Recapping Sony’s State of Play (2/12/25)
Sony has just wrapped up their very first State of Play event in 2025. The 40 minute presentation was full of announcements as well as a few minor updates. With such a wide range of titles shown there’s sure to be various discourse among favorites. This is a quick recap for the biggest annoucements, in case you happened to miss the show and just wanna know if there’s anything that catches your eye. Let’s not waste any more time and get right into it.
Monster Hunter Wilds
The show started with a launch trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds. The trailer is showing off all the various locations as well as a few monsters. The star of the show to me were the weapons, as there are such a wide range of playstyles to utilize here. They are also getting fans hyped for post launch support with Mizutune being added in the spring. Monster Hunter Wilds releases on February 28th.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
Hot on the heels of Team Ninja’s “Year of the Ninja” debut, we have a new 2D Shinobi title which makes me think there’s a full blown ninja resurgence on the horizon. A hack and slash done with some absolutely gorgeous hand drawn visuals that I am always a sucker for. It’s fast, it’s stylish, it’s more Shinobi which hasn’t seen the light of day since 2011. Art of Vengeance launches in August.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
A new Sonic racing game was announced, which shows off a bunch of new features they’ve whipped up. Tracks now feature ring portals straight out of the recent movies, and transforming vehicles make a return. They brought hoverboards in from Sonic Riders and the child in me jumped with joy. No release date, but there will be an open beta starting February 21st.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger
It seems Digimon have been let loose in that city from Persona 5, which turns out to be a real place. I’m clearly joking, but this new Digimon RPG looks to bring the franchise back in a domesticated setting. Admittedly, I don’t know the first thing about Digimon, but perhaps this new entry will serve as a gateway to garner interest. Digimon Story Time Stranger releases sometime later this year.
Lost Soul Aside
UltiZeroGames, a solo developer for the past 10 years now working with Sony, has shown off new gameplay for the anticipated Lost Soul Aside. It looks to have the speed and lethality of games such as Nioh or Sekiro, with plenty of abilities to pull from. It’s great to see Lost Soul Aside finally see the light of day on May 30th, alongside a PC release which is always nice.
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii Demo / Dave The Diver DLC
Ahead of it’s release next week, those eager to dip their toes into the 7 seas can do so when a combat demo launches for Pirate Yakuza (no I am not saying the whole thing) this Friday. Alongside the demo, RGG has shared that Ichiban Kasuga will be taking a vacation to see Dave the Diver. This DLC releases in April, and will feature some old school beat-em-up goodness.
Borderlands 4
Randy Pitchford, one of the magicians of all time, and Randy Varnell sat down to show off some Borderlands 4. The trailer is pure gameplay, and it’s meant to just get the blood pumping. It looks like an evolution of what I consider Borderlands 3’s excellent combat. If the story can match the exciting beats of Joey Valence and Brae, then Borderlands 4 is going to be just alright. The game releases on September 23, and more will be shown at an exclusive State of Play in the spring.
Split Fiction
This is another co-op adventure from the creators of It Takes Two, and anyone who’s played it knows that Hazelight is cooking with this one. Hazelight is known for it’s unique and stellar level design, and Split Fiction looks to push past any limit they’ve set before. I want to know as little as possible going in so I can get hit in the gut again, as one does with a Hazelight title. Split Fiction releases on March 6th.
DIRECTIVE 8020
From the makers of The Quarry and Until Dawn, Supermassive, comes another “stab” at choosing your own horror story outcomes. This time, taking massive inspiration from The Thing, at least that’s how it appeared to me. I can’t wait to see who I’m gonna hate to ensure they die first, and then accidentally kill off my favorite in the process. You too can cheat fate on October 8th.
FNAF: Secret of the Mimic
These Five Nights At Freddy’s has gone on for over 10 years and will not stop with yet another entry: Secret of the Mimic. This takes inspiration from Security Breach as another first person exploration game, which may end up being the staying format if fans respond well to this. I’m not brushed up on my Freddy lore, but those who need more can get it on June 13.
The Midnight Walk
Certainly the most unique game visually, as it is made entirely out of clay. Cutscenes are in stop motion, reminiscent of Coraline in terms of style. It’s a first person atmospheric horror game, but there also seems to be some light combat thrown in. With support for PSVR2, this looks to be a tense world to really get lost in and I can’t wait to see more of it, on May 8.
Darwin’s Paradox
Konami showed off a goofy little game about an octopus that’s stuck in a food processing factory. I say goofy, but the blades in the trailer certainly look sharp. I was expecting a game like Octodad, but really this is a platformer with plenty of unique movement options to get around. There is no release window at the moment, but the game can be wishlisted now.
WARRIORS: ABYSS
Koei Tecmo showed off Warriors: Abyss, a roguelike spinoff of the popular Warriors franchise. It’s an isometric game (think Diablo) and you can call upon some of the various characters from the franchise. There are 16 million battle styles according to this trailer, and honestly I believe it. The game is available to purchase right now as a shadow drop.
OMNIMUSHA 2: SAMURAI’S DESTINY / OMNIMUSHA: WAY OF THE SWORD
A remaster of the 2002 PS2 classic, Omnimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny brings the title back with updated visuals while retaining it’s core gameplay. It really does just look like a touched up PS2 title, but it doesn’t need to be anything more than that. Fans can relive 6th generation honor when the remaster drops on May 23rd.
We also got a first look at Omnimusha: Way of The Sword. Seeing the new game in stark contrast to Samurai’s Destiny, it looks to retain the same DNA as what came before it. Not much was shown, not even a proper release window aside from 2026. It’s clear that there’s a lot more than meets the eye, but we are simply not worthy enough to see it yet.
Hell is Us
Hell is Us looks like yet another souls-like game, but this one has something very unique about it. There is no real sense of direction as everything is a mystery, even the events that transpire the main plot. The game features no mini map, no compass, it’s simply you and your instincts. Knowing this made the game appeal much more to me, as I always love a unique spin on something. Hell is Us releases on September 4.
Dreams of Another
Full disclosure, this was my personal favorite announcement of the entire show. This is a game where you discover the world the same way you have an enemy soldier discover death in a shooter, by shooting it. The game features the message “no creation without destruction”. Guns are keys that open up pathways in this unique point cloud rendered world. Or, maybe we’re just killing it. Dreams of Another, by Pixeljunk, launches sometime in the future.
Lost Records: Bloom and Rage
From the creators of Life is Strange, we have Lost Records: Bloom and Rage which will launch as a part of the PS Plus games catalog. It’s about 4 girls that went to high school together and experienced a pivotal moment during the summer. What that moment is remains to be seen, but DON’T NOD are pretty good at keeping the player on their toes. I’m still mad about Mr. Jefferson. It’s an episodic series, with the first “tape” launching February 18th.
Tides of Annihilation
Tides of Annihilation is actually not a souls like but rather a character action game similar to the likes of Devil May Cry, or Ninja Gaiden. Set in an altered form of London, it’s all about power here with all the flashy attacks and attractive characters you could ask for. I wanna hear more about this combat, and how they plan to ‘make a single player game feel like co-op’. Not a direct quote, I’m paraphrasing, more information is to come in the following months.
METAL EDEN
This is what I personally dub a “hype shooter”, a shooter that’s all about getting the adrenaline pumping through fast, visceral combat. In Metal Eden, there is a mechanic known as “core ripping”. Aska, our protagonist, will rip the cord out of an enemy when available to do so. The core can be thrown as a weapon, or eaten for power. It’s gnarly, but we don’t know much beyond that as of right now. Metal Eden launches on May 6th, and I gotta know what powers I’ll be eating.
MindsEye
The reason why this game should be on your radar is because it is being led by the legendary Leslie Benzies, known for his work across titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. This game aims to “push cinematic adventure to the next level”. Gameplay wise we’re looking at a cover based third person shooter with some intense driving. So long as both of those make me feel like a badass with a good story to boot, I’m set. Mindseye releases later in September.
Saros
Saros is the next title from the minds behind Returnal. Saros aims to evolve based on Returnal’s excellent gameplay. The biggest change being that death can serve as a tool to come back stronger. In fact, that’s Saros’ entire MO: come back stronger. It ties in with the central story of rebuilding a world, but I imagine you’re gonna have to die quite a bit before you become a formidable foe yourself. Saros releases sometime in 2026.
That’s it for another State of Play. As always there will be disappointment with what wasn’t shown but I like to think that this was just an appetizer for the PS5’s 2025 library. After no first party titles released for the majority of 2024, Sony’s really gotta kick it in high gear and make those who spent $700 on a PS5 Pro feel no regret. There’s plenty to look forward to, I just hope that there are more State of Plays down the line. Sony needs some serious internet breaking headlines that don’t have anything to do with outages or forced sign-ins. Announcing some pretty sick games is a good way to start.
