Usually, when a showcase or livestream gets announced, we poor Aussies let out a sigh as we set our alarms for way too early o’clock. So it’s always nice when they take place at a reasonable enough hour that we can brew a coffee as we watch. Announced out of the blue yesterday, the latest PlayStation State of Play took place this morning, with firm expectations set that only third-party and indie titles would be shown. With our hype level set to mild, let’s take a look at what was shown.
Here are all of the announcements made during the September 2023 PlayStation State of Play:
Baby Steps
Kicking things off in the strangest way possible, we opened with a fresh look at Baby Steps, the latest offering from developer trio Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy, and Gabe Cuzzillo, the minds behind Getting Over It. In this Devolver Digital-published little freak of a game, you’ll be playing as an exceptionally clumsy Ed Sheeran lookalike as he stumbles his way through a fog-draped, scenic mountain. The gameplay looks somewhere between Death Stranding’s deliberate walking and that one time I ate too many brownies and had to move from the living room to the bedroom. The vibes are great, right down to an Aussie who shows up to encourage the use of grappling hooks.
Roblox
As previously reported, Roblox is making its way to PlayStation and it got the headline billing at this event. The game is undeniably a phenomenon with over 65 million players in its odd virtual shared reality that combines countless gameplay concepts and interactivity with player avatar customisation and microtransactions. The free-to-play title will drop on PS4 (and PS5 via backwards compatibility) on October 10 and will be cross-platform.
Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord
Get ready to bust your way to feeling good when Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord lands on PSVR2 on October 26. Just in time for the spooky season, this co-op multiplayer experience has you teaming up with a squad of busters to bust puzzles, ghosts, and a whole host of whacky situations. It’s bright and bombastic in a way that feels a little off from the tone of the original film but looks like a solid time with some mates if busting is your thing.
Resident Evil 4 Remake PSVR2 Update & Separate Ways DLC Campaign
We got a much better look at the PSVR2 version of Capcom’s acclaimed Resident Evil 4 Remake and it looks absolutely primo, mate. The PSVR2 has been in need of a really big, blockbuster swing and the sheer fidelity on display here might be the exact boost the unit needs. We see some footage of Leon doing some neat gun tricks and puzzle-solving in the free DLC update.
The game is also getting a major update on September 21 that adds the additional Ada Wong campaign, Separate Ways, as well as fan favourite characters to The Mercenaries. Both have been rumoured for some time now thanks to dataminers and the inevitable nature of life but this was the first official confirmation we’ve had that Ada Wong is finally taking centre stage again. The short trailer shows the mysterious lady in red making her way through some familiar settings, lamenting the cost of things in a world such as Resident Evils. No real details beyond the vibe-setting trailer for now, but it’ll cost $10 US, so expect around 15 bucks in local dollars for this DLC.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, the Ubisoft open-world action game set in the massively successful Avatar cinematic universe, got a brand new trailer that highlighted the density of its world and combat variety. Coming to us by way of Massive Entertainment, the team behind The Division, this first-person experience looks to be pulling from both Na’vi culture and human military for its shooting as the main character is seen using a bow and arrow just as easily as an assault rifle, taking on the invading corporate forces and eventually riding banshee. It certainly looks vibrant, the world itself a shockingly beautiful plateau that you’ll get to explore on December 7 this year.
Ghostrunner 2
Ghostrunner 2 has surprise dropped a brand new demo for the hotly anticipated sequel, which you can run and play right now. The follow-up to the broadly adored Ghostrunner, this first-person cyberpunk ninja free runner is introducing a whole host of new tools and tricks for players to enjoy, including a reworked combat system that allows for more active defensive play. The news was accompanied by a new story trailer which you can check out below.
PS5 Deep Earth Collection
For those looking for a way to add a dash of colour to their PS5 set-up, the Deep Earth Collection is bringing a new range of face plates and DualSense controllers to the market over the next few months. Volcanic Red, Cobalt Blue, and Sterling Silver are your choices, the first two sporting rich colour tones and all three with a smooth metallic finish. No Aussie pricing yet unfortunately but you can nab the red and the blue on November 3, followed by the silver beast on January 26, 2024.
Helldivers 2
Aw hell yeah…divers…2. We got another, pretty extensive, look at the moment-to-moment gameplay of Helldivers 2 during the State of Play, tracking a small squad of definitely real mates as they use a Mass Effect-style galaxy map to choose a mission before making landfall and engaging a swarm of nasty creatures. Despite the overly forced gameplay chatter on the mics, Helldivers 2 continues to look the goods.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Why can’t I play Spider-Man 2 yet? Tell me. The four-minute snippet of the highly-anticipated sequel that we got this morning focused on the expanded New York City that now includes Queens and Brooklyn, making the map *checks notes* twice as large as the one found in the first game. Good lord that’s a lot of swinging. Thankfully, Peter and Miles both have wingsuit upgrades, making traversal faster and more fluid. Speaking of the two leading men, we also got confirmation that we’ll be able to swap between them in the open world at any time (ala GTA V), with close to no load time.
The trailer also glossed over a few new upgrades and skill systems, as well as the staggering 65 suits and hundreds of customisation options that’ll be available, but that’s not what caught my eye. As Pete and Miles blast through the Big Apple, we get a glimpse at some very Mysterio-looking icons, so I think we can expect the fishbowl-wearing foe to maybe take the place of Screwball in this new title. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is set to hit PS5 on October 20.
Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn
Tales of Arise is getting some lovely-looking new DLC, Beyond the Dawn on November 9. This is somewhat of a surprise given the game is basically two years old at this point, but a pleasant showing nonetheless for fans of the action RPG. The DLC is set a year after the events of the main game and will follow the same party of characters as they navigate the fallout of the war between Dahna and Rena.
Foamstars
Aldi Splatoon is back with the announcement of its open beta coming later this month. Foamstars continues to be one of the stranger titles on the PlayStation slate, but by all accounts is far more fun than you’d imagine given its bold-faced imitation of Nintendo’s squid kid hit. Still, if you’re looking to find out for yourself, the Open Beta Party will feature 4v4 matches with all characters available and special rewards for those who participate in the event which is running September 30th. The game is free to play for all PlayStation gamers, even those without PS Plus apparently. So you know it’s gotta be good.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
The showstopper of the event was, of course, the release date reveal for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the impossibly anticipated, two-disc-sized follow-up to Final Fantasy VII remake. The trailer is…genuinely pretty fucking cool. In it we get more hints at the strange time warping that was peppered throughout the first remake but alongside it is a landslide of exotic new locations, returning faces, minigames and some classic Square vibe setting. The game is set to release on February 29, 2024, and we’re on Cloud nin-no, I won’t do that.
You know what, for a showcase that was played down as potentially one to miss, it wasn’t half bad. We got some release dates, more details on anticipated games and a cheeky Resi surprise (sort of). I’m glad that I didn’t need to wake up at 3am for it though, my thoughts would be vastly different if that were the case.
What did you think of the State of Play? Did anything stand out to you? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.
