State of Play Delivers Barrage of Blockbusters: Marvel Fighter, New 007, and Final Fantasy Tactics Remake Confirmed
Sony Interactive Entertainment’s latest State of Play broadcast delivered a dense showcase of upcoming titles, confirming long-held rumors and unveiling brand-new blockbusters for PlayStation 5. The event featured major new game reveals, deep dives into anticipated titles, and a slew of release dates for the near future.
Headlining the show was the explosive reveal of “MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls,” a new tag-team fighting game from genre veterans Arc System Works. Developed in partnership with Marvel Games and PlayStation Studios, the game promises an intuitive yet deep fighting system set in a reimagined Marvel Universe.
Spy-thriller fans received a first look at “007 First Light,” an original James Bond origin story from IO Interactive. The new trailer for the third-person action-adventure game, launching next year, promises to explore the events that shaped the iconic MI6 agent. The trailer was frankly a thriller, as expected, and as a fan of some of the James Bond films (Casino Royale!), I’m actually pretty excited to see more of this title.
After much speculation, Square Enix officially announced “Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles,” an enhanced version of the beloved 1997 strategy RPG. Launching September 30 for PS5 and PS4, the game will feature fully voiced dialogue, graphical improvements, and a new, more accessible “Squire” difficulty setting. A lot of rumours were flying for this game and I’m glad to see it finally get its big moment.
The action continued with Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja announcing “Nioh 3” for PS5, which will allow players to switch instantly between Samurai and Ninja combat styles. A limited-time demo was made available on the PlayStation Store following the broadcast. Another major sequel, “Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound,” a side-scrolling entry from the developers of “Blasphemous,” is set to launch on July 31. I know a lot of fans are excited for these, especially when its been a while since the last Ninja Gaiden title. A franchise as long-lasting as that one, you can appreciate it sticking around through all these generations.
Konami provided a closer look at the remake of “Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater,” showcasing the fearsome Cobra Unit and confirming the return of the “Snake vs Monkey” mode. The highly anticipated title will launch on PS5 on August 28. I’m curious how the performance of this title will be for the future of Metal Gear Solid and potential remakes for other titles. I’m glad Konami has been releasing ports through its collections releases.
Other key announcements from the State of Play:
- Release Dates: The quirky walking simulator “Baby Steps” arrives September 8, the origami platformer “Hirogami” on September 3, survival-climber “Cairn” on November 5, and the horror title “Silent Hill f” will release on September 25. It feels like Silent Hill has had a bit of a lull with new information so its good to see more, and reviews for that title will be very interesting to watch.
- New Reveals: New titles announced include “Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement,” a 2.5D action RPG sequel; “Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow” for PlayStation VR2; and “Romeo is a Dead Man,” an action title from Grasshopper Manufacture.
- Updates and Collections: A “Mortal Kombat Kollection” featuring early games and interactive documentaries is coming later this year. “Astro Bot” will receive five new free levels this summer.
- PlayStation Plus: “Sword of the Sea” will join the Game Catalog on its release day, August 19. The classic PS2 version of “Deus Ex” joins in June, with “Twisted Metal 3 & 4” and the original “Resident Evil 2” and “Resident Evil 3: Nemesis” coming to the Classics range later this summer. Seeing more classics re-release is great to see and I hope this practice continues. I’m a big fan of backwards compatibility if it wasn’t obvious.
- Hardware: PlayStation revealed “Project Defiant,” a new wireless fight stick set to launch next year.
- Future Showcase: A dedicated State of Play episode for “Ghost of Yōtei” was announced for this July, promising an extended look at the game’s mechanics.
A lot of big reveals, especially with a new Marvel fighting title from the makers of Guilty Gear! A new Marvel Vs. Capcom seems to remain a pipe dream, but having these characters in another fighter is always nice to see… I’ve got high expectations for it.
