Sony Press Conference E3 2017

 

Sony had plenty to show for their E3 presentation for 2017. They had titles that will be releasing both this year and next year on display. This included some lesser known titles as well, like the Shadow of the Colossus but ones that tend to have a large following to them.

 

The showcase opened with a montage of games both new and yet to be released began. This did include a brief clip from Death Stranding. It did also include a VR demo clip as well. Just after the introduction clip was a quick trailer for PSVue and “Days of Play” promotion that Sony has going on presently.

 

The presentation began after that, with an international band performing on a variety of instruments. After a while a stream of water began to flow behind them. Lights were being focused on it to create patterns on the flow of water. Just after that, a trailer started to run, showing some of the symbols that we had just seen. It was quickly revealed to be a trailer for the new “Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.” We got to see Chloe Fazer and her partner Nadine Ross. We got to see a little gameplay in it, but mostly the trailer focused on the object they are chasing, the Tusk of Ganesha. No release date was given for this title with the trailer.

 

Then the auditorium went blue for a moment with snow falling from above as the trailer started. This time for the DLC for Horizon Zero Dawn. We got to see the snow-covered lands that another tribe inhabits. The chief of this tribe talks of the dangers and the fame that many have found hunting the creatures of this area. Aloy tells him that she is there for the mountain and the answers it can offer her. It looks to expand on her story and a whole new area with many new machines to find and tame. This expansion is set for release in 2017.

 

The blue light returned and another trailer started. This time a gameplay trailer with a biker headed out to find one of his own that has been taken by “squatters.” We see the protagonist head out to search his friend. From there, we see him fight off wolves and then a pair of ambushers. He finds his friend's bike and follows some clues to the squatter's camp. He sets off an alarm, hides then quickly takes out the guard who responds. He then sneaks into the camp, lays down a beartrap he finds and lures one of them over to the trap. This draws the rest of them over there. He sneaks through the camp and see a large swarm of zombies rushing in a canyon below him. Continuing forward he finds more of them feasting on dead bodies piled up nearby. Going forward to a stream he find a makeshift wall set up and heads over to it. He slips through a chainlink portion and finds his friend on platform built above a camp on a tree. He pulls out some explosives that he has and sets it on the wall. Blasting open the wall, the nearby zombies rush into the camp and attack the squatters. He waits out the rush and watches the zombies chase off and attack the squatters. After that he slips in and heads toward where his friend, Manny, is being held. The two talk when they hear some noise. Looking toward it we see a giant bear with barbed wire and fence posts stuck to it. They start to back away when Manny bumps a can gets the bear's attention as the trailer fades to black. It was a good look at the world and what to expect in the game” Days Gone”.

 

Shawn Layden was the first presenter to come on stage after those trailers and previews. He talked about the launches of PS4 Pro and VR and he then focused on the games and wanted for the focus to be on the games themselves. He then introduced the next title as a one with a rabid cult following around the world.

 

That next trailer opened with a stage change and then focused in on the trailer. A beautiful Monster Hunter game. We see the Hunter making his way through a cave system, an underground spring and into another forest. He alerts a smaller group of monster who notice and attack him in a group of 5. We see the Hunter take cover and wait out their search. Throughout the trailer we see a yellow particle cloud that seems to be guiding him toward his target as he follows the tracks and other clues that are spread throughout the area. When close, we see the hunter grab a leaf which is quickly adapted to their armor to provide some camouflage for a while. He seems to lure it to another area, waits for it to get close to his hiding place and then laps onto the t-rex-like beast with a swing of his massive sword. We see the beast hurl him off but quick thinking (and a grappling hook) keep him on. The monster smashes into a tree which immediately results in it being tangled up in vines. The Hunters doffs his camouflage, lets the beast see him and then starts to run from it through the variety of things. The beast chases crashing through roots and roots. We see the Hunter use the environment itself against the beast to continually weaken it as he periodically attacks it. All this leads to the game's title reveal of “Monster Hunter World.” That is followed by a montage of various escapades showing this hunter holding onto a rope as a flying monster barrels through a tunnel of sorts, another fight with the beast we just saw and a large beast that was rather round with a mane and bony protrusions coming from its extended snout. We see the Hunter fighting with a massive sword but also a gatling gun of some sort. The trailer ends with a monster loosing its fire-breath toward the camera and the release date of Early 2018 emerging from the darkened screen.

 

The next trailer was almost instantly recognizable to fans of the series. It was just a shot from a field looking forward a tower with an arch-supported bridge leading from it. It cut from that calm shot to a number of horseback riders charging across the screen. Then to a shot of a sunken bridge with water lapping against its remains. Then we got a shot of a man running through an arena walkway, wearing a distinct tabard as he pants from the exertion. We get a wide shot then of this same man on his horse. Then it cuts to a massive stone beast shooting up from beyond a platform that the man, Wanderer, is standing on armed with his sword. We get another scene change and he is rushing a massive stone giant with a club who turned and looks at him. Then we see Wanderer holding onto the end of a massive stone sword held by another Colossus as it is raising it up from the ground. We see him running past 2 more Colossi that seem to be searching for him. Then we get to see Wanderer on his horse riding toward a massive bull-like colossus. A quick change and we see the sword-wielding one again. The trailer ended with some climbing shots and then Wanderer raising his sword to plunge it into the symbol on the Colossus's forehead. Finally, the title, “Shadow of the Colossus” is revealed with a release year of 2018.

 

The next trailer started with a single flame jetting up from in front of the presentation stage. After that we got to look at Ultron Sigma as he knocks aside Dante from Devil May Cry, grab and throw Arthur from Ghouls and Goblins. On the ground in front of Ultron Sigma is Ethan from Bionic Commando. Then we get a quick shot of Captain America deflecting a blast with his shield to protect Chris Renfield of Resident Evil. The camera does a quick shot over the shoulder of Ultron, showing Strider and Thor who dash over to Doctor Strange. Someone calls for the Doctor to get them out of there. All the heroes quickly dive into an instantly summoned portal. The scene then jumps to Avengers Headquarters where Captain America is giving a quick briefing to all the heroes assembled there. We get to see a montage of various locations and the characters fighting against the Ultron Sigma forces. It ends with Ultron Sigma taunting Thanos who then charges the machine and we get the title screen for “Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite.” It has the release date of September 19^th, 2017. it ended with Strider talking to Major, Nova, Mega Man X and Rocket Raccoon before teleporting away with Gamora. A screen with Ultron Sigma standing to the screen for the announcement of the story demo being available for download in the PSN store immediately. The trailer closed with Rocket Raccoon asking Dante if “The ladies could come out to play,” Dante only asks that he gentle. Rocket regards the guns by name and starts firing them at an unknown target.

 

The next trailer started after a short delay to the sounds of gun fire and a world overview of Europe. It then did a moving in shot with numerous famous locations in World War II. It then showed a number of shots of trench warfare. Using both rifles and a flamethrower. It showed people charging positions in a mining facility, lobbing a grenade into a building being used by Nazis to protect themselves from the gunfire. It then cut to a few troops parachuting into a town to help take it back. We see them rushing into buildings and the horrific effects of grenades when thrown. From the conflict in town the scene changed to an airplane charging at a destroyer for an attack run and strafing the deck with its machine guns. It then showed a number of locale shots with troops disembarking from a jeep, using a mortar, anti-aircraft weaponry and more. We then got a montage of shots with the troop movment, a stout tank and more. It ended with the title, “Call of Duty WW II,” and the release date of November 3^rd, 2017.

 

Sony then changed over to a trailer with a quick flash of the Sony VR headset. After some circling shots, the camera panned in on the lenses inside and the screen went black. Immediately we started to hear the famous “Dragonborn” song from “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” as we see one of the numerous springs scattered across the land come into view from the darkness. We got to see some running shots as the Dragonborn traveled around Skyrim, getting a look at a distant barrow, scaling up the mountain, the Throat of the World, and climbing a hilltop and seeing a dragon flying in the distance. From there, it changed to an in-combat moment with a skeleton wearing a cloak attacking the Dragonborn and its sword rebounding off the Steel Shield. We see a Storm Atronach landing in front of the Dragonborn followed by a shot of the same Dragonborn fighting the wooden humanoid Spriggan. You could see the independent movement of the hands of the Dragonborn as they fought against City Guards, a Frostbite Spider, mountain trolls and much more, casting spells, attacking with various weapons and more. The game looks to be just as beautiful as it was in the HD remaster we got last year and the VR fits well into the game making it more interactive then it had been already. No release time was shown for this game.

 

Next up was a game set on a red planet with a few machines off to one side of a landing pad in ground. A ship flies past the machines and off screen. A blue gas planet can be seen over the horizon. This same ship is seen landing and then being taken underground on its landing pad. A strange insect-like creature is then climbing down the shaft behind the ship. The cockpit of the ship opens to reveal a cutaway. The presumed pilot is then seen running off along a walkway into a complex. We get to see her navigating more of this complex as the trailer continues. She has to hide quickly behind a rock when a massive flying creature with a glowing oculus is approaching her. We see her open up a hangar to reveal a massive robot when the creature from earlier descends onto it. The Robot animates and stops the creature from attacking the pilot. The robot offers its hand for the pilot to climb onto and brings her up to its chest. The title, “Star Child” is revealed.

 

The next trailer started after that. A man walks into a room saying simply, “Roll the tape, I want to try again.” The music for the trailer starts after that. It goes from a living room to shots inside a mental institution with a man in a wheelchair in a brightly lit room and then to a corridor leading to a solitary cell with music from earlier echoing down into it where the lighting in the hallway are flickering. It cuts quickly to a doctor who is asking the screen, if they remember him. We then get a green-tinted view of a hallway with a stumbling view. We see whoever we are trying to hide in a closet and an orderly finds them. We then return to a lightly stumbled shot of the green-tinted corridor that this person is walking down. We hear a distorted voice and others calling out for help. We eventually get to a panning shot of an old sanatorium, Blackwood Pines. After another focus on the doctor saying, “You understand I want what's best for you.” we get the title, “The Inpatient.”

 

The trailer after that was for Final Fantasy XV. Noctus invites the player to come and join him. We get quick cameos of the rest of his group and then we get to see the player fishing within the world of FFXV as Noctus. He is then reeling in the catch. We get to see the group eating the catch after that. It cut back to fishing again and the player using a sonar device to locate more fish, and then more reeling in of the catch. From the fishing we get to see a few of the monster that you will also be able to catch. This VR title is “Final Fantasy XV: Monster of the Deep” releasing in September 2017.

 

After that, we got another VR title, this one looking for focus on military combat. Two teams of opposing factions seem to be moving through opposite ends of the same area, separated by an archway. After a helicopter goes past overhead, the order to engage is given and the teams start fighting. Numerous weapons are shown as the two teams battle it out. After a close-up on one of the team members, the title, “Bravo Team” was shown.

 

The next VR trailer had us going through a cathedral. It stopped and zoomed in over an open book below it from the arches above it. The edges of the map of the pages glow white and a clear electric sphere moves over to one side. Butterfly comes up from the page and then its flips to the next. “Polyarc” is shown before we are taken to a lush forest. The butterfly from earlier comes into frame and flies through the center of the screen into the background. We then see some panning shots of a temple and little mouse explorer climbing over roots. The humanoid mouse can be seen with a small sword on its back, a red bandanna on its neck and it has a green gauntlet on one hand. We see this mouse approach a small dock, go to the edge and look over it into the water, at its reflection. The camera pans back a little to reveal a masked water spirit of sorts coming toward the pond. Just after that, the sphere returns, tapping the water to get a minor ripple on the surface. The scene changes and we see the mouse exploring the world, sword in hand with the sphere nearby aiding it here and there. The sphere enters a knight mouse statue, making it glow and raise the pedestal that it is on before moving it off to one side and pulling it onto a pressure plate. There sphere, the player's representation shows it manipulating various objects in the world, spinning, pushing, pulling and opening doors. We then see the mouse in combat against a pair of mechanical beetles before the screen goes black and we hear a screech. The mouse returns in a chamber, sword drawn and looking around. A slithering sound is heard before a snake rises up out of the darkness in front of the mouse which has taken a ready stance. This game is “Moss.”

 

Next was a trailer showing off the PS4 Pro. It just circled around it and then zoomed in hard and into dark on the Playstation logo. The next trailer started immediately after that short one. There were sounds of something splashing into water and water lapping onto a beach shore with seagulls calling overhead. We finally got a shot of someone in a rowboat paddling toward something covered in fog. A statue with a flame in its mouth quickly emerges from the fog as the oar is pulled back into the boat. The camera moves along the boat and then upwards to reveal Kratos. His son looks on at him and asks him “Are you going to do it?” We then see Kratos stand up and throw his axe with its glowing gems into the water. He then stood there, on the boat with his hand open. We hear his son say, “You said I was cursed” as a sad looking Kratos is pulling the rowboat to shore. A short pause and then the son says. “You think I'm weak because I'm not like you”. Kratos responds, “You do not know everything boy.” We then cut to the earlier shot, just after Kratos has thrown the axe. The ground rumbles, shaking the boat they are on. It cuts to the later shot again with the boy saying, “No, but at least I know the truth now.” The scene once again jumps back to the earlier location. The statue in front of the boat is rising up from the water. Again, in the nighttime Kratos seems to say wistfully, “The Truth”. We see the waves knocking around their boat and Kratos calling out for the boy to hold on. We then get to see a frozen landscape with a massive hammer sticking out of the ground. We hear, “Long way from home, aren't you?” as the scene changes to a prowling wolf in the fog. It jumps once again to Kratos staring at a fire working with a pouch that he then holds and stares at. We jump to a scene inside a treasure room with the voice from earlier commenting, “And here I thought your kind was supposed to be so enlightened. So much better than us.” While that voice is talking we see Kratos looking around and come across an Urn showing him earlier in his fight with the blades of chaos, coated in blood standing on the bodies of his enemies. Another jump has the boy drawing an arrow as a number of monsters are rushing him and Kratos. We then hear a female voice say, “The gods of these realms do not take kindly to outsiders. Trust me. When they find you, and they will, they'll make things difficult.”. We get a brief glimpse of a woman talking to Kratos in a house. The scene changes and Kratos is passing the boy a dagger and telling him to wait here. We then get to see Kratos start to fight. He uses his axe briefly before we see him pull a contraption that unfolds into a shield he then fights a number of monsters with. He calls back his axe to his open hand and fights brutally through the rest of the monsters in front of him. We then see him facing a massive monster that has Kratos slamming his axe head-first into the ground to create a shockwave that stumbles the monster. We get to see the boy who can apparently jump onto enemies and hold them for a short time for Kratos to move in and attack. We get to an NPC who comments on the fight and Kratos throws his axe into the stone next to him. We get to see Kratos climbing up a cliff-face with his son on his back. We get to see numerous more action shots and hear Kratos explaining that their journey will be hard and filled with all manner of creatures of beasts. The trailer moves to the end revealing the woman from earlier to be Kratos' second wife. The trailer ends with the pair of the boy and Kratos in their rowboat as the waves settle from the massive creature that just toppled into the water. In front of them, a massive reptilian eye opens up. The boy reveals the beast in front of them is the World Serpent it talks to them and the boy reveals that it wants to help them. The last thing shown is that is going to have an Early 2018 release date.

 

The next trailer started with a man approaching the front of the scene, his face in focus. There are blue glowing circles just above the ends of his eyebrows. He starts to sing. Numerous panning shots of “Cyberlife” android are shown. We then see a pair of people emerging from the stormwater system and replace a manhole cover. They talk about their plan to attack and free those in the 5 nearby Cyberlife stores. They approach and the woman of the pair moves up to simply break in. Her associate, a male, tells her to wait and stick to their plan. He then approaches and touches a Cyberlife being employed by the city, telling him, “You're awake now”. The small circle on this android change from blue to yellow and he then proceeds to hack into the local server to disable the Cyberlife store's security system. A police drone comes in, telling the man from earlier he is committing an offense and that the police have been notified. A squad car comes up on them and Marcus, the male, says that they need to get out of there, that their people need them alive. We then see the scene jump back just a little bit in time and three options are presented: playing at a couple making out by the bus-stop, running or hiding behind one of the nearby cars. We then start to see a number of different possibilities for how the events here could have unfolded. With Marcus climbing up some scaffolding and breaking the police drone; He and North sneaking in using the nearby construction site and the vehicles there; This time, we get to see Marcus make a speech, touching to awaken the other androids. They rally to him and has them follow him out into the city this time. The game will be all about your choices and shaping a unique narrative with them. We see that we will have numerous paths to follow here, being able to choose between both violence and pacifism to reach the end of the story. We see mostly the violence and graffiti the androids bring to the plaza where they freed the others. We see North kneeling by one of the fallen android as she tells Marcus that they were slaughtered like animals. He looks up and moves into investigate. We see Marcus take the gun as the camera pulls out to a spider web showing all the different outcomes this this one scene. It ends with Marcus approaching and telling us, “I am Marcus. I am one of them. This is our story.” We get the title, “Detroit Become Human.”

 

The next trailer started with ships moving in toward a city and we see missiles launched from them and smashing into a control tower on a massive wall. We hear a voiceover say, “Welcome to a world... without Light.” This is very quickly revealed to be a new trailer for Destiny 2. We see a massive ship going around the Traveler and creating a barrier. The scene changes to a rainy section of the fallen City with a Cabal ship flying overhead. When the barrier goes in place, we see a giant Cabal approaching a Guardian who stumbles over, losing their connection to the Traveler, the source of their power, the Light. This menacing figure, Gaul, approaches the Guardian and then boots them off the ship that they were on to go crashing into the ground several hundred feet below. We see the same Guardian stumble to their feet after having hit the ground and stumble their way out of the wreckage of the City and escape to beyond the lands beyond the Wall. We see a Hunter, Titan and Warlock find each other, avoid cabal patrols and then make their way into a Vanguard armory to get weapons for themselves. We then see them running through the forest along a ruined freeway with their new weapons. It cuts to a scene with the Guardian fighting in an excavation pit, using a unique grenade launcher to defeat numerous cabal in front of them as a drilling blade passing above them. We get to see some of the weapons that the Guardians took in action, like the grenade launcher, sword and shotgun. This also included a different style of rocket launcher that seemed to be sending off a volley of smaller explosives at the Cabal below them. It ended with a shot of the Guardians fighting side by side to reach a destination off screen before trailer ended, showing the title screen and its release date of September 6^th, 2017.

 

Just after that, a second trailer started, saying that Playstation will get timed-exclusive content (until at least Fall 2018). This will include a strike called “Lake of Shadows” featuring the Taken, unique gear for each class to wear, an exclusive ship called the City Apex, an Exotic weapon called the Borealis (a sniper rifle capable of changing its elemental type quickly), and the PvP map Retribution.

 

After that trailer, Shane Layden came back on stage. He talked about how excited that Sony is about having the PS4 Pro and VR. He ended the presentation with one more trailer that is a true exclusive to Playstation. He exits off stage and the trailer begins to roll.

 

The trailer opened with a cityscape shown. A Police dispatch from a squad car is heard as a theme song comes on. The screen rolls onto the stage showing the city from street level or a simple birds eye view of the road below. From the blinding light of the sun, Spider Man drops down onto the ground. We see him swing upwards into a construction site. He talks with his aid, Yuri, who asks him what is going on. He reports that the Demons are moving in on Frisk's territory. She asks if he has this and he responds that he does. It is clear now this is a gameplay trailer for the next Spider-man game coming out on the PS4. We see Spider-man sneaking through the construction site, quietly taking down the Demon Gang members as he comes across them. He lures one over by hanging another upside down. A quickly thrown gadget allows Spider-man to capture this one against some nearby crates. We hear some gunfire deeper in and Spider-man moves in to investigate. He saves one of the Construction workers and then quickly incapacitates the nearby thugs through fighting and clever use of his web spinners. You see dodge prompts appear as well as interactive elements in the area that he can use to take down enemies. After that fight, a phone drops from the construction worker. Spider-man answers it, addressing Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. He asks Fisk who the leader of the Demons is. Fisk responds with, “Keep my men alive and maybe I'll tell you.” A helicopter goes by and Spider-man sets off after it. Spider-man investigates the construction site more, saving another worker from more of the Demons. He looks up and helicopter comes in, a large man with the Demon's mask on appears from it. This Demons charges up energy in his hand and slams it into the ground, creating a shockwave to knock Spider-man back. We see Spider-man try to tie up this Demon with the webbing and move in for a strike, but the man breaks free and knocks Spider-man back. Spider-man then uses some nearby bricks to stun this Demon and then launches himself at the man to inflict some damage. This Demon uses some heavy attacks that Spider-man avoids and then, when the Demon is more worn out from attack, changes to offense and attacks him, knocking him back. The fight ends and Fisk tells Spider-man to help up to the top of the building to find the Leader of the Demons. We see the leader cut down of the Construction Workers and Spider-man identifies him. As the leader gets away in a helicopter, Spider-man tries to tie it down. The anchor point fails and then smashes into a high-rise crane. Spider-man rushes into it to stop the crane from falling onto the traffic below. We see Spider-man react to a number of situations and ultimately catch the falling helicopter in a massive web. He goes into check on the leader, Mr. Lee, who goes from unconscious to attacking Spider-man very quickly, glowing, as the trailer comes to an end. We get the release window of 2018 for this game.

 

The showcase ends with a montage of numerous games and a display of the Playstation hardware. It recaps the games that we just saw during the presentation. We got see plenty during this presentation with its focus being solely on the games and what they have to offer. It ended with a last look at the Spider-man game, and Miles getting called to continue on.