Sony held its latest (and possibly longest) State of Play this week, where it revealed more details about upcoming PlayStation 5 titles. While some of the most-anticipated games — such as Marvel’s Wolverine, in development by Insomniac — didn’t make an appearance at the event, it did reveal several previously unseen games and even shadow-dropped a new God of War title called Sons of Sparta.
The God of War games constituted the reveal at the very end of the show, with Kratos’ Greek voice actor, T.C. Carson, announcing that a remake of the original trilogy is in the early stages of development. Sons of Sparta, on the other hand, is currently available to play and bucks the series’ trend by being a 2D action-platformer developed by partner studio Mega Cat. Carson himself returns, as does the character of Kratos’ younger brother Deimos.
At least half of the trailers shown at the event were for known games that are either already out or close to release, including Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Resident Evil Requiem, 007: First Light, Pragmata, Control Resonant, 4 Loop, Mina the Hollower, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Marathon and Saros. Game Freak also announced Beast of Reincarnation’s August 4 release date. Konami also dropped the April 2 release date for Darwin’s Paradox.
We also got new character reveals for Marvel: Tokon, the announcement of a 30th anniversary version of the original Rayman, and a bundle of Metal Gear Solid games for modern consoles. Ghost of Yotei is also getting its own Legends multiplayer mode, as its predecessor did, on March 10 as a free DLC.
The new stuff in the February State of Play
This State of Play came out swinging at the very beginning with the reveal that Kena: Bridge of Spirits is getting a sequel later this year called Scars of Kosmora. According to Ember Labs, the new game features an older, more capable Kena. In the opposite direction, Nomada Studio announced its making a prequel called Neva: Prologue, which shows how the titular wolf and Alba first met. The latter comes out on February 19.
A few of the show’s reveals were twofold, such as Koei Tecmo revealing a final edition of Dead or Alive 6, called Final Round, and that a new Dead or Alive game is in development (with a rather gratuitous shot of Kasumi from the neck down). Similarly, Crystal Dynamics revealed that it’s releasing a remaster of Legacy of Kain: Defiance on March 3 (along with a demo for its canceled sequel Dark Prophecy) and it’s making a new game in the series, a 2D action-platformer called Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, which launches on March 31.
We got several new announcements from legendary franchises, most notably Castlevania. Konami revealed it’s making the first new 2D game in the series in years, a 2D platformer called Belmont’s Curse. The Silent Hill franchise also made an appearance with the trailer for Townfall, which brings the horror into first-person. Finally, Happinet revealed a new Brigandine strategy RPG, called Abyss. All three are set to launch sometime this year.
There were also reveals for completely new titles. Crimson Moon is a gothic action-adventure game from ProbablyMonsters, starring Nephilim tasked with redeeming a cursed city. The game can be played solo or in co-op and launches this year. Another new co-op title is Yakoh Shinobi Ops, a stealth-action game from Acquire, the developers of Tenchu, set to launch in 2027. Konami also revealed a new RPG, called Rev. Noir, which had no release date.
The final two games revealed are intriguing for their cross-media potential. The first is Krafton’s Project Windless, an open-world ARPG set in the universe of the famous fantasy series The Bird That Drinks Tears. The game is set 1,000 years before the events of the novels. The second is an untitled John Wick game, created by Saber Interactive, which seems to promise all the gritty violence that you’d see in the film franchise.