Sony’s presentations have been the highlight of the last few E3s, but this year they attempted to go in a different direction from their normal event and it was full of hits and misses.

On the almost complete opposite side of Microsoft on the press conference scale, Sony decided to focus on four big games — The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima, Spider-man and Death Stranding — and sprinkle in a few trailers for other games here and there. They hit on three of the four presentations but totally missed on Death Stranding and most of the other trailers. With the exception of the Resident Evil 2 Remake, Sony failed to show anything that I’ve either not seen before or may be interested in. For the first time in a while, Microsoft’s event overshadowed Sony’s despite being on first.

Below is my breakdown of the good, the bad and the AMAZING of the Sony’s E3 Press Conference.

Good

The Last Of Us Part II

Not that I needed to be convinced to play this game, but Naughty Dog found a way to increase my level of anticipation. The realistic animations and combat marked the closest that a video game has come to feeling like a movie. Ashley Johnson’s voice acting is perfection as she finds the subtleties in Elle that allow her to be both a confident badass and an insecure young woman. These trailers for The Last of Us Part II are setting a high bar that I hope Naughty Dog is able to clear.

Ghost of Tsushima

What a brutal and beautiful setting for a game. Sword-wielding Japanese warriors have always been a popular aesthetic for video games, whether it was ninjas or samurai, these legendary archetypes have almost become boring tropes over the years. Ghost of Tsushima appears to change that as the game takes things you love about that trope and fills it out with a more human personality. It looks like a great take on an old genre.

Resident Evil 2 Remake

There is a very strong dividing line between the first four code Resident Evil games and the four modern ones. That is why going back and remastering those original entries is so exciting. Combining the story aspects with the updated graphics and control scheme was a no-brainer for Capcom. RE 2 is arguably the most popular game of the original four, and this remake should bring in the younger audience who have an aversion to an old game, especially after the strong HD update to the Resident Evil Remake in 2015. I can’t wait to play this with my sister like we did as teenagers.

Bad

Transition From The Opening Segment

While the set-up for The Last Of Us section of the press conference was great, the transition out of it and into the main stage for the rest of the presentation, was pretty bad. The audience at home couldn’t tell if the cut to the pre-show like set-up was live or taped, and the people in the audience — many of whom were members of the gaming press — had no idea of the announcements that were occurring while they were changing rooms. Overall, it looked to be a plan that was great on paper but poor in execution.

Death Stranding

Even as a huge fan of Hideo Kojima, I am getting less and less interested in this game as time goes on. Its main fault is that the more they show, the less I understand what type of game it is. I know the story will be weird, but at least with Metal Gear, Snatcher, and Policenauts, you understood what you were getting gameplay wise going in, but even years later, I have no idea what Death Stranding will play like. Mystery is great, but confusion is not.

AMAZING

Kiss From Last Of Us Part II Trailer

First off, this may be one of the best-animated kisses I have ever seen. If I didn’t tell you this was from a video game, you may have a hard time not thinking those are real people in the photo. This is not only an achievement from a technical standpoint but an emotional one as well. You can feel their history even though you’ve just met one of the characters.

Obviously, the most important thing about this moment is that Naughty Dog did not shy away from the reveal in the Left Behind DLC, and confirmed for those who were still doubting that Elle is gay. My only hope is that they continue showing this in a realistic way, and with Naughty Dog’s track record, I should not be disappointed.

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Our schedule for the press conference articles is as follows:

Sunday — EA; Monday — Microsoft; Wednesday — Nintendo; Thursday — Bethesda; Friday — Square Enix; Saturday — Ubisoft.

We will have a full E3 wrap-up article on Monday, June 18th and on the Main Damie Podcast. If you have any questions that you would like us to answer, please tweet us @themaindamie with the #VGCornerE3. We will answer your questions on the podcast!