For the second year in a row, Sony Computer Entertainment of America hosted a special event devoted to its fans, although the publisher changed the location from last year’s Las Vegas to San Francisco. This show delivered on all fronts, with two days of fun games to play and a few surprises.
Most of those surprises came during the opening keynote, which took place on Saturday morning. Plenty of announcements were made, including a few for Sony’s upcoming PlayStation VR, as well as PlayStation 4 and PS Vita.
Which ones were the most shocking? We have a recap of the five biggest takeaways from the event.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Gameplay
When the Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced earlier this year at E3, it took the gaming world by storm, with fans excited to see the return of old friends like Cloud, but on a whole new platform. During PlayStation Experience they witnessed the game in action, and it doesn’t look disappointing with its fast-paced action sequences and highly detailed cinemas. Even with its recently confirmed episodic format, fans are sure to enjoy the return of Final Fantasy VII, though a specific timeframe hasn’t been given yet. More than likely, Square Enix will wait until both Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III are complete first.
Watch FF VII in action below.
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
A little while back, Level-5 made the partnership of a lifetime, pairing with historic animation house Studio Ghibli for an unprecedented role-playing adventure. Well, no one saw the sequel coming, and Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom looks more beautiful than ever. Featuring a gorgeous animation style that brings the game world to life, along with a provocative story that follows a boy’s quest to become king, the Bandai Namco-produced sequel is likely to be a big hit with the role-playing crowd. Check out the trailer below and you’ll see a lot to get excited about.
Ace Combat 7
It’s been a few years since we’ve had the opportunity to fly the unfriendly skies with an entry in Bandai Namco’s aerial combat series – Ace Combat: Assault Horizon came out a little while ago – but a new trailer that debuted during PlayStation Experience reminded us this franchise still has jet fuel to burn. Promising the best in next-generation flying action – paired with white-knuckle combat with plenty of missiles and gunfire – Ace Combat 7 also came with a surprising new addition in the form of PlayStation VR support. Players everywhere will now get the feeling of sitting in a cockpit as missiles go flying by. Sadly, there wasn’t any sign of a game demo.
Paragon
Considering its close partnership with Microsoft over the years on Gears of War, no one expected Epic Games to jump ship and work on titles for other companies. However, the studio decided to go in an entirely new direction with PlayStation development in the form of a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game involving various combat types, coming together to kick some major butt. Though no gameplay was shown from the project yet, Paragon has a lot of promise behind it, mainly due to Epic Games’ knack for multiplayer. Plus the trailer, which closed out the show, looks promising.
The Evolution of PlayStation VR
Finally, even though it still doesn’t have a release date or price point yet, the PlayStation VR dominated Experience, mainly due to the impressive number of games on display. Even simpler titles like Job Simulator managed to get some attention. Sony announced some promising new titles for the peripheral, including the wacky 100 Foot Robot Golf, which should be one heck of a party game, as well as the return of the immersive virtual adventure, Rez. It’s nice to see Sony get serious about its VR games. Check out the trailer for Rez Infinite below to get an idea of just how immersive the experience will be.
