It's the last day of the Tokyo Game Show 2017 and there are still many, many things to say about this year’s event, so let's get cracking.
If you missed the coverage of the previous days, click right here: 1st day, 2nd day and 3rd day.
SONY
This year Sony’s booth is REALLY huge and the management is clearly playing at home to try to keep the Japanese hardcore base tight and into the brand, even if they know it will be very difficult.
The PSVR add-on compared to the last year is occupying only a small (internal) part of the booth (on the left), and the main title with which the company is trying to push is, logically, the new ‘Gran Turismo Sport’. ‘Summer Lesson’ has had good feedback in front of the Japanese audience as well, and makes up the second biggest focus.
And while at TGS 2016 the queues to test Sony' VR helmet were insane, this year in general they are really quite modest. This is probably because the new helmet - apart the Harada’s intuition with Summer Lesson (here with a new sequel ‘Summer Lesson: Chisato Shinjo’) - has not convinced most of the players to open their wallets and pay.
Anyway, the PS4 game of the TGS 2017 is what we predicted would take off last year – to be exact on the 16 june of 2016, in T3's 2nd day report at E3 in Los Angeles - as well as three months ago at the E3 2017. I am of course talking about ‘Detroit: Become Human’, which now here at the Tokyo Game Show 2017 has REALLY stolen the show. If you missed T3's complete coverage of this year's E3 then read up on Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 now.
Sony really believes in the game at this point and has hired real actors to act like androids under a fibre glass cover, who look at and greet people as they approach. You can see this now with your own eyes thanks to our exclusive video taken directly from the show floor.
The company is promoting this title most for sure, while on the right of the booth it is also showing off the new PS4 limited edition of 'Call of Duty: WWII’.
90 per cent of the other titles on display were from other developers, and only three from Sony with its internal developer teams. We tried all of them and the only title that REALLY convinced us is the new ‘Gran Turismo Sport’, but only if you love the racing series, otherwise you'll have to wait for ‘Detroit: Become Human’ to be blown away.
Detroit: Become Human
Just one word: masterpiece!
From the same studio that made ‘Heavy Rain’, which was originally planned to be release exclusively on PlayStation 3, then due to the fact that production got delayed (we all know, Quantic Dream’s production times are LONG) became a PS4 title.
The game is an intriguing futuristic detective story that is all about player-made decisions - an example of what I am talking about is that the gamer can not only answer in different ways to both friends and enemies, but also even using our facial reactions. To make a comparison it's a bit like a slower, more adult version of Batman's Arkham series, with crime scenes to be analysed and explored, so if you loved these games, you'll love this too.
As for the story, it is a neo noir about near human robots, where humans are the bad guys and we - the robots - the good ones with mad detective skills.
The story line seems mutated from a Philip K. Dick book: dark, cynical and pulp, with your decisions determining whether your friends will live or die, until the last second of the “negotiation”.
It is one of the few titles that made me stay in its queue once again for almost one hour! Enough said.
Gran Turismo Sport
Developed by the mighty Polyphony Digital, this is an another great game that hardcore gamers have been waiting for almost four years for.
‘GT sport’ is based on the same physics engine that Gran Turismo 6 used and will be the first in the Gran Turismo series to support Sony Interactive Entertainment's virtual reality headset, PlayStation VR. In my opinion the real reason why this title has added this functionality is so not to lose out when compared to the other titles now on sale (See Project Cars 2 with Oculus Rift).
‘GT Sport’ will include three game modes: Campaign mode, Sports Mode and Arcade Mode.
Both offline and online racing will feature in the game.
Sony underlined that GT Sport will not be a prologue and will feature more content further on.
At the moment there are 177 cars confirmed, 27 configurations of 19 locations to race on. For the first time in the series, the game will feature Porsche vehicles included in the game after Electronic Arts had lost their exclusive licensing rights to the Porsche brand (previous ‘Gran Turismo’ games only included RUF as a substitute), so yeah good contents are there but not quite the same as GT 6.
In a few words this title is an updated ‘Gran Turismo 6’, and if you loved it buy it without hesitation.
Available from the 17th of October.
Call of Duty: World War II
Like it or not, even if it is a reboot, ‘CoD: WWII’ has been one of the most promoted games of this TGS (comparable only to the upcoming ‘The Evil within 2’). Not only because WWII’s stickers were everywhere, but also for the T-shirts given away to anybody who was trying the game.
If you remember we already tried ‘CoD:WWII’ at the E3 2017, and as previously said, it is technically really impressive.
Three years in development, a studio of 300 artists led by Sledgehammer head Michael Condrey, no lag time in the "Headquarters" mode fighting between 48 gamers all together (24 vs 24), War mode, Campaign mode (the story mode that, as we said, this year will be extremely interesting because of the cinematics involved) and much more.
A game that is not only a HD revision, but an expanded game that makes the most of the multiplayer at its core.
Sincerely, I love Battlefield but I'll buy this one for the fact that the Second World War has a superior impact and immersion in my opinion.
The game will be out the 7th November for PC (at real 4K quality), PS4 and Xbox One, and will be available in a normal, and deluxe edition for Europe with the season pass included, plus some undisclosed DLCs.
In the US there will be also a "Pro Edition" that will include a Steelbook.
If you love the series, or are keen on first person shooters then don't miss it, as this game is definitely for you.
BANDAI-NAMCO
Checking the Bandai-Namco Booth this year is extremely clear the company has had some ups and downs, but from the generous amount of titles shown here at the show it is clear that Pac-Man's company is keeping the direction already seen in 2016, so even if the 2017 TGS’ B-N booth is almost the half of last year (that was so gigantic that it had two huge floors) it is still very much kicking and popular.
The lineup is almost the same with many big IP sequels (.hack//G.U. and Sword Art Online for all), and at the same time reinforcing its best sellers such as Tekken 7, Gundam Next, and more with updates.
Clearly B-N's main target are the children with games focused most on popular Anime series (Ex: Naruto, One piece, Dragon Ball, Gundam, Gintama, etc..) and it has made them available here for almost every system on the market (PS Vita, PS3, 3DS, PC, Xbox, PS4).
For mature audiences though, Bandai-Namco's big title this year is City Shrouded in Shadow.
City Shrouded in Shadow
Produced by the mighty Daisuke Ichiyama (the man behind the 'Dark Souls' series) this game bring us back in the 70s Tokusatsu's super heroes series (Ultraman, Megaloman, Kamen rider, etc.. just to mention a few), in which we will live and assist - as normal persons (not heroes) - the attack in the city of Godzilla and any kind of monsters that we used to see in those iconic TV series, while our “presumed” hero if we do not pay enough attention instead of defending us (paradoxically!) could kill us.
So the real problem in this story will be us! Why? Because if we do not pay enough attention to what is happening around us we will be killed and the game will be finished!
Here are some videos that are really amazing:
Words can't really describe the game, but it is worth your attention.
One of the best games of this TGS 2017, no doubt.
CODE VEIN
Set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world, you are a vampire that must fight and consume the blood of the fallen ones.
Developed by ‘Shift’ and to be published by Bandai-Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. In a few words it is a ‘Dark Souls’ with anime characters.
Check out the game in the above and below videos.
If you love anime, and hack’n slash games, this is definitely for you.
Gundam: Battle Operation Next
Even if Gundam is known in the west just to hardcore anime fans, 'Mobile Suit Gundam' in Japan is still the most loved robot ever made (the RX 78 suit has been actually created in Odaiba as an 18-meter tall statue).
For those who do not know of the game yet, it is a free to play, 5v5 team based action game, developed by B.B. Studio and published by Bandai-Namco featuring over 50 mobile suits and mobile armours from several series, including Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Gundam 0080: War in the pocket, Gundam Wing, Gundam 08th MS Team, Gundam SEED, Gundam 00, Gundam Unicorn, Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, MSV & MSV-R.
It is currently only available on the Japanese PlayStation Network via digital download.
But what is really interesting is that during the TGS it is being integrated into the next ‘Gundam Battle Operation 2’.
It is a great title for all the robot fans (especially of the mighty 'Virtual On' series.
.hack//G.U. Last Recode
A remaster for PlayStation 4 of the original .hack//G.U., a very famous single-player action role-playing game of the 2000s for PlayStation 2.
Developed and remastered by the same producer - Matsuyama and his ‘CyberConnect2’ studio - the remaster compiles elements from all the three .hack//G.U. games, plus will include a brand new volume .hack//G.U. Vol. 4//Reconnection.
CyberConnect2 decided also to make a remaster that introduces the game to a new generation of game players and will feature new elements that will “make it feel like a new game.”
The Full HD remaster will have high-definition movies, including all movies from the Terminal Disk that was bundled with the special edition of .hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth, plus improvements will include an added retry function, cheat mode, and re-balanced avatar battles.
Available from the 1st of November in Japan for PS4, and the 3rd of November in the US and Europe for PC also.
KONAMI
As we said on the first day of the Tokyo Game Show, sadly Konami is in a moment of défaillance in 2017.
With the exception of a couple of titles (especially games for mobile and arcade) Konami, with the departure of Hideo Kojima, for the first time in years seems like it is running without a clear direction.
It will be very challenging for this holding to surpass and substitute a game designer like Kojima for sure.
Anubis: Zone of the Enders
Even in this case this title is just a remaster for PlayStation 4 of the game known in the west as ‘Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner’, one of the most popular in the ZOE series. It was originally published for PlayStation 2, and now will be revived to exploit the PSVR add-on.
The result? They work perfectly together!
The plot is set two years after the events from ‘Zone of the Enders’ and focuses on Dingo Egret, a former member from Mars' military organisation BAHRAM whose leader Ridley "Nohman" Hardiman wants back in with him. Nohman shoots Dingo following his rejection but the agent Ken Marinaris saves Dingo by connecting his body to Jehuty and works in order to defeat BAHRAM. The game had a new director, Shuyo Murata, who producer Hideo Kojima appointed in order to provide a different experience. The team worked hard to cover the criticism of the original Z.o.E. received.
The player will control Jehuty, the Orbital Frame piloted by Dingo, from a standard behind-the-back, third-person viewpoint that centres itself between the player and enemy when locked on. Jehuty now possesses the ability to attack several enemies at the same time and interact with the environment by grabbing objects and use them as weaponry.
The gameplay is linear, eschewing the "world map" of Zone of the Enders in favour of consecutive stages in which the player must defeat large amounts of robotic enemies, as well as other Orbital Frames and combat vehicles. The player can fully repair Jehuty by collecting Metatron, and save their progress at the beginning of each stage. The player can level up by destroying enemies, and collects "sub-weapons" by defeating bosses. Depending on the player's story line progress, the capabilities of Jehuty can change. After certain missions, the player's performance is ranked with a letter rating; the entire game is given a score as well.
The game is scheduled to be out in 2018.
So long for now and see you next time
Ok, there is no more space - we really would like to talk about many other games here at the fair but, for space issues, we've got to end here.
We hope you appreciated our four days of elite coverage this year from the Tokyo Game Show 2017, with live daily editorials written specifically to give you a better idea of what is going on right here, instead of single brief news story talking about only one tiny, attention-grabbing, aspect.
For the moment that’ s all though. Remember though that if you like news and reports from Japan about its video game, arcade and technology, then you can always follow our section Made in Japan, which publishes every few weeks on T3.com.
Mata ne!
