Nearly three months after laying out some of the PlayStation 5’s technological underpinnings, Sony today offered its first extended look at actual games running on the upcoming hardware during a live event.

The event started off with a glimpse of an “expanded and enhanced” version of Grand Theft Auto V, which is coming to the PlayStation 5 in 2021, in case you need an excuse to buy the game again. PlayStation 5 owners will also get GTA Online free at launch in 2021, while PS4 owners of GTAV will get $1 million in monthly online GTA Cash every month until the PS5 version launches.

A follow-up to last year’s Spider-Man featuring Miles Morales will be hitting the PS5 in 2020’s holiday season. “A hero is just someone who doesn’t give up,” an unseen narrator says over the footage. “Your dad said that. He was right. Now it’s your turn. Go be a hero, Miles.”

Though the footage shown is tagged with a “captured on PS5” tag (and a “Be greater, be yourself” slogan), it’s unclear if the game will also be available on older PS4 systems.

Polyphony Digital’s Kazunori Yamauchi says a new PlayStation 5 Gran Turismo “should make fans very happy, especially with campaign mode.” The game looks very much like a graphically enhanced edition of the racing simulation we’ve known and loved for decades.

Ratchet and Clank are back for more madcap run-and-gun mayhem in Rift Apart, a game that seems focused on warping quickly between dimensions that are randomly collapsing in on one another. The trailer shows the duo riding dragons, facing pirates, sliding down futuristic buildings, and more. And one dimension even features a female member of Ratchet’s species, which is sure to satisfy a particular type of fan.

Square Enix and Luminous Productions are designing Project Athia “exclusively for PlayStation 5.” It’s sold as a game “where resolve will be tested, truths will be questioned, and devotions will be doubted, she will rise.” The “she” here is a woman with a flowing cape and the ability to jump really quickly and far between some exquisite rocky ledges amid giant, fire-breathing dragons.

Annapurna’s Stray seems to be the story of a cat stuck in a city filled with humanoid robots. Look for it in 2021.

Housemarque and PlayStation Studios are working on Returnal, a new PS4 exclusive franchise focused on reliving an endless cycle of death amid a crash on an alien planet. “Each time I awake, this planet seems somehow different,” the protagonist says, suggesting something of a roguelike randomization element. “Even death is no escape… My only hope is to break the cycle before the cycle breaks me.”

Sackboy returns

LittleBigPlanet’s Sackboy will star in A Big Adventure on the PS5. An isometric platformer that’s very reminiscent of Super Lucky’s Tale at a glance, the trailer shows off family-friendly, four-player simultaneous action.

Destruction Allstars looks to be a Rocket League-style arcade driving competition that focuses more on destruction and explosions than hitting a ball around. Colorful, Overwatch-style characters can also leave their cars for melee combat and rocket jumps.

The developers at Ember Lab promise that Kena: Bridge of Spirits features “themes of personal growth and redemption.” The action-adventure gameplay looks to involve small fuzzy creatures solving puzzles and attacking enemies, along with a magical staff that can bring new growth back to destroyed land.

A fully animated 2D trailer follows bird-like creatures dealing with self-doubt and big drama in Goodbye Volcano High. “Sometimes I feel like I’m just on the edge of great things,” the narrator says. “Something’s holding me back. Maybe it’s just nerves. Maybe it’s the fear I’ll never be as good as what I imagine… But if we’ve got nothing else to lose, might as well jump.” Look for it in 2021.

Lorne Lanning returns to the land of Oddworld for Soulstorm, a game he says he’s been “dying to make,” where “Rescuing is rewarding, dying is devastatingly hilarious.” Abe is back, after having led his race out of slavery. But now, he learns, “you may have escaped, but the fate of your entire people depends on you.” Brief glimpses of gameplay show intense 2D platforming, large explosions, and apparent control of multiple characters at once.

GhostWire: Tokyo will let players “see, hear, and feel the charm of Tokyo in a way you’ve never experienced before,” according to its creator. The supernatural thriller features ghostly, faceless enemies and plenty of magical effects emanating from a pair of hands in a first-person perspective. It’s coming in 2021.

Superbrothers’ The Far Shore goes on sale in 2020’s holiday season, and it evokes feelings of loneliness and isolation amid years-long space journeys to desolate planets.

Also for 2020, Gearbox and Counterplay Games are bringing Godfall, which looks to be a generic fantasy slasher with a driving hip-hop soundtrack in its trailer.

Solar Ash, coming in 2021, evokes Hyper Light Drifter in its gravity-bending, day-glo visuals. The game tells players that “the void is calling,” then leaves your long-caped protagonist (you) to skate across colorful vistas.

Hitmen, Octodads, and Astro Boys

Judging by its trailer, Hitman 3 is unsurprisingly going to involve a lot of sneaking up on people and killing them. “Death awaits” in January 2021.

In Astro’s Playroom, the happy-go-lucky characters of Astro Bot return for a new platformer that looks like it doesn’t require a VR headset this time around.

NBA 2K21, coming in fall 2020, looks to be, by all indications, a basketball game.

The makers of Octodad invite you to the island of Bugsnax, an adventure that seems focused on pieces of food that get up and walk around like insects. The trailer features an absolutely adorable tiny strawberry that gets up and crawls around saying “Starby” all the while. It’s coming in 2020’s holiday season.

A brand-new Demon’s Souls game features giant dragons and limp corpses hanging from their talons in roughly equal measure, judging by the trailer. Some breathtaking fog effects sit over a world being engulfed in darkness, featuring the usual rogue’s gallery of armored knights, reanimated skeletons, and the like.

Bethesda Softworks’ Deathloop is a first-person shooter focused on “rival assassins caught in a time loop.” There’s a real Dishonored vibe to the action, with telekenetic powers and old-school weaponry on display in equal measure. “Every loop I’m learning a little more, piecing together a little bit more of the puzzle,” the protagonist says over the trailer. But “eventually, inevitably, I will break this fucking loop.”

Zero Resident Dawn

“His story comes to a close” in Village, 2021’s addition to the Resident Evil series. After the trailer opens with a creepy tale about a little girl who gets lost in the woods, we see flashes of a horrific monster stalking an older man in a wooden shack. Next: the ornate castles, snowy forests, and undead people in out-of-date couture. The confusing trailer concludes with Chris Redfield showing up to apologize to Ethan.

Pragmata, a brand-new IP from Capcom, features a heavily suited astronaut rescuing a little (seemingly robotic) girl and her holographic cat, then getting flung onto the Moon somehow. The teaser hints that they’re struggling to return to Earth.

The software presentation concluded with Horizon: Forbidden West, featuring Aloy heading west to “a far-future America.” She rides across beaches, climbs snowy peaks, trudges through deserts, and talks about stopping more ecological calamity, of course. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to save this world,” she intones. “If I fail, there will be no one else to stop what’s coming.” The usual giant mechanical beasts look more detailed than ever this time around.

Sam Machkovech contributed to this report.

Listing image by Sony / Aurich Lawson

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