So much for lowering our expectations, eh? Sony's latest State of Play — broadcast on the 13th September, just to be clear — was another near perfectly paced and packed showcase. Sony itself had framed the event as a kind of lead-up to Tokyo Game Show 2022, which kicks off this week. We were promised updates on ten PS5, PS4, and PSVR2 titles, but what we got felt like a much bigger deal than some kind of opening act.
The 21-minute broadcast was punctuated by several heavy-hitting moments. A jaw-dropping reveal trailer for Tekken 8 was a great way to kick things off — perhaps an immediate indication that Sony was taking this State of Play seriously. Tekken 8 has been a long time coming, and it actually ended up being an effective advert for the PS5's technical prowess. Again, the Unreal Engine 5 fighter looks absolutely fantastic — and unlike Street Fighter 6, it's skipping PS4 entirely.
Then you've got the biggest surprise of the whole event: Rise of the Ronin. A PS5 console exclusive that could have easily acted as the show's finale, had it not been for God of War Ragnarok — but more on that shortly. For a broadcast that was billed as something relatively muted, the reveal of a AAA, open world RPG from Team Ninja was one hell of a statement, and it helped elevate the showcase as a whole.
And of course, the icing on the cake was the aforementioned God of War Ragnarok. We weren't sure if Sony would squeeze its remaining 2022 blockbuster into this particular event, but we're glad that it did. With The Last of Us: Part I out of the way, the company's focus will be on Kratos' triumphant return, and this was without doubt our most comprehensive look yet at the soon-to-be-released Norse adventure. It's always best to end on a high note!
So that's this State of Play's 'big three' covered, but it wouldn't be right to ignore the rest of Sony's offering. As mentioned, this was an extremely well paced presentation, and the likes of Like a Dragon: Ishin! (finally!), Synduality, and Stellar Blade really helped keep things rolling with some snappy gameplay-based trailers. Exactly the kind of stuff that you want from a State of Play; no endlessly talking heads, no deep dives that outstay their welcome, and no CG teasers.
PS Stars is also worth a mention — another quick segment that was reasonably informative — while PSVR2 titles Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge and Demeo gave us a fairly enticing glimpse into the headset's potential. Even Pacific Drive, the show's most indie component, managed to capture our attention with its intriguing blend of driving and survival mechanics.
The most impressive thing about this State of Play, though? It's the second time in a row that Sony has exceeded expectations, and delivered a really impressive showcase. Granted, it may not have had the overall weight of June's State of Play — a presentation that Push Square readers voted the best event of the summer — but it stuck to the fast-paced format and gave us some great looking games, as well as a few all-important surprises.
In a time when it feels like other publishers are getting worse at doing these kinds of shows, September's State of Play can only be seen as a big win for Sony and PlayStation.
Do you agree with our State of Play assessment? Add your opinion to our poll if you haven't already, and then have your say in the comments section below.
Comments 46
Seems a bit generous. It was fine, nothing amazing. God of War looks great but then we knew that didn't we? Don't remember the release dates for most of the games being particular near either, one at least was a vague 2024 (I forget which).
Overall, a bit meh.
I didn't think it was "really good" personally, and voted OK in the poll. I didn't feel it was all that slick and found it to be a bit incoherent.
Think I'm bringing in some bias about consistent disappointment at no Bloodborne and no MGS remake though.
Wasn't a huge amount for me personally, but also can't see how anyone could say it wasn't at least OK, and better than expected given the rumours before.
Glad I didn't listen to 'The Snitch' and all the other naysayers who rumored that there would be only "2 indie games, 2 AA japanese games on today's state of play".
Twitter was wrong...again! When will we learn to ignore the rumor mongers, giving up the hope that, like Nostradamus, they can predict the future.
It was good for sure, if not the blockbuster showcase everyone is waiting for. One thing though, they are really getting the formula of these down pat, no annoying presenter, no boring filler, wall to wall solid content worthy of a showcase (with a surprise like Ishin thrown in)...others take note pls.
It was a good showing. A few games to look forward to, a stunning PS5 only Tekken, and a game from the brilliant Team Ninja; it's Nioh games are masterfully sculpted games so another one from them should be held in the same regard as anything From Software produces.
And I don't think people really appreciate yet what a killer device PSVR2 is, this show didn't advance that but it wasn't meant to, I think. It must have its own show as it is truly stunning what they've made, and does more for the future evolution of the industry, and of firing the imaginations serving our sense of wonder and escapism, than a plan to dominate via streaming services ever can.
@Futureshark It's funny that Sony has now had two State of Play shows where absolutely nothing has been leaked. All of the "insiders" didn't even drop a hint that the shows were happening, never mind what games would be there.
It was OK. Only one title added to my PS5 interest list: Rise of the Ronin. Everything else is either a game I will regardless play somewhere else or God of War, that I was already planning to by whenever it goes on sale.
Sadly, Rise of the Ronin is dated 2024, and things being the way they are, I would not expect it before September 2024. Hopefully we get at least a Spider Man game in 2023 because my PS5 is collecting dust.
I went in with LOW expectations and was pleasantly surprised, so voted "Good". There wasn't an awful lot that appeals to me specifically but I could see the appeal for others.
@ShogunRok for me that fact reinforces I'm my mind that whenever we get leaks about games or shows, the vast majority of the leaks are sanctioned by the party the leak is affected by. Clearly secrets can be kept if the desire is there.
Edit: In regards of this vote, the people who anonymously vote 'very poor', what an interesting mindset they have. I'd love to study how their mind perceives reality and what motives its decision making. Fascinating.
God of War looked really cool but what I'm most excited for is Stellar Blade (aka Project Eve). I really hope that game delivers
The fact we've had two solid SoPs in a row gives me some hope that Sony has hit its stride with these now. It's taken a while for them to figure it out but I think the last couple they've shown have been spot on, so fingers crossed they can keep it up
@riceNpea It does make you wonder!
When compared to previous State of Plays the last two SoP have been a genuine success
Less talk/more walk is always a more satisfying endgame. Hope Sony keeps it up.
Yes, yes: state of play good. But when are we talking about the new PS5 AAA IP announcement rumours, come on Push Square chop chop 😁
@ShogunRok Didn't The Snitch leak everything from the first one a day before it aired but nobody noticed because they were unknown at the time?
I thought it was better paced than their previous, but none of the games were appealing to me and that includes GOW! Loved the one a few years back, but im just feeling suprisingly indifferent to Ragnarok and I dont know why!
Yeah, it was Good. Just wanted some VR news and came out with some new games on the list also
Been doing the same rule since coming to consoles from PC. Get a PlayStation first each generation and build from there. Still working out.
It was already good but then the last 3 games, exclusive games, made it an ace show. 🔥🔥🔥
@RBMango I believe he did yes, but The Snitch is legit. My comment was aimed more towards the usual Twitter insiders who are always chasing clout. "Sony will have a showcase in September. But if it doesn't happen then it might be October. Or November. Or next year." You know the ones.
I think this had more that appeals to myself than I probably would have gotten from a PS showcase anyway honestly. Stellar Blade, Like A Dragon Ishin!, Tekken 8, and Rise of the Ronin are all must plays for myself. Sure I'm curious about the 1st party stuff but I'm happy with what we got as well.
And the Snitch said this was going to be a disappointing SOP with minor games. I thought this was an excellent State of Play. Finally getting the Yakuza Ishin games localized, seeing PS5 exclusives like Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin and a small peak at more God of War Ragnarok. I'm not a fighting game guy but Tekken 8 looked incredible. Even the smaller things like the VR2 games and the indies weren't too bad either. I really hope if Sony does more State of Plays they are every few months like this with this length but have content like this that makes it a worthwhile 20 minutes compared to some of the underwhelming ones we've had in the past. I don't think SOP is perfect yet but I feel they have been much more tolerable this year compared to the past.
I thought it was just okay, because apart ragnarok which was day one buy regardless trailer or no trailer, nothing else was worth attention.
@ShogunRok Fair enough.
I'm also surprised The Snitch got this prediction of only minor games for the SoP VERY wrong. Maybe it was done intentionally to divert the eyes that must be trying to find out their identity, or maybe Sony successfully tricked them into thinking it would only be minor updates in an attempt to zero in on them.
@RBMango Yeah, who knows with that one. Maybe he was being intentionally misleading, or maybe the games weren't a huge deal to him personally — it's hard to say.
I'm not aware of what games leaked but I was surprised by many titles that were announced, outside of ones we saw in other events of course. Nice job Sony.
Twice? Lol, I still say the Japanese oriented SoP that had star ocean, valkyrie elysium, and diofield chronicles was pretty good too better than the majority of them. They may or may not turn out to be good, but 2 jrpg comebacks and a new smaller scale strategy rpg, is a win for me no matter what people were expecting from that SoP
As I said last night, Sony know how to pace these things. When PS had an article the other day lamenting the pacing and content of other streams, Sony reminded everyone how these things should be done.
1. No "I love everything" presenters and talking segments or at least kept to a bare minimum. The PS Stars segment was barely a minute long.
2. A variety of content that cater to different tastes whether there be AAA games from East and West, VR games and a couple of indie games.
3. Not a lengthy running time means much less likely of games feeling like filler.
And 4. A personal preference...letting the game do the talking and not some annoying narrator (looking at you Nintendo).
This one was no where near as good as June's. If you didn't like niche Japanese games. Their wasn't much on offer that was new. The only thing that really excited me from this was more news on PS Stars.
Thought it was a great State of Play considering it was being played down. Not interested in stars but a few great surprises for me. Well done
Yes it was a good show.better than i expected.word up son
Two outstanding titles that look rather intriguing, one of them I have been expecting for a good long while now. Besides that, nothing really struck me as wholly fascinating.
Still waiting on CDPR for Witcher 4, EA and Criterion for NFS, and Bioware for DA4. Possibly (fingers crossed) a decent SH2 from Konami, of course I have my doubts. That's where the current generation will really begin to hit its stride, I imagine.
The format was great (outside of that weird digression into Playstation Stars digital collectibles, but it's not like Miyamoto rambling about Pikmin Bloom in the Direct was any better).
The games didn't do as much for me. Nothing hugely exciting, unfortunately. I'll definitely keep an eye on Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin (which I'm hoping feels more like an RPG and less of a soulslike, but we'll see), though.
So it ended up being very 'eh' for me. Didn't hate it, didn't love it.
Nintendo Direct: Ya like farming? WE GOT ALL THE FARMING!
State of Play: Ya like Samurai? WE GOT ALL THE SAMURAI!
@ShogunRok seems a bit strong to out your push square colleagues like that but yeah, we know the ones....
Now that the gow hype has calmed, I think it was a 7. The one with sf6, ff16 and re4 was an 8.
The thing that bothers me now... it seems like we won't get a showcase this year. I feel like putting gow there made it clear.
Maybe they'll do a state of play just for spiderman but I think that's it. All we have after gow is spiderman 2 and that could be delayed to 2024. Them not showing anything yet makes me think they won't have anything ready besides spiderman 2 for 2023. I look at their studios and it doesn't seem it's their time to release a game neither if I base it off their previous release.
Maybe the last of us multiplayer.maybe.
It was a very solid 4/5 made better by the lowering of expectations, hence it exceeded them.
Compare that with Ubisoft 2/5 (it was FAR too long) and Nintendo, also 2/5 and Sonys sitting pretty so far. Showing once again that often less is more.
You’re up next Xbox, see ya tomorrow at TGS.
I don't understand why Sony would present Firewall Ultra in a blogpost, but have two Quest ported games (granted, Demeo seems really cool) on this SoP.
If I was Sony I would want Firewall to make a real splash. First game was like a VR R6 Siege + Counter-Strike shooter with some really tense encounters, and I can only imagine this one will be a lot better on the superior PSVR2 hardware... but yet another anonymous blog post it is.
I enjoyed the show, but I always enjoy these presentations cause I just simply loving anything to do with video games... May it be mobile, console, PC, or VR; and will always come away from these shows satisfied.
You can't please everyone. There was a lot that appealed to me though so I certainly consider it an above average presentation.
I want a fighting game that will make me go WOW!!! Tekken 8 sort of did & it was another cool SOP to If SONY could do one of these SOP once a month(I know it would probably be impossible) then i am sure people wouldn't get frustrated for the months that nothing really happens. Saying all that I think SONY have done a fantastic job this Gen so far with the pandemic stuff going on. Here's to the next SOP!!!
“Struck gold” is a stretch. It was good but not great. At least it was better than that abysmal direct and absolutely better than that XB……….. oh wait, never mind!!!!😂😂😂
@Ken_Kaniff I thought you didn’t bother to watch it?
Stellar Blade and Rise of Ronin, are on my list for sure.
This is an odd choice of a showcase to be wowed by given this site's reputation of perpetually disappointed by absolutely everything.
100% agreed, here's hoping the rumored October showcase hits just as hard!
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