By: Tyler Miller

At long last we’ve come to the last stop on our Road to E3 2016. Sony will be the final press conference of the show, and they are sure to have a great show. Last year they brought the heat with The Last Guardian, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Shenmue III, so expectations are astronomically high for them this year. Without further ado, let’s take a nice look at what Sony has in store for us.

What I’m Looking Forward To

God of War 4

Early in April, concept art for what appeared to be God of War IV leaked onto the internet. Featuring environments that looked like they were based in Norse mythology and a new protagonist that looks a lot like Kratos, fans all over the internet got excited for an announcement of some sort. What better place to announce the game than E3? We’ve known for years now that the game was in development, so the team has had plenty of time to work on it and get it in a presentable state. This is definitely the year that the game will be revealed and it’s going to be one of the centerpieces of Sony’s press conference.

The Last Guardian

No one believed this game was real. Fans that were looking forward to years ago when it was first announced had all but lost faith in The Last Guardian. The game was the punchline of a very sad joke alongside Half-Life 3. That all changed last year though when Sony opened their press conference with the first look at this mythical game in years, shocking everyone and proving that no game is ever truly dead. Admittedly, the only game I like by the team behind The Last Guardian is Shadow of the Colossus, as I never finished Ico because it was far too annoying for me (I will finish it though). Even still, I can’t help but feel some sort of excitement for this game. It looks like it’ll have a great story and some interesting gameplay, so I’m on board the hype train. You told us it was coming out in 2016 last year Sony, just give us that release date next week and everyone will be happy.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Continuing with the theme of games that seemed like dreams, Final Fantasy VII Remake was Sony’s second megaton of the show that no one saw coming. Seeing that trailer for the game at E3 last year was incredible, and things only became more incredible later in the year when the first gameplay was revealed at PSX in December. The game looks absolutely gorgeous, and although the combat is being changed from it’s original turn based form, it still looks to be an intense, action packed romp that I can’t wait to get my hands on. I’m not sure if it’ll be at Sony’s press conference, but I have a very strong feeling that it will be (and potentially with a release date for it’s first episode).

Final Fantasy XV

It’s been a long time coming for Final Fantasy XV, but it’s almost here. With it’s September release not too far away, E3 is the game’s last chance to make a big splash and Sony’s stage is definitely the place where that’s going to happen. It probably won’t have a large presence because it’s coming so soon and they don’t want to reveal too much more of the game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they showed a new trailer revealing some more environments and combat encounters. I’m dying to see more of this game, so I’ll be more than happy with whatever they give us.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Ever since it’s reveal, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has received a lot of hate. Regardless of the mob mentality of the internet, I’m still very excited for this game and am looking forward to seeing some gameplay at Sony’s show. The gameplay they show will most likely end up being similar to past showings of the game in terms of how the demo plays out, but it’s still sure to be exciting to watch as most Call of Duty E3 demos are.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

Although Horizon Zero Dawn has unfortunately been delayed, that can’t keep my excitement for the game from being pretty damn high thanks to the latest trailer for the game. Sony is definitely going to have this game at their press conference with a nice demo and it’s one of the things I’m looking forward to the most. Maybe they’ll show off some of that robot dinosaur riding that appeared in the newest trailer? Whatever they show will be awesome and I’m going to be soaking up every last bit of it. I mean, it’s robot dinosaurs in a post apocalyptic future mixed with tribal elements. How can this game not be awesome?

Detroit: Become Human

David Cage and his team over at Quantic Dream are well known for their games that are essentially interactive movies thanks to Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. The newest game to come from them, Detroit: Become Human, looks to be like another interactive movie with incredible graphics. The story about an android trying to live like a normal human in society seems like an interesting one that’ll be filled with heavy themes that are ripe for deep analysis, so I’m all on board with this game. A new trailer for this is most likely going to appear during the show, and hopefully we’ll get some nice gameplay as well.

Sucker Punch Spider-Man Game

There have been some rumors that Infamous developer Sucker Punch is working on a Spider-Man game. As of right now, it’s still unknown whether or not these rumors are true, but I certainly hope they are. Sucker Punch has already proven that they can make an open world superhero game with their Infamous series, so a hero like Spider-Man is right up their alley. Besides, it’s been a very long time since we got a good game based on the webslinger, with the last good one being the vastly underrated Ultimate Spider-Man back in 2005. The only thing that makes this a bit hard to believe is the fact that a Spider-Man game being exclusive to one console seems kind of unlikely. If Sucker Punch is making it though, then you can bet it’ll be appearing at E3 only on Sony’s stage.

Hide Kojima’s New Game

After Konami screwed Hideo Kojima over and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was released, Kojima went on to start up his own new studio and partnered with Sony to make a game exclusively for the PS4. It’s still very early in the company and the game’s life, but I’m really hoping that he at least appears and talks about the game. Maybe he can bring some concept art as well or better yet a trailer. At this point, all eyes are on Kojima and Sony to see what the two of them bring to the table and everyone is more than excited to see what they have for us.

The Last Of Us 2

It’s no secret that Naughty Dog is working on a sequel to their 2013 masterpiece The Last Of Us. What is a mystery is when the game will be revealed and what it’s going to be about. There is an easter egg in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End for the series (pictured above), but it’s unknown if it’s simply an easter egg or if it’s supposed to be a hint towards the future of the series. Will the next game be called The Last Of Us: American Daughters and potentially star an older Ellie? Will we be playing as brand new characters? There are so many questions about this game and not a single answer for any of them. One thing’s for sure though. If the sequel is announced next week, it’ll be the game to either kick off the show or end the show.

Playstation VR

Sony’s Playstation VR is coming out later this year, so it’s time to start drumming up excitement for the device. People (including me) are excited at the prospect of VR gaming, but as of right now there’s no real game to sell them on getting PSVR for themselves. Sony needs to have something substantial to show for the platform that will get more people on the VR hype train and have them willing to throw out the money for it. It’ll be tough since VR is something that’s hard to demo, but I have faith that they can pull it off.

What I Don’t Want To Happen

For Sony To Spend Too Much Time On VR

Although I’m excited for PSVR and I know they need to really get people excited for it, I don’t want Sony to spend too much time on it. As I said, demoing VR isn’t an easy thing to do. Having a crowd of people sit and watch others put on a VR headset and look around like a chicken with its head cut off for too long is going to drain the room of any energy and excitement that had built up before the VR part of the show began. We don’t want another Wonderbook scenario to happen now do we?

Don’t Give Us A Lot Of Nothing

Sony press conferences tend to be good about this, but sometimes they mess up and give us a press conference that’s firing on all cylinders, and then it proceeds to die down and get real boring for far too long. Please don’t do that this year Sony. I understand that there are moments where things have to die down a bit so we can process all the awesome stuff we saw, but don’t make it last for more than 10-15 minutes at most. Any more than that and you risk losing the excitement that the audience has.

And with that we’ve come to the end of my Road To E3 2016 series. I realize that this was the longest post in the series, but that’s just because there’s a lot more that I’m looking forward to from Sony’s show than all of the others. They’ve consistently impressed me year after year, and this year I’m expecting them to impress me yet again.