PlayStation's State of Play (PlayStation Announcement Stream) - Latest Stream - Thursday 29th April 2021 - 10PM BST/5pm EST

[Teoskaven]

I'm not expecting a lot, probably some news about Pragmata, but i'm open in general to anything.

[Shiny Gems]

It is happening 1PM Pacific time on the day it airs, by the way.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Was meant to say, and forgot to - Motobug is streaming it!

https://cytu.be/r/Motobug

[Sonicka]

Well, that was a thing. 

Personal Highlight was probably Tchia coming out next month (and debuting on the PlayStation Extra Catalogue) - had my eye on that for a while. Humanity also looks like a wicked time, I’m always ready to give anything from Enhance my time of day. 

The rest I didn’t care to much for.

The Suicide Squad showcase was about as expected -  uninteresting open world gameplay with heavily handicapped team members (completely demeaning the point IMO) and a Battle Pass which… could be worse, but still makes me shudder when they promise to support to game “long term” with more characters and updates for the multiplayer. 

Hopefully Rocksteady took enough notes from Crystal Dynamics own superhero fate - but the fact that it requires an online internet connection even for the single player campaign gives me doubt. It’s just another online service game failure waiting to happen. Story looks to be a banger though. 

[Sonictrainer]

New State of Play on Thursday

 

[Sonicka]

So, I can't lie and will have to say that this FFXVI gameplay showcase completely underwhelmed me in so many areas.

My heart particularly sank when they announced this as their "first fully action oriented Final Fantasy title" - I knew this was probably going to be the case anyway, but to see even the tactical elements hollowed out from FFXV (then perfected in FFVII Remake) was too much for me. If we have the "Stranger in Paradise" spinoff to fill the action oriented gap in the FF market... then what's the point of this title?

Nothing struck me as particularly inspiring - be it the regular combat, or the empty & open spaced titan summon fights that are supposedly the games key spectacle visual highlights. This could just be a bad video demo, but the scale and excitement just wasn't there like... Asuras Wrath, or even Sonic Frontiers. The art direction was also very bland and unstylised, the NPC's all have dead eyes due to the photorealistic approach (this shouldn't be an issue on PS5, surely?), and the voice acting was very miscast - especially the older British chap that really didn't suit the model at all - couldn't stop laughing. XD

Sorry Square, this one is regretfully going to be a miss from me. A shame this happened today as well, Nintendo has well and truly dominated the space with their TOTK trailer, so that's super bad timing.


On the plus side -  I just read that after that disastrous Suicide Squad showcase the other month, it appears this is being pushed back to Feb 2024 now. Hopefully that's 9 months to spend removing live service elements, battle passes, online only aspects...etc...etc...

I wholly doubt they will be able to change absolutely everything about the game that people have been moaning about (and make it a single player only fest) - but if they can cut the crap off and provide an offline experience where you can play as all four of the SS in an offline single player campaign with bots or multiplayer online with friends - then there should be something salvageable. The story in general I'm sure is going to be great in any case. 

[ZinogreVolt]

Agreed on pretty much all counts, FFXVI is shaping up to be the best 7/10 I dun ever played. Basically nothing about the game is really doing it for me. FF x DMC sounds like a winning formula on paper, but getting caught up in jargon like stats and excessive menu-ing in what's supposed to be a fully action oriented game strikes me as a total misfire. It reminds me a lot of God of War 2018 and Ragnarok, where the core gameplay feels like it's adding RPG elements more out of compliance, rather than because it adds something compelling to the main gameplay loop. I can see the game still being very fun despite all that, but this like FFXV before it feels almost like it's chasing trends--it's just subtler and more committed to the bit than before. I also have issues with how excessively loud the visuals and particle effects are. It was fine in FFVII Remake and XV since those were significantly slower paced games, but in something skill driven like XVI, I feel like it's going to actually hurt my eyes or subconsciously keep me from doing certain strategies before long. Those Eikon fights in particular are varied, but look mechanically trashy. If those are supposed to be huge moments in the story, then I think they would benefit by being the most gameplay-rich parts too, not just gimmick-fests. 

I will say that I enjoy the art direction outside of the aforementioned sfx overload, less because I find the technology impressive and more because it at least feels like it's doing a lot to convey a certain mood at all times. The overcast sky surrounding the castle walls in particular looks very cool, but I do think the character design is uncharacteristically VERY boring for FF.

I'll probably give this a go but this is definitely a "wait till it comes to PC and has its price heavily slashed" kind of game, nowhere near a Day 1 buy.

[Sonicka]

Yeah, I wouldn't call the visuals bad or anything... it's perfectly fine (if I say serviceable that's probably being a bit mean) but the landscapes looks pretty and all (love the key castle visuals with the crystal structures). Beyond that? Yeah, it's just very weird & bland character designs which is quite surprising for square. The key characters are normally very striking or memorable. I got none of that here. Could probably remember Clive at a stretch, but apparently I've been getting him mixed up with a kid called Joshua all this time, and if there is other cast members beyond the 60 year old 30 year old British bloke I couldn't tell you. Clive it is - and he's going to have multiple iterations since this spans... 30 years did they say? I don't know about that.

Also, I'm a little shocked by the user interface - why do we have Final Fantasy XIII text fonts and futuristic stylings littering the screen (especially in battles) in a medieval era game? The juxtaposition is quite jarring to me.

Maybe this would have benefitted from a more stylish text font? Or dare I say something times-new-roman-y...? Or even a classic retro FF font? They've created SNES sprite assets for certain menu elements, so it would have been super cool and consistent if they did this for everything else UI related. Would serve as a nice throwback considering they've abandoned almost everything else that has this feeling like an atypical FF. 

I know they take some offence to the JRPG term apparently (although I would use the term in a celebratory connotation personally), and I know Square are pumping out the Bravely Defaults and Octopath Travellers to satisfy those traditional RPG markets... but I'd be damned if I didn't wish for this genre to apply to the mainline FF series again. 

[ZinogreVolt]

The font for the game is definitely very bizarre. It feels more befitting of a fighting game than what this is going for. The character health bars in particular almost look ripped wholesale from Tekken. I don't mind it or anything and some parts do look quite lovely (the hunting board in particular is actually properly stylized), but given how much effort has gone into making this a faux-period piece, it's weird that the UI of all things didn't follow suit. Weirdly clean and sterilized when it feels like it shouldn't be.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

https://blog.playstation.com/2023/05/17/youre-invited-playstation-showcase-broadcasts-live-next-wednesday-may-24-at-1pm-pacific-time/

Brand new PlayStation Showcase incoming in May 24th (Wednesday) at 9pm BST/4pm EST/1pm PST. 

As usual, Motobug will also be providing a exclusive stream for SSMB members to watch the event live with each other.

Pretty excited myself, especially as someone who picked up a PSVR2 last week, the PlayStation Showcases are always much more of a larger reveal event than the State of Plays, and it’s already confirmed quite a few PS5/VR2 games will be seen there. 

I would imagine this is where we’ll see a good chunk of new games announced to. Sony over the last few years have blown through their exclusives that was set to release on PS5, with Spider-Man 2 being their last massive one, unless we count Last of Us Factions or some such, so this seems like a good chance to get a new heap of stuff announced.

Speaking of, I imagine this will also be our first big gameplay debut of Spider-Man 2. Last week had a prequel comic release for FCBD, so the marketing for it seems ready to kick off.

[Jango]

I really hope this is the one. The one that will make me buy a PS5.

[Sonicka]

On 5/21/2023 at 3:27 PM, Jango said:

I really hope this is the one. The one that will make me buy a PS5.

Well, it's still a no from me for now (FFVII Rebirth is probably what will get me into gear). 

Spider-Man 2 I do very much want as the first game was amazing... that being said I still haven't compelled myself enough to buy & play through Miles Morales yet (maybe it's due to being set in New York again - not the developers fault, that's just the setting), but I'd love to see Spidey swing elsewhere too. I'm not so sure they can pull off a TOTK and reuse the same map (now a third time) with subtle differences, but we'll see.

There were a few other indie games that had me intrigued - but no doubt these will probably come to Switch (or PS4). The Journey Hawks Sand Skater 2 game looks pretty neat (I do love Giant Squids previous work), as did Gris developers new arthouse game. 

I'm also a little unclear on what they are trying to achieve with Project Q - a streaming only device that is inoffensive but ultimately seems like a pointless piece of equipment. This is essentially a hollowed out PSVita... or better still for comparison, a WiiU gamepad (hilariously this is actually an add-on for PS5 compared to how people thought the Gamepad was for the Wii). So, what's at play here Sony? This clearly isn't a competitor in the handheld market, but I can't see how this is going to make playing PS5 games portably any better, this does not seem that accessible or viably functional to be consistent beyond the home.  

 

[Jango]

7 hours ago, Sonicka said:

Spider-Man 2 I do very much want as the first game was amazing... that being said I still haven't compelled myself enough to buy & play through Miles Morales yet (maybe it's due to being set in New York again - not the developers fault, that's just the setting), but I'd love to see Spidey swing elsewhere too. I'm not so sure they can pull off a TOTK and reuse the same map (now a third time) with subtle differences, but we'll see.

Well, SM1 only had Manhattan, and we already know they're adding Queens to the sequel. Might aswell add Brooklyn and we have a map that's twice as big as the first. More diverse interiors like that classic Spider-man game from the PS1 would be cool too. Miles Morales already showed us a few better ones than the original. 

But man. I just want more swinging (and GLIDING too?!?!) and punching. Now with the black suit even? They already got me. 

[Sonicka]

2 hours ago, Jango said:

Well, SM1 only had Manhattan, and we already know they're adding Queens to the sequel. Might aswell add Brooklyn and we have a map that's twice as big as the first. More diverse interiors like that classic Spider-man game from the PS1 would be cool too. Miles Morales already showed us a few better ones than the original. 

But man. I just want more swinging (and GLIDING too?!?!) and punching. Now with the black suit even? They already got me. 

I'll be honest - I actually didn't know all of New York wasn't included - I just thought it was all there because it's New York lol. Also didn't consider interiors being unique, that's a very good point. 

In any case that's great they have incorporated new areas. And actually the super mario squirrel suit gliding... yeah that was pretty sweet. Any new ways to make a traversal system that is already fun even better is a plus. 

[juiceDpunk983]

Honestly I was disappointed. No footage of Silent Hill 2 remake? Thought that was coming out this year, suppose this means the release will be next year now.

[Shiny Gems]

Is it me, or do these now usually come at the same time of Nintendo Directs now?

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Motobug will be streaming the event live tomorrow for anyone who wants to watch together.

I would suspect we're getting the Spidey 2 gameplay footage as either the opener or finale tomorrow, given word of it leaked tonight.

[Tornado]

Just now, ShinyGems said:

Is it me, or do these now usually come at the same time of Nintendo Directs now?

Have they ever not? This isn't even the first time Sony has announced a Direct immediately after Nintendo did and then scheduled them for the same ass day. I see them referred to as "Sony Direct" about as often as people call it by its actual name.

 

 

You can set your watch to it about as consistently as Blizzard saying someone in Overwatch is gay every time a sexual harassment news story is about to break.

[SupahBerry]

1 hour ago, ShinyGems said:

Is it me, or do these now usually come at the same time of Nintendo Directs now?

Never [barring the below exception] to the point they air within hours of one another; it's most always been them airing within a few weeks one another usually.

 

This just seems to be a note for note repeat of last year's September showcase day, just one day after a whole year since the last one.

[Tornado]

31 minutes ago, Supah Berrio said:

Never to the point they air within hours of one another; it's most always been them airing within a few weeks one another usually.

https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-direct-september-2022-everything-announced-including-the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom

https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-state-of-play-september-2022-everything-announced

[SupahBerry]

45 minutes ago, Supah Berrio said:

A note for note repeat of last year's September showcase day

I contradicted myself first. But yeah, I should've made that clear from the start