Special Feature: PlayStation Lineup Showcase

Tokyo Game Show gets a little less important for video game announcements every year, thanks to how games aimed towards the so-called hardcore gaming audience have dropped in popularity over the last several years. But “less important” and “unimportant” aren’t synonymous, and there’s still a good audience for Japanese games in and outside Japan. That’s why Sony is still holding events for publishers to showcase their PlayStation 4 titles before the show properly begins. It’s not an event where anyone should expect many AAA games to be announced or even showcased anymore, but it’s perfect for B-tier and niche titles.

This year’s event was called the “PlayStation LineUp Tour,” a name that gave no indication that it’s a Pre-TGS event. But make no mistake that it is, and there were some good software showcases.

The biggest announcement was related to Project Awakening, a big-budget new project developer CyGames announced at their press event over two years ago. Though members of the press who saw the game behind closed doors around E3 time suspected it was a next-generation console title, it will actually be coming to PlayStation 4. It will be a fantasy action RPG with a realistic art style directed by Junji Tago (formerly of Kojima Productions at Konami) and art direction from Ryosuke Aiba (formerly of Square Enix). No release date was given, so it’s likely still a while off.

Square Enix had several announcements at the show. They provided the short version of a new Kingdom Hearts III trailer, which marked the first opportunity to show off the Big Hero 6 world and a few other scenes. The full trailer will be shown at TGS next week. Kingdom Hearts: VR Experience is also coming to PS4 as a free download this fall.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is coming to PS4 and Switch. It’s a remastered version of the original Gamecube Crystal Chronicles title, likely the most popular game in the series, with an improved presentation and a widescreen format. It will release sometime next year.

The elusive Left Alive was revealed at TGS last year, but went dark until a showing that mostly occurred behind closed doors at Gamescom last month. The new trailer did a better job showing off how it’s an action stealth spinoff title of the Front Mission series (though less actionized than Front Mission Evolved) that feels like a PS2-level B-tier game, and I mean that as a complement. Yoji Shinkawa contributed the character and mech designs this time around, who’s well known for his previous work on the Metal Gear franchise. It will release on February 28th for PS4 in Japan, and in western territories at an unspecified time next year.

Square Enix also teased Project Prelude Rune, a game announced when Studio Istola first started hiring for it, a new development house established by former Tales series director and producer Hideo Baba. It still looks early, and there’s no way to tell how long it will take to release. It’s is due for a PS4 release, though whether it’s exclusive is also unknown.

Bandai Namco confirmed a December 13th release date for God Eater 3 in Japan, alongside a bunch of preorder bonuses. It will release in western territories in early 2019. They also showed off Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown’s VR mode, which is coming exclusively for PSVR, and could make some people at least a little sick. The overall game will release for PS4 and XB1 on January 19th, and hit PC on February 1st.

The title SNK teased last week was a new Samurai Shodown title, which will run on Unreal Engine 4. This means both the rumors from late 2016 and the recent ones that circulated on social media over the weekend were accurate. Several returning characters from the franchise were shown, including Haohmaru, Nakoruru, Galford, and Earthquake, and it looks far more impressive than SNK’s previous 3D titles — though the fact that it’s one-on-one helps. The game will release (exclusively?) for PS4 in 2019.

A new Dead or Alive 6 trailer was also shown, which revealed returning characters Ayane, Marie Rose, and Honoka, with Nyotengu being confirmed as a preorder DLC bonus. Kasumi was shown in her old outfit, and given the combination of this and some character reveals here, this comes off as a little damage control for fans concerned about the lack of fanservice. It will release for PS4, XB1, and PC worldwide on February 15th. Just in case you thought February wasn’t crazy enough before.

Knives Out, a — wait for it — battle royale game previously released for smartphones, is coming to PS4 in spring 2019 in Japan. Even in a Japanese conference, you can’t escape battle royale mania. Another mobile game coming is Caravan Stories, a free-to-play fantasy RPG with a huge world and several playable races to choose from. It will release in 2019.

LoveR, a new title from Kadokawa Games’ Sweet One brand, is coming to PS4. True to its name, it’s a love simulation title from a team lead by Ichiro Sugiyama, who previously worked on Photo Kano and Reco Love. It’s bound to be a sweet one when it releases in Japan on February 14th, 2019.

Gungrave G.O.R.E. was announced for PS4 with nothing but a teaser, with no indication as to what kind of game it is. But given the way the announcement was treated, this will likely be a bigger project than Gungrave VR. Character designer Yashuhiro Nightow will return as an “image director.” The project will release in Japan in winter 2019.

Yakuza series producer Toshihiro Nagoshi mentioned a mere 13 days ago that the franchise’s development studio was working on a new IP that was years in the making, due to be revealed sometime this month. That time is now, as it turns out, as Judge Eyes was announced at the show. Note that it’s nowhere near as different as Nagoshi had people initially thinking, assuming that translation was accurate.

This is a mystery adventure game where players control a detective, which, well, looks a lot like a Yakuza game with a bigger focus on solving mysteries as detectives. Kamurocho, the Yakuza series’ rendition of Kabukicho, is also shown in the trailer, indicating how this is a spinoff. The game will release for PS4 on December 13th in Japan and Asian territories, and a western release will arrive sometime next year. A demo is also available in Japan now.

Sega of America is already openly discussing the game, which is tentatively known as Project JUDGE for the west. They uploaded a subtitled version of the over-five-minute trailer and the gameplay video. It’s wild that we’re at a point where these games are being confirmed for the worldwide audience alongside the Japanese announcements.

The only title Sony themselves announced was Everybody’s Golf VR for PSVR, a VR rendition of the Hot Shots Golf franchise handled by longtime developers Clap Handz and Sony’s Japan Studio. It will use a bunch of VR features to make the title more accessible to everyone, and is due for release in 2019.

Deemo Reborn was announced, a remake of the original rhythm previously released for mobile platforms, Vita, and Switch. In addition to having a brand-new presentation, this version will feature several tie-in songs from Japanese pop duo Egoist. It’s due for release in Japan in spring 2019.

FromSoftware displayed two titles they have in development. A new trailer was provided for PSVR adventure title Déraciné, previously announced at E3 2018. Hidetaka Miyazaki, who directed all the Soulsbourne games outside Dark Souls II, is working on this, meaning he likes to keep himself busy. The game will release on November 6th and 8th in the west and Japan, respectively. While it will receive a wide physical release in Japan, it will be exclusive to GameStop in America. It appears to be digital-only in Europe.

The other game Miyazaki is working on is Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which received a new trailer that showed off far more locations and enemies compared to those displayed at E3 and Gamescom. It will release on March 22nd for PS4, XB1, and PC worldwide.

There weren’t any massive announcements at this showcase, and I hope no one expected any considering this is a pre-TGS event in 2018. But I’m aware that some gaming types love to set their expectations too high. To be fair, some notable companies either only had a minimal presence or were missing in action — especially Capcom, a surprise considering the great-looking games they have in development. Capcom will be showcasing their games next week (which will interestingly include an Ace Attorney panel), and that will likely apply to others. Keep an eye out.