Mithrandiel's Thoughts
The world of VR is coming, and Sony's going to help make it a mainstream phenomenon. But first... music, maestro!The live orchestra playing against various gameplay videos certainly set the stage for an impressive show, and Sony certainly didn't slow down much at all during their show. Video after video, demo after demo, title after title, the hits kept on coming with minimal banter or cringe-inducing sketches (I'm looking at you Microsoft/Minecraft...)The return of God of War was...interesting. The fact that it's going to tie into the original GOW series is a bit disappointing actually, as I felt that it wrapped up well enough to leave it alone. That being said, I'm always up for a quality action title.I'm stoked to see Last Guardian get a release date after so many years in development - October 2016. Hopefully we'll have enough time to play through Final Fantasy XV before it lands!The Horizon: Zero Dawn gameplay was fantastic, and the game itself is very promising. I was also intrigued by the Detroit: Become Human title, as the multiple scenarios and Heavy Rain-like decisions stand out as a unique gaming experience.What really made Sony's press conference stand out, however, wasn't any of the impressive titles they discussed, it was Playstation VR. At $400, and releasing on October 13th with 50 titles, this is the closest we've come so far in terms of making VR more accessible and appealing to the mainstream population. After the creepy trailer for Resident Evil: Biohazard, my mind began to race as I thought about that same experience in a VR setting.With the hardware required to run VR games already sitting in 40 million homes, I really think that Sony will be the company to launch VR as an industry. Not Oculus, not the HTC Vive...a home entertainment company that's been in living rooms around the country for decades.Only time will tell if it will deliver.
Zelyhon's Thoughts
Sony had a lot to live up to for E3 this year. This pressure was not necessarily from the competition of the other big press conferences, but from its own performance last year. Last year had several big mic drop moments from Sony, in particular FFVII remake, Last Guardian still being a thing, and Shenmue 3 from out of left field. Could Sony possibly rival that this year? In a word, no. However, that's not really a knock on Sony. Last year just had so many amazing moments that were so highly anticipated, it'd be hard for anything to live up to it. This year had some really interesting things, but nothing on that scale. I will say, however, presentation-wise their setup and venue was great. I liked the screen that could extend to the stage and the live orchestra was a classy touch. One of the more unexpected highlights for me was the new God of War. I played 1-3 and, while sometimes fun, I'd never put them on my lists of favorite games. Kratos just isn't an engaging character to me, and never has been. However, this new Norse Kratos seems more relatable and interesting to me. On a similar note, I was massively interested in Infinite Warfare before they revealed the name. I've never played a Call of Duty and have always been kind of dismissive of it, but that actually had me pretty excited. I may actually have to try it out, which is something I never thought I'd say about COD.
Horizon still looks great to me, no matter how much Archmage might try to rain on my parade. Death Stranding looks interesting, but there's not much to go on yet. I don't know if I'm getting a Playstation VR (or any VR, for that matter), but if I were, Sony made a pretty compelling argument today. An Insomniac Spider-man game is something I never knew I desperately wanted until today. Otherwise, they lacked a big finisher to wrap things up. Live gameplay was good, but to go back to a game they announced earlier and do a quick live play session lacked a certain something. It just petered out, kinda like this brief reflection.
