7 Thoughts After PlayStation’s State of Play: Blake's Hot Takes [Part 1]

If you would have asked me a couple of weeks ago, I would have said PlayStation was done making announcements for the year. After a quiet Summer skipping E3, Sony returned in September to bring the heat with a packed PlayStation Showcase.

Yet, here we are with another PlayStation State of Play under our belts before the Holidays. While it is easy to dismiss this light sprinkling of demos, indies, and DLC surprises as the most boring presentation to date, there’s plenty for fans to get stoked on.

1. 99 Problems But a Niche Ain’t One

I’m not apologizing for my Jay-Z pun. Also, PlayStation rightly isn’t apologizing for showcasing games that it knows aren’t for everyone. Yet, they find a way to have a spread of games that speak to a variety of niche gamers. At least something piqued your interest.We saw an online 3rd person battle royale game set in the Let it Die universe, a nondescript kart racer, a fighting game, a new action JRPG from Square Enix, a narrative music game revolving around the band OFK, a new installment of Five Nights at Freddy’s, and a cute survival adventure game that looks like something out of studio Laika. Playstation is embracing a diverse audience of gamers. 

2. PlayStation’s Indie Darlings.

I love to see Sony givin’ a shit about indies. Sony has been synonymous with the weird side of gaming since the early days of the PS1 when it was easier for the avant-garde and outcast developers to produce their games on cheaper disc formats compared to cartridges. Sony is still giving love and space to these kinds of studios, providing them a spotlight all to themselves. Not only are these games getting their 5-seconds of fame, they are also getting substantial support from Sony. Bugsnax was greenlit for a free DLC drop coming early next year, and new projects like First Class Trouble are getting day one PlayStation Plus status. While these games don’t look like home runs, Sony is making an effort to get these games in players' hands for cheap, and they will likely give you a really good time if you give it a chance.I also love that Little Devil Inside is being treated like a star. It was first announced in a major show (ps5 announcement), it was hyped by a teaser-tweet pre-show, then headlined today's showcase with a meaty trailer.  Speaking of…

3. The Devil You Know and the Devil You Don’t

Little Devil inside looks to be more substantial than I thought, and I’m way more excited now.The trailer showed off a gamut of gameplay features. Our little monster hunter will be using survival mechanics like crafting to navigate this creepy world with Burton-esque looking monsters. The combat looks to be timing-based, emphasizing counters and parries in a Souls-lite sort of way, while bigger baddies may require special items and puzzle-solving to tame. It was encouraging to get such an extended look at Little Devil Inside. The game dropped off the face of the earth on the PlayStation website prior to being slated for a Fall 2021 release. While delays are never fun, it seems the developer was quiet because this game is bigger than we thought. 

4. Sony’s Getting Political…

Front and center of the PlayStation State of Play was the singer of OFK wearing a Black Trans Lives Matter shirt. Even though this is obviously the stance of the band and developer rather than Sony, this isn’t the first time they have allowed political statements to be represented in major ways.If you remember, Sony’s prized exclusive Miles Morales at the PS5’s launch (big deal) had a mission where Miles finds a huge Black Lives Matter mural painted in his honor. Depending on where you are in the world, these are still significant slogans to stand by. Choosing to include these in PlayStation's big moments like a launch title or a State of Play says something.Good on you, Sony!

5. New Games Are Still Gonna Be Hard to Come By…

If you were disappointed by the lack of headliners today, buckle up. These look to be the caliber of appetizers that will be filling out the long waits for triple-A main courses. 

As I’ve said before, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.

If you’re down to stop and smell the roses a little bit, I think there is some great fun to be had with any of the games seen today. And if nothing speaks to you, that’s just fine. You can be a Grinch on top of your mountain looking down on the likes of me having a grand ol' time playing more Bugsnax. 

6. KartRider: Drift Coming in Hot

KartRider: Drift definitely wins the gutsiest game of the show. So much so, that I’m giving it it’s own take at number 6. For several reasons.With the effort everyone is making to put familiar characters together in go-kart and fighting games…(Mario Kart, Garfield kart, Sonic Racers, Crash Team Racing, Smash Bros., Nickelodeon Brawlstars, etc.) KartRider: Drift is plain as hell. And I kinda love it.These avatars look like someone made Bomberman out of Mii’s with none of the passion. It’s so weird.Like any other kart racer, you get items, including a giant banana wearing sunglasses--like a big f*** you to the man over at Nintendo.They had better have doubled down on making that game really fun to play, or I can’t imagine anyone caring about this game.That being said, I’m irrationally rooting for it. Consider me on the KartRider bandwagon.

7. Late to the 3rd Parties

What about the no-shows? It’s a little weird we didn’t see Stray, Solar Ash, or Ghostwire, all games that have been previously delayed but aren’t too far out. There’s still plenty of unknowns regarding these titles, I’m not sure if we should be concerned. Is PlayStation just confident those games are going to do well in the case of Little Devil Inside? With how close some of these titles are, you’d think there would be one last showing to get people excited. 

Final Thoughts on the PlayStation State of Play

I could see how many could be disappointed with PlayStations showing. Compared to announcements like Wolverine, Spiderman 2, KOTOR, and God of War 2, this presentation was pretty weak. If it wasn't clear to you already, the State of Play branding should temper your expectations compared to the Playstation Showcases.Nevertheless, I got some overall positive feelings from Sony’s effort today. There is a little something for everybody on the 3rd party and indie fronts, and there are still plenty of big games on the horizon if nothing spoke to you today.

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