re in there.
The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver series tells the epic tale of Raziel, a vampire who is sentenced to death by the titular Kain. Raziel survives, and the events set in motion essentially change the fate of the entire universe. If you like interconnected stories and heady themes, you should probably play all of the Legacy of Kain series, but given how these ones are being revamped I’d suggest you start here.
Thankfully, you don’t have to wait too much longer: The remasters are dropping on PS4 and PS5 on December 10 this year. The perfect Christmas gift for an elder millennial!
What Else Was Announced?
That was the big stuff, but there was a lot more to the show than just those announcements. In fact, here’s everything else of note that Sony showed off.
- Astro Bot is getting some new content
- Palworld is out now on PS5
- Lego Horizon Adventures is out on November 14
- Metro Awakening is launching on November 7
- Stellar Blade is getting a Nier: Automata DLC collab, making weebs excited everywhere (myself included)
- Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Dino Crisis are coming to the PS Plus Classics Catalogue
- Dynasty Warriors: Origins is launching on January 17, 2025
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