North Texas Daily

Nicholas Friedman | Features Editor

Sony had a lot to prove this year. With it’s executives claiming that this year’s holiday seemed sparse with titles, many were worried Sony would have a lackluster showing.

And then all of the crow was eaten. Sony showed hit after hit, threw some digs at Microsoft and dipped into the holy grail of video games for a look at the future.

The highlights:

The Last Guardian 

Since its announcement at E3 2009, “The Last Guardian” was thought to have gone the way of the birds as whispers of its cancellation circulated. As shown last night, the game is alive and kicking, and looks absolutely beautiful. With a game mechanic dealing with the relationship between a boy and his gryffin-cat-dog, expect this game to make you cry when it launches sometime in 2016. Holy Grail count: 1.

Horizon: Zero Dawn 

[youtube id=”Fkg5UVTsKCE” width=”620″ height=”360″]

A personal favorite from the show, “Horizon” showed us that a game company known for basically one game can just blow everyone out of the water. From Guerilla Games, the creators of “Killzone,” this Jurassic world of technological mammals is a post-apocalyptic, prehistoric adventure. It also looks fluid, lush and beautiful.

No Man’s Sky 

[youtube id=”mGy8HIYBwV0″ width=”620″ height=”360″]

When it was announced, “No Man’s Sky” seemed like a pipe dream. An infinite universe, seamless land to space travel and the ability to discover any planet, animal or terrain seemed so far off it was ridiculous. And then the guys from Hello Games took the stage and told us to shove it. “No Man’s Sky” looks to be delivering on its promise.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

At this point we all thought we were dreaming. What was originally a tech demo for the announcement of the Playstation 3 nearly 10 years ago, the “Final Fantasy VII” remake seemed like it was never going to happen, especially after it was announced that the original version of the game would be ported to the PS4 this year. Coming to PS4 first, the CGI trailer for this game looked intense and stylish. Holy Grail count: 2.

Shenmue III Kickstarter

This couldn’t have been real. After “Shenmue II” came out over 10 years ago, many lost hope that the saga of Ryo would ever be completed. At Sony’s conference, the game’s creator took the stage to announce a Kickstarter for the third installment of the series. Was it odd to announce a Kickstarter at E3 when you’re not even backing the thing? Yes Sony, it was. But none of us cared. Holy Grail count: 3.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

[youtube id=”zL46dpNEPPA” width=”620″ height=”360″]

Ah, “Uncharted.”The perfect way to close the show. After a brief hiccup with the demo, we were shown just how developer Naughty Dog is looking to continue the legacy of adventure-seeking Nathan Drake. The game looks stunning, the mechanics look tight and easy to maneuver and they’re adding vehicles.

Photos and video courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment.