PAX East '16: Best PAX East Games 2016

Another year, another convention. PAX East 2016 has come and gone, and we’ve finished providing a number of hands-on features of notable PlayStation games that appeared on the show floor. We shot up some zombies in Capcom’s competitive shooter Umbrella Corps, learned to fight in lanes in NIS America’s Grand Kingdom, danced with swords in DreamSail Games’ Blade Ballet and beat up some mutants in nothing but boxers in Suda51’s Let It Die.

It was a wonderful time, giving us a glimpse of gaming’s near future with a taste of titles scheduled to release this year on PlayStation. You may be wondering, though: what were the best of the best, and what made them stand out from the crowd? Wonder no more! We’ve lined up the best PlayStation games we got to playtest at PAX East, identified the “defining feature” that makes them special, and provided helpful links to our full hands-on features where you can figure out what it’s like to play these upcoming projects.

Essential Reading:

Best Games of PAX East 2016

Shadow Warrior 2 (PS4)

Defining Feature: Nonlinearity

From our preview: "Compared to the extremely linear layout of the 2013 Shadow Warrior title, this appears to be a major upgrade. Sure, the linear maps kept things straightforward and simple, but with these larger maps (randomly generated at that!), Shadow Warriors 2 has the potential of offering players something other games in the series never had — gameplay that forces players to think and make choices before mindlessly slaughtering things."

Read the full preview here.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)

Defining Feature: Full Traversal Options

From our preview: "As was true of the multiplayer beta, the new maps provide exhilarating spaces to scramble through — and since players carrying the idol now have the ability to fully traverse them, there’s less predictability in where they’ll be at any given time. But more than anything, it’s clear that the new multiplayer has benefited from three previous entries’ worth of polishing and perfecting. Clambering about these environments has never felt quite as smooth and natural, which puts the burden of skill entirely on the player."

Read the full preview here.
I Am Setsuna (PS4)

Defining Feature: A Gorgeously Gentle Presentation

From our preview: "I have no doubt that I Am Setsuna is going to win the hearts of gamers who grew up among the likes of Chrono Trigger and any of the the first six Final Fantasy games. Sure, such an idea almost seems like a cliche at this point — there’s a seemingly endless catalogue of indie games inspired by the likes of those golden oldies — but Tokyo RPG Factory seems to have a good handle on how to keep Setsuna from getting too derivative. With a soft, painterly style created by Toi Hachi and an intimate piano score by Tomoki Miyoshi, the gentle presentation may just be the game’s defining element."

Read the full preview here.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness (PS4)

Defining Feature: Seven Party Members At Once

"Fighting is deceptively simple: though you’ll be primarily using two buttons to attack with your average weak-strong combo, guarding with the square button when necessary, it’s very important to keep track of where enemies are and assign skills to the weak and strong buttons that give you the best edge over your opponents... The Square Enix representative assisting me mentioned that the highest number of characters fighting at once is actually a whopping seven, a pretty far cry from your average RPG clocking in at three or four at most."

Read the full preview here.
Thumper (PSVR)

Defining Feature: Rhythm Violence

"At its core, the mechanics of Thumper are refreshingly simple despite all the chaos happening onscreen. As your space beetle hurtles down its neon-colored track, you’ll come across a few different obstacles that need to be navigated: single lights along the track that need to be “thumped” by pressing X, clusters of lights you can “slide” through by holding the same button, and sharp turns that are navigated with a combination of holding down the button and turning the analog stick. That might seem pretty bare-bones, but this is a rhythm game: it’s all about keeping an eye on what’s happening onscreen, and following suit with the respective controls.

That’s easier said than done, though, when you consider just how much of a shock to the system Thumper’s audio and visual components really are. Even on the small TV with the audio audible over all the other noise on the show floor, I was struck by how Drool’s 'rhythm violence' idea really did come through in the physical sensations of listening to and watching the game. The winding, twisting, undulating realms unfold before your space beetle in hypnotizing patterns, but you’ll be woken quickly by the thumps, slides and turns — which actually sort of rattled me."

Read the full preview here.