The Coolest Games from PlayStation Experience That Aren’t Sequels or Remakes
By Matthew Arcilla
Earlier this week, Sony Computer Entertainment dropped a buttload of new trailers and announcements via PlayStation Experience. It’s an annual celebration of all things PlayStation, and how else do you celebrate consumer culture other than in the form of a two-day long commercial for your brand?
Joking cynicism aside, every game show is an exciting opportunity to show off new products. But, while sequels to beloved franchises and remakes of well remembered classics are certainly exciting, it’s the original stuff that doesn’t get as much free press, or trend as well on social media.
Here are 8 cool games overlooked on PlayStation Experience.
1. Dreadnought
Developed by Berlin-based studio Yager, Dreadnought is a unique action game that puts players in control of huge warships as they duke it out in massive battles. The promise is an ultimate space battle fantasy that eschews the usual starfighter cockpit action in favor of high stakes command in the vein of Space Warship Yamato or Battlestar Galactica.
2. Fallen Legion
From edutainment developer YummyYummyTummy, Fallen Legion is an RPG that draws inspiration from the cult classic Valkyrie Profile. Combat involves issuing perfectly timed commands to separate characters and efficient use of combos to maximize effects. But what’s really interesting are the choices you make between scenarios that don’t just determine the boosts you receive but affect your reputation.
3. Horizon: Zero Dawn
Probably the most well-known game on this list, Horizon: Zero Dawn is a brand new project from Guerrilla Games, the Amsterdam-based studio behind the Killzone series. Horizon marks the studio’s first foray into open-world action, combining tactical combat and survival mechanics with a unique setting of a future overrun by unchecked nature and animalistic robots.
4. Pyre
Supergiant Games, the creators behind cult hits Bastion and Transistor is back with another one of their stylishly atmospheric productions. Like the San Francisco-based studio’s other games, Pyre is about lost souls searching for something. Pyre has you leading a band of exiles competing in an ancient magical sport called The Rite as they wander a vast, mystical purgatory.
5. Vane
Tokyo-based Friend and Foe Games is behind Vane, and they already demonstrated the game to select journalists, showing how you’ll be able to navigate the expansive wastes as a bird. Billed as “an atmospheric adventure about unraveling the secrets of an unknown land,” this eerie, atmospheric game evokes the mystery and wonder of games like Inside and Abzu.
6. Starblood Arena
From Los Angeles-based studio WhiteMoon Dreams, Starblood Arena combines all the things–battle royale, team deathmatch, co-op, challenge modes–to create a multiplayer arena shooter that’s like Descent gone the way of Unreal Tournament. Players control a bunch of heavily armed floating battle pods in close quarters arenas. The game is being developed exclusively for PlayStation VR.
7. What Remains of Edith Finch
Santa Monica based Giant Sparrow brought us the unique splatter narrative The Unfinished Swan some years ago, and their next offering, What Remains of Edith Finch, promises a similarly unique experience. Billed as a collection of short stories about a cursed family with personal stories spanning multiple decades, you play as Edith Finch, a young woman trying to learn why she’s the last living Finch.
8. Strafe
Welcome to the future of video games. Welcome to 1996. So goes this love letter from developer Pixel Titans to the heyday of hyper violent shooters. A terrible looking website and clever send ups of outraged parents and moral panic are backed by incredible looking game play. Randomly generated levels, unforgiving speed and amazing gore effects make Strafe a throwback we’re looking forward to.
What’s your favorite among these? Tell us below!
