LOS ANGELES, Dec 12 — Half a dozen of PlayStation’s biggest upcoming exclusives were given additional previews at the December 8 and 9 PlayStation Experience 2017.
An annual event for PlayStation fans, the PlayStation Experience arrives after several larger expos but presents an opportunity for smaller, more focused announcements as well as hands-on time and developer previews.
Following Los Angeles’ Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, Cologne’s Gamescom in August, and a Paris Games Week presentation in October, PSX 2017 marked a return for PGW reveal Ghosts of Tsushima.
Joining the open-world samurai adventure were a number of other exclusives, including the web-slinging superhero license Marvel’s Spider-Man, harrowing post-apocalyptic survivalist story The Last of Us Part II, and extravagant big game pursuit Monster Hunter: World.
In addition, PlayStation’s curated cache of sought-after independent productions was also represented by the likes of Vane and Concrete Genie.
Four staffers from Ghost of Tsushima development studio Sucker Punch spoke during a 45-minute panel about some of the concepts and processes behind their ambitious project, and their intentions in developing “a fantasy Japan using fictional characters” while “making sure we’re hitting the right tone” for the historical period in which the Mongol Empire invaded Tsushima island.
By contrast, Insomniac Games put together a punchy behind-the-scenes video to explain the appeal of the main character in Marvel’s Spider-Man, as well as the ideas behind their version of public benefactor and secret supervillain Mr Negative.
Elsewhere, members of the team behind The Last of Us Part II were able to delve into the meaning and motives behind some of the incidents portrayed in a controversial Paris Games Week trailer while both cast and creatives took advantage of the opportunity to outline some of the game’s broader themes and making-of details.
Capcom might not be as closely associated with PlayStation as the previous three games’ developers, but Monster Hunter: World is the latest and, one hopes, greatest attempt to bring one of Japan’s biggest franchises to an international audience, hence a new Third Fleet trailer and a discussion with four fellows from the game’s publisher and team.
And avian-themed exploration Vane, lest it be forgotten among all the interest directed towards PlayStation’s potentially similar but more well-known Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian, was explored in a little more detail in a talk with one of its leads, as was urban renewal mural-making adventure Concrete Genie. — AFP-Relaxnews
