Last week's PlayStation State of Play had a packed and eventful presentation, which was a refreshing surprise to many fans. These streams are usually held for quieter announcements, leading some fans to temper their expectations immediately upon a new State of Play announcement, while others let their imaginations run wild -- for better and worse.
However, the June State of Play was impressively diverse, from the next long-awaited Resident Evil remake, bombshell announcements for PC ports, Final Fantasy's next big epic, and more. It was enough to satisfy many in the hard-to-please gaming community, with fans on Reddit talking about their favorite reveals.
Street Fighter 6 Reveal
It was always going to be an inevitability with Capcom's premier fighting-game series, but it was a pleasant surprise to many to see the reveal of Street Fighter 6 to be at a PlayStation State of Play stream. The trailer was filled with vibrant art direction and action, with Street Fighter 6 looking to adopt a tasteful balance of realism with a graffiti-inspired art style.
Gameplay-wise it also looks to be making some bold choices, with Redditor Kreeturefeature asking and exclaiming "Was that an open-world Street Fighter game?!" and Redditor GLTheGameMaster having nothing but praise, saying "SF6 looks insane, you can play the trailer on YT in slow-motion and the animations are so ridiculously fluid and detailed with so much impact. I love the paint effects on parries and stuff! And the hip-hop music! Dope as hell." Based on what the trailer showed, it looks to be a hybrid between open areas and an evolved version of a "hub world." Fighting-game enthusiasts will surely be eager to see this new direction come 2023.
Resident Evil 4 Remake
Though it's been one of the more poorly kept secrets of the gaming industry for the last couple of years, seeing PlayStation's State of Play quickly give the first-ever reveal for the Resident Evil 4 remake was nonetheless thrilling for longtime fans. RE4 has commonly been regarded as one of the best Resident Evil games, and Capcom has built plenty of goodwill after the remake of RE2. Capcom in general has been on something of a redemption arc, putting out almost nothing but hits in recent years.
Redditor Vidzphile expressed their enthusiasm for the horror genre as a whole, exclaiming "YES!!! Callisto Protocol releases December 2, 2022, Dead Space Remake on January 27, Then RE4 a couple months later. Fans of the genre are in for a treat." Horror has seen a welcome resurgence alongside that of Capcom and Resident Evil's, and there's plenty on the way shortly.
Final Fantasy XVI Gameplay Trailer & Release Window
Final Fantasy XVI was first revealed with a meaty gameplay trailer during the 2020 PlayStation 5 showcase in the lead-up to the console's launch, but fans of the JRPG titan have been left in near silence ever since. After being dealt with a hefty setback, producer Naoki Yoshida and Square Enix finally broke their silence with another substantive gameplay trailer. The new trailer showcased the lore surrounding the Eikons (summons) of FFXVI and their influence over the ruling classes -- and the protagonist Clive -- of Valisthea.
While the surprising summer 2023 release window was a bit of a letdown, many fans seem understanding of Yoshida and SE's decision. Redditor Jezzawezza said "I'm happy to wait a year. I think this is probably the biggest thing for Yoshi-P since he had to work his magic on FFXIV to fix it, so he probably wants to make sure the game is well and truly ready and I trust him." Final Fantasy is responsible for some of the best JRPGs, so there should be plenty of fans more than happy to endure a while longer so long as it ensures high quality.
The Callisto Protocol Gameplay Trailer & Release Date
New developers Striking Distance Studios' first game The Callisto Protocol was given an enticing look. The gameplay trailer shown was based on footage running on a PS5, showing off an equal parts tantalizing and terrifying taste of what this new survival-horror IP will give. It takes place in 2320 on a space prison colony, where players take on the role of an inmate trying to escape amid an alien invasion.
Redditor EmeraldJunkie was thrilled at this prospect, saying they're "Dead excited for Callisto Protocol. Loved Dead Space, loved everything Glenn Schofield has touched, really excited for this." Glenn Schofield was part of the original team for the first Dead Space, so fans of that series should feel right at home when with this new world once The Callisto Protocol launches on December 2nd, 2022.
Spider-Man: Remastered & Spider-Man: Miles Morales PC Ports
Ever since the latest generation of consoles began, publishers finally started paying more attention to the PC gaming space. Sony/PlayStation is among them, and they brought some of their heavy hitters to Steam with the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, and soon-to-be Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy. This seems to have paid off, with PlayStation doubling down by announcing PC ports of Spider-Man: Remastered and Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Both of these titles are some of the best modern superhero games, with fans like Redditor megajawn5000 optimistic over what this means for the platform, saying "This game is phenomenal, big W for the PC community." Rising prices in gaming overall are admittedly rough, but more publishers warming up to PC will at least bode well for accessibility and consumer choice going forward. Spider-Man: Remastered's port is set for August 12, 2022, with Miles Morales at an undisclosed fall 2022 release date.
Stray Gameplay Trailer & Release Date
All the major blockbuster reveals expectedly took up most of the spotlight, but developer BlueTwelve Studio's Stray is a refreshingly smaller-scale game that's been getting a fair bit of drumroll from both the marketing and excited gamers as well. This upcoming adventure game puts players in the role of a stray cat exploring a world populated by robots, trying to return to his family.
Redditor JW_BM was excited by the new gameplay trailer and July 19th release date announcement, saying they "might bump my subscription up to PS Extra to play Stray." Stray looks to be a colorful, vibrant, and relaxing adventure game filled with an artistic atmosphere in the same vein as indie darling Journey.
PlayStation VR2 Showcase
On the Virtual Reality gaming front, June's State of Play finally gave players a solid look into what's coming down the line for PlayStation VR2. After a first bout on the PS4, this next step in the technology is set to take full advantage of the PS5's capabilities from 4K resolution, HDR, and smoother framerates.
Redditor rafikiknowsdeway1 was particularly surprised and impressed with its reveal and the event overall, saying "I'm actually somewhat shocked I wasn't disappointed today. I got basically all I ever wanted out of the PSVR2 showcase and all the rest of the games were pretty tight too." Resident Evil Village and No Man's Sky were announced to receive PSVR2 support, as well as an original release in the form of Horizon Call of the Mountain.
Tunic PS4 & PS5 Port
PlayStation is set to receive another well-received indie port by way of Andrew Shouldice's Tunic. The game launched earlier this year for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and it now has a September 27th release date for Sony's home consoles.
Redditor Nixpix66 was excited about the upcoming port, saying "I am so excited that Tunic is coming to ps5! I’ve heard it’s like Fez meets Zelda meets Dark Souls and I’ve been super interested in playing it." There's no shortage of indie titles trying to replicate the action-adventure formula of The Legend of Zelda series or Dark Souls self-titled subgenre, but the careful blend of them in Tunic has proven to be well executed.