Special Feature: Sony Delivered All They Needed with Their Newest PlayStation 5 Show

Microsoft was forced to blink earlier than they wanted in the next-generation console race, revealing the cheaper all-digital Xbox Series S system, providing the prices for both that and the Xbox Series X, and providing a launch date ahead of a planned show. When all the key information leaked beforehand, there was no need to wait. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, not solely because the planned show was boring.

There would have been entirely too much news to discuss this week otherwise, because Sony just held their newest PlayStation 5 showcase. Now that Microsoft has detailed their Xbox systems, all eyes were on Sony to do the same with very high expectations.

By the very first title shown, it was clear Sony knew how high fan expectations were for this thing. They started with the highly-rumored Final Fantasy XVI. The title is being developed by members of the Final Fantasy XIV studio, as implied with staffers Naoki Yoshida (as producer) and Hiroshi Takai (as director — also directed The Last Remnant) being involved, but also through its look. There were only quick glimpses at gameplay, but the battles brought to mind Final Fantasy XV more than the recent Final Fantasy VII Remake. It was surprising and encouraging that gameplay was shown at all given how Final Fantasy game reveals usually are. No release date was provided, but hopefully this game’s development will go smoothly, contrary to the last *checks* four mainline non-sequel Final Fantasy games.

Most of the show was dedicated to new showcases for games announced at the June event. The main villains in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales will be the Roxxon corporation, which means Miles will have to use different powers and techniques than Peter Parker did in Marvel’s Spider-Man to fight them, leading to new gameplay possibilities. The game will release at the system’s launch for PS5 and — in a slight surprise — PS4, but will be cross-buy. The first Spider-Man game will also be remastered for PS5, and will release on the same day.

The previously-leaked Harry Potter game will be known as Hogwarts Legacy, an open world action RPG where players will go through a unique story in the franchise’s world. I won’t lie here: It was tough to look at this game considering everything happening with the series and creator JK Rowling recently. The game will release as a cross-gen title sometime next year.

A sneak peek at the campaign was provided for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, this year’s installment in the series, that will release in November. We also got another preview for Resident Evil Village (apparently not Resident Evil VIII despite the name clearly being styled to resemble that), though not much gameplay was shown. They’re bound to show it more by the time it releases next year. Speaking of Capcom games: Devil May Cry 5 is getting a Special Edition that will finally make Vergil playable. It will release digitally at the PS5’s (and XSX/S’s) launch, with ray tracing and 4K support, with additional options for 1080p and 60fps and another for 120fps. A retail release for PS5 and XSX/S will arrive next year. Vergil’s quest and the extra features will also be released as DLC for the current-gen versions.

Bethesda and Arcane’s Deathloop was shown again, a good and unique-looking first-person title that was recently delayed to Q2 2021. Oddworld: Soulstorm won’t be the most graphically impressive title to grace PS5, but it still looks good. It unfortunately wasn’t given a release timeframe. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breath was announced, but was barely shown in action.

The Demon’s Souls remake was given an impressive presentation, which looks considerably more polished in action than the original PlayStation 3 game from 2009 — maybe a little too polished by From Software’s standards. The video also showed how it will still be as difficult as the original. It will be available right at the PS5’s launch, and exclusive to the console despite what the trailer on the stream implying otherwise.

The PlayStation Plus Collection is coming to PS5, including performance-enhanced versions of several PS4 games. Titles like God of War, Uncharted 4, Infamous: Second Son, Batman: Arkham Knight, and Detroit: Become Human. This sounds like an Xbox Game Pass-like feature, but they’ll have to release more details to know for sure.

Speaking of the launch: The system will arrive on November 12th in several major territories and everywhere else on November 19th, and will cost $499 and $399 for the version with a disc drive and the all-digital system, respectively. Those prices are what everyone expected and was hoping for after Microsoft announced prices for their pair of systems last week, so there’s no sticker shock here.

The show ended with a very short teaser for the next God of War game. The impending existence of this is no surprise, but several fans weren’t expecting it to come in 2021.

It’s also surprising to see the sheer amount of info Sony left off the stream. Astro’s Playroom will come preinstalled with the system, something previously announced that was also relegated to the PlayStation Blog. Sony’s first-party launch titles will consist of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (including the Ultimate Edition with the first Marvel’s Spider-Man), the Demon’s Souls remake, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Destruction All Stars. Of them, Demon’s Souls and Destruction All Stars will retail for $69.99, so here’s hoping your bank account is ready for $70 games in addition to the price of a console. The DualSense controller will be $69.99, the same price as the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

In addition to Miles Morales, Sackboy: A Big Adventure and the previously-announced Horizon Forbidden West will also launch on PS4. This was unexpected given how few cross-gen titles Sony released between PS3 and PS4, but it’s welcome for those of us who aren’t jumping to next-gen consoles yet.

The show delivered a healthy amount of news and announcements, though it’s illuminating that so much info was saved for outside the show. Not to say that’s surprising, especially the cross-gen software news, because you know how fanboys can get. We know when the system will release and how much it will cost, so the biggest questions were addressed. Good luck to everyone who can or plans to afford all this stuff.