Ps5 showcase Reactions: The Console Wars are Back

Today on 9-16 was the day that we have been waiting for. The day when the final PS5 sized piece of the next gen puzzle fell into place. Sony finally revealed everything that we wanted to know about the PlayStation 5 and then some in a showcase that did not disappoint and probably was their best one yet. If you missed it and want to be genuinely surprised while watching the show go and check it out before you read any further. For everyone else, keep reading to get a step by step breakdown of as well as honest reactions, thoughts and questions from today’s PlayStation 5 Livestream Showcase. 

Final fantasy XVI

Rumors had been starting to spread that a new Final Fantasy game, either part 2 of Final Fantasy 7 or the next installment of the numbered franchise would be shown during the showcase. Those rumors were confirmed right away as the first trailer shown was for Final Fantasy XVI. For sixteen Square Enix is taking the franchise away from the modern day fantasy setting of Final Fantasy 15 and going back to the more traditional medieval setting that the series started with. The trailer, like all Final Fantasy trailers, looked amazing with giant Kaiju sized summons wreaking havoc on battlefields and within castle walls. The game play that was shown makes it look like Final Fantasy 16 is going to lean harder than ever into the action RPG combat with some of the combos and chain attacks looking more like Devil May Cry or Nier Automata than anything that has been in a Final Fantasy game. The trailer did start with a text bar saying it was running on a PC set to imitate PS5 specs which made for a bad opening optic of what was a PlayStation showcase but when the final shot of the trailer announced that the game would be a PlayStation 5 console exclusive I had a legit “OH SH*T!” moment. Obviously I’m excited for a new numbered Final Fantasy game but there wasn’t a single melanated person or even a release window in the trailer and Square Enix’s shotty history of handling both those things gives me concern.

Spider-Man Miles Morales 

The showcase offered up a decent sized game play and explanation trailer for Spider-Man Miles Morales. One of the developers explained that the game will take place one year after the events of Insomniac’s first Spider-Man game and focus on Miles trying to deal with street war between high tech gang the Underground and the shady Roxxon Energy corp. The game play sequence showed off the acrobatic combat that was a staple of the first game plus Miles’ unique invisibility and electric shock combat abilities. It also featured some of the quicktime event button mash prompts that the first game had and the now mandatory “use webs” to hold together some impossibly large structure that has been in all forms of Spider-Man media at this point. One noticeable difference between Miles Morales and the first game though is how tight the camera was focused on Miles. In Marvel’s Spider-Man the camera always seemed to pull back to give you a wide view of the environment but in this trailer the camera really has a tighter focus that shows the detail of Miles’ movement. On the topic of movement it was a little disappointing to see how similar Miles and Peter seem to move in combat. It’s a small gripe but I was hoping that Miles’ would really have his own style of movement that looked and felt different from Peter’s. Spider-Man Miles Morales has been called a launch title but the trailer ended with a Holiday 2020 banner.

Hogwarts Legacy

Warner Bros. has been pretty bad and keeping their game projects secret and the Harry Potter related game had to have been the biggest example of that. A pretty cool looking trailer for the game leaked almost two years ago and since then gamers and Potter heads alike had been wondering when the official reveal would come. Well now that Hogwarts Legacy has debuted for real, I can say that the game still looks cool as hell even from my standpoint as a very casual Harry Potter/ Wizarding World fan. The game is apparently set years before the events of any of the books or movies in the late 1800’s so the story will be something completely original. What was shown of the game play looked to do a good job of capturing the charm and whimsy as well as the sometimes unsettling fright of Harry Potter’s Wizarding World. From learning spells and riding brooms to dodging fire breathing dragons or giant spiders the trailer looked great. The character creation options look on point too as a variety of realistic skin complexions and hair textured were shown as well. A 2021 release window was all that was given but since the game has actually been in development for a while now hopefully Hogwarts legacy releases sooner than later. 

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War 

Of all the games shown Black Ops Cold War was probably the one that had the fewest unanswered questions for it coming into the showcase. The segment of the game that was shown looked great featured the combat and action set pieces that are par for the course of a COD game now. The ability to grab human shields and do close quarters executions was a new element to the game play but other than that it was the Call of Duty game play that fans should know and love. Obviously it all looked beyond gorgeous running on a next gen system with higher resolution and frame rate. Cold War did manage one surprise when it ended saying that the game’s multiplayer mode would get a free alpha game play period this weekend from the 18th to the 20th. So players will be able to get hands on time with the game real soon.

Resident Evil 8  Village

Capcom had a new trailer for Resident Evil 8 that was still just as ominous and mysterious as the previous ones they’ve had. This one even featured a bit of cinematics that looked inspired by indie horror/survival games Don’t Starve and Little Nightmares. Chris Redfield, his Call of Duty looking tactical team and Ethan were all in the trailer. The move to first person gave the series a needed spark and 8 looks like it will continue the success that Resident Evil has been having. The werewolf like monsters and the setting for the game give off some major Gothic horror vibes. I couldn’t help but think of Cainhurst or Dracula’s Castle from Bloodborne and Castlevania during the trailer’s final shot of a snow covered castle in an unsettled woods area. So much of the game’s story is unclear but what is still unclear to me is how to say the title. The end title screen gave the main heading spot to the word “Village” with a roman number eight highlighted in the first four letters then underneath the title was Resident Evil in the subtitle spot. Hopefully between now and its 2021 release date I can figure out what is the proper way to say Resident Evil 8’s title.

Deathloop 

Deathloop is a game I was very high on after its E3 reveal but then had a pretty major drop in expectations after seeing the game play in the previous PlayStation showcase. This new trailer that was part of the showcase clarified some elements of the game and brought my excitement level back up. The trailer showed how strategy and learning the daily patterns of the characters in the game will play an important part in your goal to break the time loop you are stuck in. You won’t have enough time in your 24 hour loop to travel across the island and kill each of the eight assassination targets. Instead you have to find ways to manipulate them into showing up in places that are to your advantage. That gives the game an added layer of complexity that reminds me of the Hitman games. Hopefully that element of the game will be flushed out to the point that you can see completely different methods to kill a target from player to player. There’s still a lot left for Deathloop to explain like how the multiplayer will work but it still looks like it will be a solid console exclusive in PlayStation’s early lineup of games for the 5. I’m not in love with the kind of simplistic smooth texture art style the game uses but the fact that both main characters seem to be some kind of black still has me excited for its 2021 release.  

Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition 

When Capcom’s classic yellow and blue arcade style logo came up on the screen for a second I thought they were going to debut a new street fighter or one of their other fighting franchises because so far none of the next gen consoles have shown a fighter. Instead it turned out to be a reveal for Devil May Cry Special Edition which may as well just be called the Virgil Edition. Dante’s fan favorite anti-hero / out right villain brother took the spotlight of the trailer. The action and combat looked just as slick as ever with a higher number of enemies on screen, what I assume are increased particle effects and other features that only the next gen consoles can provide. From day one people wanted Virgil to be playable in Devil May Cry 5 so on one hand it’s cool that Capcom is finally providing that on the other hand though it is pretty lame that they made us wait almost two years for something that they knew we wanted from the very beginning and on top of that you have to pay for it. The special edition doesn’t appear to add any new settings or story expansion to the game, just the ability to play as Virgil. A PS5 upgraded version of DMC 5 with Virgil added as a character should have been a free upgrade for everyone that already owned the game on the current gen consoles. Instead it just looks like Capcom milking fans of one of its most popular franchises for money. If they want us to happily pay for it they could at least make Trish and Lady playable as well. Devil May Cry 5 will launch digitally with the PS5.

ODDWORLD Soulstorm

Oddworld got a new trailer that showed more of the game’s old school side scrolling platform play and not much more. The game’s creative director said how the game was taking advantage of the power of the PS5 but the trailer was really little more than a time filler as it didn’t show any new story elements or a release window. Oddworld has a pretty serious cult classic following that’s been established so with this trailer you’re either already excited for the game or just left wondering.

Five Nights at Freddy’s Security Breach

Five Nights at Freddy’s is a game that deserves some credit as paving a way for the main game streaming sites and services of today. Now it looks like there is going to be a reason to go back to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The teaser trailer only showed a slow fly through of the new Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex, a neon light soaked futuristic huge fun center. While the camera moved through the center there was an A.I. voice pleading with a kid to come back out and play. There was also a quick shot of one of the games animatronics crawling across the kitchen selves before the trailer ended with a jump scare shot of the animatronic’s face before ending with no release date shown.

Demon’s Souls 

The game that started it all for the Soulsborne action RPG genre got a feature that showed some raw game play before breaking into a proper trailer. The combat looks to be both a little faster and heavier and even more brutal. The game play featured didn’t have the games HUD turned on and had most of the enemies oddly died after one hit but still looked satisfying in that From Software kind of way. The legit trailer portion showcased some of the different monstrous bosses and showed how well recreated the environments had been. At this point Bluepoint Studios can call themselves the masters of remakes, Demon’s Souls somehow looks brand new and like a faithful recreation of the original game at the same time. The textures, lighting and especially flame effects definitely looked next gen. From the giant fire spewing spiders and Dragons to the details of the stonework inside the castles the game looked great but the trailer oddly ended with no mention of a release date even though it was previously called a launch title. Hopefully that doesn’t mean that the game could possibly be delayed because that would be a hard hit to the PS5 launch lineup. 

Fortnite

Epic games dropped in with a quick trailer to show that Fortnite would be available  at launch. The trailer showed all the typical craziness that is Fortnite these days and that was about it. Although it did look noticeably prettier because of the next gen face lift 

PS Plus Collection 

A new feature for the PS5 online subscription service was announced. It will provide all PlayStation 5 users with a plus subscription free access to a collection of various first and third party PS4 titles for free. Some of the most notable games featured were basically all Sony exclusive titles, Capcom games Monster Hunter World and Resident Evil 7, and games from Warner Bros. like Batman Arkham Knight and Mortal Kombat. The collection feature seems like a decent replacement for what is most likely going to be a lack of PlayStation Plus free PS5 games. Hopefully the Collection feature is permanent but does not mean that we will never see free monthly games come to the PS5.

Price and Release Date

After all of the trailers were done all that was left was for Sony to reveal what we really wanted, price and release date. After a quick showcase of the console design the prices for both models of the PS5 were shown. The model that has a disc drive, which is simply called the Playstation 5, will cost $499.99 and the Digital Edition will be a hundred dollars less at $399.99. Both consoles will release in North America, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand on November 12th and then worldwide November 19th. Pre-orders will open on September 17th at select retailers.

God of War Ragnarok

To end the show Sony gave us a very basic teaser trailer for the God of War game. All it had was an animation of the game’s logo and Kratos saying “The time draws near, you must prepare yourself.” before fading to show the Ragnarok subtitle and a 2021 release window.

Final Thoughts

The only real thing that people wanted out of this PS5 showcase event was for the prices and launch date to be revealed, so in that regard the event was a success. Not only did the price get revealed but it also went against many of the rumors that were saying how the PS5 was going to be no less than 600 dollars. At 499.99 the 5 will match the Series X and come out only two days after it. The release date is the biggest piece of news for the whole event. Sony and Microsoft going to head to head with their console releases in the same week is unprecedented. It seemed like more and more the talk was that the “Console Wars” were coming to an end and there was evidence that supported it. Games were being allowed to have console cross play, there were less third party exclusive games being made and the presidents of Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox were making joint statements about the future of gaming. This showcase though, it may very well be a re-ignition of the war. Playstation is making some very aggressive moves with their price points, release date and acquiring of third party console exclusives. 

This was a VERY good showing for the PlayStation 5 but that doesn’t mean it was perfect. Of the 12 games that were shown or teased 6 of them were console exclusives BUT only 3 of them, Call of Duty, Devil May Cry 5 and Fortnite, showed exact release dates. Spider-Man Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls which had been called launch titles at one point now said “Holiday 2020” or didn’t say anything for their release dates respectively. Another missed opportunity was not making a move like Xbox did with Assassin’s Creed and getting Call of Duty to move it’s November 13th release date up to match the system’s November 12th launch. I’m not trying to put a damper on the overall great news that the showcase brought but we can’t make memes about Xbox’s lack of launch games and then not say anything about the possibility that the PS5 may be just as lacking. Make sure to share your thoughts in the comments below and keep checking Blerd.com for our continued coverage of the next gen console launches. Which version are you most interested in and what game(s) are you most looking towards lets us know in the comments.