PlayStation's media briefing at this year's E3 was about as different from Xbox's as it possibly could have been.
It's likely the most different E3 press conference ever held, full stop.
The company announced hardly anything, opting instead to debut the longest, deepest looks yet at four of its most exciting upcoming titles - The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding and Spider-Man.
- Xbox E3 2018: Over 50 games showcased, including 15 world premieres
- The Last of Us Part II trailer may be the most brutal and brilliant ever released
Sony Interactive Entertainment America CEO Shawn Layden was the only person to speak on-stage during the whole event. He introduced it by saying PlayStation wanted to "mix things up" before the unusual event started - first in a faux-church setting, before having everyone there move through to a feudal Japan-themed zone.
Warning: Embedded video contains R18 content, including graphic violence.
The Last of Us Part II
This gameplay reveal lived up to the hype. That's a huge achievement, seeing as many people in the world - myself included - consider it a sequel to the greatest game ever made.
As the video started, everyone at the PlayStation event in Los Angeles realised they were in a room themed exactly like the church setting unveiled on-screen. It was as if we were really in the game and quite a thrill.
What followed was a particularly brutal video, with a graphic animation of a knife being twisted in someone's throat and a disembowelling scene two of the most extreme bits. A bit more of the narrative was teased, giving fans more of an insight into what became of Ellie after the first game.
But this demonstration was all about debuting just how amazing gameplay is in Naughty Dog's new game, and it really does look amazing.
Ghost of Tsushima
Gameplay for Sucker Punch's samurai game was shown off for the first time ever and it was worth the wait. The art direction and cinematography in this game remains outstanding, now with awesome sword combat as well.
Japan's feudal era appears as heavily romanticised in this game as it is in Japanese society. The red leaves of a Japanese maple tree falling around two duelling warriors, the winds of a storm bending over the branches of a bamboo forest, the horse riding through the grasslands - this stuff is like exhilarating catnip to fans of samurai pop culture.
The combat appears to have an emphasis on being cinematic rather than complicated button-mashing. It's hard to tell how it'll work from the video alone, but man oh man is this a pretty game.
Death Stranding
Every new video released for this game reveals more about it, but somehow makes it even more confusing.
Hideo Kojima is one of the gaming industry's most beloved auteurs, known for wild and wonderful works of art. But seriously, what the hell is going on in this? Trying to describe what happens in this latest video is a foolish pursuit - it just has to be seen.
It looks incredible and is probably one of those things that'll only properly make sense once you're actually playing it. But for now, it's the most delirious and intoxicatingly weird video yet shown at E3 2018.
Spider-Man
Flying around New York as a radioactive web-slinger is exactly the sort of thing that should be great in a videogame, but it rarely has been before. This new one, from Insomniac Games, is looking more and more likely to be the best Spider-Man game ever made.
A whole gang of Spidey's enemies fought him in this extended gameplay trailer, with a focus mainly on Electro. We got to see waste a bunch of criminals in a prison riot using acrobatic, combo-based fighting, a variety of gadgets and, of course, web-slinging.
It really looks like Insomniac has been able to take their time and make sure this Spider-Man has just the right look and feel - not surprising, seeing as we've been seeing it at E3 since 2016.
Well Marvel fans should be very happy with this new footage, as it looks like the game will be worth the wait.
More of PlayStation's upcoming games will be shown off at the E3 expo in Los Angeles, which runs for three days this week.
Newshub is covering E3 courtesy of Xbox and PlayStation.
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