2017 is finally here! After a very memorable year, for better and for worse, it’s no secret that many of us are ready to start fresh with the brand new year. With a new year underway, we have many games to look forward across all platforms. As well as games to even potentially see more information in the upcoming conventions such as E3 (fingers crossed to see a Borderlands 3 reveal trailer in 2017). With so many games to talk about, let’s focus on one platform and take a look at 10 games coming to Sony’s PS4 in 2017. From long awaited sequel to ambitious new IPs, we have so much look forward to in 2017.
Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4: February 28)
This truly was a surprise back at E3 2015. A gameplay demo was given to us, showing a female warrior named Aloy as she goes up against wildlife. Let me rephrase that: robotic wildlife. Developed by Guerilla Games (who previously worked on Sony exclusive Killzone Shadow Fall), Horizon Zero Dawn drops us into a world overrun by mechanical beasts and the human’s struggle to take back the world that once belonged to them. The game promises to give the player many options in combat such as stealth and melee.
With a huge and visually stunning open world, it seems Sony has put so much faith into making their new exclusive flagship series. If you’ve seen any of recent commercials for Sony, you’ve most likely seen Horizon Zero Dawn somewhere in those trailers as this seems to be a new face for Sony. With the story of Nathan Drake ending in the Uncharted series, it’s no wonder they Aloy to be Sony’s new star-child.
Persona 5 (PS4, PS3: April)
The long awaited sequel to beloved role-playing series is finally set to release in April of 2017. In this part of the series, you play as a member of a group of masked vigilantes known as “Phantom Thieves of Hearts,” formed by a group of high school teenagers who all seemingly share supernatural abilities. Just like previous titles in the series, the player must balance their vigilante life as well as their social life in high school.
Gameplay that has been shown reveals how important relationships are in this game. While players can constantly upgrade their own character, the better abilities and perks come from the relationships you develop with your team.
Detroit: Become Human (PS4: TBA 2017)
Quite frankly the most bizarre trailer I witnessed at E3 2016, but for all the right reasons. This title is developed by Quantic Dream, the same team who gave us story based adventures such as Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls. Detroit: Become Human is another game in the same genre. From the first reveal we saw, the tone seems a neo-noir thriller set in a futuristic Detroit.
Players will seemingly take control of different characters who androids that have developed consciousness. According to lead writer, David Cage, the script took him over 2 years to write. With a script like that, one can hope this adventure has many different obstacles that all hold weight. With the idea of intelligent AI becoming more and more realistic, this game could potentially become very relevant in today’s culture.
Uncharted 4: The Lost Legacy (PS4: 2017)
While at first glance one can see this just another expansion, but Naughty Dog surely has gained the trust of all it’s fans to give us something worth the extra price. Many of us have theorized and speculated what Naughty Dog would do with a story based DLC, considering Uncharted 4 was indeed a farewell to the story of Nathan Drake. Well at PSX this past December, fans were given a gameplay reveal trailer at to what they have in store. We can all be happy as we get a return of fan-favorite Chloe Frazer as she and Nadine Ross (from Uncharted 4) fight to recover an an ancient Indian artifact. The beauty of all this is that this will be it’s own standalone game, similar to what Ubisoft did with Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon where the main game is not required to have this one. This will be the first story expansion in the Uncharted series, but if Last of Us: Left Behind is any credibility to go off of, I’d say this expansion is in great hands.
God of War (PS4: 2017)
Out of all the games on this list, this one majority of us are unsure of whether or not we’ll see this in 2017. Although this new entry in the franchise is seemingly taking place after the events of God of War III, it looks like just as much a reboot as it is a continuation of the story. In the first glimpse we got to see, we witness and aged Kratos. Acting much more reserved as he now has a wife and son. We got to see him take his son hunting, while also giving him some tough love in how he trains. This new game also feels like a reboot as it doesn’t seem as over the top as previous titles. That’s not to say the action wasn’t crazy in the demo, but it was much more grounded in reality than anything we’ve seen before in the series.
MLB The Show 17 (PS4: March 28)
Sports games have always gotten the reputation of being repetitive and bland considering they come out every year. If there’s one sports series that has consistently been great throughout the years, its MLB The Show. Easily my favorite sports game that let me upgrade my character and truly feel like I was training to become a pro. This new entry has promised a deeper career mode with an added storyline. New features include a retro mode as well as some retro teams to play as.
Nioh (PS4, February 9)
If I could sum up my impression of this game in one sentence to peak your interest, I would say this: it’s like Dark Souls with ninjas! Need I say more? Okay maybe I should, but seriously that’s all I needed to know when I first saw the demo. From developer Team Ninja and publisher Koei Tecmo, this new action role-playing game is set in the early 1600s, telling a fictional story in the backdrop of a Japan civil war.
Game director, Fumihiko Yasuda, has not shy’d away from the fact that inspirations from Dark Souls are present in this title. It’s almost becoming and up and coming genre, aptly named by some “Dark Souls clone.” (Definitely need to work on that name though) With recent games such as Lords of the Fallen and Salt and Sanctuary, the action and challenge of the Souls series is present, but never felt ripped off. With Nioh, this looks to keep a similar level of difficulty, but yet the added speed of the combat will make it stand out among the rest.
Days Gone (PS4: 2017)
Alright I’ll be honest, when I first saw the demo of Days Gone, I was intrigued at first. The main character looked cool and badass, and I could tell this was some sort of post-apocalyptic setting. The demo had me going up until the action kicked off…and I saw zombies everywhere. I’m one of those gamers that is kind of fatigued from this genre. As much as I’m sounding critical, I digress as I once I saw the action really pick up, I could see the hordes and hordes of zombies, or Freakers as they are called in the game. They ridiculously piled up like something out of World War Z.
Developed by SIE Bend Studio, this new open world adventure looks like take a spin on the tired zombie genre. With a huge world to explore and a dynamic day and night cycle where the Freakers behavior will vary. Like most open world games, players will get a wide array of tools at their disposal, utilizing stealth or aggression however they please. As stated before, it may just be another zombie game, but lets SIE the benefit of the doubt after they gave us that ridiculous demo.
Spider-Man (PS4: December 26)
Arguably the Playstation exclusive I’m most excited for this year has to be the new Spider-Man. We really haven’t gotten a truly great superhero game recently, with the exception of the Arkham series of course. Marvel’s universe begs for a fun open world superhero game. We did get Spider-Man 2 back on the PS2, which was my first true open world game (that and I wasn’t allowed to play GTA). If there’s any developer who has the means to bring us another Spider-Man open world title, its Insominiac Games. The witty and over the top nature of their past titles such as Ratchet and Clank and Sunset Overdrive are the perfect blend for a Spider-Man game. Insomniac has promised us a huge Manhattan to explore and a full fledged combat system. They have also stated that players will be able to play as Peter Parker as well as Spider-Man as he juggles both lives. I honestly would not mind if we got to join a science fair and struggle to get first place! Oh yeah, and just look at that spidey suit!
Crash Bandicoot (PS4, 2017)
While this may be smallest title on this list, there’s denying it may have one of the biggest impacts. In my opinion, Crash Bandicoot is Playstation’s Mario. He seemed to be the face of Playstation back in the PS1 days. Sony announced this back at E3 2016, and it got me so excited. For those unaware, this is not a sequel to Crash’s adventures, it is instead a complete rebuild of the Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back, and Warped. At the time of the announcement, we weren’t given any gameplay. Recently at PSX, we were given a treat as they showed a side-by-side comparison of the game vs the original. We are unsure of whether or not we’ll get to play as Crash this year, but it’s a great chance. This isn’t going be some new groundbreaking title in the platforming genre, but rather it may be the most nostalgic experience all year as a gamer. Now all we need is for them to do this with Jak and Daxter and I’ll be one happy gamer.
