The Top 5 Moments from Sony’s E3 2015 Press Conference

The 2014 press conference by Sony at the Electronic Entertainment Expo was pretty good, all told, while Microsoft did alright by their own this year. That’s two different performances Sony has to top this year, but can they do the job?

5) Uncharted 4

I have to admit, I’m not exactly an Uncharted fan. Not that I harbor any dislike for the series, but without the hardware to play any of the first three titles, it’s just been kind of off to the side of my focus when it comes to PlayStation gaming as a result.

But this? I really enjoyed this. I not only enjoyed it, but I appreciated it. Everything in this bit just seemed to have so much care put into it, and it just seemed to feel very, very real. I’ve always been interested in playing the Uncharted games should the opportunity present itself, but this presentation actually has me actively wanting to check it out — almost enough to just skip the first three and go straight to Uncharted 4 if I should have the good fortune of ending up with a PlayStation 4.

4) Horizon: Zero Dawn

It was kind of a tough call over whether to include this or something else, but the premise behind this kind of intrigues me. On Twitter, I jokingly referred to it as “Beast Machines Hunter Mononoke 21XX,” but really? That’s almost a sign of affection here.

I do think the main character needs to take the talking down a notch, though. I don’t mind some dialogue, or some witty one-sided banter, but this felt like a bit much for what was being turned in here.

3) The Last Guardian

This is here simply due to finally being reaffirmed as existing. Sure, Sony has said it’s still going on, but less tell and more show, right?

I’m not sure how invested I am in this personally yet, but for those who have had high hopes built on the backs of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, I’m happy to finally see it appear.

2) Shenmue III Kickstarter

It’s not exclusive, and at the time they brought Yu Suzuki out, the game was technically not even happening yet. Nonetheless, like The Last Guardian, this was long overdue and I’m happy for those who have been waiting so long for it. Personally speaking, I never got to play the originals, but I’d be happy to see what all the buzz has been about.

1) Final Fantasy VII Remake

Finally, we come to the bombshell of the evening. I’m not a Final Fantasy fan, but my wife is (and she’s gone over what she thinks the remake needs to do here), and I have friends who are, so I can recognize the significance of this announcement (even if the game isn’t a PlayStation exclusive).

Really, this one was less about what I wanted and more about seeing how people react to it.

Honorable Mentions

Dreams

I like the look of this, but I don’t expect I’d be able to do much with it — then again, maybe I just don’t fully “get” it yet.

I rather adored the part with the polar bears, too. And now I want a Coke.

Batman: Arkham City

This was pretty neat, but it was just more of what we’ve been building towards (and was delayed from) last year. Wherever my hype needle is for the game, it hasn’t moved, seeing as how it comes out so very soon.

No Man’s Sky

Much like Batman: Arkham City, this was neat, but felt like a carryover from last year. I’m still interested, but I didn’t feel like this showed me very much, if anything, that was new.

Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars

Not exclusive to PlayStation, of course, but seeing the stylized Star Wars characters was kind of neat. Also, I dig how the characters’ blasters have orange safety tips on the ends.

Firewatch

Another game lacking exclusivity in Sony’s E3 press portfolio, I had a tough time deciding between this and Horizon: Zero Dawn for the #4 spot; I went with that because it seemed to be a bigger thing.

But unlike most of the moments I recognize as “bigger” announcements above, this one managed to speak to me on a more personal level. Besides the banter with the operator, the whole fire lookout/rescue thing just appeals to me on some level that other roles in games don’t, and I look forward to seeing more of this one.

Oh, and Sony got to show off a new Call of Duty: Black Ops title. That’s a thing, I guess.

—–

The PlayStation press conference overall just felt a little flat to me. The stuff that interested me most was fairly niche or holdovers from last year with little additional context, and all the stuff I know is “big” seems geared to appeal more to other people. Oh, and a lot of things weren’t exclusive, making it more difficult to call anything in particular here a “win” for Sony.

There was pretty much nil for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV, too. This wasn’t unexpected going in, but kind of disappointing all the same.

I gave this article the subtitle “where dreams come true,” but the real caveat is that they were almost all other peoples’ dreams. And that’s fine; not everything is going to appeal to everyone, after all, but despite recognizing how big some of these announcements were, I just feel like I’m in something of a melancholy holding pattern as far as Sony’s E3 this year goes.