Marvel’s Wolverine

Insomniac Games has been pumping out hit after hit this generation with Ratchet and Clank and Spider-Man, and the developer is hard at work on its next project Marvel’s Wolverine. Not a lot has been revealed at this point, but the reveal trailer does paint a grim tone for the story which has us salivating to know more. No release has been revealed as of yet, but it will be coming out for PS5 sometime in the near future.

Though not on the same level of mainstream attention as something like, say, Beyond Good and Evil 2, Project Awakening is still very much a game that turned more than a few heads with its eye-catching announcement years and years ago, and then went on to follow it up with a prolonged period of next to nothing. Cygames’ action RPG has been in the upcoming pile for years now, and even at this point, it looks no closer to launch than it has at any point in the last near-decade. So what exactly is going on?

Project Awakening was first announced all the way back in 2016, close to a decade ago, but it wasn’t until Cygames showed off a gameplay trailer (or a supposed gameplay trailer, at least) at Tokyo Game Show 2018 that it really caught the attention of the masses. That first trailer was admittedly an impressive one. For starters, it boasted stunning visual fidelity, looking so spectacular that many didn’t believe that it was actual gameplay footage or representative of the real game itself. On top of that, it also painted an intriguing picture of its high fantasy setting, which Cygames promised would deliver an epic combat-focused action RPG experience taking cues from the likes of Monster Hunter and Dragon’s Dogma.

The combination of an intriguing premise and how good that TGS trailer looked instantly shot Project Awakening up many people’s lists of most anticipated games, especially with behind-closed-door previews at E3 2018 also seeming quite optimistic about how the game was shaping up (even though there wasn’t much that was shared by way of finer details even back then). All of that early buzz, however, was bafflingly followed by three years of complete radio silence. For three years, Cygames said and showed absolutely nothing else of the game, and though another update did finally arrive in 2021, it was essentially just a tech demo showing glimpses of Cygames’ Callista Game Engine’s open world tech and development process, as well as a few snippets of the game’s fantasy setting. And since then? Radio silence again.

Three more years have passed, and Cygames has barely said a word about Project Awakening– until very recently, that is. Taking to Twitter, the developer recently provided assurances that the action RPG hadn’t been cancelled, and the dev team was “working hard behind the scenes”, with more updates on the game supposedly set to be shared in the “coming months”. Undoubtedly, that’s reassuring for those who have been looking forward to the game and may have started fearing of late that perhaps the project had been shelved entirely. But when Cygames does finally share more updates on Project Awakening, how significant should we expect those updates to be?

Maybe it’s the fact that it’s been eight years since the game was announced, or maybe it’s… no, it’s that- it’s been eight years, and perhaps the time has finally arrived for Cygames to lift the lid on what exactly Project Awakening is going to be. Until now, we’ve had minimal details on the game- we know it’s a combat-focused action RPG taking inspiration from Monster Hunter and Dragon’s Dogma that will set players lose in a fantasy open world setting, and we know that it will feature some co-op elements.

But beyond those surface level details? We don’t really know much else- including the game’s name, funnily enough. The premise is, of course, interesting enough to the point where it has sustained at least some level of interest over the course of eight years (despite minimal updates), while fans of Granblue Fantasy: Relink (which enjoyed plenty of critical and commercial success upon its release earlier this year) will also be curious to see another AAA action RPG from Cygames. But the next time that Project Awakening does show up again – which will hopefully be not long from now – it will do so with a much more substantial showing than it has in the past. Ideally one that gives us a much more solid idea of what the game is going to be, what some of its core systems and mechanics are going to be, and, you know, what it’s going to be called.

That, of course, brings us to the next question. When exactly is Cygames going to show off Project Awakening again? With Granblue Fantasy: Relink now out of the way, is the studio ready to turn its full attention to the long in development open world action RPG? And if that is the case, does that mean we’ll be getting a showing sooner rather than later? As mentioned, the developer did suggest that more news would be shared in the next few months, but that isn’t exactly a narrow window.

The next couple of months are going to bring plenty of major showcase events, from Summer Game Fest to a rumoured PlayStation Showcase sometime this month. Could one of those serve as the stage where Project Awakening surfaces? After all, with the game being developed as a PlayStation exclusive (as it stands, at least), a new trailer at a Sony event wouldn’t go amiss. Then again, there’s every chance that a May event (or even one in June) is too soon for Cygames, in which case we could be looking at anything from Gamescom in August to Tokyo Game Show in September to The Game Awards in December. And yes, all of that is assuming that Project Awakening does indeed re-emerge this year, which certainly isn’t set in stone either.

Clearly, what little Cygames has shown and said of Project Awakening over the course of nearly a decade has been interesting enough that even in spite of how long the game’s development has dragged on and how silent the developer has been about it, it is still a game that many continue to keep their eye on. Cygames has our attention, and has had it for a while, but it’s slowly being eroded away by the passage of time, so hopefully, the developer won’t be waiting much longer than it already has, and will come out with a long overdue meaty new showing for Project Awakening in the relatively near future.

Agent

Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Agent, Rockstar’s electrifying spy opus. First announced as a PS3 exclusive way back in 2009, Agent pledged a Cold War era thrill-ride through the dangerous world of espionage, counterintelligence, and assassination, but much like the silent death knell of a secret agent, Agent’s fate has been silently snuffed. Rockstar have never officially announced its cancellation, so technically Agent could still be in the works. Given the evocative concept art which leaked a while back, let’s hope so – Agent looked great.

Slitterhead

Gory body horror from Team Silent originators meant Slitterhead’s 2021 announcement was met with much fanfare. Even – exclaim expectant fans – Silent Hill composer-in-chief Akira Yamaoka is along for the ride, lending his blend of warped ambience and bone-crushing guitar riffage to the game’s grisly take on shape-shifting parasites. Last we heard of Slitterhead was a dev diary back in June 2023, so not that long ago, meaning, you know, that Slitterhead is probably still in the works. Be nice to hear something affirmative as to release dates from Bokeh Game Studio though.

Ferocious

If it weren’t for the devlogs shared on February 26^th and April 15^th, we’d think prehistoric survive-a-thon Ferocious had gone extinct. This first-person shooter risks being overshadowed by incoming Jurassic Park: Survival if it doesn’t drop soon, but to be fair it’s blend of jungle stealth, strategy, and survival – with a healthy dose of axe swinging mayhem – looks spot on. Let’s hope the situation at developer OMYOG isn’t as grim as the game’s dinosaur infested isolation.

Pragmata

The sci-fi dad-in-space adventure Pragmata has been delayed indefinitely, so we at least know that this ambitious game has vanished for sure. Why though, the developer haven’t stated. Announced in 2020 with numerous release dates coming and going, the most recent of which was last year which passed without explanation. Even stranger was the developer releasing a brief trailer before the mysterious delaying – almost to remind us it exists before flinging into a black hole. Pragmata might not be in the deepest of development hells, but a window on when we can get our hands on it drifts endlessly further.

Perfect Dark

Just what has happened to Joanna Dark’s rebooted saga? Announced at The Game Awards 2020 with little data forthcoming in the three-and-a-half years since, this Xbox exclusive is likely a number of years from release. What does this mean for Perfect Dark? Well, nothing probably, just that development is probably happening at a very slow pace. The incredible graphics, slick movement, and tight gunplay will remain we hope.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

Despite little evidence, this long-awaited sequel to 2003 Beyond Good and Evil is apparently still in the works. First announced in 2008, it’s genuinely farcical how back in the developer stated in an investor call that development of Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in its early stages despite contrarily announcing progress as trundling along nicely. The tragic sudden death of Beyond Good and Evil 2’s creative director might understandably have scuppered progress since, but the outlook for this game was bleak either way.

Project Awakening

Let’s be honest, how awesome was Project Awakening’s gameplay reveal? The slick, lifelike dragon slaying looked truly next-gen, but with radio silence for what seems like eons now, maybe next-gen at the time meant next next-gen. The Japanese developer behind Project Awakening Cygames isn’t some faceless corporation though, with Granblue Fantasy: Relink the most recent of their output. Most likely is Project Awakening has been shelved despite it still being listed on the developer’s website as a ‘next-gen’ title advertised as PS4 exclusive.

PLAN 8

This exo-suit MMO shooter was announced in 2019, yet in what is an increasingly crowded sphere of the video game-verse PLAN 8 still seems like it has enough to stand out in 2024. Shame then that the most recent glimpses on its progress date back to screenshots shared in January 2020. The writings on the wall with this one: it’s dead in the water. The developers are supposedly still working on the title but it’s next-gen, genre-defying announcement is going to be woefully out of date by now.

Everwild

Hopefully still incoming from legendary British studio Rare, now owned by Microsoft, is magical nature adventure Everwild. We say hopefully as the glimpses we’ve seen are utterly spellbinding. An MMO in the vein of Sea of Thieves but in a fantasy setting, Everwild looks to meld multiple genres and gameplay mechanics in what is a hugely ambitious project. Every scene in the trailers seen so far look like oil paintings so let’s hope an official reveal is not too far away.

ILL

One of the Unreal Engine 5 tech demo games that drum up reasonable hype but never actually see the light of day, ILL has immense intrigue in it’s The Evil Within-­style torment spliced within a setting reminiscent of John Carpenter’s The Thing. This narrative driven first-person horror has all the ingredients to be a game changer, it’s just that tech demos are hard to believe at the best of times, let alone for a game with little to no update barring a glimpse into gameplay over six months ago.

The Last Night

This is a strange one, as the most hype-accelerating aspect to The Last Night was a tweet some five-or-so years ago which shared a screengrab of its cyberpunk aesthetic comparing it to The Matrix. The loss of esteemed indie game publisher Raw Fury and controversy surrounding game director Tim Soret have likely contributed to The Last Night’s lengthy development., the former especially as developer Odd Tales had to work to reclaim their publishing rights. 19^th November 2023 was the last official update we had of The Last Night. It’s likely still in development, just that progress has been stifled by misfortune.

Vigilancer 2099

This one will ride on the coattails of Cyberpunk 2077 when it eventually drops, it’s neon-soaked cityscapes are so reminiscent of Night City. In Vigilancer 2099 you’ll play as a secretive bounty hunter in a densely populated open world, with limitless traversal options on hand to get to grips with the verticality of Vigilancer’s megabuilding. There’s been next to no news for a couple of years now, so maybe this small-team developer has unfortunately folded.

Splinter Cell Remake

From rumour to full-blown conclusion, it’s been a few years now that a remake to Sam Fisher’s first outing in Splinter Cell has been on the go, but at present it doesn’t feel like we’re close to reliving Sam’s formative missions. For what it’s worth, Splinter Cell remake is confirmed to feature an updated story that will appeal to a modern audience. As and when we get to relive the game, we don’t know, but info will hopefully be forthcoming soon.

Routine

Nearly a decade after it was first announced, sci-fi moon base horror Routine received a new trailer during Summer Game Fest 2022. It’s 80’s retro-future and creepy atmosphere conjure a deep feeling of dread through juxtaposition of style and gameplay, and whilst development has been restarted at least once since its original announcement the aforementioned indie publisher Raw Fury is on board to see this one through to completion. Routine looks genuinely exceptional.

Deep Down

Despite being near completion and never being officially cancelled action role-player Deep Down has still never been released. Instead, this souls like game has been treated to titbits of info over the years since its first announcement in 2013. The developer stated in 2019 that hope wasn’t completely lost on Deep Down, but all hope has all but died. Development might always pick up again seeing as the assets were reportedly close to conclusion, but there’s no sign of that presently.

“We are working hard behind the scenes to bring you the best experience possible. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months.” It could mean a new trailer or updates at upcoming showcases like the Summer Game Fest showcase, though time will tell. Announced in 2016 for PS4, Project Awakening is a fantasy action RPG developed on Cygames’ Cyllista Game Engine. Given the time that’s passed, a PS5 version wouldn’t be out of the question.

The last gameplay trailer is from 2018, showcasing a medieval-looking warrior battling a giant monster. South Korea’s GRAC rated Project Awakening: Arise in February 2019, while a demo video of the engine emerged two years later, but there haven’t been any other updates till now. Stay tuned in the meantime.

Hello, our team has some important messages for you: 1. Our game has not been cancelled! 2. We are working hard behind the scenes to bring you the best experience possible. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months. Thank you for your continued support!"

— Project Awakening (@PjAwakening) April 23, 2024

Though a VOD of the livestream isn’t available, you can view the footage below, courtesy of Twinfinite’s Giuseppe Nelva. Unfortunately, there isn’t too much by way of gameplay. The conference was meant more to showcase the developer’s background creation and open world rendering tools. Project Awakening is developed on Cygames’ own Cyllista Game Engine – it’s being developed alongside the game, which could explain the long development cycle.

As such, progress is being made so we’ll need to wait for more details in the coming months. Project Awakening is currently in development for PS4 and PC, but like Granblue Fantasy: Relink, it could be PS5-bound as well.

Cygames’ action RPG Project Awakening has looked like a very intriguing title ever since we first found out it even exists, but the problem is that the developers have been very quiet about their game on all fronts. It was announced more than two years ago, which was followed by complete radio silence, and then at last year’s Tokyo Games Show, we got to see an excellent looking teaser trailer for the game, which gave us a taste of what to expect from the final project.

Other than that, though, we’ve heard or seen nothing, and have no idea when the game might launch. That might be about to change, though. The game has been rated by the Korean ratings board, the Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea, under the name Project Awakening: Arise. Though this doesn’t come through the developers themselves, a game being rated by a board usually implies that it’s nearing its release- though that might still be a bit of a stretch with Project Awakening, given how little we’ve heard of it, we can hopefully expect this to mean that more information on the game, including a concrete release date, isn’t too far away. The Arise subtitle mentioned in the rating is also interesting, and could be suggesting a demo or beta for the game prior to release.

Either way, stay tuned to GamingBolt, and we’ll keep you updated in case there’s any new developments.

With rumours teasing a PlayStation 5 reveal some time this year, it’s good to know that the current machine still has plenty going for it. Let’s take a look at those games that will be releasing for the PS4 this year and beyond, whether they’re timed exclusives or first party wonders.

This list consists of all types of exclusives: Full, timed and console exclusives.

Judgment

This isn’t your typical Yakuza game…even if it is developed by the same team and utilizing the same combat system. Instead, Judgment is classified as a “legal thriller”. Players control private investigator Takayuki Yagami as he follows a string of murders taking place in Kamurocho. Yes, the same Kamurocho from the Yakuza series. Despite all the similarities, Judgment does have a few tricks up its sleeve including an Investigation mode for detecting clues. Will it have the same zany substories that define Sega’s other action adventure series? Here’s hoping for that and a karaoke minigame or two.

Remember Cygames’ Project Awakening, a console RPG announced two years ago with just a teaser trailer? Well, new gameplay footage for it was showcased during Sony’s pre-Tokyo Game Show Lineup Tour. It depicted a medieval-esque warrior fighting a hefty beast and featured some fairly good looking textures. Check it out below.

If the developer’s name sounds familiar, it’s because the studio is also working on Granblue Fantasy Project Re:Link with Platinum Games. It’s also had a hand in the Shadowverse CCG and Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – Mars. Project Awakening doesn’t have a release date and the target consoles have yet to be confirmed, though it’s safe to assume the PS4 will be one of them.

Will Project Awakening make its way to the West any time soon? That remains to be seen, especially given how long it’s been in development. It may take some time, unlike Granblue Fantasy Project Re:Link which was already confirmed for Western release.