Third Party is the theme for the 10/27 edition of State of Play

I will be blunt, when this edition of State of Play was announced, I had no expectations whatsoever…little did I know Sony would lead off the festivities with what I would call an ?October Surprise?. With little fanfare a trailer would play about a game where players participate in combat for an audience watching at home.

With outlandish weapons and even more outlandish costumes players would have to kill everyone to survive. The trailer would feature 2 hosts doing the talking, a portly and well dressed fellow with gold inlays and a dainty looking woman who?s only out of place feature was a golden prosthetic arm. Back to the action, a klaxon would sound and an ominous masked dapper gentleman dubbed ?Hunter G? would vanquish a competitor with ease. The first thought that would enter my head was??huh…this game has Jackals, just like in LET IT DIE?, little would I know how apropos that statement would be. As the trailer came to it?s conclusion and the name of this title would be revealed I almost stood up from my seat, Deathverse…Let it Die. Published by Gungho and developed by a new developer called Supertrick Games, this was indeed a follow up to LET IT DIE. For an IP I thought was dead because of the departure of their original developer, I?m a little bit glad I was off…it seems I?ll be spending more time in Uncle Death?s world in 2022.

Oh there were other titles showcased in this surprisingly tight sub-30 minute presentation, next was a title called We are OFK, a 5 episode game about the formation of the group OFK. It has a very pastel color palette, they clearly wear their progressiveness on their sleeve(er…body, given you see a ?black trans lives matter? shirt during trailer). Each episode will feature a new song from the band which you can interact with via manipulating a music video. It?s an interesting concept and they certainly got me to at least sign up for their newsletter (and it?s not because of the offer of a life size cut out of the band wearing nothing but DualSense controllers). Episode 1 will hit PlayStation 4 and 5 in 2022

They?re bugs, they?re snax, they?re Bugsnax and they?re back and bigger than ever! In this addon to the viral title with the catchy theme song, you?ll track down giant size bugsnax, give hats to regular size bugsnax and even decorate your own home. No expansion packs required as Bugsnax: The Isle of Bigsnax will arrive in early 2022.

Scott Cawthorne might?ve been ousted due to some political contributions, but his creations will continue to haunt our video games…and local Hot Topics and/or Spencer’s Gifts as we are treated to a trailer for the next entry in the Five Nights at Freddy?s series, Five Nights at Freddy?s: Security Breach. Animatronics, scares, security rooms, it?s all here and you can enjoy a quiet evening in the pizzaplex when it comes out on December 16th.

Next up is a trailer for Death?s Door which I thought was odd given it was released earlier in the year. What my woeful memory neglected to recall was the title only released on PC and Xbox platforms. PlayStation fans will finally be able to enjoy this avian action RPG when it lands November 23rd and their patience will be rewarded as all pre-orders of Death?s Door will come with Acid Nerve?s previous title Titan Souls.

Many have tried to dethrone Mario Kart and many have failed, will Kartrider Drift stand a chance? Besides looking simple in it?s design, it is also free to play, so perhaps it could find an audience. If you are interested in giving the title a spin, prospective drivers can sign up for a beta on the game?s website, give those tires a kick before it?s 2022 release.

King of Fighters makes it?s presence known as it introduces a new fighter for the perennial team based fighting game. Delores who seems to be some kind of fighter with the ability to turn into some kind of liquid joins 7 other returning characters as King of Fighters XV will have an open beta on the PlayStation platform. The beta will run from November 19th to November 22nd, hopefully the team will be able to collect valuable data and feedback to make improvements before the title?s February 12th 2022 release date.

It?s Personoids vs Residents in this social deduction game that takes place on a spaceship where residents need to complete a series of tasks and a sole personoid has to hinder that progress by disguising itself as a resident and mucking up their plans. First Class Trouble will be one of November?s PlayStation Plus titles, which is always a good move for titles which require a robust player base.

Seeing a Tri-Ace logo usually means the game is on to figure out what ridiculous subtitle the next Star Ocean title will have. To the team?s credit the subtitle was surprisingly tame, Star Ocean: The Divine Force will be the latest entry in the long running RPG series. Since the games are usually standalone affairs, all these characters and environments are unfamiliar to me. That won?t stop me from buying the game and never opening it as it has been the case for me since PS2?s Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. The latest entry in the Star Ocean series is set for a 2022 release.

Closing this 3rd party showcase is Neostream Interactive?s Little Devil Inside. With it?s charming and quaint artstyle I?m already onboard to explore this world, uncover and document all the strange occurrences. However those who want to know when they can join Billy on his adventures will have to wait longer as no release window was provided…

The showcase started off strong for me, and ended with very little questions answered (which is tragic since Little Devil Inside looks extremely promising). There certainly was a nice variety of titles and it was nice to see several Free to Play titles showcased. I know what I?ll be doing after this and that?s trying to dig up all the details on Deathverse, particularly it?s developer Supertrick Games.