Sony kicked off their September showcase with a 4-minute reveal of the new title from Square-Enix, bizarrely captured from a PC 'emulating the PS5' experience. While I can't fully get my head around that particular detail, one thing is clear:
Final Fantasy is back.
Well, it will be in 2021. Hopefully.
This is instantly recognisable and a loop back to the setting and graphical style of the much-improved MMO, Final Fantasy XIV. Dig a little deeper and one of the reasons behind that becomes clear: Yoshi-P (the director/producer credited with rescuing FFXIV after its disastrous launch) has scored a big role on this game too.
It won't be to everyone's tastes, and personally I find the pouty, earnest dudes with bad haircuts a little harder to relate to than Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Aerith. Maybe they remind me too much of myself.
The few brief shots of in-game combat will be a hot topic too. Fairly obviously not turn-based, it looks like an intense hack-and-slash system more akin to Nier: Automata or The Witcher 3, and while that's likely to divide opinion, the standard of the swordplay in Final Fantasy VII Remake ought to be of some reassurance.
Touted as a "PS5 console exclusive" but "also available on PC", since the announcement there seems to be a little confusion around the exact details of the exclusivity agreement. Broad-strokes: if you want to play it first, you'll need a PS5.