Let's Discuss State of Play 6/8/2020

Well it's that time again. Ever since they introduced the format, Sony have been hosting their own Nintendo Direct style show, State of Play, every month. And since I enjoyed talking about the last few events I talked about I figured I would do the same for the most recent one that aired on the 6th of August, which also happens to be my birthday so, thanks Sony. Well I say thanks but it was a pretty underwhelming to be honest. Oh there were some good things shown but it also had plenty of meh to go along with it. But let's not beat around the bush and jump straight into this.

At least the event started with a bang by showing some new gameplay for Crash Bandicoot 4 It's About Time. I already talked a little about this game after the first reveal and at the time I was very excited for but everything I've seen since, has only made me MORE excited for it. This game looks incredible. Granted we didn't get a whole lot of new information but we got some good stuff here. We got to see a little more on the story, confirming that N. Tropy plays a big part in it which is nice to see. They showed off some of the unlockable outfits and reconfirmed that the game will not include microtransaction, the outfits will instead be a reward for completing in game challenges and thank God for that. There were people worried about this when it was leaked that the game had I game purchases but I made the decision to wait and see what it meant before I reacted to it and I think I made the right call on that one.

Most of what they showed was stuff we already knew about thanks to some gameplay that was shown off by several outlets but we got two new reveals that we didn't know about. Firstly, a new playable character. Joining Crash, Coco and Cortex will be fan-favourite boss Dingodile. Dingodile will have his own story and his gameplay looks very unique with his new suction cannon allowing him to absorb and fire objects. I like the new characters they've been showing off because it's a great way to add variety without changing the basic fundamentals of the game, a problem Crash Bandicoot Warped suffered from. The last thing they showcased was Inverted Mode. This is Crash 4's version of Time Trials only instead of running through the level as fast as possible you'll re play the level with a new visual style and slightly altered design. Some of the levels were very trippy and it does seem like padding but more content is always nice. I can't wait for this game. This was a good way to start the show.

Next up we got some more info on Hitman 3. Not much to say here other than the game supports PlayStation VR. Which is good for the 10 people that still care about VR. That was all they had for that one. Comes out in January.

Next we got a trailer for Braid Anniversary edition. It's a remaster of the classic indie title with updated graphics and new features like director commentary. It's nice to see Braid getting a re-release since it was one of the first breakout indie games but given how much gaming has changed in the 12 years since it's original release, especially the indie scene, I don't know it will leave the same impact it did back then.

Next we got a brand new PlayStation 5 game, The Pathless. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this game. It looks absolutely gorgeous. The world is steeped in atmosphere, the art direction is phenomenal, it's a fantastic looking game that looks like a labour of love. So why doesn't it do anything for me? Maybe it's that I'm not into open world games but nothing about the gameplay really hooked me. Except for the traversal options because, holy hell, does this game look like it's fun just to move around in. I've said in the past that open world games should make the act of moving around in them a fun experience, something the 2018 Spiderman and Prototype games do very well and The Pathless looks like it follows in a similar vein. I suppose my issue with it is just how empty the world looks. Yeah it looks fun move around in but if there's nothing to do in it then, what's the point? The game looks like it revolves around climbing towers to weaken these big monsters so you can then take them down in an epic fight. The battles with the monsters look like a ton of fun but I can't shake the feeling that they took the most overused trope in open world game design and made the entire game centred around it. I'll give the game credit for not having a map to focus more on personal exploration but the Arkham vision used to see where everything is doesn't look as elegant a replacement as, say, the wind in Ghost of Tsushima. The Pathless doesn't look bad and I'm sure some people are really excited for it but it did very little for me. It comes out Holiday 2020 so at least we have another launch title for the PlayStation 5. Where was this during the PlayStation 5 showcase?

Next we have Spelunky 2, a sequel to the cult classic indie game, Spelunky. I don't have much to say on the game itself, it just looks like more Spelunky, but I will say that the guy talking about the game isn't selling me on it. He sounds robotic and stilted, it's making the game seem more boring than it actually looks. It comes out September 15th.

Next we have Genshin Impact, AKA Breath of the Wild for Weebs. That isn't a dunk by the way, the developers have openly admitted that Breath of the Wild was a huge inspiration for them. To be fair it does lookng like it's trying to do it's own thing with the Breath of the Wild formula having a bigger emphasis on action and RPG elements. The problem is that it makes the game look like a generic JRPG. There isn't anything particularly bad about it but nothing super good about it either and it can never really escape the shadow of it's inspiration. It will be forever known as Breath of the Wild for Weebs and I don't think it can prevent that.

Our next two games are Indie titles that look right up my alley. The first is Aeon Must Die. This one is a beat-em-up with a super cool art style. It looks like it's got a ton of style but I'm not certain about the gameplay. Not that it looks bad but it's hard to tell what exactly is going on in the trailer. Still I love a good beat-em-up so I'm keeping my eyes on this one. Actually I might not. Upon doing a little research the game looks like it's in trouble as several people have quit over a toxic work culture. It looks pretty bad too, like worse than Naughty Dog levels of bad. It looks like the game might have already been cancelled. Fuck me that was fast.

Next we have Anno Mutationem. No clue what that means but the game looks cool. It's a 2.5D platform game of which there is a shamefully short amount of. Now when I say 2.5D platformer I don't mean a 2D game with 3D graphics. To me a true 2.5D game uses 3D to enhance it's gameplay. Klonoa is a good example of this as it's levels twist around each other and there are instances of moving into the background and foreground. Anno looks like it does something similar but with a bit more emphasis on hack and slash action. Also, this is something that wasn't in the trailer but I found this out when researching it, the game is including elements from the SCP foundation. No clue how that will play out. In any case this one looked pretty good. It comes out December 2020.

We then got some more gameplay for BugSnax. This game is starting to grow on me. It's just the right amount of weird. It looks like the game is an adventure title where you do missions for residents of an island where food is alive, and when you eat the food it changes your appearance or something. It's weird butt in a charming sort of way. We did at least get a release date of holiday 2020, so that's another game the PS5 is getting at launch.

Next we got a new trailer for Vader Immortal. Wait didn't this already come out? Well, yes but that was episode 1. This is an episodic game so I guess this is episode 2. It's a VR Star Wars game I know that much at least. I'm not the kind of guy you should ask about this because I have very little interest in VR. If you do have interest in VR then you might want to pick this one up. It comes out August 25th.

Then they showed off the next expansion for Control. If you liked Control then you'll probably like this. Can't say much more really. It releases on August 27th.

Then we got a trailer for Auto Chess. I have no idea what this is. Apparently it's some kind of auto battling game. Yeah I'll pass on this one. Comes out October 31st if you're at all interested.

Next we got a game I was interested in, The Pedestrian. It looks like a puzzle platformer where you play as one of those stickmen characters you see on road signs. The idea of the game is that you have different rooms you can shift and connect and you have to get to the exit. This game reminds me of a PlayStation 3 game I liked called SideWays: NewYork in that you've got 2D characters exploring a 3D environment. I love games that play with perspectives like this so I'm definitely gonna give this a shot. It comes out in January.

We then get some new PlayStation 5 games. The first is Hood Outlaws and Legends. We didn't get much gameplay for this one but it reminded me a little of For Honor just with thieves instead of warriors. It might be fun but I need to know a little more on what the game actually is. It comes out next year.

The next game is TemTem. This was the Pokémon clone people were raving about a few months back. I'm glad this is coming to PlayStation 5 but not because of the game itself. Honestly TemTem doesn't interest me much, not fond of the creature design and the focus on double battles turns me off since I'm not a fan of the format. No the reason I'm glad this is coming to PlayStation 5 is because Pokémon finally has a decent competitor. The Pokémon series has been stagnating and some decent competition might be the shot in the arm the series needs. Competition is always good in a free market so while I have little interest in TemTem, I do hope it does well. It comes out next year.

The presentation wrapped up with some GodFall gameplay. I'm going to be blunt with you folks here, GodFall looks like the purest distillation of the Forgettable Launch Title. You know the game that comes out at a consoles launch that quickly gets side-lined when much better games come out. You know games like Knack, Motorstorm, Ryse Son of Rome, those kinds of games. GodFall is that kind of game in it's purest form. To be clear, GodFall doesn't look bad, it just looks painfully generic. The combat looks like it can't decide whether it wants to be like Dark Souls or Devil May Cry. It looks like a weird hybrid of the two and I'm not sure it works. And am I the only one that cringed when the guy talking about the game said the game was a complete package with no microtransactions. I know what you're thinking, “wait why did that make you cringe? Isn't that a good thing?” Yes but here's the thing, that's a selling point. Being finished and not screwing over the consumer is a SELLING point. How bad have things gotten where merely not dicking over your audience is actually being used for marketing purposes. What has happpened to this industry?

Mind you I think they're trying really hard t sell us on this game. They said that the game combines action and RPG mechanics to create what they think is a Looter Slasher. What they THINK is a Looter Slasher. Well is it or isn't it a Looter Slasher? It gets better. When describing the combat the guy talking about it said it was designed to be fluid, dynamic and interactive. I don't know about you guys but when I was busting up bad guys in Bayonetta, my first thought was, “yeah this is great and all but it's not Interactive enough”. What does that even mean? I'm convinced they just came up with those words at random. Why stop at three, why not call the combat interchangeable while your at it, go all out on this stupidity. This was so dumb I had to do a double take, I couldn't believe how stupid that sounded.

I want to make things clear, I am not calling the game bad. It might be good and you could probably have some fun with it. But let's be honest, you'll drop this game within a month at most. It looks like it has little staying power. It comes out Holiday 2020.

And that was the August 2020 State of Play. Overall I would say it was average. Not good not bad just average. There was some good stuff here but very little surprises or, “wow that was awesome” moments. Granted that was just my own opinion. Maybe you were more impressed with some of the things I didn't care for and hated the things I thought looked good. At least there was some decent variety and I am glad we got more confirmation on some PlayStation 5 launch titles. It would have been nice to have this during the PlayStation 5 reveal but better late than never I guess. If I could critique one aspect it's that they spent too much time on certain games. You didn't need to spend 3 minutes on Spelunky 2, you could have just had a simple trailer and moved on. And GodFall just went on and on. The pacing just felt off in places. But that's all I got, what did you that of this presentation? Until next time, remember to stay safe and have fun.