Sony 2018- A Year's Retrospective

By: Ryan Ramakrishnan

If Sony’s 2018 was defined by one thing, it’d be its first party lineup. It is impossible to deny the sheer caliber the PlayStation 4 exclusives brought to the table this year, with a push for both interesting narratives and overall top-notch single player experiences. As a result, they walked away with not only fantastic titles but more than a few Game of the Year awards to bring with them into the new year.
Sony’s first party lineup has arguably been the better over its direct competition for some time, but nowhere does this difference truly shine the most than in the two titles on everybody’s lips and “best games of 2018” lists alike, those being ‘God of War” and “Marvel’s Spider-Man.” 

Sony Santa Monica had its quasi reboot of the hack and slash series marketed for some time before finally releasing “God of War” on April 20, 2018. Players got their hands on a different take on Kratos, saw he had a son and the rest was history. “God of War” did for the series both what it truly needed and what fans never knew they wanted so badly, or arguably needed themselves. The insane heights the title stepped up to and the innovative pushes forward proved it to be more than a great game, but an example of just what PlayStation 4’s first party believers are capable of.

“God of War” has been praised ever since its spring release for a numerous amount of aspects. Narratively, players and critics seemed to be far more satisfied with the fatherhood of Kratos and how he learns to be a better father and teacher to Atreus. Across the board, emotional moments between the two and the other equally well-written characters made the story everyone’s favorite for some time in 2018. Likewise, deeper systems in the combat, a beautifully created world with rich lore and engaging side content and more made “God of War” stand out for so many for the entirety of 2018.

“Marvel’s Spider-Man” on the other hand allowed Insomniac Games to do the impossible: release a high-quality triple A Spider-Man game. The PS4 exclusive sold units in September for its amazing depiction of the web-head and all of the glory behind the character and his world. “Marvel's Spider-Man” released incredible praise for everything from its seamless, smooth and addictive web-swinging ad melee combat to its compelling film-like story full of familiar faces and nods to one of the most famous properties in entertainment.

Besides the aforementioned behemoth releases for Sony, they also shipped David Cage and Quantic Dream’s most ambitious title yet in the form of “Detroit: Become Human.” The game depicted social and racial inequalities and a realistic future of humans interacting with A.I. and was quite adored for that. “Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom” also released exclusive to the platform, giving JRPG fans a taste of pure delight and charm in the niche but highly anticipated sequel.

What Sony also did right in 2018 without the obvious press hype surrounding it in the same vein as its main first party titles was that of virtual reality. PlayStation VR seemed to become a household norm for many across 2018 thanks to a combination of great deals, word of mouth and of course, killer apps.

The PSVR got multiple titles this year that would make their own splash, including "Firewall: Zero Hour" and "Beat Saber." Arguably the biggest reason to buy the system earlier on was the charming platformer, “Moss,” one that made the genre work super well in VR. “Astrobot World” would later do the same, if not even better. And of course, the return to one of gaming’s original masterpieces, “Tetris Effect,” took the world by storm not long ago. The stunning take on “Tetris” was considered wonderful across all platforms but best on PSVR.

It is clear to see that Sony’s push for the best single player games went anything but unnoticed over the last 12 months. “God of War” and its innumerable praise it continues to receive to this day and it's official Game of the Year status from Geoff Keighley and gaming outlets everywhere shows it is nothing short of a spectacle, a certain win for Sony.

However, on the other end of the spectrum, Sony’s press and marketing for what its future holds has been interesting to say the least. 2018’s events where they got their chance to show off what is on the way to PlayStation seemed few and far between in comparison to the past.

Most notably is E3. This past june saw their direct competitor hit it home with a packed and engaging event, giving Microsoft a lot of good will moving forward. Sony decidedly executed one of the weirdest E3 press conferences and events in their history. The fact that the show moved locations was bizarre but it was paced overall in an incredibly poor, or at the very least, uninteresting manner. Sony gave too much time to their musical performances and not enough time to be the dominant force they had been at E3 in years past.

Fortunately, “Resident Evil 2” alone did what it could to make up for that bad pace. Sony’s E3 2018 did show off four major pillars and each admittedly got a lot of praise for their showings. “Death Stranding” left viewers all the more confused. “Ghost of Tsushima” looked impressive, as did “The Last of Us Part 2,” arguably one of the best looking games to date. And “Marvel’s Spider-Man” got yet another gameplay showing, one of far too many for a game that was but months away.

Moving into the winter, Sony cancelled the expected PSX 2018, a disappointment to many. They claimed to have little to nothing new or noteworthy to show so felt a PSX wouldn’t be necessary. This is probably a smart decision in the long run. Most shocking though is their announcement of no presence at E3 2019, much to the chagrin of PlayStation gamers everywhere. With rumors of E3 coming to an end or shifting gears soon, this year’s may have been Sony’s last event for all we know; should that be the case, it is arguably a poor way to end the legacy.

With the new year rolling in and no confirmation of Sony’s biggest exclusives coming in 2019 for sure, the near future is certainly one to keep an eye on. The PlayStation 4 is confirmed to be getting “Days Gone,” “Concrete Genie,” “Dreams,” and many indie and third party titles alike this upcoming year, though the heaviest hitters may not make the cut, as is the case with the PlayStation 5. Will the PS5 release by the end of 2019? The answer is anything but clear but given the next generation rumors we have had over the last several months and Sony’s decision to opt out of E3, it is hard to predict what is to come.

Whether or not the PlayStation 4 and the publishing giant behind its games had a successful 2018 is easy to answer in many ways. Their single player experiences are on another level, a few of which top even the biggest third party games on the market. And besides the game of the year material, Sony in general showed off their dedication to their first party teams and their bodies of work. Alternatively, PlayStation Now has yet to come close to the instant success of Xbox Game Pass and the PlayStation event at E3 was far less memorable than that of Microsoft’s.

2018 has proven to be overall Sony’s finest year for console exclusives; it could very well be the final year before the console’s successor’s birth where we get two of the finest experience in gaming exclusive to the PS4. No matter the case, “Marvel’s Spider-Man” and “God of War” alone represent Sony firing on all cylinders; now we can only hope that momentum can be regained in 2019.

What did you think of Sony and PlayStation in 2018? Which exclusive was your favorite? What PS4 game are you looking forward to the most in 2019? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below.