As we discussed, last Thursday saw two States of Play, a regular State of Play followed by the State of Play Japan.
Neither had any huge surprises, but there were still some good announcements, so let’s take a look at some of the highlights for me. Meanwhile, you can check out the full showcase if you want to see everything else.
It took a while for the State of Play to reach a game I was interested in, but I did enjoy seeing a new trailer for Final Fantasy Resonance. (And yes, that was in the main State of Play. So was Monster Hunter. Trying to guess what Japanese games got into the main State of Play versus the State of Play Japan was a losing battle.)
The big highlight for me was actually Konami. They had a new trailer for Rev. Noir, which continues to look interesting, and they followed that with the announcement of Rhapsody in Scarlet, an action-adventure game that also looks right up my alley.
So yes, Konami came out swinging as far as I’m concerned.
And that was it for the main State of Play–okay, I’m partly joking. Until Dawn 2 looks slightly interesting, and it was nice to see a new look at Final Fantasy VII Revelation, which revealed that side quests have branching paths. It was nice getting to see the airship exploration, too. And cats!
(These are the sorts of things that make me excited despite it being open world. Splitting the game into three parts makes it feel like it should be open, anyway; this is the part of the game where things opened up.)
Anyway, that concluded the State of Play, and then the State of Play Japan kicked off.
Just a couple of announcements in, it hit on a huge one for me that I definitely didn’t expect to see. Fate/Extra Record has been in limbo for years (we last talked about it over two years ago), and the most recent news was that they’d switched publishers and the director left the project. Whatever happened, I assumed it would be a long wait until the game got back on its feet.
But no! It was there at the State of Play with a January 28, 2027 release date!
The upcoming Dragon Quest Monsters game also got a new trailer, and there was a surprisingly fun trailer for Stupid Never Dies, too.
There was a trailer for Digimon Story Time Stranger’s DLC (I’ll get there someday) and a deeper dive into Rev Noir and Rhapsody in Scarlet. Oh, and if you think you finally figured out what determined a game getting into the State of Play versus the State of Play Japan, just know that the State of Play Japan ended with a deep dive into Ghost of Yotei.
And there we have it! Even with back-to-back States of Play, there weren’t a huge number of exciting announcements for me, but I love what Konami is bringing, it was nice to learn more about Final Fantasy VII Revelation, and Fate/Extra Record getting a release date made the whole thing worthwhile.
What were the highlights for you at the States of Play?
