Sony’s PlayStation hosted the State of Play 2024 on January 31st. Here are some of the highlights that we got from the 40 minute showcase compared to September 2023’s State of Play that lasted about 20 minutes and featured the then-upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Spider-Man 2 and Ghostrunner 2.
The livestream event featured trailers and updates on games that are coming to the PS5. The event included extended looks at games like Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade. It even surprised fans with the updates on games such as Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Sonic x Shadow Generations and many more
However, projects from Kojima productions like Death Stranding 2 and their new action-espionage project titled “Physint” dominated the presentation. Developers like Konami silently dropped their brand-new game sequels called Silent Hill: The Short Message and a trailer for Silent Hill 2. With that being said, here is a compilation of the exciting updates during State of Play 2024.
Death Stranding 2: On the beach
While the title may sound bright, the trailer to the sequel to Death Stranding is even more stranger than the original. Hideo Kojima showed off a new trailer for the game that eerily starts with a disturbing visual of, Surgery. The trailer clip featured a whole bunch of new locations outside of the US, but the main highlight was looking at the return of a villain who had a makeover and looks striking similar to the Joker. The baby from the first part makes an appearance along with a new talking doll in the trailer.
Until Dawn
A remaster to the 2015’s horror game Until Dawn, was announced during the PlayStation State of Play. The new version of the will arrive on PC and PS5 sometime this year. As common with many remasters, the forthcoming ports will include both graphical and performance based improvements. We got a look at the remaster’s enhanced graphics, and learned that developer Ballistic Moon is handling the project.
Originally developed by Supermassive Games, Until Dawn is a choose-your-own-adventure video game. The studio is best known for making choice-filled horror games such as The Dark Pictures Anthology and Until Dawn.
Rise of the Ronin
Despite the fact that Team Ninja’s much awaited Rise of the Ronin is coming out on the PS5 on March 22nd, another look at the action RPG weighs a heavy focus on the actual gameplay at the game’s core. The developers showcased the world of Yokohama, 1-on-1 sword combat with a parry system, and a lot more in the game.
The game, initially announced in September 2022 is from the same makers of games such as Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Nioh, and Dead or Alive. The single-player game is a PlayStation 5 exclusive. The game is set during the events of civil war of Japan during the 19th Century and tells the story of a brave samurai who travels through Japan.
Metro Awakening: VR
From the studios that brought the game Metro Exodus, the post-apocalyptic first-person shooter, Deep Silver studios is gearing up for a Virtual Reality (VR) spinoff of the game that unlocks a whole new world of creepyness. Titled as called Metro Awakening, the game is set to release on the PSVR2 console (that was launched during 2023) sometime later this year.
Metro, the single-player post-apocalyptic first person shooter game is based on the novels written by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The game is set before the events of 2010’s game Metro 2033. In the game, layers control Serdar, a doctor searching the metro tunnels to find his wife. Unlike the previous games in the franchise, the game is developed by Vertigo Games.
Judas
Judas, a first-person sci-fi action game from creator Ken Levine of games like Bioshock had been making news from quite some since fans got to see a first true look a few months after the report that came during the 2022 Game Awards.
A new trailer of Judas was revealed during the PlayStation State of Play 2024. According to the developers the game takes place inside of Mayflower, a spacefaring city whose citizens are trained to tear each other apart for even the most minor infractions, and where machines control every aspect of business, art, and government.
As the player, you are Judas, and act as the driver of every event in a mysterious story with a new cast of characters to get to know, and to change in a world where every decision you make affects how the story unfolds. The game is currently under development for the PS5 console and also slated to release on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Stellar Blade
Developer Shift Up games had announced Stellar Blade way back in 2019 under the codename Project Eve, and was initially announced for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The game appeared two years later at a September 2021 State of Play presentation, where it was presented as a third-person action-adventure PS5 exclusive.
According to the developers, the game’s story will focus on a young woman as she fights off strange alien monsters called NA:tives who have invaded Earth. Stellar Blade’s new trailer reveals impressive visuals alongside a ton of fast-paced slashy gameplay. It also gave us a look at the in-game location called Xion, which is described as the “last remaining city on Earth.” The game is slated to release on April 26, 2024.
Silent Hill: The Short Message
Konami stole the show during the State of Play event when it went on to reveal Silent Hill: The Short Message, a free-to-play Silent Hill spin-off that is available to play. The developers also shared a new trailer for the Silent Hill 2 remake project, but no release date or window was given.
The Short Message reveals that it is a spin-off from the classic horror franchise set in modern-day Germany. In the game, you act as Anita who explores a location known as The Villa from a first-person perspective. Some leaks suggest that the game would have strong suicide themes and horror violence. Konami developed Short Message alongside Hexadrive, an independent developer based in Osaka. Hexadrive has worked on numerous games over the years, including Super Bomberman R 2 and Final Fantasy XV.
With that being said, the powerful lineup also includes games from other popular Japanese game developers such as Capcom studios’ Dragon’s Dogma 2, Sega’s Sonic X Shadow Generations. Other announcements included Square Enix’s Foamstars, Helldivers 2 by Arrowhead game studios and many more exciting games during the livestreamed event of PlayStation’s State of Play 2024.
