What did the PlayStation 5 reveal bring with it? A whole lot of games.

It’s coming. The next generation of consoles will launch later this year with the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. While we have some concrete details about the latter’s look and lineup, the former has largely remained a secret…until now. Earlier today, Sony held a special reveal event where they gave us first details of what to expect from their fifth home console.

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Introduction

The PlayStation 5 reveal started off with a short retrospective before diving into a ton of PlayStation 4 footage. It was highlighted in the footage that this stuff was from the PlaysStation 4 with a watermark at the top left — so we didn’t freak the f**k out. 

They then dove into the world of Grand Theft Auto V — you know, that 87-year-old game. They teased that it would be “expanded and enhanced for the PlayStation 5. As it turns out, owners of the PlayStation 5 will get GTA Online for free.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales

So, you’re not here for GTAV. You’re here for PlayStation 5, right? Well, going forward, they had footage shown from various games captured from actual PlayStation 5s. They started off with a bang — a Miles Morales-starring Spider-Man game. Its Name: Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The game is set to hit this holiday season, though it’s not clear how far along it’ll hit after the PlayStation 5 launches.

Gran Turismo

From there, they jumped into a console favorite: Gran Turismo. It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen this franchise, and while I’ve fallen out of the racing genre, it looks like it’ll continue brining what fans love aabout the franchise. The visuals are beautiful, but it’s hard not to just sort of shrug at it. I don’t quite see a huge difference between it and the PS4 — but that’s probably just because I don’t care too much about visuals.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

We then took a hard-left turn into a much cartoonier game — the return of Ratchet and Clank in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart! I have to say, the years look like they’ve been pretty kind to the franchise, as its style works well with the enhanced system. If nothing else, it looks like they’re taking advantage of the specs to fill the screen with all sorts of chaos. As indicated by the title, they will be dealing with dimensional rifts.

If platforming action is your deal, then chances are you can do much worse than a new Ratchet and Clank game.

Project Athia

And then Square Enix’s logo popped up. What could it be? Another Final Fantasy? Something new altogether? Turns out the latter — an exclusive game called Project Athia. It features a high fantasy setting and dark blue-haired heroine. Few details are shown, but it looks pretty stellar in the visuals department.

Stray

The screen fades into a futuristic world, where robots fill the streets. Not a human is in sight, and we see countless types of robots interacting quietly as a cat hops his way around. the atmosphere is charming an dark — and the cat is adorable. It’s unclear what the gameplay is like, but it looks like we will be controlling a cat in this game — which is set to hit in 2021.

Returnal

And then a short console tease hits. We pelted with sleep imagery, along with a lot of buzzwords like “ray-tracing” and “3D audio.” It all leads up to a talking head from a dev at Worldwide Studios, with someone talking about how great the PlayStation 5 actually is. 

This teases us into a new sci-fi game that feels very much in the vein of Alien and Death Stranding. It’s a brand-new franchise created exclusively for PlayStation 5. While the graphics themselves don’t look amazing (the character model looks a bit wonky to me — but that can change), I’m always in favor of original ideas and new franchises. A great deal of the gameplay shows third-person shooting, but it may also have first-person elements throughout. 

Sackboy: A Big Adventure

We are then treated to a fakeout. It looks like a new I.P. with a tiger character before it’s revealed to be a Little Big Planet character. But the title of this action platformer is called Sackboy: A Big Adventure. Like Ratchet and Clank, if platformers are your thing, this looks like it’ll fit the bill nicely. That being said, there’s nothing there that looks super exciting.

Destruction Allstars

Are you a fan of wacky action racers? If so, this next game could be right up your alley. The explosions, slices, and chaos reign supreme in this short clip that shows off colorful characters with spray-painted armor and colors galore. Looks like a fun arcade experience.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Next up, we have a game from Ember Lab, a company with a background in film and animation. As expected, the game that follows is quite the cinematic-looking little gem. It has gorgeous and unique art and animation, along with what appears to be a story and atmosphere-driven experience. It also seems to feature a lead Asian female character in an Asian-inspired setting. I all honesty, it looks like a perfect response to the Zelda franchise, though it also looks to be fairly linear in nature based on the gameplay we have seen. 

For me personally, it was the highlight of the presentation up until this point.

Goodbye Volcano High

What followed in the PlayStation 5 reveal was an odd-looking game. It featured very flat and stylized animation with weird animal hybrid characters. It’s hard to tell what the gameplay will be like, but it does seem like a coming-of-age narrative-driven one.

Oddworld: Soulstorm

And if you’ve been eager to return to Oddworld, then you’re in for a surprise. We have a new entry into the franchise that looks to bring it back to the world of 3D sidescrolling. Utilizing its trademark mix of dark and quirky, it looks like quite the fun experience.

Ghostwire Tokyo

If you’ve ever wanted to travel the streets of Tokyo from the comfort of your own living room, this new game gives you just that opportunity. The developer touted how PlayStation 5 made realizing the setting possible, and what followed was a creepy take on the metropolitan city. It’s a first-person supernatural game full of creepy monsters and magic spells that you cast on them. 

Jett: The Far Shore

Our next game takes us into space — to the distant future where we hop around on a spaceship. Admittedly, the game elements aren’t so clear here, but it may be a strategy game where you control a ship or help start up civilizations? It’s very hard to tell.

Godfall

What followed was a familiar beast. It featured armored gods taking on big, bad monsters. It was all set to kinetic rap music. If you’ve ever read the Stormlight Archive novels, it features armor and combat similar to what I would expect. It’s not a huge standout to me, but it looks aight.

Solar Ash

Solar Ash is a hyper-stylized game with cel-shaded graphics. I looks like a companion to something like Journey — but with a darker, trippier slant.

Hitman III

This next game looks quite interesting. It starts off feeling like a dark, noir-laden mystery. And then, it’s revealed that it’s a new Hitman game. The developer went on to confirm that Agent 47 is back, and that this latest entry will conclude the trilogy.

Astro’s Playroom

Quite unexpectedly, we are shown a PlayStation 5 controller, and out from it pops a cute little robot. From there, we see a whole ton of action platforming and what looks like minigames. Not exactly a console-seller, admittedly.

Little Devil Inside

And then there’s the charming game that features boxy art. It almost feels like it could have been designed by Laika. Somehow, it feels like a mix between them, Tim Burton, and Wes Anderson with how it switches between sidescrolling and more dynamic camera angles. It’s probably one of the most artistically-appealing games presented thus far to me.

NBA 2K21

I mean…sure. It’s an NBA game. I’ll admit, not my forte. But you can take a look at the pretty photo above.

Bugsnax

What follows is a really weird-looking game where we see a moving strawberry that gets eaten by a walrus-looking creature. I honestly don’t know what I”m looking at here. If you like to…watch creatures eat bug snacks, then I suppose this is the game for you. Who am I kidding? This is weird af.

Demon’s Soul

As we neared the end of the show, we got a glimpse at another interesting-looking game. It featured a high fantasy setting, tons of evil-looking monsters, including more skeletons than you can shake a stick at. For a brief moment, I was wondering if I was seeing a Medieval sequel, but no.

Deathloop

Up next in the PlayStation 5 reveal was a stylish action-shooter that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. It looks pulpy and ridiculous, and features what looks like Portal-like mechanics that allow you to sneak up on enemies — before beating and shooting the hell out of them. It also features time-looping mechanics that allow you to relive the same moment again and a gain.

While it didn’t catch me at first, I love its tone and style, and it seems to have potential for unique game mechanics. It also seems to have a cinematic edge to it that I’m always a fan of. 

The general premise is that you are trapped in a deathloop with a bunch of other assassins. Yeah, sure. I’ll go for it. Even though I’m not a huge first-person shooter guy.

Village: Resident Evil

I suppose we haven’t had our fill of the horror genre yet. So, up next was an unexpected twist. The footage featured dark houses, twisting forests, castles, and a first-person perspective. 

And then there was the huge reveal: this is a Resident Evil game! In the first person? Again? Okay.

Pragmata

This game opened up with an astronaut walking down a big, abandoned city street. It was an odd visual, to say the least. A small girl comes up behind him all alone, and we see what looks like a hologram of a cat. Stuff happens, and a satellite falls toward earth. With the help of the girl, her and the astronaut are thrown into space and land on the moon. Looks odd…but potentially unique.

Horizon: Forbidden West

Oh, and were you hoping for a Horizon: Zero Dawn sequel at the PlayStation 5 reveal? Congrats, because that’s exactly what followed. It featured gorgeous scenery and tons of robotic monsters, and everyone’s favorite heroine. The graphics look amazing and it’s an entry that’s bound to move the mythology forward even further. 

The PlayStation 5 System Reveal

Finally, after all this time, we got our first look at the console itself. After more flash graphics than you can imagine, the reveal came. And man, that look looks like it was inspired by a mix of Eve from Wall-E and the Burj Khalifa Skyscraper. 

It also will launch with two versions. One will allow game discs, and the Digital Edition will, obviously, only allow you to download games. On the whole, I appreciate this presentation relied heavily on games instead of pelting tech jargon at us or telling us all the non-game stuff it can do.

What did you think of the PlayStation 5 reveal? Let us know in the comments down below!

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