I waited in bated breath for Sony Playstation’s Press Conference at E3 2018. I was hyped and was getting ready to watch Naughty Dog’s sequel to The Last of Us. The conference started with the signature music from the Last of Us. I thought to myself, this is going to be an awesome presentation. Boy, was I wrong.
In all fairness to Naughty Dog, they can never do me wrong. That trailer for The Last of Us Part II was everything I hoped for. The focus on Ellie this time leaves me wondering where the heck is Joel. That gameplay seemed very natural and fluid. I wasn’t expecting that you can crawl underneath the car but they did it. The sequence reminded me a lot of the first gameplay footage for the Last of Us. It was gritty, it was dark, and it was very visceral. That trailer was awesome. It got me hyped for everything that their press conference was going to be.
But again, I was disappointed. I didn’t realize the fun already ended when the Last of Us Part II Trailer was done. It seemed like Sony’s press conference was rushed. There was even this 20-minute “intermission.” Did something happen on the stage? Were they not prepared for what they were going to do? Where are the presenters? Did they all get infected in the outbreak? I was clamoring for answers but all I got were more questions.
I did enjoy trailers for the Spider-Man, Kingdom Hearts 3 and Resident Evil 2. They somewhat rekindled the hype for me but I feel like ending with Spiderman made the whole conference fall flat. The announcement of Nioh 2 was also a welcome addition. I didn’t expect they would be making a sequel this early but then again Nioh was a very successful game so I wasn’t all that surprised.
Everything else was just a blur of game trailers that we all know were coming out. Death Stranding was okay but still, it was funky as heck. I wish Hideo Kojima would have shown up and did something to make the conference lively. Disappointed once again.
If I have to sum up how the Sony Press Conference went. I can say that it didn’t really live up to my expectations as a die-hard PS Fanboy. It left me wanting more out of the experience. It left me wondering what the heck happened. It left me discombobulated. Last year was slightly better. The only saving grace was that opener.
