Sony State of Play 5/30/24: A summer nothingburger

   Games may be great, but knowing what you're about to get is also sweeter, as long as you don't have to wait multiple years without any information in between. Luckily, the studios have found ways to help give crumbs to their player bases. And on May 30th, 2024, another PlayStation State of Play has aired, and, for the most part, has been very underwhelming. It featured alot of games nobody was vocally excited for, except for like 3 games.

The first red flag of this event was devoting 1/3rd towards Concord, a new game from the recently bought-out developer Firewalk Studios. Although the CGI trailer was entertaining in showcasing its futuristic cast of bounty hunters, the moment they said it was a 5v5 hero shooter was more than enough to kill players' interest in the game.

Other announcements were mostly new trailers for upcoming releases, which I am personally excited for Monster Hunter Wilds and Silent Hill 2. Still, I felt they would have been better showcased from Capcom and Konami’s side. They also showed off more details for yet ANOTHER hero shooter, Marvel Rivals, including 2 more characters: Venom and Adam Warlock. it looks ok, but it is not worth dumping time into it when it's gonna shut down in a year or two. They also showed off trailers for the Until Dawn remake, God of War: Ragnarok on Steam (somehow requiring a PSN login for a single-player game), a dress-up open-world RPG in the form of Infinity Nikki, and other titles including Dynasty Warriors Origins, Where winds meet, and Alien: Rogue Incursion, a PSVR2 game set in the iconic Aliens universe.

Saving the best for last, was the reveal of Astro Bot, a game that has received universal praise from its reveal, already becoming the most-liked trailer from the State of Play. It harbors a return to a simpler era of PlayStation gaming where games were experimental and filled with joy, instead of being a walking movie simulator with the same color pallet. Spanning 6 worlds split into 80 levels, over 150 cameos from PlayStation legends, 300 bots to rescue, and the best part is that it’s coming in 3 months to PS5 on September 6th.

Despite the overwhelming love of Astro Bot, I would not have recommended wasting 30 minutes watching this State of Play. It was filled with oddities everywhere and wasting a third of it on Concord was not the smartest move Sony could have done. There are some things for everyone, like horror fans, monster hunters, dress-up enthusiasts, and action platforming, but next time, don’t start the presentation with a generic hero shooter like that. It was very offputting. I would have waited afterward and checked out the trailers individually.