Final Fantasy XV PlayStation 4

Every year, the Tokyo Game Show causes something of a dilemma at Push Square Towers. As the last high profile game convention in our calendar, we’re obliged to cover it, of course – but it’s always a difficult thing to prepare for. Regional issues make it challenging for us to, for example, put together predictions posts – and the lineup in recent times has made such an endeavour a waste of energy in the first place. This year, however, there’s the slightest sign of a bright light emerging overseas – and we’re only a day or so into the event.

Cast your mind back to TGS 2013, and the highlight from PlayStation’s perspective was Deep Down – a dungeon crawler from Capcom that was eventually unveiled as a free-to-play game. On the evidence of today’s newest trailer, the action adventure is shaping up nicely, but it’s hardly the type of release that you’d expect to walk away with Game of the Show awards – or even coax attendees into hour-long queues in order to get a few minutes hands-on time. In short, the pickings were slim – and this was at a time before the PlayStation 4 had even launched.

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Bloodborne PS4

Many expected the worst following last year’s event, as the PlayStation 3 era had not been kind to Japanese developers. Spiralling development costs and tighter organisation in the West meant that best selling franchises such as Final Fantasy struggled critically, while delays were rife – even from Sony’s own first-party teams in the case of Gran Turismo and The Last Guardian. There were exceptions, of course: Platinum Games won over hardcore gamers with the likes of Vanquish and Bayonetta, while From Software conquered the world with Demon’s Souls and, later, the Dark Souls series.

There's not going to be a renaissance, but it’s nice to see Japanese developers with a bit of that old swagger back

With these trials and tribulations behind it, though, the state of Japanese development is looking much stronger, as evidenced by the avalanche of news coming out of TGS 2014 today. Final Fantasy XV may not have a date yet, but both in terms of gameplay and visuals, it appears impressive – and, arguably, deserving of the eight or so years of hype that it’s received. A similar comment can be attributed to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which, despite being in production for a comparably long time, is shaping up nicely, too.

And these games don’t just look good: they each have the kind of style and personality that catapulted Japanese development above all else during the PSone era. There’s a certain cheekiness to Big Boss’ latest espionage escapade, for example, that would never fly in quite the same way in a Western developed game, and while it's cringeworthy in places, it’s something that we’ve missed. The same can be said of Final Fantasy XV; Noctis and his ragtag group of stylish warriors may look like a nineties boy band, but at least they’re not suited and booted in camouflage.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

And it seems that we’re not alone in this sentiment. Statistics show that after the enormously successful P.T. demo, Silent Hills sits among your most anticipated games – a title that’s being directed by Hideo Kojima, albeit with input from Hollywood director Guillermo Del Toro. Similarly, the first big PS4 exclusive game of 2015 is Bloodborne, a title that’s being co-developed by Japan Studio – which was largely consigned to digital games and the woeful White Knight Chronicles last generation.

We’re not suggesting by any stretch that a renaissance on the scale of the PSone or PlayStation 2 era is around the corner, but it’s just nice to see Japanese developers with a bit of that old swagger back. With the PS4 very much in the gutter overseas, Sony’s system will need to start performing soon if this is to continue – but assuming that all of the above titles actually ship in a timely manner, then we can’t see it continuing to flag for much longer. And that is the only worry that we have at the moment: will these games ever actually come out – or are they going to remain tasty trailers for the foreseeable future?

Are you excited by what you’ve seen coming out of TGS 2014 today? What’s particularly tickled your fancy? Do you have any concerns about the timeliness of any of these titles? Punch the air in excitement or anger in the comments section below.

Are you impressed with what you’ve seen at TGS 2014 so far? (37 votes)

  1. Crikey yes, I wasn’t expecting anything at all46%
  2. I’ll reserve judgement until the end of the show49%
  3. No, I haven’t seen anything that’s grabbed me5%

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