PlayStation State of Play recap 3-9-2022

Sony?s digital presentations never seem to please the fans unlike the Big N?s Nintendo Directs, but I do applaud their efforts. Personally I never find them to be as disappointing as some of the fanbase would profess, however I don?t think any of them felt life changing either. So will today?s State of Play elicit a tinge of excitement or will we continue to wallow in disappointment caused by expecting too much.

The presentation starts with a trailer where an android shares a?dinosaur forecast. Yes this is a future where random dinosaur attacks occur like precipitation! Thankfully the citizens have been evacuated and Exo-Fighters have been dispatched to handle the?dare I say, crisis. A portal opens as dinosaurs flood the perimeter, we cut to a black screen that declares that Capcom presents, next the interior of one of the planes making it?s way to the dino infested areas is shown. We follow a man walking towards the cockpit, where he is playfully accosted by a red headed woman wearing a tanktop?could this be, Regina?!?! More exosuits are shown threshing these invasive reptiles and we see a variety of dinosaurs we will be facing, Triceratops, T-Rexes all without feathers like ?science? would like us to believe. A slashing claw reveals the title?s name?Dino?no it?s Exoprimal and it?s coming 2023 for PS4 and PS5.

Capcom played with your emotions to lead off the State of Play. To cool the crowd down a glimpse of some upcoming games is presented. Ghostwire Tokyo, another PlayStation exclusive coming March 25th gives us a little bit more plot in this story trailer. Next is a trailer for Square?s Final Fantasy action spinoff Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin that is due March 18th, it also mentions a new demo will be available on PSN. Despite the fact that it?s release date was pushed back to October 11th, Forspoken showed off a new trailer with magic being used liberally in both attacking and traversal. Gundam Evolution showed off mostly robot on robot action with very little whiny teenage pilots bringing things down. The 6 on 6 arena brawler will be running a network test sometime in Spring 2022.

The next announcement definitely aroused some emotion from me as the word COWABUNGA leapt onto my screen. A montage of games featuring every child of the 90?s favorite quartet of heroes in a half shell flashed on the screen. Konami, the gatekeeper of these games, have taken a break from pachinko and health clubs to release a compilation dubbed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Cowabunga Collection. It will feature games that span the arcade, NES, SNES Genesis and Gameboy. A new generation will know the pain of losing all their turtles swimming in electric seaweed infested waters, and settle the age-old argument of which version of tournament fighters is the best. Like the trailer says, we?ll be able to grab a slice of this action in 2022.

Next up is a title that I was able to check out during the Steam Next Fest, Passion Republic?s Gigabash. The title which evokes memories of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee and War of the Monsters will be coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 in addition to the PC. Fans of Kaiju shouldn?t sleep on this one as it?s definitely a project with a lot of passion behind it.

Another return that was not expected, but Bandai Namco saw it in the cards will be bringing back Jojo?s Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle R to modern platforms. The version will tweak the battle system to new combo opportunities and introduce an all new ?Support Attack? system. Given this IP?s rise in popularity in the west, it?ll be nice to give gamers a chance to check out the title without breaking the bank.

Next is something a lot less flamboyant than the Joestar lineage, but no less violent. Flying Wild Hog?s black and white samurai title Trek to Yomi shows off it?s black and white aesthetics as well as it?s cast. It?s coming Spring 2022.

Housemarque?s roguelike Returnal put off some players with it?s punishing action and definitely put off gamers of lesser constitutions. However with it?s 3.0 update rechristening the title Returnal Ascension, players will be able to team up and take on the challenge of the main game as well as an unending tower. Will you preserve or will you beg for an easy mode when this update drops March 22nd?

Not content with having Triangle Strategy be the game with the strangest name in their portfolio, Square Enix is set to publish The DioField Chronicle. A strategy game which Wario64 best describes as ?Not Final Fantasy Tactics?, hopefully the title will distinguish itself a bit more before it?s eventual release sometime in 2022.

Closing out this edition of State of Play is another Square Enix title, a new entry to the Valkyrie Profile series. Valkyrie Elysium?s debut trailer is extremely action packed and evokes a Nier Automata feeling out of me. It?s great to see a dormant franchise rise again, but is this necessarily the best announcement to close this presentation? Nonetheless hopefully more details will be revealed about this title before it?s arrival in 2022.

Multiple debuts and mostly third party efforts for this edition of State of Play. Will Sony ever put one of these outs that garners universal praise?I wouldn?t expect it unless it includes more first party titles and maybe the reveal of FFVII Remake Part 2. Nonetheless I certainly got some titles that I?ll be keeping my eye on and in the end that?s all that really matters.