State of Play February 2021 Roundup

Sony’s first State of Play of 2021 happened on Thursday, February 25th. While we were mostly shown updates on existing games, there were also some fairly exciting new announcements for games and DLC to come over the course of this year.

The first game shown was Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. While this game has been out for a good bit now, it’s getting an upgraded version for the PS5. The upgrade option comes with 4K-Support and runs at 60FPS, which will make the precise gameplay a much smoother experience. This includes haptic feedback for the adaptive triggers, as well as 3D-Audio given you own the 3D-Headset. Overall faster load times have also been added for this upgraded version. If you own the PS4-version of Crash 4 already, you will be able to transfer your save-data over to the PS5-version. The PS5 version of the game is set to release, March 12th.

Next up, we got another look at Returnal, and finally some gameplay along with it. The game looks fairly intriguing and different from what I expected when I first heard of the game. It seems to be a new take on the roguelike-genre. The world changes each time you die in the game, so adapting to the new environment upon ‘returning’ is key to going far in this game. Returnal is set to release on April 30th, exclusively on PS5.

Knockout City is coming to the PS4 on May 21st, with a crossplay beta coming in April. Knockout City is a 3v3 Dodgeball brawler that relies heavily on teamwork. I’m personally not too excited about this one, but I can see why it could be fun for those generally interested in this type of game.

The next game that to be teased was Sifu, a new action game developed by Sloclap, the people who brought us Absolver a while back. The hand-to-hand combat of this game looks like it could definitely be a lot of fun, and I was quite intrigued by the art-style they went with for this game. Sifu is coming sometime next year, of course, to the PS5.

Solar Ash was another game we got some more info on in this presentation. The game looks absolutely gorgeous, and it shows that it’s been in development for over four years now, by the people who previously brought us Hyper Light Drifter. This game definitely has some visual similarities to its predecessor, though this one is rendered in 3D, unlike the pixel-based art style of Hyper Light Drifter. It’s a game that revolves all around speed, movement, and fluidity. While there’s a big emphasis on platforming, the big boss battles that were shown reminded me of those in Shadow of the Colossus, which most definitely is a positive comparison. The game is releasing next year, for both the PS4 and PS5.

As someone who hasn’t played a single one of the Five Nights at Freddy’s games, I can’t really say too much about Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach. It definitely looks like a Five Nights at Freddy’s Game, but it seems like they’ve gone through some serious visual-improvements. I’m actually somewhat intrigued by this game. I probably won’t play it myself, but I can see this becoming a big hit in the YouTube and Twitch scenes.

We already knew about Oddworld: Soulstorm, so I won’t go into too much detail here. We got to see some new gameplay, as well as some small story-bits about what to expect in this new game. I’ve never played a game in the series, so my excitement is quite limited, but the game looks great. I might actually check it out when it comes to both PS4 and PS5 on April 6th.

The game that excites me the most is Kena: Bridge of Spirits. The visuals of this game look impeccable, the story seems great, and the glimpse of gameplay we saw made my excitement grow even more. Go check out the trailer, if you haven’t already, and I will definitely pick the game up when it lands on both consoles this August, the 24th.

We also got another look at Deathloop, but we’ve seen so many trailers and teasers for this game at this point, all that we need now is an actual release date.
Editor’s Note: We were previously given a May 21st, 2021 release date. If it is delayed that could change obviously.

It wouldn’t be a Sony-presentation without them ending on everyone’s favorite game, Final Fantasy VII Remake. While nothing was said about the second installment, there’s some new content that will be released later this year. First off, Square Enix will be releasing a PS5-version of the game, called Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. This doesn’t just show off Square Enix’s incredible naming conventions, but it comes with a lot of Quality of Life improvements: Like faster load times and better graphics. Not only that, but we will also be getting a piece of actual DLC.

This will be an entirely new chapter to the game, revolving around the beloved character Yuffie and her companions. This additional chapter will be included in the PS5-version of the game, but those upgrading from the PS4 to the PS5-version of the game will have to purchase this DLC separately. This chapter will be exclusive to the PS5-version, which makes me hope I’ll actually be able to score one of the consoles before the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on June 10th.