What were the highlights from Sony’s PlayStation Showcase | Team Talk

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After Gamescom brought us the latest from Microsoft and some of the big third-party publishers, this week came Sony’s turn to give us a glimpse at what they’ve been up to with their PlayStation Showcase.

The hour-long event kicked off with a live-action spin on a traditional chess game, some off-beat content it feels like we haven’t really had since the likes of “Flute Guy” at 2018’s E3. Importantly, we heard from many of Playstation Studios’ fleet of first-party studios.

What was your highlight from the show? Let us know in the comments.

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by James Michael Parry

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@James_Parry

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by Team PTC

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@pass_controller

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James | Forspoken and Knights of the Old Republic

Anything Star Wars-related is always going to pique my interest immediately, and having tried hard to play the original KOTOR many years after its release but struggled to get into it on PC, the prospect of jumping in on console is very appealing, though so far we’ve seen little more than a logo.

For Forspoken though, there’s a lot to see. There are familiar traversal elements reminiscent of Sunset Overdrive, and even ReCore, an expansive fantasy world and, most interestingly, a protagonist who doesn’t belong in this world, making her immediately more relatable to me – a gamer who still hasn’t played Skyrim, despite numerous re-releases.

A new IP also makes this a less intimidating entry point to the genre, free from the weight of lore and legacy of even something like the Demon’s Souls remake. The presence of Homer the cat (which we all deserve to be able to pet), is an added bonus, and we’ll hopefully discover he made it to the other world safe and sound.

We don’t know much yet, but this trailer alone is exciting and I’m looking forward to finding out more before March 2022.

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Liam | Tchia

While it was cool to see Wolverine getting his own game, the cinematic trailer didn’t really give away anything. I’m not averse to a good cinematic, but the lack of gameplay footage from the other big reveals - namely, Spider-Man 2 and Knights of the Old Republic Remake – was a bit disappointing.

One title that did give us a decent look at some gameplay was Tchia. I’m not sure how I missed the game’s initial reveal, but I’m glad I’ve finally caught up as it looks like a very interesting one.

The bright, colourful visuals look great, and the animal/object ‘soul jump’ ability, which sees you take control of the targeted creature or item, seems like a lot of fun. As a big fan of The Wind Waker, there was a lot to like in the trailer, with Tchia seemingly taking some inspiration from the former (the Deku leaf-like glider, possessing a seagull, etc.)

It was disappointing not to see a solid release date (for some of the other aforementioned titles, too) but at least it means I won’t have to try and get hold of a PS5 until they are (hopefully) more readily available.

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Sam | Licensed games

There was a time when licensed games wore a badge of dishonour, mostly being known for pulling the wool over consumers’ eyes. They’d sell themselves on recognizable characters, often to children, then deliver very little in terms of narrative and gameplay. Years of endless cash grabs gave the genre a bad name, but the September PlayStation Showcase did a lot to remedy that.

Licensed games have been steadily increasing in quality, to the point that they now comprise much of Sony’s PS5 exclusive games line-up. Marvel’s Wolverine, Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic were all highlights of the live stream. Players love these characters and universes, but, rather than approaching with caution, now feel comfortable expressing genuine excitement.

While it isn’t an exclusive, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy also debuted a new trailer. There is a risk of superhero fatigue creeping into gaming, as it already has for some with cinema, but it looks to be righting many of the wrongs perpetrated by Marvel’s Avengers. It would’ve been easy to make the game always online and crammed with microtransactions, though seemingly lessons have been learned.

Microsoft is following suit by bringing Machine Games’ Indiana Jones to Xbox consoles, while Nintendo has leveraged the Marvel Ultimate Alliance brand. With all platform holders using licenses as exclusive system sellers, the turnaround is quite pronounced.

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What was your PlayStation Showcase highlight?